Roses and Thorns ~Slow Updates While TWW is Being Written~

Chapter 4: The Flowers Talk

Rose POV:

I shoved my backpack on my desk chair and collapsed, face first, onto my bed. In the span of 24 hours, I had gone from being worried over the number of AP classes I was taking to not being able to get a certain pair of lips, accented with a sexy lip ring, out of my head. I groaned, frustrated, rolled over, and reached for my phone; I decided to call the one person I knew would give me unbiased advice on how to handle my newfound bad boy attraction.

"Hey, Blossom, what's up?"

I sighed, instantly relaxed by the person who always gave me a sense of calm. "Hi, Aunt Lilli," I breathed into the receiver. "I just needed to hear your voice."

My aunt laughed through the phone, the sound making me smile as I imagined her green eyes twinkling and laugh lines deepening. "Well, that usually means you're stressed out of your mind." I made an affirmative sound into the phone. "So, what's wrong, Blossom?"

I took a steadying breath before hashing out my entire day to my aunt. I could almost envision her nodding as she waited patiently for me to finish. "Blossom, it sounds like you might have some boyfriend material on your hands."

"That's the thing!" I exclaimed, loudly. "Everyone else seems to think he's this big bad wolf and a troublemaker. But every time I look in his eyes I just see someone who's used to being judged. It's like he expects people to find him disappointing." I huffed as I finished.

"Do you find him disappointing?" my aunt asked softly.

"No," I laughed. "In fact, I find him to be one of the most genuine people I've ever met. I've never met another male, besides Theo, who would automatically take concern for someone's else's brother. And today I also saw him do the sweetest thing. This little freshman girl tripped and dropped everything and before you could blink, he was down, on the floor, picking up all her stuff with a smile. He even made her laugh and she was almost crying out of embarrassment!"

My aunt whistled slowly through the phone. "Honey, he sounds like a keeper to me, okay? When I first came back to town for your birth, everyone, and I mean everyone, told me your Uncle had changed. That he was coldhearted. But I trusted my gut and next thing I know, I'm married and popping out your cousin." We both laughed at her statement before she continued. "I know people can be judgmental and cruel, I've witnessed it first hand. But, Rosaline, promise me you'll give this boy a chance. Don't let anyone talk you out of what your heart wants."

I quietly agreed to give Dane a chance, if he even returned my attraction, and hung up with my Aunt Lilli a few minutes later. I glanced down at my cellphone as it buzzed softly in my palm. I swiped it open to see a message from an unknown contact. It read: 'Hola, Rosal.'

I awoke with a start as my brother slammed my door opened. "Why the fuck aren't you awake?" he asked, before continuing down the hallway. I glanced at my alarm clock and gasped. I had slept straight through my alarm. I quickly ran to the shower before throwing on clothes and running out to the car where my brother sat laughing.

"Shut up or your little secret comes out and I laugh," I said simply and smiled as he straightened up.

Fifteen minutes later I ran down the hallways as the warning bell rang and slammed into the library. Ms. Teenk, the librarian, just smiled and handed me a stack of books to start shelving. As I walked through the library, searching for an author, I thought back to the reason I had overslept. After Dane had texted me, we had stayed up talking until 3 am when I'd finally passed out.

After shelving, I went behind the counter and pulled out a novel to read. Not many kids came into the library during the first period, which was one of the reasons I'd agreed to be a library aid in the morning. I looked up when someone placed a book on the counter in front of me and I looked right into the deep chocolate eyes of Dane. "Good morning," I said as I slid the book to my side of the counter.

"Buenos Dias, Rosal. Were you the banshee I saw running down the hallways?"

I blushed up to my ears. "Yeah, I kinda have an oversleeping problem so I'm notoriously late for stuff. Though I blame you for today," I said as he looked at me in mock offense. I pointed a finger at him before continuing. "You kept me up until 3 am."

"And you kept me up all night, Rosal," was all he said before grabbing his book from my hands, winking, and leaving the library. I shivered, my hands tingling from where he had accidentally touched them.

I looked for him the rest of the day but I never saw him until Spanish, I walked in the room to find him already sitting in his seat at the back and talking to someone on the phone. There was nobody else in the room so I quietly walked over to him.

"Yo sé no puede regreso pero quiero ver mi hermana."

I cleared my throat to make my presence known as he looked up and quickly hung up. "Hola, Bonita."

"Dane, don't pull that on me. What was that?"

"Just a regular conversation with my dad." I decided to not push him as I could clearly see the warning in his eyes not to.

The rest of the class he was quiet, only talking to answer a student's question. When the bell rang, he looked over at me and sighed. "Rosal, would you like to get a coffee with me?"

I gaped at his question. "Right now?"

"Why not?" was all he said, that devilish grin spreading across his face.

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