Kawaii-Cherry: The audacity of most the male characters I write is astounding, lol. It doesn't get any better and this chapter reflects that greatly. So, we're gonna be getting towards the end now so things have gotta be wrapped up. How? Good question. We're gonna find out together. And yes, Pierre is an asswipe and I will forever portray him as such.

Chapter 35: You and me.

'Breathe.'

'I can't-!'

'Just breathe, Pheebs,' Sebastian said softly as he stroked her hair. Rina forces herself to breathe in deeply. Anxiety rolled around her stomach and it was a couple of minutes later that she finally felt human again. Sebastian felt her shoulders relax and he leans back, 'panic over?' He said softly, with a light tease.

She gave him an unamused look and then picked up the letter that was on the table. The assessor had arrived a month early, something to do with double bookings. Rina wasn't impressed but seeing as she had more than enough points; she hadn't worried. The day itself had made her a crumbling mess and it took hours after the assessor had gone for her to calm down. Now, there was a rather official looking envelope and her nerves had kicked all off again. 'What if it's bad news? What if I somehow have forgotten something and my father tries to-'

Sebastian shook his head, 'Pheebs,' he said simply, taking her face in his hands. 'Your father can't do anything,' he said honestly, 'even if you were to lose this place, you're my wife. I'm not going to just let you live in a ditch,' he teases making her roll her eyes in response. 'Do you want me to open it?' He asks.

'Yesh, pwease,' Rina said through a smushed mouth where he held her. Sebastian chuckles and lets her go, picking up the letter. It was hefty and felt thick. Without any more ceremony he tore the side off and slid out the letter. Rina covered her face with her hands and looked through her fingers. 'Well?' She asks impatiently as he took his time to read.

He shrugged a shoulder, 'sorry, Pheebs. It's just the confirmation of your name change and copies of your new licenses and ID,' he said as he pulled off the small plastic card that was stuck to one of the pages. 'Mrs Vance,' he grins. Rina was annoyed that it wasn't about the assessment but felt undeniable joy at seeing her new identification. 'Oh, and a copy of our marriage license to give to Mayor Lewis for the records,' he adds as he unfolds another sheet. 'What do you want to do with our one?' He asks as he looks at it with a slight hidden bubble of happiness.

'Eeeeee!' Rina squealed as she took the card from him, ignoring his question. 'Looook! It's got my name and a little picture of meeee!' She giggles. 'Getting ready for that picture was the worst morning of my life,' she laughs as gives a little wiggle.

Sebastian rolls his eyes playfully at her as he puts down the paperwork. 'I remember,' he muses. 'Though I just don't get why it freaked you out so much, you didn't seem to bat an eyelid when it came to the photos for the magazine, or even our wedding? But this tiny little thing,' he said as he gently took the card from her, 'you almost had a panic attack.' He looks at the photo; it was very sweet. It wasn't as if she could smile or go particularly out her way to look good in it but somehow she had managed.

'I've never had one before! Never needed one,' she explains as he gives her a look and hands it back. 'But now,' she posed with the license, 'I'm officially, Mrs Ophelia Karrina Vance,' Rina said with a grin and sassy attitude. 'Sucks to be you, I'm your legal baggage and future, therapy conversation topic.'

A laugh escaped as he was trying to look at her seriously but it failed as she was being very cute. 'It suits you,' he said, fighting the smile on his face. They had been married for over five months and things were going very well, he thought anyway. Rina always made an effort to ask him about once a month if he was happy with the way things were and he always made sure to completely assure her that he was. The subject of feelings and attachments hadn't come up again, even though they could barely keep their hands off one another. He began to gather up the letter's contents. 'I'll give the copy to Mayor Lewis tomorrow-' he began and Rina gently but firmly snatched the other copy out his hands.

She held it up and began to move around the room. 'And this one…' she said as she mused, moving around the walls, looking for the best place. 'This one will be framed… right around… here?' She said as she found a gap.

Sebastian hadn't ever been one for hanging photos but over the last year he'd seen the appeal. The walls of their home were covered in framed pictures of both himself and Rina, Maru and his parents, their friends, and even a collage of Rina's animals. He'd discovered that the only pictures she had ever grown up with were portraits and they didn't hold the same sentimental value. When he looked around their home now, he could see the timeline of their life together, special memories, even insignificant ones that still didn't fail to make him smile. Rina had paused between a wedding photo and a selfie of them in the hammock. One of the various times they had gotten drunk together.

