"Stop stressing, Rose. You look hella cute." Luce chided a few hours later as I let her tug and torture my poor hair. If I didn't know her any better, I would have said she sounded proud. I rubbed my hands down the short, ripped, bright green skirt once again.

"I don't know about this Luce..." I mumbled at my reflection as I watched my sister finish curling my hair in her floor-length mirror. "Rex said that I didn't need to wear a costume."

"It's a Halloween party. Of course, you have to wear a costume." She scoffed and put the curling iron down to pin the heated curls up into an elegant, but messy, ballerina bun.

"He definitely isn't going to be." I muttered in dismay as my gaze stayed glued to the fraying ends of the costume. Luce raised a dark eyebrow at me through the mirror, though her slender fingers didn't waiver from my hair.

"So? Is it a couple thing? Like 'you only dress up if you both do' kind-of party? 'Cause let me tell you, those are fudging boring-"

Even I couldn't denying see my blush stain my pale cheeks in my reflection. No wonder Rex was always teasing me about it—I really did look like a tomato girl. "We're not a couple." I defended lamely, no matter how much the thought of Rex and I together made my head spin.

"Then it doesn't matter whether he wants to be lame and not dress up or not. You look beyond cute and I'm not letting you change." She finished tying up my hair with a 'hrumph' and stepped back to admire her handiwork.

"You might be a ginger, but you sure do rock the Tinkerbell look." Luce's tone was teasing, but her bright blue eyes shined happily.

I pouted, bringing the glitter on my cheekbones down with them. "My hair is strawberry-blonde." I argued uselessly.

"And Tinkerbell is bleach blonde, but you still rock the look better than she does."

I stared at the rather small and hastily put together costume. After I had snuck Rex out of my room early that day, Tate's and Luce's argument long forgotten, I—reluctantly—asked Luce what people wear to parties.

I knew I made a mistake the minute those blue eyes lit dangerously. She had raced us to the store, bought a bunch of what looked like arts and crafts supplies and a bright green short skirt, then ushered us home just as fast.

The rest of the afternoon had been spent putting the costume together. I told her it would have just been easier to buy a one already made, but she claimed it would be 'sexier' to make our own. Not that I actually wanted to look sexy or anything.

The shirt was a long-sleeve, bright green, crop-top of Luce's covered in a sheen of silver and gold glitter. I was a lot shorter than my sister, a factor I greatly appreciated—for once—since the 'croppy' part of the shirt wasn't too low. The cut up ends just barely brushed against the top of the high-waisted, short green skirt that we had cut and frayed at the bottom. We even super glued glittery wings to the back of the shirt, officially ruining it though she didn't seem to mind.

The end of the skirt just reached mid-thigh and I desperately wanted to pull leggings on underneath it. Luce wouldn't let me—something about needing to look my age or whatever. I didn't think I looked too bad, actually I thought I was as close to 'sexy' as someone like me was going to get, but I was definitely... uncomfortable.

Not in an itchy, rough fabric kind of way, but more of a 'jittery in my own skin' way.

Would Rex like it?

"Oo!" Luce exclaimed a second later as she checked the time on her phone. "It's almost nine-thirty, that when what's-his-face said he was coming to get you right?"

My heart let out a nervous flutter. I didn't know how I felt about Rex seeing me like this, not that anything was really showing, but the top was tight and if I moved a certain way my belly would peak out every once in a while. On top of that I was afraid of bending over too far and giving everyone a good view of what was under the skirt—even though I had squeezed spandex on underneath it.

"You know his name." I muttered as I rubbed down the skirt again, my hands going slightly clammy with nerves. "And yes, he should be here soon." Soon, soon, soon. As every minute ticked by, I could feel the nerves trying to choke in my throat.

It's not like he hasn't seen my legs before—the pajama shorts I wore to bed were shorter than the skirt, but this was the only time I would actually be leaving my house looking like—like... like an actual, honest to goodness, almost eighteen-year-old teenager.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it, especially when the doorbell rang and all I wanted to do was slam the bathroom door shut and hide in one of the robes hanging on the back of it. "Do I need to give him the 'you touch her I come looking for you' speech?" Luce's voice was half-teasing half-mocking, though I knew that look in her ice blue eyes was one-hundred percent serious.

If there was anyone that had a running up scare factor next to my dad, it was Luce.

I gave her a nervous smile and shook my head, my hand nearly shaking as I walked into the hallway and reached for the jacket waiting for me on the stair's railing—Rex's jacket. I tried to carefully tuck the wings into it so they wouldn't get ruined as I slipped on the worn leather sleeves.

"No, he doesn't like me like that. We're just friends."

Just friends. Just friends. Just friends.

Sting. Burn. Sting. Burn.

No matter how many times I say it in my head, out loud just it made it hurt so much more. Especially after that whole Jeslyn thing.

"Rightttt..." I heard her sarcastic tone trail after me as I carefully walked down the stairs in the tiny silver kitten heels that had been buried in my closet, my hand checking the jacket's pocket for my phone. I would never get over the feel of that worn leather draped softly around me, and sometimes when I was being crazy enough—which was often—I would pretend it was Rex instead of his clothes.

I was only a little cray-cray about him, promise.

I could see him waiting impatiently, as he always does might I add, through the window by the door, his hand reaching up to run through that dark hair like he always did. I stopped behind the closed door, my breathing shaky as I reached for the knob.

Would he hate the costume? Would he notice it? Would he even care?

Probably not, this was Rex Turner after all. He didn't care about a lot of things, and the fact that he still puts up with me blows my mind. Not to mention that he actually drops by to take random naps now.

I eased the door slowly open, my breath catching in my throat. Relax Rose. Relax. Relax. Relax.

"About time. Trey keeps blowing up my fucking phone." That oh-so-yummy tummy turning voice of his all but growled when the door was no longer in the way, though his dark chestnut eyes stayed trained down at the iPhone in his hand.

"Sorry, I was talking to Luce."

"S'all good. You ready? We got to get going before he starts fucking calling me again-" That dark gaze had pulled away from his screen to glance at me, his words dying in the air between us. "You're wearing a costume." Rex's beautiful head tilted to the side, those chestnut eyes blinked.

There was that horrible blush creeping up the back of my neck and staining my cheeks again. Tomato girl out for all to see. Well, he noticed it was a costume at least. Though I wasn't sure if that some-what blank look on his face meant he cared about it or not.

"Uh, um, yeah..." I stammered lamely and resisted the urge to reach up and nervously play with the few lose curls of the messy ballerina bun. "I wasn't going to, but Luce insisted since it was a Halloween party, and just, um yeah..." I let my words die away instead of rambling off into something embarrassing.

He blinked again, those dark eyes unwavering as they washed over me, his now-ringing phone forgotten in his hand. "You look... different."

Different?

I wasn't sure how I felt about 'different'. He hadn't said it in a bad way, but there was that certain tick to his jaw that usually only happened when he was getting aggravated. I guess it didn't look as good as Luce said it did. I wasn't expecting him to make any big scene about the costume, but that didn't stop my heart from dropping in disappointment.

I reached up and wiped carefully under my right eye to not smudge the make-up, a nervous twitch had started there. "Yeah, I look dumb. I know. I can go change really fast if we have time-"

"You don't look dumb." He cut off instantly, shoving his still-ringing phone into his jean's pocket. "Just different." Then that smirky smile of his was pulling at the corner of his lips as he reached for my hand. "I like it."

That's all it took to put my mind on Cloud 9 mode.

"We really do need to get going though." Rex said a moment later as he gave my hand a soft squeeze. "Trey is driving me fucking crazy."

All I could do was nod and follow numbly after him, his strong hand wrapped securely around my own.

"Be home before one, Rose!" I heard Luce call after us as I closed the door. I shot her a quick thumbs-up, though I didn't really care what time I got back.

Rex had walked over from Trey's, his car sitting in its usual spot on the street in front of his friend's house. I glanced over at him as we walked down my drive-way. "I could have walked over earlier, you didn't have to come get me." My voice seemed too soft against the quiet of the night, and I still felt awkward in the costume—even though Rex said he liked it.

"Mm." His voice was a dark mutter as those strong fingers squeezed gently around my own. "I don't want you walking around by yourself, especially at night." Then he sighed and I could nearly see him roll those chestnut eyes in the darkness. "We've talked about this already, or have you forgotten that escape of yours a few weeks ago?"

"I was not escaping. I couldn't sleep and needed to go for a walk." Lie. "And I remember you getting pretty upset 'cause you scared me."

"I wanted to scare you."

"Righttttt." I imitated Luce's sarcastic tone from earlier, if only because seeing those dark eyes of his slant towards mine made something funny flicker in my stomach. And I liked it.

Teasing him had become slowly easier and easier, especially when I knew that hard look would only turn to that signature smirky-smile I loved so much.

"Well, it won't happen again." He announced adamantly as we walked slowly towards Trey's house. "Since you won't be walking anywhere alone again."

"Right. Exactly."

The hard look he cast my way, and the way his hand tightened around my own, let me know he sensed the lie in my tone but didn't say anything about it as we walked up the driveway.

"Roza." His voice was suddenly soft as he pulled us to a stop just outside Trey's front door. I could see the other boys sitting in his living room through the well-lit window, Trey practically pacing as the Dimajios sat lazily on the couch.

My heart jumped at the nickname, at the way it sounded rolling off his tongue. I tried not to let it show how much he affected me as I turned towards him with an eyebrow raised. He only used that tone when he serious about something that he wanted me to be serious about.

"I meant what I said at lunch the other day. I really don't want you leaving my side tonight. These parties are fucking annoying and ridiculous, but they can get really---rowdy."

"Aren't all parties supposed to be?" I tried to tease, but that hard, serious look in his eyes didn't fade.

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"You never do."

"Rosalyn, I'm being serious."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I won't try to leave your side, promise." Not that I ever, ever would purposely try to. If Rex asked me to super glue myself to him forever I probably would.

Even though his body visibly relaxed, that dark, hard look in his eyes didn't fade and I could have sworn he looked almost—worried.

"I can... I can go home if you want." I murmured softly, all teasing gone as my eyes dropped to the black t-shirt he wore beneath his jacket. I didn't want him to worry about me, no matter how much knowing that he did made my heart clench, and I didn't want to be the person that put a damper on his night.

"Why the hell would I want that?" He grumbled as he fished his keys out of his pocket and stuck a worn-down silver one into the deadbolt on Trey's door.

He even had a key to his place? That's true friendship right there, no matter how badly Rex tried to deny it.

"I just... don't want you worried about me all night. I want you to have fun."

He had started to push the door open but paused, his large hand still clutching the doorknob as those chestnut eyes turned back on me, that smirky smile I loved pulling at the corner of his lips.

"You are the only reason I'll be having fun."

"Damnn, get a load of Buttercup!" Denton announced when we walked into the living room, my head still spinning from the moment before. That one sentence from Rex, and the dark look in his eyes, did beyond funny things to my insides.

"Don't Denton. You're only going to piss him off." Brett sighed from the long couch pressed against the far wall of the living, even though those blue eyes of his were looking at me—actually all of them were, even Trey.

I fidgeted nervously at the entrance of the living room, my fingers tugging at the ends of my jacket. I wasn't used to have all their eyes on me, especially all at once.

"What? I can't compliment her now? She looks bomb.diggity.com!" He grumbled at his twin before turning back towards Rex and I—who was being completely silent. "You look awesome, Buttercup! Never thought I'd see that much skin-"

The embarrassed heat that suddenly stained every part of my body was nothing compared to the horrible blush that burned my entire face when Rex's large, muscled arm suddenly circled around my waist and pulled me effortlessly behind him—effectively cutting off Denton's view.

"Shut the fuck up, moron." Though it was Brett scolding the silly Dimajio, not Rex.

There was tension strumming throughout his hard body, tension I could practically feel as he held me behind him. But when I glanced up at his face, nervous to see the complete fury that would be brewing there, I only saw that same worry from before.

"Maybe... maybe you should stay home." Rex muttered down to me, chestnut eyes dark as his body kept mine shielded from the others. My heart wanted to drop to my stomach. I thought he liked my costume...?

"Relax Rex. She'll be fine." Trey sighed from the sofa that was pressed against the other end of the living room. He had stopped pacing and sat down when we walked in, though those green eyes were not filled with their usual light.

Rex didn't move, didn't really let me move either—not that I wanted to. I hated moving whenever he was holding us close together, no matter the situation. That worried tension wasn't leaving his strong body, and it was starting to worry me.

What was he so nervous about?

"She's got all of us and Lainy—if that fucking girl doesn't run off again. She'll be fine." Then Trey turned those green eyes towards mine and tried to give me a reassuring smile. "No one is going to bother you, Princess."

I frowned. I knew that. And I already promised Rex I wouldn't leave his side, so he should have known that.

After a very tense, stony silence later, one in which Denton kept glancing over at Rex nervously, Trey let out another tiring sigh. "You two might as well sit down, waiting on Lainy is like waiting for school to end." He grumbled and scrubbed a heavy hand through his sand-colored hair.

Rex eased enough to let me from around him, though he stayed between Denton and I as we walked over towards the empty spots beside Trey. All-in-all I thought he handled the situation well, especially since the last time Denton made a comment about me Rex went a little coocoo.

Except when I glanced over at Den', his face had turned pure white and he was practically huddled against his twin—who looked beyond annoyed. I turned my gaze to Rex, an eyebrow raised, which he ignored.

Did I miss something?

"So, what are these parties like?" I asked Trey softly as I sat down beside him, trying to ease the tension both from the room and Rex. He sat down on my other side, his jaw ticking shut as it kept glancing around the other boys.

The giant man/boy that was Trey Maguire leaned back heavily beside me, a long, drawn-out sigh pulling from his lips as that huge stony arm of his rested against the back of the couch. All he had been doing since we got there was sigh.

"Loud, sweaty, crowded, and depending on the level of drunk that everyone is—insanely obnoxious."

"You sound like Rex." I tried to let out a laugh to ease the upset frown pulling at his brow, but those usually bright eyes remained dark.

"I just hate babysitting duty."

"No one said you had to, ass-hole." A light, feminine voice chirped happily from the bottom of the stairs. His sister had finally gotten ready, though she paused at the mirror hanging on the sidewall to poof up her curly-Q hair due.

Lainy was really pretty, beautiful actually, and it was easy to tell that her and Trey were related. They had the same hair color and bright green eyes that drew whoever they were directed at into them. The costume she was wearing was sure going to put every other girl at the party to shame. Especially me.

She was dressed as a chic-angel, with a short baby-doll skirt and an off the shoulder crop-top. She had wings attached to the back of her shirt and a halo headband holding back her perfectly curled hair.