#it's just how many i could cram into one neatly arranged image

[blacktabbygames]

"abby, scarlet hollow has an unreasonable amount of art in it, what if for slay the princess the whole game takes place in one location so you only have to draw a few different backgrounds" The location:

[blustersquall]

Only Make Believe // Chapter 2: A Contract

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Chapter art by @sangosweetz / sangosweetheart on deviantart

16th December

----

Cullen parked outside Nevena's apartment building. He texted to let her know he was there after switching off the engine. He quickly received a response telling him to come up. After pocketing his phone, got out of the car, and crossed the street to her apartment building. The building was not a purpose built block like so many in Denerim. It was once a family home that was converted into apartments when such large houses became unnecessary. Over the previous days Nevena told him she lived in the top most flat, a loft apartment.

They spoke regularly since their meeting at Red Jenny's. There was a lot to discuss and details they needed to rehearse in order for their relationship to seem real. With past clients, Cullen only ever needed the basics – an estimated length of time he and the client had been dating, and where they met often sufficed – with Nevena, given the length of time this façade would be in place, they needed to be thorough and perfect. From what Nevena told him, her sisters would pick up on any discrepancies, and she would be mortified if they discovered their relationship was a sham. Despite being curious, Cullen didn't inquire why. It was none of his business to begin with, and if Nevena wanted to tell him, she could in her own time.

Inside the bag slung over his shoulder, he carried with him the contract he spent the last three days painstakingly typing, adjusting, and rewording. It was, what he considered, perfect down to the last detail, and was a lot shorter than he anticipated. There was no small print, he spoke to Nevena while making the first draft and notified her of any changes. Everything was black and white, above board and they were both aware of the situation.

The arrangement was for a four-week ploy where they would act as a couple. They both agreed to hand holding, mild polite kissing - though Cullen wasn't sure what polite kissing was exactly, he expected Nevena would inform him. Sex was out of the question - as it was for all his clients - and Nevena was under no obligation to pay Cullen for his services if she felt he was unsatisfactory. It was all very clinical but necessary. He did not want to be caught in hot water, and the contracts always made the client feel more relaxed. And Cullen was of the impression that Nevena would need all the help she could get to feel relaxed.

He stopped outside her door, knocked, and waited. From inside he heard an upbeat tune come to an abrupt stop, swiftly followed by low muttering and footsteps.

"Just a second," Nevena called from inside. There were a few sounds of metal on metal, locks being fiddled with and chains being unlatched. Nevena opened the door and stood to one side. "Come on in." She was red cheeked; her hair a tousled mess, fluffier than Cullen remembered it. She was dressed in jeans, a long woolen jumper, and boots up to her knees. "I'm uh--" She quickly grabbed something off the floor as Cullen stepped over the threshold, "I'm just checking I have everything. Give me a minute."

"Take your time." Cullen closed the door behind him. "No rush, right?"

"Ha," her laughter was strained. "Yeah..." She turned quickly on one foot and practically frog marched herself into what he could only assume was her bedroom. He lingered in the open-plan living room, examining her living space.

It was a large space, probably bigger than his own apartment, and old. A lot of the features were clearly original to the house, and added a certain rustic touch to everything. It was painted throughout, mostly white, with the wall opposite the large bay windows painted a warm orange. The windows looked out onto a small balcony and over the city, letting in what cold grey light the December day offered.

There was a small kitchen, divided from the main room only by a folding screen. It was well stocked from what Cullen could see, with pots, pans, and other cooking implements. He wondered if they saw much use. The living area was clearly where Nevena spent most of her time given how lived in it looked with papers and letters strewn across a coffee table. Two white plush sofas were situated near each other, a two-seater and a three-seater. The cushions scattered over them were of a turquoise colour – Cullen noticed that there was a lot of turquoise; small items littered around to contrast the orange wall. There was a coffee table in between the sofas, and the main focus of the living area, a fire place with a beautiful ornamental mantle over it. A television hung above that.

Putting his bag down by the door, Cullen went to the fireplace. Across it were Christmas cards and dozens of photos in frames. Many were of Nevena with a woman with dark brunette hair, sometimes joined by a man with a straight nose and sandy-brown hair. The one photo out of place was almost tucked out of the way and to one side, partly obscured by a Christmas card. Nevena was in it with three other women and three men. The right edge was cut away leaving a mystery arm around Nevena's shoulders.

Cullen picked up the photograph to examine it.

