Till death do us part

Chapter 7: I need time - Age 18

Rose's POV

"Rose?"

I sighed as I kept looking at the poster on the wall.

"Rose?" A hand waved in front of my face.

I blinked and looked to my right. "Oh, hey Naheed."

He looked from the poster to me. "What are you looking at?"

I sighed.

He looked at the poster again. "The prom?" He then looked at me. "What about it?"

I sighed again. "I want to take Cora."

He showed me a smile. "I imagine so," His smile then disappeared a bit. "So what's the problem?"

I looked away, to my locker. "Well..." I sighed before opening my locker and rummaging through it.

"Rose?"

I stopped fidgeting with my stuff and gulped. "I'd love to go to prom with her," I then looked at Naheed. "But I'm..." I sighed. "What if people look?"

His facial expression changed completely then. It's almost as if he hadn't expected me to say this. 

I sighed again and started going through my locker again. Perhaps I said something stupid...

"Rose," He said after quite some time. "I can't tell you if people will look," He said, making me look down. "But I do know that you want to do this with her, right?"

I looked at Naheed and nodded.

"If that's the case, you shouldn't be focussing on other people," He put his hand on my shoulder. "Just spend your prom with the person you want."

I smiled a bit.

"Hey."

Naheed and I looked to our left. "Hey Cora," Naheed smiled before looking at me. "Rose has to ask you something." He then patted my shoulder before leaving us alone.

Cora looked at me. "So," She scooted closer to me. "What is it you have to ask me?" She smiled at me.

I gulped. I was already feeling a bit uneasy with her getting so close to me... Was I really able to dance with her at prom? "Uhm..." I really wasn't sure... "Would you like to have a date tonight?"

She seemed a bit taken back, as if she knew what I originally wanted to ask. "Sure," She created some distance between us then. "My place again?"

I nodded.

She nodded. "Ok," She sighed. "I'll see you then," She scooted closer, wanting to kiss my cheek, but stopped when she noticed I was backing off. "Bye." She then left.

I let out a breath before heading to class.

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After school, I went home straight away. Normally, I'd stay with Cora till her brother arrives. But today, I wanted some extra time to get some things for our date tonight.

On my way home, I went to a grocery store. I got some chocolates and a rose for her. I did my best to keep them in perfect shape till I got home.

When I got home, I told my fathers straight away I wasn't having dinner with them. I could tell they wanted to interrogate me but, thankfully, they didn't.

I went to my room and got dressed nicely for our date. Even though we'd spend the evening in her room, I still wanted to look nice. It's a date after all.

Sometimes I wondered about our relationship. I remember Naheed telling me how odd it was that we were having dates in Cora's bedroom. Hearing things like that does make me realize that we don't have a normal relationship. But I couldn't help it, it was just hard for me. And Cora knew.

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"Hey," Cora smiled a bit when she opened her front door for me. "Come in."

"Thanks," I entered and took my jacket off. I hung it away, as I had been doing every other time I had been here. "Where are your brothers?"

She looked around, as if looking for them. "Anthony is watching tv and Miles is in his room," She then looked at me. "So they won't disturb us."

I nodded. "Good."

She suddenly smiled. "You've got a surprise?"

I nodded again.

Her smile increased. "What is it?"

"I'll show you upstairs." I motioned her to follow me to her room. 

"So what is it?" She asked as we entered her room. "Do I have to close my eyes or...?"

I chuckled a bit. "Can we sit down?"

"Uhm, sure," She motioned to her bed. We then sat down on it. "Why?"

"Close your eyes," I said, so she did. I smiled and took the chocolates and rose out of my bag. I put them in front of her, on the bed. "Ok, open your eyes."

She did so and immediately a smile found its way on her face. "This is for me?" She asked even though she knew very well that it was all for her.

I nodded.

She smiled even more. "This is amazing, thanks!" She leaned closer but I pushed her away. She then sighed and leaned back. "It's always the same thing with you..." She mumbled.

I looked at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She looked at me. "We started dating 3 months ago and we haven't even gone outside for a date," She sighed. "Rose, I like you a lot but... I just miss the feeling of a real relationship."

I gulped.

"I can't even get near you..." She scooted closer to me, to which I took some distance. She sighed again. "I really want to kiss my girlfriend, you know?"

I looked at her. "I'm just nervous."

She nodded. "I understand, I told you as much when we first got together. But it's been 3 months, Rose."

I gulped again. "Have you kissed before?"

She slowly nodded.

"So for you, this is easier than for me."

"I get that, Rose," She sighed, clearly frustrated with the situation. "But it's been 3 months. I think I've been patient enough."

I looked away.

"I want us to get out of that damn closet."

I looked at her again. I immediately shook my head. "No."

She sighed.

"I'll do an effort, ok?"

She looked down. "An effort?"

I nodded, even though she wasn't looking at me. "Naheed told you this morning I wanted to ask you something, remember?"

She slowly nodded.

I gulped. "I wanted to ask you..." I gulped again. "I..." I paused. I took a deep breath. "Will you go to prom with me?"

She looked at me then, she seemed really surprised. "R-Really?"

I slowly nodded.

"So I get to hold you and dance with you?"

I slowly nodded again.

"And we'll get to be seen touching each other that way?"

I gulped but nodded again.

"And I get to call you my girlfriend?"

I gulped.

"Do I?"

I looked away.

She leaned closer, holding my face, wanting to plant a kiss on my cheek. But I pushed her away. She sighed again. "What is it now?"

"Cora," I started. "I really like you, but I just need some time. Can you please just give me that?"

She looked at me for a while before looking at the chocolates I had brought. "Let's eat some, I guess."

I sighed as I realized this issue would continue to be a problem if we didn't deal with it the right way...