Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18

Nate's POV -

Okay, so finally, I was even able to admit it to myself. I had feelings. Yes, I wasn't the heartless asshole everyone thought I was. It was funny though; I managed to develop and harbour strong feelings for the girl that I initially hated. Karma really was a bitch.

She told me that she was coming to school today. I don't know why, but I was suddenly excited to go to school. Which was weird you know, since, well, I'm me. I hadn't seen Rose in over four days and yes, I was giddy about seeing her. She was just... She managed to be indescribable. I could usually look at a girl and say 'hot' or 'sexy' but with Rose, there wasn't a word that I could use to describe her.

She was everything good in this World and I wasn't good for her. I knew that from the very beginning of when I developed feelings. She was too good. I was some rich kid who occasionally smokes and doesn't give a f*ck about school. Rose, however, was perfect. Despite everything bad that has gone on in her life, she persevered through everything and came out to be a beautiful, strong, slightly clumsy person.

Scowling at myself in the mirror for sounding like such a girl, I picked up my bag and ran down the stairs to the breakfast table where Ashton and my parents were sitting.

"Hey, bitch." My dad greeted me with a head nod.

I rolled my eyes at his nickname for me while Ashton laughed.

"Hey, at least he doesn't call me a slut." I smirked when Ashton scowled at the reminder of his nickname.

Yeah, my dad was pretty unique. He called my other brother, Brandon, a whore. So I guess my dad used tough love as his way with us. We all pretty resembled him too which is where I probably got my can't-handle-cheesy-conversations attitude from.

"So, are you finally seeing Rose today?" My mum asked me, smiling with a gleam.

I took a bite from the French toast she had put in front of me and nodded, trying to look nonchalant. My brothers and dad would have my head if they thought that I was crazy about a girl. I groaned internally as I thought about it; ugh the teasing would be non-stop.

"When are you going to bring her by the house again?" My mum continued.

My dad propped up one eyebrow and my thoughts immediately went to Rose and how much she loved and was fascinated by that one action.

"Again?" My dad asked.

"Yeah, she's been here before but she was pretty upset and spent most of her time in Nate's room." My mum answered.

Both my dad and Ashton smirked at me and stared as I rolled my eyes.

"No, I didn't get laid." I answered for them.

My mum sent me a scolding look and I apologised quickly for my 'language'. Quite frankly, I didn't give a f*ck.

"Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?" My dad asked.

"Nope, I told her she was going to be my girlfriend." I answered as he grinned.

Yeah, I was spitting image of my dad.

"Yes," My mum glared, "Just like Ashton looked at Emily and told her to marry him. Very romantic boys."

My dad smirked and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey, it won you over, didn't it?" He shrugged as she rolled her eyes.

Ashton and I laughed as my mum pushed my dad off of her and he fell to the floor, glaring. I stood up and quickly washed my hands as I grabbed my bag and headed into my car after I said goodbye.

I made it to school quickly, and parked the car in the student's parking lot before I opened the door just in time to see Rose walking inside through the school gates. I felt myself smile as soon as I saw her and when she looked my way, I dropped my smile trying to act nonchalant.

"Hi." She grinned excitedly as she practically skipped my way.

I felt smug on the inside and nodded my head towards her, pretending to look busy.

"Hey," I muttered in reply.

I saw her frown a little as a slight look of hurt flashed across her face before she masked it quickly.

"How are you?" She tried again.

"Fine." I replied bluntly.

Her frown deepened and I couldn't tease her anymore. God, I just hoped my family never saw me like this. I started chuckling at her expression when it grew confused. I walked towards her so that I was towering over her. Her eyes were wide and worried, making her seem like some cute bunny.

"I missed you." I smirked, knowing that a cute blush would fall across her cheeks.

She smiled and sure enough, a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"I missed you too." She replied.

Not caring about any reputation that I had ever built up or the fact that even I hated PDA, I bent down as she reached up on her toes and our lips met. When I had shut her up a few days ago with a kiss, I knew that she was nervous. She obviously hadn't gotten how nervous I was. Well of course I'd never show her that. The kiss was short and sweet and before Rose could pull away, I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her to me in another kiss which lasted longer than the previous one.

"You have to stop doing that." Rose was flustered as she pulled away from me.

I smirked and shrugged.

"Doing what?" I asked innocently.

She dropped her eye contact with me and I fought the urge to laugh at her.

"I have to go to my locker." She murmured, looking at me with her big, brown eyes.

"I'll come with you. Come on, I know I'm a jerk but I do know the meaning of chivalry." I smirked.

She laughed and nodded sarcastically.

"Yes, and you just proved that this morning when I skipped over to you and you acted like you didn't get a crap about me." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey," I defended, raising my hands. "I just wanted to see how you'd react. I didn't know you'd cry."

Her face scrunched up and she snapped her neck towards me.

"I did not cry!" She yelled accusingly.

I laughed and slung my arm around her shoulder as she lifted her hand and entwined our fingers where my and was slung. I smiled at how her hand felt comfortingly small in my hand.

"I know you didn't," I chuckled, "I just like seeing you squirm."

She glared at me while we walked through the hallways towards her locker.

"Jerk." She muttered.

I kissed her cheek softly and her face heated up.

"You can never let me stay mad at you." She grumbled.

I laughed as we reached her locker and she opened it up quickly and placed her PE uniform inside and grabbed her books. Just as I was about to lean in for a kiss, the door slammed open and I heard the familiar voice of Camilla who was crying and screaming. Frowning, I focused more on what was happening and saw Chris chasing behind her, begging her to listen to him.

Slinging my arm around Rose, I walked over to them. Camilla was leaning against a wall and was wiping away tears while Chris was looking at her, pleading for her to tell him why she was so mad.

"You've ruined everything." She kept muttering, wiping away tears.

I felt Rose pull away from my hold and she went over to Cam and put an arm around her.

"What's going on?" I asked Chris who was looking helpless.

"I'm just as clueless as you are." He told me.

"Cam, what happened?" I asked her and she just started crying harder.

"You should take her to the bathroom or something." I told Rose who nodded quickly and started pulling Cam towards the girls' bathroom.

I watched as she walked away with a despaired Camilla and I turned around to face Chris.

"Did you hurt her?" Trust me to jump to conclusions.

And obviously, with jumping to conclusions, Chris sent a right hook to my face which I narrowly dodged.

"F*ck you." He glared. "I have no idea why she is so angry at me."

"Well, what did she say to you when she saw you?"

"I found her sitting in her car crying. So I walked over to her and asked her what was wrong and she slapped me. The she started rambling on about how her life was over and that I've ruined everything."

I kind of felt sorry for the poor bloke. Here he was, completely in love with his long-time girlfriend and he had no idea why she was yelling at him. I've known Chris since babyhood and I was so happy for him when he found Cam because he was crazy about her. I always thought that they'd graduate high school and college together and get married. Because I never saw it any other way, you know? But now this, well, whatever this was, has come and made him seem completely helpless.

"Did you cheat?" I asked him.

Maybe he cheated on her and she found out.

"Sanders, I'm gonna have to kill you if you don't stop jumping to conclusions." He snapped.

"Okay, so I'm assuming you didn't cheat." I shrugged with a smirk as he glared at me.

He started running his fingers through his hair multiple times and at one point, he randomly started yelling at a few teachers who were walking passed and laughing. I had to say, I was a horrible friend because I found his reactions amusing. But of course, I wanted to keep my head so I never actually laughed.

"Listen, stop stressing. If she ends things with you then stalk her until she takes you back. At the end of the day, Chris, you're not going to lose her." I told him.

He looked at me and seemed a little more calm.

"Let me ask you something. If you saw Rose walking into school, crying her eyes out and blaming some unknown incident on you and you felt like she was going to choke on her sobs, what would you do?" His eyes were boring into mine questionably.

I paused for a while, thinking about it. Finally, I sighed and shrugged.

"I'd tell her to suck it up and that whatever the problem was, we'd get through together."

Chris smirked a little and even let out a little laugh.

"You're so whipped." And it was my turn to send a right hook towards Chris except this time, it actually landed.

"I wouldn't be talking." I muttered, feeling gruff.

I was not whipped.

Chris continued pacing around, running fingers through his hair while I watched him. I felt my phone vibrate and I looked quickly to see Rose had sent me a message. I frowned at that; I knew for a fact that Rose wouldn't initiate messages because she knew I hated them. She'd only send me a message if I started it. I clicked on the message and quickly read through it.

Rose: Send Chris home. Make him believe that everything is okay and let him know that Camilla will be coming over to his house tonight and that everything will be discussed. I need to talk to you. We don't have the first two periods together so meet me in the library at lunch.

I read through the message again. Wow, that 'I need to talk to you' line made me question every bad thing I did in my life. What did she want to talk to me about? And what happened to Camilla? How was I supposed to pretend that everything was okay with Camilla when I didn't even know what was wrong with her. So, I did the one thing I thought about.

"Hey, Chris," I called as he looked over to me.

"Come read this message." I said and he walked over to me and read the message.

"What the f*ck? What's that supposed to mean?" He growled.

"It means that Cam needs a little bit of space from you. Just go home, play call of duty, relax a little and Cam will come over tonight and explain everything. Just go home."

My phone vibrated again and I clicked open the message.

Rose: Chloe is coming to pick up Cam and take her home. Cam will go to Chris tonight so make sure he doesn't approach her because she's very sensitive at the moment.

"Chloe is coming?" I asked with a frown. "Why, where is she?"

"She's at home mourning her break up with Asher." He told me as my eyes widened with surprise.

"Break up? I didn't know he broke up with her." Now I was free to kick his ass any time I wanted.

I never liked him.

"He didn't. Well actually, Chloe caught him cheating on her and she broke up with him." Now I wanted to kick his ass even more.

I let Chris read the message as he sighed heavily.

"Why is this so f*cked up?" He groaned, massaging his temples.

"Chris, just go home. Stay there until Cam comes over. You'll make it worse if you don't listen to her." I told him as he nodded.

The bell rang and Chris and I walked to his car.

"I'm telling you Chris, you'll only make things worse if she sees you so stay home." I told him for the thousandth time.

"Yes, yes, I know. Now go to class." He rushed.

"I'm not going to class if I have no one with me. I only have Rose in three, four and six so for the other periods I'll just stay in my car." I shrugged.

Chris just rolled his eyes at me and head-nodded as a farewell. I walked to my car and sat inside, grabbing my phone. As much as I hated texting, I decided to sit in my car and message her until lunch. Hopefully the hours wont drag on too much.

**

"Nate!" Rose yelled, a blush blossoming her cheeks.

"What?" I smirked innocently.

"You can't keep kissing me in public like that. No one wants to see it." She glowered.

"I don't know Rose, I am pretty hot. And I'm an excellent kisser. And I'm hot. And an awesome kisser. I think people would pay money and stand in line for hours to see me kiss." I winked.

"Ever the narcissist." She muttered with an eye roll, making me laugh.

I pulled my arm around her waist and walked her to the back of the library and settled into a corner. I sat on the floor and put Rose on my lap. When Rose didn't argue, I felt smug but I still managed to see the hint of a pink on her cheeks, making me chuckle quietly.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" I asked her.

She stayed silent for a few moments, like she was having an internal debate. Or maybe she was trying to figure out how to tell me whatever it was she wanted to say.

"Camilla is pregnant." She blurted out.

That was undoubtedly something I was not expecting. I felt my eyes widen and my breath hitched. Cam was pregnant? The same Camilla I have known for years? Chris's Camilla?

"Well you're blunt." I finally managed to speak, mimicking the same words Rose always says to me.

She rolled her eyes and fought back a smile.

"How do you think I felt when you randomly told me that you liked me?" Rose challenged, her eyes widening a little.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. You asked me why I kept complimenting you and I gave you an answer." I laughed.

Rose grumbled something that I didn't catch.



"Anyway, onto more important matters, I just told you Camilla is pregnant." Rose sighed, playing with her fingers.

I noticed it was habit for her, whenever she was nervous or anxious, she would play with her fingers.

She seemed nervous for Cam. And honestly, so did I. That girl has been a close friend of mine for such a long time. We had never been as close as Chris and I were, but still. And poor Chris. He had no idea what was going to hit him. I knew I didn't have to convince him to stay with Cam and to be a father to the baby. Chris was too moral to already know that himself. However, Chris was my age; only nineteen. And Cam was eighteen. I don't know how I'd react if I found out that Rose was pregnant.

"Nate." Rose's voice shook me back to reality and I looked back at her.

"I kind of feel bad for Chris." I smiled sheepishly.

She smiled in return and then started playing with her fingers again.

"How could this happen?" She exclaimed suddenly.

I smirked, knowing that she just put herself in a trap.

"Well, I'm not sure if you ever listen in Science or P.E, but what happens is that a male and female have sex and-"

"Nate!" Rose yelled, slapping me across the arm as she blushed furiously. "I know how it happened. But, I didn't even know that they were together like that."

A frown fleeted across my face as she went back to played with those damn fingers. That habit kind of annoyed me. I held her fingers in mine so she couldn't play with them anymore.

"What do you mean? They've been together for years and they're in love. Plus, it's the twenty-first century. Obviously they'd be sleeping together."

"But... wouldn't they wait until marriage?" She asked.

"What would give you that idea?"

She shrugged and her face heated up again.

"I just assumed that people waited until marriage." She murmured softly, looking anywhere but my way.

I laughed at her innocence and placed a quick kiss on her temple.

"So is that what you're going to do to me?" I asked jokingly. "Do we have to wait till marriage?"

Her eyes widened a little and she shrugged. Her gaze finally met mine as she struggled for words.

"If our relationship makes it that far then yes, we will wait for marriage."

She sounded so... serious. Shit; I never even thought about marriage with Rose. Hell, we haven't even been out on a proper date! Why the hell did I bring up marriage?

"So you're saying that I'm never going to get laid until we get married?" I asked.

"Yes."

She sounded serious. Sincere. This girl clearly didn't know what she did to me or else she wouldn't put me through the torture of having to wait until marriage. Well then, if she wanted marriage, I'd give her marriage.

"Rose?" I murmured, catching her attention.

"Mm?"

"Will you marry me?" I tried my very best to sound serious and keep back the smirk that I wanted to parade. I wanted her to think I was serious.

Her eyes widened and she broke out into uncontrollable coughs before she looked at me, her wide brown eyes looking for any signs of teasing. I accidentally twisted up the corners of my mouth and that's when she realised I was joking because I couldn't stop laughing.

"You're a jerk." She muttered, getting off of my lap and sitting down beside me instead.

I continued laughing as I watched her glare at the books she was surrounded by.

"Tell me something I don't know." I smiled smugly.

"I don't even know why I'm with you." She whispered, still glaring.

"Because you like it when I tease you." I winked.

Suddenly, she stopped glaring and instead she smiled knowingly. The bell rang and just before I stood up to walk with Rose to art, she surprised me by sitting back onto my lap. But this time, her legs were wrapped on either side of me and she was sitting much, much closer. Before I could say anything, she brought her face close to mine and kissed me softly and seductively. Her fingers were playing with nape of my hair and before I could dominate over the kiss, she stood up quickly, and picked up her bag.

"That look tells me that you like it when I tease you too." She smirked at my dumbfounded expression and walked away.

I stared at her retreating figure as she walked out of the library with a hung open mouth. If she was going to be like this, time would surely drag on before we could wait for marriage.

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

Authors Note:

SOO... Cam is pregnant! Did anyone expect that to happen? Even I was a little iffy when I was writing it. But, after all, this is a teen fic and we need more drama!

And I felt very bad with myself when I wrote the last bit where she sort of seduces him. I was like 'no, no, no, no!' the whole time.

AAAND, yes, if Rose and Nate do stay in a relationship and make it as a couple, they will be waiting till marriage. Just saying XD

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx