The journey back to LA was considerably shorter than the one we had taken to Echo Lake. Rhys had chartered a private jet to pick us up from Reno-Tahoe International Airport and fly us back to Porter Ranch which is where both he and his mum live.

He was very quiet and withdrawn during the entire journey. His thoughts were heavily preoccupied with his sister, who was still very much missing, so I remained quiet as well. He needed time to think. He needed the space to think. I was comfortable with the silence. Although Rhys himself, felt guilty because of it. Many times, he would just take hold of my hand. He would hold it because he needed the warmth and the familiarity that it unquestionably gave him. It appeased the guilt that he wore so obviously upon his extremely stressed face. But there was no need for his guilt when there was every need for his stress. I was exactly where I should have been, with him.

As soon as we touched down in Porter Ranch, Rhys received the call that he'd been so anxiously waiting for—Maci had been found and was being taken to her mums. As soon as Rhys heard the news, he closed his eyes with the immense relief sweeping right through him, more determined than ever to get to his mum's place as quickly as possible.

Me? I began to feel ridiculously nervous. I would be meeting Rhys's family, and not under the best of circumstances, either. Although Rhys is taking me to where his mum and stepdad live, I wasn't sure whether I would be exactly welcomed there. They have all just been to hell and back, I'm not sure that they'll be wanting a complete stranger to be privy to all of that.

In the back of the car, I feel I need to say something before we reach our destination. "Maybe I should just wait in the car when you get to your mums?"

Rhys shoots me a sideways glance. "Why?"

Grimacing a little, I try to calmly explain. "I've never met your family before, Rhys...it's hardly the best time for me to be introduced to them, is it?" Just the thought alone fills me with cold dread.

Shifting around in his seat, he looks at me with such steely depth. "Clara, I want you there with me. You've quickly become an important element in my life. Without you in it, things with Maci would have been much harder. Just having you by my side, helps." Holding my lowered chin, he strokes it with his thoughtful finger and thumb. "You make all of this easier, so I want you with me, okay?"

Unsure but unwilling to say no to him, I reluctantly smile with a weak nod of my head. "Okay." I have agreed to be there for Rhys, but I am still wondering if it's the right decision. Needing to take my mind off the meeting with his troubled and stressed family, I look out of the tinted car window as I'm sat closely beside Rhys, taking in all the glorious sights that Porter Ranch has to offer me before the very nerve wracking meet-the-parents gets underway.

Being in the hilly tip of San Fernando Valley, Porter Ranch is far enough away to find affluent sanctuary from the city life, yet close enough to be back within the bosom of the urban hubbub if that is what you desire. I really like it here. I would love to see more of the hilly and open, beautifully natural area that we are unfortunately rushing through. I am sure I will get the chance before I return to England, just not today. Today, I shall be walking into something that I'd really rather not walk into. But I will, for Rhys.

**

"Mom, I want you to meet Clara." Rhys introduces us before saying anything else, like he wants to get it out of the way just as quickly as I do.

His tired looking mother, courteously holds out her hand to me with a drained smile. "Nice to meet you, Clara."

Warmly smiling her way, I eagerly respond. "You too, Mrs—" I embarrassingly realise I don't actually know what her married name is. Rhys had once told me that he kept the name Ryan because it was his mother's maiden name, which now awkwardly leaves me absolutely clueless about what I should call her.

Laughing softly, she tries to put me at instant ease. "It's Mrs Rivers, but please call me Carol." Her smile is genuine, as is her returned warmth.

"It's lovely to meet you, Carol." I feel so much better for now knowing her name.

Rhys then steps forward to give his dear mum a long awaited hug. "Is she here?" He asks, not yet letting go of her because he knows that his mum really needs the big and strong hug that he gladly gives.

Carol nods with a wary smile, her exhaustion clear for all to see. "She's just gone for a shower."

"Is she okay?" Rhys asks as he breaks their relieved and loving embrace. "Has she used?" His brows wrinkle with worry, his voice abrupt with anxiety.

Shrugging her shoulder gently, Carol shakes her head with a downturned mouth as she leads us further into her modest and immaculate home. "I'm not sure, Rhys."

This isn't what he wanted to hear, Rhys needed to be told that Maci had not touched any drugs since she had walked out of the rehab. "If she has, Mom...I swear I'll—"

His mum stops him from taking another step into her living area, she needs him to listen to her. "Please don't, Rhys. Your sister is very fragile at the moment. We all now have to think of the life that she's carrying around inside of her. Maybe this baby is a blessing? Maybe it's just what Maci needs to turn her life around?" Her shaky voice is full of hope, full of hope that this baby will bring an end to all of her daughters pain.

An imposing presence gruffly enters the light and airy room. "Let's not run before we can walk, huh Carol? I for one, certainly don't see how Maci being pregnant is a good thing." The large and intimidating man briefly glances across at me before settling his very serious eyes onto only Rhys. "You made it, then?" There's no warmth or niceness to his words, only a cool indifference towards his stepson that puts me instantly on defensive guard.

"Don." Rhys curtly nods back at him, being just as cool and indifferent towards his stepdad. I am seeing for myself just how much they really do tolerate each other for the sake of Carol.

"So who do we have here, then?" Dons attention is now very much back onto me. He just keeps on staring until Rhys finally decides to answer him.

"This is my girlfriend, Clara."

Being ever so polite, I step forward to shake his hand with a forced smile. "Nice to meet you, Don." I lie. It's not nice to meet him at all. There's nothing nice about Don Rivers whatsoever.

With his large hand completely suffocating my small one, his brows lift high on his weathered forehead. "Girlfriend, huh?" Awkwardly, I slowly nod to say yes, I was indeed Rhys's girlfriend. "And you're British, right?" I nod again, wishing he would now let go of my hand. "Maybe it's the accent that's keeping this one interested, then?" He does thankfully let go of me as he crudely smirks across to Rhys, quietly goading him for a reaction.

But before Rhys can, Carol quickly comes to his defence with a peace-making smile. "Stop winding him up, Don! We don't usually see any of Rhys's lady friends, so we are pleased to have you here, Clara." She is trying so damn hard to keep things civil between her husband and her son, I can't help but feel sorry for her.

"Lady friends? Is that what we call them now?" Don is intent on pushing Rhys with his continual sarcasm and his stupid chortles to himself.

Slipping his hand possessively around my waist, Rhys remains calm yet defiant. "Because Clara is so important to me, I wanted her to see for herself just what a dick you really are." Don suddenly lunges forward, furious that Rhys would even dare to talk to him in such a way. Pushing me right behind him, Rhys stands his ground with Don. As tall as he stands up against his disobedient stepson, his anger seems so much smaller in comparison to Rhys's.

Just when I really think they are going to come to blows, echoing laughter can be heard from the far end of the living room. Standing at the bottom of the stairs is a thin girl, a painfully thin girl. "Well isn't this just a peachy little family reunion?" Her gaunt features are contorted with contemptuous sarcasm as she stares at both Rhys and Don. "What? Not even a hug for your big sis?" Her lifeless green eyes are fixed only on Rhys now. "To what do I owe the honour?" She is wanting to know why he is here as she wearily walks closer to him.

"You know why I'm here, Mace." Rhys isn't in the mood for games, his furious eyes don't relent on his sister as she slowly gets closer to him. "Where did you go when you left the rehab?"

Standing right in front of Rhys, her dull eyes roam all over him. "You look well." She quietly says with pursed, dry lips.

"I wish I could say the same about you." Rhys sadly says back, finding it almost too painful to look at her hollowed out cheeks, her long and straggly blonde hair and her pale and emaciated body.

"Always the charmer." She snorts with a weak form of laughter, and it is then that her soulless eyes finally meet mine. "Who's this?" She asks, not taking her interested eyes from off of me.

"That's Clara, my girlfriend." Rhys abruptly informs her.

Laughing again and finally lifting her stare from off of me, she looks at Rhys with astonishment adorning her wasting away face. "Your girlfriend?"

"Yes, my girlfriend." That's when he looks at me with a small and lost smile. He doesn't want to be here any more than I do, his regretful and sorry smile, says it all.

Maci cockily strolls over to me, narrowing her eyes with a crooked grin. "You must give great head, Clara...we don't usually meet any of Rhys's conquests."

"That's enough, Maci." Rhys snaps, glowering across at his sister.

Under normal circumstances, I would argue back but choose not to. This is a family falling apart at the seams. Love and unity doesn't exist here. There's only confusion and contempt. If it weren't for Carol, I think that what little is left of this deeply troubled family, would completely disintegrate without her. So I say nothing. I stand tall and resolute that Maci's petty and cruel words won't ever affect me.

Impressed by my silence, Maci studies me more than before. "Mmm...loyal too!"

Once again, Rhys is possessive as his hand comes firmly around my waist. "Ignore her. She's just being her usual and incredibly immature self." With his fingers squeezing me, he assuringly smiles in my direction.

Needing to assure him that I really am okay, I wholeheartedly smile back. "It's fine, no harm done." I quietly say.

Maci is right back with even more of her pettiness. "Damn! You're British! Then you must give great British head!" She's laughing harder now but not actually looking at me. This is all for Rhys. Every petty and cruel word is for him only.

"I mean it, Maci...stop it!" Rhys deeply warns her.

"Or you'll what? Put me back into another rehab?" Maci is enraged now, her sallow features become peppered with crimson fury. It's the first time that I fully appreciate just how bad she looks. As I quietly study her, I only see the remnants of her former prettiness that is left clinging to all of her bony contours.

Rhys is now just as enraged, he lets me go to get right up into Maci's face. "I put you into rehab because you need it."

It's Carols turn to say something now. "Your brother only does what he does, Maci, because he cares."

Maci is wildly laughing, maniacally so. "No, mother! He does what he does because he likes to be in control! There's a big difference." The anger is getting angrier. The yelling is getting louder. "He doesn't care about me. He hasn't seen me in nearly seven months. That isn't a brother who cares. That's a brother who just wants to keep me out of the way because he doesn't want his precious Rhys Ryan name to be tarnished by his inconvenient sister. He cares more about his fame than he does about me."

Don has had enough. He doesn't have the time nor the inclination to see things being resolved between Rhys and Maci. "I'm going out. Call me when they've gone."

Carol looks terribly torn—between her husband and her warring children—with a quick kiss on his cheek, she apologises. "I'm sorry, Don. I'll call you when things have quietened down."

For all of his faults, there's genuine love for Carol within his displeased eyes. Smiling down at her, he nods before giving his emotional wife a chaste goodbye kiss on her mature cheek. "Okay." He quietly says before closing the heavy front door behind him with a startling slam.

We all watched him leave. Dons sudden departure has momentarily diffused the heated warring of words between Rhys and Maci, and now that Don has indeed gone, they're both not quite sure how to continue with their fuming argument.

Deciding to sit down before her weakly thin legs finally give way, Maci relaxes back on the lemon coloured sofa. "I'm staying here, Rhys. I'm not going back into rehab. I'm not seeing any more shrinks or therapists. I just want to be here with Mom and have this baby."

Rhys remains where he is; rigid and standing. "Are you still using, Mace?"

Shaking her head, Maci adamantly answers her brother. "No, I'm not."

Only then, does Rhys visibly relax. He has the answer he has wanted all along. "And you won't, right? It's no longer just you anymore, Mace. You have a baby inside of you. If you want to give yourself and your baby a real chance, you have to stay off the drugs." Sitting down beside her, he gives Maci even more to think about. "If there's no rehab and no shrinks, I want a doctor coming in to see you daily. That's my one condition, right?"

She gladly nods. "When did you get to be so damn bossy?" Maci is joking with him now, smiling as she does. Which is lovely to see. There's such a severed bond between Rhys and Maci, but the bond is still hanging on by only a fragile thread. Given enough time and understanding, their bond could one day be fully repaired.

Grinning, Rhys is only too quick to reply to his sister. "Someone has to boss you around, Maci Ryan."

Carol stands behind me, elated to be witnessing her children joking around together again. "Thank you." She whispers into my ear.

I don't really know what she is actually thanking me for.

Was it because I didn't react to Don's goading or Maci's cruel words? Or is she just thanking me because I am here for her son?

When I turn to look at Rhys's mum, my name is called by Maci. "Clara? Come on over here!"

As I apprehensively approach them both seated on the sofa, Rhys takes hold of my fingers and pulls me down onto his lap. Feeling a little embarrassed, I find myself perching and not sinking into the warmth of his lap like I usually do, but all of that embarrassment soon gets quickly distracted by an apologetic Maci. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier, it was totally rude of me." She reaches across for my hand, thinking that her touch is needed for her apology to mean so much more.

Lifting my eyes from her frail hand that rests lightly upon mine, I thank her with a true smile. "There's no need to be sorry." And she really doesn't. Maci is fighting many demons. She needs support to fight those demons. I know we've only just met, but I want to be part of that support, if she will let me.

"So, you guys...you're serious, then?" Maci is watching the way her brother has his hands comfortably on my thighs, now that I'm starting to relax deeper into his lap.

Rhys kisses the exposed part of my neck. "Yeah, we're serious." He grins up at me, then back at Maci, who seems to be still waiting for an answer from me, which in turn, makes Rhys want it as well. They both wait, grinning at me with growing curiosity.

If I didn't feel the way that I do about Rhys, this could be awfully awkward, but as it is, I only need to reiterate what he says with an even broader and even more satisfied grin. "Yes, we are serious."

Kissing my neck again, he chuckles against my soft skin. "I'm so glad you said that, the last fifteen hours haven't exactly been the greatest." He then playfully squeezes my thighs with his fingers, looking back at Maci as he does.

Maci gets even more comfortable on the sofa, pulling a throw across her pale legs. "How long are you staying for, Clara?" She's sounding tireder by the second, something that Rhys also notices.

"I'm flying back to England on Saturday." Saying it out loud actually hurts a little. Having only seven days left with Rhys feels like I've just been sentenced to a life of lonely anguish after those seven days have gone. I can't even put into words how hard it will be to leave him. Part of me wants to ask him to come back with me for just a little while, but I know that he can't. He has commitments, both professionally and personally. As much as I need him, his mum and Maci need him so much more. So I won't ask him. It would only cause him more guilt and pain because he would have to say no to me. I never want to cause Rhys any pain. I never want to make him feel guilty. I only ever want to make him happy, because that is how he makes me feel.

Like me, Rhys knows that his sister needs to rest, so lifting me up from his lap, he sweetly bends down to kiss Maci's forehead. "Get some sleep, we'll come back tomorrow. You need to rest, you're growing a baby in there." His eyes lower to her covered stomach.

With an exhausted smile, she shrugs. "It's just a blob, Rhys...I'm only about 6 weeks pregnant."

Roughing up her hair, he smirks. "You're growing a blob, get some rest."

Maci looks across to me. "See? He's so damn bossy!"

Laughing, I glance at her and then back at Rhys who now has his arm draped around his mums shoulder. "See you tomorrow." I brightly say as I walk around the sofa and closer to Carol and her loving son.

"You ready?" Rhys asks, sounding so much happier and free from the stress that has weighed him down since last night.

"Yup!" I eagerly say.

Carol wears the warmest of smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow, Clara." Then she unexpectedly kisses me on my cheek, letting me know that I really am welcome to her home again.

"See you tomorrow." I quietly say, thankful that she really does like me.

Rhys then affectionately kisses Carol on the cheek, giving her a smile that all mothers deserve to have from a son who loves them dearly. "You need to get some rest as well, Mom."

Stroking his shoulder, she agrees. "I will, just as soon as I've made dinner."

"Make sure you do."

"Your sister is right." Carol smirks, referring to Maci's jokes about him being bossy.

This time, Rhys agrees with an all-telling smirk. "I know." Then he kisses his mum one more time before entwining his fingers with mine before heading toward the ornate oak front door. "Laters, Mom!"

As we stroll down the pretty driveway, Rhys kisses the back of my hand. "I can't wait to get you home." His salacious sage eyes gaze across at me.

Amused, I have to ask. "And why is that?" Unable to ignore his heady gaze, his roguish smile and the way he said 'home' to me.

Rhys says nothing for just a tingly second, then he suddenly throws me over his shoulder, carries me to the waiting luxury car, opens its door and then carefully lays me down on the black leather seats. "I think we need some kinkaliscious time." Reaching over to close the car door, he then seductively crawls back up my body. "I like things to go my way."

Slightly confused by what he's just said, I rest my cheek against my shoulder with an aroused frown. "What do you mean?" I ask in almost a whisper.

Rhys temptingly rubs our lips together. "You asked me last night if I had a flaw, that is it."

My brow quirks upwards. "I rather like your flaw." My arms then come right around the back of his neck, drawing him in for a delicious and savouring kiss. I love this wicked side to Rhys, it keeps me on my swooning toes.

"I rather like you." He smirks, crookedly gorgeous. "In fact, I like you a lot. Me and my tongue intend to show you just how much we like you." The tip of it then hotly trails across my neck, my jawline and finishing his sweet torture with a lewd little suck to my ear lobe.

Not quite believing what I'm just about to say, I say it nevertheless. "Not here...take me home."

Rhys leans up on one of his bent elbows, smiling down at me. "Okay." Then tapping the privacy glass that separates us from the driver, Rhys gives the signal that he's ready to go before helping me up from my horizontal position on the leather seats of the car.

"Thank you." I say, smiling to myself with the deepest of satisfaction.

I have so much to thank Rhys for.

For making me happy.

For allowing me to make him happy.

For making me feel new and real feelings.

For also feeling the same new and real feelings.

For walking into my life.

For letting me walk into his.

At a low point in his life, he wanted me with him. When Maci was missing, he didn't push me away. It can tell you an awful lot about a person when they are going through a difficult time. That person will either need you or they won't. It's that simple. And Rhys did need me. He needed my presence to give him strength. I already knew that our connection ran beautifully deep, now I am more sure than ever. I am also more sure than ever that I am now wholeheartedly in love with Rhys. So in love with him, it makes my soul ache. Because of that love, I cannot wait to be with him in his home. To create funny and sentimental moments. Funny and sentimental moments that we can both fondly look back on and sweetly remember during the times that we do have to be apart. Every dear and kinkaliscious moment, I want to take them all back with me when I return to London.