**Ben's POV**
A week later (Saturday).....
After that night with Rose, I think I love her way more than I ever have - and not just because we made out.
Back to today though. It was Sara's birthday tomorrow, and I still hadn't bought her anything yet. I have to be the worst big brother ever. What the hell was I supposed to get a soon-to-be eight year old for their birthday?
That's why I've brought Rose along with me to the shopping centre, because I was absolutely hopeless when it came to buying gifts.
"So what should I get her?" I asked Rose.
"I don't know. What does she like?" She replied.
"I've only been back for a couple months, Rose. How would I know?"
"You can learn a lot in just a couple months, you know."
"Yeah, yeah. So what do I get her?"
"She's into reading, right? Why don't you get her a voucher or something?"
"Nah. Something bigger." I said.
"Well what do you want to get her then?" She questioned me. "What doesn't she have that you could get her?"
"Uh.....a bike?"
"She doesn't have a bike? Really? Okay. That's a good idea. Who's going to teach her how to ride it?"
"I am."
"When was the last time you rode a bike?"
"I rode a bike around town when I lived with my aunt and uncle." I told her.
"What? No fancy car to lure in all the girls with?" She asked me jokingly as she smiled up at me.
"I didn't think about any other girl but you, Rose."
"Seriously? How come you've never told me this before?"
"I thought it was obvious that I loved you that much."
She glanced down at her feet as we walked. Yeah. She still hadn't said those words yet, but I was fine with waiting for now.....sort of. Everything else was great except for those words.
She looked back up at me. "I think a bike's a good idea. What's her favourite colour?"
"Blue." I answered.
"A blue bike it is then."
"Did you want anything?"
"What? No, it's alright. You don't need to get me anything."
"Come on. Anything you want, I'll give it to you."
"Ben, it's fine. I don't want anything." She assured me.
"Okay. Let's go get Sara that bike then." I said.
Half an hour later.....
I sent Rose to grab us some food while I snuck away to buy her something. I know she said she didn't want anything, but like I was gonna listen. Boy, was she in for a surprise.
I met up with Rose and we ate our food. I had an idea of when I would give it to her, and we'll see where that takes us. Maybe I could just give her a little bit of it now, and the other bit later. Yeah, let's go with that.
I got out a small white box and handed it to her.
"I told you I didn't want anything." Rose complained.
"Yeah, like I listened." I replied.
"What is it?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out."
"Do you mind if I open it later?"
"I want to see your face when you do." I told her.
"I'm sure I'll love it." She replied.
In the car (driving to Ben's place).....
Rose hadn't opened her present yet, but that was okay. She can open it whenever she wants.
That's when I saw her pull the box out of her bag and open it.
"How much did you pay for this?" She asked me.
"Not much, so there's no need for you to freak out." I said.
"Well, thank you anyway. It's really pretty."
"I'm glad you like it."
It was a sterling silver ring by the way. Don't ask me what kind of stone it was, coz all I know is that it's purple.
She slid it onto her index finger. "I don't remember you getting me stuff like this while we were going out."
"Really? Didn't you get that thing I sent you while I was gone?" I asked her curiously.
"What thing?"
"What do you mean? Didn't you get that gift I sent you a few months ago?"
"What address did you send it to?"
"Your apartment."
"That's weird." She said.
"Yeah."
"What was it?"
"To be honest, I can't remember. I just know that I sent something to you."
"I think you can remember, you're just not telling me."
"Okay, fine. You got me there. But I'm still not gonna tell you. It's supposed to be a surprise." I told her.
"Of course it is." She said.
"Did you get the letter though? I sent it with the gift. Did you get that?"
"Nope. Why? What did it say?"
"Let's just say that if you actually got it, it'd clear everything up and we probably wouldn't be like this now."
"Like what? You think if I'd read the note I'd still be head-over-heels for you, and you wouldn't be waiting for me now? You were the one that broke up with me in the first place."
"What? No! Just forget what I said, okay? I didn't mean it like that." I tried to explain.
"Then what are you trying to tell me, Ben? Because clearly I have no idea what's going on." She said.
I stopped the car on the side of the road and took my seatbelt off to face Rose properly.
I held her hand and gazed into her eyes. "Rosie, I want you to forget all the crap I've just said and love me back, because I love you so, so much, and I can't bear going another week, or even a day, without you feeling the same way."
"Ben, I'll tell you something, if you forget everything I've said, okay?" She told me.
"Already done. Wha-"
"I've loved you all this time, I just haven't known how or when to tell you."
"You could've told me whenever you wanted to."
"I know, but I wasn't very confident about it."
I let out a small laugh. "Well you seemed very confident when we were-"
"Please don't say what I think you're going to say." She said quickly.
"Okay."
"Good. Just remember that I do still love you."
"That's all I wanted to hear." I said as I put the car back into Drive and started driving again. "So will you be coming tomorrow?"
"To Sara's party? Of course I am!" She replied. "Who else is going to be there?"
"Well, we were supposed to have family over tonight so she could invite her friends over tomorrow-"
"And you want me there tomorrow so you're not swarmed by a bunch of eight year olds?"
"Well when you put it that way..."
"I'll be there regardless, so you have nothing to worry about."
"I can come pick you up if you want." I offered.
"That'd be great." She agreed.
A few minutes later.....
We soon pulled up outside Jess' house when Rose pointed out something odd.
"Ben?" She asked me as we got out of the car.
"Yeah?" I responded.
"Why is the front window there broken?"
"I don't know. Let me check it out first."
I walked toward the window slowly before Jess popped out of nowhere.
"Hey!" She greeted me.
"Hey, what happened here?" I questioned her.
"John and I were playing catch in the front yard when he threw the ball too hard at me, I ducked, and it smashed the window."
"Oh, okay. I thought somebody broke in or something."
"Well knock on wood that it doesn't happen then."
"Hey, is everything okay?" Rose asked Jess as she stopped behind me.
"Yeah, John and I just accidentally smashed the window playing catch. It's nothing to get all hyped up about." Jess explained. "But you two go right on in and do whatever it is you have to do."
"Okay." Rose said as we walked inside, carefully avoiding all the broken glass. "So what did you want to do now?"
"We could watch another movie." I suggested.
"Which one?"
"Whichever one you want, I guess."
"I don't know..."
"Or we could read. I don't know how you wanna spend this time."
"By reading, though, you mean that I'm going to read to you. Right?" She asked me.
"Pretty much, yeah. Just read me one of your favourite books." I said.
"You do know that all of my books are novels, right?"
"You don't need to read me the whole thing, just a chapter or two."
"Okay then. Let's go."
A couple minutes later,.Rose and I were lying on her bed with her resting on my shoulder while she was reading to me. I can't remember what the book was called as I didn't pay attention to it and the way Rose was reading it, the book seemed to become more familiar.
"The romantics would call this a love story, the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind it's a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it does not change the fact that it involves a great deal of my life and the path I've chosen to follow. I have no complaints about my path and the places it has taken me; enough complaints to fill a circus tent about other things, maybe, but the path I've chosen has always been the right one, and I wouldn't have had it any other way."
She kept reading and reading, and I got lost in her voice. God, did she have a beautiful voice.
After a few chapters, she put the book down on the bedside table and turned back to face me.
"Do you like it so far?" She asked me.
"I could listen to you read it all night long it was that good." I complimented her.
"Really? Thanks."
"You're welcome, Rosie."
"Did you want to stay for dinner tonight?"
"I've got family coming over for Sara's birthday."
"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that." She said.
"But I'll be back tomorrow, so it's all good." I assured her.
"But then there's school the next day, and I've got work afterwards-"
"Don't think about the days ahead, Rosie. Just think about now."
And with that, I brought my mouth down onto hers.
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