"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, we will shortly be making our descent."

Roxy looked from the leather bound notebook that had been sitting in her lap to see the private jet's flight assistant standing in the aisle with perfectly applied red lipstick and immaculate hair.

"One of Rupert's cars will be waiting for us when we arrive, they'll have us out of there in no time," Jack muttered as he sat beside her with a copy of the Los Angeles Times in his hands.

Roxy glanced across the plane at her bandmates who were sitting in a group of four, she knew exactly what Jack meant, he was alluding to the fact that they'd be clear of Tyler, the other three individuals in Roxy's band didn't concern him at all, in fact their existence rarely burdened his conscience.

Her eyes lingered on Tyler, who had his guitar across his lap, mindlessly strumming a tune that made little sense. If it weren't for Jack's looming presence they probably would've written at least a whole song by that point in the flight, it was what they did. She presumed that must be one of the things to fuel Jack's resentment towards Tyler, because Tyler knew her on a level that transcended physicality, because they had those songs.

"I'll need time to rehearse with the band before the show tomorrow," Roxy sighed, unsure of how close the band's accommodation would be to Jack's family home.

"You've been touring with them for months, I'd call that rehearsal enough, wouldn't you?" Jack scoffed.

"I think Radio City Music Hall is quite different to British evening television, Jack," Roxy hummed as she stared out of the window, watching as the plane lowered through the clouds.

"Have you decided which song you'll sing?" Jack asked as he attempted to scan the page that she carefully covered with her hands.

"Probably the last single," Roxy sighed, because she knew he'd hate it, given the press speculation that the song had been about him.

"Alright."

Roxy's eyes wandered back across the plane to her band, more specifically to Tyler, with whom she'd once shared a strong and reliable friendship, and yet since New York, Jack's influence had fragmented a relationship that was of great importance to Roxy. She found it almost impossible to show Tyler any ounce of affection when Jack was in the room for fear of where his mind might wander to, knowing that losing either of those men would lead to her greatest fear.

It's almost impossible not to owe your life to the man who saved your own.

"That's a lot of green," Tiffany, Roxy's pianist remarked as she gazed out of the window, observing the vast sprawling fields of The Cotswolds.

"I give it a week till this place drives us insane," Harley, the band's drummer, huffed.

"Harley, quit it," Tyler quipped, his jaw clenched as he stared at the blonde drummer who sat opposite him, knowing that while rural England wasn't necessarily where any of them would prefer to be, it was where Roxy needed to be.

"I'm just saying, we're city people, we belong on The Strip," Harley continued, being the newest member of Roxy's backing band, he remained blissfully unaware of just how complex Roxy's relationship with The Strip had been, not to mention the drugs and alcohol that came with it.

Before Roxy could utter a word, Tyler was quick to jump to her defence yet again, "Harley, no one forced you to come with us, I'm sure it wouldn't take us long to find a replacement if you went back home."

"Tyler," Zac, the band's bassist, offered him a stern frown as the plane continued its gradual descent, "Don't."

Roxy shot Tyler a look of concern, her lips pursed as she bit at her bottom lip, reminded of the truth of what had happened in New York, a truth that no one on that plane except the two of them had been privy to, and she intended on ensuring that it remained that way. Her memories of that night were patchy, but Tyler's were as clear as the day it happened, he couldn't help but relive it at night when he'd close his eyes.

"Just give this a chance, alright?" Tyler told Harley with a softness in his gruff voice as his eyes lingered on Roxy.

Once the plane had landed, Jack was quick to grab his and Roxy's bags from the overhead lockers as she gazed out the plane's window at the two cars that awaited them, one that would take her band to wherever it was that they'd be living and the other that would take her and Jack to his family home.

"Rox," Tyler's voice snapped her from her daydream as she dug her nails into the palms of her hands, looking up to see that Jack and the rest of the band were exiting the plane, just her guitarist stood beside her, wearing a leather jacket with his guitar case hanging on his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Hmm?" She hummed tentatively, wiping her nose with her hand, "I'm fine, just tired, I barely slept so I should probably just..." Her voice trailed off as she stood up.

"Roxy," Tyler wrapped his hand around her wrist, his grip was firm, but not aggressive, "Have you taken something?"

"No," Roxy insisted, her voice firm, knowing that Tyler was unlikely to drop it until he was satisfied that she was telling the truth, "I haven't."

"You don't need that shit, Roxy," Tyler reminded her, "And if you feel like you do, you tell me, remember?"

"Yeah," Roxy nodded, "I'll tell you."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Roxy answered, her fingers crossed behind her back.

