26

♦𝕭𝖑𝖆𝖐𝖊♦

I know she didn't tell her whole story. But I wasn't about to push her further than she was comfortable with sharing today.

While I held her in my arms my chest ached in a way I've never felt before. It's a hopeless feeling, when the thing that hurts the person you care so deeply for is in the past, and there's nothing you can do to change it.

I wish I was there for her then. I wish I met her sooner.

But I wasn't there to protect her. So I just held her, and hoped I could ease some of the lingering pain. I was ready to kill when she described some of the things her brother did to her. The only thing that calmed me down is when she said he's in another state.

It's still not far enough away though, people like him shouldn't be walking the same earth as her.

I feel like shit for ignoring the signs, I didn't want to acknowledge them. But when I walked in the door and heard Ace talking, I knew what he was doing. Because deep down I knew something really fucked up happened to her.

"You ok?" Ace asks me.

Rose eventually fell asleep in my arms, the crying wore her out.

"No." I laugh out bitterly, trying not to disturb the sleeping beauty in my arms.

"How the hell am I supposed to be ok after hearing all that shit?" My voice grumbles.

"I wouldn't expect you to be. But she'll be ok. She's got you now." Ace once told Isaiah and I that we were his saving grace when he was living in that hell of a home. He said if it wasn't for us he would have lost his will to live, but he didn't want to leave us. And that kept his head above water long enough for him to start living for himself.

Rose didn't have anyone when she was going through all that crap for years, and I wonder how she found the courage to wake up every morning.

"I think I love her." I choked out. "And it scares the shit out of me." I look down to the girl curled up to me, sleeping peacefully, face snuggled into my chest.

What the hell am I supposed to do now? What happens if she doesn't like me, or she leaves? How does one prepare themselves for the moment someone walks off with a piece of your heart and never brings it back?

"Blake- don't ruin this by overthinking. She likes you too, I can see it. But she's been through a lot, she might be hesitant to trust anyone." Ace tries to assure me.

"What do I do if she never loves me back?" The thought is almost crippling, I need her. I see her smiling face everytime I close my eyes. She invades my every thought.

"You can't worry about that. Don't think long term, she's here with you now, opening up to you. Just be here for her." Ace says things like a motivational speaker sometimes, and it pisses me off.

"Listen, enjoy the moments now. Because whether she leaves or stays, you'll regret not making the most of of every moment you have with her." Ace firmly squeezes my shoulder in reassurance.

Fuckers speaking the truth too. No matter what happens, if I have her forever, or just a few weeks, all I can do is make the most out of everyday until then.

"Stop speaking like that, it's freaking me out." I grunt.

Ace only speaks like this when he's extremely serious, last time was when he gave Isaiah an earful for almost getting hit by a train. Ace is a prime example of not being mad, only disappointed when something serious happens.

"I've got to go. Isaiah texted saying Olivia decided to redecorate a room and they need help moving furniture. They recruited both of us, but I'll let them know your unavailable right now." He grins down at the girl in my arms.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." I don't know what I'd do without him, Isaiah or the girl in my arms. I really hope I never have to find out.

⇼♢⇼♢⇼♢⇼♢⇼

Rose stirs in my lap, her eyes flutter open as she blinks in her surroundings. Her face fills with shock as she realizes she fell asleep on me.

"I'm sorry! How long was I asleep for?" She hurried off my lap.

Not long enough, I want to hold you longer. I whisper in my head.

"Only for a few hours, don't apologize. Are you feeling any better?" I glance over her face, it's still slightly puffy from all the crying she did. My stomach does flips, even after crying she's beautiful.

I never took the time to really look at girls before, I just didn't care. But I can't get enough of Rose, I could look at her forever and still not get enough of her beauty.

"Yeah. Thank you." Her face flushing pink, God is she trying to kill me? How anyone could hurt her is beyond me. I'd cut off my limbs before I would willingly cause her any type of pain.

"Let's go make some dinner, it's getting late." I suggest.

It's been my goal since she moved in to make sure she's eating healthily. The first few weeks were rough, she barely ate anything and I spent every day worried she would pass out from lack of nutrition.

But now she eats every meal with me. I have to keep at it though, because I found out last week that she skips meals if I'm not here reminding her to eat. I don't know if she just doesn't think about it, but I'll be damned if she goes hungry when she lives with me.

So now I make sure to have each meal with her, and if I can't I have one of the boys eat with her. She's always with one of us, I can't chance Conway getting his slimy hands on her. It took a little convincing on my end to get her to agree, one of us being with her all the time means she can't go out and work.

She did one day, left before I woke up and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw she was gone. Luckily she turned her phone back on so I was able to get a hold of her right away.

So now she stays with Ace or I. Don't even get me started on when I saw her dangling from the rooftop when Isaiah and her snuck off. I swear she's doing it on purpose to get a rise out of me.

Isaiah is now an absolute last resort to stay with her. I'd rather they didn't hang out at all, they get along too well, Rose is always laughing at his jokes and shit.

Makes me a jealous little fuck, but I would never tell her to stay away from him, Isaiah is a good friend to her. No matter how much I want to rip his arms off when he hugs her, I know he would never hurt her and he sees her as a little sister.

It clicked in my head after he called her cupcake a few weeks ago. I was getting all fired up then remembered he calls his sister a chicken nugget. It's his way of telling me he won't try anything with her.

I asked him after Rose left the room that day, he said it took me long enough to figure it out.

Little shit.

"What do you want?" I ask as I open up the fridge. She'll eat anything I make, but I always try to get her to pick.

"Mmmm Can we make something today?" She asks excitedly. We've mostly eaten take-out and pre-made stuff, I'm not a cook.

But Rose has taken an interest in cooking, everything we've made so far has been delicious. I don't know how she does it, but even with me messing things up she ends up making a crazy tasty meal.

"Of course. What are you thinking?" I speak over my shoulder.

"I saw this really cool recipe for stir fry, can we try that?" Rose has discovered this app where people post recipes, she gets all her ideas from there.

"Do we have everything for it?" I never understand how we can go shopping without a plan and somehow Rose randomly picks out ingredients she'll eventually turn into a meal.

"Almost, I think I can make it work with what we have though." She nudges herself in front of me so she has access to the fridge.

"Do you want to put the rice on to boil or chop the vegetables?" She asks, her arms wrapped around several bags of vegetables as she tries to maneuver around me. I'm still in the same spot I was, and now that her arms are full she can't get around me.

I should move, but I watch her eyes squint as she tries to figure out how to squeeze between me and the fridge door, it's adorable. Her first reaction is never to ask someone to do something for her, she always tries to figure out how to do it herself.

But in this situation when she realizes that I'm doing it on purpose, her eyes drift up to mine and a pout forms on her lips.

"I'll do the rice." I laugh, moving out of the way.

"You're a butt." She mumbles.

"What?" I whip around surprised, she's never called me a name before. Her cheeks burn a bright red.

"Nothing!" Her voice squeaks.

I almost burst out laughing, she didn't mean for me to hear her. She tries to busy herself with cutting broccoli, but I continue staring at her in amusement. Her foot nervously taps the ground as she tries to cut the broccoli florets into bite sized pieces.

"Stop staring at me!" She huffs, her face still bright red in embarrassment.

"Ok." I laugh and turn around to grab a pot for the rice I volunteered to make.

⇼♢⇼♢⇼♢⇼♢⇼

"Catch!" I hear Isaiah yell. Then a frisbee smacks Rose in the head.

"Isaiah!" I scold as I jog over to Rose who's clutching her head as she squats on the ground.

"Are you ok?" I ask, checking her head to see if it split any skin open.

"I told you I suck at frisbee!" She yells, completely ignoring me. Her angry little body shoots up off the ground and charges at Isaiah.

"Shit!" He screams, taking off in the other direction.

"My money is on Rose." Ace grins.

"Oh yeah, he's gonna get it." I laugh.

Isaiah and Rose have been extra hyper today, might have to do with the fact that they had a donut eating contest and are completely jacked on sugar.

"She runs really fast for how short her legs are." Ace says in awe. Isaiah is running at full speed away from a shouting Rose, but she's gaining on him.

"She doesn't even realize how small she is." I rub my palm against my forehead. "She thought she could reach the light fixture to change the bulb when it went out. She was a good three feet short of the bulb when she reached up." I snort.

The look of pure confusion on her face was priceless. "No way. How can she not know?" Ace laughs.

I shrug my shoulders, "Don't know. She mentioned something one time about having to fake being big and tough when she was living on the streets so people wouldn't mess with her as much. Maybe she acted for so long she convinced herself."

She told me a couple stories about the creeps she ran into out there, and also went on a long rant about some know it all in the library. I didn't understand most of it, she got so heated she stopped saying words correctly.

She's really cute when she's aggravated like that, her cheeks turn pink and her eyes squint together as she rambles.

"Has she told you anything more about her family?" Ace asks. It's been two days since Rose told us about her brother.

"No." I grunt, kicking and rock across the ground.

"What are you going to do?" Ace is worried I'll do something stupid. He has good reason to be, I would pummel her brother if I got a hold of him.

"Nothing right now. I asked for names, but she won't give them." She gave me some shit reason about not giving it to me because she doesn't want me to get hurt.

"Probably for the best. If you sought him out and beat him up, you'd be charged with assault if he called the cops on you." Ace gives me a sharp look.

"I know, but I just can't shake the need to pummel him." I sigh. Fucking hell, if he ever shows up around her I'll break his leg.

"I get it, trust me, I want to as well. Has she had any more nightmares?" He flicks his thumb around, it's something he's done for years when he's anxious.

"One." I wince. The scream I woke up to was something I'll never forget, the pain and terror it held was unforgettable.

It took me hours to calm her down, I couldn't leave her once she finally fell back asleep. I stayed seated on the floor next to the bed until the sun rose.

"Shit." The worry in his voice is thick.

He had bad nightmares for months after he moved out. They got to be less frequent as time went on, but he still gets them every once and a while. He calls me up the night's he has them, he needs someone to talk to and Isaiah sleeps like a fucking log so it's almost impossible to wake him up with a phone call.

"I'm gonna whack you on the head, you squeaky grocery cart wheel!" Rose yells. She's taken up the hobby of insulting Isaiah in strange ways.

"They're gonna be at this for a while aren't they?" I sigh.

"Yup." We both sit down at a picnic table, waiting for the two of them to wear each other out.

Isaiah makes a b-line, now heading straight towards us. He runs behind us, trying to use us and the table as a divider between them.

He expected Rose to follow him, they would play a game of chase as they ran around the table.

But that wasn't in Rose's plans, she runs full force straight at the table, jumping on top of it she flings herself over Ace and I and tackles Isaiah to the ground.

My mouth drops open as the two of them tumble around on the ground a few times before they come to a stop.

"What the fuck, woman?" Isaiah yells, spitting grass out of his mouth. Rose stands up and flexes her muscles at him.

"See, I told you. She thinks she's some macho man or something." I say dumbfounded.

Ace nods his head but stays silent, probably out of shock.

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