Leash Her (Carter)

[Aryana Darcy]

Rya had been furious after this encounter with his little French mistress. There was nothing that irritated her more than when someone claimed to be better than someone else, and that girl had absolutely crossed the line. Why she even managed to get Carter was beyond her, with her entirely pompous attitude and cold demeanor. Looks, Rya could understand. But nothing deeper than that was appealing about the girl.

However, in her anger, Rya wanted to say and do things that would have been absolutely irrational. She wanted to beat that woman bloody, teach her a lesson. She also wanted to scream at Carter. Why? She didn't know. She just did. It wasn't necessarily his fault he found such a bitch.

So instead, she left it for a few days, and that time gave the bruise enough time to form. It was size of a fingernail, but it was in the middle of her forehead. She didn't have bangs, so the bruise was clearly visible at all times.

Taking out her phone, she scrolled down to Carter's contact and pulled up a new message.

Keep your bitch on a lead before I feed her to the dogs, Carter. I don't appreciate being confronted and insulted by your pompous french barbie doll.

[Carter Chevalier]

Oblivious to the notion that anything had happened, Carter had gone about his days as per usual. He'd only just gotten back home from fencing practice with Dom, tearing his equipment off his torso and making the move to hang it in the closet.

Carter's attention was dragged to his phone at a notification, a familiar name sending something through to him. He thought nothing of the act, but he wasted no time reading the message itself.

Sufficed to say, it was not appreciated in the slightest.

[Rya: Come talk to me.]

If this was going to be a thing, it wasn't a discussion he was having through text messages.

[Aryana Darcy]

[Come talk to me]

Okay then. Rya was going to get out her frustrations, though she'd try to avoid raising her voice as long as he did the same. However, she didn't really expect him not to raise his voice after what she had just sent him.

Ahh well, she'd see how it went when she got there.

Be there in a minute

Rya didn't bother getting dressed in jeans and a t-shirt again. She had just changed out and showered, after all. So with her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a tank top and sweat pants. No makeup covered the small bruise on her face, either.

Rya headed over to the dorm next door, without knocking, and headed towards Carter's room. Knocking on his door, she leaned against the wall.

"It's me," She said simply.

[Carter Chevalier]

When he received confirmation that she was on her way, Carter didn't answer back. He pulled the shirt he'd worn over his head, idly tossing it aside. He hadn't even managed to slip out of his breeches before there was a knock at the door.

The older twin - shirtless by choice - made his way over to the door and opened it.

He went to start in on her for coming to him with a problem via his phone, but when he saw her his features lost their hardened lines. His eyes narrowed on the mark on her forehead, "Sylvie?" He asked. It was a small, definitive hit. Likely with a stoned hand or something of the like. He knew his summer flame wouldn't strike a person.

But with a hand like hers, even the simplest of touches could be a decent hit.

[Aryana Darcy]

"So that's her name? Oh well, I couldn't care less. I spent too much time hearing how I'm such a low life and how I didn't deserve you to actually get her name."

Rya could tell that she was about to be reprimanded, but the Brit wouldn't take any of it. She had no say in who he slept with, much like he had no say in who she slept with. It wasn't any of her business, anyway.

"I've had worse hits. I box, remember?" Rya knew it would bruise over, but it never did hurt. That was nothing worse than a quick flick. The Brit has punched and kicked much harder than what Sylvie had done to her.

"I mean what I said. I'm not going to let that girl insult me. The only reason why I didn't smack her senseless was because I knew that, for some reason, you cared about her."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter didn't appreciate being bombarded in the way he was. Here she was, practically berating him for something he had no hand in. And all he'd said was a name. A singular word warranted this type of behaviour? He refused to stand to the side in his usual manner. She wasn't allowed in if she was going to act like this.

"You clearly do care." Carter pointed out lightly when she finally finished. If she didn't, she wouldn't be coming at him in such a way.

She should at least admit to that much. The way she lied about her feelings was getting old. And in this moment, he had little patience for it. "I don't care what you say to her." He replied with a simple shrug, running his fingers across the line of his hair idly. "If you have an issue, you're old enough to sort it out between yourselves. I'm not your mediator."

[Aryana Darcy]

"She wouldn't listen even if I tried to settle things, she made that quite clear." Rya's words were bitter. She couldn't understand why he even associated with this girl in the first place, but again, it wasn't her place to understand. It was just like how Rya couldn't even comprehend why he even bothered with her. Especially in times such as now.

"Yes, I am capable of handling my own issues. However, this isn't just my issue to solve." It never was just two girl's problems once the eldest Chevalier twin was brought into play. It was about him, whether he liked that fact or not. Sylvie acted like Carter was entirely her's, and anybody else was simply trash that he used until they could be together.The little amount of self worth that she still had was crumbling. And that French bitch wasn't helping it a single bit.

"But you're right. What made me think I should vent out my frustrations to someone who I thought would actually listen to me, rather than venting it out in a way that could possibly hinder my graduation?"

In times of stress, she went to him. Despite her frustrations, he usually understood how to just get her mind off of things. So when she texted him what she did, it was more a cry for help than an insult or jab towards him. But if Carter didn't understand that, then what was she even doing there?

[Carter Chevalier]

Cartier raised his eyebrows instinctively when she outwardly told him it wasn’t her issue to solve. How her relationship with Sylvie was his fault, he didn’t know. He didn’t even know what had happened, save for the bruise on her forehead.

He shook his head once she’d finally finished talking again. It was difficult to take her so seriously when she bombarded him in such a way.

“What are you venting about?” Carter asked her, “Sylvie’s personality?”

[Aryana Darcy]

It was obvious she was overwhelming him with her words, but she still was frustrated. And the very fact that he wasn't comprehending what she was trying to say was furthering that frustration. Rya was not good at communicating verbally. It was difficult, because she knew how she felt. She knew what she wanted to convey, but the words could never be formed, or too many words were formed that simply overwhelmed.

"I've been judged for years, but what pisses me off is the idea that she believes she is /better/ than me." She tried to keep her words at a minimum. The less the Brit spoke, the more she wanted to say. But she took another breath.

"I'm exhausted, Carter. Sylvie just brought me over the edge."

[Carter Chevalier]

By nature, Carter knew Sylvie had a penchant for overtly prioritising herself. She kept people verbally aware of her stance in the world compared to them. The Chevalier twins, by proxy, were able to remain less overt in their assertion. They knew their place above others, and they knew how to express that.

So it didn’t surprise him to know that Sylvie had gotten to her. She had something of a knack for it.

“Sylvie’s quick to judge.” Carter said lightly, though he knew she was aware of that already. Else she wouldn’t be here. His eyes travelled back to the bruise on her forehead. He knew Sylvie was often wrong in her judgements. She had yet to adjust to the nature of the school she now attended; “You so rarely let this get to you when others try to make a point of it. What makes this any different?”

[Aryana Darcy]

"Three years, Carter. I'm not made of stone." He was right when he said she didn't allow this to get to her. But with everything that had occurred recently, it had started to break her barriers.

She suddenly became much more aware of his eyes on her. At that moment, she felt stripped of everything that she had built up. It kept occurring, the feeling, and she hated it. Rya felt weak, exposed.

"But yeah, I won't hesitate to bite back if your bitch of a girlfriend takes shots at me."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter could only assume the most imperative facts about the situation. Sylvie had said something that got to the girl in front of him. He momentarily revelled in her colourful choice in words; speaking of women who were made of stone. But as the moment passed, so did any potential dry humour from it.

“I don’t doubt that.” He replied in time. Of course she was going to fight back if Sylvie opted to be her usual self. He expected nothing less from her. He still found it difficult to see his place in all this. Was he supposed to warn her about Sylvie? Why would he ever think to do that? As far as Carter knew, they were never going to like each other. They were never going to connect. Such as it was with everyone he found himself sleeping with. They knew who they were dealing with.

They knew he had a history. They knew he had others.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He exhaled a short, sharp laugh at the fact. “Do you expect me to ask her to be nicer?”

She’d met Sylvie now. She knew how well that would pan out for both of them. He had no desire to do such a thing; it felt too much like falling into a place of compliance and ownership.

[Aryana Darcy]

"I expect you to listen" Rya let out an exasperated sigh, her hand running through her hair and pulling out the ponytail that held it all together.

The miscommunication between the two was doing nothing, but neither was communicating. Words or not, the two were falling through the cracks, distancing. The brit began to wish for the old days, when words were not necessary. He would call her, she would come, and they would part with a simple 'that was fun'.

This is not what she hoped for in life.

"I can handle myself, you know that. But all I ask is you let me vent every so often so I can keep my sanity. It's the only thing I have left." Those words meant more to her than Carter knew. Her sanity and her generally logical thinking and mindset was the only thing she had kept from the girl she once was. Rya never aimed to hurt, that is, unless provoked.

The brunette turned away. "Forget it. Forget I even said anything."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter’s eyebrows knit together and he frowned at her. She was obviously frustrated. He could see that. So was he.

But he listened anyway, because if nothing else, he wanted to understand what the hell he’d been dragged into. She didn’t want him to connect with Sylvie and demand that she control herself – good, because that wasn’t ever going to happen. Not because he couldn’t, and he doubted that he really could anyway, but because he had no desire to try to reprimand and control her.

“I do know that.” He replied in kind, nodding once.

But before he could speak up, she was moving away again. Carter didn’t miss a beat as he stepped forward to catch her wrist in his hand. “So vent. Vent when you need to, if that’s what you need.” He denoted quickly. Why bother letting her walk away when this clearly wasn’t over?

[Aryana Darcy]

Rya almost considered yanking her arm out of his grip and storming off, but what good would that do? Carter did appreciate boundaries, but if he knew something was wrong, which he now did, he wouldn't let it slide so easily.

This was getting ridiculous, honestly. Everything about her was changing for the worst, or that's how she perceived it. But nobody could handle the fire without a rest. Everyone had their own breaking point. Rya always was aware of her physical limit, but this was the first time she had experienced her emotional.

She honestly had no clue what to do.

"Fine, but can we at least go inside your room so I don't have to worry about Dom or Lux hearing this? I have a reputation to uphold."