Chapter Two

It was one week later when I next saw Christian. I was lying in my bed at eleven o'clock in the morning, making it a lazy Sunday for me. The ring I had so adamantly yanked off my finger as soon as leaving his hotel room, now sat like a shining beckon on my bedside table that kept drawing my eye.

When I had made it back to my own hotel room, Sadie and Linley had practically bombarded me, they remembered bits and pieces from the night before to figure out what happened and where I had been. Fortunately, being the good friends that they are, sat with me while I cried about the situation, and then agreed not to tell anyone. It was easy with them, they didn't judge me though I had expected them to at least say something scathing considering everything they knew about Christian had come out of my mouth, so their opinions of him were undoubtedly negative. But they didn't, in fact Sadie even complimented me on having rather good drunk eyes because, in her words, "No other man in that bar looked as delicious as Christian", I had glared at her and given her the silent treatment like a moody teenager after that.

Monday had been different though, I was back in New York and having my first day as Junior executive at the company, I couldn't look my Dad in the eye, in fact I had avoided him as much as possible, he had invited me over for a celebratory dinner at the family house, Mother wanted to see me but of course I had to politely turn it down. How could I interact normally with my family when I knew they would hate me so much if they knew what I had done? Every second I was in contact with Dad at work, I was worried I would just blurt it out, I wanted to tell him, I did, I felt like I was betraying him, but I knew he would be angry, I knew how he would react, so I figured it would probably be best to see what my options were first.

God it was such a mess.

Christian had told me that he would approach his lawyers about it, and I was oddly reassured by that. Out of everyone I could be in this situation with, I would never ever even think of him, but at least I knew he was the type of person who would take charge and get it sorted, unlike me who just seemed to shut down. I was actually feeling comforted by his take-charge attitude that I usually associated with him being bossy. It was a strange feeling, after all I couldn't approach my own lawyers about it; my Dad had them eating out of his hand so no doubt they would run to him immediately after I brought it up, client confidentially or not. I just hoped Christian's own lawyers weren't the same.

I got my answer when I heard the faint knock on my apartment door.

I got out of bed, not really bothering to get changed; after all it was most likely just Sadie and/or Linley coming over to celebrate my one week anniversary, like they had threatened to do. The knock once again sounded, Jesus they were being impatient today.

"I'm coming" I called as I crossed the entrance way. I opened the door with a scowl on my face, clearly showing how I felt about being dragged out of bed on my lazy Sunday, but it instantly disappeared. "Christian? What the hell are you doing here?"

I grabbed his wrist and dragged him inside, quickly checking to see if anyone had seen him in the hallway. Paranoid much. I closed the door and turned to face him, arms crossed and expression angry.

I saw his eyes travel over me, before reaching my face once again. "Clearly being proactive rather than sitting around in my pajamas." Was his sarcastic reply.

I let out an irritated growl, realizing he was right and I was now revealing far more of myself to him that I ever wished, not that he hadn't seen me in less. I stormed passed him and into my bedroom, changing from my flimsy crop top and short tight little 'booty shorts' as Sadie called them, into something far more substantial.

"So again what are you doing here?" I called as I exited my bedroom, to find him clearly making himself at home by going through my fridge. I calmed myself at that annoyance, better to just get to the point and have him leave.

"We can't get an annulment." He said calmly, closing the fridge and biting into an apple.

"What? Why not?" I asked in outrage, his calmness seemed to infuriate me even more than his revelation. How could he not be angry about this? Wasn't this our only chance at getting a quickie divorce and keeping this all quiet.

"Not enough evidence to support the claim we were both too intoxicated to consent to the marriage." Christian said around his chewing, God didn't his parents ever teach him that you shouldn't eat and talk at the same time. It's disgusting. "And considering all our witnesses were intoxicated at the same time, it makes them unreliable."

"What about the photo? We are both clearly drunk in that."

"Yeah, but one photo isn't enough. Trust me, I tried everything Serena, we can't get an annulment."

I sat on the couch and slumped down. "So what do we do now?"

"We will have to get a proper divorce, only that means we will have to tell our parents."

"What? No way, no way in hell." I had shot up from the couch I had so thoroughly looked defeated on.

"We have to, divorce will require actually meeting up to discuss things, could even be put in front of a judge if we don't agree on things. Either way, our parents will find out, it'll go on the public record or something, isn't it better to tell them ourselves?"

He was right, and dammit I hated admitting that. If we were getting an annulment it would be so much easier, but divorce actually took time and effort to get through, no doubt Dad and everyone would find out about it. God, this could not get any worse.

I sighed. "Fine, when are we going to tell them?"

"Today, that way we can start the divorce proceedings much sooner, and I think we should tell them together, you know show them a united front and all."

I sighed again. "Okay, yours or mine first?"

"Mine are at a charity fundraiser, are yours doing anything today?"

I shook my head. "Nope, they are free." There was a moment of silence then. "Well, I'm going to go get ready, umm… make yourself at home, even though you already have."

It was an hour later that I saw my family home appearing before me. Yes, it had taken an hour, I had tried as much as I could to delay coming here; I knew this would end badly. Very badly. Christian had eventually dragged me out of my apartment, after he realized I was only dawdling for time, trying to convince me it would be better to get it over with sooner rather than later.

Christian pulled up into the driveway I had indicated, the front gates were open like they usually were during day if people were home. Oh God, this was going to be bad, my hands had started sweating and I was chewing on my lip nervously. At least if my Dad killed Christian we wouldn't have to get divorced, not that it was an exactly cheerful thought.

Christian pulled the car to a stop and turned the engine off. "Ready?" he asked, I nodded nervously, hesitating even more before finally opening my door and stepping out. Slowly, I slipped the ring back onto my finger, before turning to face Christian and proceeding up the front steps.

Rosie, our dear old housekeeper, was in the entrance dusting when I walked in, a huge smile broke out on her face when she saw me, but that immediately fell when she saw Christian behind me. Even she recognized a Fletcher when she saw one. She looked at me in horror and confusion before pointing down the hallway to the main living room; I nodded to her in thanks.

This was it.

"Serena honey, what a nice surprise." My Mother's voice suddenly sounded as I walked into her line of sight, she was sitting at the dining table no doubt going through her list of social events to prepare for, and Dad and my younger Brother Sam were sitting on the couch on the other side of the room, watching a football replay or something. God, I didn't think Sam would be here, I had forgotten he was home from college over summer. Shit, I really didn't want to get him involved.

"Hey Sis, good of you to finally come and see me, I was getting worried you hadn't missed me or something." Came his cheerful voice.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. "Like it would bother you Sammy."

"Of course it would, it's my first time back in New York since I turned twenty-one, and I'm expecting you to show me around all the clubs."

"Oh, so that's the reason you've been buttering me up lately. I knew there was a catch."

It was then that I noticed the sudden tense expression on Sam's face, and the anger in my Dad's eyes.

"Serena." My Dad's voice warned. At the corner of my eye, I could see Christian casually leaning against the wall, a small smile on his face as he listened to the sibling banter, he almost looked like he belonged here he was that casual, wasn't he worried at all? My Dad stood from the couch, tense in every part of his body. "What's he doing here?"

The sense of calm that had surrounded me from talking to my brother vanished. I opened my mouth to talk but shut it once again, as no words came to mind. How the hell do I break it to them?

"Umm… I have something to say." My meager voice sounded. I cleared my throat, when the tense silence dragged on too long. "Umm… last weekend I went to Vegas as you know… well, Christian was there too. To put it bluntly, we both got extremely drunk and somehow married each other." The last sentence I said in a rush, I wasn't even sure they had heard me properly; well the strained silence that then followed made it clear they had.

Sam then laughed. "You're not serious?"

I nodded. "I am."

Sam looked outright stunned, his jaw had dropped and he was just staring at me. My Mother started sobbing, which I thought was a bit dramatic but then when was she ever not dramatic, and my Dad, well it was hard to say. I saw the vein in his forehead throbbing, which I knew was a tell-tale sign of him being angry, furious actually, but the rest of him seemed to calm, the tenseness I had seen earlier died away, I should have realized it was only the calm before the storm.

"You got married to him?" Dad asked decidedly composed.

I nodded. "Not that I wanted to, it was a mistake, I swear."

His lip started twitching now, another sign of his anger, but one the absolutely terrified me. I had seen his vein throb before, I had seen his lip twitch, but I had never seen them happening together. I was getting scared for my life, I saw Christian straighten up then, no longer leaning against the wall, so maybe he too saw Dad as a threat to his life.

"A mistake? Marriage is not a mistake Serena. Spelling a word incorrectly is a mistake, throwing out the wrong piece of paper, or signing on the wrong dotted line is a mistake. Marriage is not a mistake!" His anger had now exploded. "How could you? Out of everyone you could have drunkenly married, you picked him. It's as if you were actively trying to disgrace this family."

"No Daddy, it wasn't like that."

"Then what was it like Serena? Please do inform us because I would love to hear your excuse."

"I was drunk, it meant nothing. We've tried to fix it." Okay, I knew my Dad would be angry but I didn't actually expect him to believe that I would have done this by choice, in fact I thought he would be more angry at Christian than at me.

"Fix it? And how have you gone about that?"

"Christian talked to his lawyer about getting an annulment, but we don't have enough evidence to support our claim of intoxication."

"Oh so he talked to his lawyer, you didn't think about going to your own?"

"I knew Mr Davies would just run to you if I had."

"Yes, yes he would Serena, because he actually knows something about loyalty, which apparently you don't." Dad yelled, his voice getting even angrier. "Out of everything you've done, I never would have expected you to do this."

"Daddy, I'm sorry, but it's going to be fixed, I promise." My mood had changed from disbelief and fear, into sadness now. I didn't want Dad to be angry at me, or disappointed in me. I wanted him to help me, and I thought he would, but now I was unsure.

"And how exactly are you going to fix it? By getting a divorce and letting everyone find out about your drunken frivolity, you would only drag our family name through the mud if you did that. So tell me Serena how are you going to fix it?"

"I don't know, but I'll figure something out." My voice sounded pleading then.

"Well you better Serena, because while you're married to him, you are not a part of this family."

"What? What do you mean? Of course I'm part of this family."

"Not while you're associated with him, let me make that much clear right now. You married him, that was your choice and you decided to abandon your family in the process."

"Dad, I think that's taking it a bit far." Sam suddenly said he had been a silent spectator switching between watching me and Dad. "Serena didn't abandon us, she just made a stupid decision when she was drunk, she said she was going to fix it and she will."

"Stay out of this Sam, this doesn't concern you."

I saw that Sam was going to say something more, but I really didn't want to involve him, he didn't deserve Dad's anger just for sticking up for me.

"Sam, its fine." I said quietly, I think he saw then that I was defeated but instead of backing down like I had done, he stood up, and squared off with Dad.

"No, because believe it or not it does concern me Dad, because I am part of this family and so is Serena, whether you like it or not." I wanted to stop Sam, before it was too late for him as well, but I just couldn't. "She made a mistake Dad and she knows she did, there's no point in lynching her for it."

"I will do whatever is necessary to maintain the family name and its connotations with success, if that involve disowning your sister for the time being then I am happy to do so."

"If you disown Serena you disown me, so where's that successful family name without any children Dad." Sam challenged, he should have own it was a bad idea to challenge Dad in his current angry state, but I'll admit it felt good to have Sam sticking up for me, that was until I saw Dad's clenched fist ready to strike.

Before I could even react to warn Sam, or even protect him, Christian had moved from my side. He stood between Sam and Dad, his hand on Dad's forearm, preventing it from moving.

In a voice far too calm for the occasion, Christian spoke for the first time since arriving. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, then who would be the person dragging the family name through the mud? You hate me and my family so I understand your reaction to the situation, but that's no reason to get violent with your own children, you want to hit someone then you hit me. The marriage was a bad choice that both Serena and I made and we will fix it have no doubt, but bear in mind, that at least for the meantime, Serena is my wife and I will protect her, even if it is against her own family."

Christian let go of Dad's arm then, and Dad immediately stepped back away from him. "Get out of my house."

Christian evenly meet Dad's eye then for a moment or two, until he turned around and walked back to me, he nodded to the door, indicating it was time to go, but I hesitated. I looked over at Sam, but he dropped his eyes to the floor and seemed to refuse to look at me, before he once again sat back down on the couch and turned his attention to the TV. That hurt a bit, before he was so ready to defend me but now it seemed he didn't want anything to do with me.

I turned to look at Mother, but found that sometime during the argument she had gotten up and left, so that left only Dad. He looked at me, full anger blazing.

"You too can get out. I don't ever want to see you again, understand?"

"But Daddy-"

"Do you understand?" He yelled.

I nodded before turning around and walking out of the house behind Christian. We both climbed into the car, silent and tense. I wanted to cry, honestly I did, my family had abandoned me, and they didn't seem to want to help me out at all. I understood why Dad was angry, but I didn't get why he reacted the way he had, wouldn't it be more beneficial to him to support me in this and get me out of this, because now it was practically all up to the Fletcher's to sort it out, that's depending on how they would react to the news however. But why did Dad think I had planned this? This whole situation was a nightmare for me, why in hell would I purposely put myself in it? Yet Dad didn't even really give me a chance to explain, I mean had he never made a mistake in his life, considering the scale of this mistake I doubted it would compare, but he can't be completely innocent.

I wanted to cry, but I couldn't not in front of Christian at least, I would never lower myself to that because crying showed weakness, and I couldn't ever be weak in front of him.

"I'm sorry." Christian's voice suddenly sounded.

"For what?" My voice sounded dull, though a bit surprised, I don't think Christian has ever apologized to me before.

"I think I just made things worse and for that I am sorry."

"Its fine Christian, you just wanted to protect Sam, I can't fault you for that." I sighed then. "Are your parents going to be home by now?"

Christian glanced at the clock. "Yeah, they should be, Oliver might be there as well."

"Well might as well get this over with then, let's hope it goes a bit better."