"What's so funny?" Dane asked with a frown.

"Nothing," she smiled, embarrassed even though Dane would never know what she had thought up.

Well I do, Drake's thoughts whispered into her ear. Honestly, Jade have some respect for yourself and don't go imagining Damien as some sort of angel.

The door slammed open before Jade could think up a reply to Drake. Damien sat there in his wheel chair, a leg and an arm in casts in the door way with a snarl of disgust on his face, glaring at Jade. "Why the fucking hell is she in here? I thought that we put her with Drake so that we wouldn't have to deal with either of them."

"By we, you mean you right?" Dane muttered to himself as Jade studied Damien. The first thing she noticed was that his shirt was unbuttoned leaving his bare chest exposed. Second was his disheveled hair, sticking out at strange angles.

"Dane let her in," Amon said pointing his finger at his oldest brother.

"Well, then," he growled furiously, "I suppose that means it's okay. Just move over to Amon and let me sit."

Dane looked at him with a frown, but knew better than to actually speak to him and so he moved to sit beside Amon as Damien used his one good arm to move from the wheel chair to the seat. He smelled like roses. She had always thought roses were dark and devious. She tried to slip towards the window so that he wasn't close without drawing his attention onto her, but she soon failed as his head turned and he caught her eyes.

"You do love to undermine me don't you," he hissed. She tried not to cringe at his words, but her face seemed to move on its own accord paying no attention to her brain. She hadn't seen Damien since they had talked that night about the train ride and somehow he had been put into a terrible mood. So she simply did what she always did when one of the four of them were in this mindset, apologized and agreed with their every word.

"I'm sorry," she began. "Drake was getting on my nerves and I decided I would spend this last hour away from him before I have to be all over him during the trip. Can you forgive me?"

The snarl wavered and he bit his lip as he watched her. He seemed to be at a loss for words until, "Whatever."

Then he noticed his shirt and began to casually button it up. There was no cherry blood on the sleeves and no stories of the truth. Jade sighed heavily. Would she be stuck with these men for the rest of her life?

Dane reached behind him and grabbed a book, which he began to read, only glancing up every once in a while when Damien was staring at him intently. The two would meet eyes for a brief second before, Damien looked away, shaking his head angrily as if reliving the moment that lie had come to light.

"Well?" Amon broke the long silence, leaning onto the table smiling at Damien.

"Well, what?" He barked at his younger brother.

"Come on," Amon simpered. "Who was she?"

"She?" Damien laughed haughtily. "You - the doctor was taking out my stitches. He agreed to meet me on the train when I told him I was going on a weeks trip. He said they needed to be out as soon as possible or something."

Jade glanced at him, bursting out, "A week? You didn't say this would be an entire week!" If she hadn't been so shocked by the news, she wouldn't have shouted it at him like that. She probably wouldn't have said a word, but she had been convinced this was a quick two day trip and then Erik and his father would join them at Damien's home for the remainder of the week.

"Don't shout, my dear," he turned towards her, "it's unbecoming of a young lady."

She should have bit her tongue and shut-up, but she didn't. Instead she continued to shout "A week! Why didn't you tell me? God, a week, no wonder Drake was so-"

"For the last time," Damien hissed at her, "shut-up if you can't speak in a normal voice."

He was only making her angrier, "You are so-"

He struck her across her cheek, much harder than Drake ever had. Harder than he himself ever had in fact. The throbbing only fueled the fiery fury raging in her chest now. She was fed up with Drake and Damien and Amon treating her however they wished. They couldn't simply strike her whenever they were in a bad mood, but when she looked up at Damien she smiled because she saw him holding his hand up to a red handprint across his own cheek. By striking her he had struck himself as well.

When he looked at her, she immediately hid her smile. He shook his head apologetically, "I didn't mean to hit you that hard, my dear. I didn't mean to hit you . . . at all actually. It's just-"

"Of course you did," she replied, trying to force the watery tears forming in her eyes to vaporize, "you just forgot that you would be hitting yourself as well."

"I let my temper get the better of me-" he tried again as he held out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, but she interrupted him once more as she slapped away his hand.

"That would be Drake," she said, angrily. She couldn't help, but notice how he wasn't even apologizing.

With an exasperated sigh, Damien looked to Dane as if to ask what am I supposed to do. Then after rolling his eyes, Dane opened his mouth and muttered in a flat monotonous voice, "Jade, darling, Damien's only human. We all loose our tempers from time to time," then clearing his throat, "although don't mistake me for saying that every time he's struck you is because of his foul temper or even this one."

"That's your opinion," she muttered to herself and turned away from the two of them, "just leave me alone."

"Jade," Damien tried out her name. It sounded as if he were spitting out sour milk. When she failed to acknowledge him, he reached over to tuck her hair behind her ear so that he could whisper , "I-"

But she cut him short, quickly shoving him away and scooting further from him, "Leave me alone, Damien. Can you just give me that one thing?"

"Damien," Amon said in a warning tone, "you're just looking for a fight."

With a sigh, Damien's hand retreated from her and he leaned deep into his seat, "I suppose that you're right."

Dane made a sound as if he had choked and covered his mouth so that his laughter didn't escape, but it was clear enough to everyone present that he thought the notion was a joke.

"Have something to say dearest brother of mine?" Damien hissed sweetly.

Dane shook his head, no, but after Damien continued to stare him down he rolled his eyes and growled, seeming to have lost all worries about trying to gain Damien's affection, "You are the most manipulative . . . starting fights? Ha! I've never heard anything more ridiculous! Trying to make it seem like your even human enough to have anger! You've set this entire thing up!"

"Do you have a problem with something?" Damien questioned him cooly, almost sounding concerned.

"Yes! Actually I do!" He raised his voice. "Who do you think nursed you back to health? Who do you think stuffed all sorts of pills down your throat and held you down so that the doctors could operate on you? Who do you think held your mouth down?"

A snarl formed across Damien's porcelain face and he grid his teeth together loud enough to annoy Jade. "I'm guessing that it was you, darling brother."

"Yes," Dane said slamming his fist on the table, grabbing whatever attention his younger brother wasn't giving him. Damien's eyes widened as he realized how serious his brother was being. How genuinely upset he was. "I didn't sleep one damn night! Because someone had to make sure you didn't accidentally tear out your own stitches when the drugs were screwing with your brain!"

"I didn't realize, Dane, that-" Damien replied calmly. His facial expression as cool and still as a stone.

"You never do! You don't care that Jade risked her life for you! You don't care that I care! You-"

"Please stop screaming," Damien muttered, holding up a slender hand. The small gesture was enough to be a command whether he intended it or not, "I already have a terrible head ache. I get it. Okay? Thank you for everything. Happy?"

Dane scoffed at him and turned his head in the other direction, clearly not satisfied with Damien's quick thank you. So with a sigh so heavy that Jade could almost feel it vibrating in her own chest, he said, "Look, Dane. I apologize for being an ass to you for the past few days and for not appreciating you more. I guess I know now that if it comes between me and her you will always choose her. I'll try not to be bitter over it, dearest brother."

"He didn't choose me over you!" Jade burst out. She knew that every word that came out of Damien's mouth only hurt Dane deeper and she couldn't take it. It was her fault he was mad with him in the first place. Damien gave her a sideways glance as if challenging her to speak another word. This eyes petrified her.

"Shut up, little girl," Amon hissed from his shadowy corner of the booth, "you don't know what you're talking about."

Had he said little? She was a barely a year younger than him! "He's talking about me. So I think I do," she snarled.

That seemed to be the last straw for all of them because at that moment they all began to shout at one another fighting over the most ridiculous things. Amon's face had turned a bright red, Damien wanted to strangle Jade and Dane at the same time, Dane looked angrier than anyone had ever seen him before, and Jade was about to pull her hair out of head from frustration before Drake opened the door and after a moment laughed at the four of them.

"What the hell," he smiled, clearly amused by their distress. "I can hear you from my booth down the hall."

All of them stared at Drake each thinking about the different ways they wanted to kill him except for Damien who refused to even acknowledge him. "Darling," he said to Jade, "you cause such strife. Don't you."

"It wasn't until he," meaning Damien, "got here that everyone started arguing," she muttered.

"No," he replied, shaking his head, "it wasn't."

"Why are you even here?" Damien finally said, turning to his son. He brushed some of the stray hairs dangling in his face back, but he couldn't cover up that the fight had happened. "What do you want?"

"Come on Jade," Drake ignored his father and giving Jade a meaningful glance as he thought to her, I know what I did was wrong all right. I apologize. Please, come with me. Do you really want to sit here arguing with Damien the next forty-five minuets?

She tried to read his blank face to determine whether his apology was genuine or not. However, when he held out an open hand, she found herself standing and slipping by Damien to get out. He eyed her suspiciously, muttering into her ear as she passed by, "I expect nothing but the best performance tonight. So do not start a fight with him."

"And what will you do if I don't obey you?" She retorted smugly though half a smile.

"Tread carefully my love," he smiled and shut the door behind her.

"Do not cross him," Drake muttered darkly.