The crying stage had come and gone overnight and Demelza was much more at peace with what had happened the night before. She was in her usual spot, looking over sentencing information for Francis that Dwight had sent her. They were working together to make sure he got the longest sentence possible, as well as working against points that George might use to appeal against the sentence and she'd already made considerable progress.

The niggling thought at the back of her mind was still there, though. She'd fought a successful campaign of active cold shouldering with Ross all morning and he'd been fine with that, annoyingly enough. He was away right now, he hadn't really told her why he was going out and she couldn't ask, it wasn't as if he was wearing an ankle tag anymore. Jim had made her lunch and it was close to late afternoon now. Her feet tapped on the floor in frustration. She didn't want to talk to him but she wanted him here so he knew that she didn't want to talk to him.

"You're being childish," came Jim's voice from the living room. She turned and glared at him from where he was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"What is to you?" she asked grumpily, turning around to arrange her papers.

"Look, Ross is a hard guy to be with, okay? I know that. I live with him, I work for him, I know he's not the best, most perfect guy in the world, but whatever's happening between you two, you're not going to resolve it by staring moodily at each other over the playground. You're adults, talk to each other and fix it."

"He's not prepared to talk. I tried last night," sighed Demelza, getting up to walk over to Jim.

"Talk? Is that what you were doing last night? Because it sounded more like yelling to me," he said with raised eyebrows, looking up at her judgementally, "I'm not one to gossip or eavesdrop, but Ross gets off on arguing, it makes him feel important and that's exactly what you don't want him to feel, right? You want him to speak to you on a level playing field, have a calm, adult conversation about how you're feeling. And you're the one that's gonna have to instigate that."

"Why should I? If it's his fault, surely he should do something about it?" she asked sulkily, sitting down next to Jim to steal his crisps. She wrapped herself in a nearby blanket and snuggled up, staring at the TV too.

"What? You want Ross to admit he's wrong?" snorted Jim, "Ross would burn in the seventh level of hell for all eternity but would never admit he's wrong. He'll go forever just taking your silent treatment because it's the easiest route for him. His motto in life is 'I don't give a shit,' and he never does. He's true to his word in that respect."

Demelza was about to reply until she heard the door slam and sighed, staring at the TV and trying to divert her eyes from the newest arrival.

"Ross! How did it go?!" called Jim as he heard the shuffle of his friend's boots in the hallway.

Ross appeared in the living room like a ghostly apparition, tossing himself down on the couch carelessly, his face contorted in irritation.

"Ridiculous, like I thought it would. Worst possible confrontation I've ever had with anyone, I just thank God it was somewhere private. It was a good move on my part to pick her house rather than a café because she yelled so loud I felt like the windows might break. It took forever and most of it was just yelling. I still don't know if the situation is any different from what it was before."

Jim was surprised at Ross' honesty in front of Demelza and raised his eyebrows, looking over at Demelza who stared straight ahead as if nothing had happened.

"Well…maybe round two is needed?" asked Jim curiously, tossing Ross a pack of cigarettes.

"Are you kidding? You want me to walk back into a hurricane? Is that what you want?" asked Ross incredulously, looking over at Jim.

"No, I just think that you should wait until she's cooled down and see if you get anywhere. Elizabeth is melodramatic, she loves creating a scene but maybe you should let her relax a bit and see if she's open to talking about it again."

"Elizabeth doesn't talk, she yells. I couldn't get a word in edgeways after my first sentence and I'm not willing to repeat that. I said what I had to say and if she's pissed with me, then she's pissed with me, I can't do anything about that."

Demelza narrowed her eyes at the TV, seething at his words. She knew he was speaking about Elizabeth, but the last sentence could very well apply to her too. She also knew Jim was looking at her for a reaction but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Now that Ross was back, she was very much enjoying showing him that she didn't want to talk to him.

Jim looked between them and sighed, getting up.

"Okay, whatever, you two sit there all night like repelling magnets, I'm going to bed."

"What?! But it's only 7 PM!" exclaimed Ross, flailing his hands around unnecessarily.

"So what?" Jim raised his eyebrows. "It's not as if I'm going to do anything productive here, is it? At least there's Netflix in my bedroom."

With that, Jim waved his hand generally at both of them and stomped up the stairs, leaving them sitting quietly staring at the blaring TV, which seemed to be an oddly soothing presence for Demelza. It felt like there was someone else in the room, not just the two of them staring at each other awkwardly.

Ross, however, didn't do awkward. It wasn't a word in his dictionary. He yawned and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it before picking a book up from a nearby table. He laid the book down on his thigh and slithered down the couch so he was half sitting, half lying as he flicked through the pages studiously.

"Best way to prevent arm pain, never pick the book up in the first place."

Demelza ignored his quip and continued staring at the TV, flicking over to the news channel. There wasn't much on and she was bored, she thought she might head off to sleep, but it was only 8 PM. She didn't feel like working either. However, she could make dinner and she wasn't that cruel, she'd make it for Ross too, she thought. She hoped he wouldn't see it as the extension of an olive branch, but it was basic human rights to be fed.

The next hour was spent carefully crafting a chicken and sweetcorn pie in the kitchen and she had to admit, she loved cooking in this kitchen. It was much more clean and convenient than her own and there were so many utensils here that she wished she had. Granted, she didn't know what many of them did, but she had fun finding out, even if it meant flour spilled all over her yellow dress. She was a little annoyed that Ross hadn't ventured into the kitchen once to see what she was doing, especially since he loved food so much. Once the plate was arranged with generous portions of pie and seasoned chips, she walked in and set his primly down in front of him on the table, setting hers down too before fetching glasses and drinks. He was still slumped on the couch lazily, looking over at the steaming plate with interest.

"Pie?" he asked uselessly.

She turned to glare at him and caught the mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Yes, pie."

Before she could turn to pick her plate up and walk away, Ross kicked his legs up on the table, blocking her path. She turned to raise her eyebrows at him in anger.

"Get out of my way."

"I'm not in your way, I'm resting. My house, my rules, right?"

Demelza fumed at this, setting her hands on her hips like an angry grandmother.

"Stop being so childish. I'm your lawyer, I could put you in prison for something stupid like tax evasion."

"Go ahead and do it, then."

He shrugged and continued smoking the last of his cigarette, stubbing it out on the sidetable's ashtray, but still refusing to move his legs. It was the first time she'd looked at him properly all day and he did look good. He was wearing his usual black jeans and a light blue shirt, the buttons of which were straining against his chest. His hair was splayed out wildly on the couch like a halo and his posture caused his shirt to lift up slightly, exposing the waistband of his boxers. Demelza bit her lip as he looked her over and he was aware of her gaze. The worst part about him wasn't his clothes or how he was sitting, but the look on his face. It was the same careless, whatever expression, but his eyes were dark and sparkled wickedly, one eyebrow arched and the corner of his mouth turned up in a barely there grin. He lifted his hand out to her.

Against her better judgement, she took it and stepped over his extended legs, sitting across his lap as he set his boots down on the floor, taking both her hands. She watched as he brought them to his lips, kissing them softly but never breaking eye contact. A smile ghosted across her lips at that and he set her hands down on his chest before setting his own on her thighs, resting back against the couch to look at her. It felt good to have her so close to him, he was worried she wouldn't want to be near him intimately after last night. He settled back against the couch comfortably, just enjoying the feeling of her on his lap as he slipped his hands under her dress, lazily stroking her thighs. She leaned forward to kiss him softly, brushing her lips against his.

"Do we have a détente?" he murmured cheekily, kissing her back.

She paused and Ross immediately regretted it. He shouldn't never have brought up their fight.

"Were we at war?" she asked smoothly, sitting back up.

He shrugged and continued trailing his fingers affectionately up and down her thighs.

"You were. You've been ignoring me all day."

"You haven't tried to talk to me."

"Well, one look at you told me you didn't want to talk to me."

He was going to continue but he bit his tongue at the look on Demelza's face. One more word could land him in four weeks' worth of detention and that was not something he was prepared for. He sighed and sat back again, looking up at her. She could see he had his serious face on, with his jaw forming a sharp line and his eyes less impish than before.

"Is this going to be another useless apology?" she asked quietly. It sounded funny, but she wasn't laughing.

