Title: Show me Chapter 2

Word Count: 2489

Rate: T for Violence, Language, Alcohol and Drug use, maybe some nudes.

It was hard to coup much without the aid of her friends like usual or the support system of her family who were going about their own lives; their own treks and paths that was life. Clawdeen seemed to crave the escape to the arms of her ghouls who would be able to give her advice about what she needed to do, without them she was unsure if any of her ideas were the right way to go.

Now she lies in her empty bed, staring at the ceiling for—god knew how long. The billionth time she looked to her phone to see if Rocco had text-ed her back at least to let her know that he was okay or something, but that didn't happen.

It had been about a week since she had to cancel her appointment with the wedding planner and would keep it on the back burner of her mind for the time being. Rocco was being a tad difficult in talking to and seemed to just blow stuff off if it didn't pertain to himself.

Clawdeen worried though— Rocco had always been a man of unpredictability and Clawdeen could never seem to find a way into that head of his. What was constantly going on up there would make him act the way he would?

She could only groan out in frustration as she turned to her side; facing his side of the bed with another sigh.

"What is the point of having all of this when I have to enjoy it on my own?" She asked herself with a small pout as she cuddled close to her pillow, reminiscing of the past when they were inseparable. She had wondered for the longest time exactly what went wrong-if it had always been like this, but she was just so blinded by what she thought was a strong relationship, she became oblivious to her own needs.

Again she looked to her phone to see that it was about 1 in the morning; she figured that he probably gotten drunk with his buddies again and probably crashed over their place….something, yet no simple reasoning would ease her ever going mind.

Eventually she would close her eyes and try to find a median of stability and sanctuary; slowly into a light slumber until she was startled at the pounding at the front door.

Clawdeen sat in her bed a moment longer as she tried to rationalize who it could be before she got up; the fireplace pick in her hand as she made her way to the pounding. It was relentless and it frightened her. No one in their right mind would be doing this at this hour, but she just couldn't ignore it…what if it was Rocco?

With that in mind, she looked into the peephole to see that it was Romulus and Rocco, but something seemed off.

In an instance she opened the door to see that Romulus was carrying Rocco on his back literally. He reeked of alcohol and couldn't even stand on his own two feet.

"Jesus! What happened?" Clawdeen asked Romulus as she helped him carry the big guy into the bedroom where Romulus was relieved of about 2 tons.

"I really don't know…I got a call from the guys saying that Rocco was trying to get into a fight with some other guy at the bar… I came and got him as soon as possible and thus—here we are." Romulus took a deep breath as he tried to straighten up as best as he could. The linebacker wasn't the lightest of man.

Clawdeen could only look to her fiance with a shake of her head and a frown to her lips. It saddened her to know that he would rather have that life style of being young, wild and free than to be secure at an appropriate hour so he could practice the next morning…that is what he chose and nothing Clawdeen said or did would change that. It was careless.

"Rocco…." She tsked as she turned her head towards Romulus.

The looked that he saw from her about the situation—he guessed, was a look of disappointment and frustration. Romulus knew that Rocco was a party-er as well as a superstar; choosing to live in the limelight because of that. He could only shake his head as he looked to his feet; rocking back on his heel before looking back at Clawdeen.

"Thank you Romulus…he is lucky to have such a great friend like you…." She sighed as she looked back to the sleeping form of some guy she used to know. "Can you give us a moment?" Clawdeen asked gently.

"Sure…I will be in the front room." He gave her a reassuring smile before he left; the door closed behind him.

~~20 mins later

Romulus leaned against the back of the living room sofa; arms crossed over his chest as he looked to the display case that was against the wall by a large scale picture of a runway photo. Inside were Clawdeen's achievements, her awards and medals.

He was impressed.

Not many girls her age were focused like she was and really didn't know what they wanted in life. But here was Clawdeen—in school, her own store, awesome personality of a go-getter, beautiful….out of this world.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he was approached to gentle footsteps and a deep sigh. "Didn't have it in you to kill him, huh?" He smiled to her as she lightly chuckled to his humor.

"He will live for now…I just changed him like the baby he is.." She responded as Romulus stood to her; easily towering over her. "Thank you again Romulus…I don't know how to repay you. I know he can get out of hand most of the time."

He could feel that she felt embarrassed for Rocco. It was sad to see especially for someone who cared so much for him, but he couldn't see why.

"Don't worry about it… I can sleep better knowing that he is in good hands now."

His remark brought another small chuckled from the girl, but the feeling of embarrassment was still there and she could feel it too. It was that feeling that left a presence of silence among them.

Clawdeen really didn't know what to do, but here stood someone who looked like that would listen. There was just so much that she kept inside; in regards to the relationship and how she felt, that needed to come out, but she feared her problems would drive him away. It didn't help that he knew Rocco and would probably turn around and tell him everything she would complain about.

She could only sigh as she slowly made her way to the kitchen to start some hot water for tea or something. There was too much on her mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Romulus slowly followed after her; feeling bothered by her silence. "I don't want to pry…but I already know you are upset at Rocco. I get it… I, myself get tired of his shit sometimes." He admitted to Clawdeen as she shook her head.

"I just don't know what to do… I try to be the best woman I can be for him. I try so hard to keep positive in our relationship, but I feel that he wants something else. I feel that I am not doing enough to at least keep his attention. I just don't know…" She replied as she looked back into those green orbs of his to see his concern for her well-being, which was something that she hadn't felt in a while.

But why? Why would he even bother with her? Why would a stranger want to get himself involved with her issues?

"You can only do so much, you know. A relationship is 50/50 and Rocco—well, I don't know what goes on in his head sometimes, but maybe you should have a sit down with him and tell him everything that is on your mind. What point is a relationship if you are miserable and can't speak your mind?" Romulus gave his advice as she rested against the marble cabinet next to the stove.

"I've tried that already…Many times in fact. When I thought that things were good, they went right back to the old ways. I just can't keep worrying about him and trying to keep myself together at the same time." Clawdeen was truly stumped in what she needed to do.

Like she said—she couldn't keep worrying about Rocco and his antics as well as keep herself sane.

It was these thoughts that made her look back at the ring on her finger. To think this was a thing that symbolized the best of times, but covered the worst. It wasn't a life that Clawdeen wanted.

"But I love him…I do love him."

Romulus listened to her as she spoke her mind to him; confused as to how Rocco kept her to defend him and his bad decisions. What magic was being played her to keep such a strong willed woman at his side? She wasn't stupid and he was sure that she could do better—even if it was by herself.

Maybe it was for the better.

Clawdeen was a woman of great strength and beauty; it was a shame that Rocco wasn't treating her the way she needed to be treated. She would be what a real man would want; a great support system when man was at their weakest.

'Rocco…you are such an idiot….'

Romulus shook his head as he thought to himself about what she had said moments earlier. It was upsetting to Romulus; giving guys a bad rep everywhere who wanted a good woman like Clawdeen. And now—though it should be forbidden; regardless of the situation and what she was thinking about doing, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He couldn't help but follow her long legs to her taught bottom that tapered from her vivacious hips; trailing her slim torso to the luscious, messy mane of hair that was restraint in several hair ties. It was sinful to think of her other than a good friend in the future.

His thought was thrown off though to the sound of something falling. He focused on Clawdeen as she tip toed to reach for something in the cabinet that was out of her reach. He chuckled some as he walked over to her and easily grabbed the box of assorted teas and handed it to her, his free hand unconsciously rested on the mid of her back for support as he got it for her.

"Here…" He offered with a kind smile as she turned to him; instantly turning red at the closeness the two were and the sensation his touch gave her. She could smell faintly the traces of amber and a light musk—perfume or body wash. She could feel the warmth from him as he stood maybe 4 inches from her. Even see his pulse in his neck.

It took a lot of restraint and control to sate her want to fulfill her needs, but she wasn't the type of woman to do something so vile when her husband to be was in the other room. But she couldn't hide the bright red flush that invaded her cheeks as she looked up at Romulus and that handsome smile on his face.

"T-Thank you…" She tried to break her stare as she took the box of tea from him and turned around. Oh man, she didn't want to control these feelings.

He responded with a nod as he stepped back a little besides himself that he was acting the way he was—he was feeling the way he was and knowing that if it wasn't for Rocco's stone face popping up in his head every time he wanted to act on impulse, that he would probably had taken her right then and there. Right there on that counter. He sort of knew that she probably wouldn't have stopped him either.

There was another bout of silence before she turned to the male with a cup of tea; the redness in her cheeks were gone but she still couldn't look him in the eyes. "Would you like some tea?" She asked as she looked up to him briefly before dropping her sight back to the steam from her cup.

He wanted to stay—he really did. If Rocco were to wake up, he would be sure that Clawdeen would need help in getting him back into bed with how intoxicated he still was. But he feared as well that some misunderstandings could come about it since Rocco wasn't the most understanding of creatures. It would be for the best to just leave.

"I actually should be getting back to my dorm…but if anything comes up you could call me; don't hesitate." Romulus offered with a small smile as he jotted his number down on some receipt and handed it to her. "Or…if you want to talk to someone you can text me or call. If you want."

"Sure." She smiled back as she took the paper and looked at it for a moment.

Clawdeen followed the male to the door, bidding goodbye to the male with another silent stare into his eyes before he flashed a smirk at her and disappeared into the elevator.

She closed the door soon after before smiling to herself, her heart thumping a little harder as the image of Romulus ran through her mind . Out on impulse she grabbed her phone and texted the number that was given to her with a quick message;

To: Romulus

'Just making sure that you didn't slip me a fake number ;) This is Clawdeen btw. TTYL Good night.

Sent: 2:50am

She felt like a little school girl for some reason talking to a crush, even more ecstatic when she got a reply back as soon as she sent her message.

From: Romulus

'LOL. Def hmu tomorrow. I get out of class 11am. That is if you are hungry. Hope you have a better night '

Received: 2:51am.

It was enough to send her heart through the roof as she got herself comfortable on the couch with a thick thrown blanket. She placed her phone on her chest before she found the comfort of feeling tired. She could only pray that things would get better after tonight.

Are you enjoying thus far? I hope so!

R&R