Hi! So, I want to apologize in advance, this chapter is reaaaaally short. But it was a necessary scene, and it just works on his own, I can't link it with any other chapter because it's very important (I think so, anyway ^^).

I hope you enjoy it nonetheless, and as always, thank you so much for reading, commenting, sharing! xx

Rhys, 16:32 - Hey Darling, are you busy? I just arrived from the camps, I was thinking of stopping by your place if you're home?

Feyre stared at her phone for about a minute, before typing an answer.

18:04 - Hey, sorry I was asleep.

She'd been sleeping all day, not having the energy to get out of bed, even to eat something or open her curtains.

Rhys, 18:06 - No problem. Do you want me to come? I'm at home doing nothing right now, and I miss you.

Did she want him to see her like that? She'd cried herself to sleep the night before, her night punctuated by nightmares of glass shattering under her feet and a tall blonde faceless man choking her. She hadn't eaten all day and didn't want to get up, even to see him. But she did miss him.

18:08 - I don't feel well, I wouldn't want to bother you.

Rhys, 18:10 - You couldn't bother me if you tried. I'm coming, and I'm bringing some food. See you in a while.

He knocked softly and waited for her to invite him in. She never locked her door when she was inside, even at night, and he pushed it open at the sound of her voice. All the lights were out, and she was buried under her quilt.

"Feyre?" He kept his voice low as he set down the food he'd brought - a lamb stew, tradition in the Illyrian camps during a party - and sat down beside her. She groaned and he felt her move closer to him, but she didn't emerge.

"Are you feeling okay?"

The covers moved and he saw the top of her head come out, but nothing more, and her voice was hoarse when she said: "no."

He brushed her hair and she surfaced a bit more, her eyes red and swollen.

"Can I get you anything?"

She stayed silent for a while and he thought she was sleeping again when she whispered: "A hug?"

He smiled, took off his shoes and jacket, and slid inside the bed. She was only wearing underpants, and he took her into his arms, holding her against him. She didn't seem to have a fever.

"What's going on, Feyre? You told me you weren't well, do you need to see a doctor?"

"I'm not sick, I just… I feel heavy."

He tugged her closer, not really knowing what to say.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know." After a moment, she said: "Tell me about your weekend."

"It went well. I drove up there with Azriel, my dad and my sister. My dad agreed to take her for the weekend, so she was thrilled and couldn't stop talking the whole time." Feyre let out a breath that might have been a chuckle, and he continued. "We inaugurated the library in the afternoon, but the inauguration in itself was pretty boring, mainly a speech from my dad and the chief of the camp. The evening was good though, they had prepared a full traditional Illyrian feast and it was delicious. And then this morning I went to the library with Lyra and the other girls of the camp to check out some books and show them around, and then we drove home." He didn't add that for the entire drive home, Lyra had spoken only of how wonderful it would be to live in the camps for a summer, and that their father had ignored her for the first five hours, and had pestered about her being too undisciplined to be left alone for the last two. Feyre looked overwhelmed enough not to be forced to endure his own family drama. "I brought you stew from the feast. I remembered you enjoyed the lamb during our first date, I thought you'd like it."

"Thank you." And then the world was quiet again. Rhys felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he was about to fall asleep when she said:

"I told my mom about what had happened with Tamlin." He was wide awake in a second.

"Oh?"

"Yes. It went… badly."

"What do you mean? Didn't she… She did believe you, didn't she?"

"Sort of. She didn't think I was lying, but she said… She said that I shouldn't use the word 'abuse' to describe what he'd done because it wasn't as if he'd sent me to a hospital. She said - she said I was exaggerating."

Anger flooded his mind. Her own mother had said that to her, had reduced her suffering to nothing. Feyre had found the courage to open up to her and she hadn't been able to react as a mom should. She'd undermined her story and had brushed it off like it was nothing.

"Feyre, you know that's not true, right?" Her silence went on for too long. "Darling, your mother is wrong, and I know it's horrible that she's not believing you, but she's wrong. And you were really brave to tell her."

"Talking about it again, I thought it would help me feel better, but it didn't. I feel… I don't know how I feel. But I'm glad you're here."

"Anytime." And because he sensed her smile against his neck, he added: "Plus, any chance to see you naked and I'm in!"

She laughed. "I missed you this weekend."

"I missed you too." And he'd thought about her all day, about her stunning eyes and the sound of her laugh, about the easy way she'd made friends with his sister, and how passionate she was about her job. He'd thought about holding her against him under the mountain sky, about telling her stories of his people, and making love to her in his favorite retreat, a secluded cave where they could stay alone for days without being bothered. But he didn't tell her that either, instead he simply tightened his embrace on her, hoping that the giant wave of love he felt for her could help her somehow.

She didn't eat that night, but she fell asleep against Rhys and didn't have a single nightmare.