Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11

Rosalie's POV -

"That's not a question." I murmured, quickly averting my eyes away from Nate's patronizing brown ones.

I knew that he was going to ask me about it sooner or later but now that it was finally here, I didn't want to say anything. Telling him why I reacted the way I did today would only lead to him asking questions and if he asked questions he'd eventually find out that I live on my own.

For some reason, I felt close with Adam and was able to easily tell him after he pestered me one month after we grew to know each other. But, with Nate, it felt different. I just didn't want to say anything to him.

"Fine then. Can you tell me why you reacted the way you did today?" He rolled his eyes yet his gaze was firm as if silently warning me that I wasn't going to get away with not telling him.

"No." I murmured. "See, I answered your question." I smirked.

"Rose." He warned, his eyes narrowing.

"Nate." I said in the same tone.

He smirked and laughed, rolling his eyes at the same time. He and I seemed to do that a lot.

"Rose, please. I brought you here didn't I? If you don't want to tell me everything the least you could do is tell me a little part." He begged.

I looked back into his eyes and once again found myself wondering how on Earth I ever saw him as being an asshole. His personality was far from the one I first met and it was just... it was weird how our friendship formed.

"Fine." I grudgingly muttered. "When I was younger, from when I was three up until I was fourteen, my father would come home, tie me in a dark room, and belt me until I would black out. He only did it to me when we were in the dark and since then I have become terrified of being in the dark because I tend to black out, faint, puke and have nightmares for days about what my father used to do to me."

The entire time, I kept my gaze fixed on the shiny wooden floor boards below me. I couldn't tell Nate what today was about and look at him at the same time. It was just... I couldn't do it.

I waited for what felt like forever for a reply from Nate however when I received no reply, I looked up to see him glaring into space. His jaw was set tight and his eyes held rage within them. I noticed that his hands were made into tight fists and his knuckles were white.

"He abused you?" He finally spoke.

He spoke quietly yet he seemed scary in a way.

"Yeah," I murmured in a whisper.

"Who else knows about this?" His voice seemed tight, like he was restraining himself from screaming.

"No one. Well, Adam knows a little bit about my story but he doesn't know about this." I answered; feeling surprised that my voice came out normal.

"Your story?" He asked in confusion. "You mean there is more to what you told me?"

I avoided eye contact with Nate because seriously, I didn't want to speak about the whole charade.

"Rose?" He tone was forceful, making me lift my eyes.

"Yes, Nate. There is more to the story. But no, I will not tell you."

He looked thoughtful for a few moments, trying to decide to let go whatever I was telling him or to keep pestering me about it.

He pursed his lips and looked into the distance before finally sighing heavily and turning back to the TV.

"What is your dream destination?" He asked, getting back to our little game.

I smiled, feeling the bridge of my nose become a little tingly, knowing that I was going to cry soon. I blinked furiously trying to make sure that no more tears for today spilled as I shakily laughed.

"Thank you." I whispered with a smile before following Nate and continuing our game.

***

"So you're not going to tell me why you didn't come home until ten?" Adam asked sternly.

I had stayed at Nate's house for a couple of more hours until he dropped me off at home. We finished our game on the Xbox before he restrained me onto the bean bag and started asking me random questions.

We spent what felt like forever lying down together on that one bean bag just talking and laughing before I noticed the time. Nate dropped me off at home and when I was finally out of his presence, my heart just randomly squeezed. My feelings for Nate had obviously intensified.

"Sorry, Adam. I promise it won't happen again." I guaranteed.

Even though Adam was being a little tough on me, it was amazing how after knowing Adam for just two months that he was so protective over me and loved my brothers.

"I didn't ask for a promise, Rosalie. I asked you to tell me why you're so late."

I had never seen him be so serious before. His tone was stern just like a protective brother would sound like or maybe a father.

"I was at Nate's house." I muttered.

"Rose, I know you. I know that you wouldn't intentionally go to Nate's house while knowing that there was no one to pick up your brothers." He pressed.

Do I tell him? There was no question about whether or not I should trust Adam with my secret. Adam knew almost everything that has happened to me in the past and he is the person I go to when I have to talk about Nate. He was the kind of guy that I could trust with my life and he was the person I'd turn to in a heartbeat. If I could trust him with taking care of my little brothers then what can't I trust him with?

But still, even though I could trust Adam with everything, I felt like I didn't want to tell him. Now that Nate and I had shared something that no one else knew about, I didn't want to tell Adam because I felt it would ruin whatever Nate and I had going on.

"Oh God, did you guys...? Rose, please tell me that you used protection or I'm going to hunt down that boy and kill him." Adam looked pained and I couldn't understand why.

I frowned in confusion as I watched him pace around his lounge room.

"Protection? For what?" I asked confusingly.

Adam's worried gaze turned into humour as he started laughing.

"Oh thank God, you guys didn't do anything." He laughed.

This time, I was even more confused. What didn't Nate and I do?

"Adam, stop laughing and tell me!" I stomped like a whiny child.

Apparently, this made Adam laugh even harder so instead of complaining, I sat on his couch, crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him until he could calm down.

"Sorry, sorry." He stuttered after he started laughing.

"I suppose I should have assumed you wouldn't know since you never had parents around to talk to you about it." He mused.

What the hell was he talking about?! I began to become more and more aggravated by the second.

"Adam! Tell me!" I whined again.

"Fine." He chuckled. "Well, this is awkward." He muttered to himself.

"Um, you do know what sex is, right?" He asked me bluntly.

My eyes widened as I shot straight up in my seat. I put my palms over my ears and started singing really loudly in an effort to erase whatever words Adam had just asked me.

I could not believe he asked me about that! Of course I knew what it was but why on Earth would he ask me something like that when he was supposed to explain why he was laughing to me.

Unless...

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Adam thought that...

"What?! Adam, you thought me... and him... we had... Oh good God, Adam! No! No! We didn't! No!" I was bewildered.

My frustration apparently amused Adam once again as he continued to laugh.

"I'm sorry but when you go home with a guy and don't come home till late you do assume stuff. And plus, you like the guy so it's obvious I'd think that you guys had sex. Especially when you're so adamant about not telling me what happened." He chortled.

Once he said the S word, I went back to putting my palms over my ears and singing really loudly.

"What's all the noise for?" Jace appeared out of Adam's games room and smirked in amusement at the sight before him.

While Adam was rolling around on the floor laughing, I was jumping up and down in the middle of his lounge room with my hands on my ears and singing loudly.

"This is your sister's reaction when I mention sex." Adam chuckled loudly again.

I gasped in shock and fought everything in me to not run to Adam and strangle him. My brother was thirteen! How could he mention the S word so easily in front of him?!

"Oh, well Rose is immature like that." Jace smirked at me.

"Why are you talking about sex with my sister anyway?" Jace raised his eyebrows and folded his arms, taking over what was Adam's father figure.

"Jace! Don't say that!" I yelled in bewilderment.

"How old do you think I am?" He muttered, shaking his head.

"Rose didn't understand the term 'protection'." Adam laughed.

Jace immediately joined in with the laughter as I stood in my tracks, frowning at my neighbour and my little brother. I didn't even know that Jace knew about that kind of stuff. Of course I knew what protection was however I never knew Adam was talking about the S word.

"Okay, Jace, you're sleeping at Adam's house. I'm going to find my real brothers and we're going home." I told the both of them.

I felt like if I told them that I murdered someone that they would continue laughing because anything I said at this point made them laugh.

I narrowed my eyes at the two of them and turned around and entered the games room where my boys were playing foosball. They weren't tall enough to reach the poles properly so they had to stand on chairs which I found adorable.

When the saw me, they both jumped off their chairs and ran to me, tackling me in a hug.

"Rosie! You are never allowed to make us leave with Adam again!" They yelled in unison, making me laugh.

"Why, what's wrong with Adam?" I asked them as I tried pulling myself up and hugging them.

"He eats too much unhealthy food." Liam frowned.

I giggled, not bothered correcting their sentence.

"Really? Where did you guys eat?" I asked them.

"McDonalds!" Mike yelled loudly and proceeded to run around the room like a maniac.

My boys were crazy but they never went this nuts.

"Adam! What did you feed my brothers?!" I yelled.

He came into the room and smirked.

"Hey, they were the one who raided the cupboards not me." He defended himself.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, grabbing my twins and taking them across the lounge and into the hallway.

"Wait! Are you really making me sleep here tonight?!" Jace called as I purposely ignored his presence.

I laughed and shrugged.

"Well, you can't laugh at me if I welcome you home." I suggested.

He rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I'll pass. I'm going to have the time of my life teasing you with Adam." He winked and slammed the door shut.

I shook my head yet a small smile played on my lips. It was then I realised that my boys hadn't looked this happy since, well, never. This was the first time they were truly happy and acted like this was their real home. For both their sake and mine, I hoped that this truly would be our home for a very, very long time.

***

Going to school felt rather embarrassing. I didn't want to have to face the same students who saw my outburst yesterday and even though it wasn't really my fault, I was humiliated. I dropped my boys off at school; only Liam and Mike because Jace begged to have the day off and spend it with Adam who had the day off from work. Speaking of which, I didn't even know what his job was. I'd probably have to find out today or something.

When I arrived at school, I noticed Chris and the twins standing with each other with huge smiles across their faces. I smiled wearily when I saw them, knowing that their expressions couldn't mean anything good.

"Hi, Rose!" They all squealed simultaneously when they saw me approach them.

Hearing Chloe and Cam's voice so squeaky didn't alarm me; it was the fact that Chris's voice was squeaky too.

I laughed questionably and waved.

"Hey guys," I slowed down.

"Okay fine! Stop interrogating us!" Cam suddenly yelled at me, stomping her feet.

"Woah," I giggled, "I didn't say anything!"



"Oh My God, stop questioning us! We're only trying to be good people." This time is was Chloe's outburst that startled me.

What were they talking about? Did I say anything?

"Chris! Tell Rose to stop being suspicious about us!" Cam yelled.

He laughed and rolled his eyes, waving them off.

"Chris, please tell me why they're acting this way." I pleaded.

He chuckled and led me to an unoccupied table where the girls were trailing behind and yelling at me for being 'intuitive' and 'too precautious'. Once we sat, the girls were practically giddying in their seats while I watched Chris wearily.

"Chris, what's going on?" I asked.

"We bought you something." He announced bluntly.

My eyes widened and I was shocked. I didn't exactly know how I was feeling about that. On one hand, I was frustrated that they assumed I was some charity case and they had to buy me something but on the other hand, I felt flattered.

"We bought you an iPhone." They proudly announced when I hadn't said anything.

I gasped and I felt my eyes widen once again. They bought me a phone? And not just any phone, an iPhone?! I was literally at loss for words, not knowing what to say. I have never owned a phone before simply on the basis that I could not afford it. But... they actually bought me a phone? A phone? Like one of those electronics people use to communicate? But, why?

While I continued to stare at them, they took my expression as encouragement and Chloe opened up her school bag to retrieved what I could only have presumed to be the latest iPhone along with a pack of earphones and a wall-charger. Chloe had her arm stretched out, waiting for me to take the phone from her. When I didn't take it, she narrowed her eyes at me.

"We can't return it or exchange it or even get store credit for it. We don't know anyone else who deserves it more than you. And quite frankly, we really feel like texting you at times and you don't have a phone which annoys us. So, take it and accept it as doing a favour for us, okay?" She smiled softly.

I couldn't help the feeling of the bridge of my nose becoming tingly and my eyes watering up.

"A-are you sure?" I croaked.

Before I could answer, I heard Nate's voice from in front of me. Since I had tears in my eyes, my vision was blurry so I didn't really see him approach us.

"Why is Rose crying?" He asked defensively.

I quickly blinked back the tears and wiped away any that were still on my cheek.

"I'm not crying." I muttered, looking down on the floor.

"Rose, you're crying. Unlike you, I'm not blind. Now tell me, what's wrong?" Good God, he was still going on about that whole being 'blind' thing?

"Our little friend is touched by our act." Chris stated proudly, smirking.

Amusement flashed in Nate's eyes before he smiled softly.

"You like the gift, nerd?" He asked questionably.

I noticed that Nate nicknamed me something different almost every day. Well, now that we were actual friends, it was obvious that he used different nicknames for me. It was shorty, then little rebel and now nerd. Somehow, I felt a tingling sensation at the thought of Nate having his own names for me.

"I love it, thank you." I murmured, finally taking the gift from Chloe's still outstretched arm.

"No problem, just remember to think of it as you doing a favour for us. A lot of the times I need help with my homework and I need your smart particles to help me out." Cam grinned.

That was why they bought me a phone...? So I could help them out with work? I tried to keep my cool expression but they probably saw right through it because they all started laughing.

"Just joking! You need to realise that you're one cool chicka to hang out with. A little naïve, innocent and completely oblivious to the world around her, yes, but you're cool." Cam smiled.

Here come the tears again...

"Seriously nerd, you're going to drown us one day with those tears." Nate joked.

I smiled at him which earned me a grin of his own. One heart-stopping, gorgeous grin that could make anything female fall weak at its knees. Determined not to cry anymore, I wiped away the last remaining tear that was sliding down my cheek and looked down at the iPhone in my hand. I grinned animatedly at the thought of being the proud new owner of the iPhone.

"Thank you. Very, very much." I thanked them as they all grinned down on me.