"No. I was a bit of an arse. Actually, a lot of an arse yesterday. What you said was right, the world doesn't revolve around me and I'm not the most important person in the universe. But right now? This? The atmosphere I have around me, the cameras outside my house every morning, my pictures in the newspaper, this is my life. I'm not God, but people want to know what I'm doing, where I'm going, what I'm wearing. I'm a public figure."

"And that gives you license to be an idiot? I understand your situation, I do, but that doesn't mean that you can go around accusing people. I know you're not an animal, I don't want to cage you and let you out whenever I want to play with you, but that's what you seem to be doing with me."

Her tone was steadily becoming laced with anger and she was fighting to keep still on his lap. He was massaging her skin soothingly with his thumbs and she tried not to think about how warm and good his hands felt on her. He sighed and relaxed further into the couch, looking up at her plainly.

"If I've made you feel like that, I certainly didn't mean to. I'm not special, I'm just lucky. I'm lucky to be who I am, I'm lucky to have what I have but most of all, I'm lucky to have you. I know I said that we don't work together and we are very different, I have to admit. We're almost total opposites, you get annoyed by almost everything I do and I find everything you do quite…..curious—"

He paused at the suppressed grin on Demelza's face.

"Exactly. You see, I don't get why you're smiling, but anyway. Maybe we could make this work, yeah? You and me, we could make a go of it, try to make it work. I think you're good for me. I feel good when I'm around you and I know you feel good when you're around me. I can make you feel good anyway."

The twinkle was back in his eyes and Demelza laughed a little, tucking her hair behind her ear. She wasn't expecting his honesty, again, but it was nice to hear. It was good to hear him address the issues she'd been upset about the night before, and to know that he'd tried to end it with Elizabeth. Maybe now they could go back to the happy day or so they'd experienced in Cornwall. He smiled at her and continued stroking her soft skin. It was almost like a comfort blanket for him. He liked having her around, it made him feel different.

"And what about that newspaper?" she asked in sudden worry, the smile vanishing from her face as he looked down at him.

"What about it?" he shrugged carelessly, "It's just a picture."

"It's a picture of you and me holding hands," she said sternly, resisting the urge to cross her arms over her chest, "Mr Enys wasn't very happy about it, he said we shouldn't cause drama before the sentencing date."

"I've got a new girlfriend. That's hardly drama," he said, "if it bothers you so much, I'll speak to Dwight about it tomorrow. I'm sure he has a way of getting everyone to calm down about it. Besides, I can give you a crash course in a day in the life of Ross Poldark. When I'm not being arrested for murder, that is."

She nodded, but he could tell she was still thinking about it. He squeezed her thighs gently to draw her attention back to him.

"What's got you thinking so much?" he asked.

"Nothing," she mused, "just that you're very honest and you seem to know me quite well. I do feel good around you. I feel different. Especially since I'm apparently now your girlfriend."

A cheeky grin crossed her lips and he laughed, a low, deep rumble in his chest. He said nothing, but pulled her closer by her thighs, just looking up at her. She frowned for a moment, wondering why he wasn't replying, then realised how dark his eyes had become. His intense gaze washed over her powerfully, causing her to flush a little. It felt good when he looked at her like that and she knew she was making a big mistake, considering how she'd just tumbled into bed without thinking it through the night before, but she couldn't help it. He just looked at her like she was something he'd never seen before, and most of all, looked at her like he wanted to devour her whole.

She took the lead this time, taking his hand on her thigh and moving it up under her dress with a grin. His mouth turned up too and their lips met, kissing softly at first until she broke away to move closer to him, grinding her hips slowly with the movement of his hands, but he held her back with a firm hand at her hip, lying back comfortably against the cushions.

"I want to watch you."

His voice was low, but loud enough to send shivers down her spine and she sat back as he requested. His fingers were slow this time, but enough to make her bite her lip to stifle a moan. He smirked at this and she leaned forward to admonish him with a kiss until the doorbell rang. Ross groaned and reluctantly pulled his hand out from under her dress.

"Jim! Jim, can you get the door?"

There was no answer and Demelza laughed, catching her breath as she clambered off his lap.

"Jim's asleep. I guess you'll just have to ask your other servant to do it."

