I ended the previous chapter with 'please don't hate me' but I guess I should have said, please don't hate Gene! Wow you guys. I knew some of you might get a little upset but you've outdone yourselves! I hope you will enjoy the next chapter, even if it doesn't bring us the answers we need or want just yet … Sometimes things just have to get worse before they get better.

16. Torn

The sound of glass shattering makes Gene pull back and look behind him.

"What was that?" he asks, slightly out of breath.

"There was somebody up there," Jasmyn tells him, looking up at the house. "She went inside."

"What? Which balcony?" Gene asks her and he blows out a breath when Jasmyn points at the balcony of his bedroom. It had to have been Olivia. But how much did she see? Does she know it's him out here?

"Why don't we go up to my room to finish this, Genie," Jasmyn suggests, tugging at his sleeve to make him look at her again.

She's breathing heavily, her chest heaving in the moonlight. Her hair is a mess and her lips are swollen after their heavy make out session up against the fountain. Her hardened nipples are poking through the thin material of her dress and her skirt has ridden up while his hand had been between her legs. He knows he's a mess after being confronted with Barbara so suddenly and he's not thinking straight. But the sight before him is incredible and he reminds himself that he's single and free to do whatever he wants, just like he's always been, ever since Barbara cut him loose.

And yet Gene feels torn. Something is tugging at his heart. He wants to go and find Olivia and explain. But what is there to explain? He looks up at the balcony one more time, but she isn't there of course. He tries to convince himself it wasn't her up there but part of him knows it must have been. She must have gone looking for him.

"Come on, stud," Jasmyn urges.

She has rearranged her dress and is now grabbing his hand to pull him along, making him follow her to the guest quarters. He forces a smile and kisses Jasmyn on the cheek. He is free to do as he pleases, just like he's always been, right? Or is he?

…

Olivia is trembling, leaning against the inside of the door to the balcony. Why did she have to knock over her glass of wine? She can only hope they haven't seen her but they must have heard the glass falling.

Fuck.

She feels horrible. Here she was, looking for Gene because she was concerned about him, and he just goes to find someone else to screw? She knows he isn't hers and she knows he sleeps with other women, but somehow she had expected that for this one weekend, she would be the only one. That for just three nights, it would be just him and her. Is that really too much to ask? Only she hadn't asked, she had just assumed. Big mistake. A mistake she won't make again.
She thought Gene was upset and she wanted to help him, but he clearly doesn't need her help. He doesn't need her at all. He's probably screwed half of the women at this party already anyway, so she shouldn't think she's special to him in any way.

Well, two can play this game, she thinks. She freshens up quickly in Gene's bathroom and then heads back out, back to the party, ignoring the nauseous feeling in her stomach and the ache in her chest. The first man that catches her eye, walking up to her as she descends the marble steps, is Frank. Of course it's Frank and she mutters to herself,

"Hell, why not?"

"Hey Olivia, everything alright?"

"Sure," she says, flashing a sweet smile. "Buy me a drink?"

She loops her arm through his and if Frank is surprised, he masks it well. They walk over to the bar and Olivia orders a Long Island Iced Tea.

"Make that two," Frank tells the bartender.

The name of the drink is innocent enough but it contains no less than five different kinds of liquor and only a small splash of cola to give it an iced tea color. Olivia starts drinking the moment Frank hands the glass to her and he raises an eyebrow.

"I'm thirsty," she says defensively, the straw still against her lip.

Frank smiles and guides her away from the bar towards one of several high top tables that have been set up to accommodate the growing number of guests. The band is playing upbeat songs and a lot of people are having fun on the dance floor. Olivia doesn't see the couple anymore that had Gene so shocked, and she tries to focus on Frank. He's as handsome as his older brother and very easy to talk to. He may be just what she needs to rid herself of the sounds of Gene making out with another woman. She doesn't know why it upsets her so much, but it does. Gene was never her boyfriend and yet she feels like she's just been punched in the gut.

She sighs and Frank smiles at her again.

"Are you worried about Gene?" he asks her and she shakes her head almost instantly.

"No. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

She downs the rest of her cocktail and then asks Frank,

"Wanna dance?"

"Sure."

Frank puts his drink away and Olivia slips her hand in his as they walk towards the dance floor. Frank squeezes her hand and when he turns around to face her, she grabs his other hand and smiles at him. Two can play this game indeed.

Frank doesn't seem to mind the attention, and they end up dancing to several happy songs before they go back to the bar for a refill.

"You really love those, don't you?" Frank says, gesturing at her Long Island Iced Tea.

"Sure. When in Long Island," she jokes.

The alcohol helps to take the edge off her hurt feelings a little and she tells herself she's being stupid for feeling hurt at all. She knew Gene was never going to be hers and she shouldn't really feel anything about it. But she does and she hates herself for it. But if Gene can have some fun, so can she, right?

Another few drinks later, she drags Frank back to the dance floor when a slow song starts. She closes her eyes when Frank wraps his arms around her and sinks into him, letting him lead the slow dance while she follows lazily. It feels nice to be held and when Frank tries to look at her, she burrows into his chest a little further, resting her cheek against his shoulder. Frank caresses her back and she tilts her head so she can kiss his neck, very softly; tentatively.

"Olivia," she hears Frank say but she puts a finger over his lips without lifting her head.

"Shhh."

She kisses his neck again and she can feel the exact moment Frank gives in. He rubs his cheek against her forehead and asks her,

"You wanna go somewhere a little more private?"

Olivia just nods, and Frank leads her away from the dance floor and the bar, to a more secluded area behind the pool. There are a few other guests there, but it's not very crowded and people don't really pay attention to their surroundings, each small group or couple caught up in their own conversation. Olivia is clinging to his hand and as soon as they are relatively out of sight, she pulls Frank in for a kiss. But Frank stops her for just a second to ask her,

"You're sure about this?"

"Yeah," Olivia assures him. "It's just sex with Gene, remember? We're not really together. Besides, you're the normal one. Right?"

She grins at her own joke and when she pulls Frank in for a kiss again, he doesn't refuse her. He opens his mouth eagerly and deepens the kiss, making Olivia moan. He tastes like the cocktails they've had and a little like Gene. She lets her hands roam Frank's back and ass while they kiss and Frank cups one of her breasts through her dress. She moans again and Frank breaks off the kiss to look at her.

"Olivia," he whispers but she doesn't want to talk. She just wants to feel like she matters to someone, now that Gene has tossed her aside. She moves one of her hands from Frank's ass to his groin and it's Frank's turn to close his eyes and groan.

"Oh yeah, you like that, don't you?" Olivia says, slurring her words a little.

She can feel the beginnings of a real Butler erection under her hand already.

"Olivia," Frank whispers again, but this time it's almost reverently and he moves in to kiss her passionately again.

He's a good kisser. He definitely is but he's not Gene. He doesn't rock her world like Gene does, no matter how much he looks like him. He even groans softly like Gene does and Olivia feels a lump forming in her throat. She breaks off the intense kiss and bows her head, resting her forehead against Frank's chest.

Frank rubs her bare arms gently and they sway to the music as they catch their breath. Then Olivia looks up at Frank and she is struck once again by his likeness to his older brother.

She can't do this. It's not fair to Frank and it's not fair to her. And in the end, it's not even fair to Gene, no matter how hard she is trying not to think of him right now. She sees the look in Frank's eyes change from a look of desire to a look of understanding and that only makes the lump in her throat grow bigger.

"I think we need to slow down a little, don't you agree?" he asks her softly and Olivia nods.

She may have been drinking but she's not drunk yet and she knows what she's doing is wrong. And two wrongs have never made a right yet.

"Yeah. Frank, I ... I'm sorry. I just … I can't do this."

Frank bows his head until their foreheads are touching.

"It's Gene, isn't it?" he asks her, resignation already evident in his voice.

Olivia lets out a shuddering breath. It's truth time.

"I can't be with someone who reminds me of him so much. It's not fair … to anyone."

Frank closes his eyes, willing his body to calm down and Olivia feels sorry for him. She shouldn't have led him on when he's clearly interested in her.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?"

His words hit her square in the chest. She isn't ready to hear them being said out loud but they're out there now and she can't lie.

"I don't want to be," she whispers, tears now brimming in her eyes.

Frank smiles through his disappointment and pulls her into his arms again. His embrace is comforting now, all sexual tension between them evaporated and she allows herself to sink into him, and to be comforted.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Part of her had known, but seeing Gene in the arms of another woman is really forcing her to face her feelings. He was just supposed to be her fuck buddy and she has no rights to him at all. He's been honest with her from the start, and has told her what to expect from him as well as what not to expect. She is having an amazing weekend with great company and she shouldn't want even more from him. But her heart isn't listening to her reasoning anymore. Not now. Not now that Frank is forcing her to see what's been right in front of her all along.

"I'm sorry, Frank," she mumbles. "I never meant to hurt anyone."

"How about you tell me why you're suddenly spending your evening with me and not with Gene? Where is he anyway?"

Olivia suddenly feels a little weak and Frank takes her hand and leads her to an abandoned table next to the pool so they can sit down. He then signals a waiter and grabs two glasses of mineral water from her tray.

