Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter 22

Rosalie's POV -

I felt like my heart had jumped into my mouth upon hearing his voice. What was he doing here? How on Earth did he manage to find me? Out of all the places I could have been, he found me here. I felt my breathing quicken at a rapid speed, as if I was about to hyperventilate.

Honestly, I was acting a little bit ridiculous. Come on, what was the worst thing he could do to me? I doubted that when I opened the door that he'd grab me by my neck and demand that I be killed for running away. Well, with Nate, he was completely unpredictable, but I really hoped he wouldn't want me dead.

I jumped in my spot when I heard Nate knock on the door again, this time a little louder.

"Rose, I know you're in here. Open the door." He said loudly.

I didn't know what to do. Well, there wasn't anything rational to do. I could ignore him, wait until he leaves or something. But that wouldn't work because he was just way too stubborn. I could open the door and let him in but you never know how things can turn out when Nate was in the picture.

But, I didn't understand. According to the messages Jace had been sending, Adam was supposed to be here, at my motel door. How on Earth did Nate know where I was?

I decided that I would go hide out in the bedroom just as there was a loud bang making me stumble across my feet and fall face first on the floor. I barely managed to hear Nate laughing loudly before I grumbled to myself angrily and opened up the door, rubbing my face.

As soon as the door had opened, my eyes stung a little and I kept a firm grip against the bridge of my nose, hoping that I could supress any tears.

"N-Nate?" I asked, my eyes growing wide.

He rolled his eyes and an automatic smirk reached his gorgeous lips.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Rose. It's not like you've never seen me before." He laughed.

"How could you be making a joke at a time like this?" I asked, feeling quite surprised that he hadn't attacked me by the neck yet.

"Me making jokes is the only way I won't start screaming." He told me with a tight smile.

I stayed silent for a few moments, just staring at him. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder and that definetly applied to me. I knew that I had missed Nate like crazy but now, as he stood in front of me (glaring, might I add), I couldn't understand how I had gone so long without actually talking to him.

Before I knew what I was doing, I walked two long strides towards him and wrapped my arms around him, just breathing in his scent. At first, he had just frozen in his place, not returning my gesture. But then, slowly, he adjusted my arms so that he could return the hug as he tightened his grip around me, holding me close.

He then pulled away, but only so he could look at me, and then he pressed his lips against mine slowly and sensually. I returned his kiss, following his every move until I felt him pull away and go back to glaring at me.

"You look like you want to yell at me." I murmured, chewing on my lip nervously.

"Great, we're on the same page. Now get inside so I can yell." He said, no emotion playing on his face.

I gulped heavily and began to feel anxious, my stomach going into overdrive. I didn't know what I was going to do now. If Nate hadn't showed up, I may have been able to continue searching for apartments in Vermont, but now that he was here, right in front of me, I didn't know if I could go back to my original plans.

Reluctantly, I walked back inside the apartment and sat on the kitchen stool, not meeting his piercing gaze.

Nate wasted no time in getting straight into it. It sort of made me question whether he just enjoyed yelling at me or something.

"Where the f*ck have you been, Rose?" He demanded, his tone harsh.

I flinched at the sudden tough tone and looked towards him where I managed to just see his look soften a little.

"I had to leave." I murmured, becoming suddenly interested in a small piece of threat on my shirt.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Rose. I received a three hundred dollar fine because when I went to your apartment and I found a couple in there, claiming that they lived there, I beat up the landlord and he pressed charges against me. Apparently, you were evicted." He told me, his tone condescending.

I chewed on my lip nervously and continued staring at the floor.

"Look at me." He demanded, lifting up my chin so that my eyes could meet his.

"I was evicted." I murmured, clearing my throat.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, bringing the stool that he was sitting on closer to me.

"Rose, you are surrounded by people with money. Why didn't you go to Adam, or Chris or the twins... or me?" He barely muttered the word 'me' and I frowned at that, how he suddenly looked so insecure.

"What's wrong?" I asked,

"When you texted Adam that you were okay, why didn't you message me? Why was it that he was the only one that received a message when I'm sure that you received dozens of missed calls from me? Why didn't you message me?"

I smiled sadly at him and couldn't help but think that the look of insecurity on his face was absolutely adorable.

"I couldn't message you. I knew that if I had messaged you, I would have wanted to say more." I told him, feeling heat rise to my cheeks at saying something cheesy.

"If you missed me like you're saying you are, why did you leave? When you were with people who not only could help you, but would want to help you? Why the f*ck would you leave Rose?" He asked again.

If we weren't in such a serious discussion, I would have praised him for keeping his tone so calm. Knowing Nate, he probably would have wanted to yell at me like no tomorrow but somehow, he was containing it.

"Adam was in Tulsa, it's obvious he doesn't have enough money to support himself, my three brothers and me on one salary. Chloe was suffering breaking up from a long term relationship. Cam and Chris don't have time for helping me, they're having a baby. I just couldn't." I told him.

"Well what about me? You don't think I wouldn't have wanted to help you?" He frowned.

"I... I didn't know what to think. The thing is Nate, I knew you would want to help me. But by the time my landlord had become some sickening freak, I didn't even want to live in the apartment anymore." I said, memories of Friedrich Porter haunting me.

"Why was he a sickening freak?" He asked me, his tone curious.

I didn't want to say anything because I knew Nate would surely confront Mr. Porter and get himself into trouble and I didn't want to do that. But the look on Nate's face told me that I was done getting away with letting bits of information slide.

"He told me that if I wanted to continue living in his building then I had to do him some... favours." I murmured, my voice not being able to entirely tell Nate exactly what Mr. Porter had implied.

"He wanted you to be his sex slave?!" He demanded, his fist pounding onto the bench top.

Before I could reply, I heard the door to the bedroom open and I saw Liam come out, smiling cheekily.

"Um, whoever you are, Rosie doesn't let us say sex, I think it's a bad word. So don't say it." Liam grinned.

My eyes widened and I narrowed my eyes at my mischievous brother.

"Liam! Back in the room now!" I scolded.

I heard Nate laughing loudly beside me, his grin showing that he truly appreciated Liam's comment.

"What?" Liam shrugged innocently. "You're the one who said we can't say sex."

"Liam!" I warned.

He began to laugh, a mischievous glint in his eye before he put up his hands defensively.

"Fine, fine, I'm going." He rolled his eyes at my narrowed ones and then closed the door.

Crap! I had completely forgotten that the boys were in there. Some sister I am.

"Was that your brother?" Nate asked, for once smiling, making my heart skip a beat.

"The one and only." I muttered, puffing out my cheeks.

He muffled a laugh and smirked at me.

"I like him." He smiled.

"Why, because he's a lot like you?" I asked, raising my brows.

"Exactly." Nate winked.

And that was it. That moment of impact where my heart stuttered and I felt my insides flip out. I felt like I had never lost Nate and that I had known him my whole life but I wanted to keep him so close because I had missed him so much. I knew now that I couldn't exactly brush off his presence and pretend that I had never met him because he left a permanent footprint in my life.

"Why are you crying?" Nate laughed.

I hadn't even realised that I had tears swimming down my face until Nate had pointed it out. I quickly wiped away the tears and shrugged, not being able to form words.

"Come here," He murmured once he saw just how upset I truly was.

I didn't know how a wink from Nate could have triggered two weeks' worth of tears that I kept bottled up to flow down, but it happened, and all I knew was that somehow, I was upset and needed comforting. I couldn't form words because I knew if I opened my mouth, I would indeed sob, so I kept quiet and took in Nate's comfort.

He lifted me onto his lap and kept one arm around my waist while the other was rubbing my shoulder soothingly. I put my head in the crook of his neck and let the past escape me as I cried in Nate's arms, loving his embrace.

Finally, I tried to pull myself together, not wanting to get sympathy and bottled up the rest of my tears.

"I'm sorry." I murmured, wiping away the last remaining tears from my face.

"It's fine." Nate smiled, his breathtaking grin.

"Don't let this stop you from yelling." I told him seriously. "By all means, keep screaming."

He rolled his eyes as I tried to get off of his lap and back onto my stool but he wouldn't let me.

"He wanted you to be his sex slave?" He asked me, his voice suddenly tight.

"Yeah." I murmured.

"Well, I'll go kick his ass for you." He told me, pressing his lips to my cheek.

"Don't do it." I chuckled at his determination. "I know he deserves it, but I don't want to see you get into trouble."

"I'll get my revenge." He told me, determination still evident in his tone.

I stayed silent, and shut my eyes for a while, just keeping a contented smile on my face. I honestly never knew just how much this boy meant to me until I saw him standing at my door. He had just changed me impermeably and forever.

"Hey Rose?" He asked, his lips on my temple, making me shiver with delight.

"Mm?" I replied, feeling slightly wooed.

"Can I say something cheesy?"

I nodded, granting him permission for him to do so. Nate never said anything remotely romantic or cheesy so I was feeling quite anxious to knowing what he wanted to say.

"I missed you." He told me, grinning widely.

I smiled back at him and pecked him quickly on the lips.

"That's not cheesy." I scowled, after wondering why he had seemed so nervous.

"But it is romantic, right?" He smirked.

"Nope. It would have been romantic if you said 'oh Rose, I missed you like Romeo missed Juliet when he thought she was dead. Your lack of presence made me feel weak, I desired your beauty,' something like that." I giggled, trying to picture Nate saying something like that.

"Well, I wasn't exactly going to lie to you. I didn't miss you that much." He winked.

"Ditto." I shrugged, acting nonchalant.

"Oh, yeah right." He scoffed. "I'm sure you wept buckets and buckets of tears for me, just yearning for me to be here with you. I actually feel bad for you. You like me much more than I could ever like you." He teased.

"Who said I ever liked you?" I asked innocently, pretending not to notice his teasing.

He frowned at me and opened his mouth to speak.

"So you don't like me?" He asked for confirmation.

"Nope. I'm just a gold digger, looking for money." I smirked.

It was then he realised I was kidding. He glared at me, pushing me off of his lap.

"Not funny." He sulked.

"I thought it was very funny." I grinned.

"Yeah, world class comedian." He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

We stayed silent for a few moments, looking everywhere but each other. The whole time he had been here, we had mainly been kidding around, trying to avoid talking about the dreaded subject of the future. I didn't want to bring it up because really, I didn't know what to do. What was there to do? He wasn't going to let me go and I was sure as hell that I didn't want to be apart from him.

As cheesy as it sounded, I couldn't imagine my life without him. I felt like I had known him my entire life when realistically, it has been a few short months. Three and a half to be precise.

"So, what do we do now?" He asked after taking a huge breath.

"I don't know." I muttered, averting my eyes to the floor.

"Well, you're coming home with me, I know that for sure." He said confidently.

"But-"

"No!" He suddenly yelled, making me jump in fright. "There are no buts or if's or anything. There is something really f*cking wrong if I don't drag you back to Brooklyn."

I preferred to take his sudden outburst more as a compliment than anything else because really, we hadn't spent enough time together yet in order for me to be angry with him.

"I'm sorry," He suddenly murmured softly, shocking me at the softness in his tone. "I scream at you a lot, don't I?" His face looked so adorable right now, mirroring an innocent, little boy look.

"Nate, there is nothing more in the World that that I want more than to go back home. But my apartment has been given to someone else. That apartment was a special deal given to me by Mr. Ashford and I can't afford to pay even half the price for anything else, especially now that Mr. Ashford has stopped my payments. So, I honestly don't know what to do." I told him truthfully.

"You can come live with me." He suggested, shrugging nonchalantly.

I frowned at him, knowing that a joke at a time like this was not appropriate. I was beginning to think that the older a male is, the sillier they become.

"I don't think we're at that stage in our relationship, Nate." I laughed, playing along.

"I'm not kidding, Rose. Come live with me. It's perfect. You wouldn't have to search for a place to live. You wouldn't have to make any payments. Everything is done and taken care of. You'll finally begin to live the life you should have gotten at birth." He grinned.

I muffled a laugh and stared at him like he had gone bonkers.

"You're crazy." I laughed shakily, not knowing if he was seriously telling the truth.

"Rose, I'm not kidding."

"Well, Nate, I can't just come live with you! That is just way too much. You don't have room in your house for an extra four people! I will not be a burden, I refuse." I stated solemnly.

How could he propose such a suggestion? Was he crazy or did he just really miss me? I couldn't move in with him and his family, it was the most ridiculous statement he had ever made.

"Okay, fine, I understand that you may want some privacy so, you can take the pool house." He shrugged calmly.

"Nate-"

"No, Rose, listen to me. We refurnished our pool house into a guest house years ago. It has a big kitchen a lounge room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms and an ensuite. No one has ever used it before and no one ever goes inside. You'll be living with us, but not exactly living with us so you can have your privacy. Trust me; I couldn't handle living with you. Seeing you all the time would be way too annoying." He added, rolling his eyes teasingly.

"Nate-"

"Rose, my parents put thousands of dollars towards the pool house and no one has ever used it. This is the perfect opportunity for my parents not to feel so bad about themselves and for someone to use it. You'd be doing them a favour, how could you deprive them of the happiness that they will feel?" He continued, ignoring me every time I spoke.

"But Nate, I can't be that selfish!" I finally spoke, glad that he was finally paying attention to me.

"Listen to me, this whole thing, me moving in at your house, it changes everything in your family dynamics. Who am I to come in and change everything? I cannot live with you; it's too much of a selfish move." I told him, attempting an explanation.

"No, Rose, you f*cking listen to me. You can't do that. You can't just waltz into someone's life, make them care about you, grow f*cking feelings for you and leave. That's not fair." He growled. "Don't feed me this f*cking selfish bullshit that you have going on because nothing you have ever done has been a selfish act. You will be selfish if you don't accept my offer because that's just a f*cking bitchy move, Rose. I'm done with that. You came, you made me care and now you want to leave. Well f*ck you." He spat.

Something suddenly clicked inside of me, making me angry. I was so close to slapping him across the face.

"Don't speak to me like that." I muttered tensely through tight lips.

"Don't give me reason to." He replied, his tone a little calmer.

"What the hell do you want from me, Nate? I can't move in with you, it can't be an option."

"Why?" He yelled exasperatingly, lifting his arms in confusion.

"Because your family will have an extra four people living with them. And I know you said that we will be in different places and all that, but it will not work. I will be on their property, living in their pool house, using their things. I am responsible for myself but I am also responsible for my brothers and if they caused havoc I wouldn't know what to do." I tried to explain.

"Rose, how about we compromise, okay?" He suggested lifting his eyebrow.

I grinned quickly, despite the cold feeling in the room and stared at the eyebrow for a few seconds before my eyes met his again.

"You know I'd give in to anything with that eyebrow raised." I grumbled.

He chucked, swiftly placing his lips on my forehead.

"That's exactly why I'm doing it." He winked.

"Anyway, this compromise? What is it?" I asked him.

"You come do exactly as I have been telling you. Try it out for a couple of weeks, a month even. If you feel that it's just not working for you, we can switch to any alternate option that you want. However, if you feel comfortable and no problems arise, you stay." He shrugged.

"Nate, no matter how many times I repeat myself, you're not listening to me. Moving in with you would be completely selfish. I cannot do it." I tried explaining but he just grew angrier.

"Selfish? No Rose, moving in with me would not be selfish. Do you know what would be selfish? Not moving in. You aren't the only f*cking person on this planet. You have three brothers who need to be fed and showered with clothes and medicine and a f*cking shelter. Swallow your f*cking pride and accept that you need help. They need an education and friends and to have some fun. You can't afford any of that crap. You may be a good role model and one heck of a sister but you aren't their mother. If not for yourself, then for them, move in with me." His tone at the start was furious but in the end, it was a mere whisper.

I didn't reply instead, I just remained silent, thinking about everything he had told me. I wanted to move back to Brooklyn but on my terms, not his. But, I didn't have many options. Actually, I had two options. Continue running away from everything or to move into the pool house.

Obviously, for the sake of my brothers, I knew which option was best. But this whole situation - my situation, it was annoying the crap out of me. Every time I moved into a new place, I would always think 'this is it, I will not get evicted, I will keep us going' and every time I would have gotten myself into some sort of shit and the ramifications were not good. It was like every opportunity was always slowly slipping through my fingers, like I could never hold a proper grasp.

Finally, I took a deep breath, knowing that this fresh new start that I was going to make wasn't exactly the same as all the other times.

"Okay, I'll do it. I'll move in with you." I heard myself saying.

His lips grew into an outstretched grin as he took me by surprise by pulling me back into his lap, adjusting my body so he could comfortably smash his lips onto mine, kissing me ferociously. I returned the kiss, trying to keep up with his eagerness. I pulled away from his, trying to catch a breath as I saw him smirking at me as I blushed furiously.

"How can you continue for so long without pausing?" I asked exasperatingly.

"I'm secretly a fish." He smirked, winking at me.

"Ew, I'm dating a fish." I teased.

Nate rolled his eyes and then proceeded to gaze down at my lips. I laughed at his keenness and let him crush his lips to mine once again.

During and in between and through the kissing, he had lifted me and brought me to the couch, laying me down as we proceeded what seemed to be his favourite activity which was well, it was my favourite activity too.

As we kissed, we both jumped and froze in our positions when we heard someone clear their throat.

We looked up and the look on Nate's face was priceless. He looked like a deer caught in headlights, it was too cute.

"Uh Jace, hi," I squeaked.

Jace smirked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"So I heard we're moving in at this douche's house." He said, pointing in Nate's direction.

"Um-"

"Yeah, you are. Any problem with that?" Nate spoke, mimicking Jace's smirk.

"Hey buddy, I wasn't talking to you. And you have three seconds to put your shirt back on and to get off of my sister before I grab the knife in the draw and chop off your di-"

"Woah, Woah! Jace, chill. I'd like you to meet Nate." I spoke loudly, quickly interrupting him from saying something he'd surely be in trouble for.

"I'd like to meet Nate too. But a shirtless one will not suffice."

I rolled my eyes as Nate chuckled, putting his shirt back on.

"Look his shirt is on. Now, Jace, I'd like you to meet Nate, my boyfriend." I blushed a deep scarlet as I mumbled the word 'boyfriend'.

"So you're the wanker that exhausted my sister." Jace stated, crossing his arms in an intimidating manner which I just found cute.

"Yep, and I'm going to be sticking around for a long time so I'm going to keep exhausting her." Nate replied, folding his arms like Jace.

Oh great, now that these two have met, there's no stopping them. Other than the jerkiness Nate possessed, he and Jace were pretty much the same. Actually Nate, Jace, Mike and Liam were all pretty much the same.

Oh Dear God, help me... But I couldn't wait.

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Authors Note:

So I posted this too :) what did you think of it? And does anyone else find Mike and Liam to be the cutest boys in the world? XD you should definitely search up Mike and Liam. Trevor and Preston Shores.

Anyways, Rose is moving in!

I'm off to swim ... Australia is so hot .-.

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx