There Will Be NO Drama Tonight (Marrow Family)

The moment King wrapped his arms around Rowan, she just let her emotions free fall. She sobbed against his chest and clutched his shirt tightly within her pale hands. She never ever wanted to let go now that she had him, and even though she knew he was so much better than she was, she couldn't help but be grateful they had found one another. Especially now that she had no family to speak of. She had officially run away, and she was never looking back. Not if she wanted to do anything good for her family.

"I left! I just left them...oh King, I ruined everything!"

She pulled herself onto his lap and rested her head against his chest until her sobs died down. As soon as she was sure that she could speak without breaking into fresh waves of tears, she looked up into his eyes and began again.

"We...we went out to dinner...and I was pushing his buttons again, so he took some potion or something to calm his nerves. But he was scary calm, like...dangerously calm. And people know him, they know who he is and we could have been hurt. So I went to drastic measures."

She went on to tell him about the asparagus and Felicity's following illness, and then her treacherous drive home and how she had accidentally crashed the car. Then she took a moment to center it.

"But then I told him off to the point that he...he smacked me...and then he took me to my room and started crying."

She absentmindedly rubbed her backside where he had swatted her, though it didn't hurt anymore. It had been one of the last times her father had touched her. That would be one of her last memories of him. The thought only made her cry harder.

"I knew the only thing I could do after that was leave. I ruin everything I touch. Maybe you should go back home and save yourself before I can get to you too. But I...I don't have anywhere to go. I'm never going back there, I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."

King listened to Rowan's story silently. It was kind of surprising in places, but when she finished, he was proud of her. Although she'd given her sister the asparagus, and had made her extremely sick, Felicity hadn't absolutely had to eat it. She could have told her sister they would find another way to fix their father. That wasn't what made King proud, however. That part kind of worried him.

What made him proud was that Ro was worried about her father, took responsibility for what she'd done, had attempted the drive home, even if she had forgotten to set the parking brake.

He didn't know the whole story from just her side of the tale, but he wrapped his arms more tightly around his unhappy girlfriend when she said that he should run to keep from being destroyed.

"I am not going anywhere. You don't ruin things, you don't destroy them. You made your sister sick, and I'm sure that the potion your dad had taken had started to wear off, and he was just punishing you for what you'd done to Felicity, wasn't he? I understand why you were so frightened, it's hard when your parent changes so suddenly, right?"

He thought again about how he didn't know the whole story.

"Why don't you tell me again, calmer this time. I'm here to listen, and if you want, I'll go with you back to your house so you can talk to your dad, or you can come home with me. I'm sure my mum will let you stay in the guest room for the night."

Rowan took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn't know if she even had the strength to start at the beginning. So much had happened tonight, and she was at a point where she just wanted to sink into nothingness and forget it all. But that was impossible. How could she forget what she had done? She had ruined her family, and now they were all paying the price. She looked up at King and started over, slowly this time.

"I was acting like a bitch to him, yet again. And don't try to defend me, it's true. I turn into this crazy person when he's around. Anyway, I was pushing him, and goading him. And I guess I pushed him so badly, that he thought he had to take that potion. Anyway, you know what happened next. I knew he was too far gone to protect us, so I gave Felicity the asparagus. She got sick, and my dad forced me to drive home so he could sit in the back with her. I was fine. Everything was fine until we parked. And I forgot to put it in gear, so it crashed into the neighbor's car."

She felt another tear quietly escape down her cheek, but she didn't let it phase her. She continued woodenly as she pictured her father's face.

"We got into a huge fight. And I pushed him too far over the edge. I called him names, I...I was awful to him. And he told me he had never been so close to beating me in all of my life. I suppose I am lucky he only smacked my ass once. And then he cried. I've never seen him cry before. So I left. And I am never going back."

But almost as if fate was against her, her father came walking up at that moment. And she knew that whatever happened between them right now, she didn't want King to see. So she turned to him with a quivering chin.

"You should go. Thank you for coming to get me, but I doubt he'll let you stay, not without a fight."

She kissed him, tears running down her face.

"I love you, King. No matter what happens, I always will."