Matilda Reed

Mason quietly wondered if this was what the next fifty years would look like. Trapped in small spaces, in public, whenever the rest of the world required them to be a couple, bickering like high schoolers. It was no surprise to him that they weren’t getting along. After all, liking the other or being agreeable meant conceding to the arrangement that neither of them had chosen. But would they always be like this? Truthfully, he didn’t know if he’d survive such a marriage. Quite honestly he would rather cut his losses and his life short rather than always wondering if he could be happy, or if he was going to be the constant that made her unhappy and miserable. Her murmured response had him smile, but it was a sad one. No doubt she was just saying that to come up with a response. To fill the silence between them. Silence that was about to be broken by a dozen media hungry, selfish and obsessive people banding together. Once his fist connected with the seat, Mason only wanted to keep hitting it. The tinted windows assured that no one saw him, though Matilda couldn’t be spared this time around. He exhaled with a hiss, pressing his lips together and fixing his eyes, still filled with frustration and anxiety, on her. Despite his urges, he stilled under her touch, doing his best to keep himself in check. “There’s never any damned privacy..” his words were hard, but the harshness wasn’t directed at her. “Hate it..”

He felt like a major shit, making her put the ring on.. or rather all but ordering her to. It was clear she’d had no intention to wear it when she didn’t have to, and he understood why. She had a boyfriend and she didn’t want to face what it meant. All very understandable. Yet there was no room for those feelings in this situation. They had to keep up appearances. They had to make everyone believe this union was one of love, not of force. God what a shitshow.. Mason had never been a very good actor. Sure he could fake it and lie, but pretend to be in love? He had little practice in that department. In acting on emotions that weren’t the slightest bit his own. Her sudden inclination to give him pep talks was new, and despite his current mood, not something he found himself averse to. Sure the sudden kindness was kind of odd which made him wonder if it was genuine or just out of pure survival. Did it matter though? “Yeah, I got it.” he said, taking a forced but deep breath, lowering both his hands to his lap. How did he play a part he had no idea how to fake? He couldn’t just pretend he knew her.. but he could pretend he wanted only her. “I wasn’t much for drama class, but I’m going to do my best. Well, lets get this shit on the road then.” With that he met her gaze, nodding a little at her in an attempt at reassurance, before he opened the door and stepped out, turning to hold out his hand to her, gentleman style. All they had to do was survive the walk from the car and into the store. Once there they could ask for privacy. Though they still had to do some acting for the sales personell mind you.

Matilda’s nausea had dissipated thanks to the attention she was needing to pay to the situation they had now found themselves thrown into. The photographers didn’t care what was going on in their personal life as far as her feeling unwell was concerned, they just wanted to be the one who managed to get the best photograph of the new couple so they could sell it to the highest bidder for the biggest profit. The Wilkes were expecting both of the couple to be putting on an acceptable show and despite not wanting to be stuck in this position that didn’t mean the woman was planning on doing a bad job. It might sound dramatic but her life literally hung in the balance. Mason might not have life or death stakes with this but she did know it was important that he did a good job as well, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have been lashing out in the way he currently was. “I can imagine, but it’s not the back of the seats fault, so there is no need to take it out on it.” The brunette murmured as she moved her hand up to his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before turning her attention back to putting on her engagement ring quickly enough that it’s absence not be noted by anyone outside the car. Thank god for tinted windows. It afforded them at least a little moment before all eyes were on them. Matilda would like to have her go punching the back of a seat to relieve some stress but it just wouldn’t be practical. No, she’d eat a stupidly large slice of cake when she got home instead, that would make her feel better for a small time at least.

Ring weighing down her left hand she considered it for a moment as she chewed her bottom lip, it was beautiful no doubt about that, but it just…felt wrong. She better get used to it rapidly though. “Yeah, you’ve got it.” Trying to steady her breath she took a slow inhale as he stepped out of the car, still in disbelief that she had to do this at all, before plastering a sweet smile on her lips as if she was positively giddy by her impending marriage, far from the truth. Reaching out when he offered his hand to her she took it gently, carefully getting out the car as flashes greeted her invasively causing Millie to squint a little before she got accustomed. This was certainly new to put it lightly. Lifting her hand she waved in greeting, channelling her inner Princess Diana so she could hopefully earn the reputation of smiling quiet type rather than someone who engaged in lengthy conversation with the media. Slowing things down. Once they were inside the two of them could at least breath a bit easier knowing they’d gotten their first appearance out the way, even if neither of them wanted to be there still. Keeping close to Mason she didn’t let go of his hand as they headed towards the entrance of the shop, he might not be her choice of fiancee by any stretch of the imagination but he was at least someone she knew which made him her port in the storm for this little outing. Something she recognised was better than nothing. “Lets get inside.” The words were muffled through her smile whispered only to the man next to her as they finally moved to the doors and the quiet of the otherwise empty store. Once the glass doors swung closed behind them she felt her chest loosen a little so she could breath easier, looking over at Mason with a slight incline of her head. “That was…interesting.”

“It’s the first place I’ll be stopping.” Eva had long lost track of how many cups she had drank because she had been using her travel mug to avoid having to get up as much. It kept the tea warmer longer than normal cups would anyways. Right now she had her NASA mug to match the pajamas. “Oh thank you, but I have to wash out my mug. I was not feeling that at all.” The mug in question sat on the coffee table in front of her. “It’s got those fancy insides that keep your drink either warm or cold. Anyways, you asked if I wanted more tea, no I’m good, for now.” She didn’t want to have Millie wash out her used cup, Eva wanted to retain some independence. “That storm was crazy though. The whole city was out or something? I’m not sure, Mari tried to talk to me while I was in the hospital but I was miserable until… like an hour ago…” She was still a little grumpy as she hadn’t slept well, but she was finally allowed to sleep, meanwhile it was already morning time and the rest of the city was getting back to normal after the chaos.

