Defeated, But Not Destroyed

That night, Orlando had remained in the living room, the West Ham soccor game blasting in the background, but he couldn't concentrate. For one thing, he was still high on adrenaline from his earlier...confrontation with Rian. He began to think, mostly about why she was still with him, why he still beat her up and blamed it on his stress. The stress of being the hottest hollywood star since James fucking Dean.

But still, she stayed. She was the one who put up with *him.* Mostly...

There was one time, he remembered clearly, one time when Rian had left him. They'd fought badly, the worse he could ever remember, and she'd just quietly crept out, of the hosue, out of his life.

That had been the worst month of his life; he couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, all he could think about was Rian. He knew how badly he needed her, and he knew in some twisted way, that she needed him too. His friends had been worried, so worried, about him. He'd lost weight and barely left his huge mansion, just cried all the time. Elijah, especially, couldn't understand why she'd left-- of course, he also had no idea what happened behind closed doors.
It'd taken a lot of pleading, a lot of groveling and about 4 months before she let her guard down enough to allow him back into her life. She made him promise, *promise* to absolutely never lay a hand on her ever again.

That promise had lasted two weeks.

Now it was as though nothing had changed. He beat her almost every night, and she was back to crying and lying and covering bruises with feeble excuses.

Of course, that didn't mean everyone believed her. In fact, her best friend Amber was so positive that she knew what he was doing, she'd confronted him about it one night and outright accused him of his brutal control. After she'd left (forced out by him), he'd beaten Rian so badly she wasnt' able to leave the house for a week.

And of course there was always Elijah, Orlando's best mate. Somehow, Orlando was positive Elijah knew. He was always asking about her, her injuries, why she never went out with them... It was one of the only times Orlando was glad he'd become an actor- he could lie so well, no one would ever suspect it.
That didn't mean that Elijah believed him.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

When Rian awoke the next morning, the sun was shining through the huge window in their bedroom and a light summer breeze wafted tantalizingly through the curtains. Orlando still lay next to her, breathing lightly with one arm tossed around her waist protectively. He looked innocent, gorgeous and completely calm. She loved him when he was asleep. Leaning over, she placed a soft kiss on his stubbled cheek, causing him to stir and open his eyes to the sight of the beautiful angel hovering above him.

"Hullo, love." He smiled, yawning and then pushing himself up on his elbows to return the kiss.

"You need to brush your teeth, Orli." Rian giggled, and then felt a pinch under her right eye, causing her good mood to diminish almost immediatly. Orlando seemingly sensed it and got up, heading to the adjoining bathroom with a sarcastic toss of,

"That bruise is not flattering," over his shoulder.

Rian got up, feeling a little bit of resentment rise in her body.

"You put it there. Not the first time either... I'm starting to think you like seeing them." She could see the muscles in his shirtless back tense noticeably and she just knew she shouldn't have said that. But he didn't want to start now, it was just to early, so he let it go.

Rian sighed in relief as she put on some heavy foundation to cover the flowering bruise and got dressed into a pair of jeans. Theyw were Orlando's favorite on her, "Simple but sexy as bloody hell," he always said, and a plain white camisole with a little bit of lace edging.

Orlando re-emerged from the bathroom, showered and fresh, dressed in a pair of faded, designer jeans and a light blue tee shirt.

"I've got to do some wrap up filming and then I'm going clubbing with the boys." He pulled off a smart, little spin, bringing his body close to hers. She wanted to laugh at his feeble attempt to sound American, but she contained herself and merely replied,
"All right," waiting for an invitation she knew wouldn't come. He wanted to appear single to the masses, get drunk, flirt with random girls, and maybe do more... But Rian didn't want to think about that. He gave her a smile, a slow, sexy smile, the one that made all the girls scream and fall all over him. The one that still sent shivers through her body, along with the slow, deep kiss he rewarded her with, muttering,

"I love you," into her ear before pulling back.

"I love you too," she replied, unsure if she really meant it, or if she said because she knew it was what he wanted to hear. Then he was gone, and once again, she was alone.