The Power Of Cithrí - A Chaol Westfall Fanfiction

Freak pt3

I stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a towel securely wrapped around my body. "I'm so sorry about earlier." I sighed, rubbing at my eyebrows. I felt better now, the hot water still trickling down my skin. The moment I had stepped into the shower it was like a load had been lifted off me, and now I felt stupid for getting so worked up by someone calling me hetero. Yes, I didn't want to be branded a hetero, but I shouldn't have cared. I clearly wasn't, almost all but one of my friends had been female. I have had my fair share of girlfriends, and I have a wife now, who I love dearly.
"Oh don't worry about it." Charlotte said putting down her eyeliner, how on earth she got it perfect first time, every time I hadn't the foggiest. "You look a lot more relaxed and happier now."
I sat on the end of her bed and twisted my damp hair out of my eyes. "I got called hetero again."
Charlotte sighed, and lifted up her dress as she placed herself next to me. "Do you still get upset about that? You really shouldn't y/n. Everyone gets called hetero at some point, doesn't mean it's true. You used to get it all the time at school, look at you now in a happy healthy lesbian relationship like you should be."
I sighed. That was all true. "I'm an idiot!"
"Hardly!" Charlotte laughed getting up and extending me a box of chocolates, all the caramel ones were already missing. I smiled, she had changed so much over the years, but there were some things that just never change. "Now stop worrying about it! You just had a shower." She tossed a shopping bag at me. "I brought you some stuff, it reminded me of when we were at school and I thought you would like it. Go put it on and I'll critique my shopping ability."
I smiled and laughed as I peeked inside. There were a lot of clothes in there I had stopped wearing since I married Vikki, and I was almost excited to step back into that style again. I giggled and ran off to the bathroom, thinking back to the horse ride with Chaol. I was almost tempted to find a way to get myself outcasted again. Just for the horse riding though, I wasn't hetero. I was a married lesbian.

After trying on the dresses, jeans and tops, we met the others at the loungers, they were already tucking into the mojitos. I smiled at Charlotte, we were both in outfits we would have worn clubbing when we were eighteen. I had a deep red dress on, with a large lacy part to the neck that just about shielded my cleavage from the world. It was high enough to show to the bruise on my leg, but Charlotte had helped me cover that with makeup. Then I had some cute high heels to go with it. It was our holiday, I was allowed to go from jodhpur scruffbag to sexy queen.
Vikki stared at me as I entered, everyone commenting on how good we looked and cat calling us.
"Come sit here." Vikki gestured at the tiny spot next to her on the sun lounger. I squeezed through all the tables, purses and drinks, sitting next to her.
"Hiya." I said, giving her a quick kiss.
"That's a very different dress style to your usual one."
I smiled and ran a hand down it, I hadn't asked Charlotte how much it cost, she had insisted on buying it, said it was my treat for being such a loyal sister to my brother over the past six years. However, I got the impression it wasn't cheap, the fabric was lush against my skin. "Charlotte got it for me. We used to go out like this all the time."
Vikki's mouth twitched, and her jaw muscles strained. "I will let you wear it tonight, but then I think you should go back to maintaining some of your dignity."
My smile faded, and suddenly I felt very small. "I'm sorry."
"Don't waste your breath." She hissed, taking a lime shot someone had ordered. "Just try not to ruin tonight anymore than you've already done."
I shrunk behind her. "What have I done? I didn't mean to upset you Vikki."
She glared at me. "We'll talk about it tonight."
That meant bad things, very bad things. It had me silent for the rest of the night, only joining in on the small talk. I spent most of the night sat at her side, leaning on her shoulder how I knew she liked me to. Every time the clock ticked I dreaded tonight, Vikki would never spare any kindness when she got mad. She wasn't physical, but would certainly demand a physical apology.