“Perfect, well I’ll be there, I’m always there.” Millie smiled softly, eyebrows quirking up at the mention of needing to wash out a mug. “Do you want met o do it? Was out the mug I mean. I’m here to help you in any way you need right now, your wish is my command.” The brunette giggled, but nodded at the refusal of no more tea. “Okay, well let me know fi you change your mind.” As the conversation switched to the topic of the storm her eyes widened, nodding enthusiastically, but now enough to make herself dizzy obviously. “It was totally crazy! I got stuck in the mall and a poor girl fell down the escalator when it stopped suddenly and broke her arm. I felt so terrible for her.” She told Eva, settling into the sofa next to her to make herself comfortable. “How is Mari doing? She was okay in the storm right?” She wasn’t sure what else had gone down in the storm because she’d been so wrapped up in her own life dramas, now was the time to catch up. “Like I said, I’m so glad you had Niklaus, I hope he was comforting to you.”

”You need to be careful…” when she told him that she’d been sick after finding out about this whole engagement, Niklaus couldn’t hide his evident concern. Not that it was any different than all the previous times she’d been sick. Niklaus was always worrying, and always wanting to take care of Matilda. “All this stress….it’s not good for the little one. And I know you’re under a lot of stress right now.” he wished he could make all of this stop. The idea of packing everything up and leaving tonight had sounded like an insane idea moments ago, but if there was any way Niklaus could have done that without this “family” tracking Matilda down, he would have done it in a heartbeat. Because his priority was this woman, and her safety. It was crazy to think, that one simple embrace could make someone feel a little better about such a serious, hard to process situation. A breath of air left Niklaus in a sigh the moment he felt Matilda returning the hug. Maybe that was what they’d both needed right now. To just hold one another and let their emotions free. He closed his eyes, listening as Matilda tried to steady her breathing down again. The man still felt like he was in some twisted nightmare that he’d wake up from at any second. None of this seemed real enough for him to believe. In fact, the only thing that felt real about any of this was the touch of his girlfriend. Maybe that’s why it had brought him to tears….because the second she’d touched him, reality hit him hard. He nodded gently as she apologised, and told him she loved him. He was a little lost for his own words, but she knew that he loved her. “We’ll be okay…” he had to believe that. Because if he didn’t, there was no way he’d be able to get through all of this. Right now, there were no solutions to this massive problem, but surely there had to be a way out? His future with Matilda involved her and their child. He wasn’t about to make room for someone else being thrown into it. “This is….a lot for one person to process, Millie.” he told her softly, pulling back only slightly from the hug so he could look at her properly again, keeping his face only inches from her own. “And I’m not okay with any of this. I don’t like that you’re trapped in this other life, or that you— that you….kill…people, or that they’re forcing you into this marriage…” he shook his head, hand coming up to rest against the side of her face. “…but I love you and I’m not going anywhere, alright? You and our baby— you’re my family. And no one’s going to take you away from me…”

“Easier said than done right now, I’m just trying to….keep our little secret from them so at least we can avoid that for as long as possible. I don’t know what we’re going to do once I start to show though, I just…” She pressed her lips together hard as she shook her head trying hard not to start crying again, her eyes were already red and puffy from all the emotion. Her stress was incredibly bad for the baby, Matilda felt a load of guilt for that because it wasn’t their fault that this was happening. It was a mother’s job to protect her children so the last thing she wanted to do was cause any harm during her pregnancy. “I don’t know how to not be stressed, I don’t want to do anything that hurts the baby, that’s why I came straight to you. No way I could have gone home right now and been on my own. Even if that’s selfish.” Her breathing was starting to at least become more regulated as her heartbeat slowed also. It was the Niklaus effect that was for sure. The fact they were back close again was like a tonic to her nerves in a way he could never truly understand. No one could. Her face buried into his chest as she breathed in the smell of his clothing with her eyes closed, hands holding onto him tightly. Giving herself just a moment where she didn’t think about the Wilkes family, but Millie wished she could help her boyfriend do that as well. She just didn’t know how.

“We’ll be okay…I’ll be okay…” she kept repeating even as he pulled out of the hug slightly, allowing him to, but staying as close as possible. Lifting one hand he caressed his cheek with her fingers gently, brushing her thumb across where a tear was still sitting there so she could swipe it away. It broke her heart that she had inflicted this on such wonderful person, it made her angry at the Wilkes that they would deliberately ruin peoples lives like this, it made her internally curse herself that all those years ago she had entered into this without thinking about the consequences down the line. Her sadness was just mixed with fury stemming from so many different reasons. “No…no I know it is. I’m sorry.” The brunette apologised again even if he had asked her to stop doing that, it wasn’t a deliberate thing, just an impossible to avoid impulse. Because sorry didn’t even begin to cover what Matilda wanted to express to Nik for what she’d done. Lapsing into silence she kept her eyes locked with him as he explained the things he didn’t like, leaning into his hand against her face with a small sniff. How had she landed someone this amazing? Without a doubt the people in the world who would be willing to drive through this wreckage for their significant other were few and far between, but somehow she had hitched herself to one of them and Millie could cry all over again from relief. Her luck was never ending apparently. “I will never be able to thank you enough, I will never be able to tell you how much this means to me. I will spend my entire life trying to make this up to you, I swear, I love you so much.” She told him earnestly, tears still in her eyes but no longer rolling down her cheeks as she leant forward to rest her forehead against her boyfriend’s. “Nik…I’m scared…are you scared? I’m so scared. I’m sorry.” She whispered, eyes locking with his.

soldierxmase​:

He only shook his head a little at her sarcasm, once more finding that if he could just keep his words to a minimum, that might better serve them both. Because if he began lashing out at her every time she lashed out at his family or him, they’d end up pushing each other that much faster to the breaking point. Mason truly wanted to do what was right, to make this all a little easier somehow.. but he had no idea how to do that. He only knew that being mad at her didn’t help. When she kept harping about the suits and the money, he grimaced, pressing his lips together in order to just let her finish before saying his piece. “You don’t think I’ve been forced to these dog and pony shows before? All my suits are tailor made, costing a small fortune. Not that I care how I look but they do. As if I’d be allowed to show up and embarrass them trough lacking the proper clothing.” he shook his head, disgust in his voice. Taking a deep breath, his expression softened, attempting to explain. “Look, its not about your ability to dress yourself or your clothes. Its about their image. All other opinions be damned. I’d much rather have sent you with a personal shopper but my father insisted this would be a nice bonding experience..” Now it was his turn to finish with sarcasm. Rolling his eyes, not at her but at the whole situation, Mason directed his glance and posture back towards the window, sure he had just failed at explaining with patience as he had promised himself he would try to achieve.

“Just another two blocks.” his voice was remote now, as he spent what energy he could on the scenery, wishing he was somewhere else, drowning his climbing anxiousness about being out and about with her like this. The stakes seemed impossibly high, the pressure turned on tenfold. Since the announcement he’d found paparazzis circling his block, the phone ringing off the hook. There was no doubt the media was watching now, hungry for details. While he heard her words, Mason was distracted by the sight that met them when the driver positioned the car to park outside the shop. The street was full.. photographers, paparazzis, even what seemed like a news crew. “Fuck.” he swore, punching the empty passenger seat in front of him simply in the need to react and drive some frustration out. Looking over at Matilda, Mason’s gaze became scrutinizing, halting at her hands. “Your ring Matilda.” he said, his voice harder than he’d intended it to be. “Put it on. Now.” Nothing, absolutely nothing could happen before she did that.

Matilda didn’t really care about where his suits came from or how much they cost, at this point the two of them were just bickering for the sake of it, sure she was leading some of it but damn was it exhausting. Turning to look out the window of the car she took a couple of deep breaths to settle her stomach, thinking about how his expression had softened for a moment and wondering why it was so short lived. Clearly he was capable of it, maybe he was just being snappy with her because she was being snappy with him, honestly Matilda wouldn’t judge him for that. She could be hard to deal with when she wanted to be. “Well I can’t wait to bond then…” she murmured, a soft frown coming onto her features as they approached the end of the second block since she’d asked how long until they’d get there, a mass of people apparently gathered there for some reason. The brunette opened her mouth turning slightly to ask if he knew what was going on when she clapped her eyes on the sight of her future husband slamming his fist into the back of the passenger seat in front of them. Alarmed she jumped back slightly, eyes widening, before reaching out to place her hands on his arm. “Hey…hey hey hey, stop that, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Her tone was both firm and gentle at the same time, trying to push him back against his seat. “Don’t freak out, it’s going to be alright.” They had gotten close enough for her to notice the official looking cameras around the necks of all the black clad photographers. Paparazzis. Apparently she was getting a baptism of fire into her new life today.

Looking down at her left hand her heart jumped as she realised she wasn’t wearing the engagement ring he’d given her. Despite her want to tell him where to shove it she knew there was no option when it came to wearing it right now, hand dipping into her bag to pull out the velvet box with a soft sigh. She’d not even placed it on her finger since she’d been given it and as she slipped it on there her stomach lurched, it looked so official, there was something profoundly scary about it. Swallowing she shoved the now empty ring box into her bag again, turning to look at him. “I’m doing what I have to do, now I need you to do what you need to do, and one of them is to calm down. Got it?” She spoke in in was an attempt at a calming tone, eyebrows raised as she gave him a small nod. “If you play your part as well as I’m planning to play mine we’re not going to have a problem with it. Channel your inner high school drama class.” Her eye caught that of a photographer outside and she forced a smile onto her lips.

“They can’t just take you away from me, Millie. Away from your current life. Who wants to live like that huh? Forced into a marriage you don’t even want to happen. How heartless can people be?” how were they going to move forward like this? There was no way out of this….Niklaus couldn’t think of anyway to protect his girlfriend from the situation she had gotten into. He couldn’t just sit back and let this marriage take place. Millie was his future. Not this other mans. There were so many questions Niklaus needed answers too.  Questions he knew Matilda wouldn’t be able to answer. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes and quickly wiped them away because…what good would come from him crying right now? He couldn’t allow himself to break. This wasn’t Matilda’s fault. This wasn’t a life she’d wanted. She had no control over her own life…people were making decisions for her, demanding she follow rules otherwise she’d be killed. “I don’t know what to do…I don’t know how to help.” he mumbled under his breath, completely lost in his own thoughts. He felt so many things right now. Anger, shock, sadness, confusion….maybe even a little betrayal over the fact that the love of his life had kept this from him for so long. As if his heart didn’t need anymore pain, hearing Matilda crying only added onto it all. He wanted to comfort her, to look after her….try and help her steady her breathing— but he couldn’t. His eyes remained on the coffee table in front of where they were sitting, his emotions somewhat contained at the moment. It was easier to shut himself off sometimes…than to deal with the mess that was going on in his head. “You can’t hide this pregnancy forever. They’re going to notice eventually…” he was worried though, about this other family finding out because if they did find out there was a baby involved….a baby that belonged to Nik, then who’s to know what they’d do? “How do we live life as a family when you have to be with someone else? Your life is being controlled, Millie. It’s not fair on you, or anyone involved. I don’t want you or our child living a controlled life— I don’t want our child involved with this mob family.” his hands brushed into his hair, and he sighed softly, exhausted by the events of the evening. As soon as he set them down again, he felt Millie grabbing one of his hands and it was enough to have the man snapping back into reality and finally looking at his girlfriend again. And honestly, that’s all it took….a simple touch and a second of eye contact and those tears quickly came rushing back to Nik’s eyes. Niklaus was capable of many things— breaking up with Matilda was definitely not one of them. He couldn’t do it. And he wouldn’t do it. What kind of man would he be if he backed off the second things got bad? He was sure he’d do more damage to both of them if he left than if he were to stick around and be there for her. He needed Matilda more than he wanted to admit. Taking his hand away from hers, Niklaus slowly shifted on the sofa so he could wrap Matilda up in his arms, chin resting on top of her head. “Take a few breaths….” his arms weren’t tightly wrapped around her, but that was only because he didn’t want to restrict her breathing while she was clearly in need of air. He felt defeated. Absolutely clueless on what to do now. “I’m not breaking up with you. I’d never do that…” he told her softly. “You know I love you more than anything else in this world. Just breath, Millie…we’ll figure something out…” 

Of course he was struggling with the situation, Matilda was having the hardest time with it as well, but at least for her it hadn’t come entirely out of nowhere. She had been aware of her second life, he had no idea, and now she’d dumped it all on him at the same time. Something she wished she hadn’t had to do, but if they were going to move forward with this relationship she had to. There was no choice. Hearing his mumbles she tried to keep herself from passing out, unable to reply because she had no answer for him. No answer to the situation. He was saying the same things she had when Mason had told her. That they couldn’t control her life this, couldn’t take away her life, her choices, her freedom, but while the Wilkes family had a hold over her where her life hung in the balance, of course they could do all those things. Covering her face with her hand she sobbed loudly, it was impossible to keep it in any longer, her emotions were crashing over her like a tsunami and all she wanted was to hold her boyfriend but that was exactly what she couldn’t do.

“I know…I know they are going to notice eventually. I already…I got sick on Mason when he told me, but luckily he just thought it was from shock.” Ironic that she’d used the word luckily where there was pretty much nothing ‘lucky’ about what they were going through. Her fear that they would do something to her or the baby when they found out about her pregnancy was an ever present dark cloud that loomed over her as of this afternoon, and she had no idea how to fix the problem they were presented with. How they could go on living like a family when someone else was forcing her into a box, a loveless marriage she didn’t want. “Neither do I but…I don’t know what to do…I don’t know how to fix it…I trapped us.” Her body shook until she was driven to grabbing his hand tightly, professing her love, trying to communicate to Niklaus that she wanted nothing more than to be with him despite everything that was going on. If she could wave a magic wand to take everything away apart from the creation of a new family with the blonde the girl would do it in a heartbeat but this wasn’t fairyland. It was a disgustingly real world trail they were facing. As soon as his arms wrapped around her she felt like she could breath better, just like that, in an instant the girl was safe. Even if it was only for the duration of him holding her she at least knew right now that Niklaus loved her, that he wanted to be with her, that their love could potentially transcend the way she’d betrayed him by not revealing her second life earlier. It was a ray of light in the otherwise pitch black darkness. Take a few breaths, she did as she was told, sucking in oxygen through her nose and blowing it out of her mouth, her hands grabbing hold of Nik like her life depended on it. Because it did. “I’m so sorry….I’m so sorry….I love you so much…” she kept repeating through her tears, knowing his own were flowing right now and wishing she could do something to stop them. “I love you more than anything else in the world…we’re going to have a baby….that is all I’ve ever wanted…you’re both all I ever wanted…I love you so much….” Matilda kept whispering it all over and over again as she clung to her boyfriend who really shouldn’t be the one having to console her in this situation. It should be the other way around. “I didn’t mean to do this to us…”

Mason supposed that he’d been naive to think there would be no consequences for his array of mistakes. Not only as far as his family was concerned, but the deep, dark, unspeakable kind. The ones that most would think of as sins.. If he was religious he might have used that word too. As it were he thought of them as unforgivable mistakes. Acts he couldn’t take back. And it was as if both fate and his family had come together, deciding to punish him. If he’d been asked to pick someone to marry, Matilda wouldn’t have been one he’d consider. She was too strong willed. Stubborn and independent, not to mention potentially lethal if she so chose. The fact that she seemed to be wielding her emotions like a weapon made the task of being around her even more difficult than he could have imagined. A meeker, more quiet, less willful girl would have been easy to push around, to toy with and ultimately even pretend to love. But as she pushed back with every turn, Mason had to work that much harder in return.. when he didn’t really feel like working at being nice, kind or patient at all. “It would be preferable. But then your manners would need some adjusting too, honey.” His answering smile was robotic, his eyes flashing with annoyance. God he hated this. 

Sliding back in beside her, Mason pulled the door shut and nodded to the driver, who started the car and began to drive them to the first store. Wanting to remain impassive, he stared out the window at the city flying past, until she spoke. Only then did he turn his head, and ultimately attention to the girl beside him. “I did tell you via text but I guess you need a recap.” he barely managed to keep his eyes from rolling. Tedious.. “My family are benefactors to one of the galleries downtown. Its been under construction for months, but has its grand opening this Saturday. Five days from now. So its not too early.. if you ask me we’re cutting it a bit close.” he explained, somehow managing to find a calm tone. Its not her fault. Its not her fault. He had to repeat the words, almost as a mantra, to remind himself that he should work against his impulses and dig around for some amity. Being this late to getting things together didn’t help. While he might be a mess in many ways, his time in the military had left him with a need to have things in order. “I have several suits in different colors with suitable shirts to go with them. I might get a tie or pocket square to match your dress, but if we go with white like they are requesting then I won’t have to.” He lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. 

‘Cutting it a bit close? Well, I do hope we manage to find something today then. Otherwise we’d be in a world of trouble.” She muttered sarcastically, as if they weren’t already. Her eyebrows lifted at the mention of the dress having to be white, of course it did, because they were really trying to drive this wedding thing home. It was as if someone had reached into her brain to find out what her worst nightmare would be, putting it on a plate, and presenting it to her in the form of Mason and a forced marriage. She was trying to keep her temper but it wasn’t proving easy, fingers twisting together in her lap as she swallowed. “Do your suits cost enough money? Rumour has it that the Wilkes family are pretty hung up on how much things cost. Funnily enough I have a lot of dresses as well, I’m sure I could have found something suitable. I’m not unable to dress myself you know.” Sighing she internally relented as she sat back in the seat and rested her head on the headrest with her eyes closed. Matilda was starting to feel nauseous, and if she threw up in the car that would really piss the man off. Not to mention it would be the second time she’d thrown up in front of him in as many meetings.

“How long until we get to the store?” Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long, if she could just hold herself together a little longer they’d be okay. She’d be okay. God how Matilda wished she could talk to her mother right now to get some clarity, she missed the woman so much, she missed having that support. Obviously she had Niklaus but…well it was understandable that he was taking some time to deal with this issue himself. “You should probably get a white pocket square to go with my dress then, if you want to look like the properly doting fiancee.” Even saying that word was weird in her mouth, she shouldn’t be saying it about him in any universe let alone this one. If she should be saying it to anyone it would be Nik. She couldn’t get the man out of her head which was understandable but painful when she was trying hard to switch off that part of her life didn’t exist. She was Matilda Reed. Cold, calculated, right? No, she was Matilda Reed. Scared, confused, lonely.

Mason had come to a point where pretty much felt as if he was moving trough the motions of life around him. Sure he had part of his own life when he was in his own apartment or hidden away in the back of a club. But the second he had to put that invisible ‘Wilkes hat’ on, he tried not to feel too much. If he did he wouldn’t fare well. He’d end up messing things up even more, and he couldn’t afford to at the moment. His family had been right about one thing, this whole engaged to be married shit farce had made him take things a bit more seriously. Just knowing that ignited that too familiar fire in his gut. Where bitterness, anger, betrayal, hatred even swirled around. 

He dug his hands deep into his coat pockets, not much minding the cold winter wind or cold that took a hold of his clothing and made his skin freeze. When you were telling yourself to feel numb on the inside, it was a relief to feel so on the outside. Honestly he’d happily just sit out in this weather until someone reminded him to get back inside. Instead he had to steel himself for an afternoon of dress shopping. With someone who didn’t really want to be around him. Sounded like a recipe for disaster. His eyes followed the brunette as she came across the street, wearing anything but a friendly expression. Why on earth did you think this would be much different? For some reason he’d held out just a little bit of hope that their interactions this time might not be so hostile. If this was the start though, there was little reason for hope. “And that matters a lot to you? My manners?” he asked, his tone even but void of emotion. Without another word he pulled open the car door, holding it for her. “Better Miss Matilda?” a sardonic smile accompanied the question. It was all he could do not to roll his eyes. 

Matilda didn’t know what she’d done in a past life to deserve this, but for some reason this was the situation she’d found herself in, and despite telling herself she was going to be nicer to Mason today she apparently couldn’t manage it. Frowning at him as he called her Miss Matilda instead she paused, turning to look at him before getting in the car, raising her eyebrows at him. “Yes, your manners do matter to me, if we’re going to get married then we might as well be polite to each other, don’t you think darling?” A smile that on first glance looked sweet was cold if you stopped to consider it too long. There was nothing behind her eyes because she was finding it hard to deal with her emotions. Adopting instead the method she used when completing a kill for the Wilkes family and entirely shutting off the part of her that was the kind, loving baker, instead becoming the detached empty husk she used to protect herself.

Settling herself into the car she made sure to buckle herself in securely, after all it wasn’t just her she had to look after but also the baby she was carrying. The one Mason had no idea about, that would be an interesting conversation to put it lightly. “So what is this event we’re expected to play nice at? And when is it? I don’t want to buy a dress too uh… early, if it’s not for a while.” The brunette tried to ask delicately, hands placed on her knees because honestly she didn’t know what else to do with them. This was all just so weird in every single way, how was she even meant to be nice to him? What was she meant to say? “Do you have an outfit ready for the event then? Or are you allowed to just show up in jeans and a shirt and call it a day?” It was impossible to keep the bitterness out of her tone, even though she really did try, finally making eye contact with the man. Millie wasn’t wearing her ring but it was in the bag at her feet, just incase he insisted on it being on display, or someone in his family had told him it had to be. She just followed orders now, that was her new life.

peach: hey! i wanted to check in on you since the black out. One kitchen owner to another.

peach: the truck was a mess, trutfhully, looks like people camped out in it during the storm.

peach: hows the shop?