He wound his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder as she moved it this way and that, looking for the best angle. 'You want to frame our wedding certificate?' He chuckled. It wasn't a very attractive piece of paper and would look out of place for sure.

'Of course!' Rina said simply as she looked at him with a pout. 'It's ours,' she pointed out and huffed. 'I only plan on getting married once, Bastian. You knew that, so suck it up, I'm gonna revel in it,' she said with a tease and sticks her tongue out at him.

'Whaaaaat?' He said sarcastically. 'You mean I actually have to put up with you? This isn't just some badly written fanfiction where we're only together because we've signed a contract for a year?' he teased back making her snort. 'Surely there needs to be misunderstandings and miscommunications and then some big revel where I confess my love for you and tear up said contract,' he adds.

Rina shook her head and batted him away. 'Oh, do be quiet,' she laughed as she put down the certificate and gave him a look. 'I already know you love me and I know that you know that this isn't just for a year type thing,' she said simply. Deep down inside his words stung but she knew that he didn't mean them maliciously and was just trying to make her laugh. 'Does anyone else have to put up with your infuriating ways?' She said dramatically as if annoyed.

Sebastian laughed and shook his head, 'okay, okay, I went too far,' he said, knowing that while he was teasing about the situation it was something that Rina worried about. The whole trapping him in marriage bit. He held out his arms and she sank into his embrace gratefully. 'This is forever and I'm more than happy for you to be the one who is by my side. You know that, right?' He said as he stroked her hair.

'Me and you,' Rina said quietly in reply as her fingers gripped his jacket.

'Me and you,' he confirmed and let her go. Rina gave him an embarrassed look which he brushed away, helping her tidy up the table and move on in the conversation. Sebastian hadn't been home long as the transition to remote working had been put on pause as there was a slight issue at the platform launch. For the moment he was living in a hotel room as his apartment lease was up. He smiles at Rina, 'you've been waiting all day to open this?' He asks.

She nods and puts away the letter, slipping it into a kitchen drawer, 'yeah, if it was bad news, thought I'd prefer to drown my sorrows with you, instead of wallowing on it all day,' she said as she leans against the counter top. 'How was work?' Rina asked, she had ambushed him as soon as he entered the house and hadn't given him a moment to decompress.

'Eh,' he said non-committedly. 'Leon and Sidney are stressing, the complication at launch was unavoidable, unfortunately. I had warned them but they had been told that they could work around it if they attempted some type of different algorithm,' he said, annoyed as he pulled off his leather jacket. His top underneath was stuck to him as it had been a long, hot ride and then he had been ambushed. 'Ugh,' he groaned as he hung the jacket up and stretched, his t-shirt riding up his stomach. Rina bit her lip, though she didn't realise that she was looking. 'It was a complicated, boring meeting that could have been an email,' he said, annoyed.

'You're home now,' Rina says softly as she moves behind him and winds her arms around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder blade. 'Want me to cook you some dinner? Or find some clean jammies while you shower?' She asks.

Sebastian grins and looks back at her, 'I had another idea,' he said in a deep voice,

'What ideeeaa?!' She squeals as he spins around and picks her up easily, placing her on the table. 'Oh,' she giggles and rests her hands on his shoulders. 'I see, that kind of idea,' Rina teases. With a practised movement, she brushes his fringe away from his eyes, 'it's getting long,' she adds, distracted for a moment.

'Wife,' he said bluntly, making Rina smile while her eyes glittered in the light. 'I, your husband, have been away all week and while it sounds wonderful to have you cook me a meal and wash my shoulders, perhaps find my clothing… what I really want is, you,' he smiles. The easiest way to inquire about intimacy was to simply be blunt about it. They had both discussed that verbal cues were going to be the simplest way forward, even if they felt shy or embarrassed about asking. After a month or so, that shyness went out the window.

Rina leans forward and bites his lip in reply, enjoying herself as the kiss naturally deepens. Their tongues move together, stirring the coals of desire into flames. Rina spoke breathlessly, 'seems to me, husband, that you've been away from home too long,' she runs her fingers along his scalp. Sebastian tilts his head back in enjoyment as she does so.

'Far too long,' he agrees, 'my poor wife.'

'I'm distraught,' Rina replies in a fake swoon, forcing him to half catch her as she leans back. They both laugh as he pulls her upright and into his arms. Rina wraps her legs around his waist as he takes her weight, 'bedroom?' She suggests.

-x-

Sebastian felt guilty, 'are you sure you're alright with it?'

Rina gave him a playfully annoyed look, 'Bastian, you're allowed to do other things when you're back for the weekends. You don't just have to hang out with me, you silly thing,' she said with a smile as she sits at her kitchen; wrapping labels onto jars for her honey and jams. 'I've still got work to do and you'd either just be helping me and by that, I mean getting in the way or having to amuse yourself anyway.'

'I wouldn't get it wrong,' he mutters a little grumpily. Rina sticks out her tongue at him as he pulls on his jacket. 'Alright, well, I'm just going to be doing some band practice with Sam, if you need me for anything-'

'Because I'm a helpless, unknowing, feeble woman who needs to have her husband by her side in order to understand this world's, wicked ways,' Rina said as she leaned back dramatically in her chair, the back of her hand pressing against her forehead.

Sebastian looks at her dryly and shakes his head, 'alright, okay, I get it. You're going to be fine,' he said as he walks over and drops a kiss on her cheek. 'Seriously, though, I'll be home around six.'

'Damn right, I'll be fine,' Rina grins as she picks up another jar, tilting her head towards him as he kisses her. 'Have fun!' She says happily, giving him a small wave as he leaves. It was nice to have the day to do all the little things that she needed to catch up on, Sebastian had given her a hand with her chores that morning; things were done in almost half the time. 'Mochi!' Rina laughs as her cat jumps onto the table and sends things scattering across the tablecloth. 'If it's not you getting under my feet, it's Bastian,' she smiles, leaning over and picking Mochi up. 'Here, in the box,' she says simply as she drops him into the empty box that had held all her jars. After a while, she looks down at him and finds him quite content, half chewing one of the cardboard flaps. Rina shrugs a shoulder, at least he was amusing himself and out the way. With a couple of taps on her phone, her sound system starts to play one of her favourite playlists. 'Alrighty, Mochi, let's get this shit done!' She said, pumping herself up. There were quite a few things that she wanted to tick off her to do list and now she had time to do it.

Rina was in the middle of packing up a customer order when her doorbell rang, which wasn't normal as anyone she knew just knocked. Only out of town customers would press the button. She checked her reflection in the mirror as she nipped past, 'I'm coming!' She calls, hoping that they wouldn't mind waiting for her as she rips off her hoodie, pulling on a nicer cardigan that was hanging on the wall hook. It took only a minute before she was opening her front door, 'you have to excuse me, I was packing…an… order,' she said, her speech slowing as she realises who was standing on her porch.

'Hello, Ophelia,' her father said as he looks her up and down.

'Daddy… what are you doing here?' She asks, feeling her body tremble as the familiar weight of judgement and pressure wash over. As usual he was dressed impeccably and she felt incredibly small and insignificant in front of him. She clung to the edge of the door, seconds away from slamming it shut. Part of her wanted to hear him out, hoping for some sort of redemption and the more rational half knew that there was no such thing.

He held up a copy of the magazine that she had been interviewed for, it was clear that he had read it. 'I'm disappointed to find out that you didn't invite me to such a wonderous occasion,' Gideon says simply as he takes a step forward.

'What makes you think that you deserved to be there?' Rina replied, her voice weak. She hated every fibre of her being at this moment, the way she felt herself buckle just by his presence.

Gideon raised an eyebrow, 'it's every father's dream to give away his little girl at her wedding,' he said softly, kindly. Manipulatively.

A wave of anger washed over her, giving her strength. 'Only if it was to the man you chose,' she said simply. What am I doing? This conversation needs to end now. I need to call Robin… Marlon… Someone to help me, she thought desperately. 'Besides… you gave me away the day mother died,' she spat.

His face stiffened at the mention of her mother and his lips went thin, 'that was cruel,' he said quietly, his voice venomous.

'What do you want, daddy?' Rina hissed in reply as her door inched closer to being shut, she was using it as a very physical barrier between them. 'I cut you out of my life, I have nothing to say to you and I don't want you here,' she adds weakly. It was very different telling him to leave her alone in person than over the phone.

