"What is going on here?" A voice asks from the door to the bedroom.

My eyes snap open, Dominic and I pull our heads away from each other as we both turn to see a male standing in the doorway. 

Max.

I feel the colour washing right out of me. I hadn't even heard him entering the house, or coming up the stairs.

I take in Max's appearance, he looks worried and confused. He's still in his suit though it looks more crumpled than it had earlier tonight. In his hands is a tub of chocolate ice-cream and two teaspoons.

"Ellie?" Max's voice is filled with confusion as he looks between me and his best friend.

"Max..." I move to stand up, only Dominic won't let me.

Dominic places his hands on my thighs to force me to stay sitting in the armchair. His eyes rake over my face before he stands from his crouched position with a sigh. "Max. Can I talk to you downstairs?" Dominic asks calmly.

"Tell me what the hell is going on here!" Max demands.

I feel my hands begin to tremble again in my lap as my eyes return to Max who now looks angry.

"Downstairs! Now, Maxwell!" Dominic says in a tone that leaves no room for question as he seems to notice my reaction to Max. Max storms from the room, which is when Dominic bends back down to me and presses a kiss to the top of my head. "It's going to be fine, princess. It's all going to be fine." He says and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

"What the hell was that?" Max's voice travels, telling me he hadn't made it back downstairs but instead was only just down the hall.

"Maxwell, I need you to calm down." Dominic says firmly. 

"Calm down?" He laughs.

Dominic sighs frustrated. "Yes, you're scaring your sister!" He pauses. "She's been through enough tonight don't you think?"

Max lets out a heavy breath. "Fine. I'm calm." He says bluntly. "Now tell me what the hell I just walked in on." He demands.

"Max. You are my closest friend..."

"Oh cut the crap Dom." Max sounds fed up.

"I told you I've been seeing someone." Dominic starts off. "And I really do care about her Max." He says softly.

Max snorts. "Hardly seems like it if you're going around behind her back trying to..." He trails off and I think realisation hits him. "My sister?" He asks. "You've been seeing my sister?" His voice is laced with poison.

"Yes." Dominic answers simply.

"You've been screwing my sister?" Hate is now heavy in his voice.

Dominic sighs.

"Oh my God." Max gasps in horror. "When I came home the other night... and you had been in the living room. Oh dear God." 

I think I'm going to be sick. I glance around the room anxiously. The bedroom door to the hall is the only door in here. There's no other doors leading anywhere else from here meaning the bathroom is in the main hall. Is there a rubbish bin or something in here? There has to be something.

"Max..." Dominic starts.

"I trusted you with her!" Max's voice is raised again. "I trusted you and you went and ruined her!" 

That's what Max thinks of me? He thinks I'm ruined? I rush over to the window, forcing it open in haste as my stomach lurches. Somehow it had found extra things to rid my body of. I'm vomiting once again, for the second time tonight. 

I hear the bedroom door click open shortly before a warm hand comes to my back. "Fuck." Dominic curses under his breath. His warm hand rubs small circles in the middle of my back, his warmth filling me.

I lean my forearms against the windowsill. My eyes are closed as I focus on my breathing again. 

"Ok?" He asks me quietly, softly. I give a small nod and Dominic wraps his arms around me, pulling me back to standing up right again. He pulls me into his chest, holding me to him tightly as his lips press a soft kiss to the top of my head. "I've got you." He tells me in a whisper.

"Ellie?" Max's soft voice calls out to me, filled with worry.

"Max, can we do this in the morning? She needs to rest." Dominic says in a firm but quiet voice.

"And leave her here with you?" Max snorts. "Ellie..."

"Maxwell." Dominic says firmer this time. "She is in no state to do this right now. I will stay with her and take care of her. You trusted her with me in the past, you trusted me two hours ago. I need you to trust me now."

Max huffs. "Ellie, I'll be right down the hall." He says before I hear his footsteps head for the door, he abruptly stops. "No funny business or I will actually kill you, Dom." And with that he's gone.

"Let's get you into bed." Dominic says to me softly.

I pulled my head out of his chest. "I'm sorry." I whisper, guilt filling me.

"Shh." He hushes me. "None of this is your fault." Dominic tells me softly as he guides me over to the free standing closet. He pulls open one of the doors to reveal a set of drawers, he pulls out a t-shirt from one of the drawers before finding a pair of pyjama pants in another.

"He hates me." I whisper what's been nagging me.

Dominic looks at me stunned, as if he cannot believe the words that had just come from my mouth. "Ell, Max could never hate you. I've told you this already." He closes the closet and guides me over to the bed where he sets down the pyjamas he'd just pulled out.

"I heard him, I heard you both talking, and I could hear the hate in his voice when he realised..." I shake my head as I begin to feel tears welling up.

Dominic cups my face in both his hands. "I promise you, that hate was not aimed at you. He could never hate you, princess. He's just not so fond of me right now." He tells me softly. "Max is in shock right now, he just needs to take a cooler and wrap his head around it all. He's going to be just fine."

"He thinks I'm ruined." I whisper.

Dominic closes his eyes and sighs. "Only because he knows my reputation, and he doesn't know that you're... he still thinks of you as his virgin little sister. This has definitely been a shock for him to find out all of this the way he has." Dominic lets go of my face and his hands trail down to my waist. "We need to get you changed for bed." He tells me. "I don't know if you'd prefer to do it yourself right now, after everything that's happened tonight." Meaning he doesn't know if I want him touching my body, he doesn't know if I want to be exposed to him like that.

I shake my head at him.

Dominic's hands trail down me further as he bunches my dress in his hands and pulls it up, he pulls it up over my head before discarding it to the floor. He kneels down in front of me and slips off my boots before standing back up again. "Bra off?" He asks. I give a small nod. Dominic removed my bra, letting it fall to the ground too, before grabbing the t-shirt off the bed and dressing me in it like a child. The t-shirt comes down to my mid thighs and is very baggy on me.