Millie: Hey lovely!!

Millie: Oh gosh i'm so sorry, is it going to take a lot to fix it back up again? I'm around if you need help.

The dizzy spells had come and gone through out the day and thankfully when Millie arrived it was one of the times she could see and/or walk straight. She had been curled up in the living room, closet room to the front door so she was able to answer. Her speech had come back as time passed, well better than it was, but she still stumbled through saying hello to Millie. But she got it out, “Thank you, so much for this. I’m just sitting in the living room. Living off green tea now." 

Millie waved off her thanks quickly, because she knew the girl was seriously having a hard time at the moment and she wanted to do anything she could to relieve that for her somewhat. “Of course, it’s the least I could do. I’m honestly really glad you had Niklaus with you when you weren’t well, because at least I know you were in good hands. And as soon as you have have something more sugar laden than green tea you let me know because my bakery is at your disposal.” Moving slowly back towards the sofa so the other could sit back down again she set the wrapped gift basket on the coffee table. “Do you want more tea? I could always go and make you one. You need to relax.”

Niklaus didn’t think that the evening could have gotten any worse than what it was already. He’d soon find out how wrong he was. He tried not to make assumptions, tried to let her get through the whole explanation before speaking, but how could he possibly stay silent when she was telling him this? “That’s not…” that’s not happening. He wanted to say that, but stopped himself and started over. “…I mean do they know that you’re already with someone? You can’t just go marry someone else Millie…” once again, Niklaus was in disbelief with what he was hearing. He’d already been trying to process the first part of this conversation, and now he was going to have to let this information sink in as well. It felt like someone was squeezing his heart in the palm of their hands. Well, to be more specific….it felt as though Matilda was doing it. And sure, he knew she had no control over the situation, but that didn’t make the hurting any less painful.  “If they’re like family to you, if they’d kill for you then surely telling them you have a boyfriend and child on the way would be enough for them to reconsider this….this marriage.” he could feel his anger rising again, but he couldn’t find it in himself to get angry at Matilda. How could he? When despite all of this, he still loved her with his entire heart. The man was so in love with her that she could have literally stabbed him in the back and he’d still use his last breath to tell her he loved her. The thought alone, of her marrying someone else made him sick to his stomach. What was he suppose to do? How the fuck was he going to help her out of that one? “You’re breaking my fucking heart, Millie…” his words were soft as he turned away from her again, taking a moment to try and think of a way out of this… “What’s going to happen huh? I mean, if you don’t do what these people tell you to do they’ll hurt you, right? This so called fucking family of yours. And it’s not like I can do or say anything that’s going to change a damn thing.” life had been too perfect for Niklaus. He should have known something was going to happen to take that away from him… “So you have to marry this guy and then what happens to us? I’m just going to be the boyfriend you keep on the side? Are you planning on hiding this pregnancy from these people too? I’m not so sure that marrying this Wilkes son while you’re carrying my child will sit well with any of them. And how am I going to explain any of this to my family…” if what she said was true then having this engagement announced by the press would eventually reach his family. His parents knew how much Matilda meant to him….and now he’d have to make up some crazy lie as to why she was suddenly engaged to marry an entirely different person. There had to be one more bomb to drop on him….he sensed it was coming. Is that why she’d come here tonight? To end things with him? “If you’re here to end things with me please don’t drag this out anymore….just do it.” he leaned back into the sofa, hands moving over his forehead. That was the only way to prevent her from getting hurt…and Niklaus would never forgive himself if something happened to Matilda or their child if she ended up refusing to get married for his sake.

“I…I don’t know I never mentioned it explicitly but you’re at the bakery enough, I would have thought everyone knew about us, I don’t keep it a secret.” Matilda replied breathlessly, gritting the back of her teeth to stop herself from throwing up all over the place, because this whole thing was making her sick to her stomach. She wanted to tell him she had a way to fix it, that she had a plan, but the girl was utterly helpless in this situation. She had to protect the baby as well as herself now, Niklaus knew that, that was probably one of the reasons he was getting so …. Well there were a million reasons why he was getting upset, angry, she was feeling them all as well. “Nik…Nik I wish it was that simple, I really do. God I wish it was that fucking simple and they’d leave us alone to live our lives because that’s all I want. I just want you, and the baby, everything was so perfect before this.” And just like that she dissolved into hysterical tears again, putting a hand across her eyes as the other one went across her stomach, shaking her head back and forth.

“I’m sorry…I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t want any of this…I swear…” She whispered though her fingers as her shoulders heaved with sobs that racked through her entire body. “I don’t even know what I’m going to do about telling them about the baby, I haven’t told Mason yet, because it’s not his business. This is our baby. It’s our family.” There was no way in hell she could ask him to be the boyfriend she kept on the side even if that had been what she’d been holding onto through this whole thing, that somehow she’d still have him in her life. Hell that she’d still be able to be with Nik despite being forced into a loveless marriage with a member of a mob family. Hands shaking she reached out to him, grabbing his hand for the first time in the conversation because she just couldn’t help herself any longer, her eyes were wide and still swimming with tears as she pulled him towards her with the minimal strength she had left inside her body. The small amount of fight. “No. Look at me Niklaus, fucking look at me, I didn’t come here to break up with you. I love you, more than I love anyone else on the planet and if you need to break up with me then I understand but I am physically…physically incapable of breaking up with you because…because…it already feels like I’m being ripped apart inside. That I can’t be near you, or kiss you, that you’re upset and hurting. I never….I never wanted to hurt you I swear.” Her voice was ragged and desperate, she was borderline hysterical as she kept his hand in her own in a vice like grip, like that might actually stop them from having to be apart. Matilda was no longer thinking rationally, she was just seeing a wall of blind panic as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you, I love you and I don’t want to be with him, I don’t want to do any of this, I just want you and the baby…and I just…I just…” she broke off, trying to catch her breath as her whole body shook.

