Disclaimer: I don't own them except for the kids!
Dinner felt unnaturally quiet. Especially for a Sunday at the Maxwells.' Zach glanced across the coffee table at his brother on the couch from his spot on the floor. Sighing, he decided to break the silence. "You look like hell froze over."
Thad's head shot up at his brother's remark. He scowled. "Leave me the hell alone."
"Well, you do. I was pointing it out to you. I mean it's not like it's not OBVIOUS to everyone else in the vicinity," said Zach as he wagged his spaghetti covered fork in Thad's direction. "I mean if you don't want people to know it, stop looking like it. It only makes you look guiltier. And judging by the way Damien is glaring at the back of your head, Quatre frowning, and that nice bruise your sporting, and Vaughn and your Penny being absent, I would say the Winners,' especially the men are not too happy with you."
Thad flinched, but shot a glare at his brother. "I would think Quatre would be frowning at you because you're the one who called his daughter, "frigid."
His older brother's remark caused the younger man to blanch. "Shut up."
"You started this. If you can light into me, I can do the same to you."
"Oi, don't spill blood on the carpet, Hilde just had it cleaned and I don't want a pissed wife," said Duo from his chair, closest to the TV. He didn't even turn his head.
Two pairs of ice blue eyes continued to give each other glacial looks from across the room. Zach snorted and finally looked away, but his eyes caught a pair of amethyst eyes from the kitchen. She was staring at him, but she immediately turned her head and her nose up at him. He sighed. Quat wouldn't talk to him. He had tried in vain the past two weeks, but she either had Reshid bar him from the house or she would have security make sure he couldn't get into her office. "She's taking this too damn far. How the hell am I supposed to apologize if I can't get near her?" he thought as he stuck the spaghetti in his mouth and stared at her back.
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Quatrina could feel his eyes on her back. She hunched her shoulders and angrily chewed a piece of garlic bread. "Who the hell think he is, telling me that I'm frigid!" she thought with a snort. She felt her mother's eyes on her from the kitchen table, where the mothers were sitting. She could still feel Zach's eyes boring into her back. It was beginning to make her mad. She whirled around in her chair at the counter. "Will you stop it, Zach!" Her sudden outburst caused the others to turn and stare at her. She pushed her chin up a notch and met his eyes. "I can't eat with you staring at my back."
"Oh, so you're talking to me again, are we?" drawled Zach as he got up from the floor and carried his plate into the kitchen, stopping by her chair. He looked down at her, his brows arching.
"The staring is bugging me," she muttered as she looked down at her now empty plate. She tapped her fork on the stoneware and kept her head down. She gritted her teeth as she turned her chair the other way and stood up. "That's all I have to say to you," she said as she went over to the dishwasher and put her plate in. She nearly slammed it on his fingers as he put his plate in, but he caught it. His hand grasped hers. "Let go!"
"Stop acting like a brat and talk to me."
Her teeth ground together. "I have nothing to…EEP! Zach, what are you…put me down…Zachary!" she shrieked as she found herself thrown over his shoulder. He ignored the eyes of the other occupants. "Duo, can I use your office?"
"Sure, just make sure she doesn't break anything…or let her get near the gun cabinet if you know what's good for you," the older man replied with a wave of his hand.
Zach nodded. "Thank you." He carried his fiancée down the hall and into the Maxwells' study. He shut the door behind him with his foot and put her down. Her hand came towards his face, but he was expecting it, and he caught both of them effortlessly despite the pang of pain in his shoulder. "Hit me and I will spank you."
She tried to yank her hands free of his, but he wouldn't let go. The grip he had was firm, but it didn't hurt. "Then let go of me."
"Fine." He dropped her hands and leaned against the door. "Now, you and I are going to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you," she spat as she turned her back. "You called me "frigid!"
Sighing, Zach raked a hand through his midnight hair. He let his eyes rest on her russet hair as it tumbled over her back and shoulders. It was a vibrant contrast to the pale yellow sweater that she wore over her jeans. Taking a few steps forwards, he let his fingers tangle in her hair. The strands were silky as they curled around his fingertips. He bent his head, so his forehead touched the back of hers. "Quat…I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean to hurt you like that…it's just that…I don't know…"
She didn't turn. She could feel his breath soughing across the back of her neck and his fingers still toying with her curls. The apology sounded genuine and she knew it would be churlish to refuse it. She hadn't liked being mad at him. It broke her heart. She bent her head down. "Zach…"
"I just don't know why you always turn me away like I'm going to hurt you…I would never do anything to hurt you…I didn't mean to call you "frigid," but sometimes, I get so frustrated, so angry because one minute, you're allowing me to kiss you, touch you, but then the next minute, you're pushing me away, telling me to stop like I'm going to take it further than you want to go…"
"I understand," she breathed as she closed her eyes. She was leading him on. Her throat felt tight. "Tell him, tell him now," a voice in her head prompted as she opened her eyes again and stood there.
When she didn't say anything more, he let his hands slide from her hair to rest over her crossed arms. He took a step closer to her, his head falling forwards to rest on her shoulder. "Quat…I really am sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but I would like it if you would talk to me. I don't like how it is with us right now…I miss you."
The warmth of his hands could be felt through her sweater. She stared at his hands resting on top of hers. She turned her head to look at his dark head resting on her shoulder. The lighting gave his hair a bluish sheen. The lump in her throat got larger. How she wanted to tell him the truth, but she didn't know how. He'd be angry that she hadn't told him for so long. She didn't want to see his reaction. "Zach…it's just that…I've seen what happened to girls that got hurt…and it scares me…it's not you…it's just me. Its not that I don't love you or that I'm afraid…it's just I'm not very good at handling things like that…" She turned to look at him. His crystalline eyes stared into hers.
She looked like she had told him what needed to be said, but at the same time, he felt like there was something she still wasn't telling him. "Who did you see get hurt?"
Quatrina glanced away from the directness of his. "It was a friend of mine at school, at college. She got hurt…really bad…and that put some fear into me," she said, her voice soft.
Zach watched her lashes rest against her cheeks. A tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. Lifting a hand, he brushed the liquid away with his thumb. "Is that why…then I really am sorry, Quat. Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I don't know."
This time, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She didn't resist.
She bent her head into the hollow of his shoulder. "Zach, I know you didn't really mean what you said, but still…it did hurt to think that you would even say that to me."
"I know. I wanted to take it back, but I couldn't. I wanted to blame Thad for putting that word in my head in the first place, but I just…got so…annoyed, so mad, that I just blurted out what I was thinking…"
Lifting her head, she looked him in the face. "Have you always thought I was…like that?"
Swallowing, he shook his head. "No. I knew you could be cold, but never like that…I just didn't understand why you would always shut me out."
Her head tilted forwards, so it rested against his sternum. "I'm sorry if I shut you out."
He pressed a kiss on her hair and rubbed his hands up and down her back. "No, it's all right," he said quietly. The smell of her shampoo made him smile against her hair. The smell of her was comforting and inviting. At the same time, he still felt like there was something she was holding back, but at the moment, he wasn't going to press the issue. He frowned. It seemed like she had forgiven him for his words, so he wasn't going to push his luck. He didn't want to make her anymore upset over the entire thing. Two weeks of the silent treatment was torture. He didn't think he could stand another round of it. Breathing her in again, he smiled again and clasped her even tighter. "I love you."
Quatrina curled her fingers in the folds of his shirt. "Love you too," she murmured. His arms felt good as they held her tight. She knew he would always be there for her, always, to protect her, to love her, but she didn't think he could forgive her for omitting part of her past. Her brow wrinkled in thought, glad he couldn't see her face at the moment. Her father had advised her to tell him, even Damien and Vaughn had said that she should. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Zach was the understanding type, but she didn't think he would understand her silence about her rape. And as of late, it played like an obscene recording in her head. She bit her lip. "Zach, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure."
She stared at his shirtfront. "Do you…I mean…I know you love me a lot…that's obvious, but why did you ask me to marry you?"
The seriousness of her question caught him off guard. He looked down at her bent head. He lifted her chin with his fingers and looked deep into her amethyst eyes. "Because I wanted to. I wanted to be with you and only you. That's why I asked. What brought this on, Quat? You're not getting cold feet are you?"
A corner of her mouth quirked up and she shook her head. "No, considering the invitations were already sent out and my dad's already forked out a lot of money for this. And the fact that I have a final fitting for my dress with your sister coming up soon. She'll kill me if I back out and believe me, I'm more afraid of your sister than my father."
Zach chuckled and pressed a kiss on her upturned lips. "Kellie can be quite intimidating when she wants to be," he said, but his expression turned serious. "But really, why did you ask?"
She lowered her head again. "I don't know…maybe because there are a lot of girls out there more deserving of you than I am…I mean can you honestly tell me that when you look at me, you don't see the little girl you've had to baby sit."
"Who haven't I had to baby sit? Chris, Victoria, and Leigh are the only ones I haven't because they're not that much younger than me, but sometimes I do see that cute little girl with the curly red pigtails and the huge violet eyes," he replied with a laugh. "But that's part of what makes me love you. It doesn't matter because you've grown up from that adorable little girl into a gorgeous, sexy, and intelligent woman, who has a bit of a temper. But I don't mind. I love you any way that you are."
His reply made her smile, but it faltered a bit. "And if I had secrets, would that change how you felt about me?"
He tipped her chin up with his fingers again. His eyes searched hers. "No. It would never change how I felt about you. We all have our secrets, Quat. It's what makes us a mystery to others. Why such a serious question?"
Not looking away, she shook her head, but her eyes fell away.
The look in her eyes worried him. "Hey, is there something you want to tell me?" he asked as he gently cupped her cheek and let his thumb rub across it.
"Zach…I…there is something I never told you, but I…"
"Do you want to tell me?"
"It's important that I tell you, but…I just…don't know…"
"If you don't want to, it's all right. I understand," he said as he gazed into her eyes. He smiled. "But if you feel that if it's important to tell me…"
The tenderness in his eyes made another lump form in her throat. She rolled her lips inwards. "Zach…I was…"
"Zach, we need you in the other room."
Zach turned his head to see Veronica standing there. "What do you need me for?"
"Damien started in on Thad because of Penny…it's kind of getting ugly, Kellie is trying to stop it, but David doesn't want her to get in the way because of the baby, and Jonathon is provoking Damien and you know what happens with those two when he does…" said Veronica, letting her sentence hang.
He sighed and looked back at Quatrina. "I think it would be a good idea if I prevented my brother from killing yours and vice versa."
Nodding her head, she let her body relax against his. "I think we should, it wouldn't be good for my brother to kill yours, even if he did something stupid with my cousin."
"We'll be right there," he said to Veronica, who nodded her head and then ran back to the other room, where voices were escalating. He looked back at her. "You were saying?"
Quatrina shook her head. "No, it's all right. It can wait."
Zach caught her hands in his and brought them to his lips. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Now, I think we have a situation to diffuse," she replied, smiling softly, even as anger filled words reached their ears.
"Yeah, we can't have the Maxwells' kitchen turn into a war zone," he chuckled as he led her from the room.
Behind him, she let out a relived sigh. Her secret was still hers.
A/N: I know it's taken awhile for this part, but here it is. I hope you enjoy it! XOXO!!