It took two weeks for Feyre to be deemed fit enough to go home. Two weeks in which Rhys had resorted to trying to only work when Feyre was sleeping but as she healed and was awake more often than sleeping, it became difficult. She had assured him, in the time several times over, he could go to work to get things accomplished but he refused to leave her. During the days when it was light out, she was fine. But when it got dark outside and in the room, there were enough times she had panicked, even in her sleep, that Thesan had provided a drug to help her sleep each night. Not wanting to risk that anything else might set off some sort of fear without him there, he hadn't felt comfortable leaving.

Not that she ever would have been alone. Cassian dropped by often and Azriel almost more than that. Mor came in often enough but was holding down what she could at work and Amren only stopped in to fully assess Feyre herself. Once that was done, it was back to preparing her case against Amarantha.

Rhys was grateful for his brothers visiting because he did use that time to try and work while Cassian watched comedy movies with Feyre and Azriel spent much of him time with her reading the classic novels he loved so much out loud to her. He promised to get her all of the books on audio for her to listen to herself.

But after two weeks and the miracles of Dawn Medicals' top rated research into drugs and therapy, Feyre was able to go home with relatively little pain. She still had healing broken bones and her neck fracture would still take another four weeks to heal completely, but Thesan's people were geniuses.

On the last afternoon there, Feyre was fitted for her neck brace and an actual hard cast for her right arm and for her right leg. Rhys imagined them all to be clunky and oversized but Thesan had simply laughed. Apparently large clunky neck braces and casts were things of the past as he strapped Feyre into a nearly invisible neck brace and equally slimmed down and almost invisible casts on her arm and leg.

"If you two decide to share a bed," Thesan warned them. "You stay on her left side," he warned Rhys. "And keep certain physical activities to a minimum until your neck is cleared." He warned Feyre. "You got incredibly lucky. The odds of survival at all were so minuscule that your case might be cited in textbooks as a miracle, especially because you have no trace of paralysis. Even if he just touches you or uses his mouth, an orgasm will cause your body to react and you won't have control. Your leg and arm I'm less worried about, but your neck… protect that."

Thesan left after explaining the regimen of medications for Feyre and what foods would best help her build her bones and strength back up. Then Feyre was free to go and Rhys happily wheeled her out the main lobby.

He settled her into the passenger seat of his car and went to the driver's side. Only after he buckled in did he realize Feyre was absolutely silent. Her eyes were closed and she was trying to breathe in the counts Thesan had taught her for panics.

"What if I roll down the windows?" Rhys asked softly. "Will that help?"

Feyre's eyes snapped open and she looked slightly ashamed but nodded. He rolled down the windows and opened the sunroof to give her as much openness as possible before he backed them out of the parking spot and started them towards home. When he was finally on the main roads, he took her hand and held it while telling her all about the dinner he had planned for the two of them, hoping it gave her something to hold onto while they were in such a small space.

He did have dinner plans for them. Special ones that involved Cassian cooking and a little romance with candles and soft lighting, classical music playing over the sound system in the house, and then some romantic movie to get her all cuddled up against him on the couch. He heard her hum her approval but her eyes still didn't open until the car had stopped and he had all but run to get her door open for her.

"Is it okay that I rest a bit before this amazing dinner?" She asked when he got her inside.

"Of course," he promised her. He made to lift her up but she stopped him.

"Go ahead and get started on whatever you need to. I can get myself up the stairs," she told him, stopping to press a kiss to his shoulder.

Rhys watched her start up the stairs for all of a few moments to make sure she could indeed get herself up and then went to the kitchen to call Cassian and touch base with him.

He had planned the dinner well in advance but he didn't expect Cassian to know what was or wasn't already in his kitchen. Hell, Rhys hardly knew what food was in his kitchen most days and even more so since he hadn't been home. It was only thanks to Nuala and Cerridwen that the kitchen stayed stocked at all. They had even gone as far to learn Feyre's favorites and had started shopping for her as well before Feyre had disappeared. They had even kept the house spotless since he had practically lived at the hospital. He needed to give them both raises for their hard work.

