After three very silly romantic comedies and a whole lot of margaritas, Feyre and all of Elain's friends came downstairs, laughing loudly and with the idea of getting down to the beach now that the storm had calmed down and there was only light rain outside.

They barged into the bar with the firm intention of getting a bottle of whiskey and some sandwiches before heading out, and found most of the wedding guests lounging in there, the place filled with people of all ages, children running around and old relatives playing card games. Lucien and the rest of the guys were also there, hanging out around the pool table, many beer bottles surrounding them. Elain immediately let out an excited shriek and jumped into her fiance's arms, everybody laughing and awwing at the gesture.

But Feyre's smile faltered when she saw Tamlin looping an arm around Ianthe while looking at her intently, as if every action he took had the sole purpose of angering her. She looked away immediately and found herself locking eyes with Rhysand, smiling at her, a pool cue in his hand as he was preparing to play.

She returned his smile and moved towards him. Once at his side, she ran a hand on his back, feeling his muscles moving under her touch as he stopped his play and turned to her.

"Hey," she said, pressing herself against him. She saw surprise flash in his eyes, but he didn't let it show, and slipped a hand on her back.

"Hey Darling, how was your morning?" She could see he hadn't lowered his voice, and was grateful that he immediately understood what she needed.

"Good, but I missed you…" she answered in a false sad voice, hoping her tone would hide the truth behind her words. Because she had missed him. It was crazy, wasn't it? To think that she had met this man only a few days before, but she had spent a large portion of the morning thinking about him and wishing he was with her.

But he didn't need to know that. She had already asked him to come to a wedding with him as her fake boyfriend, she couldn't imagine what his reaction would be if he knew she missed him for real. He would probably think she was pathetic, still in love with her ex, and using him as a rebound to get over him. None of that was true - well, maybe she was a little pathetic… - but she would understand why he would think so.

But Rhys was a goddamn good actor, because when he answered, she almost felt as if his warm smile was real. "I missed you too, really. Do you want to hang out?"

She turned to her sister, and realized Elain was watching them with a smile. Beside her, Tamlin was staring at her with fury in his eyes, but she ignored him to focus on Elain.

"Would it be alright if I stayed here, El?"

"Oh, of course! Have your fun! Do you want to come down to the beach with us, guys?"

Everyone around them seemed to agree, but Tamlin grumbled something about not wanting to get wet. Feyre restrained a laugh as she saw Ianthe starting to freak out beside him.

"You're not coming? Seriously?"

"No, I…"

" - Just want to stay here with your ex because you're jealous!"

Everyone around them scattered away quickly, but Feyre didn't want to leave. Tamlin wanted to hurt her, and she wouldn't back down now. She leaned against the pool table and held Rhys against her, locking her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. She wouldn't leave, not when Tamlin was the one insisting on staying around.

Rhys whispered in her ear: "Don't worry Feyre, I'm not going anywhere."
It felt almost flirty, but he was stroking her back slowly, reassuring, and she felt better under his touch, determination flooding through her body.

A few feet away from them, Tamlin and Ianthe were still arguing. "I just don't feel like going out, okay? Leave me alone, Ianthe."

Seeing the look of hurt on her face, Feyre felt almost sorry for Ianthe. And then she remembered the email she had read about their weekend together, full of excruciatingly graphic details, and she felt angry again. Ianthe stormed out of the room, and she saw Tamlin walk away from them to sit at the bar.

She let go of Rhysand and he backed out just a little bit, his hands still resting on her hips, but at a more appropriate distance. They stayed silent for a moment, before Feyre spoke in a whisper.

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome, Darling."

"No but… really. Thank you. I know you probably weren't expecting my to throw myself at you like that, I'm sorry. I just…" she trailed of, and she felt his hand gently grab her chin to make her look at him.

"There's no need to apologize, trust me. I told you I would help you this weekend, and if helping you means spending half of my time with my arms around you, well I'm really not complaining," he finished, his smile turning almost feral. She felt herself blushing, and giggled. Actually giggled.

Rhys looked over her shoulder for a half-second before saying: "He's looking at us, and his face is priceless, I swear."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, he looks like he's going to implode in the next second."

She laughed out loud, and felt Rhys' hand leave her chin to slid down to her ribs.

"Do you really want to drive him crazy?" He asked in a mischievous voice.

She thought for a very short time before answering: "Yes."

"Then trust me."

She felt his arms go down her sides until he reached her thighs, and suddenly he was lifting her in the air. She clung to him, but a second later, she found herself sitting on the edge of the pool table, Rhys standing between her legs, smirking at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing too inappropriate, don't worry. We're still surrounded by your sister's guests, after all." He had answered with a grin, and now he was lowering his lips onto her cheek, leaving a trail of featherlight kisses against her skin, slowly making his way to her ear. Feeling the soft brush of his lips against her made Feyre instinctively move a hand up to the back of his neck, letting her fingers scrape his hair lightly. Her heart missed a beat as she heard a soft moan escape his lips, and she had to remind herself that they were still in a public place.

He seemed to remember too, because he moved back to look at her, a small smile on his face. "Maybe I should stop before he gets too angry."

Lost in his deep blue eyes, she whispered "who?" before remembering her ex was staring at them. "Oh… yeah you're… you're right." Even though she didn't want him to stop. His hands on her hips felt right, and her neck felt cold now that he had moved away. But all of this was a game to him, and she couldn't very well admit to him that she did like his kisses on her neck.

Rhysand looked behind her for a second before talking. "He looks furious, I wish you could see him!"

But she didn't want to think about Tamlin right now, with Rhysands arms around her. "Do you mind if we go somewhere else?"

"Oh, sure." He moved away from her, but once she had jumped off the pool table, he offered her his hand. Smiling, she intertwined her fingers with his, and without a glance behind them, they left the bar and the flurry of guests.

"So, what did you do for your prom, then?"

Sitting cross-legged on their bed, Rhys couldn't help his smile at the vision in front of him. Feyre was lounging on the bed, with her feet up against the wall, looking at him upside down. She'd just told him the story of how her prom date had ditched her in the middle of the evening to hang out with friends, only to come back hours later in the hopes of spending the night with her in a shabby motel.

"Well? Please don't tell me you didn't go because I will never believe you."

"Why wouldn't you believe me?"

She laughed, and he had to restrain his desire to touch those beautiful lips of hers. "No offence Rhys, but I have a hard time imagining you as the kind of guy to avoid school dances, somehow. I see you as the annoying football player everybody wanted to invite to prom, and probably got elected prom king or something."

He laughed. "Let me tell you, you are completely wrong!"

"Oh?" She frowned, and if anything, it made her face even more gorgeous than before.

"I was never in the football team, I played baseball."

She burst into laughter at that, and brought her feet down from the wall to roll onto her stomach and look at him, resting a hand on one of his knees. "I see, I was completely off, then. But seriously, what did you do? Were you a jerk to your date like my date was? I'm sure you weren't."

For a second, he got lost in the feeling of her hand on him, but she was waiting for an answer. "Actually, I didn't really go with a date."
"Really?"

"Yeah. My cousin Mor, I think I told you about her?" she nodded. "She wanted to go with this girl she'd been seeing at the time, but her parents… They aren't what you could call accepting. So, I invited the girl to prom to throw her parents off the trail, and when we got there, they got to spend the night together. So, I think you could say I ditched my date? But it was for a noble cause. They got married last year."

She was looking up at him, her face resting in her hands, a soft smile on her lips. "So, you gave up going to prom with a date to help out your cousin? That's very sweet."

Despite his best efforts, he felt a blush spread on his cheeks. "Well, it was the right thing to do." And because he was taken aback by her eyes that seemed to see all the way to his soul, he added in a sarcastic tone: "Plus, I had enough people fawning over me to get a good time even without an established date. The perks of being a star baseball player, I guess."

"Modest, as always, I see."

"Always."

She laughed, and he felt a rush of joy spreading inside his body at the sound.

He was debating kissing her when a knock on the door interrupted him. Feyre got up and went to open, only to find Nesta waiting on the other side.

"Elain sent me to get you, she needs us both to go with her check on a few things."

"Okay," Feyre answered before turning back to him with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I need to go. I'll see you later?"

"Sure Darling."

And with a last smile, he watched her get out of the room, still wearing his hoodie. She could keep it forever if she wanted to, and he wouldn't mind.