Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Six

Chapter 6

Rosalie's POV -

"Will you do us a favour?" Cam and Chloe made me jump at the sound of their abrupt voice.

I was standing at my locker/cupboard thing and putting my P.E uniform in there, not wanting to take it around with me all day until last period.

"What's the favour?" I smiled politely at them.

"Will you accompany us to a party on Saturday night?" Chloe asked, her eyes shining bright with excitement.

Party? Oh, no I've never been to a party in my entire life. And I had brothers to take care of.

"Sorry, I have to take care of my brothers." I apologized.

They both rolled their eyes and walked with me down the corridor. I was finally allowing myself to get lost in conversation in the morning because after attending the school for a month now, I knew my way around.

"Come on; just beg your parents to stay home on Saturday or something. Please." Cam begged.

So, if I was going to continue this act where I couldn't bring myself to tell people that my parents are practically dead to me, I should just tell them that they're out of town. That would sound way more believable.

"I can't they're out of town on a business trip." I lied.

"Well don't you have any friends or family that can baby sit them? Please, we really want to take you. You're one of us now and you work so hard so you have to enjoy life." They persisted.

I was in awe and thankful that these great girls wanted me to spend time with them having fun and I actually felt like I kind of deserved one night out to have fun.

"There is no one. Really." There wasn't and saying that out loud made the realisation of loneliness dawn on me.

They stayed silent for a few moments as if they were thinking something over in their head.

"How about your boyfriend? I know it's kind of awkward asking your boyfriend to take care of your brothers while you go out to party but like, we're desperate here!" Cam looked like she was on the verge of getting on her knees.

And I was confused. I had a boyfriend? How come I didn't know about this?

"Who said I had a boyfriend?" I asked confusedly.

"Nate told us when you ditched us when we went to Chris's house for lunch." Chloe explained.

And just like always, Chris appeared just as we mentioned his name.

"You girls seem to never stop talking about me." He smirked and pecked Cam's lips.

We all laughed and rolled our eyes. But then my eyes started to wander around to see if Nate was nearby. I had no idea where we stood after last night. Once he patched up my foot, he told me that I should just rest and not over-work my brain.

He left soon after in awkwardness and what made it so weird was that he was actually being quite... nice. I fell asleep thinking about everything he said to me and when I woke up, I was suddenly scared to go to school and see him. What if he went back to his insulting ways? What if he told everyone of how clumsy I was and how he was forced to stay and help patch up my foot?

I let my eyes wonder around but there was no Nate in any surroundings. I couldn't help but seem disappointed. As much as I was scared about how Nate would react to me today, I was also excitedly anxious. But I'm sure I'd see him at lunch today or something. He must be in history today anyway and he'd have to talk to me.

"Rosalie? You still there?" Chris was waving his hand in front of my face.

Oops, I dozed off there.

"Sorry," I laugh. "What's up?"

"I can convince your boyfriend to take care of your brothers if you want." He offered.

"Okay, let's clear up the fact that I actually don't have a boyfriend. I don't know who Nate was talking about." My tone isn't harsh at all, because I would never talk to incredible people with bad manners.

"So then who was that guy at the supermarket?" Chloe asked.

Oh, Nate must have thought that Adam was my boyfriend. This was incredibly weird because I saw Adam as an older brother that I always wished I had to take care of me. For just once in my life, I didn't want to have responsibilities or a job or have to have cold showers or eat a very little amount so I can save food for my brothers.

"He's my neighbour. Incredibly sweet and funny but I see him as an older sibling - nothing else." I laughed.

Why would Nate think we were dating anyway?

"Oh, well then if he's your neighbour then he can take care of them for you." Cam chirped happily.

She seemed to find her loophole. And if she asked Adam I knew he'd say yes. Adam offered every single day to take care of them whenever I wanted to go out. His apartment was full of games that could keep them preoccupied for hours. He also had two extra beds that he didn't use in his apartment. I had finally told Adam that I didn't see my parents much because they just didn't come around. I never gave him the specifics - I just told him I've been on my own for a while. Since I told him he had been insisting more and more that I should go out and have a good time.

"Fine." I grumbled. "I'll ask him though."

Their faces brightened up happily and the twins wrapped their arms around me almost taking me down to the ground. I laughed at their excitement and hugged them back.

"Oh, but you're going to have to get him to baby sit tomorrow then. We need to go shopping for something to wear!" They exclaimed.

Shit - I had no money to buy anything. Not even a simple pair of jeans.

"That's okay; I have an outfit at home." I interjected.

People show up to parties in jeans and a shirt, right? The girls were looking like they were pondering something as we kept on walking.

"But we need your opinion. You have to come!" They insisted.

I finally nodded and they jumped for joy again.

"You want me to come with you?" Chris asked Cam.

"Nope. It'll just me a girl's thing." Cam smirked.

"Actually," Chloe cut in, "Asher is finally having a break tomorrow and we're going to spend some time together so he's going to come with us shopping. Which means he needs some guys to be with him which translates into you and Nate coming to keep him company while I'm trying on dresses." She told Chris.

"Fine by me," He winked at Cam. "That means I get to perve at you in hot dresses."

Our laughs were drowned by the sound of the loud ringing bell. I walk with Chris to class and bite my tongue the whole way so I don't ask him about Nate. Who cares if he's not here, I tried convincing myself. It's not like he'd befriend me anyway. He was just being perfectly polite and I was thankful for that.

Chris and I walked to first period together and because that lesson was dedicated for working on our individual assignments, we talked a lot. I was properly introduced to some of Chris's friends and they were incredibly funny and polite... Nothing like Nate when I first met him.

Second period came around which was with Chloe but we couldn't talk as much because it was mainly a discussion-type period about our work and what we've done so far.

So when lunch came around, I was pretty anxious to see if Nate was here indeed. I walked to our lunch table while the other three went to grab our lunch and found the table empty. Maybe he was at his locker or something?

I waited five minutes and when he didn't come, I kind of felt disappointed and I knew that he wouldn't come for the rest of the day. I sighed and took out my sandwich and began to nibble at it. I completely lost my appetite and I was frustrated that it was because of Nate.

The others came and joined me at the table and we had a good time talking and laughing. My next period was History and I knew Nate wouldn't be here so I worked on the parts of the assignment where I could do it myself.

The end of the day came and I was confused when the twins asked if they could come over after school. I said yes immediately, happy that these good-natured people could meet my brothers. Chris said he was going to meet Nate at the gym which had stopped me in my tracks. So Nate couldn't come to school but he could go to the gym? He wasn't sick?

The twins and I walked to the boys school and I caught sight of my brothers sitting on the bench inside the gates like I tell them to everyday.

"Hey boys," I smiled, "These are my friends that I was telling you about. That's Camilla and that's Chloe." I pointed at the twins.

I could read the adoration from the twins expressions - they loved my brothers already.

"Why are there two of them?" Mike asked adorably.

We laughed as he and Liam looked confused.

Mike and Liam both stood up and examined the twins. They walked around them and tugged at their hands.

"What are you guys doing?" I laughed.

"Making sure they're real people." They answered in unison.

I could see Jace roll his eyes and laugh.

"They're twins, just like you two are." I told them with a chuckle.

Mike and Liam stopped in their tracks and frowned at me then back at themselves and then again and again.

"What is a twin?" Liam asked like it was a disgusting word.

"Well, you're a twin." I told them.

"No, we are two separate individuals." Mike said.

Oh God, my boys were way too smart for their age.

Cam and Chloe couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. Jace and I joined them while the little twins were mirroring each other's moves to see if they were indeed twins.

Jace stood up from his bench and we all started to make our way to my apartment. I wasn't even scared that the twins would judge me based on where I lived and how bad my apartment was.

Even though Nate hadn't said anything last night, I could tell the way he was frowning and how his eyes wondered around the apartment that he was judging it and wasn't impressed. But then when he left, he seemed like he thought out everything differently. Like suddenly it was okay for me to be living somewhere like this.

When I walked in to the building, Adam walked out of his apartment and smiled at us.

"Hey you must be the girls Rose hates. She's told me so much mean stuff about you." He smiled; contradicting what he just said.

The twins (older) started laughing and shook his hand. They introduced themselves and didn't bother waiting until they asked him if he could baby sit the boys tomorrow and Saturday night for the party. He agreed before they could even get the question out and he grinned widely.

"Finally, I get to have a boys night in rather than have to pretend to tolerate Rose's presence." He joked again.

We laughed and he left, saying he needed to go shopping.

I opened the door to my apartment, kicking the door to get it open.

