115 - the chapter with alfredo

Christian

Rose and I were still in the same position. She was on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder, leaning to the side, stroking my face as I massaged her scalp, still not believing she was there with me. Deep down, I was afraid to let her go and wake up there, alone, realizing it was just a dream.

I pulled her into a deeper kiss, killing the longing I had felt during that week, feeling my body start to react to that stimulus, but before any further progress could be made, Rose pulled away.

" As much as I'm loving the haunted house vibe in the middle of the forest, I'd rather not spend the night here, Chris. So why don't we get your stuff and take it back to our room? " She smiled.

" Haunted house? " I found her definition funny " Is that what you're thinking of now?”

" 'You're right, this looks more like the place where some psycho is going to chase us with a chainsaw and rip our faces off.' She leaned in, giving me a brief kiss before getting off my lap, stretching afterwards.

" Rose! " I laughed in response, trying to pull her back in

" Hey, I'm an expert in horror movies, the couple that decides to have sex in a place like this is the first to die a hideous, naked death, and we're not in a big group, which is already a clear disadvantage.

" Rose, a Psychopath wouldn't come to this place with a campus full of frats that are far more attractive " I tried to convince her.

" You could have broken into his house," she argued, looking around. "Besides, I don't know how you managed to sleep here, it must be full of spiders and cockroaches!"

I managed to reach her hand, lying down on the floor before pulling her to lie on top of me, silencing her protests with a kiss, caressing her face afterwards.

" I checked this and cleaned everything, there are no spiders or cockroaches here. And no sign of a psychopath, so we're safe. The only creature we share this space with is Alfredo " I tried to reassure her, pulling her in for another kiss, but Rose raised her face afterwards.

" Christian, I'm only going to ask this once. Who is Alfredo? " she looked into my eyes, seeming to doubt.

" The bat that lives near the roof.” I shrugged, trying to kiss her again.

Rose pushed me away, getting up in a jump with wide eyes.

" DID YOU SAY THERE'S A BAT HERE? " she raised her voice.

I sat up before standing up, looking at her with an amused expression as she looked up, trying to see in the dark.

" What did you expect? It's a dark and silent place, the perfect place for a bat to hide from light, rain and predators,” I explained.

" Oh my God, Christian! You spent all this time here with a bat? What were you thinking? " She started to hurry to the stairs.

" What's the matter? He's a harmless animal, it's not like I'm sharing the place with a viper " I followed her, trying to calm her down " Go slow, it's dark!".

I lit up so she could get down without hurting herself, following her right after. I didn't expect her to have that reaction, Rose didn't usually show fear of insects and other animals.

" Harmless? He could have bitten you, you nutcase! What if he has rabies? " Rose squawked.

" First of all, I would know if a bat had bitten me, secondly, Alfredo is a fruit bat and not a hematophagous bat " I tried to explain as she hurried out of the place.

Rose stopped outside, turning with a distressed expression to the entrance of the mill, making me wonder if she would have gone in there if she knew there was a bat.

" Hema what? Since when are you an expert on bats? " She frowned.

" When I lived with Amber she found one, and it was just like Alfredo. She spent days telling me all about it” I approached her “Since when are you afraid of bats? “

" Does your sister have a pet bat? " she widened her eyes, avoiding to answer my question.

"She's a veterinarian, specializing in... exotic animals," I explained, looking around for the girl's car, "Where's Brigitte?"

" Harry brought me, and we'd better get back soon, before your pet bat decides to go out for a snack," she muttered.

My eyes focused on the extra helmet on top of the Harley's seat, making me frown. Why would my old roommate do that? They didn't even keep in touch!

" Why Harry?”

" I was nervous about you being gone and I couldn't stop shaking, so he didn't think it would be a good idea to let me drive and offered to help look for you", she explained, shrinking back as an icy wind hit us "Look, can we continue this conversation in our room?".

" I have a lot of things to take " I warned.

" Go get the essentials and we can come back tomorrow after class to get the rest!" She sighed and I decided to do as she asked.

It didn't take long and we were heading back to campus. Rose wrapped her arms around my waist, clinging to me as I guided us on my bike. That nightmare was finally ending, and now, I wouldn't miss that chance to make it work.

I made the most of all the body contact we had on the ride back to campus, and it wasn't long before I was parking my bike in my designated spot. Rose got off the bike, taking off her helmet before turning to me, waiting for me to disembark and drop my backpack with a few essential pieces until I picked up the rest after class tomorrow.

" I'll let Sky know I brought you back, so she can relax in Van Derr Waal's room,” Rose commented, catching my attention. 'We still have a lot to talk about, don't we?”

I hung the backpack with only one of the straps on my arm, using my free arm to wrap around her shoulder, giving a small smile as I watched her.

" Sure, we'll talk,” I assured her, setting us in motion.

She was right, we had only managed to solve part of our problems, but we still had a lot to talk about before we could say we were fine. But just getting to that point made me feel satisfied.

" Van Derr Waal sent me some not very nice messages,” I commented as we walked towards the entrance of the dorm.

" 'I think we both put too much pressure on him! I swear I didn't recognize him today when I came back at lunchtime, I've never seen him so angry " Rose commented with a grimace " If you had listened to everything he told me! He threw it in my face that we were both more irresponsible and fickle than he was!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that revelation, imagining Van Derr Waal angry without Skyller being involved in some way was practically impossible.

" Hearing that must have been a real slap in the face. But he said something similar to me in messages after I didn't answer his calls,' I admitted.

" Don't laugh, seriously, he threatened to give me hell if I didn't put an end to this situation. At this point I don't even know if I'm still his girl anymore." She looked at me.

" Tomorrow we can sort it out with him," I reassured her, "I bet he'll be more relaxed when we visit the house.”

We walked together for a while, ignoring some curious looks our colleagues threw at us from time to time, but something in her previous comment bothered me. We entered the dorm, and I waited until we were alone, climbing the stairs to satisfy my curiosity.

" You said he intercepted you when you came back to the dormiafter lunch. Where were you?”

Rose stopped walking, giving me a surprised look, as if she didn't know how to answer that question. And anyway, I didn't need verbal confirmation of my suspicions.

" Chris..." she stammered.

" You were with him, weren't you? " I put my hands in my pockets, lowering my head.

I shouldn't be surprised, I knew that she had sex with that guy, and that I had led her into it myself, but knowing didn't make the overall situation any less painful.

" Can we have this conversation somewhere with more privacy? " Rose took a deep breath, walking back up the steps.

I didn't retort, I just followed her again, but this time, that aura of happiness from our recent reconciliation was lost and I didn't quite know what to think. We walked side by side in silence, I felt her gaze on me from time to time, and as soon as I returned the look, she looked away, looking distressed. As soon as we stopped at the door of her room, Rose took the key, putting a lock of hair behind her right ear, making my attention fixed on the transparent bandage in that spot.

She has a new tattoo!

" You spent the whole weekend with him," I noted as I followed her into the room, closing the door behind me.

" Chris, do you really want to talk about this? " She turned to me, crossing her arms in a defensive posture.

" There's a difference between wanting and needing Rose. And I think it's clear that this is something we need to clarify so we don't get any surprises, after all you just hinted that you spent the weekend away and you have a new tattoo, so...'.

I stared at her, hoping she would somehow deny that information and say that in the end she just decided to visit her mom, or something like that. Because I knew Rose had well-established boundaries with everyone she got involved with, it was very hard for her to spend the whole night with someone, especially two nights in a row. Until that moment, I knew I had been the only one. But her silence dashed my hopes. I walked over to the bed, sitting there as I absorbed the information.

" What do you expect me to say, Chris? I was lonely, I wanted to feel better and Josh offered me what I needed at that moment." She took a deep breath, trying to keep control of her voice, even though it sounded a little unsure.

" Did you need to spend the whole weekend fucking him? " I lifted my face to watch her.

" Did you have to stick your tongue down Alicia's throat for everyone to see? " She returned petulantly.

I put my head back down, not bothering to respond to that attack. I knew I had caused it and I had no right to feel jealous, but theory was easier than practice.

Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds before Rose sighed, taking a seat next to me.

" I'm sorry, I need to learn not to attack when I feel cornered," she said without looking at me.

I didn't answer, I remained silent, avoiding making any wrong comment at that moment. I didn't want to lose her, but the whole situation was messing with all my senses and I knew that at that moment I was fighting against myself and my wounded pride to not just throw everything away and put an end to it all.

" I needed someone to make me forget how much my heart was torn apart at that moment, I just wanted someone to get you out of my system for good, but that's not exactly what I got " She continued, making me look in her direction.

" What did you get then?”

" Someone who wasn't afraid to tell me I was acting like a spoiled brat by not giving you a chance to explain yourself. Who didn't care one bit about telling me that the world doesn't revolve around me and that I'm not the only one who has the right to make stupid mistakes." She lowered her head, playing with her fingers.

That surprised me, after all, what I least expected was that he had made any effort to fix that failed relationship.

" What?”

" And then his photographer friend came over, and while she was taking my pictures she told me that I had entered Alicia's game and lost. And I came back here and Van Derr Waal wasn't very nice either, so give me a break, I heard the two worst things in the universe in a single weekend, that I was wrong and that I lost " She continued her explanation, making a small smile come to my lips.

" Are you serious?”

" Yes, I am," she pouted.

I leaned towards her, giving her a brief kiss on the lips before pulling away, caressing her face.

" 'You didn't lose…”

" Yes, I did. I lost from the moment I let her into my mind," Rose sighed.

Still with my hand on her face, I pulled her into another kiss, a longer one, deciding to enjoy a little more every sensation she awakened in me.

" It doesn't matter what she thinks. You're Rose Campbell, and as far as I'm concerned, you never lose " I declared looking into her eyes, receiving a full smile in return " Now, I'm going to take a shower and we can go out for a pizza, what do you say?".