He assumed the women were Nevena's sisters and looked them over closely. The one closest to the photograph taker looked to be the oldest. She had an angular face, a nose that was slightly tilted upwards, and rosy coloured skin. Her eyes, intelligent and shining in the photograph, were of a dark shade of green. Her neatly styled hair was a ruddy brown and looked about shoulder length. Beside her was a man, dark skinned, dark eyes, and black hair. There was stylish scruff across his cheeks, and the hint of a beard growing from his chin.

Next was another sister, her skin the same colour as the first’s. Her face was rounder and did not look quite so severe. She had high cheekbones that brought attention to her most striking feature: startling blue-green eyes. Her hair was a more light brown than the first woman, but still not blonde like Nevena's. With her sat another man, pale and pasty with some kind of bump to his nose, possibly gained from it being broken in the past. His eyes were small, a little on the squinty side, but he had a genuine, if weak, smile. His mousey brown hair was already thinning though he was clearly trying to disguise it.

The third woman looked the closest to Nevena in age. Her face was round and plump, lingering hints of baby fat that refused to shift, her cheeks were a mottled red colour and her skin looked flushed. She had a kinder face than the other two, warm hazel eyes, pretty smile, and thick brown hair all tumbling around her shoulders - it appeared to reach down to her waist. With her was a third man, beaming at the camera with a well practiced smile. A businessman's smile. Around his eyes were wrinkles and there were heavy bags under his eyes. His teeth were a pristine white and perfectly straight - almost gleaming out of the photograph. His hair was cut short and scruffy, almost black in colour, while his eyes were a steel blue.

The last person in the photograph was Nevena. Tucked on to the end of the long couch they were crammed onto, she looked small and uncomfortable. Her smile looked less like a smile and more like a scream for help– even her eyes looked as though they were pleading. She was hunched over, hands hidden in the sleeves of her jumper. Cullen noticed that a hand - that of the person cut from the photograph - was on her thigh and squeezing so hard their fingertips were white.

The image made Cullen frown. He thought back to family photographs of him with his siblings and how they looked nothing like this one. They were often spontaneous, never posed. There was always energy. Here everyone looked stilted, stiff, and uncomfortable. He ran his thumb across the glass, his focus fixed on Nevena's expression of unease.

"Ready t--" Cullen started at Nevena's voice. "Uhm... Mr. Rutherford?" Her footsteps approached and he fumbled with the photograph. "What are you looking at?"

"Sorry." He handed her the picture when she stood at his side. He noticed she had managed to tame her hair, and it was now pulled into a messy bun with tendrils hanging down around her face. "I didn't mean to pry."

"No apology necessary. You didn't do any damage." Nevena smiled up at him and ran her fingers over the glass in the frame. "These are my sisters and their husbands. In case it wasn't obvious." She leaned across him to put the picture back in its place. "That's Ineria and Josef." She pointed to the first couple. "Ineria is... like, twelve years older than me, I think. She and Josef have been married for a looong time. He's a contractor. And then, this is Clotilde and Owen."

"Clotilde is a really ... interesting name." Cullen remarked, tucking his hands into his pockets. "I mean, yours is interesting, but Clotilde is an old name."

"We call her Cleo," Nevena shrugged. The collar of her jumper slipped off her shoulder and she quickly pulled it back into place. "Or Tilly. Rarely Clotilde. I think only Mum and Dad call her Clotilde."

"What does Owen do?"

Nevena snorted, "I have no idea. Last I checked he had quit his day job and was trying to 'find himself.' Some kind of spirituality guru, peddling homeopathy or something. He's never in a job for long."

"So this is Arienne?" Cullen indicated to the last couple, the woman with the kind face and the man with the business smile.

"Yes," Nevena nodded. "She's closest to me in age, but there's still seven years between us. Monty - Montague - is kind of slimy. He's always given me a weird vibe. But he loves Arienne, so that's all that really matters." Another shrug. "And then there's me."

They stood in silence for a few moments both staring at the photograph and not addressing the elephant in the room - the person cut out of the picture. Cullen wrestled with himself and the morbid curiosity welling up inside him. It was obviously someone of importance, someone who once held significance in Nevena's life or the life of her family. And given the body language, the hand on her thigh and the arm around her shoulder, probably someone she was once in a relationship with. One that ended badly. A person didn't cut someone out of a photograph when things ended amicably or it was mutual.

"You--"

"Ready to go?" Nevena cut him off and gasped. "Oh, sorry. What were you going to say?"

Cullen glanced between the photo and her. He brushed his thumb across his lip feeling the pucker of the scar under his thumb. It was a habit, one he did when he was thinking, according to his sister. He tutted and nodded at the photograph. "Who got cut out of it?"

There was an immediate change in Nevena at his question. The comfortable stance became completely still, her shoulders squared and Cullen was almost sure he heard her breath catch. He waited a few moments, his mouth going dry. Clearly his question was a question too far and he was stepping on sensitive ground.

"No one," Nevena replied with a controlled coolness to her tone. She sighed, and in doing so forced her shoulders to relax. "Ready to make a move?"

Cullen watched her cross from the fireplace to where she left her suitcase standing near the door. There was a coat and scarf draped over it and a laptop bag sitting next to the suitcase. She picked up the scarf and wound it around her neck while looking at him expectantly. He let out a long breath he was unaware he was holding and ruffled a hand through his hair turning his back on the fireplace and the photograph.

"Sure." He walked towards her. "Let me just give you this contract first."

"Oh, right." Nevena waited while Cullen removed a printed copy of the contract from his bag and handed it to her. It was four pages and all the main articles were itemized with bullet points. "Do I need to sign it or anything?" asked Nevena, skimming the first page.

"No. This is just for your records and reference." Explained Cullen. "I have one too, and the master copy is at home with the digital signature you provided for me. Everything is as we agreed upon."

Nevena sighed, "I'll keep this safe. I don't want any of my sisters to find it if they go snooping through my stuff."

"Would they?" Cullen queried, lifting a brow. "Go through your stuff, I mean?" The way Nevena looked at him from over the top of the paper gave him all the answer he required. Clearly it was something they would do, else she would not have said so. Hoisting his bag onto his shoulder he heard Nevena stifle a small chuckle. "What?"

"I like how 'no sex' is bold and underlined." The corner of her mouth quirked upwards. "As if it needed to be reiterated."

Cullen gave a noncommittal grunt and shrugged. "No harm in making sure we both know where the boundaries are."

"Of course, I didn't mean--"

"Ready to go?" Interrupted Cullen, picking up her suitcase.

An hour on the road and Nevena found she still couldn't bring herself to relax. The radio was on; she and Cullen had made vague small talk about the traffic, the weather, and what they filled the rest of their week with for the first fifteen minutes before descending into uneasy silence. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and on the gear stick - never quite in time with the music. It was driving her a little crazy.

The traffic was clear for the most part, a few stops and starts on the way out of the city; but now they were on the motorway there were no jams or diversions and they were making good time. Nevena's phone was vibrating every ten to twenty minutes; Ineria was asking where they were and if they knew what they were doing.

Nevena only barely remembered her sister's bed and breakfast, having only stayed there the once several years ago. Back then it was just a large manor house with rooms set aside for guests, last minute holiday bookers, or those on a spur of the moment weekend getaway. According to Ineria's family updates - sent out like clockwork every six months - the bed and breakfast grew popular enough to warrant expansion. Now she and Josef ran Haven together, while their three children went to school in the small town nearby at the bottom of the Frostback Mountains.

Haven itself, according to the website, was a 'sprawling secret hideaway tucked at the bottom of the mountains'. It consisted of around twenty-eight acres of land, with twelve new cabins set in different areas and all connected by various roads and walkways. The manor house was still part of the business - half the house was now a family home and the other half was the business. It seemed to be flourishing, if the reviews and guest testimonials on the website were anything to go by, though Nevena was skeptical. It would not be beyond Ineria to ask her friends to give fake reviews.

Nevena glanced down at her phone as it vibrated again in her lap.

Ineria: Where are you? x

Slouching back in the passenger seat, Nevena ignored the message and tried to focus on other things– the music from the radio, the steady sound of wheels on tarmac, Cullen drumming his damn fingers to the music playing. Drumming them always just out of time...

She jerked forward and reached for the radio switching it off before slumping back in the chair. She didn't look at Cullen - though she could feel him staring at her - and crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant teenager having a tantrum. Her face grew warm and she swore to herself she wasn't blushing for behaving so rudely.

"If you wanted to turn it off, all you had to do was ask," Cullen said after a minute or two of uncomfortable silence.

Maybe the radio and his out-of-time tapping were better.

"Sorry," said Nevena, glancing across at him from the corner of her eye. "I'm a little on edge."

"I noticed." He half-smirked and half-smiled. Nevena had yet to really see him smile. "We've got a good few hours before we get to your sister's place. Do you want to run over things again?"

"Sure," Nevena shrugged. 'Things' were the details they had agreed on over the past few days– little things like where they met, how long they had been dating, who made the first move. Little nit-picky things that Nevena was certain her sisters and parents would pester them about. Cullen was the one who decided everything, working in bits of his life and Nevena's own so they seemed entwined, and their meeting and their relationship would come across as natural, logical progression.

"We met?"

"At Roselyn and Alistair's engagement party, two years ago," Nevena said. "You knew Alistair from school and while you weren't close then, the two of you reconnected when you moved to Denerim and realized he lived there too."

