♦𝕭𝖑𝖆𝖐𝖊♦

Everything's been calm since the police station, it's been a few weeks now and it's been too good to be true.

I won my fight the day after, Conway was off to the side with a sour glare, but he hasn't tried anything else.

Rose and I have gotten back into the groove of things, it was a little tense at first but after a few days the mood was lightened and now she's back to humming while she cooks.

It's something I've noticed she stops doing when something's bothering her.

We haven't talked about her brother, it makes me nervous. I know it's worrying her, but she refuses to talk to anyone about it. She detours the conversation if I try to bring it up, at first I thought she just didn't want to talk to me, it hurt, but I sucked up my feelings and had Ace try.

She was less responsive to him than she was with me, after discreetly steering the conversation in another direction she left the room and didn't come back out with us for hours.

I have to constantly remind myself that even though I want her to open up to me, that doesn't mean she's ready and if I push her that could be detrimental for the both of us.

So I decided to give it a break for a while, and the time after has been pure bliss. I'm trying to forget about the fact that her brother could be on the way to find her, but one of us guys is always with her so she'll be safe.

When I don't bring up anything about her past she floats around the house like she belongs here, her smiles brighten the day and laughter fills the air.

It's a sight I've only dreamed about dreaming about. Months ago I would have thought this could only happen for me in another dimension, that this life was far too tainted for anything so marvelous to happen.

But Rose proved me wrong and she continues to do it everyday without knowing.

"Isaiah is coming over." Rose says, flipping a pancake she's making for breakfast. "Said he has something important to talk to us about." Isaiah always texts Rose first now, only texting me if it's directly for me or if Rose doesn't answer.

I don't blame him, she's way more enjoyable to talk to.

"Yeah? What about?" I scoff, the last time Isaiah said he had something important to tell me he went on an hour long rant about how his sister stole the last cookie in the house, and that he no longer felt and I quote "Respected enough to continue living there."

So he moved in with Ace for a few weeks until his sister barged into the apartment and dragged his ass home.

"I don't know. He just said he'll be over later." She gracefully flips the pancake from the pan on top of the others on a plate and places it in front of me.

I frown when I see her switch the stove off without making another plate for herself.

"Where's yours?" I question, knowing full well what the answer is going to be.

"I'm not hungry." She shrugs, placing the pan in the dishwasher. She's been spitting this bullshit for weeks, ever since the arrest she's been backing off on eating. It was minimal at fists, took me a while to notice because she would still eat but cut down the amount.

Now she skips full meals and sometimes will try to skip a whole day of eating. I've done my fair share of not eating in my life, I get that sometimes you just don't want to, but Rose is scary skinny.

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't take her to get a check-up, I mentioned it once and the idea wasn't well received. But if she keeps skipping meals like this I might have to strongly suggest it before I'm having to rush her to the hospital because her body can't function anymore.

"Not acceptable. You know our agreement." I grumble.

I grab another plate and put half the pancakes on them and slide them over to her.

When I noticed she stopped eating meals, I also noticed she still enjoyed cooking them. So I made her agree that whenever she cooks she has to eat as well. It might sound stupid, but I can't stand eating food she makes while she tries to live off air.

That agreement was the only way I could think of to get her to eat at least a small portion at each meal, I knew she wouldn't give up cooking.

"That I eat what I cook." She mumbles, stabbing the fork into dry ass pancakes and shoving a bite in her mouth.

"What time is Isaiah coming over?" I pour some syrup on her pancake as she pulls out her phone to check the texts.

My attempt to semi distract her works, as she scrolls through her phone she takes another bite of the now syruped pancake.

When she's being outrageously stubborn about food, if you get her to take a bite and get her talking about something else she will finish her plate without a second thought. But if you don't get her distracted then she sits there with a pout looking miserable. And I prefer the happy, full tummy Rose.

"He didn't say, so I just asked him." The small smile on her face is enough to make me fall to my knees.

But then I realize it's because she's excited that Isaiah is coming over and I suddenly want to change the locks on the doors so he can't get in. I don't understand why she likes him so much, half of the time they hang out they fight like old ladies in a nursing home bingo game. To each their own I guess.

"He said he's on his way now." Her voice holds excitement, I try my best to hold back a scowl. I know she doesn't have many friends, and I shouldn't bring down her mood just because I'm jealous of that prick.

"Ok, I'll clean up so you can go do that thing you always do." Rose and Isaiah have some sort of stupid ritual they do. When he comes over she draws him a small doodle on a piece of paper and cuts it out. He takes it home and glues it to some collage thing. He then proceeds to rub it in my face every time I go to his house.

He'll be all like 'ohhh look at this one from that one day when I made her laugh harder than you could.' Fuckers just begging to be punched.

"Really?" Her whole body perks up in excitement. "Thank you!" She jumps off the stool, nearly giving me a heart attack when she catches her foot and almost crashes to the ground.

Then runs off to her room to draw him a stupid picture. I wish she'd draw me one, she's really good at drawing, but only Isaiah has gotten one. She's good at most anything really, except for random small things most people don't have issues with.

Like getting off a stool or trying to drink water, she almost drowned herself trying to take a sip of water yesterday. That's when she informed me that sometimes her body forgets how to eat or drink and she swallows weirdly causing her to choke.

Oh, and I can't forget about how sometimes the utensil won't even make it to her mouth, I can't count how many times she's randomly dropped the fork on the floor while she tries to take a bite.

The color her cheeks turn when she does these things is my new favorite color though.

Isaiah walks in as I'm finishing wiping the counter clean.

"Hey, how's it going?" He says rather cheerfully.

"It's going good..." I say suspicious of his attitude, my brows furrow as I take in his giddy smile.

"Isaiah! Look, it's a drawing of the bunny at the waterfall!" Rose slaps down a small drawing on the counter.

Lucky bastard.

"Shit, this is gonna look amazing next to the one you did with flowers last time." He says in awe, causing Rose to smile and I feel jealousy creep over me.

I gotta get this in check, the amount of jealousy I feel because of her can't be healthy.

"I'm gonna sell it for a ton of money when it's complete." Isaiah jokes, he'll never do that. I'm sure it would sell though, the pictures she draws look like mini versions of what could be in an art museum.

"Ok, I get twenty percent though." Her smile grows as she wiggles her finger at him.

"Fifteen." He barters.

"The fuck? She's done all the work, you take the fifteen percent, you dumb fuck. Or better off, nothing at all." I interject.

Like I'd let him rip her off like that, I'd beat his ass if he actually tried.

But it sparks an idea in my mind, Rose has been wanting to go work since she's completely out of money. But she knows I want her here, with us, so I can keep her safe. So she never complains about it.

"Have you tried selling the stuff you make online?" She isn't limited to just painting. I've seen her make all kinds of things, all for herself or people around her, but I bet if she started a shop people would buy from her.

Her head tilts up to me, a quizzical look on her face. "People can sell stuff online? People like me?" She looks like she's waiting for me to tell her it's a joke.

I sometimes forget that Rose may not have been exposed to certain normal things, she was too busy being exposed to creatures who tormented her.

"Yeah, there are sites where you can post your stuff. I bet you could make some money off it, and you can do it all from here." I don't care if she makes money, I don't need her to help with money around here, I wouldn't take it from her even if she offered.

But I understand the comfort of knowing you can take care of yourself if everything else goes to shit. Plus then I can buy something since she hasn't given me a painting yet. I'll be the first goddam customer and Isaiah can go cry a river for all I care.

"Really?" The glimmer in her eyes is almost blinding as she lifts herself onto her tippy toes in excitement.

"Yeah, you can use my laptop to set up the store. We can go get supplies for whatever you want to make when you figure it out." I love seeing her like this, I doubt she understands how fucking adorable she is.

But a chill rushes over me when her shoulders drop along with her head. Isaiah's eyes snap to mine and I swallow the lump in the throat. Did I say something wrong? She was just so happy.

"I don't have any money to buy supplies..." She whispers sadly. "Maybe I can go do one job, just enough to get money for some basic supplies." She mumbles to herself.

Fuck me, of course she would be worried about that. She never wants to take my money or let me buy her things, it's a miracle that she lets me get her food without question now.

I search my mind for any ideas that could fix this without her feeling bad about it. "I'll lend you the money." I say, making my voice deeper so I sound more business like or whatever.

"Blake, I can't just take money from you all the time." She sighs. Her definition of all the time is stupid, all I do is buy her food, she never takes money from me. One time I tried to sneak a fifty in her bag just so she had some spending money, but I later found it in my wallet again with a note that said 'nice try'.

"Oh, I'm not just giving it to you, I'm investing it. I expect that you will repay me the amount and I want a one percent share of your business."

I don't know shit about this stuff, I'm pulling words out of my ass that I heard on a TV show once.

"What does that mean? Do I give you a percentage every time I sell something?" She laughs, obviously sensing I don't know what I'm saying.

"I don't know, let's make it a fixed thing. You pay me back, and I get a penny from every sale you make." Oh man I'm a genius, then I can get a clear jar and put every penny she gives me in it and watch it pile up over time.

Then if she ever doubts herself I can hold up a huge jug of pennies, tell her she's being a crazy lady, and that everyone loves her stuff.

"It's a deal, partner." She reaches out and shakes my hand. "Do you think I can do it?"

Goddammit, where's the jug of pennies at.

"Of course, you're incredibly crafty." I say sincerely.

"Well... when I was younger I did sell some drawings to my neighbors. One sold for a whole five bucks!" That glimmer in her eye is back, and my heart squeezes. This is the first time she's recalling something from her childhood that brings her happiness.

"You guys are cute." Isaiah chirps from his seat. I send him a glare, he's gonna out my fucking crush on her.

"So anyway. What I came over here for was to announce that I'm dating someone. Her name is Mary and I met her last week at a party." He beams.

Rose leans in across the island with wide eyes.

"Can I meet her?" Goddammit, she would love to have a female friend, but Isaiah doesn't usually have the best taste in girls.

"I was actually wondering if you guys would want to go on a double date with Mary and I?" I almost choke on my saliva, Rose's eyes grow larger and Isaiah sits there with a smug ass look on his face.

I want to shove his face in the toilet, I want it so bad, but I won't because that might scare Rose.

Instead my fingers twitch at my sides, did he just ask Rose out on a date for me? I love him, and I hate him for that.

"A double date?" Rose's soft voice falls over me, I think my heart rate just doubled and my palms are sweating now. Her eyebrows are pushed together as she thinks, but a rush of hope hits me when she doesn't look the slightest bit disturbed at the thought.

This is my chance, don't fuck this up. I whisper to myself, wiping my palms on my pants.

"Blake doesn't like me like that." There's a tinge of sadness in her voice that puts me on edge. What did I do to make her think I don't like her?

"So, about that...'' I start.

Laying my palm on the front of Isaiah's face. I push him towards the other room. He takes the hint and leaves us alone with what he started.

"Umm.. I uh-" Fuck why is this so hard to say.

Her green eyes look up at me, making the world come to a halt around me. If she says no it will crush me, but I'd understand.

I clear my throat and try again. "I.. do.?" It comes out as a question and I groan internally.

Way to fuck it up, Blake. Bet if she had any desire to date me she doesn't now, how am I so fucking lame?

Stop panicking and fucking fix it, you jackass.

I clear my throat again, "What I mean to say is that I really like you. And I would be honored if you would go on this double date with me." I tried to sound smooth, but my voice was anything but even.

She stares up at me, her mouth slightly agape in surprise, or maybe horror, how am I supposed to know?

Please say something, can't you see I'm dying here.

"I didn't think you felt the same way." She breathes, eyes never leaving mine. The same way? That means she likes me too, right?

Oh fuck yeah, no way, this is... If this is one of Isaiah's fucking pranks I'm gonna kill him.

"You like me too?" I need to hear the words from her, to make sure I'm not imagining it. Her face flames up, turning a bright pink, then her head drops on top of her crossed arms on the counter. Her head nods, face buried but I hear the word she mumbles.

"Yeah." Her answer sends shock-waves through my body.

Holy fuck, this isn't really happening. "Thank God." Isaiah groans from the living room. "Took you guys long enough." He steps into the kitchen, but I can't take my eyes off of Rose.

"Double date tonight at six, we're going bowling, so dress accordingly. I'll text you the details later, Rose." He chuckles when Rose doesn't lift her head, but instead she gives him a thumbs up while burying her face deeper in her arm.

I finally lift my eyes from her and look at Isaiah, only to see him making kissy faces at me. I was going to thank him for pushing me to confess, but now I'm not so sure.

After he stops mocking me he turns and leaves without saying a word, what an idiot.

I turn my attention back to the girl who likes me, ah fuck its so surreal.

She hasn't moved, thumb is still in the air, she's embarrassed and I find it cute but I don't want her to feel awkward around me.

I have to figure out something that can break the ice, now that we're dating and all.

I have to keep saying it, then maybe I'll start to believe it.

I walk across the kitchen to the fridge and open it up.

"I think I'll make a smoothie." I mumble, just loud enough for her to hear. A gasp escapes her mouth and she's up off that chair faster than a dog chasing a squirrel.

"It's ok, I'll do it." She generally pulls me away from the fridge, my skin warms where her hands touch mine and I wish they would stay there longer.

She lets go to rummage through the fridge and freezer for smoothie ingredients.

I knew I would get this reaction from her, when I bought the blender and made her smoothies when she was on her cycle, I followed recipes and they turned out great.

Then one day I got a little creative, I tried to make my own with stuff I thought would go great together, news flash, they didn't and somehow I caught the blender motor on fire and she hasn't allowed me to make them since then.

She places bags of berries on the counter, grabs bananas and yogurt then puts them in the blender. But it only looks like enough for one smoothie.

"Enough for you too?" I question.

"Oh, right." She whispers, holding a finger up in the air like she simply forgot about feeding herself.

She dumps more into the blender and minutes later I have a smoothie with a mini umbrella in my hand.

I saw her eyeing them at the store one day, so I secretly got them.

Now she can't make a drink without one in it. It's cute, but I think she purposely always gives me the pink ones.

I'll never find out because I'll never ask her. I don't mind as long as it makes her happy.

We leave for our date in a matter of hours, the thought sends shrills of joy through me. This morning I would have never guessed it. And it wouldn't have happened if Isaiah wouldn't have pushed me.

I was too scared that I'd run her off. What girl would want to live alone with a guy who harbors feelings for them when they don't feel the same way.

Little did I know that she felt the same way about me, God that makes me happy.

A date, a fucking date. Holy shit, I have to be dreaming. She likes me... how someone like her could ever like a fuck up like me is something I can't wrap my head around.

But if she's willing to give me a chance, I'll do everything in my power not to fuck it up. I've never felt this level of excitement before, it's stronger than any rush I've gotten in the ring.

Better than any adrenaline rush I've ever gotten.

If I didn't know better I would think I could fly right now.

Shit, what do you wear on a bowling date? Fuck, what if I mess it up tonight...

Stop it, don't think like that. Just be yourself, that's good enough right? That's what she's been around this whole time so that's fine.

I feel like I'm going to throw up.