46 - the chapter with the Miller-Campbell talk

Christian

It took a few minutes before I was free of all the lab chores, removing my goggles and lab coat before walking over to her, feeling my mood improve considerably as I admired her even more closely.

" Wow, I've never seen you in action before, Mr. Mad Scientist," Rose scoffed as I approached.

" I prefer to be called an evil genius," I returned with a small smile, putting one arm around her shoulder, while holding my lab coat and notebook with the other. “Are you already ready?”

Despite the low temperature I didn't like to walk around with my lab coat outside the lab, so I would have to wait until I got to my locker to get my jacket.

" I talked to Ms. Clarke, explained that I had a long way to go, and like Miss Morgenstern, she released me from the class, but I have to hand in some work next week to make up for it, so you'll have to find a place in your bag for my material.”

That explanation caused me to glare at her. This was typical, why did I have to make room for her things?

" Why in mine?”

I let her go as I reached my closet, opening it to put away my lab coat and notebook before putting on my jacket.

" Are you kidding? I've already performed the miracle of putting everything I need for the next four days in that bag you gave me, which by the way is not that spacious, and you still want me to put my study material in it?”

I had given Rose the largest of the three travel saddlebags I had so that she could put everything she would need to carry while I used a second one, hoping I would not need the third. But I must admit that this hope was foolish.

" Do you still have a lot of stuff to carry? I can give you another saddlebag," I proposed.

Rose cracked a full smile, looking relieved at this solution.

" That would be perfect, Davis. I'm not carrying two-thirds of what I really need for these days," she returned.

" Come on, but you have to get ready quickly," I warned.

Slipping my arm back over her shoulder, the two of us walked side by side again, Rose attracting attention wherever she went.

" Everyone is looking at you," I commented nonchalantly.

" There's nothing new about that," she hummed with a smile.

" Sorry, I forgot for a second about your superhuman arrogance," I returned, also smiling.

" It's not arrogance, it's an observation. I can't help being this amazing person, Davis," she tilted her face to look at me as we both walked out of the chemistry building, making me laugh.

" I really don't know how I'm going to balance you, all your stuff, and your giant ego on the bike for twenty hours, Rose," I teased her.

A cold breeze hit us, causing Rose to shrink a little under my arm, and I pulled her into my body in an attempt to warm her up a little more.

" What can I say? I haven't received any compliments from you about my biker girlfriend look, so I have to make do with what I have," she teased.

I knew that Rose expected me to be the first to tell her how hot she looked at that moment, but I wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Even though in my mind I couldn't wait to be alone in a room with her.

" Do you expect me to compliment you? I don't think that's going to happen, Campbell," I applied a little pressure to her arm.

" At first I was disappointed, it almost made me feel ugly," she continued.

" You feel ugly? You know that's practically impossible, Rose. The day you don't think you're the most amazing person in the universe is the end of time.”

" I might disagree with you, but you're right. The day that I'm not the most amazing person in the universe, is the end of time," she winked at me, causing me to laugh once again.

I threw my head back, looking dramatically up at the sky before raising my voice slightly.

" Am I really going to have to put up with this for four days?”

" But then, I realized that I don't need your compliments," she resumed, looking sideways at me with a smug expression on her face.

" Really?”

" The fact that you lost your speech and ruined your experiment when you saw me, spoke more than any compliment you could give," she explained.

I didn't bother to answer, mainly because she was right in her thinking. I just walked beside her, releasing her only to open the door to the residence hall for her to enter after a few minutes.

" And then? What will be our story? " she broke the silence as we walked to the staircase.

" Story?”

" Yes, we have to agree on what we are going to tell your parents, how we met, how we started dating," she explained.

" Rose, don't you dare. It's all very simple, we're part of the same group of friends and we just started dating, that's all," I warned with a frown.

We started to walk up and despite my expression it wasn't enough to convince her.

" Ahhh, what's the fun of making up a fake date and not making up sordid details that would never happen in real life? " she returned, "I can turn you into a romantic guy, can you imagine yourself like that?”

I stopped walking, turning to her as we reached the floor of her room, staring at her with the most serious expression I could manage.

" Rose, the whole Biker club will be there, and you will not embarrass me in front of them, do you understand?”

" You're unbearable, I can't wait to break up with you," she returned.

" I can live with that. If you want to invent something so badly, invent that you're the girlfriend who's super in love with me," I crossed my arms, holding her gaze.

" Sure, because you can have your ego massaged with a girlfriend who idolizes you, but I can't have a romantic boyfriend?”

" Rose, you are not romantic!”

" Details " she rolled her eyes.

I took a deep breath, looking around, giving up on having this discussion with her, knowing that it wouldn't change her mind.

" Go to your room and sort out what you need to pack, put on a warm coat, gloves, and a scarf, the temperature is low," I recommended, "I'll take a shower and meet you there with the other saddlebags in thirty minutes.”

" Okay, my love," she mocked, making me roll my eyes.

I left her there before going to get ready, I didn't linger in the shower, getting dressed before grabbing the saddlebags and helmets and going to Rose's room. The door was open and I could hear the laughter from far away. Rose was finishing sorting through the materials she would need during the trip, while Theo laughed at the expression of Skyller staring at Rose's laptop screen, where Addison and Jack were on a video call with the group.

" Am I going to have to take a picture dressed in this? " Sky asked incredulously as she saw a caramel sweater with a turkey drawn on it and the words Happy turkey day - Daughter number 02.

" Sure, we ordered it especially for the occasion. If you are going to take Rose's place, you have to do it right," Abe declared with a satisfied smile.

" And what does that mean? " Liam asked, lying down on Rose's bed and not bothering to get up.

" If you're going to take my place, you're going to take the humiliation too," Rose returned, smiling when she noticed my presence. “Finally you arrived, did you bring the other bag?”

I threw the saddlebag to her, leaning against the wall, and my presence caused Liam to raise his head, smiling covertly.

" Dad, Mom, look who's here. My newest brother-in-law," he warned Rose's parents, winking at me.

Rose just rolled her eyes as she put everything she had separated into her saddlebag, deciding not to get involved in the situation.

" Davis, where are you? " Jack's voice brought me into the line of sight of the laptop camera.

" Good afternoon, Ms. Miller and Mr. Campbell," I waved at them both.

" As long as you two are in this fake relationship, it's Mr. and Mrs. Miller-Campbell to you, young man," Jack returned with a serious expression.

" More respect to your in-laws, brother-in-law.” Skyller sneered, making me give her the middle finger.

" Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Miller-Campbell," I took a deep breath, while the others laughed at the situation.

" What was the first question? " Jack whispered to Addison " where is the script? I thought I put it here.”

I looked at Rose in an attempt to understand what was going on, but she paid me no attention.

" Just improv, Jackson, we've been preparing for this for years," Addison whispered back.

" Okay, what are your intentions with my daughter, young man? " he turned his attention back to me, assuming his serious posture, crossing his arms to show his muscles under the T-shirt he was wearing as Addison disappeared from the camera.

" Here, I found, this is the script " Addison reappeared with a piece of paper in his hand " we had printed it out earlier.”

" You do know that this relationship ends in four days, right? " I made quotation marks with my hand.

" We've been preparing for this moment for ten years, and Rose has never given us the chance to have this conversation with any boy, so we're going to take the opportunity," the man explained, breaking out of his tough"guy"dad character for the first time.

" Exactly, so please, just get in the mood and answer the question," Addison interjected.

" What are your intentions, young man? " Jackson insisted.

" Use the next four days to make your daughter's life hell because she put me in this situation," I crossed my arms, finally attracting the attention of my supposed girlfriend, who turned in my direction with wide eyes.

" Good answer, score a point for him," Addison whispered to Jack.

" Hey, you're supposed to protect me," Rose complained.

" I've got your back, Little Sister," Liam stood up. “Davis, if you give my sister hell I will kick yours....”

He broke into laughter, returning to his seat when I glared at him, raising my eyebrows.

" Sorry, Rose. But even I didn't buy that story. Me hitting someone... that's a good joke.”

" Okay, we want your full itinerary, it's a long way to Montana," Addison ignored us.

" We will be doing most of the driving today. I have already booked an Airbnb in Toledo, Ohio so that we can spend the night and get on our way first thing in the morning," I explained.

" And how big is this Airbnb you booked, does it have more than one bed? That's a good question," Liam teased.

" Very funny, Van Derr Waal," I quipped.

Yes, I had booked a small place with only one bed, and I knew he knew this, but would never confirm it.

" Toledo? That's a good distance," Addison commented.

" Yes, and to get there today, we have to leave in the next thirty minutes at the latest," I explained.

Rose finished putting on the last of her things, closing her saddlebag then before turning to her laptop.

" Okay, we need to go, so make your final recommendations," she warned.

" Drive carefully, put on another jacket and use protection. I mean jackets, helmets and condoms," Addison warned, "I don't want to be a grandmother…”

" Okay, that's it, I'll talk to you later " Rose ended the call.

She handed the bags to me before putting on a long coat that was on the bed, wrapping a scarf around her neck as our friends said goodbye.

" You heard, right? We don't want nephews," Sky teased Rose.

" Just go to my parents' house and steal my place and give me some peace," she murmured.

Liam walked over to me, watching Theo and Sky leave the room.

" Try to keep the scratches in hidden areas, Davis," he teased me.

I didn't answer, which only encouraged him to continue.

" I know it must be difficult, after all, she seems to be the type who likes to mark her territory, but…”

" Liam, I'm listening, and if you don't shut up, I'm going to scratch your face.”

Liam raised both hands in surrender and walked away, following the others down the hall.