Yup, I was the shortest one of the group.

The bell rung, cutting our comfortable silence and I opened up my bag to take my timetable out with the intention of checking which subject I now had. Ever since that schedule change, I've forgotten which subject we now had since they were all arranged in a different order.

"We have art." Nate spoke from above me.

Suddenly, the feelings from this morning came back speedily and I felt myself pale. After throwing such a... a tantrum, I was embarrassed to face my peers again. What if they pinned me as some sort of attention seeking, weak, poor, little wimp?

"Hey," I felt Nate's finger on my chin, forcing my head up to look up at him. "It's going to be okay."

His tone held the utmost certainty that allowed me to believe him straight away. He removed his hand however I kept my gaze fixed on his warm brown eyes. I don't think I've ever seen his eyes seem so warm.

"You're right. Thanks." I smiled.

I stood up and tried remembering the route to class. Apparently, Nate had no idea either because someone had shown him the way yesterday which meant that of course, we were both lost yet again.

This school was too supreme for its own good. I have visited a few college campuses in my life time and trust me; I have never seen a school that was as equivalent to a college campus.

"Wait, I remember going through here." Nate spoke, directing me to one of the many hallways.

We walked through it and sure enough, we found the 'Art Department' sign that we were waiting to come across. I realised I was holding my breath once we had reached the door.

"Stop being so worried. No one will say anything to you because you're with me. And trust me, no one wants to get on my bad side." He smirked.

"Why?" I asked innocently.

He frowned a little and tilted his head to the side.

"Everyone knows that they'll get their ass kicked by me if they say something I don't like." He told me.

"So, you're a violent guy?" I asked, feeling kind of frightened.

"Rose," He chuckled. "Don't be worried. I will never touch a girl like that. I have pride you know. And I don't stoop that low. But any guy that decides to say anything will be dead." He said bluntly.

My eyes went wide and I felt my breathing hitch.

"No, no," He put his hands up in defense. "Rose, God, you're too innocent. I didn't actually mean that I would kill them. You know, I'd just inflict tremendous amount of pain on them."

I breathed a sigh of relief and nodded my head.

"I don't want you to fight." I murmured.

"And I don't care what you want." He shrugged.

"Seriously, Nate. You shouldn't fight." I argued.

"Rose, there are a lot of things I shouldn't be doing. Just because you insist I don't fight doesn't mean I will stop. I thought you already knew I didn't care about what you thought." He frowned.

I stayed silent, knowing that if I spoke again we would be in an argumentive territory and I wanted to stay far away from there.

I opened the door once we reached the classroom and unfortunately, the teacher was already sitting at her desk.

She smiled sympathetically when she saw me which made me seem extremely uncomfortable. Nate slung his arm casually around me but I knew he did it because everyone was staring at me with either pity or disgust.

"Miss Turner, Mr Sanders, please take a seat." The teacher spoke, cutting everyone from out of their daze.

I looked around for the seat I was in yesterday however someone was already occupying it. There were only two available seats that were positioned across the room from each other.

"Where do you want to sit?" I asked Nate softly.

"With you." He shrugged.

I supressed the grin that I knew was coming and ignored the moment my heart had skipped a beat.

"Nate there are only two seats in here that aren't together." I whispered.

He looked around and frowned, looking like he had just noticed this for the first time.

"F*ck," He muttered. "Just take a seat and I'll work my way around to you."

I nodded and went to the left side of the room where there was an empty seat positioned between two girls. I took my seat and watched Nate walk to the other seat with a scowl.

"Mr Sanders, don't look so glum. You will get the opportunity to be seated next to Miss Turner once I explain what we're doing today." The teacher spoke loudly.

Everyone looked from Nate and back to me which caused me to blush. I didn't like being the center of attention and I immediately felt the tip of my ears burning and my face on fire.

"Stop looking at her." Nate growled.

Everyone tore their gazes away from me and looked back at the teacher who had a smirk on her face.

"Like yesterday," The teacher began, rolling her eyes. "We will start at a beginner's level in this class. I still don't know what you are all capable of so outside I have seat up stools, a canvas and paint. Our garden outside is supposed to be your inspiration and I want you to paint anything nature based. Mr Sanders has already expressed his feelings of wanting to sit next to Miss Turner so I suggest no one take those seats. Now everyone stand up and go outside." The teacher once again caused me to blush furiously as Nate rolled his eyes.

"Mrs Green, I advise that you shut up and stop embarrassing Rose like that." Nate spoke loudly enough for the entire class to gasp and look at Mrs Green to see if she had any reaction.

Instead of Nate being scolded, Mrs Green just chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes. I stood up from my seat and took a few steps to the back room. Nate met me at the doors, grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the very edge of all the stools that had been set up. He took the second last seat and gestured for me to take a seat on the stool.

Baffled, I blushed and took a seat and picked up the paint brush and paint pallet. I had only ever taken one art class before and from what I remember, I loved it. I knew it was my favourite hobby if I even had a hobby. With my busy schedule, I never found the time to draw or paint and so over the years, I lost my touch. I watered the paint pastels so get a musky feel and put the tip of my paint brush onto my canvas and with that, I was lost.

I vaguely remember the feelings I had when I was in the world of art. It was basically my specialty in some twisted way because I never had time for it. All the feelings that I had came rushing back to me in that one swift movement of the brush. I lost complete power of what I was doing and just let the power straight to my wrist where my mind was unknowingly controlling my every movement.

I heard Nate speaking but I felt like it was in a distant space, since I wasn't really concentrating on what anyone was saying. I don't know what came across me, I felt like I knew what I wanted, snapped a mental image and my hands were some sort of machine that was able to process every intricate detail and make my masterpiece.

"Rose!" I heard Nate call, this time, his voice booming.

Startled, I jumped in my seat, luckily moving away my wrist so I wouldn't harm my painting.

"Sorry," I smiled sheepishly. I think he had been trying to reach me for a while. "What's wrong?"

"I asked you if you wanted to finish off our history assignment today. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sick of it and honestly, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be doing the stupid thing. So, are we finishing it off today or what?" He asked gruffly.

My mind quickly scanned through my schedule today. I had to pick up the boys, cook for them, clean the apartment and I had a massive English and Legal essay I had to start or else I would literally die. But, Nate really wanted to finish off the History assignment and I didn't want to be any reason of unhappiness.

"Sure," I smiled brightly. "How are we going to complete it?"

"Well," He started off hesitantly, "I thought with your new phone we can just do it over the phone? But, if you want I could come over but seriously Rose, if I spend a night with you I don't think I could keep my hands off of you." He shrugged nonchalantly, holding back a smirk.

I frowned and I recalled today's events.

"Do you mean that in a violent way?" I asked, suddenly feeling frightened.

He looked at me like I had gone insane and shook his head while his eyebrows were knitted together in a frown.

"Rose, just forget about what I told you earlier." Suddenly, his mood had shifted and he seemed smug. "I meant that I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you like the way I held you in the dressing room a while ago when you were trying on that sexy dress."

I felt my face heat up and I couldn't form any words. Well, even if I had formed any words, what would my reply be to that?

"You're so...so...you're so..." I was so muffled.

"So?" He smirked, waiting for my answer.

"Blunt!" I finally yelled in exasperation.

He chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"I may be blunt but you're just way too innocent." He remarked.

I rolled my eyes and went back to my painting that I saw was almost finished. There were a few touches here and there but that was all.

Satisfied, I stood up from my stool and took a few steps back, admiring my painting. I really, really, loved it.

"Woah, what the f*ck is that?" Trust Nate to cuss when it came to my painting.

I smiled, and tilted my head to the side a little, admiring it.

"My painting." I answered.

"Well your painting is f*cking amazing. Almost as amazing as mine." He smirked.

Curious, I looked towards Nate's canvas and burst out laughing.

He had painted what looked like a sunflower made by a two year old. Nate scowled at me as I continued to laugh.

"I take it back. Your painting isn't amazing." He glared.

I stopped laughing and walked over to him.

"Aw, don't be mad." I cooed.

He rolled his eyes and picked up our canvases and walked away. I followed to where he was going and found that he had thrown his in the bin on the way to the teacher. He handed mine to the teacher and she looked absolutely shocked.

"This is beautiful. Absolutely amazing. I just can't believe it." She murmured breathlessly.

Nate smirked in my direction and winked at me.

Oh no, I sense trouble.

"Thanks, Mrs Green. I didn't know I had it in me to make such a wonderful painting. Rose, on the other hand, drew a pathetic sunflower and threw it in the bin when I tried helping her." He feigned to be hurt.

I gaped at him in shock and he threw another smirk in my direction.

"Rose, I know I'm irresistible and all, but you don't need to stare are me like that." He said smugly.

My eyes widened even more if it was possible and of course, I blushed.

What an asshole!

-----------------------------------

Authors Note:

Just a light hearted chapter :) Rose has a phone now! And Nate has started to show interest in her.

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx