So chapter 3 is up and a spiteful ex girlfriend is added into the mix - Boo hiss! -_-

Please review with criticism/ feedback, any is welcome :) Thanks to Abbl2 for reviewing again :D

So yes, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 3

James woke up, still in the chair, to see Annie sweeping up some broken glass. He groaned and put a hand to his aching head.

"Did I do that?" He asked groggily and she looked up at him, he could see circles under her beautiful eyes and cursed himself internally for his stupidity.

"Yes but it doesn't matter. You were not yourself." She comforted him, finishing the task and getting gracefully to her feet. James watched her, for all that she never mentioned it any fool could see she was born of nobility – the very way she moved was telling in itself.

"I don't deserve you." He said quietly and she wrapped her arms around him from behind the chair, pressing her lips to his cheek.

"Yes you do." She argued into his skin, her breath hot on his cheek. Smiling, he reached around and pulled her so that she was sat on his lap.

"Well I've got you either way." He said, his dark eyes sparkling as he tightened his hold.

"Oh really?" She teased, kissing him gently. They laughed and then Annie grew serious,

"I asked you not to fight, James." She said quietly, her eyes fixed on his.

The smile faded from his face as he regarded her,

"I know. I know you did but he called me a coward and that is one thing I am not." He said, clenching his fists at the mere thought of it. Annie sighed and placed her hand over his fist until he uncurled his fingers.

"The people who matter know that already, you don't have to prove it. Nobody in that room liked or respected the man you were fighting, if anything you should have just ignored him. Fighting doesn't solve problems it adds to them." She murmured, her voice serious.

James sighed, "It's not that easy...that's not the way I think and I can't change that." He said wearily.

Annie looked down, hurt showing briefly in her eyes as she stood up and clutched her shawl around her.

"I thought I had changed that." She whispered, picking up her basket from the table.

"Annie, don't -" He started to protest but she stopped him with a look.

"I'm going to the marketplace." She said with a faint smile before leaving the room.

James stood up and kicked the chair over in frustration, holding his head in his hands. He staggered over to the mantel and leaned against it, one hand on either side, looking at himself angrily in the mirror above it.

He was bleary-eyed and unshaven, his long, curly hair tangled from tossing and his skin was pale under his tan giving him a sickly look along with the sweat that glistened on his forehead. His shirt hung open, ripped where that bastard had tried to slash him, all in all he wasn't a pretty sight.

"No wonder she left." He groaned, sitting down heavily on the bed and pulling his boots on. His head spun with every movement but he pushed past the pain in his head and got to his feet, shrugged on a jacket and left.

His already foul mood worsened as he strode out of the tavern, subject to all the stares and whispers from the people still in there from the night before. He glared at them, his heavy brows lowering and most looked away but one girl in particular was brazen enough to approach him, a smirk on her face.

"Not now Laura." He told her impatiently, in the dark days before Annie the two of them had a little fling and she'd never quite forgiven him for leaving her.

"Yes now James. S'alright I just wanna little chat." She drawled, wrapping her arms round his neck and leaning into him. He jerked his head away, the alcohol carried on her breath repulsing him.

"Well I'm not in the mood." He snapped, grabbing her wrists and wrenching them away from him.

"Oh I say." She giggled, pretending to be shocked at his actions, "We have got a temper still, haven't we?" She cooed, making her eyes large and pouting.

"Don't push me Laura." He growled, his eyes flashing, but she just laughed.

"I was just wondering how you bear it, that's all." She said innocently, James made a disgusted sound – he was sick of her mind games.

"Bear what?" He asked in a cold voice.

"Being kept on such a tight leash by your prude of a girlfriend." She replied as if it was obvious.

James let go of her wrists and began to walk away, forcing his temper to stay under control, but she ran after him and got in between him and the door, smiling coyly.

"I know better than anyone that you're no pushover James." She whispered into his ear. "You're a red-blooded, strong, rugged man not a mouse. And if that little priss can't appreciate that then..." She traced a finger up the exposed part of his chest, "well, maybe you're with the wrong girl."

Anger washed over James at her words and he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, they'd often fought in their relationship and it had often been over nothing and ended in them turning the passion to...better uses, but this was different and she knew it. Her eyes widened in fear.

"You will never insult Annie again," He threatened, his voice low and menacing, "In my hearing or out of it. She is the best thing that has happened to me in my life, stay away from both of us."

She nodded, her breathing heavy and her cheeks flushed with fear.

James let go of her abruptly and she ran back to the table she'd been sitting at, her face dark with humiliation and anger.

He didn't spare her another thought, instead walking out on the street to find Annie.

As he walked along people gave him a fairly wide berth, he cut an imposing figure, but he took no notice of them as he was so intent of finding, and apologizing to, Annie.

At last he saw her examining fruit at one of the stalls and laughing lightly with the stalls owner, her light brown curls seemed almost gold in the sunlight and her blue eyes were sparkling as they always did when she laughed. He couldn't believe that this beautiful, sweet woman was his, that she'd chosen him. It amazed him every time he thought about it.

Annie turned as if she could sense him looking at her and smiled goodbye to the owner, making her way over to where James was standing.

"I'm sorry." He said before she could say anything. She smiled softly and took his hand.

"I just need to know I am making a difference," she whispered, "that it isn't all for nothing."

He leaned down slightly to cup her cheek tenderly in his palm.

"You make all the difference in the world." He assured her, and he meant it.