"Yes"

"No"

"Why the hell not?"

"Because it's ugly as fuck, that's why the hell not."

"Just let her take the damn robe so we can wrap this shit up," Maya's humdrum voice sounds from her position in Arianna's closet.

Kaydence huffs and tightens her grip on the averse article of clothing that she's deemed as flotsam. 

"Promise you won't wear it around him."

Aria rolls her and sucks her teeth, "Hell no."

Kaydence releases an aggravated groan, "Why the hell must you be so difficult?"

Aria's eyes transmute into slits, "Why the hell must you be so damn controlling?"

"Why the hell are you two arguing over a goddamn robe?" A new voice, filled with equal irritation joins the conversation. The three roommates turn their attention to Derrick, whose tall frame is standing by Aria's door.

"Trust me," Maya sighs, exiting out the closet with a standard sized box in her arms. "You don't even want to know." Her eyes narrow in slits as she suddenly starts to stare at Derrick suspiciously "Hold up a minute. I sent you like ten minutes ago to bring that box to the car. What took your ass so long to come back?"

He hesitates with his answer, "I got lost."

"Bullshit," Maya hisses, crossing her arms over her chest. "You were in my room again weren't you?!"

"Prove it," Derrick smirks.

That little comment seems to piss off the short-tempered young woman even more.

"How am I supposed to prove it you jackass when I've been in here working unlike your lazy ass!"

"I'm sensing you're a little tense," Derrick comments, clearly trying to hide the amusement in his voice. "Maybe I can help with that..." he trails off suggestively.

"Or maybe I can choke your ass until I see your eyes roll in the back of your big ass head!" She shoots back, moving to jump at him when Kay decides to intervene and grabs her arm.

"Yo, chill out Maya." Kay keeps a firm grasp on Maya's forearm.

Maya turns her glare towards her roommate, "I'll ‘chill' out when that hooligan stops going through my shit!"

"Technically," Derrick pipes up. "I was admiring your ‘shit'. You're really talented you know that?"

It happens almost instantly, Maya's whole disposition changes. Yes, she's still angry-furious even. Nevertheless, Derricks comment seems to mitigate her ire.

"What?"

"Your drawings," Derrick replies, chuckling softly as he subconsciously places his hands behind his head. "Your designs are phenomenal. I thought they were by some famous designer until I saw your signature on the back."

Maya looks unsure of what to say. Extremely confident in her appearance, she can't say the same when it comes to her designs. She takes pride in them, but she's always second guessing their worth. Of course, her instructors and roommates are always reassuring her of their superb quality. Still, it's not the same as having a celebrity's opinion. Albeit, even if that celebrity is (in her opinion) the bane of her existence.

"Thanks," Maya mutters awkwardly and quietly, as a blanket of momentary silence falls upon the four young people.

"You know," Kay bats her long eyelashes up at Derrick. "I've been told I'm quite the artist myself."

Arianna rolls her eyes, "By whom? The kindergarteners in the Basic Dance class at the studio?" Maya, along with Derrick crack up in laughter.

"Fuck you two," Kay retaliates, taping up a box. "Okay, that's it for your shirts."

"Damn ma, with all this shit you taking with you; I'm starting to wonder if you plan on staying with Colin for good."

"Shut up Derrick," Arianna laughs, tightening the rubber band holding up her ponytail. "I'm a woman. We need our stuff." A beat. "Where is Colin anyway? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Yeah," Kay smirks. "She's missing her boo."

"At least she has one..." Maya mutters.

"I can help you with that," Derrick smirks, eyeing the 5"7 ½ young woman, "Gladly."

"I'd rather spend the rest of my life as an old hag with 5o dogs   ," Maya smiles sweetly.

"Keep being an uptight bitch and that's exactly what will happen," Kay snickers.

"You know what Kaydence-"

"Forget it," Arianna groans, lifting up a box and heading out the room. Making it down the stairs, she moves to turn at the corner, but stop abruptly when the box collides with something hard. Rather, someone.

"What the-" Aria stops, regaining her composure as she gazes up at the stranger in front of her with a broad, friendly smile.

"You must be Arianna," the tone of his voice matches his friendly mien; still, Aria keeps her guards up.

"Yeah....who the hell are you?" She asks bluntly.

He laughs slightly, "Ricardo. A friend of Colin's. Well, we're teammates."

"Oh," Arianna says plainly. "Colin didn't mention bringing anyone else besides Derrick...." A beat. "So, what exactly did Colin tell you about me....us?" Watching her wording, Aria is curious as to whether or not Colin told him the fabricated story or the real one.

Chuckling, he takes the box from Aria, "Don't worry. Ya'll secret is safe with me."

"It better be."

Both Arianna and Ricardo turn to look at Colin, who approaches to two, and looks at his wife. "I see you've met Ricardo."

"Yup," Arianna pops the ‘P' while flashing a small smile. She then turns her attention to Colin, "Umm we're about halfway through-"

"Just half?" Colin interrupts, eyes slightly widening.

Ricardo laughs, "She's feisty. I like her."

"Join the club," Arianna jokes, winking at the other man. "I'm sorry, by the way, for my behavior earlier. I just....I don't like being caught off guard."

"Understandable," Ricardo nods. "Neither do I."

Cue an awkward silence.

Arianna notices that the two athletes share a look, which seems to influence Ricardo's next actions.

"I'll go take this to the truck," he mumbles, excusing himself as he moves past the two.

"Nice," Aria chuckles, walking towards the kitchen. Colin, of course, trails behind her. "Drink?" She asks, leaning over to get water out the fridge.

"Naw, I'm good." He replies, sitting on the stool. A beat. "So, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Aria ceases her drinking for a moment, and looks at Colin suspiciously, "Why do I have a feeling it's not something good?"

"Depends on how you look at it," he chuckles nervously.

"Colin," Arianna says bluntly. "Save the bullshit. What's up?"

"You know that if we're going to pretend to be a couple, we have to actually...well....besides from going out ‘together'" Colin trails off, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

It takes a moment for Arianna to realize where he's getting at, "No. Hell no. I agreed to pretend to be your wife, not your freaking arm candy that you can show off at your publicity events and shit."

He sighs heavily, "How else are we supposed to get the public to buy this bs story if we don't play the part publicly, as well as privately?"

"Don't know. Don't care." Arianna shrugs nonchalantly, "That's your problem. Not mine."

This time, Colin releases a loud groan. "Why is it, whenever we take one step forward, you make us take two steps back?"

"Oh, so now this is my fault?" Aria arches an eyebrow, "I'm not the one who's a freaking celebrity. So, don't you dare blame this on me. No, you're the one who fucking got us drunk."

"Well, you certainly didn't say no or offer any type of objection." He shoots back fiercely.

Flashback

Buried under the thin, cotton sheets, blanket wrapped tightly around her tiny frame, clutching the raggedy, tattered stuffed animal-this is her nightly ritual. Every night she falls asleep with this exact routine, and every night he intrudes this "comfort zone" of hers. Some nights she attempts to convince herself that it won't happen. That he won't come. She even goes as far as to pray it won't happen.

It's a hopeless and empty plea.

Because every time he comes and goes, another piece of her innocence leaves with him. The first few times it happened, the first time she heard that door open, felt the shifting of the sheets and the subsequent removal of her underwear, followed by fingers penetrating down there. She never said anything. Of course, she shed tears, but that was as far as it went. No screams. No fighting back. No, nothing like that. She just laid there and let him violate her in a way she knew was wrong. Yet, she did nothing to stop him. She let him do it.

She never said no.

End Flashback

"Aria!"

Aria snaps her head to see Colin, who is now directly in front of her, starring down with concern in his mahogany eyes. "Are you okay? You just spaced out."

"I'm fine," she replies quietly, blinking back unshed tears. "Sorry, I do that sometimes." She forces out a fake laugh, trying to play off what just happened. "I swear, I think I have ADD or some shit like that."

Colin hesitates before responding to Aria with an unconvinced, "Yeah........."

Putting up her notorious poker face, "Come on." She smirks, grabbing his arm to lead her back to her room, "The sooner we finish here. The sooner we can go ‘home.'"

ooooooOOOoooooo

"I'm telling you, it's like she transforms into a different person." Colin explains, before gulping down on his Gatorade. "And today, she just completely spaced out. It's like she was in a completely different universe."

Following the packing and loading of all of Arianna's items, and a tearful goodbye between the three roommates, Arianna and Colin headed to his place.

"They have a name for that bro," Derrick sighs, placing a hand on Colin's shoulder. "It's called crazy as hell."

Ricardo rolls his eyes, "Shut up Derrick. She's not crazy. Trust me, I've met crazy. She's far from it."

"Okay, well she has multiple personality disorder." Derrick shrugs.

Colin shoots him a glare, "It's not that serious."

"Well if you're just going to shoot down all my suggestions, why the fuck even bother bringing it up in the first place?" Derrick huffs, moving to sit down on one of the workout machines.

"Don't listen to him," Ricardo shakes his head and turns his attentions to back to Colin. "Look, if she's having mood swings as often as you say she is and they're becoming progressively worse, then maybe you should talk to her. Because it sounds like there's definitely something going on with her."

"Yeah, she's mental," Derrick exclaims.

"Shut up Derrick." Colin and Ricardo say in unison.

ooooooOOOoooooo

{Aria POV}

My initial reaction to Colin's house? Damn. I mean, it's not over the top luxurious like Kimora Lee Simmons house, but it's certainly not our three bedroom condo. Ugh. I'm really gonna miss my girls. This is the first time we've ever been separated since our foster home days.

Since our "date" (that's what he refers to it), I suppose Colin and I have grown somewhat closer. Well, at least, as close as two people can get via text. He's actually really sweet and has a surprising sense of humor. He's also extremely chill, and the complete opposite of what one would expect a professional athlete to be like.

Sitting on the middle of "my" bed, I take a moment to gaze around "my" room. Not only is it twice the size of my real room, but I'm pretty sure the bed alone cost more than all the furniture in my room. Yet, it's all very subtle, but still classy. This seems to be a recurring theme throughout the house. Well, excluding Colin's room, which is your typical male bachelor pad type bedroom.

He told me his mom and sister in law helped him decorate the house, with the exception of his own room. That was all him. I have to admit, he has nice taste. For a guy, that is.

Yawning and stretching my arms upward, I glance at the time on my phone. 1:00. Did I mention I'm here by myself? Yeah, he left some chick he's known for only one week alone in his expensive ass house. Wouldn't be me. He claims he "trusts" me though.......Like I said, it wouldn't be me.

Anyway, he and the guys skipped their morning workout to help me pack up and move my stuff. So, after bringing me "home," and helping me get adjusted, they left to go workout. Speaking of the guys, I really should apologize to Ricardo. I was a bitch to him for no legit reason. Besides, it wasn't his fault that Colin didn't tell me he was bringing him. Plus, on another selfish note, he's not a bad looking guy. Definitely my type....and Kaydence. Hence why as soon as she laid eyes on him, her thirsty ass was all over his dick. However, unlike Derrick and Colin, I think Ricardo just might be the one to give Kaydence some water....

Untangling my legs, I rise off the bed, grabbing my phone before I head out my room. I've finished all my unpacking, and managed to add a few personal touches to my room. Nothing major though, I'm not trying to piss him off. What Derrick said about Colin's temper is still floating around in my head.

Trying not to think about that, I walk to the kitchen and open up the fridge to see what he has. It's a combination of junk and healthy food, mostly healthy food though. Great. Groaning, I close the fridge, and open up the freezer. Same thing. Expect, I notice he has fish sticks. Or rather, he had fish sticks. Because I'm about to finish off this bitch. It takes about ten minutes for me to locate everything I need before I'm finally able to put the food in the oven.

Running back to my room, I grab my iPod touch 5 out my face and return back to the living room. Plopping down on the sofa, I scroll through my albums before settling on my "Ratchet" playlist.

Don't judge me.

Opening up the iBook app, I resume reading Pride and Prejudice for probably the fifteenth thousand time. It's probably my favorite book ever. Like, Jane Austen was beyond her time. I'm so enthralled into my book that before I know it, the timer on the oven is going off. I take my food out the oven; load all the fish sticks on my plate and squeeze a sizable amount of barbecue sauce on the side. Settling back onto the sofa with my food and a bottle of water, I continue with my reading, while eating and listening to "All Gold Everything."

I guess I'm so wrapped up in my little happy place, that I don't even notice the rattling of the doorknob. Or when someone enters the house.

"Hey"

"Wh-" I stop, jump up, ready to go ham on whoever is dumb enough to break in. "Colin?" This motherfucker almost gave me a heartache. Now he has the nerve to actually laugh. The fuck?!

"Not funny," I mutter irritated, grabbing my empty plate and retreating to the kitchen. "I thought you were a burglar."

He stops laughing shortly, "A burglar? Coming through the front door, in broad daylight, and with a key?"

Smart ass.

He suddenly arches his eyebrows and watches as I wash the dishes I just used.

"Wait...," he pauses. "Did you eat all the fish sticks?"