"Okay," Cullen nodded. "And?"

"And we..." Nevena pursed her lips, staring wide-eyed at her distorted reflection in the windscreen. "We bumped into each other at the party, and exchanged numbers because Roselyn insisted we did. Neither of us called or texted for about six months, until we met each other again by accident at the movies. We'd both gone alone because it was one of those streamed-in-from-the-theatre performances."

"What was the play?"

She opened and then closed her mouth. "Oh. Crap. Uhm..."

"Come on, you know this," Cullen said, as he eased the car from one lane into the other.

"I know this," Nevena repeated. The answer was on her phone, but she needed to remember. "It was... I want to say an all male cast of 'Taming of the Shrew'."

"See, you knew," Cullen offered a brief crooked smile. "What happened after that?"

"We decided we had a good time, and started keeping in regular touch." Exhaling deeply, Nevena shifted in her seat. She wriggled her toes inside her boots and stretched her legs out as far as they would go in the foot well. "We've been dating around six months. I didn't say anything to my family because I wasn't sure if this was serious or not."

"Sounds about right." Cullen rubbed a hand over his chin, scratching briefly at his stubble. "Do you think that's enough to keep your family content?"

"I guess." She shrugged. "We'll have to see." They fell into silence again. Nevena's phone continued to vibrate. She shoved it in her satchel after the forth message arrived and vowed not to look at it again until they arrived at Haven.

"Why not turn it off?"

"Force of habit," Nevena huffed. "Can I ask you something?" She turned her head to look at Cullen more directly. It was probably the first time she had done so since getting in the car. He glanced at her from the corner of one eye and lifted an eyebrow, as if that was the sign she could ask her question. She noticed he had a nice, strong profile– she had noticed it in the café too, but closer up, it was clearer to her. Strong brow, strong, straight nose, square jaw, strong chin, attractively shaped lips… "How on Earth are you single?"

Cullen scoffed and almost seemed to choke on his laughter, "That was your question?"

"No!" Nevena squeezed her eyes closed and pushed her face into her hands, mortified at herself for her moment of thoughtlessness. She would never ask him something so personal. "I mean, no. No! I don't want to know. I don't know why I said that!"

"Are you sure?" He was still chuckling.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Raking her fingers through the tendrils of hair loose around her forehead, Nevena growled softly. "I wanted to ask - why are you doing this?" She fought past her embarrassment and the burning sensation in her face. "You said you've done it before for an evening or a day, but this is... this is practically a month. It's a huge commitment. I can't imagine that is something you would take on lightly."

"Maybe I like you," Cullen smirked. Nevena shrank down into her jumper and hid behind her scarf. She wanted the ground to open and swallow her up. Her lack of response seemed enough for Cullen to sober. He took a steadying breath, which helped the atmosphere in the car dissipate somewhat. "Honestly, I guess it's because I know how you feel."

Nevena's brow furrowed. She straightened and looked at him more directly again. "Oh?"

"I know how it feels to be the odd one out in your family." He looked at her for a second before focusing back on the road.

"Sure," she snorted.

"It's true," he protested. "I have two sisters and a brother. They all have lives, and families of their own. And while they are nowhere near as horrendous as your family sound - no offense intended - there are times when they pick at and make fun of my lack of a love life... I guess it's meant to be harmless but..." Cullen sighed. "I sympathize." He offered a genuinely kind look, his eyes warm. "If I can help save you from a month of being the target of your family's jibes and criticism by pretending that we're in a relationship, then I'm happy to do it."

"Oh..." Nevena leaned back in the car seat again. "Well... Thanks then. I guess." She clasped her hands between her thighs and stared out of the window at nothing. The air in the car was tense again, a little heavier than before.

"You're welcome." Cullen reached across and switched the radio back on.

Thank you to my beta readers, @razerathane, @just-another-dalish-elf, and @sakurasakes.

And thank you guys for the amazing reaction and feedback on the first chapter. It's always nerve wracking to upload something entirely brand new, so the reception was amazing. Thank you so much! <3 The update schedule for this will be a bit random - I'd like for every upload to be a surprise. But I'll do my best not to keep everyone waiting /too/ long between uploads.

Thanks again for an amazing response on the first chapter, I cannot tell you how grateful I was for such an amazing reaction! <3 I hope you've enjoyed this second chapter. Please, as always, let me know your thoughts in the comments/tags/reblogs/etc!

Reblogs are always welcome and appreciated! <3

Or, if you’d prefer, you can comment on the chapter itself on AO3 or fanfiction.net

Thanks again for reading! Next chapter soon! ^^