"I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow for this TV thing then?" Tyler remarked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Roxy smiled tentatively, as she longed for Tyler to leave her for just a moment to gather her thoughts before ascending into the new life that her record label had mapped out for her.

"Look after yourself, Rox," Tyler nodded before he left the jet, making his way down the steps and straight into the car where the rest of Roxy's band were waiting for him. Roxy watched as his passenger door closed and her band were driven off to a house somewhere in the village that they knew little about, but one thing Roxy knew was that they were bound to be having a better time than she assumed she'd be having locked away in a manor house like some sort of tragic princess.

Without hesitation she pulled a small yellow bottle from her pocket, tipping a pill into her hand and swallowing it with no regard for the conversation she'd just had with Tyler. The thing about Roxy Sloane was she didn't do what she was told, albeit she had followed the record label's encouragement to move to The Cotswolds but she was skilled at convincing herself it had been her own idea. She just lacked the intention of convincing herself that staying clean and sober was better than the alternative.

She made her way down the steps from the private jet to where Jack stood leant against a black saloon car, accompanied by a chauffeur dressed in a smart black suit.

"Darling, this is Jerry, he's worked for my family since I was a little boy," Jack smiled as Roxy reached him, "He'll be driving us to and from wherever we might need to go as long as we're here."

"Nice to meet you, Jerry," Roxy nodded at the short, well rounded man as she stood beside Jack, who remained the only familiar face, "I kind of expected there to be more fuss, y'know?"

"Private airfield, ma'am," Jerry assured her, having been handed strict instructions from Rupert's secretary, sent directly from Trevor Osmand's office, "There's fans and photographers waiting on the other side of the gates."

"Well, best not keep them waiting," Jack remarked as he held open the back door to the car, gesturing for Roxy to slip inside.

She slipped into the car, sitting on the cream leather seat as Jack sat beside her while Jerry hurried around to the driver's seat. Before she could lead herself to worry about the crowd that awaited them on the other side of the airfield's tall walls, the key was in the ignition and the car was on the move.

As they approached the large gates that Roxy presumed led out onto the street, two members of security moved to open them, greeting Roxy with the sight of at least a few hundred faces behind metal barricades, chanting her name, waving posters and photos and they screamed at the sight of her sat in the back of the car. She waved at them tentatively, she was used to such attention back at home, and she knew that she had a fan base in Europe, she just didn't expect to see so many faces waiting for her at a private airport in the middle of nowhere.

"Does it feel good to be home, Sir?" Jerry asked as he drove the pair away from the crowds of adoring fans.

"It's like I've never been gone, Jerry," Jack sighed, Roxy stared at his hand rested on top of hers in the middle seat, she knew better than to ask such a question, she'd concluded from the conversations they'd shared about his childhood that it was the reason he was the man he was, for worse.

She had yet to conclude whether it was for better or for worse to move to a country she didn't know in a town of people she didn't know and yet seemed to know her, or at least, they thought they knew her. From the day she released her first record it had been that way, and she realised that she had to come to terms with the idea that the world's version of Roxy and her own version of Roxy were separate and it was best to keep it that way.

"I'm sure your brother will be pleased to see you, and the dogs of course," Jerry smiled as they wove through the country lanes of the Cotswolds, every so often passing large and impressive houses belonging to the locals, "He's not been himself since the divorce."

"Well that's Rupert, isn't it?" Jack muttered under his breath, because the idea of his brother's failing marriage wasn't a concept that necessarily surprised him.

"You must be looking forward to meeting the eldest Campbell-Black brother, ma'am," Jerry glanced at her in the mirror.

"Oh absolutely," Roxy nodded half heartedly as she gazed out of the window as they passed endless fields of grass that felt alien compared to the city she had spent years calling home.

"And this is home," Jack smiled proudly as Jerry began unloading their cases from the boot of the car while Jack offered Roxy a hand out of the car as she laid eyes on the largest house she'd ever seen, a building she'd call a castle rather than a house, the idea that someone might have grown up in a place like that was unfathomable.

"This is where you grew up?" Roxy muttered in disbelief, pushing her sunglasses back on top of her head as they stood side by side on the gravel driveway.

"Yeah," Jack nodded proudly, as though any concerns about reuniting with his brother had dissipated.

Before Roxy could utter another word as her fiancé stared up at the building in awe, a golden labrador ran towards the pair, his tail wagging furiously as he circled the pair.

"Hey," Roxy grinned as she crouched to her knees, scratching the dog behind its ears with a wide smile, "And who might you be?"