Eva: Yes! He was there! He helped me. He was like the first person I saw. I feel bad he had to carry me inside in the rain but I was out cold.

Eva: It's been really upsetting but I'm getting through it. My cats are here and my roommates have been helping as much as they can. Yes you totally can bring me stuff and come visit but I seem out of it, that's why. Brain is temporarily broken.

Matilda: He did?! oh i'm SO glad! Honestly with him you were in good hands. That man knows how to be caring.

Eva: St. Anthony's. I was walking from Mari's house after her late birthday celebration sleepover, and the rain was not safe to walk in so I went to the nearest place and then i was laying on the church floor.

Eva: Or so I was told. Because I still don't really remember anything.

Eva: I can eat fruit certain fish, and anything that helps stimulate the brain and I have to keep hydrated. Which is what I was doing with coffee so now I have to differentiate what's caffeine withdraw and what's lingering concussion symptoms. And they are very similar.

Matilda: Oh that's where my boyfriend was trapped too!!!! I'm so glad you were at least somewhere safe!

Matilda: That sounds really scary, you poor thing

Eva: I mean I'm alive but I got knocked out during that power outage and have a horrible concussion.

Eva: I can't look at my phone or screens in general for long, I'm dizzy on and off, and I can't have sweets. I had to give up coffee. I don't know which is worse. So I'ma be living at home. More than normal.

Millie: Oh my goodness you poor darling!!!

Matilda: Hi lovely!!

“That gives us some time to work with though…gives us at least eight months to figure something out…” Niklaus was still trying to work out how he was going to get his girlfriend away from this family. If telling them about the pregnancy would put the killing on hold then they needed to do it. Not only for Matilda’s safety, but for their child as well. He couldn’t imagine that being a hitman would be safe, after all. There was always a possibility of things going wrong. Of the target being a lot more prepared for an attack than expected. Thinking about that brought back the memory of the time he’d seen Matilda with the dark bruise to her jawline. The one that the stand mixer had apparently caused. He hadn’t questioned it back then, but now he was thinking that maybe it was caused while on the job….not that he’d bring that up now. It just….made a lot more sense than a kitchen appliance being at fault. He saw her hand reaching out for his, and then watched her take it back as well. It hurt his heart just as much as he was sure it hurt hers— not being able to hold the other. But Niklaus wasn’t ready for that just yet. If she touched him….if there was any kind of contact, Niklaus knew his emotions would get the better of him. And it would be harder to pretend he was okay, that he was calm. He nodded as she confirmed everything he’d said. It made him feel sick to his stomach when she said that they owned her now. Having any kind of claim on someone like that sounded disgusting. Making her kill for them….Niklaus couldn’t stop his blood from boiling all over again. At least they could protect her though, right? This thought had crossed his mind as well. He was trying to find the positive in this situation, cling to it with all of his might and right now that was the protection that this family provided his girlfriend with. It eased Niklaus just a little bit knowing that she had these people looking out for her. Niklaus was overly protective of his family and loved ones, after all. So Matilda’s safety would always matter to him. “Good. At least they’ll keep you safe…” was all he replied with, a soft exhausted sigh leaving his lips because this night had taken a turn for the worse. His heart stopped in his chest when she said there was something else to tell him. He wasn’t sure that he could take another hit after the information he’d been given moments ago, but at the same time…he wanted to know everything. “Just….just tell me. What is it?” he was definitely not prepared for anymore plot twists thrown into this conversation but he knew too much now….might as well tell him the rest.

Matilda could tell that Niklaus was trying to find any way to get her out of this situation, but she also knew it her heart that it just wasn’t possible. She could tell him until she was blue in the face but until he had wrapped his head around it, it wouldn’t make a difference. Just like in her conversation with Declan earlier. Until Millie had found a way to process the information she hadn’t accepted it, it was as simple as that. Letting him sit there in silence as she thought about how much this must be hurting him her heart ached with the need to comfort him, reach out and wrap her arms around him as she would if pain had come from something other than her own words. Her own actions. Of course Matilda knew the dangers of her job, she’d thought about them constantly since finding out she was pregnant, but she also knew just how good she was at what she did. It wouldn’t help to express her skill to him obviously but the truth of it was that the risk posed to her was minimised because of how prepared she always made sure she was, how well she knew each step to what she was going to do. Her targets didn’t stand a chance - hell that was why Theo and the rest of the family had hired her, because they knew how skilled she was. Nik didn’t know, but Millie did, she knew her child wasn’t in danger when she went out on a job. Rationally at least. The fear was still there. The maternal fear.

Swallowing hard she couldn’t look at him while she explained the next tangent of her news, hands griped so tightly in her lap her knuckles were turning white with the effort. She felt disgusted at herself, at the situation, she wanted the ground to swallow her up whole. “The Wilkes have a son, well there is a son to one o the family members, his name is Mason and he and I have known each other for a while.” No doubt Nik was going to be expecting her to be about to admit she’d been cheating on him, but oh god, if it wasn’t so much worse than that. “He told me today he needed me to come over, we needed to talk. He never gave me my targets so I didn’t know what the hell he could have wanted but I went, like everything else with this family I didn’t have a choice.” Stressing that one detail was the only thing keeping Millie from vomiting at her own words, her own hideousness. If she was her boyfriend she would be utterly repulsed by her right now. By the situation. “He pulled out a ring, told me that…the higher ups in the family had decided the only way to get him to behave and be a model Wilkes, was to get married. He told me they’d picked me, and I had to be engaged to him. To marry him. That…” Her voice broke as she dissolved under the sensation of mourning she felt at all the things that were being taken away from her by this, from the family she had built with Niklaus. Or was building. “…that the press would get an announcement, we had to be photographed at events together…that I had to play the perfect role. And…and I don’t know what to do…because if I don’t do it…” She trailed off, not needing to say they would kill her again, it had been said enough, it was a given at this point. “I don’t want to do it Nik, I don’t want to…I don’t know what to do....”

“Maybe if you tell them about this pregnancy they’ll let you stop?” it was a long shot, but again, Niklaus didn’t know these people well enough to know that this probably wouldn’t happen. He nodded gently when she spoke about not wanting anyone to hurt their baby, because it didn’t matter that she was a trained assassin who killed people for a job, Niklaus knew that Matilda would be an incredibly protective and loving mother to their child. He knew she’d do absolutely anything to keep their baby safe, just as Niklaus would as well. “Yeah. I do…” his reply was barely audible, but he meant it. “I….I don’t know what to do…” he admitted after a moment. There had been times in Nik’s life when he’d felt absolutely helpless and it was a feeling he’d always hated. Right now, as Matilda was telling him about how she couldn’t get out of this life she’d gotten herself into at a younger age, the man felt this helplessness strongly. How the hell was he suppose to get her out of this? How was he suppose to keep her and his child safe when he was only one person and the people she was working for were apparently an entire mob family? No doubt just as trained to use guns and kill as she was? He couldn’t. Matilda’s last words seemed to snap him out of whatever hold his feet had to the ground and he slowly made his way back over to the sofa to sit beside her again. He stayed silent, lost in his thoughts— wondering how he was going to help her while still letting all of this news sink in. “So…” he paused, once again struggling to find words. He’d never been in this position with Matilda— never struggled to form sentences with her. Talking with Matilda had always been easy….so why was it so damn hard now? “…so you work for the Wilkes family as a hitman?” it sounded like he was asking a question, but the man was just trying to make sense of this by saying it out loud. “…and you don’t want to do this, but you’re forced too because they’ll kill you if you don’t?” she was doing this to keep herself alive. Niklaus might not have agreed with all of this, but he was way too deep in this relationship to turn away. Too in love with this woman to allow something this insane pull him away from her. And sure, this might put a bit of a strain on their relationship, but Niklaus knew in his heart that they’d get through this somehow. Once again, Niklaus was falling into the same kind of mind set he had for work. When he was managing to keep himself calm during a stressful situation. “These people you work for—- do they keep you safe? I mean, you kill for them….would they ever kill for you? To protect you?” he asked softly, needing to at least know that Matilda had that safety.

“I don’t think so Nik…I don’t think they would let me stop, but even if they did it would just be until the baby was born. We’d have to deal with it starting up again straight after.” The tiny silver lining right now was that the blonde seemed to be settling as the news filtered into him, she still feared him leaving completely but at least he wasn’t shouting anymore, right? “Here…” she reached out when he expressed not knowing what to do, her eyes soft even though they were still full of tears, wishing she could wrap her arms around him and never let go. They could just stay like that forever, completely forgetting everything else around them. Once he’d sat down she went to take his hand in her own before thinking better of it, retracting it onto her lap once more, managing to get her breathing at least a little more under control now. Her head was swimming less as she sucked oxygen in through her nose slowly, letting it out her mouth, chest shuddering less with each one. God, this was only half the story at well, he could have no idea what was coming next. Everyone she remembered the nausea rose in her throat, hurting the person she loved most in the world was ripping her apart inside. How could she profess to love Niklaus beyond anything else when she was persistently hurting him, she should have thought about that before they got together, when she was first falling. But Matilda had been selfish and blocked out that concern in favour of riding the wave of emotions their relationship caused. Now she was paying the price. They both were.

“I work for the Wilkes as a hitman. If I could stop doing it I would stop right this second, but I know too much and they … own me now.  I don’t have a choice.” Her voice was measured as she explained the facts, trying to be as clear as humanly possible because she knew how overwhelming this was regardless. “If I tried to run they’d get me before I even managed to leave the city. And I know that because if someone else did it, I would be the person they’d get to stop them. I wish I wasn’t.” At the question about the Wilkes keeping her safe the brunette’s heart swelled inside her chest, so grateful for that tiny indication of her boyfriend’s care shining through the darkness of the conversation she could have stared crying all over again. She couldn’t though, Millie had to steel herself to reveal the rest of the information he needed, otherwise she’d back out before she’d done it. “I believe they would kill for me, to protect me, they talk about us all being a family. It was what enticed me in the first place…I don’t feel unsafe when I’m around them.” She assured him quietly, nodding her head, lis pressed together as she tried to work out how to launch into the next part of everything. “There is another reason I needed to tell you today though Nik, I found out something this afternoon that…I can’t avoid because I have no choice, but I want to avoid with everything in me. And I don’t know what to do. And I need you, it’s selfish, but I need to tell you honey, and I need us to..work it out together because it’s not just about the two of is anymore, there is the baby to think about too. And I know we both want what’s best for her. Or him.” She paused, waiting for him to speak.