Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty Six

Rosalie's POV -

I pushed passed everyone who was in my way and tore pulled the exit door for the cafeteria, running through the school halls and dashing down the stairs towards the grassed area.

And as my legs pushed on, my ears were able to hear his steps coming closer and closer towards me.

Oh, crap...

"Rose, stop running!" He yelled, alarming me as the sound of his voice grew closer and closer.

I ignored him and pushed on; hoping that all those days of running around and taking care of three boys would benefit me today. But, even if I was like a cheetah in running, Nate had enough determination and gym-affected running skills to catch up to me.

And let me tell you, when he finally did catch up to me, he didn't merely grab me by the arm or stop me in my tracks. Nope, Nate being, well, Nate, pounced on me. Literally. I had no idea what was happening until both Nate and I were in the air, Nate holding my body mid-air and twisting me around.

When we landed on the floor with a hard thud, I noticed that Nate had twisted me around so that he would fall first and have me falling on him. Let me tell you, I would have rather fallen onto the floor because my goodness Nate had the built of a wall. But a very pretty wall, nonetheless.

I was puffing as I lay on top of Nate and he had his arm wrapped around my waist securely, leaving me no choice but to face him.

"Rose?"

Once again, I ignored him. I felt anger welling up inside of me and I tried to plan an escape route from his strong hold. Unfortunately, I was no Michael Scofield and I didn't really know how to actually move away from Nate.

"Rose?"

I refused to answer him. My eyes were focused on the grass below us, my mind trying to pretend Nate wasn't there.

"Look at me." He demanded.

I tightened my lips together and shook my head. Oh, how I wanted to look at him. Just for this past week to never have happened would be so good. I loved Nate and that was my downfall. I could never really stay mad at him, despite whatever he had done. I shut my eyes and bit the inside of my lip, refraining myself from speaking.

"What the f*ck, Rose?" He finally muttered running a hand through his hair.

I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"What?" I mumbled dryly.

"You made me run!" He whined.

"You're the one who ran after me!" I argued.

"Because you wouldn't stop!"

"Not my fault, Nate." I muttered.

He didn't reply and I began to feel awkward in the way we were position. I mean, I was kind of sprawled across him. And it wasn't like in those cheesy movies how it was romantic and stuff. Nope, it was really uncomfortable, you know, considering the circumstances.

"Can you let me go?"

"Will you leave me?" He asked softly.

I felt like there was double meaning to those words.

"No."

He grinned and began to loosen his hold on me.

I rolled off of him and when I was on my own, I sat on the grass, crossing my legs. Nate sat down too, his legs bent as he position himself across from me.

"Can I ask a question?" He spoke.

Just as I was about to reply, he shook his head and smirked.

"Of course I can, I don't need your permission." He muttered, shaking his head.

"What is it, Nate?" I asked tiredly.

"Are we broken up? Because if we are, you should have at least told me. I've been thinking all this time that we were just fighting, you know, not really agreeing with each other. But you avoid me every moment you can, and you haven't spoken passively once. It's been a week and we still haven't reconciled. What the f*ck is up?" This was sort of bitter-sweet moment.

Why? I didn't have a clue; I just knew that it was.

"Nate?"

"What?"

"Do you... Do you understand what you did wrong? Why I am so angry at you?" I frowned confusingly.

Did he honestly think that we were merely not 'agreeing' with each other? Sure, we did have out disagreements but come on!

"You're angry that I kicked you out of my car?" He said, his tone suggesting that he was searching for confirmation.

"Yes."

"I know that it was a low move and all but come on, Rose. You know me; you should have expected me to do something rash."

"Is that your case?" This would be a really good time to raise an eyebrow.

"It's a pretty good one." He smirked.

I stared blankly at him and I watched as his smirk fell into a straight look.

"Okay, you shouldn't have to put up with that, I understand." He mumbled.

"Nate-"

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm really f*cking sorry and if I could go back in time I probably would still kick you out but I'd pick you back up within a few seconds."

That defining moment. He apologised. And now, we could finally start talking again. I released a breath that I didn't know I had been holding in. I told myself that until Nate apologised, I would ignore him and leave everything he said to go out the window but now, now he took responsibility for his actions. He was telling me that he was sorry for what he had done and this couldn't have been a better moment.

I felt a burden disappearing from me, knowing that I could finally talk to him and sort out our issues.

"You'd still kick me out?" I raised my brows.

"No." He admitted sheepishly. "I just said that so I wouldn't sound completely whipped."

I laughed and his ducked head shot up and looked over at me, his whole face elapsing into his childish grin as he saw me laugh.

"You think you're whipped?"

"Rose, my life's purpose is to make you happy. And I have to make you happy by trying to make it seem like I couldn't give a f*ck, so really, I am whipped. I am a poor excuse for a male." He muttered the last part, rubbing his hand over his forehead ashamedly.