"That's Monty," Roxy looked up to see a man that she recognised from the few family photos Jack had kept in their Californian home, "And you must be the ravishing Roxy Sloane."

"My name's Roxy Sloane, but no one's ever called me ravishing," Roxy sighed, standing back to her feet as the man approached her.

"Oh, darling, a woman like you on his arm and my brother doesn't spend his hours worshiping you as God himself intended?" He replied, "Tut-tut, Jacky boy, you have let us down."

As Roxy stood opposite the man in question it became clear just what sort of person he was. He wore slacks that suggested he'd spent the morning horse riding, the top three buttons on his shirt remained unbuttoned and his hair was a tame mess. The brothers lacked much resemblance but the charm that she once saw in Jack was just as, if not more evident in Rupert.

"Darling, my name is Rupert," He took Roxy's hand in his, placing a gentle kiss to her knuckles, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard so much about you...from the papers, not my brother."

"Rupert," Jack nodded and as Roxy glanced at him, he was a little boy again, attempting to prove his worth to his older brother, not the well respected man Roxy considered him to be, "It's been too long."

"It's like you've never been away, Jacky," Rupert grinned, shaking his hand with enthusiasm, "Now, who's for a quick ride around the estate?"

"We should probably get settled in," Jack was quick to answer for the both of them, "Jet lag's a bastard, you know how it is, Rupert."

"I was rather too preoccupied on my last flight to consider sleeping," Rupert shot Roxy a quick wink, "Roxy, will you stay here with my brother or let me show you the few sights of Rutshire?"

Roxy glanced between Rupert and Jack, she knew where Jack would want her, but she knew that after ten hours stuck on a plane she needed and wanted fresh country air in her lungs, she wanted to feel the grass beneath her feet, to hear the birdsong that came from the branches above.

"I'll see you in a while, I'm sure we won't be long," Roxy assured Jack.

"I'll take very good care of her, Jacky, I promise," Rupert replied with a playful smile.

"I know you will," Jack muttered, kissing the top of Roxy's head before grabbing their remaining bags and heading inside.

"Miss Sloane," Rupert smirked as he wrapped an arm around Roxy's shoulder, "How well do you ride?"

"You're just as I imagined," Roxy quipped as she shrugged away from his arm, letting him lead her down towards the stables, "Just as vivid as the picture Jack painted for me."

"And you are every bit the starlet I presumed you'd be when I saw the photos of you both splattered across the pages of the Daily Mail," Rupert smiled to himself, his hands buried in his pockets, "So, what's my brother been doing that meant he couldn't come back home?"

"Not a lot really," Roxy answered, "He came on tour with me but that's about it."

"And you?"

"Me?"

"Why are you here in damp and dreary Blighty with my brother when you could be sprawled across a Californian beach with a tanned and toned blonde movie star between your legs?" Rupert asked with a playful smirk.

"Never been a fan of blondes," Roxy's quick answer stunned Rupert in submission as he trailed behind her.

"What was about my brother that charmed you?" Rupert continued, catching up with her as they reached the stables.

"He was the one who found himself charmed," Roxy told him as she laid eyes on two beauties in the stables, "I was just..."

"You were?" Rupert raised his eyebrows in intrigue.

"Alone." Roxy muttered as she brushed her hand along the mane of the black horse who nuzzled against her.

"That sounds like a compromise," Rupert remarked, intrigued as to why a woman who so famously rejected the shackles put upon her by society of how a woman in her position should carry herself had allowed herself to settle for something she clearly didn't want. They'd known each other for a matter of moments and she'd found it in herself to let that slip, to let him in, because he didn't know her, not really, no one truly did, "No happy marriage builds its foundations on a compromise."

"And I suppose you'd know all about that," Roxy sighed, her gaze lingering on his ringless ring finger as he ran his hand up and down the horse's muzzle.

"You'll learn soon enough based on the opinions of the people who live here that I'm not the marrying type," Rupert told her truthfully.

"I suppose they'll say the same of me," Roxy muttered as she continued to stroke the horse.

"Why marry him then?" Rupert asked.

"Because he and I both know I'll never find anything better," Roxy answered, "I'm safe and I'm secure with him, it doesn't matter if my music stops making me money, because I have him."

"If you ever get tired of safe you know where to look," Rupert smirked knowingly, a subtle darkness lingered in his eyes that she recognised, the very same haze that Jack had possessed the first night they met.

"I'm engaged," Roxy reminded him.

"And I never say no to a challenge," Rupert replied, letting his eyes wander up and down her body.

"And I'm not that sort of person," Roxy remarked.

"None of us are...until we are," Rupert told her, "Now, how about we get you on the back of this beauty?"

Roxy glanced between the horse and the man who stood opposite her, she was many things, but she wasn't the sort of woman who rode bareback alongside the brother of her fiancé. She wanted to make a good impression, and she wanted to explore the village she'd be calling home, but as she stood opposite her future brother in law, his eyes freely wandering the length of her body, it became apparent what he wanted.

"I think I'll just walk," Roxy sighed.

"Walk?" Rupert frowned, "In a village you don't know, full of people you don't know?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Roxy smiled before she turned on her heel and retreated back down the path that led from Rupert's home into the village.

It was within about ten minutes after leaving Rupert that Roxy realised perhaps she may have been better off in his company, finding herself walking along a country road, hedges along either side of the road, not a car in sight. She was grateful for the sun, it may have lacked the Californian heat and glow but it still kept her warm.

She wasn't sure if she would blend in amongst the locals, she'd been wearing a pair of blue denim shorts, the kind that showcased her tanned and toned legs, knowing that Jack would accuse her of flaunting herself. She'd paired it with a cream top with flowing sleeves that tied together just above her belly button.

"Excuse me," A gentle voice came from over her shoulder as she turned around with a soft smile, "Are you alright?"

Roxy kept her eyes on the woman as she approached, a basket in her hand, and her hair a mess of fiery curls.

"Oh, you're that...that singer," The woman's eyes lit up, "Rupert told me you were coming back with his brother, you're going on Declan's show tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am that singer," Roxy nodded with a tentative smile, "Roxy."

"Lizzie," The woman held out her hand which Roxy shook politely, "If you don't mind my asking, what exactly are you doing on the road, Rupert and Jack aren't back to their old ways are they?"

"Old ways?" Roxy tilted her head with a slight frown.

"Boys being boys," Lizzie sighed.

"Right," Roxy nodded in understanding, "I suppose I just wanted to go for a walk, I don't really get to do that much anymore without being chased down by fans asking me to sign their albums."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't following you, I just saw you and well I wouldn't forgive myself if I hadn't checked if you were lost and then something awful might've happened," Lizzie rambled apologetically.

"Well you're right, I am very much lost," Roxy smiled.

"Then how's about I walk you back to your new home and I can tell you all about the people you'll be calling your neighbours?" Lizzie offered, and it was clear to Roxy that Lizzie didn't want anything from her, being considerate wasn't transactional, it came from a place of genuity.

Roxy wasn't sure she remembered the last time she'd felt that.

"That'd be perfect," Roxy nodded as the two women began walking along the edge of the road, "Are you happily married, Lizzie?"

"Married, yes, happily, not so much," Lizzie smiled half heartedly, as though she had to compensate for, "And I hear you're engaged to the youngest Campbell-Black brother."

"That I am," Roxy sighed as the women walked side by side.

"Does he treat you well?" Lizzie asked, "He was a right little heartbreaker when he was younger."

"He treats me well enough," Roxy answered, "I suppose it'd be easier for him if I wasn't doing what I do."

"How so?"

Roxy had said it before, and she knew it sounded big headed, but it was the truth, and from from what she understood of the woman beside her, she wasn't the judgemental type, "Because I'm always going to be the bigger name whenever we walk into a room together, that sounds awful, doesn't it?"

"You're the most honest person I've met in a long time," Lizzie smiled reassuringly, "It's refreshing, everyone around here, well..."

"Well?"

"Gossip is its own currency in the Cotswolds, everyone knows everyone," Lizzie sighed, "And with a star like you living just up the road, they'll be losing their minds."

"Sounds like a dream," Roxy nodded with a cynical smile.

"So you're on the Declan show tomorrow," Lizzie smiled earnestly, "Have they told you what to expect?"

"Just that they've got me an interview and a performance on a show that's got enough of an audience to make them think it's worth my time," Roxy sighed, "Do you know him? This Declan guy?"

"I've met him a few times, he's rather charming, but his interview techniques can be rather...intense," Lizzie told her, "If I were you, I'd go in there with your cards close to your chest."

Roxy might have let her guard slip upon meeting both Rupert and Lizzie, but she didn't intend to do the same on live television. The person she let the world see was what sold records, she wasn't sure that she could count on her truest self to do that.

author's note: hey! hope you enjoyed! the next chapter will be roxy's declan episode when they finally meet and then we'll be following along with the episodes after that!