The moon was rising when Lara brought out the tickets, and declared that she had booked us in for a strip club. We all piled into a party bus and went directly there. I squashed into a booth between Vikki and Charlotte in front of the dancing stage. I sat there for the whole three hours with bright red cheeks unsure where to look or what to say. I couldn't look at the stage without feeling incredibly dirty, and I couldn't look across at the bar where the men were working without getting an elbow in the ribs from Vikki. I ended up spending most of the time talking to Charlotte who was loving the surprise trip. I think I was the only one in the entire building who didn't want to be there. Even the strippers looked like they wanted to be there more than I did. In all honesty, there was only one place I wanted to be. Back on top of that horse, riding and chatting to Chaol as we waited for the jumps, or walked our way along the stunning coastal path.

I bared through the three hours, the journey home with everyone else drunk apart from Vikki and I. She wouldn't say a word to me nor give me a smile. I was terrified as we separated off from the group and headed back to our room.
She shrugged off her jacket and threw it onto a chair. She picked up a leaflet and headed straight for the phone. "Can I get a bottle of wine? One glass please."
"Vikki..."
She held up a hand. "Don't talk to me. We'll wait for my wine to arrive and then you can tell me what you've done wrong."
So we sat there in complete silence for twenty minutes, my mind raking through my events of the past day. I couldn't think of anything I had done that was that wrong. With every passing minute the sweatier I got.
The waiter in his little buttoned coat came, he poured Vikki a glass of wine, asked if we needed another glass. Vikki told him no and to get out. The boy scampered out the room exactly like I wanted to.
"Look." Vikki said rolling her drink. "I know about your affair."
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. I tried to say something, but I was lost on words. An affair? That certainly hadn't been in my mind. "What affair?"
Vikki got to her feet, and turned away from me, standing by the window and staring out over the beach. Little specks of light from Dom's beach bar made the whole beach look magical. "I was talking to Lara about her issues with Charlotte. She reckons Charlotte was cheating on her, but couldn't work out who it could be. You see y/n, I'm not as gullible as Lara. I know what is exactly going on."
"You think I am cheating on you with Charlotte?"
"We all know she's asked you out before!" Vikki snapped.
I got to my feet and went after her. "Vikki, that was primary school, it was decades ago. Anyway, I said no!"
She scoffed. "Oh really? Then why were you in her room today, showering, getting all dressed up? And last night, I know you met up with her! You came back pretty drunk, I wonder what you could have been doing? Just the two of you!"
I was lost, completely lost for anything to say. I didn't love Charlotte! She was my friend! And I doubt she would be cheating on Lara, they were having a daughter. "Vikki I wasn't with her last night."
"Then who were you with?!" Her cheeks were burning red, and the glass in her hand was cracking.
I was afraid to say it, but it couldn't be as bad as having her think I was having an affair. "I went to Dom's beach bar." I confessed.
Her hand came flying round so quick I had barely the time to yelp. Her hand cracked across my face, snapping it back with the force of her blow. Black dots clouded my vision, and when they passed I could see the blood that came away from my lips and cheek. Her wedding ring had ripped the skin off from under my eye, and red welt covering the whole side of my face. I swallowed down the tears, clutching my face. It stung worse than gravel graze.
"That would make you a bloody freak." She hissed in my ear.
"Please Vikki." I bit down on my lip to hold in the tears, I would be in trouble if I began to weep. "I'm not a freak, I was upset about our fight and wanted to go for a walk."
She sighed, the wine glass stem had snapped between her fingers, and the wine was all over the floor now. Vikki grabbed the back of my neck and held me to look into her eyes. They were filled with adrenaline, excitement. "You know I don't like fighting with you. I love you, yourname."
"I'm so sorry. I would never cheat on you."
"I know. I know." She said, pulling me to rest my head on her shoulder. I couldn't cry, I couldn't hug her. I had never been hit in my whole life. "Now." She said, pulling my head back, rubbing her thumb over my cut. It was like rubbing salt into a wound. "Why don't you get on that bed and show me how sorry you are?" Her smile was horrifying.
"You know I don't like the physical stuff." I protested but she gripped my neck harder, shutting my body into a solid lock. "But I do, now get on the bed." She smirked and gave my arse a tap in the direction of the bed. Reluctantly I gave in.