Author's Note: I'M BACK! Okay, so I know it's been forever but I'm blocked. I'll try REALLY hard to get the next chappie up!

Benvolio

A million thoughts were chasing one another as I stared out the window of my uncle's - no, my carriage on our way back to my estate. But none of them made any sense. It was as I was watching a play and a character from the next theater over had wandered on stage and begun performing parts from the wrong show. It made no sense. None of it made any sense.

"Nephew-"

"Silence." I demanded.

"I beg your pardon but I doubt that's any way to speak to the head of this household, young man, and I demand that you treat me with the level of respect I deserve!"

"We both know damn well you haven't been head of house since I turned 21 years old. I'm head of House Montague. And unless you intend to have me killed as you did my father, I'd suggest you stop stealing my funds and ordering me around." I shook my head. This was ridiculous. I wasn't even that angry at my uncle per se, I was just... angry. He'd killed my father, and stolen my inheritance, and mismanaged my estate and all I could think was how on Earth a girl who I could read like an open book had tricked me into thinking she was in love with me, no, had tricked me into thinking she valued love and trust more than money and power, only to leave me brokenhearted while she got engaged to a damn prince. A prince, I might add, whose head was only still attached to his shoulders because I had done my damndest to stop the damned coup that was aiming for his life and his crown. Well not I. We. I shook my head. There was no we. It had all been some trick. Or maybe that's what I would think, if I thought someone with a heart as big as Rosaline's capable of such a thing.

Again, nothing made any sense. The pieces just... didn't fit together. I knew her, not just her person, but I knew her soul, her heart, and even though my panicking heart was doubting that at present, I knew deep down that I was missing some piece of this puzzle because I DID know her and I knew that she didn't trust him. Maybe he'd offered her assurances. Some semblance of power over him so that he could not hurt her again. I don't know how that would work, but if she didn't trust him... Did he have something over her sister? She might marry him to ensure that Livia was safe and well provided for. The sister of a princess would certainly fair better than the sister of a lady. Or perhaps in the brief time away from me, her feelings had changed once more. After my initial scoffing at that thought, I began to give it more credit. After all, we had fallen for one another, hard, fast, and in the heat of adventure. She already had feelings for the prince and while she insisted they were gone, perhaps they were simply lying dormant, and somehow, in the 24 hours since she left my side, the pair of them had re-awoken their feelings for one another. She had loved him. She had loved me. But her heart was easily changed. How could it not be? She'd fallen for me, a Montague, an orphan, a man she'd sworn to hate, a man from the family who'd made her an orphan. That must be the missing piece. Her heart, while deep, changed quickly and easily.

It still felt as though I was forcing the pieces of this puzzle together but they were starting to create a picture, so I ignored the edges where they didn't quite fit.

It didn't really matter. I could fixate on this all I liked, dedicate my life to figuring out what had changed, but at the end of the day, she was going to marry him, and I was going to die miserable and alone. I wasn't even being dramatic. It was just... true.

"Son-"

"Don't call me son." I spat out. My uncle looked... almost afraid. I sighed. "I'm not mad at you. Forgive me uncle."

"Forgive... You find out I had a hand in the death of your father, that I've been lying and steeling from you-"

"Don't pretend that you haven't been managing our house well. You were in it for the Montagues, not for yourself. I may have loved my father but even I can admit he was a far better father than he was head of house. I've looked at the finances. He was loosing money at an alarming rate, and he cared little for future planning. It wasn't selfish, what you did. You did it for Romeo. So that he might have something of the world. If it had been selfish you'd have killed me too."

"You still seem oddly calm about this."

"Am I supposed to be angry over a bit of money? Unlike others I could mention, money and power are not the most important things in the world." Once again, my words were spat from my lips and a fool could hear the venom and bitterness in my voice."

"So you loved her too, then."

"What?" I asked, his slightly saddened tone confusing me.

"I thought perhaps she'd agreed to marry our fool of a prince because she thought she was doing you a favor, because you didn't love her and she wanted to give you the chance to find love, or something equally noble and idiotic."

"What are you talking about? She knew I loved her. More than she loved me, it seems."

"You're wrong."

"How so? You saw what happened along with the rest of Verona, how could I be wrong?"

"When you were arrested, she came storming out of the castle, having just sworn directly to the Prince's face, in front of armed guards, and half the Lords in the land, that he would rue the day he turned his favor from you. She slaved day and night, igniting the servants of the city to band together and learn the truth. She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she did nothing until she'd discovered the truth and brought together proof for his highness. She was prepared to defy the devil himself if it meant your freedom. She loved you more fiercely then I've ever witnessed before. I thought maybe if you didn't love her back... maybe then she might align herself with someone so clearly beneath her in order to bring you happiness." I feel into silence. More puzzle pieces that didn't fit.

"It doesn't matter why. She made her choice. They're betrothed before God and country. There's naught to be done."

"The pair of you were betrothed before God and country. It cost me 40,000 ducats, so I remember it quite clearly, Benvolio."

