Chapter 4

Chalice sighed with mock distraught and rolled her eyes at her husband's threat, running a hand through her hair, and walked over, plopping down on the couch. "You won't touch me, Dairy Deadman." She stated, smirking when he quirked an eyebrow up at her. "I have my big brother to protect me." She grinned proudly as they continued to wrestle. Just enjoying this time with the two most important men in her life.

Steve managed to shove Mark away, tackling him and applying his own headlock. "Now…Dairy Deadman…" He began casually. "What was all that bout poppin' my head like a tick?"

"I'm going to kick your ass, Steve!" Mark growled, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist in a bear hug, squeezing as hard as he could.

Steve's eyes bulged, but the grin never left his face. "I knew it!" He crowed. "Challie is just a cover! You DO find bald men sexy!"

Chalice howled in laughter again as she stared back at her brother, shaking her head, and couldn't believe what he'd just said. "I think you might be right, Stevie. He does seem comfortable down there wrestling around with you." She smirked when Mark shot her a deadly glare and shrugged it off as she started laughing again.

Steve shrieked, "HE PINCHED MY ASS!" He shouted, now trying to escape Mark, no longer interested in maintaining that headlock. "Lemme go you pervert!"

"But Stevie, you know I find bald men sexy…and you're the only bald man around." Mark teased, his green eyes glinting wickedly. "Thought you liked it? You're the one who pushed me to the floor."

"I'M GOIN' TO KILL YOU!!" Steve shouted. "STOP PINCHIN' MY ASS!"

Chalice was rolling around on the ouch, howling in more laughter as more tears streamed down her cheeks, and couldn't believe what Mark was doing. "Well damn, I think I'd better go find me another man. You done gone and stole my fiancé, Stevie!" She giggled wickedly, her blue eyes gleaming. "I think we should go shopping, brother. Dress shopping…"

Mark had about enough of his fiancée's teasing and launched for her next, wrapping her in his arms, and growled in her ear, "Dress shopping?"

Steve was on his feet, rubbing his ass from where Mark pinched him. "Yeah, get'em somethin' in pink, the fruit bag."

"I'm going to show you something pink…" Mark threatened in a hiss.

"Keep it in yer pants man, I ain't interested!"

Mark groaned, burying his face in Chalice's neck, and grumbled, "Why me?"

"Uhh honey, what are you doing?" Chalice asked innocently, her blue eyes gleaming wickedly as she smirked back at her brother knowingly. "You're with my brother now so I have to let you go. It's going to be SO hard…" She mocked sniffled and sighed sadly. "But I wish you two nothing, but happiness in the future."

"I ain't interested." Steve declared, plopping down in Mark's chair, making himself comfortable. "I like red heads and all, but uh…NO…A little less facial hair is ya don't mind." Mark's hair was a dark red that almost looked black at times.

"You two are giving me a damned headache." Mark growled, moving to sit on the opposite end of the couch, shaking his head.

"We could always dye your hair, Marky. It'll look good with the pink frilly wedding dress." She teased, her eyes sparkling back and him, and laughed as she snuggled up in her corner of the couch, shaking her head.

"Oh yeah…with matchin' bra and panties. Ya a thong man, Mark?" Steve smirked as he asked, exchanging a look with his sister. "Personally, I find that disturbin', but whatever floats yer boat." Mark's face was slowly turning beat red, his hands clenching and unclenching, looking like steam was about to pour from his ears.

"I'm sure he don't mind, especially since he wears a dress to the ring to compete all the time. You can call it a robe if you want, Marky, but we both know you secretly call it a dress." Chalice teased even more, loving how they were getting under Mark's skin, especially the look of his face, and laughed. "A thong man? Shit, I don't think you could fit his big, giant ass into a thong. It'd snap off in a second!"

"THAT'S IT!" Mark roared, getting to his feet, and grabbed Steve by the back of his neck, squeezing. "Get the hell outta here!"

Steve was still laughing, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks as he was bodily carted out of the house. "Dairy Deadman in cow print thongs!" He hollered right before being tossed out the door.

Mark returned to his fiancée, towering over her, and growled out, "Now…as for you…"

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Chalice looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, still giggling, and when he lunged for her, she immediately hopped over the couch and bolted up the stairs. She laughed the entire way as she ran into the bedroom, locking the door, and immediately locked the attaching door that connected to their master bathroom. "Don't be sour about it, Dairy Deadman!" She called out through the door. "We both know you secretly love the gimmick, honey."

Mark sighed when he seen the door was locked and knew he had three options. One, he waited for Chalice to unlock it. Two, he picked the lock. Three, he kicked the door in. He went for option three. "Come here, darlin'!" He bellowed, trying to keep the amusement from his voice. "Don't make me kick down that damned door too, Chalice."

She immediately backed away from the door, knowing he was going to kick it in, and stopped as she took a deep breath. "Mark, we were just kidding with you!" She called back, trying to keep the fear out of her voice tone. "I'm not opening that door until you calm down!" She declared, crossing her arms in front of her chest defiantly.

Hearing the fear in her voice, Mark instantly felt regret shoot through him, knowing he had scared her. "Darlin', I was only playing. I can fix the door." He said softly, pressing his hands against the bathroom door that linked to their bedroom that she'd locked. "Come on Chalice, please?"

"We were only kidding around, Mark." She softly replied, staring at the door, and bit her bottom lip. "Please, I'll do anything if you promise not to do anything to me." She called out pleadingly, still keeping her distance from the door, and began to tremble from head to toe as she took another step back.

Mark felt his heart break at what Chalice said and sighed, raking a hand through his wet hair. He didn't say a word, just slid on his boots and picked up the keys to his truck. "You can come out, darlin'." He said softly, his tone full of sorrow and remorse, hating himself for making her scared. Though, at the same time, he couldn't honestly believe that she thought he would ever hurt her. "I'm leavin'…"

Chalice's eyes filled with tears when she heard him say that and started shaking with anger. Her Williams temper was kicking into high gear as she ripped the door open and tossed the vase of flowers against the wall, smashing it to bits, and screamed, "NO, I'M FUCKING LEAVING!"

After everything that had happened that day with her parents, this was the absolutely last thing Chalice needed. She grabbed her own keys and rushed out of the bedroom, not caring if glass got in her feet, and rushed down the stairs and out the front door. Tears were pouring down her face as she got in her car. She started the ignition and watched as Mark came barreling out the front door. She showed him just what she thought of him, which was number one, like her brother did in the ring, before peeling out of the driveway and down the road.

Mark's own dangerous temper was up now. He got into his truck and peeled off after her. His green eyes narrowed dangerously when he seen her turn and cut her off, the road thankfully empty except for them. He gritted his teeth when she purposely plowed into his truck and got out, stalking over to her car. He snorted when she locked the door and put his fist through the glass window, unlocking it before ripping the door open and pulled her out. "STOP IT, CHALICE!" He ordered when she began fighting him. "DAMN IT STOP! I would never fucking hurt you! I was joking around in the bedroom for Christ sakes! I didn't know breaking the door would scare you like it did." His tone lowered, holding her still, staring down into her eyes, his temper cooling off, regret filling them again at the thought of what he'd just done. "Chalice, if you want to leave, fine, but I would NEVER hurt you, not as long as there's a breath in my body. I'd kill myself before I laid one harmful finger on you. I love you, don't you know that?"

She couldn't believe he'd just put his fist through her window and was visibly shaken up. She'd screamed out at him to stop when he'd done that and could feel her heart still lodged in her throat. His green eyes stared back into her petrified blue orbs. Seeing the passion, the intensity, and had to swallow really hard in order to speak. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She immediately looked down at his hand, which was covered in blood and glass, feeling tears instantly prick her eyes.

"You're hurt." She whispered out shakily, swallowing her fear down to her stomach, and slowly began picking the glass from his hand. Tears poured down her face silently as she worked, finally removing the final piece, and ripped a piece of her coat off, wrapping it up so it didn't get infected. She then looked back up at him, the fear clearly shining in her eyes, but she didn't back away.

Tears filled Mark's eyes when he seen the fear in hers, unable to blink them back, and honestly not caring as one slid down his face. He reached out to cup the side of her face, drawing back when she flinched. "Chalice…" He whispered, his tone filled with pain.

She hadn't meant to flinch, but right now, she was scared to death of him. She was literally scared for her life, not believing what he just did. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms as the chills ran throughout her body. This was the first time she'd been scared of him in the past two years that they'd been together. The last time she'd been this scared of him was right before he almost raped her. After kidnapping her from her brother. She could hear the pain in his tone of voice and wiped her tears away from her eyes, trying to get rid of those chills and the fear, but it wasn't happening. Not after what just happened.

Mark knew he had royally fucked up. That it would have been better all the way around if he would have just let her go and waited until they were both calm before approaching her. But damn it, this woman riled him up worse then Steve ever could. She made him feel EVERYTHING on a different level then normal. Everything intensified when it came to her. Mark sighed, stepping away from her, the piece of her coat falling from his bloody fist. Though, he didn't seem to notice. "Take my truck…" He ordered softly. "Go to Steve's. I'll have my things out by mornin'." He informed her softly, his heart breaking. "You won't have to…be afraid anymore, Chalice."

"No…" She whispered out, taking a deep, shaky breath, and closed her eyes before opening them to stare into his. "I'm not going anywhere. I love you too damned much to let you just walk away from this. From us." Her voice was filled with determination and love as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms hesitantly around his body, burying her face in his chest, and clung to him. "I didn't mean to be afraid. I didn't mean it, Mark." She started crying harder as she shook her head back and forth. "Please don't walk away from me. We can work this out…" She snuggled further into his chest, rubbing his back with her hands, trembling. "Please…"

He instantly wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. "I'm so sorry, Chalice." He whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I would never hurt you, darlin'. I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving that to you, making this up to you, I promise."

"Shhh calm down, my dark prince." She murmured softly in his ear, running her fingers through his long, dark red tresses, and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, trying to soothe his tormented soul. "I love you, no matter what happens in our life together. You're it for me and I don't care if we have to go through the fiery depths of Hell and back, we ARE going to be together." She pulled back to stare into his eyes, pressing her forehead against his, and ran her hand down his cheek. "We ARE going to survive this." She whispered confidently and kissed him softly. "Please, I want to go home." She whispered pleadingly.

Mark nodded, raking a hand through his hair again before looking at his truck, then at her car, wincing when he seen glass all over the seat. "Take the truck, darlin'…" He instructed softly, bending down to kiss her lips tenderly. "It's just a little dent, I don't want you cutting yourself."

"No, we'll take the truck together. My car can wait until tomorrow or something." She ordered softly, taking his hand in her own, and lead him over to the truck. She took the keys from his hand, making him get in, and proceeded to drive them both back to the house. After pulling in the driveway, Chalice slid out, tossing the keys back at him, and walked inside, needing a shot after what she just dealt with. She poured it and downed it, then another. Pretty soon, she was downing her sixth shot.

Sighing, having watched her drink, Mark finally took the bottle and shot glass away from her. "Darlin', don't. You had enough and tonight just ain't the night to be drinking." He said gently, but firmly, putting the bottle up on a high shelf.

Not in the mood to argue with her future husband, Chalice nodded as she limped out of the kitchen, little trickles of blood leaving a trail in her path. She headed upstairs to lay down, not even realizing there was glass in her feet from when she ran out of the room earlier after throwing the vase against the wall. Mark seen the blood and frowned, following and picking her up. He carried her upstairs and gently set her down on the bed. He went to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit and came back out, kneeling in front of her. Gently picking the glass out of her feet, Mark tried his best not to hurt her, having to dig some shards out that had been embedded in her feet from her walking on them, which pushed the shards in. After he was done, he tenderly washed her feet, patted them dry, and put some salve and gauze wrapping on them, staring up at her.

Tears of pain were flowing down her cheeks, but when it was all over, her feet felt a lot better. She slowly reached her hand out, caressing his face with the back of her hand, and pulled back before laying down on the bed. She grabbed his hand in her own, entwining them together, and pulled him down with little effort to spoon up against her. "I love you, Mark." She whispered, closing her eyes, and allowed more tears to flow down her cheeks, the exhaustion of the day's events overtaking her body.