Once Cassian was updated on the status of dinner, Rhys gathered up a cup of tea for Feyre and one for himself and wandered up to her room. He opened the door to the pristine room, only to find the bed empty and the bathroom door wide open and darkness beyond. Feyre wasn't in her room. Feeling a slight panic, Rhys turned and went down the hall to go up to the third floor, but paused at his open door. Feyre was there, her clothes shed on the floor and her body a solid lump under the covers on his bed… their bed.

"Rhys?" Feyre's voice reached him.

"Yes, Darling?" He stepped into the room.

"Is this okay?" She asked and it took him a moment to realize she was asking about her being in the bed. "Or would you prefer I go back to my room. I can. It's just…" her voice trailed off.

"Either we will stay in here together or we will stay in your room together. I don't care which, but I refuse to sleep without you ever again," Rhys set down the tea next to her. "I brought you tea."

"Thank you," she shifted until she could sit up and it killed him not to help her sit up to protect her from injuring herself further. But he let her have her independence. She would ask if she needed help. "Perhaps we should move my dresser in here then. If we're going to share a room from now on."

"There's plenty of space in the closet," he replied. He walked over to the door of his closet and opened it to reveal his clothing. "I just need to move some things around."

"I'm surprised there's space at all. You hardly wear the same thing twice," she snorted into her tea.

"When you're all healed, Feyre Darling, I'll wear you around my neck like a tie so often you'll lose count. And then you'll forget that little quip," he turned to look back at her and saw the smirk form on her face. That same smirk that always told him she had a line up her sleeve and he simply had to wait for the idea to fully form.

"I don't know if I'd match your all black collection of ties," she replied finally.

"Ah, but see I'm branching out in my colors because some lovely woman told me to," he turned to crawl onto the bed next to her. "And I think you are my favorite color."

"I think, when I am all healed up, I'd like to paint you," she replied.

He felt his heart race at the declaration. Feyre wanted to take time to use her talent on him. She wanted to paint him, which he knew she was very private and shy about her painting. And after everything she had been through, she still wanted to paint. When he had been through Amarantha's clutches, he hadn't been able to even want to have fun or take part in anything he had enjoyed before. She was a marvel. A strong, amazing, miracle of a woman he didn't deserve. But he didn't say any of that. Instead he opened his mouth and replied with the first smart ass comment that came to his mind.

"Nude would be best."

They lounged in bed together for hours until he heard Cassian call up from the kitchen that they had better be decent. They weren't, but Rhys simply laughed it off as Feyre tried to quickly get dressed.

"Take your time," he assured her and pulled on a pair of lounge pants and wandered as far as the steps to see Cassian in an apron glaring up at him, hands on his hips like a frustrated mother hen.

"Can't you keep your clothes on for five damned minutes? She is supposed to be healing up." The stern face stayed for all of a moment before he broke into a toothy grin. "Do you still want dinner or are you two going to stay up there all night?"

"We're coming, give us a moment," Rhys chuckled. "Thank you, again."

"You know I couldn't let you cook for her. You'd send her back to the hospital with food poisoning," Cassian taunted and turned to walk back down the hall to the kitchen.

Rhys returned to their room, disappointed to see Feyre already in an oversized t-shirt that he suspected was stolen from his drawers and a pair of fluffy pajama pants. He found a shirt and heard Feyre let out a soft sigh as he pulled it on over his head. It made him smile to hear she might be just as disappointed with him covering up as he was by her covering up. Then he helped her to her feet and stayed with her as she set the pace towards the stairs.

The stairs were difficult for her to negotiate but she managed with only an extra hand from him on two of the steps. Then she made her way to the kitchen where Rhys was surprised to see Azriel also assisting in the cooking. Mor stood on the other side of the island filling a platter from a bakery box. And Amren was already nursing a glass of wine, not taking part in any of the preparations. Rhys didn't expect her to and it seemed Feyre didn't question any of it either as she moved to steal the stool next to Amren.

"You get to open the wine," Mor told Rhys as he rounded on her.

"Isn't it already open?" He nodded to the glass Amren had.

"That was the bottle Cassian opened to cook with and Amren and Mor finished off," Azriel explained. "And before you complain about it, we know Feyre shouldn't have alcohol so we got her something special." He nodded to the fridge.

Rhys followed the direction and opened the fridge to find a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling wine keeping cold in the door of the refrigerator. He opened that, poured Feyre a glass, and then went to his liquor cabinet to locate another two bottles of red wine. It was unlikely he or Cassian would actually drink the wine. Amren and Mor would steal it all after Azriel somehow charmed a glass out of them. He and Cassian would resort to the other liquor that Mor didn't like and Amren scoffed at as barbaric.

While he hadn't intended for dinner to be a family affair, the amount of food suggested they were sticking around and he couldn't bring himself to be upset. Feyre was happily chatting with Amren about the ruby necklace she was wearing which seemed to tell him she didn't mind the extra company either.

It occurred to him, as they made their way to the dining room that Feyre had never had a family dinner with them, not really. He used to host them most weekends but since Feyre had moved in, his family had stopped coming around to allow them time to settle in. Then Feyre had been taken, and there was the time in the hospital. She hadn't really had a chance to see them in this light. He hadn't had a chance to see how well she fit in with the dynamics of his family as a whole. Not that he doubted she would fit easily, but seeing how she and Mor stole sweets together, how she discussed fine arts and jewelry with Amren, discussed books with Azriel, and joked with Cassian easily through dinner settled something deep inside of him he wasn't aware of.

Instead of retreating to the living room after dinner as he had originally planned. Cassian broke out the board games that would get vastly inappropriate quickly with his family and the table was cleared of all but the dessert platter and their drinks. Rhys was almost surprised that Feyre didn't know most of the games but he thought back to what he did know of her childhood. Her sisters never would have taught her games they likely had learned if they even had them around the house. After explaining the rules of each game to Feyre, Cassian let Feyre pick through them until they settled on one.

At the end of the night as everyone was leaving Cassian retreated to the kitchen to start cleaning and Rhys followed. Azriel seemed to have Feyre's undivided attention, no doubt talking about some book he wanted her to listen to while she was recovering, so it seemed like a decent time to leave her be.

"You know, I have to hand it to you Rhys," Cassian told him as they stood shoulder to shoulder at the sink.

"Oh?" He looked to his brother to see him serious for once.

"I always wondered how things would change when we started bringing significant others around. I honestly thought it would be like losing each other a bit. Spend less time around each other and eventually it's just holidays we sit and do things like this. I thought Feyre would be the start of it. You're so set on her, it's like she's already your wife. But, it doesn't feel like I'm losing you with Feyre. I feel like I'm gaining a sister and not losing anything at all. I can only hope the same for anyone that joins us in the future."

Rhys stared at his brother. It was nice to hear him serious for once and even more so, in such a good way. Yes, the group dynamics would change with new additions and certainly his time would be more divided, but it was nice to hear Cassian at least didn't feel like it was a bad change.

"I do intend to keep her," Rhys admitted. "So I'm glad you like her."

"Like her? Rhys if you two break up, we are keeping her and getting rid of you!" Cassian chuckled. Rhys joined him in laughing, fully aware it was likely honest. He loved that his family loved her. "You're coming back to work next week, right?"

"I was thinking of working from my home office for a while until she's settled," Rhys admitted.

"She will be safe here," Cassian assured him. "And occupied."

"I don't want her to need help and not be able to get it," Rhys admitted.

"And you'd drop an important conference call if she gets herself stuck on the stairs," Cassian chuckled. "We need you back at work."

"Are things getting that chaotic?" Rhys asked.

"Hybern is still a thorn in our side. The threats to the Velaris businesses are continuing. And the Board is becoming unruly. Mor won't say anything since she started sitting in on their meetings, but I've had to go with her to the meetings just to maintain order. Az has been running damage control with the Velaris businesses on top of trying to keep up on Hybern. And Amren is swamped with the Amarantha stuff, and keeping up with the Board, and trying to keep Hybern under legal terms." Cassian shook his head. "Sometimes it's hard to appreciate everything you are doing until we have to take part of the load. Not that you shouldn't have been with Feyre in the hospital, but I think she's in a good place now. Maybe work partial days or partial weeks at the office, but please come back."

Rhys bowed his head and nodded. His family needed him too and his company. He couldn't just abandon them though he could barely stand to leave Feyre a room away from him while she was so injured. But Nuala and Cerridwen would be around and he'd make sure she could call him whenever she needed help.

"I'll talk things over with Feyre. I'm sure she'll side with you, but I'd like her to tell me how much she needs from me until she's more fully healed," he told his brother. Cassian nodded.

"I'll finish up the dishes since I'm the one that made so many of them. I'd expected one of us to stop by tomorrow. We have yet to decide which, but someone will stop by and make sure you two are still okay." Cassian shooed him from the kitchen just in time for him to catch Azriel's quiet voice carrying back from the dining room.

"It's designed for people in your situation. Video lectures, recordings of the articles and books you need to read, and if that all doesn't work, I'll help you," Azriel was speaking to Feyre.

"Why do this for me?" Feyre asked, her voice equally as soft.

"I remember what it was like to be denied an education. My family didn't let me attend school. I wasn't allowed out more than an hour a week to see the sun. I was twelve when Rhys' mom took me in and taught me how to read, write, and set the rest of my education. She saw what I could do and gave me the tools to do it. She did the same for Cassian but he was younger when she did it for him. So now I'm going to do the same for you. This will get you your high school GED. Then we can look at college programs."

Rhys felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew, had known, that his mother had spent hours tutoring Cassian and Azriel each night when she had taken them in. Illyrians weren't much on educating everyone. It tended to be a family affair which was why his mother made a point to be in his education even with his father sending him to the best schools in Prythian. He had known in his mind and heart that neither Cassian nor Azriel had had any sort of education before that point. He had never mocked them for not knowing their letters or numbers because he had been raised to understand his privileges, but it was one thing to know and another to hear how it had deeply affected them. Possibly Azriel more so than Cassian simply because so much had been denied to him. Cassian basked in the family he felt had been denied to him; Azriel basked in his intelligence that had been stoked into genius levels by the drive to pursue what he never had been able to before.

And now he was giving that to Feyre. She could read. She could write. She could do so many things. But a formal education would benefit her as far as getting her into a college. Then she could decide which interests she wanted to pursue. He could see her following her arts into some sort of degree just like he could see her pursing business degrees with how easily she grasped the concepts once they were explained to her.

"You'll have some time while you recover to get started and you know how to get a hold of me if you have questions," Azriel told Feyre. "The laptop is yours to keep. And if you go here to this program here, I've pre-downloaded all of the books I think you'll like on audio."

"Az," Feyre's voice sounded thick with emotion and Rhys stopped himself from running in to protect her. Neither of them needed him to ruin this moment. "Thank you. I don't think I can really accept this though."

"You can," Azriel assured her. "You'll use it for work too, I'm sure. So think of it as necessarily work equipment. All of it."

Chairs scraped back and Rhys waited another moment before he glanced around the doorway to see Feyre hugging Azriel tight. He stepped back and waited until Azriel came around the corner. His brother likely knew he had been listening but he said nothing about it.

"Thank you for coming over for dinner," Rhys told him as they walked towards the door. "We should start having our weekly family dinners again."

"We should," Azriel agreed. "We'll plan for next Saturday?"

"Yes," Rhys nodded and gripped his brother's arm for a moment. "Saturday would be great."

"I'll get the word out. You might need more wine this time," Azriel grinned at him and left.

"Weekly dinners, huh?" Feyre asked when Azriel was gone and it was just them in the dining room and Cassian back in the kitchen, possibly listening in.

"Is that alright?" He moved to take her in his arms, wanting to have every chance to hold her he could.

"I'd be surprised if it really was just once a week," Feyre giggled. "I'm shocked Mor doesn't raid your wine daily."

"Before you came along, there was always someone in the house eating my food or drinking my liquor," Rhys informed her.

"Or taking advantage of the cable he pays for but doesn't watch. Someone needs to make sure the television and couch are loved too," Cassian called from the kitchen.

"What changed when I came along?" Feyre called back.

"A chance we'd see Rhys naked!" Was the only reply. Feyre laughed softly at that and leaned in closer to Rhys.

"I never thought I'd be part of something like this," Feyre admitted after a moment.

"Like what?"

"A family. A real family. So thank you for giving that to me," she murmured.

"I'm glad you're happy. I'm glad you want to be a part of this family," he responded just as softly. He was beyond thankful for his family, even more thankful that the Mother had led him to Feyre. He could say a thousand different things to be witty or to tell her how he truly felt but all he truly wanted to do was get her back in the bed so he could wrap around her once more. "Can we go back upstairs? I've missed holding you and all I want to do is sleep next to you again."