Once we walked inside, the boys ran straight to the couch and turned the TV on. The twins (older) laughed and followed me to the kitchen. I quickly decided that since I had company, I didn't want to spend all my time in the kitchen so I ordered pizza instead and I ordered two pizzas in case the twins wanted to eat as well.

The three of us sat on the kitchen stools and talked about the usual stuff. And it was nice too since I had never really had close girlfriends. It didn't seem like I was trying too hard to pretend to get along because everything was natural and I enjoyed their company. We had become really close friends.

After a couple of hours, the girls left and I packed up the house. Thankfully, there was minimal washing to do so I was able to get straight to the homework.

***

I so far hadn't seen Nate all day today but we hadn't had class together and lunch didn't come around. After English, there was lunch and I was even more anxious then yesterday to see him. The bell rang, signalling the end of English and I practically ran to the cafeteria. And unlike yesterday, Nate was sitting on our usual lunch table, flicking through his phone while the others waited in line to buy their food.

I walked straight to the table and sat down quietly, not sure if I should be the person to talk first. After a minute in silence, I spoke.

"Hi, Nate." I mumbled quietly.

He looked up from his phone and his eyes landed right on mine. There was something unusually different about him today. He didn't look mean or uncaringly malicious like he had throughout the month I had known him.

"Hi." He replied dryly and went back to his phone.

I was surprised when I felt hurt. He had been polite and replied to me unlike ignoring me. We weren't even friends, so why was I being so weird about it?

"Um, I started our assignment." I wanted to see how his next reply would turn out.

He packed away his phone and started drumming his fingers on the table.

"That's good." Once again, his tone was dry.

I was getting frustrated now. Why was I received two words as an answer? Even if he didn't know what to say shouldn't he at least make a slight attempt and put in a little effort to make conversation? Or did I have to teach him how to do that?

"I think we shouldn't waste time in History today and work on it fully." I tried again.

"Okay." Was his fabulous answer.

I frowned and tried to reason with myself that we were not friends. I wasn't supposed to act like we were.

"Are you okay?" I found myself asking.

His eyes landed straight on mine and I could've sworn there was something like awe in his eyes as he stared at me. He stayed silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Yeah." Another genius reply.

"So if you're not talking to me then I'm getting one word answers?" I asked.

Why couldn't I just let this go? I probably sounded like a freak talking to him like that! Just because he came over for one night and bandaged up an injury didn't make us close to friends. So why was I so hurt?

"I don't know what you're talking about." He muttered.

I was about to argue until the rest of the gang arrived and caught us up to a conversation they were having. My mind was too caught up to actually think about what the others were saying.

I felt completely frustrated at how Nate was reacting to me.

I stayed quiet all throughout lunch and when the bell rang, I walked in an awkward silence with Nate to History. We were both on time and settled in our seats just as the teacher walked in, took our names, and ordered us to work on our assignment.

"How about you work on that part and I'll do this and we'll combine what we found fifteen minutes before the bell rings?" Nate asked.

What I really wanted to do was actual partner work so we would both have to communicate. But I was never going to admit that.

"Okay." I nodded.

I faintly heard Nate mutter something like 'now look who's giving one word answers' under his breath and I couldn't help but smile slightly in amusement.

We both worked silently through the first forty five minutes in class. I finished what Nate had told me to do fifteen minutes earlier so I decided to check my emails. There were a few from Jace sending me amusing jokes and once I finished replying, our forty five minutes of researching was up.

"Are you finished?" Nate asked me.

"Yes." I answered.

I figured if he was going to be dry to me, I should give him the exact same treatment. He wasn't better than me. Just because he bandaged up my foot didn't make us friends... I think. I just thought that we had some sort of connection that night he came over.

Maybe it was because he managed to go the whole night without insulting me? Maybe because I saw a flicker of what the twins and Chris always talk about... Nate isn't a bad guy. He may be a jerk to me but when it comes down to it, I knew he was a nice guy.

"Can you just send the work to me instead? I'll do the rest at home." He spoke.

I frowned at him in confusion and checked back into my email.

"Almost a month ago you were demanding that I do the whole assignment myself and now you're saying that you'll do a part of it?" I asked him as I sent the email.

I saw his angular cheeks turn to a soft crimson and I smiled at how cute he looked blushing.

"Shut up." It wasn't playful, it actually quite harsh.

I didn't know why I felt so hurt when I was used to him insulting me. Maybe I thought he'd change? But his tone was cunning and malicious. Usually, I would reply to him but I decided to stay silent.

When Nate didn't hear any reply coming his way, he looked up at me and I saw it - guilt. And something else that I couldn't put my finger on. But he did feel guilty.

He cleared his throat and made sure he received the email before angrily shutting his laptop. This guy really needs therapy.

"So, are you going shopping with the girls today?" His tone suggested that he was forcing himself to make conversation. I tried the exact same thing during lunch but he had shut me out.

"Yep, I am." I replied.

He nodded awkwardly and thank God, the bell decided to ring at that moment. I stood up quickly and ran straight for the door not wanting to be anywhere near Nate Sanders.

***

"Who are we waiting on?" Chloe whined to Chris after school.

I had arranged Adam to pick up the boys from school and he told me he was going to take them McDonalds (because he sucked at cooking) and then take them to his apartment where they would finish off their homework and play one of those Xbox's.

"Nate. Just be patient. Asher won't mind waiting an extra few minutes." Chris rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"I haven't seen him in two weeks of course I'm impatient! And I thought Nate didn't want to come?" Chloe asked.

"He told me last period that he changed his mind but he won't tell me why." Was it just me or was Chris avoiding making eye contact with me?

I hadn't asked Nate if he was going shopping with us but could the reason of Nate wanting to join us possibly have something to do with the fact that I was going as well? Strangely, I was quite excited for that thought to be true. I tried not to smile but I knew that there was something there displaying my joy.

A couple of minutes later, Nate arrived with a smirk on his face. When he came, he winked in my direction. I turned around behind me to see who he was winking at but saw no one there. I looked back at Nate and found him chuckling. Did he wink at me?

"Okay, enough flirting. I need to see Asher! Let's go!" Chloe pulled us all by the arm and took us towards Nate's car.

Apparently, Cam and Chloe get sick sitting in the front in Nate's car so they had to sit at the back and Chris didn't want to leave Cam. So guess what? I was the lucky one who got to sit closely next to Nate.

The entire drive felt awkward for me. Considering the spaces between the seats, I was quite close to Nate and the proximity was driving me crazy in a weird way. I basically jumped out of the car as soon as he parked because of how frazzle-dazzle I felt by our closeness. Chloe received a phone call and after a few words, we followed her to the inside of the mall where she spotted someone and ran into their arms.

The rest of us trailed behind Chloe and met her boyfriend, Asher. He was tall, almost as tall as Nate, and had a mixture of blonde and brown hair. He was muscular and was very attractive.

Everyone greeted Asher except for me who was introduced to him by Chloe.

"Asher, this is the girl I was talking about, Rosalie. She's one of us now." She smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Rosalie." He smiled warmly at me.

"You, too." I smiled in return.

"Call her Rose." Nate's voice was almost sharp.

We all turned around to frown at him in confusion. Asher looked at me and then back at Nate.

"Why?" Asher finally asked.

"Because she likes to be called Rose. Not Rosalie or Rosie, her brothers only call her Rosie. To you, it's just Rose." Nate spoke so swiftly and confidently as if he were speaking about his own name.

Asher looked confusedly between the both of us and then whispered something to Chloe who looked at the two of us and shook her head.

Okay, this is really awkward.

After a couple of minutes of standing next to Nate and looking like a stunned mullet, Chloe announced that she was going to spend a little time with Asher by herself before they would join us again. So instead, the four of us, Chris and Cam and Nate and I went to the closest boutique store that had the cheapest item of $200. I knew I wasn't going to buy anything so I walked in to give my 'opinion' to Cam even though I knew nothing about fashion.

She and Chris had their fingers entwined but as soon as she stepped in, she let go of his hand and instead took me by the wrist and dragged me over.

"Anything you think would suit me; pick it up so I could try it on." She told me seriously.

I nodded and began scanning the neat racks of dresses. I thought I'd have trouble finding dresses but I soon began to find myself picking up dresses quicker. I was just picking up the things I liked rather than what I thought would suit Camilla.

After picking up several dresses, Cam took the dresses that she had also picked up and went to the dressing room to try them on. She made me stay with her inside and help her out with the dresses while the boys sat outside the dressing rooms on the guest chairs.

Every time Cam tried on a dress, if it reached my approval she would show the boys, if not, she would take it off and try on another dress and another dress. She finally decided she didn't like any of the dresses and wanted to go to another store where she said she saw a perfect dress for the party.

"So you try on about a million dresses and then decide that you don't want to wear anything and go to another store?" Nate grumbled as he followed us along.

I couldn't help but kind of feel like the third wheel when I stood next to Chris and Cam so I reluctantly trailed behind them next to Nate.

"Why didn't you try anything on?" Nate asked curtly as we walked to the next store.

"I already have something to wear." I answered.

I still was so confused on what terms we were on. Was I supposed to be acting friendly towards him because just a few hours ago I tried that and he brushed me off?

"Yeah, right," He snickered. "Rosalie, in case you didn't know, you're poor tattered jeans and ugly shirt isn't something that we expect girls wear to parties."

My mouth gaped open and for some unbeknown reason, I took that to heart more than anything else he's ever said to me. Maybe it was because he knew I didn't like to be called Rosalie and he used that name. Or maybe because I thought we may be on the friend's path.

"Asshole." I muttered angrily.

Third wheel or not, I stalked up to Cam and Chris and walked next to them. Soon after, Nate followed me and stood next to me again. If only I could get someone to pick me up I would have made any excuse to just leave.

"Here we are." Cam chirped and once again took me by the wrist and dragged me over to the store. Instead of picking up random dresses like before, Cam found the dress she was looking for and tried it on. She asked me to pick up anything that may be nice just in case she didn't like the dress she was trying on.

She yelled for Chris while she was in the dressing room which left Nate alone with me. He walked with me as I pulled out dresses and put them back on the rack.

"You know how good you'll look in these dresses? Why won't you buy anything?" He pestered me.

I ignored him because of course, if we were ever even on the verge of a nice conversation, he'd ruin it by being plain harsh.

"Come on just admit that you have no money." He whined as he trailed behind me.

I ignored him again but I could feel the anger rising in me. All I had to do was ignore him and he'd eventually leave me alone, wouldn't he?

"Rose, answer me." He continued pursuing an annoying persona.

"Rose!" Cam's voice rang from the dressing room and I ran there.

Literally.

Just to be away from Nate was a blessing.

"What's wrong?" I asked when I reached her dressing room.

"Get in one of these things now and try on this dress."

She handed me a gorgeous dress I had my eyes on a few minutes ago. It was a plain black, little lace dress with long sleeves and a decent circular neck cut.

I thought it'd be best not to argue with Camilla so I went into the dressing room next to hers, stripped off my clothes and slipped the dress on. Once I finished, I looked in the mirror to see how it looked. And my God, I loved it.

The dress came to mid-thigh and hugged me in all the right places to show off my curves. But I was a little worried about the price. $300 for that? Without warning, the door for the dressing room swung open and I saw Cam and Chris's jaw agape as they stared at me with shock. I laughed at their expressions and rolled my eyes. Cam looked so much better than me anyway in all the dresses she's tried on, I didn't see why they were so stunned.

"Rose, you are wearing that dress even if I have to force you into it. That looks stunning on you! I'm going to have to keep Chris away from you at the party." She joked.

We both laughed and looked at Chris who still seemed lost for words.

"Okay I'll be right back. Chris I can't trust you being in there by yourself - come with me." Cam teased.

We laughed and they left the dressing room off to God knows where.

I twirled around in my dress even though nothing flew up - the dress was that tight. I felt kind of revealing in the dress however everything that Cam tried on was much more revealing than this... Was it a social thing?

I loved the way the dress accented my curves and made me look a slimming sort of voluptuous.

"Rose, I'm coming in." Nate's voice stopped my train of thought and I felt worried with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

Why was I excited?

"Cam made me come and give you..." Nate stopped speaking once he had actually walked in and seen me.

There was a soft noise of shoes falling to the floor and I looked to see a pair of heels. His smouldering eyes racked my body up and down and the look on his face told me that he liked what he was seeing - there was no doubt. But he stayed silent, not saying a word.

I looked to see what he was actually doing in here and saw the heels again. A pair of black simple heels, with a peep toe. But I had never worn heels in my entire life. How was I going to learn how to walk in them in just a few short days? The party was on Saturday!

And as I stood there staring at the daunting heels, trying to wonder how I was going to learn how to walk in them, Nate was staring at me. I actually found his expression amusing because the confident, cocky and egoistic jerk that I knew was officially speechless.

This was a first - I had to write it down somewhere. All the while, Nate was still speechless. Okay, this was getting kind of weird. How long can he stare at me without getting bored?

"Nate?" I finally tried to get his attention.

No answer whatsoever.

"Nate?" Nothing again.

"Do I need to try on those heels?" I asked.

"Rose?" He asked instead, his eyes finally meeting my own.

I realised that he took a step closer to me and the proximity was intense. This was a small dressing room - there was only so much space between us.

"Yes, Nate?" I daringly asked.

He had taken another step closer and all my eyes could see was his gorgeous features. The angular jaw line, messy brown hair (and it was naturally messy but it looked amazing), muscular body and the genuine smile that now had formed over his lips.

"You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my entire life." His words were so precise, carefully enunciating each word with perfection as if he were scared to get it wrong.

And me? Well I felt like a hot head from how much I was blushing. That compliment was so genuine and unpretentious that I just felt like I could never bring myself to hate him.

His arms slowly reached out to touch each of my shoulders, and then slowly slid down until my hands were in his.

"And even though I don't really like you, I can admit that you define beauty." He smirked.

I felt like a stunned mullet just then - not realising what to say or do. Do I just thank him and get on with it or do I embrace him?

His toned arms felt like a rather inviting place to be in and I just wanted to be enveloped in his arms however that would seem really weird if I just hugged him.

"Thank you." I managed a smile between my shock. "Um... So... What were you, um, is that for ah..." I forced myself to stop talking before I embarrassed myself more than I already have.

"The heels?" He laughed.

I smiled at him, a real natural smile that my brothers could only ever get me to do, and nodded. I watched him as he bent down to pick up the heels.

"How's your foot?" He asked after he cleared his throat.

"It's much better thanks to you." I replied as I turned scarlet.

I didn't want to be reminded of my clumsiness.

"Is the wound still deep?" He asked me.

"Well I removed the bandage this morning before I took a shower and the wound had closed up a little but it's still there." I told him.

"So why isn't your foot bandaged anymore?" He asked with a frown.

Wow, a proper conversation and none of us had insulted each other yet - rather I received a compliment.

"Um, I ran out of bandages because I had to use the last piece to wrap up my brothers hand." I laughed awkwardly.

"Is he okay?" Why was he sounding genuinely concerned?

"Yeah he is fine - he was complaining that he had a scratch and told me he needed something to heal him and asked for the bandage." I laughed as I recalled when Mike thought he was going to 'die' when he saw his scratch. He and Liam actually exchanged goodbyes to each other and everything. It was adorable.

"He took the last bandage?" Nate asked confusedly.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"But Rose, you need it more than he does. Your wound was deep, if you don't cover it, it'll just open up again and it will get infected and trust me, you'd wish that you had listened to your brothers whining and have your foot covered." Nate told me seriously.

"My brothers are the most important thing in the world to me. I'd die before I let anything happen to them." I told him.

Usually, I would have never said that to anyone but there was some mysterious quality about Nate that made me feel... okay to talk to him about anything.

"And I'd make sure to do something to make sure you didn't die." Nate replied wittily.

I smiled at him and for a few seconds, our eyes were locked on each other's, not wanting to move.

Our little hypnotic state was cut when Nate cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So, you going to try the heels on or what?" He asked with a smirk.

And then I looked back at the intimidating heels and with an anxious sigh, I nodded.

I put them on the floor and used the wall to balance me as I put one foot inside the shoe. Once I had successfully placed both feet into the heels, I slowly released my hands off the wall which was a big mistake because I lost my balance completely.

I felt myself falling and just before I hit the floor, a pair of strong, muscular arms caught me at my waist, regaining my balance.

I twisted my head and found Nate staring at me - scratch that - my lips. I had no idea what to do. I felt like I was stuck in a trance and there was no way of getting me out. His face was so close to mine, mere inches apart. I didn't know what was happening, whether he was going to kiss me or not.

But, oh God, I wanted him to kiss me at that moment more than ever. Just the mixture of how friendly he had been for the past few minutes and how he called me beautiful, it just made him seem more attractive than ever.

Nate's lips parted slowly before they turned into his crooked grin that made me lose my breath.

"You are such a klutz." He laughed humorously.

I shut my eyes for a few seconds and began laughing with him.

"Can you help me up now?" I laughed.

He nodded and we readjusted our position so now we were both standing upright. But there were tingles shooting up and down my spine because Nate was still holding my hands so I wouldn't fall.

"So, you're coming to the party for sure on Saturday night?" Nate asked me.

"Yeah probably if nothing happens at home then I'll be there. What about you?" I replied without hesitation.

When having a conversation with Nate and he wasn't insulting you, he was the best person to talk to.

"Well I wasn't going to go but seeing what you'll be wearing I'm sure to come." He smirked and winked at me.

I felt myself blush and it went quiet for a few moments before the door to the dressing room shot open and Cam and Chloe were standing at the front, smiling knowingly at Nate and I's entwined hands.

"Nate, get out. Go stay with Asher while I deal with Rose." Chloe demanded.

Nate rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath before we unwillingly let our grasp go. My fingers officially felt cold - what was that all about?

As soon as the door closed, the girls rushed to my side in a giggling manner.

"What happened with you and Nate?" They pestered.

I knew I was blushing because my face felt like it was on fire.

"Nothing. He told me I looked beautiful and then was helping me stand up while I put the heels on." It was a huge understatement of the whole situation but I didn't feel like it was my place to tell them bit by bit what had happened because what if I assumed something that turned out to be wrong and they told Nate about it?

"Okay," They both smirked wearily and threatened to never speak to me if I didn't wear the dress.

They also threatened to have me murdered if I didn't let them purchase the dress, heels and jewellery. They finally convinced me to get the dress and I had a sneaking suspicion that they knew that I couldn't afford it. But unlike Nate, the girls never brought up my financial status. They were perfectly polite to me in their own little way and they treated me like I was one of them.

Once we finished buying my outfit, we went to one more boutique store where both Cam and Chloe found dresses.

"Anyone for a smoothie?" Chloe asked once we walked out of the boutique.

Everyone nodded and I internally sighed. I felt like I needed to be back home because I still had to clean and plus, I told Adam I should be home at 6:00 and it was 6:30 now. I needed to call him. But I had to stick with the group because they were my ride home. I didn't feel like walking back home for thirty minutes as the sun set.

I spotted a payphone on my way to the smoothie place and smiled.

"I'll catch up with you guys, I just need to make a phone call." I told them.

Everyone nodded and kept on walking except for Nate. His feet were planted in the ground firmly, not moving.

"Just use my phone, Rose." He told me with a soft frown.

"It's fine." I waved him off. "I just need to make a quick call to my neighbour."

"Ah, yes, the boyfriend." He smirked.

"No, not the boyfriend. Just the friend. I actually see him as an older brother so that's kind of awkward." I scrunched my face up at the thought.

Nate laughed and for a second, he looked at me with a soft, pure smile of awe.

"Come on," He murmured, pulling me away from the payphone my hand.

Our fingers made a soft exchange that made me have goosebumps all over. Lucky I was wearing my school sweater or else he would have seen the effect that soft movement had on me.

"Nate, I'm fine, it's just a quick phone call." I insisted as he pulled me along.

With the girls paying for my things and Nate telling me to use his phone, I started feel like some charity case - and not in a good way.

"Well if it's a quick phone call then you can use my phone." He stated stubbornly.

He took out his phone and put it firmly in my hands.

"Now call the boyfriend." He demanded.

If I went back to the payphone, Nate was most likely to tell me I was a stuck-up bitch again like he did at the supermarket when I told him that I didn't want his help. And we were making such good progress at the moment; I didn't want to ruin his streak of kindness towards me.

"He's not my boyfriend." I finally muttered and pressed the middle button of the phone where a lock code came up.

"Nate?" I showed him his phone so he could see that he could put in the code for me.

"It's 1590." He looked away from me when he told me that and I was confused as to why he looked so embarrassed.

And I also felt extremely touched. I already from spending a month at a posh school that people were protective of their phones and their privacy - not even the best of friends knew each other's code but Nate was telling me his like it was no problem.

I put in the code and was confused when the screen came up. I didn't know what to press - I've never even touched an iPhone before so I had no idea where I had to dial the number. I slid my finger along the screen but random squares were all I could see.

"You need help with that?" Nate chuckled from behind me.

"Um, yeah." I felt myself blush at my stupidity.

Nate did some 'fancy' work and in two seconds, he handed me back the phone.

I already knew Adam's number by heart so I put in the numbers and the phone started ringing a few times before a connection was made.

"Rose, my girl, what's wrong?" Adam answered.

I smiled when I heard his voice and the boy's voice in the background.

"Um, just called to tell you I'm going to be a little late. I actually don't know what time they're going to return me." I spoke.

"Are they asking for ransom?" He asked in a fake worried tone.

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"No I'm not hostage, Adam. Are the boys doing okay?" I asked him.

"I think I heard them say that they wanted to live with me forever and that they hated you." He joked.

"Ouch." I muttered drily. "I'll see you soon Adam. And thanks again for taking care of them."

"No problem. They're way more fun than you." And then the line went dead.

I frowned at the phone which had just returned to the lock wallpaper.

"I don't know what happened..." I murmured.

Just then the phone started ringing and I identified it as Adam's number.

"Hey, Rose. Sorry - Mike and Liam tackled me to the floor. Anyway, take as long as you want, they're fine with me. Bye." The phone went dead again.

My God, that guy was one crazy kid.

I handed the phone back to Nate and thanked him with a smile. He just nodded but he seemed distracted by something. We walked together to some bakery-styled place and walked in.

The others were already sitting in their booth with their shake so Nate and I walked up to the register to order.

"I'll have the caramel. Rose, what do you want?" Nate asked me.

Awe surged through me once again. I found that Nate was incredibly attractive when he was being nice. He had seemed so appealing to me today. Just so nice and genuine and... real.

"Nothing for me." I smiled.

Nate rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet showing me that he had a whole heap of money stored in it.

"I have money, Rosie. Just order whatever you want. I'll buy the whole place for you if you wanted." He winked at me.

I felt myself blush yet again and smiled softly.

"I honestly don't want anything." I wasn't going to let another thing slide today.

Nate rolled his eyes yet again and looked up at the menu board.

"The triple choc shake." He told the person at the cashier.

I tried to protest but Nate shot me a glace that told me 'I dare you to speak'. It was quite intimidating.

We walked to the booth together and one side had Chris, Asher and Chloe and the other side had Cam who was sitting opposite to Chris. So of course, in keeping with the pattern of today's events I was yet again seated next to Nate.

We sat together for thirty minutes before everyone started getting up. The entire time; I hadn't spoken much but I was distracted with my eyes fixated on Nate and what he said and how he laughed. Now I saw why the twins and Chris kept telling me to be patient; because beneath the jerky-egoistic surface, there was a pretty special guy in there.

"Nate, you still letting me borrow your car?" Chris asked.

Nate nodded and we all walked to the parking lot. Chloe was riding with Asher so there was an extra seat in Nate's car. Since Nate was getting dropped off and Chris was taking his car, Chris ended up driving while Nate sat shotgun and Cam and I were at the back. We went to drop Cam off first at her house and then Nate. The car was filled with conversation after conversation between Nate and Chris - both of them not even noticing my existence.

"I'm going to drop you off first because I have to go to some store near Rose's house." Chris told Nate.

Once we reached Nate's house, my jaw dropped. It was huge! The driveway was so long with brick floors that would fit at least six cars. The exterior of the house was all glass, similar to the one from Twilight except it looked homier than modern. The backyard was huge with a twelve by twelve meter pool, green house, pool house and tennis table. Even the pool house was huge.

There was a big number on the front door that looked like one of the many entries: Number 90 on the street. Nate went of his car and waved at Chris. He looked at me, smiled for a fraction of a second before his lips curled up into a smirk.

"See you tomorrow, Rosie." He winked.

I smiled in return and waved.

There was a comfortable silence between Chris and me. I had moved into the front seat and Chris put music on in the background, keeping the silence at ease. In twenty minutes or so, we had pulled up in front of my place.

"Thanks for the ride." I smiled at Chris.

"No problem. Did you have fun today?" He looked like he really cared whether or not I did.

And even though my brothers weren't there with me and I spent a lot of my time with the egoistic Nate, I actually had a pretty wonderful time.

"Yes. A lot. See you tomorrow." I smiled and walked up the stairs to enter the building.

Once I shut the doors, I heard the engine drive away.

I walked over to my apartment to put my bag down but something stopped me in my tracks that made tingles surge through me. I don't know why it caught my attention, but it just did.

The number for my door was 15. Nate's house number was 90. The code on Nate's phone was 1590. Could it just be a coincidence or was there a reason for my house number to be in Nate's code - along with his house number? I found myself smiling like a dummy...

This couldn't really be a coincidence, could it?

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Authors Note:

Okay so the ending there was a bit tedious but yeah :p

How did you like Nate's reaction to Rose in the dress? Oh, and that's Rose's dress to the side :)

Vote, comment, fan.

Farewell xx