A/N: I know last chapter was kind of... angsty and stuff, but... no buts. I don't know. It just was. I hope you liked it and I hope you like this one... but we're in a downswing of emotions, so I'm not sure how likely that is. Sorry fam. Also sorry cause it's short, but there's some action coming up, so this will be the last pseudo-boring chapter... hopefully ever? we'll see. Please review!

Benvolio

Having fully relieved myself of the contents of my stomach over the course of the past few hours, my head was growing clearer. There was still a pounding ache, but the mixture of water and a fried egg made by one of the spectacular cooks my uncle had brought into our household in preparations for a wedding feast that was never to be, it was clear enough to allow me my current occupation: pacing and cursing my own failure.

I had made a fool of myself. If intercepting her dance, and drunkenly accosting her wasn't bad enough I had... I had attempted to seduce a woman sworn to marry another. I had... oh God I had put her in an impossible position. I had done her a gross disservice, and I had been... cruel to her. I had sworn my love to her and then I had acted a boorish cad, nearly forcing myself upon her unwilling person.

She hadn't seemed unwilling at the time. Drunk or not, you know damn well she was begging for you, she was-

I pounded my head in my hands, relieving myself from that particular line of though. I had behaved as ungentlemanly as I possibly could have, and I was far less than the man she deserved.

I loved her. Regardless of my ability to have her in my life, I would do what was best for her. I sighed, packing my satchel and making my way to my lawyer. I needed to prepare a very, very complicated wedding gift.

Rosaline

I awoke to the feeling of soft silk pressed against my cheek and the remnants of tears, crusted in my eyes. I hated crying myself to sleep, but I'd gotten so used to it now I barely noticed anymore. At least that's what I told myself when I rubbed the crusted tears out of the corners of my eyes.

"Morning." Isabella walked in the room, having the common courtesy not to look too happy. "I asked for breakfast to be brought up, along with an ice pack for your ankle." It took me a moment to remember why my ankle would need ice. Oh. Right. Explaining the sobs to the bystanders. "It should buy us some time before..." She trailed off.

"Oh. That's today." She nodded.

"Yes. With the dignitaries visiting for your ball last night, Escalus thought it best to have the gifting ceremonies now, while they're all hear. No need to make them all travel twice." I nodded. Some of them would be back for the wedding, but in a skilled bit of diplomacy, Isabella had put around that I was extremely shy, and knowledgeable about what an honor it was to become a princess, and that I knew I wasn't ready for such an honor, and as such, we had decided to have a small wedding, to allow me time to learn my new place in the world before a spectacle that a normal royal wedding would bring. I think that half the reason Escalus agreed was because he was afraid I'd say no and try to run in the middle of the ceremony. It was a weak excuse, but Isabella was rather persuasive, and no one seemed to question it. So today I'd have to sit by the right hand of the Prince and accept all these gifts from people wishing us well. And I'd have to pretend to love him. On paper, it wasn't unlike what I'd had to do with Be- with him back in the beginning, when I still hated him, but it felt different.

We had been... victims together. Neither of us had wanted it and we had both been rather conscious of one another's angst and heartache over the whole thing. Escalus, on the other hand, this was his fault. He was the perpetrator here. He could stop all of this, but he would not. His so called love for me was too great... he knew nothing of love, only of desire and possession. He thought I was his, to use as he liked. I could never love him. A small voice in my head, prepared for the day when Escalus met his match, when he fell in love with one who could love him in return. But we would be wed. And while some may have considered that a nonissue for a man of Escalus's standing, I would do everything in my power to keep them from one another. If I could not have Benvolio, Escalus would not know love either. A knock on the door sounded, and breakfast entered, followed by half a dozen stylists, ready to prepare me for this day. Yet another horrid, horrid day.

My wardrobist tsked his tongue as he brushed away the tears that were falling on the patterns he showed me. Isabella sat beside me and held my hand, telling the man to pick whatever he liked best, and that I didn't have a preference.

"If I could stop all of this, I would." Isabella said to me softly. "If you change your mind-"

"No. It is done." I cut her off. I couldn't allow myself to consider the fantasies, the alternative. "He is a darker man than I could ever have imagined. He will do whatever it takes to have me, and I cannot, I will not allow Benvolio or Livia to suffer because I desired freedom." At his name I burst into a new cascade of tears and Isabella shooed the hairdresser away and held me tightly in her embrace, rocking me back and forth, comforting me as best as she could.

Livia

The message had come late last night, much to my aunt's chagrin. Rosaline had twisted an ankle and she was going to remain a guest in Isabella's rooms for the evening. My presence was requested the following morning as she prepared herself for the presentation of the gifts. A carriage had picked me up promptly at the scheduled time that morning, and I had arrived alongside the stylists. We had walked together for a while, but I had fallen behind, distracted by a painting in the Hall of Dignitaries. Paris. A young Paris, with his father, the Prince behind him looking proud. Why hadn't they taken it down? Escalus had nearly been killed, his crown stolen, his sister likely humiliated and degraded, if not killed herself because of this monster's greed delusions. So why did it still hang? I had sighed, looking at it. His eyes... that look in his boyish eyes was so innocent, so good. Something had happened between that boy and the man I'd met to twist him. What was the world coming to? Without the stylists as my guides, it had taken me a few moments to find my way to Isabella's suite.

I finally came upon the door but before I could enter, I heard... crying? Was that Ros?

"If I could stop all of this, I would." Isabella's voice cut into the sounds of tears gently. "If you change your mind-"

"No. It is done." Ros' voice was like a knife, cutting and sharp. Angry and desolate all at once. "He is a darker man than I could ever have imagined. He will do whatever it takes to have me, and I cannot, I will not allow Benvolio or Livia to suffer because I desired freedom." My hand flew to my lips as I stifled my gasp. That was it? She was marrying Escalus because... he had somehow threatened Benvolio and I? Of course she was. It all made perfect sense now. I was so stupid! My sister, the woman who nearly ran off to become a nun rather than wed someone she didn't care for, was now willingly marrying a man she did not love, when the one she did pined for her endlessly. She had only stopped herself from joining the nunnery when... when she realized it would be better for me, safer for me, if she did what she'd been asked. She was always protecting me. Always had, always would, and now she was sacrificing her heart for me. And for him. Escalus must have threatened Benvolio in some way. And the Montague had no idea. He thought she had just left him. I had to tell him. I had to... we had to save Ros for a change.