I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Nate, we are in a relationship. This means that we aren't broken up but we are fighting. This happens, it's normal for people to be angry with each other, we aren't perfect." I told him softly. "And if it's any consolation, you aren't whipped, you just care. That's normal." I shrugged.

"I care too much." He grumbled.

"Do you not like caring?"

"Don't get me wrong, Rose, I f*cking love you more than anything. I just don't want to seem like those guys that are wrapped around their girlfriend's finger."

"You aren't, Nate."

"I know, that's why I do stupid things." He grinned.

"And then you have to apologise for them." I said deadpanned.

"I know, I hate the apologising part." He muttered.

"So why don't you just stop doing stupid things?" I laughed.

"Because," He smirked, "I wouldn't be the guy you fell in love with."

I couldn't exactly argue with that. We sat in silence for a while, I stared into space, acknowledging that I could actually go back to normal with Nate. But, there was something holding me back, some sort of force that I couldn't quite pin point.

"Rose?" Nate's breath was tickling my cheek and I realised he had moved much closer towards me.

"Y-yeah?" I stuttered, stunned by the sudden proximity.

"I haven't kissed you for a while." He smirked.

I gulped heavily, my eyes averting to those lips I dearly missed. And then, Nate had moved closer to me and his lips were pressed against mine, filled with a passionate fury. His hand was on my shoulder and he pressed me down so that I was lying on the grass and he was leaning down towards me, his hand now snaking around my waist.

We kissed for a while, Nate deepening it and taking the lead as usual while my hands wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer towards me. As being human goes, we eventually had to pull away to breathe.

"God, I missed that." He murmured, pressing his forehead against mine, smiling down at me.

"Ditto," I smiled in reply.

Nate, who still had his arms wrapped around me, lifted me up and sat me on his lap, my back falling against his chest.

"Are you still angry at me now?" He muttered.

"No," I answered truthfully. "I kind of was because you wouldn't apologise. It was like you hadn't cared about what you had done."

"Oh, trust me, I drove back to pick up about fifteen minutes after I had, uh, taken you out. And then when I didn't find you, I was freaking out. I called Adam, he didn't pick up, and then I thought maybe Chris might know something if you had called one of the girls."

"So if you were sorry, then why didn't you just apologise." I asked amusedly.

"Rose, I'm an idiot. You have to understand that. I wanted to apologise, but my inner Sanders was telling me to suck it up and deal with your absence. So I kind of stayed away from the house as much as I could and didn't go to school. But then, you know, loving you has its bad points. I had to eventually come back."

I laughed and rested my head against his chest properly, half lying down.

"In all seriousness, you have to understand that my opinions count too, Nate. You can't just disagree with me and expect me to accept that. I'm in a relationship with you, we are both equals, you can't dominate me." I said, knowing that this conversation was going to come up sooner or later.

"Yeah, I know. I do take what you say into consideration, just maybe a week later." He mumbled sheepishly. "I probably need to learn to listen to you more often."

I was really surprised by his behaviour right now.

He groaned and slapped a palm to his head.

"That just sounded really cheesy." He muttered angrily.

I laughed at his attitude and twisted my body around and pecked him quickly on the lips.

"Will you listen to me? I can handle myself, you don't have to worry about me."

"Yeah," He snorted. "That's not really a choice that I can make, worrying about you is kind of second nature to me."

"And I appreciate that." I smiled. "I worry about you, too."

"Why the f*ck would you worry about me?" He frowned.

Rolling my eyes at his use of language, I shrugged.

"I guess it comes with the package. You know, the whole loving you part." I answered sarcastically.

He stayed silent and I wondered if it was too early to bring up with whole mother ordeal. I mean, that's really why we have been fighting for this past week. I was speaking with my mother and he didn't want me to, for whatever reason he had. I didn't want to ruin this perfect moment but on the other hand, I just had to know that we were back to normal one hundred percent and not with some sword hanging over our heads.

"Nate?"

"No."

What? I turned around to look at him and he had a hard look on his face, that playful one gone.

"What?"

"I still don't want you seeing her." He said through a tight jaw.

"Nate-"

"No. I know I told you that I would listen to you and blah, blah, but come on, Rose, you have to consider what it might mean if she is lying."

As soon as my mother had told me that my father was after her, and then she had shown me her scars, I was kind of listening to her, slowly trusting her. And it wasn't because I was naïve or gullible because God, when it came to that kind of stuff, I wasn't. I just wasn't.

It was because I thought that if she was telling me the truth, she really had been abused, then what would it mean for me if I turned a blind eye on it? I would be just as bad as my mother and that was not something I could live with. An eye for an eye was not really something that I supported .

"Nate, she has the exact same scars as me." I finally said.

"I understand that, but what if he didn't abuse her? You have to consider your options and not just trust her immediately."

"Then what kind of person would I be if I ignored her when she was telling the truth?"

"A pretty smart person." He said wittingly.

I raised my brows questioningly and he smiled sheepishly.

"Right, I forgot we were doing the whole listening to each other thing."

"Nate..."

"Okay, fine. How about I meet you half way? I want you to stay alert, don't let your guards down. And please, for the love of God, stop giving her so much money. She doesn't need it and having her use all of the money all the time is kind of suspicious."

"I can kind of understand how - Woah, wait! How do you know what she's up to?" I frowned in confusion.

A guilty look elapsed onto his features and I knew I had kind of caught him out in something.

"I'm a stalker." He shrugged sheepishly.

"Nate!"

"I've watched her, seen where she goes and stuff and trust me Rose, she doesn't go anywhere, and she's holed up in that apartment of hers. You've given her too much money."

"Fine, I guess I can ask her on what she needs the money for."

"And this will be done over the phone right?"

I stared blankly at him and he exhaled deeply.

"You're going to keep meeting up with her?"

"I see no reason that I shouldn't."

He stared ahead, not answering, his facial features seeming like he was having an internal battle.

"Fine." He finally muttered.

"Fine?"

"If you're so hell-bent on meeting up with her in person, then I am coming with you."

"Nate-"

"Rose, I'm trying to compromise. Work with me." His tone implied that he was desperate.

Nate, going to see my mother with me? I couldn't imagine how that situation would ever turn out well. But, Nate was right. He was trying to meet me halfway and the least I could do was comply. I mean, maybe if he saw my mother in person he would actually change his mind.

"So, when are you meeting with her next?"

"Tomorrow."

"That gives me a little less than twenty four hours to learn how to calm down in front of a dog."

"Nate!"

"A human!" He smirked. "I meant a human."

"Sure you did." I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't keep an amused smile away from my face.

Once again, we lapsed into a comfortable silence and I wondered if I should warn my mother beforehand that Nate would be coming with me tomorrow, that maybe he would be rude and a little cunning. She might understand if I told her that he was worried about me, although, she had admitted to watching me before she came back into my life so she already knew that I had a boyfriend. How nice he was probably didn't seem very obvious though.

"Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"Before we had that whole, you know, conflicting situation in the car, you told me that you wanted to tell me something. That it was news that would probably make me cry? What was it?"

He stayed silent for a while and I considered repeating the question, in case he hadn't heard me.

"I can't tell you."

"What?"

"I guess it was the right time, you know, to tell you the news. But now? Here? During school? I don't think it's an appropriate time."

I knew that his reason was a lie. Come on, I had been dating him for several months now, I was pretty sure Nate was as blunt as a wall. The setting didn't really bother him when it came to telling me something.

"Are you lying?" This was once again another perfect time to raise a brow.

"No." He scoffed. "What a ridiculous presumptuous answer you have assumed! Shame, Rose! Accusing your loving boyfriend of lying and-"

"Wow, you're a bad liar." I used my index finger to cover his lips

"You're a bad believer," He shrugged.

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Are you going to tell me the truth?"

"Are you going to sleep with me?"

"What?" I blushed furiously, feeling embarrassed by his sudden question.

"What?" He had a wicked smile.

"Nate, you know my, uh, my belief on that." I muttered, feeling my cheeks impossibly go hotter.

"I know," He grinned. "I just wanted to see you squirm."

And just like that, we were back to our normal ways. And quite frankly, it was the best feeling ever.

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Authors Note:

Allo! How are we all?

Soooo... You guys finally got the apology chapter! How did you like it? I have a feeling some people won't like that it wasnt a big apology and all but come on, this is Nate we're talking about. His personality is just basically closed up.

I like how I wrote Nate this chapter though. Teasing, blunt, semi-loving... :D I can't just have him suddenly recite a poem or something Hahhaha but that would be pretty funny!

Do you guys think that this is dragging? That I should end this soon? I have intention of finishing it soon, there's 5+ chapters left, I don't think there is more than ten chapters though :'( it's going to be depressing when I write the epilogue (and yes, there will be an epilogue! I can't wait to write it! :D)

So how do you like the idea of Nate going with Rose to see the mother? That might be next chapter so yeah :P

The read count on wattpad has been stuffed up -.- so STMF isn't increasing in readers and it's really pissing me off! And the wattpad app update is so bad now! It crashes and freezes all the time!

Oh and this chapter is dedicated to Deqa4ever because she was so amazing and made me two banners. I uploaded the first one and I'll put the next one on for next chapter. Thank you! :D

Anyways, guys, your comments gives me so much motivation you don't understand! I received 34 comments last chapter and that was amazing! Can we get even more comments for the Nate-Rose make-up scene?

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx