𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐒
❝ They're the French Kissers,
that's what they do.
They will lure you in
and then they'll kill you
with a kiss. ❞
━ in which the leader of the french kissers
...
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Like so many times before, Rose found solace in her sisters. They were gathered at the makeshift stage where Angeline was about to sing, far enough from Thomas that Rose could pretend to ignore his lingering presence and how his musky scent still clung to her, the taste of him forever on her tongue.
"Ah, soeurette, it's easier to kill the Devil than to love him, isn't it?" Renée asked, a compassionate smile on her face as she drew Rose into her arms.
Rose groaned but let herself be embraced, her sister's warmth like coming home to a fireplace after trudging through a blizzard. "You saw that?"
"Who didn't?" Audrey giggled, twirling a golden curl around her finger with a dreamy sigh. "Now that was a kiss."
"Put mine and Finn's smooching to shame!" Andrea tittered, racing towards them with a grin as Finn chased her down the grey-green fields. Despite everything, Rose smiled. Things had been different between them ever since the Saurets had hurt her, but now that Andrea was wrapping an arm around her, hugging her tight like she used to, Rose realized maybe it was only from her side, that she'd been putting distance between them because she felt like she had failed Andrea and didn't know how to cope with it.
"Which is why I want to snog you again!" Finn shouted as he neared them, freckles rosier from the chase and cap long gone. "I need to outdo Thomas!"
"You'll have to catch me first!" Andrea threw her head back in tantalizing laughter, darting off once again. Finn flew past them; once he got a hold of her they fell down the grass, rolling over each other without a care in the world. Rose envied them and admired them, just like she admired Raphael, brave enough to go against the world for James. She'd seen him leave the party to go after him, and she desperately wanted the courage to do the same.
Love seemed so easy for everyone, and it pained her that for her it was the hardest, most cruel thing in the world.
Thomas deserved better than to be left behind all the time. Rose knew, and yet she kept doing it, because she was terrified of what it might mean, of what it might do to her, to run into him and not away for once.
