Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

Rosalie's POV -

I was attempting to keep my breaths normal but they still sounde so shaky. Nate's presence was almost calming but since he wasn't really speaking, he didn't allow me to concentrate on anything but the dark. It wasn't like it was storming or anything but I had heard from somewhere that it wasn't strange for Brooklyn to have random blackouts.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang that sounded like it had erupted from outside and I jumped up quickly, letting out a little squeal as I did. Right as the loud bang exploded, I thought I saw a dark shadow in my apartment and I knew too well that I thought I was seeing my father. I knew he wasn't here, good God, if he was he'd be in a load of trouble but I knew there was no one but me and Nate. However, that didn't stop me from being on the verge of hyperventilating.

I felt moisture in my eyes and I knew way too well that the heat had gone straight to my face. I started feeling light-headed and dizzy and before I knew it, I was lying down on the couch, my head resting on Nate's lap.

"Rose, are you alright?" He questioned.

I felt his body go rigid and stiff when I fell down and I knew he was uncomfortable with our close proximity.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall." I quickly apologized.

"No, I don't care about that. I mean your breathing. It's kind of unhealthy to be so panicked and anxious like you are now." He told me.

"Of course it's unhealthy. But it's not like I can control what he did to me and how I've turned out."

Nate went silent for a moment and I felt his hands start to shake slightly.

"What was his name?" He asked me.

It took me a moment to realise he was talking about my father.

"Jace. Same name as my brother." I said to him.

"Jace. Jace Turner?" He asked me.

"Yep, Jace Turner senior." I answered.

It felt kind of weird that I wasn't panicking when I was in pitch black dark talking about my dad.

"Well, Rose, I promise you that if I ever meet or find this animal that goes by the name Jace Turner senior, I will hunt him down and I will make him wish he never laid a finger on you." His voice was so truthful, so sincere that it almost scared me but it also made my eyes water.

"Thank you. But what if you beat up another guy named Jace Turner?" I asked him.

"Like your brother?" He chuckled.

"Well, I think you're smart enough to tell that my brother isn't my dad." I giggled.

Our laughs died down and instead, we fell into a comfortable silence.

"Rose?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" I murmured, opening my eyes that had fluttered shut.

"Your reaction to being in the dark compared to last time has improved. I'm proud of you." He whispered.

"Are you grinning?" He chuckled.

"No." I answered, trying but failing to adjust the position of my lips.

"You are grinning!" He laughed.

"Because you're too sweet!" I exclaimed and immediately started blushing at my remark.

"I'm sweet?" He scoffed. "Well then there goes all my compliments for you."

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't want to be known as some sweet guy. I'm far from sweet. Just a few hours ago you were complaining about how I'm a jackass." He pointed out.

Well, he did have a good point. But, what else was I supposed to say for that? He actually was a really sweet person in a really weird way. He had his good and his bad but for some reason, even though he had more bad than good, the positives still managed to outweigh the negatives.

There was something just completely different about Nate. I had moved a lot to many different places because of my continuous evictions and I had never come across someone who had captured my attention like Nate Sanders.

"You should stop with that cold and jerky exterior of yours. I bet you'd have more friends if you just acted like you." I told him.

"I do act like me. You think I actually give a f*ck about what other people think? Rose, this is how I am and if you don't like me then you can f*ck off like all the other bastards." He rushed.

I frowned at how suddenly he was back to being the mean jerk again however I wasn't really surprised.

"But," He quickly added in. "I don't want you to go anywhere so please, just deal with me or something?"

And there I was with the grinning again.

"I don't want to go anywhere as well." I laughed.

"Okay, now shut up and sleep." He told me quickly, his tone seeming to show that he was embarrassed over our conversation.

I tried protesting but Nate kept cutting me off and started playing with my hair, letting his fingers slide through the strands. Soon, I was sleeping in one of the most comfortable sleep that I've had.

***

"Rose!" It was a male's voice.

The first male I thought of that would be in my apartment was Adam. He considered himself family enough for him to wake me up at six in the morning so I wouldn't be phased if it was him.

However, I knew it wasn't him. I recognised the voice to belong to Nate and the past events came rushing back to me.

I rubbed my eyes and took in my surroundings... Seemed like I was lying down in the bed that my brothers usually slept on.

"Rose, wake up!" Nate whined.

"What's wrong?" I mumbled after a quiet yawn.

"Can you just get up?" He snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Fine, fine. Calm down." I muttered, getting out of bed.

I smiled softly at the thought of Nate carrying me to bed but I was still wondering as to where he slept for the night.

"What do you want?" I asked him as I made my way outside and into the kitchen.

"Make me breakfast?" He asked, a cheeky grin elapsing onto his face.

I stared at him, hoping that I heard him wrong. When his cheeky grin didn't leave his face, I shut my eyes tightly and groaned.

"I cannot believe that you somehow have the audacity to wake me up just to make you breakfast. At this moment, I despise you." I don't even know if he heard me grumble because of how quiet I was speaking but at the sound of his chuckle, he probably had heard.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked him, taking out a frying pan.

"Cereal," He shrugged.

My eyes went wide and I silently pleaded that I was hearing him wrong. He woke me up so that I could make him a bowl of cereal? I gritted my teeth together, anger pulsing through me. Cereal? Was he being serious?

Something that Nate should have learnt about me earlier was that I definetly was not a morning person. I needed some sort of caffeine to wake me up in the morning and without that, I would stay angry for a while. That's why Adam was always sure to wake me up with coffee in his hands. And that is why I always woke up an hour earlier than my brothers to clean.

My gaze locked onto the smirk planted on Nate's lazy expression and without any rational thoughts in my head, I threw the frying pan that I was holding in his direction, only to immediately regret my actions when I heard a loud bang.

I felt a little smug at the throwing the whole frying pan thing, you know, sort of like Tangled. I kept my eyes squeezed shut, silently hoping that I hadn't done any damage to Nate. When I heard him chuckling, his deep voice booming through the apartment, I dared to open my eyes and found that he was never hit by the pan. Nope, my excellent aiming skills had missed him completely.

"You're cute when you're frustrated." He continued chortling.



"Why Nate?" I stomped on the ground and whined like a five year old. "Why would you wake me up so early for cereal? What did I ever do wrong?"

"Well, for one, you said my name while you were sleeping so I wanted to wake you up and ask you what that was about. Second, I found a jar of money that I also wanted to ask you about, and third, I really wanted you to make me breakfast." He listed the three things, indicating each reason with raising a finger.

I blushed immediately at the first thing he said. I said his name during my sleep? Why the hell would I ever do that? From what I knew, I would never sleep talk. How was it that on the day Nate stays at my place for the night is the same night I say his name during my sleep? Life was just too cruel.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." I stammered, keeping my eyes on the floor.

Nate laughed, and used his two fingers to lift up my chin. He was leaning over the kitchen counter and watching me with amused eyes.

"Don't worry, I figured you'd fall in love with me sooner or later." He winked.

If possible, the heat on my face fired up even more and my eyes went wide.

"I don't love you!" I yelled. "If anything, I greatly despise you for waking me up so early on a Sunday morning." I glared at him, trying to mimic his sometimes intimidating façade.

"You may not love me, but you'll get there soon." He smirked, ruffling my messy bed hair.

"Ever the narcissist." I muttered, however he still managed to hear me and laugh.

"Anyway," He spoke loudly. "On to my second reason. I thought I'd try to be nice and clean up the place a little bit but then I gave up five minutes later. But, while I was cleaning, I found a jar of money. What's that about?" He frowned, cocking his head to the side making himself look absolutely adorable.

I found myself just staring at him, fighting back a little smile as he frowned back at me.

"What is there to know?" I asked; averting my gaze to a little piece of non-existent thread on my long sleeve shirt. "It's a jar of money."

"Yeah, but you're po- I mean, you aren't really wealthy." I smiled at him at least trying to take initiative for not calling me poor. It meant that he actually had some decency in his conceited mind.

With a sigh, I decided to tell him the truth. He knew a lot anyway and plus, this was the guy that I had feelings for. I planned on telling the truth some time.

"A while back, when I first stood up to my parents and left, a man named Mr. Ashford let me stay at his house for two years while he went on holidays. When he came back, I was forced to leave and find somewhere else to live. He probably felt bad for me or something because he found where I lived and starting mailing me three hundred dollars a month."

"That's it? Three hundred dollars?" Nate scoffed, clearly looking annoyed.

"This man lives on his own and his children do not support him. I was very lucky to even have money being sent by him." I shot back. "Anyway, I've been evicted from five different apartments and when I finally found this apartment, I saw that the rent and other bills were cheaper than usual. That, and I was on scholarship for school."

"Paying rent comes around every three months along with other bills so I'm saving up the money that I've been able to get. I have six hundred dollars saved up now." I grinned proudly at myself.

I peered my eyes towards Nate and he looked annoyed.

"Why are you so grumpy?" I frowned, putting two bowls on the kitchen counter and going to grab some milk.

"I don't get how this Ashford guy can know about a young girl raising three boys and not take her in. That's pretty twisted." He grumbled.

"He hardly knew me. And I wasn't so willing to live with a man I barely knew either." I argued.

"But he knew you enough to let you stay in his place for two years?" He challenged.

"There's a difference between living with him and him letting us borrow the place." I answered.

He stayed silent for a few moments before he mumbled a few cuss words.

"Besides," I continued. "You should be happy. I actually have enough money to pay rent, bills and to still manage to put food on the table."

Nate didn't reply for a few moments, his expression showing that he was in deep concentration.

I took out the only available cereal - Fruit Loops - and started to pour it into the bowl.

"You're pretty incredible, you know that?" Nate spoke, almost making me drop the milk I was pouring into the bowl.

I blushed furiously and fought to keep a straight face. Of course, I lost my own personal battle and ended up grinning and turning to face Nate.

"And you're pretty blunt, you know that?" I laughed.

"Yes I know, I know." He rolled his eyes, taking the cereal that I had finished 'making'. "I'm blunt, and I'm a jerk and an asshole and a bastard and a douche bag. I've heard it all, Rose."

I smiled slightly and sat with my legs criss-crossed on the kitchen bench.

"Where'd you sleep last night?" I asked him after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"The couch. I gotta say Rose, I don't know how you haven't ached all over because that is one uncomfortable couch." He winced, I'm assuming at the memories.

"Consider it a learning experience." I grinned.

"Learning experience?" He scoffed. "What, being poor 101?"

My hand froze, and I looked back up at Nate who was cussing at himself.

"F*ck, Rose. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He actually sounded sincere.

I smiled and nodded, showing him that it was all okay.

He finished his breakfast quickly and helped me clean around for a while before he announced that he had to leave.

"You coming to school tomorrow?" He asked me as he was walking out the door.

"I plan on it. You?" I asked.

"Well I usually would cut this Monday for gym but I guess for you I'll come." He shrugged nonchalantly like what he said didn't make butterflies fly in the deep pit of my stomach and for goosebumps to arise across my entire body.

I let out a shaky laugh and nodded.

"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow." I smiled.

I watched him leave the building and enter his extravagant car from the window.

I found myself smiling as I cleaned the rest of the apartment, being truly happy. Happiness. Wow, the word didn't seem so foreign anymore.

***

"How are you liking your phone?" Cam and Chloe greeted me by hounding me at my locker/cabinet thing.

I smiled lazily, trying to keep my eyes open. I had tossed and turned all night, thinking about Nate. He was just... well, he was indescribable.

Plus, I had to wake up at five thirty to go down to the boy's school and pick them up from the camping trip they had gone on. After I picked them up and listened to their constant chatter about the events at camp, I had to get them to shower and get ready for school. Yes, even to me, I was shocked they had to go back to school the same day they arrived.

"I don't know why you keep asking me when you message me about how I'm liking it all the time." I chuckled.

They simultaneously rolled their eyes at me as I laughed.

"Is it benefitting you?" They asked.

I nodded eagerly, grinning all the while. I loved the iPhone. It was unbelievably convenient.

"So, did Nate tell you?" Cam asked.

"Nate tell me what?" I asked in confusion.

"About our annual beach trip this Friday!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Um, I don't see why Nate would tell me about something like that..." I drifted.

They looked at me like I was stupid and rolled their eyes.

"Did he tell you how we're forcing you to come with us?" Chloe asked, her tone sounding excited.

I sighed, sad that I had to turn down their offer because of my boys. I didn't want to have two weekends in a row where I couldn't spend time with them.

"Sorry, but I can't come. I have to take care of-"

"Your brothers. Right, we get it. But, we already spoke to Adam and he was more than willing to take care of them. And it's only through all of Friday night and most of Saturday. You'll get Sunday with them." They argued.

They already spoke to Adam about it? Without consulting me first? I guess that's why I loved the twins so much anyway, they always wanted me to have a good time.

"So, will you be there Friday or not?" They asked instantaneously, impatience clearly crossing over their flawless features.

I took a deep breath and knew that there was literally no way out of it.

"I'm in." I grinned.

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Authors Note:

So, a trip. I think every cliche story needs a trip which is what I have included :D

Nate and Rose again.

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx