It was a long day indeed and Willow felt drained after all the events that had happened, she felt like it was longer than a day. Cosying up in her bed, she missed everything about her house and her sheets and the smell of home overall.

"You can stay home tomorrow if you want." Suggested Ryker as he joined her in bed.

"Why would I?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You recharge your social battery, I know what happened today is not easy, and I will deal with it tomorrow, don't worry." He assured her.

"What are you going to do?" She used her elbow to support herself, this was not a joke she knew what he's capable of doing.

"I will do what I need to do, you don't have to worry about that." 

"Ryker don't get yourself in trouble for me." She warned, she knew he can go to some extent and she wouldn't want him to break rules.

"Trouble? Me?" He laughed.

Rolling her eyes she laid back down on her pillow, "Too much arrogance."

"So! You want to go or you chill here."

"Of course I will go, I need to attend my lectures."

"Whatever you say." He smiled before sneaking his arm around her waist. Squealing, Willow warned in a low voice, "Get your arm off." 

"The bed is small, and you were in my arms hours ago." He whispered in her ear sending a shiver down her spine to which he smiled as he knew he had some sort of effect on her.

"Don't try anything, grandma is here." She warned.

"Alright, come closer then." He smirked.

"Don't even dream about that." She spoke as her back faced his front.

With one pull Willow's back collided with his front.           

A knock on the door woke the couple up, Ryker groaned as he rubbed his eyes before leaning on the bed frame to support himself. For a second he forgot that they were at grandma Feline's house, looking next to him; Willow looked peaceful in her sleep, he can tell she was tired.

"You can enter, Feline." He informed.

"No I won't bother you, I just came to inform you that breakfast is ready and I'm leaving for some grocery shopping, eat before you leave, okay?"

"Thank you, you're the best." He responded from behind the door.   

Checking his phone, he found a message notification from Josephine, she sent him a message and a video attachment. 

'I can't believe Willow can do this, you seemed to be quite interested in her. I'm sorry for you.'    

Ryker rolled his eyes at the pathetic behaviour, he put his phone back on the nightstand and decided to freshen up before waking his partner up, it's going to be a long day, he knew that.

"Willow, it's about time you wake up, we need to leave soon." He informed while changing his clothes.

"Just five more minutes." 

"No, you have to wake up. We'll be late." He stated, spraying some of his perfume.

"It's okay, you own the place." She mumbled making him laugh.

"That doesn't mean you're allowed to show up late, get up and get ready."

Ignoring him she proceeded with covering her head with the pillow he used for the night.

Ryker shook his head before picking her up and walking her towards the bathroom.

"Why can't a girl sleep peacefully, I haven't had a good night sleep since I met you, you piece of-" Willow gasped when she felt water hit her face.

"Yeah! That's it, do your business and go get ready." He ordered smirking.

"From when did you decide that ordering me around is permissible?" She glared.

"From the second we became official." He winked.

"Get out." She spoke in a low voice, "You smell nice though." She added.

"I always do." He whispered in her ear.

"No, sometimes you stink from girls and alcohol." She informed before properly washing her face.

"Haven't done that in a while." 

"No, you did it yesterday." She reminded him while drying her face with a towel.

"Anyway, I'll be waiting downstairs, we eat breakfast and leave; so be quick." 

Willow shook her head in annoyance as she did her business and got ready for the day, walking downstairs; she was expecting to see her grandma around when she looked confused; Ryker decided to clear things out for her.

"If you're searching for Feline, she left for some grocery shopping." He informed while putting a cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

"Oh! Okay. Anyway, I hope she'll come back before we leave."

"I'm afraid not, eat quickly we have to get going." He stated.

"Why are you in a rush this morning?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Because you have classes and I have things to deal with!" He exclaimed.

"What are these things?" She questioned while sipping on her coffee.

"You don't need to know everything, Willow." He glared.

"It's not like you tell me anything let alone everything, do I know where you were yesterday? No, do I know with whom you spend time when we're not together? No, Do I-" 

"Stop! First thing in the morning for God's sake." He stopped her.

"Well yes! Because you know everything about me one way or the other and I'm supposed to keep you updated about my whereabouts and wear my freaking ring and do this and that, while you don't reciprocate, do you find this normal?" She stood up for herself.

"I'm not discussing this now." He spoke firmly leaving no room for discussion.

"It's not always what you want, Ryker. It has to be balanced."

"No, it DOESN't have to be, my wife won't wear the pants in the relationship, I do agree you have rights, I do agree I should change things, but you will learn to be the submissive in the relationship because it has to be someone and it WON'T be me. Am I understood?" He stood up towering over her. Willow looked at him with both confusion and something else she couldn't pinpoint but indeed she was taken aback.

Gulping down, she broke eye contact and decided to go wash the dishes, she couldn't even eat her pancakes.

"I asked a question, Willow." Spoke Ryker while standing behind her.

"I don't want to talk about this, Ryker." 

"We have to be on the same page, Willow."

"Well if you want to wear the pants, where were you yesterday after you said that you cannot look at me? where were you when I was scared and trying to figure things out? Where were you that I needed to call Beth to clear things out? Where were you when I was disgusted and scared of something I had no control over? You just looked at the hickey, judged me and left." She asked tears gathering in her eyes, not because she felt sad but because she remembered what happened yesterday and feelings used in with the ugly memories.

Ryker was speechless, he knew for a fact that everything she said was right. While she probably was frightened he was drinking in his club with a chick entertaining him.

Holding her face between his large hands, he looked in her eyes before speaking "I'm sorry, Willow. I know it's taking time but I promise you that I'm trying my best to change for you in a way that I'll protect and make you happy. Don't expect me to be perfect, I lived in a toxic household, but I'm trying for you, I'm trying for the family we're starting." 

"Yeah, I'm ready to go. Please put our bags in the car." She looked him in the eyes before running to her room to grab a jacket and her backpack.

Ryker sighed in frustration before he decided to go after her and take the bags to the car as told, he won't bother her, at least for now as she's not feeling well.

The drive to the university was a silent one, he didn't know what to say and she didn't feel like having a conversation. 

Dina rushed to Willow when she first saw her, "Are you okay." She asked.

"Yes, why?" Asked a confused Willow.

Looking around them everyone was looking at Willow and mumbling incoherent things that she couldn't understand. She thought, something was wrong with her clothes but she was wrong.

"What going around here?" She asked Dina.

"Well, uh- how am I going to say this? Well, a video of you was leaked, and um-" Spoke Dina while showing her the so-called video that she has been trying to avoid since yesterday.

"Wait! you don't believe I would do that right?" spoke a hurt Willow.

"No, of course not. I mean I'm just informing you about what's happening around here." 

"What a great show it was, did you enjoy yourself, girl?" Asked a sneaky Josephine freshly coming in.

"I don't have time for you Josephine." 

"Oh don't worry, you'll have more time from now on, now that Ryker knows your true nature." She smirked.

"What's my true nature huh?" Spoke Willow while taking menacing steps towards the girl, "What's my nature, speak." She ordered.

"A gold digger nasty little girl who goes behind men to take advantage of them." Spoke a smiling Josephine.

"At this point, I really don't want to deal with you anymore. You don't seem to understand boundaries." Spoke Willow before she left to attend her class.

"Are you okay?" Asked Dina.

"Do I seem like I'm okay, Dina?" 

"Did Ryker see the video?" 

"Yes he did, he got mad and he thought I was cheating on him, he then left the house to God knows where and I had to call Beth to clear out things." 

"So what did she do?"

"Well we now have the full video of him attacking me, Ryker saw it and he got calmer."

'Isn't she ashamed?'

'I know right, walking around as if nothing happened.'

'She was trying with Ryker, God knows what happened between them too.' 

"You know it's petty to talk about people behind their back right?" Spoke Willow with a glare.

Some rolled their eyes, some looked away and pretended like they did nothing.

Willow decided to call Ryker and ask where he is, they had to do something about this.

"Where are you?" She asked through the phone.

"Dealing with a piece of shit, do you need anything?" He asked as he stepped on the guy's hand.