Rhett's voice carried down the hall. As soon as I made it to work, I could hear him, talking and laughing with the other people in the break room. It was all I could do not to run to him.
"Desi!" He exclaimed, happy to see me. I resisted the urge to throw myself into his arms. I grinned ear to ear instead. Only a glint in his eye hinted at his affinity for me. The relief I felt from him being home made it feel as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
"Welcome home, Rhett!" I said, trying not to sound too giddy. He nodded at me.

Later. Later.
...

On Good Mythical Morning that day, Rhett began passing out gifts. He handed a woolen scarf to Jen and Lizzie, there were little flasks for the guys, a few tins of shortbread cookies, and Stevie received a little figurine of a Unicorn. When he turned to me, he palmed something into my hand. As I unfolded my fingers, I gasped with delight. Hanging from a leather cord was a beautiful Celtic knot. The strands were silver and gold, weaving through each other to form a Trinity knot with what looked like a heart intertwined with it. The design was intricate enough that you had to really study it in order to understand what you were looking at.
"I know you like jewelry." He shrugged, but I knew there was more meaning behind it. I touched it gently, the three points reminding me of him, Link, and myself.

And he acts like he is so tough. What a sap.

I loved it. As we all "oohed" and "ahhhed" over our gifts, Rhett told us more about his adventures.
"Not only did this guy save a town-"
Link interjected, "With his entrepreneurial skills in the home defense field!"
Rhett continued, "Not only did he save a town from The Dragon, he was a family man, like myself. So after this incident, he starts getting credited with all sorts of stuff. Killing wild animals threatening the townships, he saved a kid from drowning at one point... Then as the generations continued, the stories got more fanciful and more legend. So my ancestor was awesome, but he didn't battle an ACTUAL dragon, or battle with mythical beasts and stuff. But I'm gonna still say he did because it sounds cooler."
Link gestured to the camera, "More on Rhett's adventures in Good Mythical More, you know what time it is!"
...

I waited until everyone had settled back into other projects. As soon as I was able, I went to their office. The door clicked shut behind me and I locked it before running to him. Rhett chuckled as he lifted me and spun me around before tucking me into his arms and kissing me.
"I'm so glad you're home!" I said into his shirt. His familiar scent was so comforting after the emotional roller coaster I had ridden that week.
He held me as if I'd disappear if he let go. "I missed you so much. Both of you guys," he added, "It didn't feel right being without you two."
After a final squeeze, we parted, and I looked at the necklace he had given me, now around my neck. "Thank you for this. I really love it." I touched the smooth finish, tracing the strands of the knot as I admired it. He had put thought into this gift, and I treasured it. My chin was lifted, and my heart leapt to my throat.

Rhett studied my cheek. His expression went from concerned confusion to a realization, and I knew this was it. No time to plan. The make up I had used to cover the bruise had faded a bit. His happy green eyes darkened. A tension filled the room as he turned to get a paper towel by the sink, wetted it, and returned to me. His hands gingerly wiped away the traces of make up I had left, revealing the shiner in all its glory. Link backed away.
"Link, you need to leave this office right now." Rhett's tone held a sinister warning. He breathed deeply. Link immediately walked to the door, casting one last pleading glance my way before exiting, a worried look on his face. As soon as he was gone, Rhett relocked the door, and turned to face me again.
"What happened?" He asked, surprisingly gentle. His concern outweighed his anger at the moment. His footsteps were the only sound in the room as he paced.
I sat on his desk, not trusting my feet to hold me. I drew a deep breath as I began. I described the best I could without making it sound like Link was completely off his rocker, explaining how I had forgotten to be careful, how I hadn't thought to heed his warning before it was too late. " ...so Link isn't completely at fault." I said quietly. "I goaded him without thinking. And he was so angry and upset with himself, Rhett. You should have seen him. He cried so much."
Rhett was sitting now, with his head in his hands, obviously trying to maintain composure. The anger inside of him threatened to erase the gentleness he had just shown me. "I warned you..."
"I know, and I-"
He interrupted me, "I can't force you to never be with him without me. But know this: if this ever happens again, it could ruin everything. It would mean the end of our livelihood together, our business, our lifelong friendship- I would kill him, Desiree."
I stood planted, awestruck, my stomach somewhere in my feet. My breath stilled.

Stop talking like this. It won't happen. It won't.

"Just looking at you now, it makes me want to go out there and drag him in here by the throat." Rhett wrung his hands. His eyes pierced me until he stared down at the floor again.
Without warning, tears began to splash down my cheeks, my pride beyond healing.

This is is all my fault. If I hadn't egged Link on, we wouldn't be worried about this. We could be like we were.

My silence eventually prompted him to look up again. His angry stare softened immediately. "Desi..." He stood and crossed to me. His forehead rested on mine as he placed his large hands on my arms. The soft gesture was like one more weight on the dam, and I began to sob, all of my angst and emotion flowing out of me from the entire week he had been gone. Before I knew, he had lifted me, cradled, and sat with me on his lap like I was a child. My eyes wet his shoulder. He even rocked back and forth, trying to comfort me. All the weight of the world seemed like it was coming out of me, everything I'd carried the last few days: the anxiety, the stress, the hurt, the shame- it all fell from me in my tears.

I missed you. I needed you. I don't want you to hate Link. I don't want to hurt you two... Perhaps it would be better if I wasn't here.

The thought fell into my mind like a seed on rocky soil. The idea of ending this wouldn't fix anything. It would further complicate it. Besides, I was in love, and I wasn't willing to give that up without fighting first.
"Rhett." I spoke once my sobs subsided, feeling spent and exhausted. "I am so in love with the two of you. And you're right, we need you. I need you." I sniffed. His beard was soft under my hand as I gazed lovingly at him. "But we need to work with Link. He has spent the rest of the week trying to make this up to me. I believe in him."
Rhett's face remained impassive as he listened.
"I believe he can get better. Rhett, he made love to me. He has more than once."
His eyes widened slightly in surprise.
I continued, "He isn't all anger and violence. He really does love me. He has some sort of PTSD, I think. And we can't hate him for that. How could we?"
Rhett's face was unreadable. It seemed as though the thought of PTSD had never occurred to him before. I watched his face carefully, trying to decipher what I was seeing. After a moment, he spoke. "How do we help him?"
I smiled. So there was hope after all. "We find him someone to talk to. A professional. Someone he can address these problems with and show us what we can do to help."
Seeing his worried expression, I added, "The sessions would be protected under Doctor/Patient privilege, so it would be secret."
Rhett slowly nodded. His anger seemed to ebb away. I sat up slightly to look into his face. "Rhett. I really did miss you. So much. I didn't realize-" I flushed slightly, "I didn't realize how much more I'd fallen for you until you left."
His eyes gleamed. "I think we needed you a lot more than we ever realized, Des."