When he awoke, the bed was empty and the cool sheets pooled around him. Roderick frowned and stared at the ceiling. He didn't hear Lauren in the kitchen making breakfast like she sometimes did. He didn't hear Lauren in the bathroom getting ready and brushing her teeth. He didn't hear Lauren turning the pages of a book in the living room.
He pulled himself up by his hard abdominals and rested on his elbows, listening. He heard nothing. His hair had fallen into his eyes but he didn't move to brush it away.
Roderick looked around Lauren's bedroom from his place on her bed, looking for clues, an idea to where she could be.
He looked for her purse. It was on her dresser next to her watch.
He looked for her sunglasses. They were next to her watch.
He looked for her shoes. They were-
What the hell….
Her heels for work and her sandals were there… but her running shoes were not.
"GODDAMNIT," Roderick screamed angrily.
He threw back the sheets angrily, blood and testosterone pumping through his veins, enraged.
He pulled on his jeans and zipped them as he tore through the house.
She said she wouldn't run… what the fuck is she doing?
He felt his eyes dilate as he stormed from room to room and found them all empty. He was furious.
Perhaps this time, he really would kill her.
From the living room, he finally caught sight of her outside, coming down her road. She was wearing grey sweat pants and an old tie-dye t-shirt, her hair curling over her shoulders.
Roderick threw open the front door and stomped down the front steps in a blur.
"Where the fuck where you?" he demanded through clenched teeth, "What the fuck are you thinking?"
Lauren stopped mid step and looked at him like he was overreacting. It infuriated him.
"Roderick," she said carefully, "I get the paper delivered. I went down to the mailbox to get it…"
She held up the newspaper in front of her to show him.
He was still fuming and had blood pounding in his ears while he realized she'd only walked to the end of her driveway.
He was still breathing heavily and was still enraged when she walked towards him. His heart wouldn't stop pounding and he wouldn't stop fuming.
Lauren stepped past him and started towards the house, not wanting to argue with him about how safe it was to walk down her own driveway.
Roderick spun on his heel and grabbed her arm above the elbow, jerking her back towards him.
"Where the hell are you going?" he demanded, bruising her arm.
Lauren turned to look at him angry.
"Get your hand off me," she spat.
Roderick's eyes glazed over as she defied him for the first time. She'd never said such a thing to him before.
He hardened his grip and jerked her back towards him to shake the defiance from her.
"Where the hell are you going?" he shouted louder this time, glaring at her angrily.
Lauren's mouth hardened. "Get the hell off me, Roderick."
His eyes narrowed, his hand gripping even harder. She wondered if he could break the bone.
"I said," she repeated, "Get the hell off me, Roderick."
He flung his hand off her and was still breathing heavily, enraged.
Lauren turned from him and stormed towards the house, angry as all hell.
"You don't talk to me that way," Roderick warned from behind her, still unmoving.
She spun at the top of the steps, the newspaper crumbling in her clenched fist.
"You don't put your hands on me like that," she growled through grit teeth, her eyes furious.
Roderick looked at her and he could see her breathing quicken, her pulse throbbing.
He'd seen women like this before, when he didn't call when he said he would or when he left in the morning before they woke.
But he'd never seen Lauren like this.
She was enraged, every breath threatening to burst her coiled anger.
Roderick had never pushed her around like that before. She was not about to let him man handle her like she was nothing.
Roderick took a deep breath. "Lauren, I told you not to be on the road…"
He saw Lauren's eyes widen and he realized how angry she was. He took a step backwards to prepare for her scream.
"I was not on the fucking road! Goddamnit, Roderick! I walked down my fucking driveway!" she screamed.
He'd never seen her so angry nor hear her curse so much.
"Jesus, Roderick," she dropped her tone, turning around, already feeling tired and sick of yelling.
"Lauren," he called after her, running up the steps towards her but not touching her.
She stepped away from him before he could get close enough.
"Don't you dare touch me," she spat, already seeing his anger slide underneath his cool, calculating demeanor.
He'd expected that response after he'd scarred her… not now.
Roderick stepped towards her anyways, his eyes convincing her she wanted him to.
"No," she continued, "I will not stand for you to put your hands on me like that. Don't you dare put your damn hands on me. I got the fucking paper and you grabbed me like…"
She didn't want to say 'like you'd kill me.'
Roderick leaned back against the railing of her porch and crossed his arms over his chest.
Any other woman would have begged at his feet for going to get the paper.
Louise would have hit him to provoke his anger and accepted his blows.
Lauren yelled and screamed at him, knowing that at any moment he could lash out and really hurt her… but before then, she'd make her point.
"You liked it last night," Roderick said coolly, looking at the ground.
He would hear Lauren's hiss of intake breath.
"If you ever want to come back here again, you won't put your hands on me like that," she restated evenly, meaning it.
Roderick shrugged. "We're all fucked up right?"
Lauren was infuriated, wanting to hit him with her newspaper.
Instead, she stepped forwards and slapped him across the face, glaring at him defiantly. The second she did it, his eyes snapped up to meet hers.
He stood unmoving.
Her eyes softened. "Roderick… I expect more from you… that I actually do… I know you better than anyone else… and I expect you to treat me like that. I've never asked anything else from you…"
Roderick let out a deep breath, blinking expressionless. He could see that her anger was melting but she held her ground.
He knew that she was serious... he'd have to fix this or he'd lose her. He'd made a mistake when he grabbed her. He reacted out of anger and done what he'd never before.
He dropped his hands to his sides, and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," he said, the words sounding alien in his mouth. He looked up to Lauren to admit defeat. He thought she'd look pleased.
She was still furious. It wasn't enough.
"Lauren," he continued, "I won't do it again unless you ask me to."
Her face softened but he could tell she was still upset with him.
"I mean it," he said, stepping towards her, "I won't treat you like that. I never meant to… I thought you ignored what I said and it made me furious."
Lauren shrugged. "Even still… don't grab me like that again…"
Roderick sighed, kissing her forehead. "I won't… you have my word."
Lauren sighed, relaxing. She knew that he understood the difference between him being rough with her and him manhandling her.
She reached up, running her fingers through his hair and pulling him roughly towards her, meeting his lips with hers.
When she let him go, he stayed close and saw their agreement in her eyes. She would let him be who he was, but he had to maintain his control around her.
"You knows the ways I like you being rough with me," she winked, "Stick to that."
Roderick grinned, feeling the tension melt away.
"Yes, ma'am," he winked, his Midwestern drawl thick, the way she liked it.
"You know," he drawled, "I could get rough with you the way you like right about now…"
Lauren winked at him, "Is that so, Sheriff?"
He grinned, "Yes, ma'am… do I have your consent?"
Lauren swatted at him playfully.
A burst of sound came around them, a vibration and a soft beeping.
Lauren stepped away, confused.
Roderick reached into his pocket, pulling out the cell phone he had forgotten was in there.
He pressed a button and held the phone up to his ear, already looking away from Lauren.
"Roderick," a voice demanded.
"What?" he asked briskly, already angry of hearing from Jacob.
"Joe needs you back," Jacob said, a quiet behind him. Roderick guessed he was at the manor in Joe's study.
"You can tell Joe I'll be back after I secure the scene out here… damage control needs to be done," Roderick ordered, his dominance prickling Lauren's skin. She wondered if he was making something up or he'd actually be needing to do that.
"You need to come back," Jacob said softer, more intimidated.
Roderick balled his fists, angry. How dare Jacob be giving him orders.
"I'll be back in a little while," he said again, "I need to keep up appearances as Sheriff."
Roderick turned towards Lauren. "I need to go…"
Lauren nodded, intimidated. She didn't like hearing about his dealings with Joe Carroll.
Roderick had become hardened again, annoyed, and brutal. He swept past her into the house, towards her bedroom.
She followed him as he collected the rest of his clothes and shoes.
"If I'm not here by sundown, I'll be around tomorrow," he said, picking up his shirt and pulling it over his head.
"If I'm not here, I'll send someone from the station over to watch your driveway tonight…" Roderick said, sitting on her bed and pulling on his shoes.
Lauren crossed her arms over her chest. "You think that's necessary?"
Roderick shrugged. "I can't be two places at once… I'd rather take the precaution."
Lauren nodded, feeling chills on her spine. She'd rather Roderick be there with her… or not need protection at all. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Roderick stood, adjusting his shirt and brushing the hair out of his eyes.
He wanted to say something more reassuring to her but he couldn't find any kind of reassuring feeling after hearing from Jacob. His demeanor was cold.
Lauren saw it and nodded. "Let me know…"
Roderick kissed her on the cheek as he passed her by, hand sliding into her hair.
He stepped past her and out through the front door, down the front steps.
Lauren stood on the front porch and watched him go, no stranger to seeing him called away… but this time it was by someone scarier than she could think of.