"Yup," I answer plainly. Finishing the dishes, I place them in the drainer and turn around. "A quick thing you should" know about me is that if you ever have fish sticks or any type of Chinese food in here and leave me alone with it, I will eat majority of or all of it."

"Thanks for telling me just now," he grunts, grabbing a Gatorade out the fridge.

"No problem," I smile sweetly. He responds with a glare, which I simple laugh at. "So I'm assuming you're done with your workout....." He nods in response, "So what do you plan on doing now?"

"Actually, I was just gonna shower and go for a swim. Wanna join me?"

"The pool? Hell yeah." He laughs.

"Okay, I'll go get cleaned up and meet you out back in like...half an hour?"

Did I mention he has a nice ass pool? Well, he does. I agree and we both head our separate ways.

ooooooOOOoooooo

"I fucking hate you Kaydence," I seethe aloud as I type the same thing and press send. Throwing the phone down on the bed, I cross my arms and walk into the bathroom to stare at my reflection

"I look like a prostitute."

I should have paid more attention to what Kay was packing for me. Why? Because majority of the clothes are all way too sexy and look like something a video vixen would wear. Yes, I bought most of it, but the more risqué items are stuff she bought for me that I promised her I would never wear. Example being this bathing suit.

It's a bright, like green cut-out maillot. It's got my boobs feeling like they're going to come springing out any second and an uncomfortable breeze by my ass.  It's also the only bathing suit she packed for me. I knew I should have checked those boxes.

Did I mention I hate Kaydence?

Mumbling curse words, I peruse through my stuff to see if she at least included a cover up. Thankfully, she did. It's a long sleeve dip dye, button front tunic. Slipping it on, I pull on some flip-flops and grab my touch before heading out.

Walking out to the pool, I notice Colin is already there and in the water. Kicking off my sandals, I sit on the edge of the pool and submerge my legs in the cool water. It's pretty chilly and takes a few seconds to adjust, but overall, it feels pretty damn good.

When he finally emerges out the water, I swear, it's like a scene out of a movie. It's all in slow motion. I watch how his arm muscles flex as he runs his hands over his short hair. God, he has such an amazing body. I feel my cheeks growing warmer return my eyes back to my Touch, so he can't catch me staring.  

"Are you actually going to get in or just sit there?"

Lifting up my eyes, I glance at him for a second then return my gaze back to the object in my hand.

"When I get ready," I answer in an undertone. "I'm just waiting for my body to adjust to the water's temperature."

Lame ass excuse? I know, but I'm really not comfortable with this ‘bathing suit' I have on. Yeah, I know I have a pretty nice body, but I'm not used to nor do I like showing it off.

"So when exactly do we have to start playing hubby and wifey?" I ask casually, most of my attention focused on my Sims.

"You sure you wanna discuss that now?" He asks uncertainly, and for a minute, I look at him confused. Just earlier he wanted to talk about this, why the sudden change.

Oh.

I then remember how I randomly snapped at him. He probably want to avoid pissing me off.

"Look," I sigh, getting up and placing my Touch on one of the pool chairs. I then sit back down and start gently kicking my legs around in the water. "I....I....I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with. But....it's not that it's intentional. I just....."

Fuck.

I need to just be honest with him. I mean, I don't have to tell him the cause, just the effect.

I scoff and close my eyes, "I have Borderline Personality Disorder." I glance at him and notice the uncertain facial expression. He's unsure of what to say. "It's a lot like Bipolar, but at the same time, it's not. I...I don't really know how to explain it."

"Is that why you have those mood swings?" He questions carefully, as I notice he's now by me, leaning his arms on the edge of the pool. "Is it one of the symptoms?"

"Yup," I pop the P. "Along with many other things..." I trail off, and scoff bitterly. "I probably just confirmed your speculation that I'm fucking crazy, huh?"

"I've never thought you were crazy. Moody? Yes. But never crazy." He replies firmly and gently.

"And now?" I quip an eyebrow. "Since you know what I have?"

"No change," he shrugs. "But..."

"What?" I question, unbuttoning and pulling off my cover-up.

"Would you kill me if I were to pull you in?"

Fuck.

"Don't you d-" Before I can even finish my sentence, he grabs me by my arms and pulls me in the water. Screaming, I go head under.

Did I mention I can't swim?

Fucking bastard.

Rising out the water, I can hear him laughing, hurry up, and latch onto him. He reacts by holding onto my hips so I don't move.

