youngblood // p. hockstetter // 0.1

//thirty-six

Tucking the quilt beneath her armpits Rosemary sat up and ran a hand through her hair, fully aware of Jake's eyes on her collar and chest as she took a cancer stick from the packet. "You know I hate it when you smoke" Jude grumbled, eyeing Jake from behind him with slight fury.

"Good for you" Propping the cigarette between her teeth, she looked at Jake expectedly and he sat down near her stomach, pulling out a cheap lighter.

"How much shit did you do last night?"

"She just did some molly" Jude grumbled, "Starting to regret that decision, you have school in two hours"

Inhaling from the cigarette, her muscles strained to extend as the relief instantaneously triggered in her brain, even if only a slight distraction. "I am not going to school today" Already her hands where starting to shake less.

"C'mon I'll drop you off on the way to my next shift"

"I said no"

"You're being a cunt"

"Exactly" She stared with a smirk as Jude tugged on Jake's arm, winking as Jude very nearly threw him out of the room. "I don't wanna be a cunt at school"

"I couldn't give to shits about what you're like at school, you just need to be there when it starts" He glared slightly, "And don't try all that flirting shit with my roommates, you aren't fucking up the plan I've got going on right now"

Rosemary shrugged, letting the quilt fold back down around her stomach as she stretched her arms over her head tauntingly. "Don't know what you're talking about"

He slammed the drawers shut, inhaling slowly. "I don't care if I have to fucking drag you by the hair, I'm not having Nathaniel or David call the cops to storm this place just because you couldn't remember how fucking bad a craving is!" He yelled in fury, walking forward until their faces where inches apart. Gasping for air slightly in his anger induced state, his eyes flickered downwards slightly before his face curled into a hideously disgusted sneer. "Put some clothes on, you look like a fucking hooker" Many people are prone to saying horrible things in moments of fury and Jude was no exception. As soon as the words left his mouth he wanted to suck them back into oblivion as Rosemary's face warped from utter heartbreak to an anger he'd seen only once before.

"Say that again" She stood slowly, clad only in a pair oj Jude's boxers as he retreated slightly for every movement she made forward. "I fucking dare you" They where silent, staring each other down as they waited to see whom would look away first.

"Rosemary don't act like this, you're being immature"

"You dare say that to me when you compare me to that? To something like her?"

More silence.

Jude looked away and Rosemary smirked, picking up her dress from beside them. "That's what I fucking thought"

She was pushed down, her back and head hitting the mattress in an instant as pressure lay on her pelvis. The hand clutching her dress sat wedged between her own chest and Jude's while her other was held uncomfortably close to her shoulder beneath Jude's large hand. His other pressed onto her collar and neck, holding her in place as Jude hovered above her, virtually no space between them.

Rosemary stared at him, her heart racing slightly.

"Don't you forget whose in charge" She could smell him, his scent rubbing on her and the dull ache of her wrists beneath him. She felt overwhelmingly sad and out of control. "I am the reason you're still here, me" His lips pinched angrily, he stared at Rosemary before leaning back slightly onto his heels, sitting atop her. "I still don't know why I fucking deal with you"

Rosemary was silent, tears pricking her eyes before she let out a strangled giggle. "Because you love me dumbass" She stared at the ceiling as he slowly slid off her and walked around the room. "You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not. You couldn't get rid of me Jude" She sat up as he placed her backpack down. "You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried"

Jude said nothing as his chest ached painfully. As much as he wanted to scream at her lies and bruise her already darkening skin, he knew all to well she was right. She always knew and she always made him remember. She'd always called the shots even as kids, because she was always right in the long-run.

"Get your bag and get out"

She wanted to argue that it was too early, but instead quietly slipped her  dress on and grabbed her bag, harshly walking past Jude and out into the hallway.

Jude heard the door slam shut and pinched his eyes together as his eyes glassed with unshed tears that clung to his eyelashes and skin.

'Please don't go' He thought desperately as he dropped back onto his bed and closed his eyes, staring at the ceiling. Glancing beside him, he fingered Rosemary's unfinished cigarette, propping it between his lips as he silently hoped the ash could burn his room and himself into nothing.

'I don't want you to go'

•••