He laughed and attempted to smack her on the behind as she skipped away, but she avoided it masterfully. The banging became more and more incessant as Demelza made her way towards the front door and she was slightly worried about who was calling so late in the evening, especially since Ross hadn't told her he was expecting visitors. Perhaps it was one of his friends who didn't get the memo that poker night had been cancelled.

She reached forward to open the door, but as soon as she turned the handle, the door seemed to fly off its hinges by itself.

"Ross! I've be….."

Demelza stopped dead and stared at the doorway to see Elizabeth standing there in all her finery. Her face was a red mess of tears, but her hair was perfectly coiffured and she was wearing what Demelza thought was the prettiest pink lace dress she'd ever seen and the same pair of pink, sparkly heels she'd worn before. While she spent time looking over her fashion choices, Elizabeth's face had soured and she stepped without being invited. Demelza was about to protest but Elizabeth swept past her elegantly in a blur of pink, and into the living room to address Ross directly.

"Elizabeth, God, what are you doing here?!" he said quickly, getting up to face her.

Elizabeth's face was set in a permanent sneer now as she looked between Ross and Demelza.

"I came here to talk to you, I've been calling and texting you since you walked out on me this morning. What is she doing here? I thought the trial was over."

Ross sighed and stepped forward, rubbing his forehead in irritation.

"Look, Elizabeth, now isn't a good time, okay? Can we leave this until tomorrow?"

"No, we can't."

She stepped forward too, her eyes welling up again and Demelza could tell they were tears of anger, not sadness.

"No, we can't," she repeated carefully, her voice steady, "you can't just tell me that you're breaking up with me and not tell me why. You can't do that, Ross. And don't tell me you can do whatever you want because with me, you can't and you know that."

Demelza bit her lip and wanted to leave the room. It felt too personal for her to stay here but moving would only draw attention to herself. She was sorely aware that she was the reason why Ross had broken up with Elizabeth and she'd never felt bad about it before. She'd always seen Elizabeth as an annoying, laughable, clingy caricature and in the process, forgotten that she was actually a real person.

"Well, Ross?" came Elizabeth's voice as Ross looked down at his feet, trying to find a way to articulate himself, "What are you going to say? I've said it's over, so it's over? Or I don't want to talk about this right now? How are you going to evade the question this time?"

Her voice was explicitly accusatory and her tears had stopped now. She wiped her face quickly and squared up to him again, forcing him to look at her. His eyes were sad and he wanted to say sorry but it just wouldn't come out.

"We've been together for a year and a half. We've done so much shit together, we've been through so much together and all throughout your rehab, your idiotic escapades, your murder trial, I have stood by you, followed you everywhere and I deserve an explanation. If you don't want to be with me anymore, that's fine, it's your choice to make, but I need to know why. Is this why?"

She gestured towards Demelza and she blanched, biting her lip. Ross followed Elizabeth's arm and his jaw hardened.

"Yes. I've moved on, Elizabeth. We all need to accept it and do the same."

Elizabeth's snort was the most derisive Ross had ever heard.

"Accept it? I would have accepted it if you'd have shacked up with her after you'd dumped me, but no, you cheated on me and you didn't have the guts to break up with me first, or even tell me."

Demelza closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. She knew what she and Ross had been doing wasn't exactly moral, but she never thought anything of it, mainly because she'd always seen Elizabeth as irritating and silly. She regretted that now. She looked over at Ross, who was also similarly sorrowful, running his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth while Elizabeth talked. Her composure, on the other hand, was calmer than before and she set her hand bag down on the couch smartly, turning to address Ross where he was pacing.

"Say I'm okay with it, say I've accepted it and moved on, like you said. But what the fuck are you doing with her? I'm sorry, Demelza, but I don't know why you've been suckered into this bullshit."

She tossed her hair back and Demelza thought for a moment how pretty she looked even when she was angry. Elizabeth turned to address her and Demelza bristled a little, standing up straight.

"I—"

"No, Demelza, you let me speak. I've had more experience in the Ross department than you have and let me tell you, if I can't handle someone like him, I don't think you can. I'm part of his little circle, I live the same life he lives. You don't. How long have you spent with him? A few days? A week? I've been with him for over a year and known him for even longer. He's not an easy man to be with, he has more issues than Vogue, a drug problem, a stick up his ass and a permanent God complex. Not to mention his inability to express his feelings more than a six month old baby having a tantrum and his omission of the word 'sorry' from his personal dictionary."