"Consider it a wedding gift for your prince and his happy bride." I finally replied as the carriage slowed to a halt. I opened the door before the footman could get to it and I stalked inside, avoiding eye contact, avoiding the voices calling out, happy at my return. Instead, I walked into my room and sitting on the edge of my bed, I rested my face in my hands, and I wept.

Rosaline

I wept. All the time. Before my head hit my pillow each night the tears began to pour and the didn't stop until long after I feel asleep. In the middle of a meal when my aunt made a comment about my bringing honor back to our family. When Livia spoke about my wedding dress - actually I'd almost held it in then, the dress itself meant nothing without the man, but she'd gone on to say that it was a good thing the modiste had started making it back when I was still fake betrothed to Benvolio so there was time to get it done before the big day. Then I'd bawled again. Livia didn't understand. My aunt did but pretended otherwise. My pillow let me cry in peace.

I kept my sanity knowing that I was doing this all for him. He would be safe. He would find someone else to love and she'd bring him a large dowry, and a dozen bawling babies, and I could make sure that the whole lot of them were just fine. I would protect him. I would love him from afar. And one day, I would stop crying over him. Probably.

"Rosaline!" Livia's voice chirped. "I know you've been melancholy all day sister, but there's someone here to cheer you up!" Dear God. If it's Escalus again I think I might vomit. He had been taking to dropping in to see me. It would have been romantic if I weren't in love with another man whom he was using as blackmail to get me to marry him. A slight knock on the door told me that this mystery guest was here. Her head pocked through the doorway and I sighed in relief. Isabella.

"Rosaline!" She cried out rushing to my side. As we pulled back from our embrace, she glanced at Livia, seemingly asking if my sister knew the truth of the situation. I shook my head minutely and she pursed her lips. "Livia dear, would you mind allowing me to steal your sister away on a walk. You and I have had much time in the past week or two as you've reentered society as a lady and it's been truly lovely, but there are some details I must speak to Rosaline about. Royal family sorts of things. The guards are needlessly secure about it all and I've been forbidden to speak in the presence of another." She spoke the words with such dramaticism, it was clear that she disapproved of the fictional story she'd made up and Livia wasn't the least bit offended by it all. She laughed gaily and urged Princess Isabella to help me out of the mood I'd been in. Isabella confidently took my arm and led me to the garden.

"My dear friend..." She began quietly as we walked. "I wish I could offer you words of comfort."

"I once wished upon a star to marry your brother." I replied bitterly. "I now curse every star in the heavens."

"You loved him once, could you not learn to love him again?"

"A child loved him. I am no longer that child. Beyond that I do not trust him, and even if all of that were completely irrelevant, Isabella, I am in love with another man! A man, I might add, whose life is at risk if I refuse your brother!" She fell silent once more.

"I went to him. Asked him to release you from your promise. But I'm afraid it did more harm than good."

"In what way?"

"I suggested that you both might be miserable if you did not love him, and he was all the more convinced that he should make you love him, and that he would slave at his task until you did. He is determined to have you, Rosaline."

"A possession for his collection."

"It isn't like that. In the very lease he does love you. It could be far worse."

"It could. But am I to rejoice because my love could instead be dead? Imprisoned? By the man I'm to marry. What sort of monsters threatens to kill or torture an innocent man just to get what he wants?" Isabella had nothing more to say for a few minutes.

"I will be your friend, always Rosaline. If you ever find yourself in need of anything, I wish you would call upon me for it. Selfishly, I am a touch happy we are to be sisters. I have always thought of you as my best friend, and I am-"

"You aren't selfish, Isabella you are practical. You always did make the best of your situation. I find I am incapable of joining you on that particular high road. I am too busy walking headfirst down the road of despair."

"I think it is better than it appears."

"Can I lock myself away from my husband on my wedding night? On every night thereafter? The thought of him... I love another. It would feel... wrong. Like I am betraying Benvolio. To sleep with Escalus? To bear his children? Isabella, I..." I had to cease speaking now because once again, I wept.

"You will be an excellent mother, regardless of your children's father." The princess spoke softly, taking me in her arms and rocking me gently, attempting to quell the tears. "You need not be afraid. Your heart will remain true to Benvolio, no matter your actions. It is not a betrayal. Not really. You do this for him."

"It doesn't make it easier." I blubbered, my tears wetting her sleeve.

"I know." We sat down on a nearby bench and she held me, comforting my sobs, for the better part of an hour, until a servant came to fetch us for dinner. Rebecca. That was the girl's name. I had enlisted Rebecca and her 6 brothers, footmen in various houses across Verona, in my search for Benvolio's innocence. She didn't look me in the eye anymore.

I dried my face, lifted my head, and marched forward. For Benvolio. Always for Benvolio. My love. My heart. I glanced into the sky, and I wondered what God thought about all of this. The brilliant sunlight caught on the large diamond Escalus had placed on my finger. Then again, perhaps there was no God.

A/N: Okay! So if all goes to plan, there's going to be some interaction between Benvolio and Rosaline next chapter! Woohoo! I'd LOVE to hear what you would all like to see. SERIOUSLY! PLEASE! Please review and PM me with how their re-meeting should play out, and what else you'd like to see out of this fic before I wrap it up. Cheers! xoxo - E