"I also can't swim you fucking jerk," I punch his arm and I'm 99.9% percent sure it hurt my hand more than it hurt him. Dude is solid. "I swear, I'm gonna get your ass back for this." I glare, but I can't help the smile on my face and the playfulness in my voice.

"Seriously?" He asks, looking down at my boobs, and then my face.

I widen my eyes and give him a duh look, "Do you honestly think if I could that I'd be holding onto you for dear life right now?"

"Well..." he smirks arrogantly.

"Oh please," I roll my eyes. "Don't flatter yourself honey. You are not all that."

"Oh?" He arches an eyebrow, "Well then..." He releases his hold on me and I instantly start to panic. Before I can even think about it, I wrap my legs around his waist and throw my arms around his neck.

"Don't you dare drop me," I threaten, narrowing my eyes.

He laughs and places his hands back on my hips, "You've never had swimming lessons?" I nod ‘no.' "Damn, you know you're not helping that whole ‘most black people can't swim' stereotype." He jokes.

"And what makes you think I'm black?" I tease. Obviously, you can tell just by looking at me that I'm black, but I have been mistaken for other races in the past.

"This ass ma," he chuckles, giving a slight squeeze to my butt.

Squealing in response, I untangle my arms and shove him on his chest.

"Shut the fuck up," I giggle, keeping my hands on his chest. "No, but seriously though, Jamie never took us to the pool. So, I just never bothered to learn."

Colin's smile drops slowly as he notices the change of tone in my voice, "Whose J-"

"Aria!" Both of our heads snap to see Maya and Kaydence.

"How the hell did you tw-"

"Derrick and Ricardo let us in," Maya answers before Colin can finish his question.

"Who let them in?" He questions.

"Fuck should we know," Kay shrugs.

 She then turns her attention back to me, "What the hell are you doing in the pool? You know your ass can't swim."

Rolling my eyes, I can't help the irritation I feel towards them for interrupting Colin and I.

"Yeah, I know. But Colin didn't and threw me in."

"The hell?" Kaydence glares at him. "She could've drowned. You could've killed her."

He rolls his eyes, "Like I would've let that happened."

Maya lets out an ‘hmmph,' "Well let's go Aria, since you wanna ‘swim' so damn much. Show us where your room is in this big ass house."

"I really hate ya'll sometimes," I mumble, moving so that I'm on Colin's back.

"We love you too boo boo," Kaydence grins, as Colin brings us over to the shallow area.

Getting up out the water, I walk over to the pool chair, I grab a towel and wrap it around me.

"I'll be inside in a sec okay?" I tell the two of them, noticing Colin is also out of the water now.

"Fine," Maya huffs. "But don't take too long because I've just about had enough of daily Derek dosage."

"Okay," I shake my head as they go back inside.

I walk over to Colin, whose now sitting on a pool chair with a towel around his neck.

"I was gonna teach you how to swim, but I guess we'll have to do it another time. Ya know, WHEN WE"RE ALONE!" He yells the last part towards the house.

"He'll probably be doing laps like Michael Phleps around your ass Aria," Maya teases, walking out, but staying by the back door.

Kaydence walks out and joins her.

"More like in her," she snickers. "He'll be doing laps all up in that pussy."

Feeling my cheeks warming up, I bury my face in my hands and shake my head.

"Girl I'm bout to dive in," Kay starts singing a line from Trey Songz ‘Dive In'.

"Baby girl hold your breath," Maya continues.

"You about to get so wet!" They finish together before busting out laughing.

"If ya'll don't shut up and get the fuck out of here," I threaten, not even looking over at Colin. God, are they purposely trying to humiliate me in front of him?

"Make that ass tapout bro!" Derrick yells from inside the house.

The fuck? Are he and Ricardo listening in on us too?

I.Hate.All.Of.Them.

Fuck it.

I finally look over at Colin, whose face is also slightly red and grab his phone from him, before sitting myself on his lap. He clearly doesn't mind because his arms almost instantly snake around my waist. Opening up his ‘Notepad' app, I type my message and hand it to him.

‘Since we don't seem to have any privacy.....I can have M & K gone in an hour. Can you do the same with R & D?'

He reads it and moves his arms to type back before handing it to me and putting his arms back.

‘Of course. But.....why?'

Smirking to myself, I type back my reply and hand him his phone, before getting up, grabbing my stuff and swaying my hips as I go back inside.

‘You're not the only one who wants to be alone. ;)'