Part 4

Note: I decided to post another chapter so soon since this is a shorter chapter. And I want to post a few more chapters before I leave town next week and I'll be gone six days. Anyways please review and thank you to all of you that have and continue to do so! Enjoy.

Scarlett didn't know how long she had slept but she awoke in a dizzying confusion. She wondered where she was then she remembered she was in her room alone. She had been dreaming about New Orleans and Rhett. He had been holding her and telling her one of his amusing stories. Then awaking she had looked to her right and hadn't seen him beside her.

It was then she remembered Rhett and her didn't share a room and this wasn't her honey moon. Then she remembered Bonnie was dead and they had dropped the children off at the depot. She must have fallen asleep. The room was dark and only a thin patch of moonlight shun in. The clock to her left on the night stand read 4:30 and with a tired sigh she slid off of her bed and slipped out of her mourning dress and slipped her robe on over her corset.

Bonnie's funeral was at 10:00 and she knew she could have easily fallen back asleep. But she needed a drink badly and wondered where Rhett was. The thought crossed her mind that he was at Belle's. Oh, she thought, I won't think about that now, I'll think about it tomorrow. She would go crazy if she did with the tormenting thoughts of Rhett in the arms of that creature with red hair.

Opening her door it was very dark and she didn't hear a noise. She groped her way across the hall to Rhett's room. the door was ajar and peeking in there was a lantern still lit. But the bed was vacant and freshly made, untouched. The small bed next to Rhett's lay unmade where Bonnie had once lain. She hadn't expected the sight and closing her eyes she covered the unexpected sob that rose in her chest. the sob was quelled but the tears made it difficult to see as she quickly made her way down the stairs towards the dining-room.

Her mind flashed back to all those months before when Rhett had been drunk. She remembered how he had frightened her and carried her up the stairs savagely. And then all that had transpired afterwards. The bliss and rapture of that night. She shivered when she saw that the dining-room door was ajar and there was light from inside. She wondered if Rhett had wanted a drink also.

Walking to the door she pushed it open wider and cautiously looked in. The room was lit but she didn't see Rhett sitting at the table. But there was a decanter of brandy on the table. Reaching for it Scarlett was startled when she heard a deep breath. Her heart skipped a beat and she looked around the room. There in the corner lay Rhett on a settee. His body was twisted with his upper part on the settee and his legs dangling off the side. He was sleeping but his face was so pale and obscured by the shadows. It didn't look like he was breathing!

She quickly ran to him, the brandy forgotten. Please don't let him be dead! She felt like she couldn't breathe as she anxiously scanned his face as her hand reached out towards him. But before she could touch him, his large hand reached out and grabbed her wrist in a deafening grip. She cried out. There was a confused look in his eyes as he released her hand and she stumbled backwards.

"Scarlett?" he murmured, disbelief in his eyes.

Hearing her name spoken and knowing he wasn't dead opened a flood gate of tears. Bonnie's death, seeing her daughter's bed and the trauma of Rhett's near suicide came back to her and she sobbed. She heard him move and then his arms closed over her. Oh, how nice it was to be in his arms! She buried her face in his chest and clutched at his shirt frantically.

"What's wrong, honey," he soothed. "Did you have another nightmare?"

His voice was so tender that she began to cry all the more. She missed Rhett like this. When he would hold her and be so kind. She hated that defeated look in his eyes and that crazed look that had frightened her.

"N-no," she mumbled, "I came down here for a drink and I-I saw you an... and thought you were d-dead! You looked so pale and I thought you weren't breathing!" She looked up at him and their eyes locked. His were oddly tender and sympathetic.

She didn't know what possessed her but standing on her tip toes, Scarlett gently brought her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and lightly kissed him. She felt his body stiffen in slight resistance before his arms moved to her waist and his lips gently moved over hers. The kiss was slow as if both were testing the waters and didn't want to make the next step. Suddenly he pulled away.

Opening her eyes she looked at him confusedly.

"R-Rhett?"

"You better get some sleep," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

She tried not to feel hurt but she did. He didn't want her. What a fool she had been! But she had felt his lips against hers and she knew he did. Then why was he holding back? Her lips still tingled as she nodded and turned towards the door.

"Good night," she murmured, not bearing to look at him.

She heard him mumble good night and heard him heavily sit on the settee. She grabbed the much needed brandy decanter and quietly walked up the stairs. She needed a drink to sleep now. Why had she kissed Rhett and why had he pulled away? She never could read him, even now. She hardly knew him.

Once she had made it to her room she heavily sat on her bed and downed a few glasses of brandy. But despite herself her mind kept wandering to what had just transpired downstairs. She couldn't think about it now... she'd think about it tomorrow.

TBC