Elizabeth's words were laced with spite and there was a sense that she'd just been waiting to say all this. Ross spun around at this and the fire in his eyes was tangible. He squared up to Elizabeth and Demelza felt her legs go weak. Her head started to spin as she tried to comprehend what Elizabeth had said to her and the pure truth of it all.

"How dare you? How dare you come into my house uninvited and try to fuck everything up?!" yelled Ross, his body trembling with anger. His eyes were dark, but not the same kind of dark Demelza had seen before. The loud yell terrified her and triggered reflex reactions in her as she flinched. He was fully aware that the delicate peace he'd just brokered with Demelza was falling apart in front of his eyes and he couldn't let that happen. Elizabeth laughed carelessly and stood up against him, like the many times they'd argued. But those times, they were petty and trivial. There were bigger things at stake here.

"Fuck everything up? Oh, I'm sorry, did I disturb a little session? Was he trying to feed you all this spiel about how he really wants to make it work and he's sorry for what he said before? Did he tell you he'd try to fix it? Let me tell you, Demelza, as a friend who means well, Ross' first and only love is himself. If you think he'll put you before him, you're wrong. He's an absolute mess and no matter who tells him, he doesn't care. Yeah, he hasn't had the easiest life but he should at least try to get himself together. He has no excuses. You're a nice girl, I'm not blaming you, don't think that I'm bitter because in some ways I'm relieved. I just don't want him to fuck you over like he did to me. You're a successful lawyer and you probably deserve better than being fed lies by someone like him."

Elizabeth turned away from her, unfeeling about her reaction and picked her bag up from the seat. She fished a piece of paper and a pen out of it, writing something down and walking over to set it on the table near Demelza. She turned and walked to the hallway and to face them both

"Do what you want, Ross. I'm done now, okay? Just don't fuck everything up like you always do. You have problems, personal problems that only you can solve. Don't try to inflict them on other people. Girlfriends are not plasters, you can't just stick them on wounds and hope it gets better."

With that, she turned on her heel and click clacked down the hallway, seeing herself out. The door echoed as it closed and the whole room reverberated with the sound. Ross and Demelza were silent, and that was when Ross realised she was crying. Soundless tears made their way down her flushed cheeks and she stared at the floor. Barely moments before, she'd been sitting on Ross' lap, happy as could be, happy that they would at least try to make a go of it. She'd attempted to put their past argument behind her. Sure, he'd said some awful things but so had she and he'd accepted that they were different, but had said he was willing to make this work.

It was just her stupid little fantasy replaying itself, the same fantasy she'd admonished herself for thinking about when she'd been in Nampara. Ross' words echoed in her mind. This is the real world, life wasn't as simple as what she'd been thinking and she was a fool for thinking it. The same thing had happened, almost like a cycle; she'd been sucked in by things he'd said and done and made a choice against her better judgement. The worst part was that she couldn't fault anything Elizabeth had said. Despite how much Demelza might laugh at her, Elizabeth had indeed been with Ross and known him for longer than Demelza had. Elizabeth had seen past the fantasy and into the reality. None of what she was saying was wrong. Ross did have a drug habit and that was something Demelza had tried to ignore. His oddly rapid speed of apologising made her feel like he didn't really understand what he was even saying sorry for, almost like it was a reflex when he saw he'd upset her. And in all that time she'd been with him, apart from his performance of arrogance and pretension, she'd never felt like she truly got him. She knew he'd had problems in his life and maybe Elizabeth was right, he needed to solve them himself. She'd never felt like he was using her as a bandage, but maybe she'd just been so okay with it, she'd never realised.

She felt him move towards her and his gait was slow, his posture softened, his expression warm. She knew he wanted to console her.

"Honey, I didn't know she was going to come over and say things like that….if I'd have known, I would have spoken to her myself. You didn't deserve to hear all that, I—"

He paused as she leaned forward to pick up the paper Elizabeth had left on the table with a blank face, and it was as if she hadn't heard anything he'd said. She looked down to see a hastily scribbled mobile phone number. She folded the scrunched paper carefully and walked past Ross' open arms and up the stairs.