the beach | noel miller

By laurakinneyX-23

31.7K 784 299

"if I told you that I loved you, tell what would you say? If I told you that I hated you, would you go away... More

introduction
prologue
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xvi (rewritten)
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xvii

1.1K 29 8
By laurakinneyX-23

Noel left shortly after he was sure Rose fell asleep, not wanting to be caught by the others. Choosing the couch he starts setting up his bed, before realising that he wasn't actually tired. Unable to be bothered going outside, he continues deciding to just scroll on his phone to pass the time. Before he knows it he's asleep and everyone else starts making their way to their own beds.

12:24 pm, Sunday.

The lighting bleeding through the blinds is what wakes up Rose. She groggily pats next to her seeing if the boy she fell asleep next to was still there, but he wasn't. Sitting up, she looks over to the nightstand stand and checks what time it is. Groaning at how long she slept she gets out of bed and stands up, stretching her entire body before reaching for her phone not bothering to check it. Upon opening her door she can hear the tv and voices, great she thinks even the people who are hungover are awake before you. She shuffles out and into the lounge room, curious to see who's awake. Kelsey is sitting on the couch with a tired looking Cody while Marcus sleeps soundly. She furrows her brows at the fact Noel isn't there. "Hey!" Cody greets his sister, seeing that she's finally awake. "Hey" she mumbles less enthusiastically, before Kelsey greets her too. Sitting down at the edge of the couch, she looks around the room one more time before slickly bringing up the question on her mind. "Where's everyone else?" she asks at the couple on the couch. "Devon and Sam are probably still asleep but Noel left early, said he had to edit." Rose nods, "oh." Trying to focus on whatever's on the TV she fails when she checks her phone, hoping there's an off chance that he texted her. A smile threatens to break out when she sees a text from him sent earlier this morning.

Noel Miller

Hey I left early, need to edit. I was gonna say goodbye but u were out of it
Read at 12:27 pm

You should of woken me up, I feel like shit.
Read at 12:31 pm

My bad, u looked like you needed it
Read at 12:32 pm

Perhaps. How did you sleep?
Read at 12:33 pm

Alright, couch was a piece of shit lmao
Read at 12:33 pm

  Maybe if you stayed
Just kidding I don't give a fuck.
Read at 12:34 pm

You got jokes
How's Devon?
Read at 12:35 pm

Still asleep. Now thinking about it he might have an concussion, probably shouldn't have let him sleep lol.
Read at 12:35 pm

Did u just say lol
Read at 12:36 pm

Anyways.
Delivered at 12:36 pm

Rose locks her phone before he can reply, still feeling like shit from her late wake up call. "Can we get coffee" she asks no one in particular. Kelsey nods immediately at the word coffee, and Cody agrees too. Before standing up saying that he'll go check on the others to see if they want any. Kelsey looks over to a sleepy Rose, "how'd you sleep?" Rose looks over to her, "like an infant, how about you?" continuing the conversation. Kelsey frowns, "wish it was longer" before laughing. Rose brings up last night, asking what the hell happened and Kelsey explains describing to her what happened before Cody cuts her off, "hey do you guys wanna come with?" he yells down from the hallway. They give each other a look, Rose shrugging before standing up needing fresh air. Chatting on their way to Starbucks about random things Rose's phone dings, she thinks it's Noel before seeing that it's on of her group chat.

Frat Bros n Hoes 🍺

Devon: Everyone wanted to know what I would do if I didn't win. I guess we'll never know.

Adam: welcome back buddy

Rose: You lost that fight?

          Haha'd by Noel M, Jessie and Marcus

Devon: I'm injured and ur being a bitch??

                     Rose: I'm surprised you're even awake, I was convinced you would of slipped into a coma because someone let you sleep.

Devon: thank u so much rosie im glad I'm okay too.

Noel Miller : should of put that shit on barstool

                Haha'd by Jessie, Devon, Sam

Sam: LMAOOO
                                                        Rose: Hahaha.

Sam: Its so scary not knowing if she that means she's laughing or mocking us

Rose: I laughed?

Kelsey Kreppel: confirmed :)

Noel Miller: should of said lol

                                                     Rose: Fuck off.

Devon: ??

Chuckling at her friends, Rose is snapped out by Cody's voice asking what she wants. She tells him, he orders the entire store for them and his friends before returning to the house 20 minutes later. They're greeted by the 3 others still sitting in the lounge room, Rose winces at the sight of Devon's black eye. Before she sits down she goes to the freezer, hoping to find someone cool for her roommate. "Here Devon" she says, throwing the bag of peas at him. "You just gave me another black eye" he jokes. Sitting down next to him and finally taking a sip from her coffee she sighs in relief which eats a chuckle from Devon. He looks at her for a second, "sorry for scaring you last night" Rose just looks over to him making sure he saw her smiling before making a joke, "I haven't been scared since at least '06." The roommates  spend the rest of the day at Sam's mostly relaxing, or messing around with each other before Cody announces that he needs to head back home. The roommates agree, already seeing that it's pretty late. Saying their goodbyes to Sam they make their way home in an uber, chatting quietly amongst themselves to pass time.

The first thing Rose does when she gets home is get changed into her own clothes, not liking the fact that they aren't hers. She makes a split decision to get changed into workout clothes, deciding that a run sounds really good right about now. She checks her phone seeing that it's only 6:43 pm which gives her plenty of time. Walking out to see Cody on his computer, "I'm gonna go for a run" she says while tying up her hair. Cody nods knowing that it'll help clear her mind, and tells her to be safe and call him if she needs it. She laughs but agrees before making her way outside. Rose makes it down to Venice boardwalk before stopping to catch her breath, observing all the tourists and passersby. About to skip the song that's blaring in her earbuds she's cut off a caller id taking over her entire screen. Noel Miller. She smiles at the name, knowing that he would have called/texted sooner or later.

"Hey."
"Ma'am is your refrigerator running"
"No, but I was"
"Oh that's why you're so out of breath, I thought I inturp-"
"Don't even finish that sentence" " Fine. Where are you anyways it sounds busy."
                          "The boardwalk."
"You wanna get dinner?"
".... uh yeah sure where?"
"We'll figure it out, I'll come to you."
"Okay, see you soon."

Rose ends the call confused but a pleasant look on her face at how unexpected that was. She texts him her location and sits down starting to feel her heartbeat slow down due to the no activity. 10 minutes pass and she spots him walking over, "so I'm guessing you won't let me get changed?" he smiles "nope I'm hungry." She's not too mad at him, finding her clothes already comfortable, she just feels exposed. "Where are we going?" she asks before wrapping her headphones up. He walks for a little bit, looking at the many restaurants there is to offer "what do you feel like?" They discuss what they both feel like before deciding on a restaurant called the Morrison, both agreeing they'll get to take it away since they're both not dressed appropriately. Finally deciding on what they want they place their orders and sit down to wait, "we could go back to mine or just go sit down at the beach" he speaks up before being met with Rose's scrunched up face, "you wanna eat an entire meal on the sand with no towels, no light or cutlery?" she says playfully. "Mine it is" he says, raising his hands in defence.

Collecting their food when it's ready and walking back to his car, Rose pulls her phone out to text Cody before hesitating. "What am I saying?" she says, showing Noel her screen, "some scary man brought you dinner and is taking you back to his house" he says jokingly. "No way that sounds a little too much like a date" she replies raising her eyebrows. He chuckles at her flirting before giving her a good enough excuse. She types out her message explaining that one of her friends ended up calling her and they decided to hang out which is the truth in some alternative universe. They chat about their days, Noel telling her about a new video he filmed and Rose listens along genuinely interested. He does the same for her although she didn't do much, he still listens, noticing how much her hands move when she talks or the way her eyes light up when she talks about the people she loves.

Pulling into the underground garage to Noel's apartment complex, she jumps out carrying their food all the way up to his door. "Can I borrow a tshirt?" she asks remembering that she's only wearing a sports bra. He takes the food from her hands, "yeah they're in the second draw in the dresser in my room" he tells her knowing that she'll remember where his room is. Rose just grabs the first graphic t-shirt she can find, not wanting her food to go cold. "You should clean your room more" she says teasing him, "what's the point in that? it'll just get messy again" she scoffs at his logic before rummaging around his kitchen looking for plates. Noel finally turns around after having his back to her, sorting out their dinner and sees her in his t-shirt, it's baggy but doesn't drown her. He smiles at Rose making herself a home, before walking over and reaching for a cupboard that rights above her where the cups are. She laughs, "oh no not again" remembering how the last time they did this didn't end that well. He laughs at her comment before filling the cups up with water. They both look domestic as fuck right now but somehow they're completely oblivious to it, to them it just seems normal. Walking over to the couch they sit on it this time and just drag the coffee table over, "you wanna watch something?" he asks. She shrugs saying she doesn't mind before he mindlessly puts a channel on, knowing they probably won't pay attention to it.

Making conversation about everything and anything while they eat, they notice how one another keeps stealing glances at each other. Rose will look at Noel when he's not looking but immediately and visa versa. They're aware that there's some tension there, undecided whether it's sexual or not. Not addressing it, Rose makes an effort to whatever's on TV to try stop herself from looking at him every 5 seconds. "I want to play fortnite" she says out of nowhere, mouth full of food. Noel looks at her amused but slightly concerned, "what?" Rose just jerks her head towards his computer, "fortnite?" Noel burst out laughing at her request finding this the funniest thing ever. He calms down before cracking up again over her dead serious face which makes her laugh. Taking a bite out of his food to settle himself down he tells yeah, "sure." After finishing eating and arguing over doing the dishes they decide to both do them in a team effort. Thankfully it only takes them not long at all and after they finish Noel grabs a chair to put next to his one at the desk. "Come on," he says, still amused. Sitting in his seat she puts her phone down on the desk seeing him lean over her, he notices her reaction "I need to set it up" he explains before putting his mouth right near her ear "if that's okay." She squeals at him, making him laugh "fuck off!" she says feeling violated yet entertained. They giggle for a little bit longer before the loading screen finally appears, sitting down next to her he quickly checks his phone while they wait.

3 hours and only an embarrassing amount of kills later, Rose can say she's had the most fun tonight than she's had in forever. Noel and her laughed harder than ever too because of each other, especially Rose's gamer rage. Cheering him on as he gets the final kill she jumps up in excitement, not caring about how much of a dork she looked like. Noel looks back, finding her reaction the cutest thing in the world. He speaks up on it, "you're cute when you wanna be'' massive smile on his face. "I'd make an excellent cheerleader" she says matter of factly before Noel scoffs, "yeah the mean on that always ends up with nothing." She laughs at him and his dig, finding it funny how he knows the plot of every 2000s movie ever. She cheeks her phone before letting out an "oh shit" at the time. 10:03 pm. She panics even more seeing a missed call from Cody, it was close to becoming a routine that every time she was with Noel she'd be completely oblivious to the outside world. "Shut up" she says to a confused Noel before putting the phone to her ear.

"Rose?!"

"Cody! Holy fuck I'm sorry I lost track of time"

"It's fine, as long as you're okay

"We ended up going to the uh studio, we we bored and I needed cardio so.."

"It's okay hahaha, are you coming home tonight or crashing at hers?"

Rose makes eye contact with Noel who looks like he's gonna burst out laughing any minute. She mouths a "am I crashing?" trying to answer Cody's question. Noel understands and just nods, hoping she would anyways.

"Rose..?"

"Yeah sorry we were just deciding. I'm gonna stay here but I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay. Don't stay up too late and say hi to Nadia for me."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you too."

"You lost track of time? Yeah learning how to punch holes in the wall." Noel says to her laughing his ass off again for the millionth time tonight. "Fuck you, I already knew how to do that" she says clenching her knuckles. They play a few more rounds of the game before getting off, both saying that their eyes hurt. Making the short walk back to the couch, Rose sits down but Noel throws himself into the corner. "Movie or show?" he asks already knowing it was gonna be their next task. "Movie" she says knowing they'll both decide on that quicker than a tv show. She stands up and questions him, "popcorn?" Noel finds it relieving how every time she watches a movie she never forgets a snack. "Pantry, second bottom shelf" he tells her, busy flipping through the netflix selection. He finds himself looking at her again, watching how comfortable she looks. Her face isn't tense and her eyebrows aren't knit like they always tend to be. "Stop looking at me" she demands seeing him out of the corner of her eyes. "You love it," he says, making fun of her. Rolling her eyes she waits for the popcorn, mindlessly looking at the photos he has hung up on the fridge. There's one with what must be his other friends in a photo booth, a vintage looking one that might be his parents and finally one of him and Cody, and a few of their mutual friends. She's pulled out of her daze hearing Noel yell out a movie choice. She quickly dumps the now cooked popcorn into a bowl and walks over, turning off all the lights. Seeing that he picked Hereditary she smiles at his taste before handing him the bowl of popcorn, trying to find a comfortable position. They discuss the movie for a while before finding themselves fall silent, already emerged in the movie.

A few jump scares, laughs and confused curse words later the movie finally ends. Leaving Rose and Noel to examine every little detail of that fucked up movie, "and when her head hit the po-" he tried to say but can't help but laugh out at the scene replaying in his head. Rose laughs at his fucked up humour which makes her an accomplice, "I haven't laughed this hard in a long time" she says to him, not really expecting it to come out of her mouth. Maybe it was because she was in that sleepy daze you fall into because you're that tired. He smiles at her confession, "me either." Watching a bit of TV in an attempt to push the movie out of their heads, Rose finally yawns while checking the time. 12:40 am. "You tired?" he asks, already knowing the answer. "A little" she replies before seeing him stand up and open his linen closet. A sleepy smile breaks out on her face before standing up and telling "I'll help you." After finishing making the bed he bids her a goodnight and walks out but is stopped when he feels her grab his arm. "You're sleeping here too, the couch fucked us both up last time" she tells him unofficially asking him to stay. He nods, "fine by me" before walking back out to the lounge room to turn everything off. Coming back to his room he spots l her sitting on the edge of his bed, on her phone. Taking the opportunity to change into sweatpants he does that knowing she's too focussed on whatever's on her screen to notice. She doesn't notice until he walks over to his hamper, shamelessly checking him out, she puts her phone down before taking her tight leggings off. She sees him give her a surprised look, "if I leave these on I will wake up unable to feel my legs." He laughs before jumping into bed, he aimlessly looks around waiting for her to turn off the light before seeing something black on her upper thigh. "You have a tattoo?!" he nearly yells in surprise. Her eyes widen at his tone before looking down at what in fact is a tattoo, "yeah?" she says stretching it out so he knows she's confused. "What does he say'' almost excitedly at his newfound discovery. "It's latin" she tells him, "it says ars longa, vita brevis. "What does it mean?" he asks, interested as ever. "It can mean a few things but my interpretation is art is long, life is short." Noel smiles, ignoring the fact that he knows he has heart eyes at the girl in front of him. "That's sick as fuck" he tells her making her laugh at his choice of words.

Turning the light off she walks back over to his bed, before turning on her side to face him. "Hi" she mumbles to which he replies with "hi." Taking a deep breath in he notices it before asking her if she's okay, she chuckles and tells him it's because "your bed is comfy as fuck." He laughs, locking his phone and putting it on the nightstand before matching her and rolling onto his side. "So do you have many more tattoos you're hiding?" That one question started a marathon of other conversation topics. They sat in his bed talking about everything and nothing. Noel learnt truely how much pressure Rose is under with school, her parents and her future. Rose learnt that anxiety is something Noel's been fighting for a long time, and still continues to do this day. They both sat listening to each other talk, laughing at silly jokes or smiling to communicate that it's okay for the other to keep going. It was the first time Rose in a long time had been so candid with something, normally relying on bottling up her emotions to get her through the day.

When they finish laughing at something Noel had said Rose pats around the bed trying to find her phone. Realising she wasn't aware of how much time has passed. Their positions moved a long time ago with Noel leaning against his headboard while Rose was lying down upside down, her legs resting on his headboard too. Looking at her screen she lets out a "fuck" at the time, 4:03 am. She shows Noel who is also shocked at how long they spent talking, "I'm not even tired" he says to her thinking that his tiredness must have worn off a long time ago. She agrees, looking mindlessly around his room. Looking over to Noel she watches as he types away on his phone, finding it amusing how his eyebrows are knitted in concentration. "So what happened with Mia" she says asking the first thing that comes to mind, sheepishly looking at him. He puts his phone down, "nothing" answering her honestly. "Why?" he asks, watching as she plays with a ring on her pointer finger quickly piecing together it was an anxious habit. "Just curious" she shrugs thinking back to their conversation in the backyard. They sit in silence, letting a few moments pass before he leans his head against his headboard. "I don't know why I invited her," he says truthfully, trying to search for any reason why he replied to her in the first place. He watches Rose sit up and face him, "what are we doing?" she asks, tilting her head to the side at their constant state of perplexity. Noel lets out a half suppressed laugh, "playing a game." She laughs, "no ones winning" she says trying to push down the stinging she feels every time they get brought up.

She stands up when she feels her eyes start to water. "What if we just fucked?" she asks boldly. "What if we just slept together what would happen? Or if I just told you I like you. What then?" she looks at him awaiting his reply to her outburst. "Nothing. Nothing would happen because we'd just-" she takes a breath not really sure how to phrase this. "You make me want things I can't have, Noel." He just sits in the silence she created, "why do you do this? why do you always ruin things when they're- good?" he tells her, trying to process everything she just said. "That's what i'm trying to say. See we wouldn't- we wouldn't last. Because I-I can't do shit like this" she says feeling herself get angrier at her own feelings. Noel doesn't know what to say and she knows that. "Why did you invite her Noel? Why did you stay with me?" she asks. He sighs, looking at her "because I.." he starts before running his hands through his hair in frustration and continues, "the same reason why you wanted her gone." She frowns, "that. I can't do that." Noel knows what she's trying to do, she's trying to push him away before something happens. Like she's waiting for the minute something flips. "Don't push me away" he says softly knowing what's about to happen. She stares, her chest starting to rise and fall rapidly. "You know I was just sitting here and I- and I thought this is nice. You are nice Noel. Everything is so... so nice with you. It's so quiet." she utters not being able to stop herself. "I can't just have that and lose it. I don't know when or what but I know one fucking day I will lose it and I can't." He watches as her face crumbles, pained expression plaster over it. It feels the curtains are closing. Noel can tell by the look on her face that it's because of him. "You're gonna end up losing everyone, if you keep doing this'' he says sadly. "I know" she replies, her voice breaking "I think I like it that way."

Noel can almost.. almost feel his heartbreak at her words. Not being able to just let her go, he walks over to where Rose is and places his hands on the side of her head and just goes for it. He's kissing her, finally he thinks. It isn't rough or curious like the first time this time it's filled with melancholy and hesitation. Rose kisses him back, of course she kisses him back. She holds onto his hand that's on her check in support, not even registering what's happening. "I won't leave you" he promises between kisses, she whimpers not being able to get her words out before breaking them apart "yes you will." They stand like that for a while, foreheads touching before she reconnects them one final time. His mouth trails down to her neck, looking for that one spot to hopefully make her feel the nice that she always feels, she deserves nice. Noel finds his way back to her lips, before mumbling a "jump" between their kisses. Rose complies, wanting the feeling what she's feeling right now to never stop. Lying her on the bed, he looks at her "you okay?" wanting her complete reassurance before doing anything else. She chuckles "I'll tell you if I'm not" she confirms before reconnecting their mouths. They stay like that, breaking apart every once in a while l to catch their breaths. Noel can feel her nails scratch at the back every so often when he finds that spot on her neck, chuckling at her reaction. Resting her hands on his abdomen, Noel thinks she's about to take off his t-shirt before feeling a force hit him. Now at an advantage Rose rolls them over, so she's straddling his lap. "Don't be so surprised" she says smugly before taking off her t-shirt. Noel takes a second to appreciate the view, before he could even reconnect their lips the dreaded sound of someone's ringtone floods the room. They both jump at the sudden and loud sound. "Oh fuck" she mutters before climbing off him knowing that it's hers and there's a chance that somethings wrong if someone is calling her at 5:21 am in the morning. Rose grabs her phone, sighing in relief seeing that it's only her mom. Noel's confused as to why she's calling this early before realising Rose's parents travel a lot and it probably wasn't 5 am where they were. Noel holds back a laugh hearing an out of breath Rose try explain the reason for it.

Rose hears her mom apologise for the early call for the fifth time before hearing her return to the reason she called Cody and Rose's cousins wedding. Rose keeps her answers brief, knowing that her and Cody hadn't even started talking about flights and accommodation. "I'll talk to him today mom, yes I promise. Okay. Love you too." Noel looks over as she wraps up the phone call, watching how her shoulders had just gotten at the phone call. "Everything good?" he asks, still unaware as to why her mom was calling that early. Rose turns out looking at Noel, "yeah she was talking about our cousin's wedding that's coming up and asked if Cody and I had planned flights." Noel smirks knowing that they didn't, "well have you?" he asks. Rose snickers, "we would have completely forgotten about it if it wasn't for her." They finish chuckling before returning to a what-do-we-do-now silence. Rose lets out a disappointed breath before grabbing her t-shirt, "we shouldn't have done that" knowing that they both just made things more complicated. "I know," he replies. Rose crawls back over to Noel who's now lying down on his pillow, before lying down herself. Words aren't exchanged but his hand finds a place on her thigh, it's shy but Rose doesn't do anything to push it away. It's comforting in a way. "I'm tired" she mumbles, her eyes already closed. Noel rubs his hand up and down her thigh, "so sleep."

Monday, 11:14 am

Rose awoke to the sound of a blender whirling, groaning at the noise she hesitatingly got out of bed and flung Noel's door open. "What the fuck?" she yells out in frustration. Noel stands in his kitchen laughing at her tantrum "you would have felt like shit if you overslept" he tells her knowingly. She sighs, rubbing her eyes attempting to wake herself up. "Just because you're right doesn't mean I'll let it go" she replies still mad. Noel grabs two cups before looking at the sleepy girl in front of him, "are we okay?" he asks timidly not really sure how it's gonna go. She looks at him, rubbing her eye to wake herself up. "Yes" she says pointedly wanting to show she means it. Knowing she's not finished, Noel doesn't reply, "I want to be your friend" she tells him hoping he understands what she means. "I want to be your friend too" he answers. Watching her sigh she looks him in the eyes, "so.. we're just friends" she says wanting his confirmation. Noel raises his eyebrows before confirming, "yes just friends." They both stand in semi awkward silence before Rose speaks up again agitated at the tension in the room, "I- just" she tries to form a sentence but the thoughts of a thousand other things that are running around in her head stop her. "What?" he asks watching as she grows more and more annoyed. "I don't want to be.. weird" she tells him, cringing at how cliche she sounds. "It won't be," he tells her. Rose knits her eyebrows not believing it which he picks up on, "so what if we make out from time to time we're just friends Rose" he says poking fun at how difficult she's being. Noel would have been fine if they moved on, in fact he can feel a sting at how she's trying to resolve this meaning she genuinely meant what she said last night. Rose gives him a look of disapproval at his choice of time to make jokes, "Noel!" she whines trying to get him to be serious. Sitting his drink down he places both his hands on her face just like last night before looking into her eyes. "Rose, I promise we will be just friends. That's it. You won't lose me" he tells her meaning most of his words. He observes how her entire body relaxes at his touch, and probably his reassuring words. She tries to take him seriously before a thought floods her mind, "I'd kiss you if we weren't just friends" she tells him. This breaks Noel out of his seriousness, laughing at her statement "hey! you're the one who made this rule" he hits back. "Fine" she fakes disappointment, realising his hands are still on her face. "Is this where we hug or?" he jokes before Rose moves out of his grasp "fuck off." Her profanities confirm that their conversation about them has ended and everything's okay. For now.

"What are you doing today?" she asks him, wanting to return to normal conversation. Noel shrugs, "I should probably film and edit but..." he pauses jokingly "I don't want too." Rose laughs, "I might go to the studio or something, I haven't been in forever." Noel tenses at the mention of the studio before hearing her say that it has been awhile, relieved at the idea that she's not pushing herself. She continues explaining that she already had plans with her friend, Nadia and that she'd pick her up soon. They discuss that for a few more minutes before Noel asks, "how much time do you have to kill?" Rose sighs not knowing his intention, "enough" before watching him stand up with a teasing smile on his face, "fortnite?" he offers. Rose laughs before ultimately joining him, not wanting to admit she actually wanted to play.

Time flies by and before they know it, Rose's friend is messaging her saying she's on her way, blissfully unaware that it's Noel's house. "What are you gonna say?" Noel questions turning off his computer. "I don't know, it's my drug dealers place?" Rose jokes standing up. Noel laughs with her before heading to the front door to walk her, "you can keep the shirt babe" he says putting on a fuckboy voice. Rose scoffs, "you're my knight and shining armour" before hearing her phone go off knowing that it's Nadia. "Well my time here has come" she says dramatically not knowing how to say goodbye. Noel laughs before jerking his head for her to go, aware of the awkwardness creeping in. "Bye!" she waves a smile on her face, "Bye" he laughs watching as she walks away. Before she's out of earshot he yells "same time next week?" making Rose turn around and flip him off with both fingers.

It's evening by the time Rose gets home, opening the door and muttering a string of curse words at her sore and very painful feet. This alerts Marcus who's working at the dimming table, "welcome back" he says, teasing her about being gone for so long. Rose is far too frustrated to be amused, starting a rant about how no matter what length she goes to, to protect her feet nothing works. Poor Marcus is trying his hardest to be understanding before Cody walks out, Kelsey not far behind him. Cody hides a laugh knowing it'll just make her more irritated before walking over to his sister to examine her. "Hey" she mumbles looking in the couples direction, Kelsey remembering from the previous time this happened where the medicine basket is, tasking herself with getting it she makes her way over. "Here Rose" Kelsey offers a sympathetic look on her face, Rose tells her thank you before snapping at her brother over something he said. Rose sits down where Marcus is and begins to dress her foot, hissing every chance she got at the blisters and broken skin. "Why'd you go so hard?" Cody questions knowing that her injuries are only because of not stopping for a break, Rose sighs "I don't know" she tells him. She does know deep down, the voice was at the back of her head telling her that she should be better, that she's sloppy, that if she takes another break like she did before she'd lose it all. It's a vicious cycle of knowing her body needs a break but her mind telling her to keep going. Cody attempts to lecture her for a few minutes, telling her to slow down and listen to herself. Playing the parent role he took on before returning to normal conversation to distract her. The group makes conversation before discussing what they all feel like for dinner, everyone inputting their choices before finally deciding on chipotle.

The rest of the night is spent with everyone eating dinner and watching a tv show before Rose decides to head to bed, her lack of sleep from the previous night catching up to her. Mumbling a goodnight she's confused as to why Kelsey stood up before realising she's probably going to the kitchen. Rose makes her way to her room but right before she can open her door she hears the girl behind her whisper hoping to grab her attention, "Rose!" She turns around confused before raising her eyebrows questioning what she wants, "yes?" Kelsey walks closer, "I'm not sure if you know but you uh..." she trails off before pointing to her neck. Rose immediately picks up on what she's saying, hand flying to her neck, before her face frowns thinking at how the fuck is she gonna get out of this one. Not even bothering to defend herself she asks Kelsey worriedly "fuck do you think they saw" referring to her roommates. Kelsey chuckles before saying "I don't think so" knowing that Devon would have pointed it out. Rose can feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment before rubbing her neck. "It's okay" Kelsey reassures before a smug smile breaks out, Rose warns her a "don't" which sounds threatening but they both know deep down it's playful. Kelsey backs up, and pretends to put a lock over her mouth and throw away the key telling Rose that her secrets safe. Rose still has that "oh fuck" look on her face before attempting to set things straight again, "it's not what-" Kelsey interrupts her "it's okay, it's none of my business" which doesn't calm Rose down at all. Before she could even explain herself Kelsey disappears leaving Rose standing in front of her door feeling embarrassed which hasn't happened in a long time.

Closing the door behind her she sighs, leaning against it. A stressed hand is on her forehead trying to process that entire conversation. She thinks that Kelsey could maybe think it was actually with Nadia, which I mean wouldn't be the worst thing before realising she's probably had her suspicions with Noel for a while. Rose is calmed at the fact Kelsey doesn't actually know who gave her the hickey, only suspects. Rose lets out a chuckle to herself at her thoughts before pulling her phone out of her back pocket, opening messages with one person in mind.

Noel Miller

Kelsey saw my neck, which I didn't even know was.. the way it was so thank you for that.
Read at 9:34 pm

                                                         LMAOO sorry
                                                        Read at 9:35 pm
Don't be such a fucking child.
Read at 9:36 pm

                                         I won't next time promise
                                                  Read at 9:36 pm
                                              I'm kidding.. I think?
                                                 Read at 9:37 pm
?!?!?
You're really fucking unfunny
Read at 9:37 pm
       
                                                  I know u laughed 😏
                                                   Read at 9:38 pm
                                Hey also I think Kelsey likes us
Read at 9:39 pm
Together?
Read at 9:40 pm

                                                                    Yeah
                                                       Read at 9:40 pm
Well she shouldn't.
Read at 9:41 pm

💔💔
fortnite misses u
Read at 9:42 pm

Shut up.
Read at 9:45 pm
Anyways goodnight.
Read at 9:45 pm

Night
Delivered

liked by, codyko, molchanimal and 2,356 others
thenoelmiller: bout to take her to salty springs
 
codyko: BARS

user1: he's so pretty

user2: take me to salty springs

user3: NOT A FORTNITE JOKE LMAOO

view all 1,403 comments

Rose Kolod

IM GONNA KILL YOU.
YOUR INSTAGRAM POST??
Read at 9:54 pm

Thought you were asleep?
Read at 9:55 pm

You may as well have just tagged me.
Read at 9:56 pm

Don't tempt me lmfao
Read at 9:56 pm
Goodnight
Read at 9:57 pm
😾😾
Delivered

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