"Water?" Olivia smirks, but Frank is not amused.

"Better than iced tea," he says dryly.

Olivia takes a sip of water and makes a face before setting the glass down on the small table. It really is just water.

"Olivia, talk to me," Frank urges. "What happened with Gene?"

"I don't know," she shrugs, still not ready to tell him that she's basically upset because the man she's been sleeping with is doing exactly what he's always told her honestly he is doing; sleeping with other women. "He suddenly ran off and I don't know where he went. So I just came back to party, because that's what I'm here for."

There. That sounds pretty logical, even if she says so herself.

"Do you know why he ran off?"

Olivia shakes her head and rubs her forehead when the world around her starts spinning. She should drink some more water, she realizes, to dilute the alcohol in her blood a little.

"Well, I know it's not really my business to tell you, but I think I know what's bothering him," Frank offers, and now Olivia is all ears.

"Did you see two people arrive rather late this evening? An older lady with a young man? My parents were talking to them on the steps."

Olivia nods. She remembers the couple that Gene had been staring at.

"That woman is the one who broke Gene's heart."

Olivia's eyes widen in shock.

"But she's old enough to be your mother!"

"Yes, she is. But she wasn't always this old."

And then Frank tells her the story of Barbara and Gene. Barbara had been a friend of the family, one of their mother's best friends. She used to babysit when the boys were little and they basically considered her an aunt. She had married young but it looked like she and her first husband lived their own lives and there were rumors about infidelity even back then.

As the boys grew older and needed less supervision, Barbara would still visit and hang out with the boys and one day, when Gene had just turned 17, things got a little out of hand. Olivia can guess what Frank means by that and she already hates this story. How could a woman who had known a boy as a baby develop a sexual interest in him? That's just sick.

"Needless to say that when our parents found out, Barbara was no longer welcome at our house," Frank continues. "But Gene loved her and defended her fiercely. He even moved out for a while. It was really hard on my mom."

Olivia bites her lip. What a terrible thing to happen to such a harmonious family.

"He honestly thought she'd leave her second husband for him; that she loved him too and they were going to be together forever. Why else would she have seduced him?"

"She's at least twenty years older than him!" Olivia huffs.

Even at seventeen, Gene should have realized that it was a stretch.

"Twenty-six, actually," Frank continues. "She took his virginity. He used to brag about it to his friends and I overheard him a few times. How he was getting laid all the time now that he was seventeen and how great his life was and how much in love they were. I'll spare you the details of what happened but after it was over, Gene was a different person. He hasn't been the same since. He moved back home but it took him a long time before he started dating again. And ever since that time, he refuses to allow himself to love someone again. I mean, he still loves sex obviously, but that's all it's ever going to be with him. It's sad but it's the truth."

Olivia has wrapped her arms around herself and feels horrible. For Gene, for the Butlers and for herself. She had had no idea how traumatized Gene is. All she's ever seen is a handsome, confident man of the world, living his best life. Only this isn't his best life at all, apparently. At one time, he'd had dreams of building a life with someone, possibly having a family. Those dreams had been shattered at a time when he'd been way too young and she felt a profound hatred towards the woman who had caused Gene's heart to break. She should be locked up even if she'd waited just long enough for Gene to reach the age of consent. A forty-three year old woman preying on a child. It makes her stomach turn. She sees this kind of abuse way too often in her line of work. It usually involves minors, and while Gene had been of age when the sex started, the woman had probably been grooming him for a while, which can be considered child abuse. And seventeen is still an impressionable age, as she knows from her own experience. She'd been vulnerable to an older man's charms too. She hadn't gone off the deep end after it was over, but in a way, her and Gene's responses aren't too different. They've both sealed off their hearts so they won't get hurt again and push away anyone who tries to get close. Only it's not working this time. Not for her anyway. Gene has managed to worm his way into her heart and he wasn't even trying. She sighs and looks at Frank for help.

"So now what do I do? He doesn't love me."

"How about talking to him?" Frank suggests.

Olivia purses her lips and frowns. Then she shakes her head again.

"No. I can't right now. He's … busy."

"Oh god," Frank sighs and Olivia knows that Frank knows his brother well enough to understand what she's telling him.

"Yeah."

Frank reaches out to her and Olivia allows him to take her hand in his.

"Olivia, I'm really sorry you got caught up in this. You want me to talk some sense into him?"

Olivia bites her lip, then closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before telling Frank,

"No. Don't bother, Frank. I'm leaving."

…

A/N: So, Olivia couldn't do it. Now the question is, could Gene? More soon.