He quickly places his hand on her door, stopping her from slamming it shut; which she tried to do but he was able to simply overpower her. Gideon allows the door to fall wide open as he walked into her home, Rina backs up, bumping into her table, sending a few jars rolling across the top. She tries to catch them but several shatter against the tiles. 'You gave it a good try, my little pearl drop,' he said simply as he looks around the kitchen, his eyes lingering on the photos that were taken of her and Sebastian. 'Things… aren't that simple.'

Rina's eyes narrow and she can hear Mochi hissing at her father from under the table, peeking out his box. 'It is that simple! I fulfilled grandfather's will! I have enough points to pass the assessment, you have nothing on me!' Rina said feeling more confident and she steps forward, pointing her finger at him. 'I have a successful business, great profits, an amazing house and a husband-'

'Who married you so that you would pass the assessment,' Gideon said throwing the magazine to one side. Rina's heart almost stopped and she inhales sharply at his statement. Within a second, she wonders why he would say such a thing and then panic set in, what if he really knows?

Shaking her head, she tried to get back the upper hand, 'bullshit. Sebastian loves me,' Rina says firmly, trying to stop the tremor in her voice.

He smirks, 'I know that the deceitful, lying, exploiter loves you. It makes it all that more convincing, doesn't it? Parading around town as if you love him back,' her father moves even closer and Rina freezes. She couldn't figure out how he knew all this, is he just making it up? Hoping that it's true? That I would confirm it in some way?

'Don't act as if you know what love is,' Rina said bluntly. 'Even if for some reason what you said could be true, I have more than enough points, my quarter was above expectations. I've passed the assessment, with or without marriage.' Don't cry. Don't cry, don't fucking cry! She shouts furiously in her mind.

Gideon took a white envelope out of his inside jacket pocket. 'Actually, my little pearl drop. You didn't,' he reveals, holding out the letter. 'All those terms your grandfather set? All those rules… void. Gone in the wind. So, now, Ophelia, you will be coming home with me.'

Rina picks up her Stanley knife, she had been using it to cut out the labels for her jars. 'Like hell I am,' she snarls at him. Gideon simply sighs and clicks his fingers. Two overbearingly large shadows fill her doorway. They had at least three hundred pounds on her combined.

Gideon walks over to the window and looks out at the farm, 'now, now, Ophelia. You need to calm down and be a good girl-'

'I am perfectly fucking calm,' Rina said simply as she brought up her hand holding the knife as the two body guards stepped closer to her. 'You're the one who's breaking and entering, trespassing. This is private property. I will have you arrested,' she said. There was a moment's silence as she looked at the guards and then looked at her phone. Time slowed as she lunged for it, they reacted quickly as one of them grabbed her arm. She screamed and lashed out with the knife, catching him across the clavicle. Blood splattered up his face, hitting her ceiling before his colleague yanked her hand holding the blade.

Gideon sighs and shakes his head as he watches his daughter fight fruitlessly between his hired help. She thrashed and fought, her tears and sobbing only drowned out by the sound of breaking glass as her jars rolled off the table. Mochi hissed and swiped at them as they came near and one of the guards lashed out with a foot. Rina didn't stop and twisted her wrist, digging the razor-sharp knife into the bodyguard's hand. He howled in pain and let her go. Rina kicked out with her heel, aiming for a sensitive area on the man still holding her and he threw her back, causing her to fall to the floor. She looked around for her phone and caught sight of her father leaving the house. 'I won't go!' She screams at him as she finally finds her phone, it had toppled under the table.

Her father didn't reply as two more men entered to help, their heavy boots crushing the broken glass and Rina felt a pressure on her neck as one of them stood on her necklace chain. She howled and writhed as they grabbed her under the arms and by a leg, immobilizing her while another grabbed her by the head. She tried to bite him as she felt the sharp sting of a needle in her neck. Cold swept through her veins, her limbs going heavy. Her sight soon went dark and she felt the air hit her as she was carried out her home. The last thing she heard was her father's voice. 'My little pearl drop, you're acting as if you had a choice…'

I know that in the last few chapters it seems to be fight after fight after fight but unfortunately shit comes in threes? Anyways, it might not bother you like it bothers the fuck outta me and I'm the one who wrote it, lol.

If you are enjoying the story, please drop a line and let me know.