151 - The chapter with breakfast with the in-laws

Christian

I turned over in my bed, watching the face of Rose, who slept next to me curled up in a fetal position. My room was small and we didn't usually sleep there, but Rose couldn't bear the thought of sleeping in her room that night and I couldn't blame her. My girlfriend that day did not show all the usual tranquility when sleeping, which sometimes left me in doubt whether or not she had suddenly died in her sleep. On the contrary, she spent the whole night restless, and was not even sleeping on her stomach as usual.

The silence outside the room showed that our classmates had probably already gone to class, only the two of us were left behind, trapped in our private hell. Deciding to let her rest a little longer, I got up, going to get dressed and brush my teeth before heading downstairs.

The house itself seemed deserted, silence dominated the upper floor. I looked at the open door of Theo's room, where Jack ended up sharing the bed with Addison that night, finding the place empty and tidy.

I went downstairs, hearing voices coming from the kitchen and decided to check it out. As I entered the kitchen, I found Addison standing in front of the counter, filling a muffin pan with batter while Jack prepared scrambled eggs with bacon on the stove.

" 'Do you think you can make it and come back later? " Addison asked her daughter's father, not noticing my presence.

" Alex assured me that he'll try to cover for me, after all, it's just a meeting, but I'm not sure " Jack answered " Have you already separated the tortillas?”

" Yes, you can start heating them up. Do you think they'll take a while to wake up? " Addison pointed to the other side of the counter.

The two of them worked so well together that anyone would think they were a honeymoon couple, not just good friends who have been sharing the raising of their daughter for almost 19 years.

" 'I'm already here, Rose is going to take a while to wake up " I felt bad for spying on them, deciding to expose my presence, making them both look in my direction.

" Hey, kid. How did Rose sleep? " Jack gave me a weak smile.

" I'd be lying if I said it was a peaceful sleep, but she slept through the night,' I shrugged. 'Do you guys need any help?”

"No, we're doing this for you, consider it our way of trying to make up for our ninety-seven failures as parents," Addison denied, motioning for me to take a seat at the center island in the kitchen.

" 'That's a pretty specific number,” I frowned, settling into a stool.

"And before you ask, yes, Rose made a list a few years ago. We managed to make up for a few shortcomings," Jack explained, setting down a plate of scrambled egg and bacon tacos, "I'll get you some juice.”

" 'Thanks,” I looked at him suspiciously.

Addison put the muffin pan in the oven, took out another one with the baked muffins inside, and brought them to the counter.

"Here dear, vanilla and blueberry, they're Rose's favorites " Addison smiled, placing a muffin in front of me " Did you get any sleep? You look like hell.”

"Unlike Rose, I'm not taking tranquilizers," I forced a smile.

Jack brought the bottle of juice with three glasses, and went back to get himself a plate while Addison served herself at the stove.

" 'Have you told your parents what happened? " Jack asked, settling down on the stool in front of me after serving himself.

" No, my cell phone is off, I tried to call my sister yesterday, but there were too many notifications " I sighed, starting to eat.

" 'I'm sorry about that, Davis. Do you want to borrow my phone to talk to her? " Addison sat down next to me.

"I don't think so, it's not a good idea for my parents to know about this situation," I denied, taking a sip of cranberry juice.

It was actually a relief that I didn't get to talk to Amber yesterday, that situation would be very complicated to explain to my family.

"Honey, hiding this kind of thing from your parents is not an option, go for me," Addison advised.

" 'She's right,' Jack added.

" 'Are you going to keep thinking that when there's a whole motorcycle club surrounding the campus? " I stared at them both.

"He has a good point..." Addison commented.

"I don't even know how I'm going to get you off," Jack muttered, shooting a cross look at the woman.

"I can plead guilty to hitting that insignificant little thing, I have a good record, a steady job and I was obviously tormented by my daughter's condition. I can do some community service and anger management therapy " she sneered.

" 'You spoke to Alex, didn't you? " he stared at her.

"She's a great lawyer, she guaranteed she'll defend me," Addison winked at the man, who snorted in response.

The two of them had a small discussion about how irresponsible Addison's attitude had been while I ate in silence, my thoughts lost in everything that had happened in the last few hours. How am I supposed to act from now on? How can I find out who did this and prove that it wasn't Rose in that video?

" Davis, are you okay? " Jack got my attention.

" 'Yeah, I'm going to see if Rose is awake,' I stood up.

"Christian, you almost didn't eat," Addison complained as I left them behind without answering.

I walked up the stairs slowly, going straight to my room, surprised to find it empty. I turned around and went to her room, which was also empty, before appealing to the studio, finding her sitting on the windowsill, watching the outside with a blank stare.

" What do you see there? " I asked, approaching her.

" 'Nothing, just... the trees,' she sighed without looking at me.

" 'Rose, why are you here? " I reached for her hand, making her look in my direction.

She lifted her face, focusing her gaze on mine, not quite knowing what to say.

" 'I don't know what to do, so...'

" 'Rose, you don't have to do anything, we're taking care of everything,' I tried to reassure her.

Rose got down from the ledge, facing me, looking annoyed with that sentence.

" Really? And how is everything going? Do you know who did this? " she crossed her arms.

" 'No, we don't.”

" Do you know how to prove it wasn't me in that video? " She raised both eyebrows.

" 'No, Rose…”

" So don't tell me that everything is under control and I don't need to do anything, what do you want me to do? Fill me up with tranquilizers and go into a coma while my life falls apart and you run around like silly cockroaches not knowing what to do? " she raised her voice in a mixture of irritation and frustration.

" You're frustrated " I took a deep breath.

Rose rolled her eyes and walked away from me to a paint-stained table where countless tubes were lined up.

" 'And when did you change your major from chemistry to psychology?”

" Hey, can you let your guard down a bit? You're not the only one who's living hell here " I replied snidely, causing her to turn towards me with an incredulous expression.

" 'Are you really going to shout at me? What's your problem?”

" My problem is dating a lunatic who insists on looking for a fight even when I'm doing everything I can!". " I raised my voice even higher, making Rose blink in a daze.

She approached me with watery eyes, looking furious at that outburst.

" 'Great, now you're going to go back to crying,' I huffed, looking around.

" 'I'm not fighting with you! I'm stuck in this house with a mix of intense feelings dancing inside me, scared of what my life will be like from now on and not knowing how to deal with it," Rose admitted.

I took a deep breath, putting both hands in the pockets of the jacket I was wearing, feeling like an asshole for losing my temper over something so silly. She wasn't the only one on the verge of a breakdown there and I needed to admit that. I looked around, observing countless canvases, some empty, others painted, most of them Liam’s, since Rose had been working more on sculpture lately. That's when something came into my mind.

" Put it out " I approached her.

" What?”

" 'I've always heard that artists use their feelings as inspiration for art, so take advantage of the place you're in, and get all your mess out. Just let it out," I shrugged.

Rose looked around and for a moment, all her defensive attitude disappeared, giving way once again to that hurt look from before.

" 'What am I going to do if you get tired of me? " she pouted, coming in for a hug.

" 'You know, you'll probably have to settle for a pathetic boyfriend who will shower you with love, pamper you, instead of having sex with you he'll make love to you, and... refuse to argue…” I said.

" That's a terrible fate," she lifted her face, a shadow of a smile on her tired expression.

" 'I know,” I leaned in, giving her a brief kiss, 'I'll get you some breakfast and give you some space here.”

" 'Thanks,' she forced a smile before letting go.