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"You know, I don't particularly like this either, but there's no reason for you to be so broody," Cassia said to her new husband the day after their wedding. They were sitting in the spacious living room of a vacation home in Paris that belonged to Alec's parents.
"I'm not broody. Leave me alone, Cass," Alec said to her roughly, rolling his eyes but not looking up from the book he was reading.
"Uh, whether we like it or not, it's kind of my job to not leave you alone now. We're married, remember? We are technically on our honeymoon," she said, and Alec put the book down on the end table beside him and gave her his attention.
"What do you want, huh? We both know that this marriage was more of a strategic move than anything else, and I think we also both know that this honeymoon is only happening because our parents insisted for appearances more than anything else," Alec snapped at her, and she looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"We could at least pretend to like each other," she said, slightly wounded by his words but trying to pretend she wasn't. His hazel eyes were dark as he looked at her, and she could almost feel his disdain radiating off of him.
"I'm not interested, sorry," he said, his voice just slightly gentler. The way he was looking at her told her he knew he'd gone too far. He was apologetic, but the damage was already done. He'd already pissed her off, and her nickname hadn't been 'Tornado' when she was younger for nothing.
"You know what, fuck you, Alec. This is our goddamn life now and there's absolutely no point in being assholes to one another when at least publicly, we've got to look like we actually give a shit," Cassia seethed, her voice rough. Tears welled up in her eyes even though she really wished they wouldn't and she turned away from Alec in hopes that he wouldn't see.
He was behind her in a second. She could hear him breathing, but he didn't make any moves to touch her or talk to her at first. When he did, his voice was quiet and careful.
"Are you crying?" he asked, sounding like he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.
"No. Leave me alone," she said, taking a step away from him. He caught her shoulder, his hand holding her still.
"Listen, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm just still overall unsure of how to deal with this whole thing," he said, and she nodded, her back still to him.
"You think I know how to deal with it?" she asked, her voice quiet and small and sounding like it was a million miles away.
Alec's hand on her shoulder pulled her closer to him and flipped her around before she could stop it from happening. She looked up at him, and was surprised when his eyes were softer than she'd ever seen them.
"I'm sorry, Cass. I am. I know neither of us are fond of the idea. I know we'd both rather it never happened, and you're right about the fact that we should start working on looking like a united front for the public. But none of that is what really matters. What really matters is that you're my wife now, and we're bonded whether we like it or not. I know you're just trying to make it easier for both of us, but right now I just need some time to process. This has all been so fast and I just need a minute. I'm sorry I was a dick," Alec said the words quietly, his eyes boring into hers.
He watched her as she processed his words and then pulled her close to his chest in a very unexpected hug. She held onto him tightly, tears flowing freely now.
"Come on, it's alright little one," Alec said quietly, holding onto her in a way that surprised her. She'd never experienced him being so sweet.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, her words garbled by tears and the fact that her face was buried into his chest.
"Don't apologize. If you're open to showing emotion and being vulnerable to anyone, it officially should be me," he said, an air of amusement to his tone. Cass pulled away just slightly and looked up at him, surprised when there was a slight smirk on his face.
"Don't make fun of me," she said, unable to keep a smile off of her own face.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, chuckling just lightly.
"Shut up, you asshole," she said, her eyes shining as she laughed with him.
As she looked up at and laughed with her new husband, the thought hit her that maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
