Ok, I know that the non-consent thing in this chapter is kind of a stretch, but all of the other chapters are posted here, so here you go. I hope you enjoy and thank you for all of the wonderful comments.
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Blake Denizen had invested in a stress ball when he'd finally broken his phone from throwing it across the room in frustration repeatedly. Cain Malcolm was going to get his way. What was fucking new. Golden boy had always breezed through life while everyone else had to work for what they had. Eli McAllister was wrapped around Cain's manicured little finger. Blake had received a letter that formally acknowledged his complaint and assured him that it had been dealt with accordingly. Cain probably hadn't even received a proverbial slap on the wrist. No, he had probably had a real good fucking time laughing it up with the General of the Army. They'd probably found the whole thing real fucking hilarious over a game of golf. As always, Cain would get his way. Blake squeezed the yellow smily face ball in his fist until his knuckles turned white.
Every time he'd had to talk to the son of bitch he'd wanted to scream. Cain had come in with his hostage girl to fix everything up with a real big fucking smile on his face. It had nearly driven Blake mad to have to be cordial with the prick. Cain, on the other hand, had found it extremely amusing to rub it in Denizen's face the entire time they'd had to work together. He didn't out right say anything, but he didn't have to. His perfect pretty boy face did all the talking for him with the infuriating arrogance that showed there so openly. He thought a lot of himself. The aggravating thing about it was that everyone else seemed to think a lot of him as well. It didn't seem fair that Cain should have money and looks. He had never had to even lift a finger and women opened their legs wide for him. How the asshole had any friends was beyond him. No he knew why he had friends, he had money. That's what it had always come down to, money, and Cain had been born with an abundance of it.
Everyone at the snobby school he'd been forced to go to had flocked around him and his brother. Blake didn't really care for the brother one way or the other, but Cain had always gotten under his skin. As soon as Blake's dad had made him transfer to the big shot school to go with their new big shot money he'd hated nearly everyone there, but Cain had caught his eye especially. Cain was the hot shot of the school and he knew it. He'd looked down on Blake the moment he'd gotten there. He was the king of the snobby superficial bitches that spent their mommy and daddy's money left and right. The money that his own father had been so proud of had embarrassed Blake throughout high school. It was never enough with the rich. Everyone strove to be like the Malcolm's and Blake was the furthest away from that goal. He'd gone from the in crowd of his own school to the scum under Cain's foot.
Cain actually had the nerve to shove his military position in Blake's face, as if he'd earned anything. Blake had worked his ass off to get his position and Cain didn't do shit and was ten times as powerful. Blake ran a unit and Cain was one step away from running the entire army. Blake was proud of how far he'd come and Cain had laughed in his face.
'Ah ah ah, that's General Malcolm to you, director'. Cain's voice replayed in Blake's mind once again. He squeezed his ball furiously. Cain was going to win. He would win like he'd won his entire fucking life. No! Not again! He would not lose to Cain Malcolm again. He was going to ruin that snarky prick's life if it was the last thing he ever did.
It didn't take him many phone calls to various friends he'd made over the years to find people who might be mad at the general. He smiled at the name he'd written down and underlined.
"Well well well, I think it's time we give Mr. Vincent Dutari a call." Blake said to himself, smiling for the first time in weeks.
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Malia couldn't stop thinking that she should have stopped Cain from leaving. She didn't know what to say to him. His story had actually made her cry. She could vicariously feel the overpowering guilt that he must feel daily. He thought that it was his fault. That one moment that he'd surprisingly shared with her had shaped his life so completely. It had changed a hurt selfish teenager into an overly responsible man. But he was more than just responsible, he was living his life to make up for his past. She knew that he would never consider that debt paid. Before she knew Cain she had thought that he had no sense of honor or nobility. She'd thought that he would have done whatever he needed and wanted to do to get the end result he desired. Recently she'd come to know that his sense of honor was deeply ingrained, and when he'd violated it he didn't take it lightly.
She should have told him that it wasn't his fault. He wouldn't agree with her of course, but she felt he needed to hear it all the same. She didn't have time to think of the words before he'd left the house. He'd told the entire story straight-faced, though she saw the deep emotion lurking in his eyes. The memory had been haunting him for a long time. She could see the events play through her mind like a tragic movie.
She could see the lost teenager lashing out at his stifling family life that was dominated by public appearances. She could see how his strong pride would cause that rebellion to escalate, as he would die before he would back down. She imagined that his father had been very similar in temperament, causing a volatile mixture. She saw the pain there, when he talked about his father's death. He'd loved the man and she knew it had devastated him, no matter how aloof he may act. But Cain's pride was what kept him together. She saw the young man spiraling out of control as he refused to grieve for a man he'd openly hated, a man he'd loved.
It was this weakened state that had finally broken the pride that had been holding him together. She saw things as Cain would. He had continued to act selfishly, even after the death of his father. He'd therefore caused the death of a friend and the lifelong irreversible injury to his own brother. She knew what had been a terrible accident wouldn't be seen that way to Cain. A tear streamed down her face as she saw the scene in her head. Now Cain was running through the woods, trying to run from his own memories. She should go look for him. She didn't know what to say if she were to find him. He wouldn't accept any comforting words she had to offer, even if she could come up with any words to say. She couldn't sit in the recliner anymore, she needed to do something.
Malia walked into the kitchen. She would make him dinner. She started going through the cupboards and refrigerator to prowl their contents. She wasn't sure what he liked to eat. She didn't actually know how to cook anyway. Hopefully this would be a thought that counted type of thing. An hour went by and she was pacing back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. Every time she passed the window in the living room she looked for Cain. She'd made spaghetti because it seemed like a fairly safe bet that he would like spaghetti and it was simple enough for her to figure out. The silver pot of meat sauce sat covered on the stove next to the pot of pasta. She couldn't do it anymore. She'd already changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt, as well as undergarments. She put a pair of tennis shoes on and walked out the front door. She didn't know how she was planning on finding him but she couldn't pace around anymore.
The sun had started to go down and the woods were darker than the front yard she'd been meticulously scanning. She slowed down as soon as she reached the trees. How was Cain running around in the dark, he would run into a tree or something.
"Cain," she yelled. She wanted to get out of here. She could have turned around and went back into the house but now a reel of worst case scenarios was running through her mind at warp speed. Cain could have been attacked by wild animals, or he could have fallen on a rock and hit his head, or someone could have assaulted him. She tried to physically shake the paranoid thoughts out of her head. Cain wasn't fragile or weak by any means. She shouldn't be worrying about him, but he wasn't in the best state of mind and he shouldn't be out here like that. She continued to walk and call out for him, though she didn't yell as loudly as she could. It seemed risky to her for some reason. She felt a large plop of water hit her cheek, followed by another on her forehead nearly immediately after. Fantastic, it was raining. She started to walk a little faster and yell a little louder. She didn't even know if she was going the right way. There were tons of foot trails that wound through the forest for miles around Finn's cabin.
It seemed to go from a grayish dark to a pitch black much too quickly. Malia was jogging now and yelling his name at the top of her lungs. The heavy cover of trees had kept most of the rain off of her, but it started to rain harder. It seemed like she was soaking wet in less than a minute.
"Cain!" Malia's voice was starting to become frantic. She couldn't see the path anymore and even if she wanted to turn back she wouldn't know which way to go. This had to be the stupidest idea she'd ever had. Cain was probably sitting in the recliner back in the living room watching a TV show. Hopefully he would come looking for her. Malia heard a deafening crack much too close for comfort. She thought she might have felt the ground shake with the vicious thunder. She stopped and closed her eyes. If she didn't get her emotions under control quickly, she was going to start panicking. She breathed in and out as she heard more thunder crash through the night sky. She only felt minimally better when she opened her eyes again. She called out again and again as she walked quickly through the underbrush. She'd definitely abandoned the path. She tried to look around but it was pouring rain and she couldn't see anything but trees. As the thunder and lightning became more frequent and intense she felt the panic overtake her. She turned completely around and started to run. She needed to find the path again. Didn't lightning strike trees? There were probably wolves and bears in these woods. She could feel the paranoia rising. She screamed when she unexpectedly ran into what felt like a tree, except the tree fell when they made contact.
"Jesus, Malia!" Cain yelled to be heard over the thunder and rain.
"Cain?" Her voice was filled with relief that completely masked over the pain of hitting him full force. She'd knocked him down, luckily only on dead leafs and dirt. She was already laying on him fully so she hugged him in relief.
"I found you. oh my god I thought I was lost. Why didn't you answer me!" She yelled at him.
"I did!" He yelled back. She let go of him and looked up at his face, he looked angry. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
