limerence ✰ p. parker (discontinued)

oo2. the bottom bunk.

his grip on her shoulder tightened slightly upon feeling her jump of minuscule terror, his attention averting from her books onto her. "are you ok?" he spoke in a concerned demeanour. now that rosie was conscious enough, she started to take in what she could see of his face. she recognised him- he went to her school. she knew he was friends with ned leeds, but she didn't know his name.

his cheeks were red and flustered, almost as if he had been running for the past two hours. "i'm fine." rosie responded, gulping slightly. he probably thinks i'm homeless, she thought to herself. "i'm not homeless." rosie blurted out before she could stop herself, and he looked up at her, still putting away her books. "yeah, yeah i know." he said, and she nodded as if to say good.

"i got locked out." she explained, starting to feel more embarrassed by the minute. "so i figured." he said as he began closing up her bag. "you don't have to do that, you know." rosie told him, issuing towards his hands which were clutched around the silver zipper. the boy nodded, finishing his work none the less. "but i already did." he said, averting his attention back to her. he stood up, wiping his hands on his thighs.

for a second they stood there in awkward silence, the boys shoulders hunched up shyly. rosie's hand slowly came out from under her coat, but before she had a chance to start lifting herself from the ground, the boy extended his hand out infront of her. "here, let me help." the girl gave him a half smile in gratitude, their hands intertwining as he gently lifted the small girl off of the concrete floor, her back lifting up from against the wall.

the boy bent down quickly, grabbing and handing her her bag while she brushed the dirt off her legs. "thanks." she said, taking it into her hands and swinging it over her shoulder. the awkward silence came back, and for a moment the pair just stood there, rocking on the heels of their feet. rosie's eyes were fixated on her converse, while the boys were fixated on her. but it wasn't a gaze of admiration, no. the boy was already attracted to a girl- one of rosie's best friends, at that. it was more a look of panic- the boy didn't really know what to say.

he left out a cough, and his words started coming back to him. "i'll- i'll let you in now." he said, and she nodded. "yeah, that'd be great, thanks." rosie followed him as he walked up to the large doors of the complex, her eyebrows knotting together in confusion once he couldn't see her. rosie felt dumb- why hadn't she noticed before that this boy lived in the same apartment complex as her? usually she was a very observant person, the one to notice all the small details, the first to figure out a secret- but this she knew nothing of.

her facial expression softened once he turned to look back at her, the door swinging open. he allowed her to enter first, following in right after her. "i'm on the second floor." she told him, and he nodded. "yeah, me too." he said. rosie was really internally slapping herself at this point for not knowing he had lived here. "i don't know if this is a time for introductions, but i'm rosie." the girl said, in an attempt to be polite.

"yeah, rosie miller, i know," he responded almost too quickly, extending his hand out for her to shake. rosie raised an eyebrow in confusion, shaking his hand slowly. "oh, it's just that, you're friends with liz allan, so i- yeah. anyways, i'm peter." he said, and rosie nodded. "nice to meet you." she told him, and he nodded too. and yet another moment of silence.

"so, we should go up then." he said, to which rosie shook her head quickly. they made their way up the stairs in silence, the sound of their shoes hitting the hard stairs echoing through their ears. once they reached the second floor, peter turned to face her. "i'll see you around, i guess." he said in a near monotone voice, backing away and towards his apartment. rosie nodded. she stood in front of the door to her apartment awkwardly, fumbling with her hands and not looking at the boy. she didn't have the keys to here, either.