Hey guys, so I just reread the first chapter of his flower and realized that some where in the story I changed Brents name to Brett... and there are a crap tone of mistakes in the first few chapters so I'm gonna clear some stuff up real fast.
1. The plot for His Flower has changed dramatically since I first started to right it so I will be going back in the first couple of chapter to make Rosalyns attitude match that of how she is now.
2. I like Brett better than Brent so I will be going back through the chapters and changing his name to Brett (unless you guys like Brent better, let me know).
3. There are a CRAP tone of grammar errors and mistakes in the first few chapters that I will be editing with everything else.
So Thank you guys for sticking with me for so long and reading my stories!! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please comment, vote, and follow! It will make my day! And I'm sorry for any errors just point them out for me and I'll fix them!
Enjoy!
-&-
Chapter 23
I woke up to my alarm clock three hours later. My neck was stiff and my back ached from the hard wood floor, but I pushed all the pain aside and stood up on shaky feet. The unused bottle of medication was still grasped in my hand and I let it drop to the floor with a loud "thump".
It was useless.
I dragged my aching body across the hall and hopped into a hot shower. If anything the heat soothed my aching muscles, and I didn't want to leave. I groaned what felt like forever later and turned the water off before drying off and pulling on my clothes for school.
It was only seven in the morning and I still had an hour before I had to leave, but I didn't want to try and sit still. The shower only soothed my aching limbs while I was under the water, and all the pain came back tenfold as I walked down the hall. I carefully climbed down the stairs and walked into the kitchen where I swallowed two pills of Ibuprofen.
Hopefully, that will make the pain stop.
I sighed in aggravation when I heard the mail truck drive by and dragged my heavy, and exhausted, body to the front door. I might as well go get the mail, it will keep my body distracted from everything else.
I did not want to think about last night. I didn't want to think about how I snapped at Rex, or how I slammed the door in his face. I didn't want to think about how mad he probably was at me, or how he would most likely never want to talk to me again.
I just wanted to tune out all those thoughts and pretend that nothing happened. I wanted to pretend that when I got to school he would be there waiting for me with that small smile on his lips that he usually only saved for me, and that he would throw his arm around my shoulders and walk me to class... But I couldn't pretend that the sickening feeling of regret and guilt in my stomach wasn't there.
Rex wouldn't be there waiting for me, and he would probably never smile at me again.
However, when I opened the door and my foot connected with a solid body, and I nearly screamed my head off, all of those depressing thoughts flew from my mind. "Rex...?" The beautiful body of the boy I cared for stretched like a cat as I moved my foot away from his hard side.
He yawned and blinked his dark chestnut eyes up at me sleepily as I took a step back in shock. "Hey Roza." That small smile I was so sure I would never see again slowly etched across his face and caused my heart to flutter rapidly in my chest.
"W-what... Did you sleep on my porch?" He sat up almost lazily and yawned before running his fingers through his dark hair like this was normal for him. Like sleeping on people's porches was completely normal.
"You locked the door and your window, so yes." He grumbled as he climbed to his feet and blinked at me slowly.
"But... But why?" One of my hands was still clutching the front door firmly while my other hung awkwardly in the air like it didn't know what to do. Honestly, I didn't know what to do. Was he not mad at me? Why was he here? Why did he sleep here?
He rested one arm against the door frame above me and placed his forehead against it so he could smile down at me. Worry and concern swam in his dark eyes, but also exhaustion, and the feeling of guilt and regret came back in full force. I stared up at him in surprise, and shock, as his other hand reached up and his thumb traced my cheek.
"You were upset, and I didn't want to leave you." His voice was soft, but dripping in a warm liquid that caused my heart to constrict in my chest before melting into a giant pile of goo at his feet.
I groaned and rubbed my hands against my face as his hand dropped to my upper arm. "You didn't have to sleep on my porch Rex. You could have called me."
"I did." I blinked up at him through the slits in my fingers as last night flashed back through my mind. Of course I wouldn't hear my phone ringing, I was having a panic attack.
"What happened last night, Roza?" His voice was soft again as the sudden question slipped through his lips, but the reminder of the club had my defenses back up in no time.
"Don't worry about it Rex, it's done and over with." I grumbled loud enough for him to hear and turned on my heel. I let him follow me into the house and close the door before we walked into the kitchen where I headed straight for the cup cupboard.
"No Rose, you can't just tell me not to "worry about it" when something made you that upset. Nothing ever makes you that angry, and I need to know what did." He gently grabbed ahold of my wrist as I closed the cabinet and turned me around until I was facing him.
"Why do you want to know Rex?" I let out a quiet sigh as his thumbs rubbed lazy circles into my skin.
"Because I need to fix the problem."
Even though my heart wanted to run out of my chest and into his arms at his words, I only felt upset instead. Why should I have to tell him anything about me when I know nothing about him? It's not right, and it's not fair. If he wants to fix the problem then he needs to be there when it happens.
"Why Rex? You never tell me anything. I know nothing about you besides your favorite color. Why should I tell you?" My voice was soft, but I could feel my insides crumbling as I spoke.
I was breaking. I knew I was. I knew the walls of iron my therapist and father helped build in my head were crumbling down and the old Rosalyn was coming back. And the old Rosalyn was not a good Rosalyn.
The worst part was that I could feel the strong build up of frustrated tears behind my eyes. It took everything in me to force them down. Maybe this is what happens when I stop taking my meds...
Rex stood there silent for awhile. His eyes were wider than usual and his hand was resting awkwardly on the island like he didn't know what to do with it. I sighed and turned until my back was facing him. It wasn't his fault I was upset, and I shouldn't take my feelings out on him... but the one time I actually needed him, he wasn't there...
He wasn't there.
No one will ever be there.
"I was nine when my mom died." My back stiffened as that one sentence left his lips and my heart slowly started to crumble in my chest.
"Don't Rex. You don't have to tell me-" My words were instantly cut off as I felt his strong grip on my upper arms and his toned chest pressed against my back.
"Sh Rose, I-I want to." His mouth was by the back of my ear and the warm breath he was blowing across my skin caused goosebumps to travel throughout my body.
"My father, mine and Tate's, was a low life, good for nothing, drunk and left my mom when I was two."
"Rex-"
"Sh Roza, let me talk."
I didn't want to. For once in my whole life, I didn't want Rex to share. I could feel him shaking at the memories and the fact that he was in pain put me in pain. I never should have said anything. I should have pushed down my feelings and thoughts and kept them bottled inside. I just wanted him to stop hurting...
"My mom dropped me off at elementary school one day and drove up to Portland for a shopping day or some shit like that..." He grumbled the last part, but didn't pause long enough for me to comment. "It was raining and she didn't slow down enough for this crazy sharp turn and-" He stopped himself from rambling and I could feel him let out a heavy sigh as he leaned further against my back.
"The school called the police when my mom never showed to pick me up, and before I knew it I was stuck in the foster system." I didn't say anything as he lowered his head so his forehead was resting on my shoulder. I wasn't sure if I could. This was the most open Rex has ever been with me, probably with anyone, and I didn't want to give him a reason not to trust me.
"My father came to see me once while I was in the system, but he had Tate and told me he was supposedly my older brother. I didn't really want to see him, and I didn't really care, but the foster home I was in thought there might be a chance he would want me back... He didn't, but that's not the point." His voice was soft and hurt when he talked about his dad, but hard and angry to. I could tell there was a lot of pent of hatred towards his father that he held inside of him, but I didn't really blame him for it.
My heart might not have held hate, but it did hold a lot of fear.
He was quiet after that and I wasn't sure if I should take that as my que to start, or to just leave him alone. I chose the former. "Was your last foster home here? Is that why you stayed?" I turned in his arms and rested my palms against his chest as he shook his head and looked down at me.
"No, my mom and I lived here before she died and I thought it would be a nice reminder of her memory if I came back." I nodded as his hard chestnut eyes swepted over my face like he was looking for any injuries that might have been there.
"That's... that's very... very sweet of you, Rex." The side of his mouth quirked up in a small smile before a hard glint fell over his eyes and the smile fell.
"The thing you said last night about you being home alone, that wasn't true was it?" His hands held my face in place so I couldn't move away, but I dropped my eyes guiltily anyway.
"Rosalyn." His voice was dark and he pulled my face closer to his. I snapped my eyes up to him in shock as he backed me up until my back was pressed against the island's counter and he stood flush against me.
"It's.. it's true." I couldn't hide the frightened tremble in my voice which only worsened as I watched his eyes grow darker.
"Where is everyone, then?" His voice was quiet, but I could hear the silent threat hidden beneath it and the fact that he was pinning my body against a hard surface wasn't helping anything either.
"D-dad's on another business trip, and Luce and Tate went on this Alaskin cruise for two weeks..." His grip on me tightened and I tried not to flinch as he brought his face closer to mine.
"And when were you planning on telling me this?"
"N-n... Never."
One of his hands left my face and traveled around my neck until he had gripped of fistfull of my hair. He wasn't hurting me, I don't think he ever intended to, but if he was trying to terrify me, he succeeded.
"Why?" His questions were short, clipped, and to the point, but for some reason I felt like there were a thousand more hidden in his voice. Yet it kept me from lying to him.
"I didn't want to... to make you feel like you had to babysit me."
He pulled back slightly and his grip in my hair loosened. His eyes were angry, but sad too, and I didn't have the slightest clue of what he was thinking.
"Rose... I care about you, and I told you I didn't want you alone, ever. What in what I said made you feel like it was an inconvenience to look after you?" It was getting harder and harder to stare into his eyes, but he wouldn't let me look away.
"Just because you didn't say it Rex, doesn't mean that I don't feel like it. I'm perfectly capable of staying home alone-"
"No, you're not." His hand tightened in my hair and my eyes snapped up to his hard dark ones.
All the angry from earlier and the night before left me in that moment and left me complete drained and exhausted. "I-I can take care of myself-" His face blurred as tears suddenly filled my eyes and my body began to shake.
Alone. I've been home alone for a few days and it was starting to drive me mad. I can't be alone. Too many bad things have happened when I'm alone, which only means there are worse ones to come.
No ones here to save you anymore.
Gerald's words rang in my head like an ugly sledge hammer and Halloween night flashed through my mind all over again. No one is here to save me, no one was there to save me. Rex was supposed to. He wasn't supposed to leave my side. He was supposed to keep me safe.
Dad was supposed to keep me safe, but he was never home. Luce tried to keep me safe, but I knew somewhere deep inside of her, I was just a bother. I looked like mom... She hated that. She hated looking at me. She would never look me in the eyes. She left me here alone, without dad, without Tate... Just me.
Always alone.
No ones here to save you anymore.
My breath caught in my throat as my chest started tightening, again. I knew it was coming, I could feel it. I needed my medicine... but I haven't taken it in days.
Rex needed to leave. I didn't want him to see me like this again. Slamming the door in his face last night to hide it was hard enough. I didn't know what I was going to do now. I needed to be alone.
Always alone.
I didn't want to be. I didn't want to be alone. I was tired of feeling alone. Even when people were around, Luce, Tate, Dad, I was always alone. I couldn't handle it anymore. But Rex...
Rex makes promises he's proven he can't keep.
Stop it.
Stop thinking like that. Rex tries. That's all that matters. No one tries, just Rex.
But he left me alone.
All these thoughts were swirling through my head in one big giant hurricane of a mess. I couldn't think straight, the panic was stopping that. I couldn't get air to my lungs. My eyes were clouding with water and my hands were iron fists in his shirt. I felt like I was going insane.
Rex's whole demeanor crumbled when he saw the shear anguish on my face, and the grip he had in my hair tightened as he pulled me into his chest. His other arm wrapped around my waist and held me close as my arms went around him and my tears started to fall. I didn't want to cry anymore in front of him, I didn't want to panic, but I couldn't stop it.
"Sh, Rose, it's okay." He murmured softly into my ear and ran his fingers through my hair as I clutched at him.
"I-I don't want to-to be alone anymore." I sobbed into his chest as he cradled my head against him.
"Sh Roza, I know. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I won't leave you."
Liar.
Shut up!
You know you're going completely crazy when you start screaming at yourself in your own head. But I hate it. I hate the thoughts I had. I wanted them to go away. I didn't want to think bad about him. I wanted to snuggle into his chest, push the pain away, and let him hold me forever... But that won't ever be possible.
"Rose, calm down." I couldn't tell if his voice was really as soft as it sounded in my ear, or if it was just the blood pumping to my head in full force that made it seem so, but I could tell what was happening to me was not stopping.
"Roza, seriously, breathe." His hand in my hair held me closer until my ear was placed flat on his chest, although that did nothing to help air enter my lungs. My chest felt like it was fixing to cave in, and my grip on him was hurting me.
But then I heard it. His heart. The beat was strong and as clear as a crystal bell, and it sounded beautiful. It was so calm and loud, like the rushing of a steady stream, or the waves crashing against sand. It sounded nothing like the electronic monster that was hooked up to my chest in the hospital, and I pressed my ear further into his chest to hear it better.
Rex was here, his heart told me that. The slow, steady beating beneath my ear reassured me that he was here, with me, in this room, and had me wrapped in his arms.
I wasn't alone. For now.
The more I listened to his heart, the more the air returned to my lungs. I couldn't even tell if Rex was talking to me anymore, I was too tuned into the sound. The longer I listened, the more I realized the little things that he was doing. Like how his hand was rubbing softly up and down my back, or how his lips were nearly pressed flat against my forehead.
I noticed how he was swaying us slightly back and forth, and how his chest moved with his breathing, and the soft song he was humming. I noticed him, and no matter how many times before I thought I felt close to him, this topped them all. I felt him, and he was chasing the panic away.
It wasn't long before the tight grip the panic had on my chest faded and the pounding in my head ceased. Pretty soon I was just hanging onto Rex to hang onto him. He was so warm, and his chest had that perfect hard/soft texture every body pillow needs, plus I liked listening to his heart almost as much as I liked looking at him.
It wasn't until his arms loosened around me that I realized how tightly he was actually holding me. Even though his hand was still wrapped in my hair and holding my head to his chest, I could feel the lifted pressure he had been applying to it, and the arm he left wrapped around my waist caused my lower back to slightly ache more than it already was.
But I wouldn't have had it any other way. He was here.
"Are you okay, Rose?" His voice was softer than I ever heard before, but I think it was only because he was trying to hide the tremor that shook through it.
"I-I'm fine..." My throat hurt from all the crying and emotional stress from the past two days and it was hard to raise my voice any louder than his.
"No you're not." His grip grew tight again, but instead of pushing my face back into his chest he lifted it up until I could press it into his neck. He wrapped his other arm around my back in such a way that pulled me off the ground until I was standing on my tip toes and pressed flush against his chest.
Not that I was complaining, or anything.
"I'm okay, I promise." My voice was a muffled mumble as my arms wrapped around his neck and I pushed my face into the thick skin of his throat.
"Don't do that to me. Not again. I don't know what I would do if you ever had a repeat of Halloween." His chest was slightly shaking, and I could tell he really meant what he said... but I didn't know how to take it. He left me so confused and flustered, and hurt, and happy, and all these emotions that left me so completely and utterly tangled that I didn't know what was up or down with him.
"I'm okay, don't worry." That's all I could say. I was too afraid to ask him what we were. Now wasn't the time anyway.
"I'll make sure you are." His tone had grown hard, but not in the mean way, in that way it was the first time he snuck into my room and made me that promise. It was another promise, one I knew I wouldn't hold him to.
He can't help what happens. It's my fault, and my stupid emotional problems. My family and doctors think medication will solve all my problems... but I don't want it to. I want to be normal. I want to be someone Rex could actually like, and actually want to be with. Someone he didn't have to make promises to protect.
He set me back down until my feet were once again planted on the floor and let his arms fall from around me. He stood up straight and ran a shaky hand through his messy dark hair as his chestnut eyes glanced worriedly at me.
I broke eye contact first and glanced down nervously at the floor. Rex's reaction to this situation can go in two completely different directions: 1. He could be extremely pissed and tell me this was all my fault because of last night, or 2. He could go on extreme overprotective mode and hold me to him for the rest of the day. And as much as I liked the second option I would be too on edge that he would snap at me for anything I did through out the day.
When my eyes landed on the clock in the stove they widened. "You should probably get ready for school Rex..." I glanced back up at him nervously, but my stomach dropped when I saw him looking at me. His eyes weren't angry or mad, and his face wasn't set in that hard stone that meant he was going to keep me at his side for the rest of the day, but it was set in such a deep sadness that made my heart ache.
He glanced over at the clock briefly before looking back at me with a small smile that did nothing to hide the desperate look of despair in his eyes. "Can I use your shower? If you want me to take you to school I'll only make you late if we go all the way back to my place..."
I was nodding before he even finished his sentence. I just needed something to end the thick, and painful, tension between us. He smiled down at my bobble head demeanor before taking two big steps back. "We'll talk more about you being here alone for two weeks later, baby flower." His voice was soft instead of intimidating and I nearly melted as he placed a firm kiss against my forehead.
I was shocked. He didn't react in either of the ways I thought, and that kind of frightened me. I mean, I had no idea what he was thinking, and I could only pray it wasn't as bad as what I thought.
As soon as he walked out of the kitchen and headed for the stairs, I slumped down onto the hard, cold, floor. "Oh my god..." I breathed out heavily as I pressed my palms into my eyes. Talk about an emotional train wreck. Panic attacks always leave me weak and exhausted, and now that I've had two in the last twenty-four hours, I was not feeling like moving any time soon.
It wasn't until ten minutes later that I realized Rex didn't have anything to change into. I let out quiet hiccup and wiped at the few tears that escaped my eyes before pulling my aching body to my feet and heading for the stairs.
He wouldn't fit into anything of my dad's, my dad was the size of two Rex's smooshed together into a giant muscle wall, but he might be able to fit into Tate's... I don't know how he will feel about it though.
I could hear the running water from the shower through the bathroom door as I raised my hand to knock. "Rex?" I called loud enough for him to hear, despite the pain my throat was in.
There was a heavy "thump" and a loud curse before his muffled voice reached me through the door. "Yeah?" He grunted as I thumbed the door knob.
"Would you be okay with wearing Tate's clothes or-"
"No, I won't."
Oh.
"Okay..." My voice came out so softly I knew he wouldn't hear, but I guess I felt like I had to say it anyway. I pressed my head against the cool wood of the door and tried to stay awake long enough to figure out what I was going to find for him to wear.
"I'm just going to wear my clothes, Rose. I'll be fine." He called through the door and I blinked heavily as the door knob blurred.
"I can wash them for you." I felt like I used what was left of my energy to raise my voice loud enough for him to hear.
I hadn't even realized the shower had turned off before Rex opened the door with nothing but a towel covering his lower half. I stepped away from the door and blinked up at him as the bathroom light hit me full on. Ow.
When my eyes landed on that beautiful sculpted chest of his, I swore my mouth began to water. His muscles were so hard and chiseled, and soft, and nice looking. I just wanted to reach out and rub my hands all over his chest-
"It's okay. You don't have to. I'll be fine." I forced my eyes up to his face, which wasn't much better, every single piece of him was beautiful, and smiled as his dark eyes danced across my tired face in concern.
"It's okay T', I don't mind." I smiled up at his beautiful, but worried, faced and peaked around him to look for his clothes.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded as he stepped back so I could bend down and pick up his clothes. His dark hair was wet from the shower and the normal spikey mess hung short across his forehead, and I found the look completely adorable... even though no one would ever use adorable to describe Rex.
"There an extra package of toothbrushes in the drawer if you need to brush your teeth." He raised an eyebrow at me and I suddenly felt heat crawl up to my face in full force. "Not that you need to or anything. I mean, I'm sure your breath is fine, and it's just if you want to-"
His deep chuckle stopped my rambling and I blushed like a tomato as he ran his hand through is hair. "It's okay Roza. I'll brush my teeth don't worry." He winked at me, but my face only heated up further.
"I... I'm just going to go wash these..." I stammered like a bewildered child, and turned on my heel before heading down the stairs. Rex's laugh followed me all the way to the laundry room.
I put his clothes into the washing machine and hit the quick spin button before he came bounding down the stairs a few minutes later. I was staring too hard into the little glass window of the washing machine and I didn't notice him until his bare chest was pressed against my back.
I jumped as his hands rested on my hips and he chuckled. "Sorry." His lips were nearly pressed against my ear as his soft voice murmured down at me.
"It's... it's okay." I'm surprised my voice only wavered a little as his bare skin rubbed against my arms. He just felt so good...
I let him turn me around slowly and my heart jumped in my chest as my eyes landed on his smiling face. "Hi..." I murmured shyly as heat burned up my cheeks. My hands were resting flat against his toned, hard, chest and the towel that hid his lower half was hanging dangerous low on his hips. Giving me the perfect view of that gorgeous V of his.
"Hi." His lips lifted into a smirk so small it could have passed as a smile, but I knew better. I leaned further into him as he moved his hands from my hips so he could wrap them around my waist.
The washing machine was still going on behind us, but I ignored it as my heavy head fell against his chest and I closed my eyes. My hands were still pressed flat against his pecks with my forehead pressed against the skin between them.
Rex held me tighter as I fell into him and rested his chin on the top of my head as his hands rubbed the expanse of my back. "Roza... I need to know what happened last night. I can't... I can't let whatever it was happen again. I'm not going to ask you to tell me now, not after what just happened, but I'm going to need to know."
I sighed and pressed my face further into his skin as he played gently with the ends of my hair. "I know Rex." I didn't want to think about last night, and I wasn't planning on telling Rex what happened, but I would tell him the short version if he won't leave it alone.
The washing machine dinged a moment later and I regretfully pulled myself away from Rex and took his clothes out of the washer. "I got it ." He smiled at me and took the heaping mass of wet cloth from my hands before stepping in front of me to reach the dryer.
I gazed at the muscles in his back dreamily as they rippled and stretched. My eyes roamed from the back dimples in his lower back to the tops of shoulders where they glued onto a black inky sketch tattooed into his skin.
"Rex, what's that?" I asked curiously as he shoved his clothes into the dryer and slammed the lid shut.
"What's what?" His grumbled as he fiddled with the knobs of the drying machine.
"This..." I stood on my tip toes and reached my fingers up until I could trace the delicate design of the small flower traced into his shoulder. His back tensed as my finger tips gently danced across the smooth and perfect petals of the rose in his skin.
My stomach flipped as my thoughts zoomed from one thing to another. Why would he have a tattoo of a rose on his shoulder? Because of me? Why would he do that? It left an excited tingle in the pit of my stomach.
"It's a rose... It was my mom's favorite flower. I got it after they let me out of juvey."
Oh.
"She used to keep them all over the house all the time. There was rose wallpaper in the bathroom, real roses in the back yard, fake roses sitting in vases inside the house so they would never die. She just... loved roses."
She loved roses. For some strange reason I felt like that simple fact would have made her like me... But that didn't matter. Rex only liked me as a friend, it wouldn't matter to him whether his mom would have liked me or not. After all, I'm not a rose, that's just my name.
But then some thing clicked into place in my head. The first time he ever heard my name we were sitting at the lunch table and he seemed so shocked when Trey said it.
"Is that why you were surprised when you learned my name?" I asked softly as he turned around to face me, causing my hands to land on the top of his shoulders instead of his back.
"Yeah, and you were... you were..." He broke eye contact with me and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "You were just so delicate looking, like a flower. I was just surprised that you had the perfect name to suit you." He shrugged like it was no big deal, but I knew by the way he was avoiding my eyes that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"I like it." I murmured up at him and wrapped my arms around his waist so he wouldn't have to avoid looking at my eyes. He let out a heavy sigh and wrapped his arms around me once again.
"Yeah, me to."
-&-
Trey
I watched as Rex told Rose to stay by Brett underneath the tree in front of the school before he walked over to me with his hands stuffed into his pockets. His face was relaxed, but set in stone, and his eyes were clouded in what I assumed was his version of "calm". Anyone who didn't know him that well would have thought he was perfectly fine, but I did know him, and he was pissed.
"What's up?" I nodded at him as he came to stop beside me, but let my eyes wander over to Rose who was smiling at something Denton just told her. It had to be about Rose, nothing made him upset anymore besides anything involving her.
"She's alone." His voice was calm and collected, but I could tell there was a simpering anger just building beneath the surface.
"How so?" I never treaded water around Rex, and I think that's what kept us friends for so long. I gave the blunt, honest, truth to him, as he did to me.
"Her father is on a business trip for whoever knows how long, and her sister went on some fucking cruise for two weeks with that inbreed." The anger was slowly starting to seep into his voice and his jaw ticked as his eyes stayed trained on the girl standing a mere few meters from us.
"You mean she's home alone?"
"She's been home alone for fucking days. I can't believe I'm so fucking stupid to not have realized it." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration before crossing them firmly against his chest.
I had to hide my smile.
No matter what shit he tries to pull, no matter how hard he tries to convince us and himself, there's no denying the way he feels about her. Just watching the fucking angry brick wall turn into a giant puppy dog around her made you think anything was possible. I don't know if I could ever get use to seeing this protective side of him.
We had been friends for years, and I've helped him through some serious shit. I never questioned why he seemed to hate everyone and why he was always angry. I didn't have to. I knew why. I never thought it would be possible for him to care about some one, not after the shit he's gone through.
But there he is, standing right next to me with a concerned crease in his forehead as he watched his "baby flower" just a few feet from us. He's never been concerned about anyone before, it was oddly refreshing.
"God, I'm such a fucking idiot. I can't believe I didn't see this sooner." He growled angrily and went back to running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"How were you supposed to be able to see her staying home alone?" I cocked an eyebrow at him, but he just shot me an angry glare.
"No one has been home the pass couple of days I've dropped her off, she didn't have a time she was supposed to go home last weekend, and there I was, basically shoving her out of my apartment Sunday so I we could go do some stupid shit!" His jaw twitched and he shoved his hands into his pockets in frustration.
"Why didn't you just bring her along then?" I grunted which only earned me an irritated glare from him.
"Right, because she would just fucking love tagging along with us while we broke the libraries windows and graffitied the principals office."
Sheesh, there's no need for sarcasm.
"She would freak if I told her what we were doing! Then she would go on some rambling thing about me getting thrown in jail again, and then about you idiots getting thrown in jail, and then she would start crying, and I hate it when she cries. And it would just be one big mess." He sighed and shook his head as his hard eyes followed Rose around the tree while Denton and Brett told her idiotic jokes.
"Then why didn't you just stay home with her?"
"I would have if I knew she was alone!" His hands were no longer in his pockets, and were instead curled into fists at his sides. He glared holes into the side of my face and started towards me like he was going to take a swing, but I held my hands up in surrender.
"Use your words Rex. I'm sure princess wouldn't want you beating anyone up." I knew my tone was cocky and arrogant, but I didn't stop the snarky smile that lifted my lips as he stopped in his tracks.
Fucking prick knew I was right.
He closed his eyes tightly and let out a heavy sigh before the tension in his back left and he shoved his palms into his eyes. "Just... just help me, alright?" His tone didn't sound pathetic, but I could hear the plea in it, and I instantly sobered up.
"Of course man. What do you need me to do?" I stepped up to him and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder as he rubbed his hand over his forehead.
"Help me get her out of there... at least for a couple of days. I know she'll only be stubborn if I try to get her to leave, but she'll listen to you." I frowned down at him as his hard eyes flickered back to Rose.
The dumb ass had know idea how much that girl worshiped everything he said, the bad and the good.
"Her sister and that little bitch will be gone for two weeks, and neither of them know when her father is coming back. I don't want her staying alone for that long." I nodded as his dark eyes glanced up at me in a silent question.
"Sure man, I don't want her staying by herself for that long either. I'll have the Dimajios help me take some of her things to your place today."
He let out a relieved sigh, almost like he was worried I wasn't going to do anything, and ran his hand through his hair once more. "Thanks man. I'll stay with her tonight and bring her to my place tomorrow." He finished his sentence with a yawn, and I noticed the dark bags under his eyes for the first time that day.
"Rough night?" I didn't hide the humorous glint in my tone, not even when he turned icy eyes on me.
"You have no idea."
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Hope you all enjoyed!