69- The chapter where Harry explains himself

ROSE

" Are you sure you know what you are doing? " I asked while Christian was filing my nails.

After our conversation at lunch he decided to help me, since I couldn't go to the manicurist, so he took the nail polish off himself and was busy reducing the size as much as possible without damaging them.

" Rose, if I can help Peterson file his model pieces to perfection, I can handle your nails," he assured me, concentrating on his task.

" You really like them," I commented with a small smile.

" I told you, your hand looks very pretty with these nails," he looked up at me, giving me a wink before concentrating again on my little finger nail.

I couldn't deny that I was really enjoying being spoiled like that. I had no idea that he would go to such lengths to take care of me in the face of a simple cold.

Every day that passed made some feelings rise up inside of me. I missed him whenever we weren't together, and when we were, I didn't feel like paying attention to anyone else. In fact, lately I only got involved with Taylor sometimes to ease my conscience. But my desire was only to be with Christian, and that scared me more than it should have.

" I'm done," he released my hand.

I watched every detail of the one nail he cut and sanded. It was far from being the work of a professional, but it wasn't bad at all. It was obvious that he tried very hard not to make it crooked, and after I painted it, it would look even better.

" It's very nice, you can do the rest," I held out my hand to him again, "what do you say we hang out in the common area later?”

" If you're feeling well, I don't see any problem," Christian assured me.

We stayed like that, chatting away until he finished with my nails, we talked a little about everything, until the subject turned to tattoos.

" I saw your mom's and dad's, haven't you thought about getting one? Or are you afraid of needles, like Van Derr Waal? " I sneered.

" I am not afraid, I just never felt like making one. Or I never found something meaningful to tattoo. I'm not like you who just wanted a pretty design," he returned.

" I just wanted a pretty design, but now it has meaning." I shrugged as he sanded the last nail and I picked out a nail polish color.

" Really? And what is the meaning? " he asked without even looking at me.

" It reminds me of our first date, and it was you who chose it. So it is special.”

That statement made him stop what he was doing and look up to face me, then smile.

God, I love those blue eyes. Every time Christian looks at me I feel hypnotized, as if his eyes transport me to another dimension.

" Can I choose another? " he asked suddenly.

" Another tattoo? " I stared at him in surprise, holding up a glass of petroleum blue nail polish.

" Yes, I saw one a few days ago and thought it would look perfect on you.” He explained, looking into my eyes.

" You don't intend to tattoo Insane bitch on my forehead, do you? " I narrowed my eyes even more, finding this proposal strange.

Christian laughed at my answer, turning his attention back to the fingernail.

" I would never do that, that's a nickname for special occasions," he assured me with an amused expression on his face, "I just thought you would like it.”

" Then you show me what you chose, I can probably afford it for Christmas," I replied.

Christian just smiled, turning his attention back to my hand. Another tattoo chosen by him, should I be that happy about it?

" Can I choose a tattoo for you too? " I asked finally.

" What? For me?”

" You said you didn't get one because it didn't have the special meaning, and now if I choose one, you'll always remember me and how much I love to piss you off," I explained.

Christian looked thoughtful for a second, probably thinking about my proposal, and in the end shrugged.

" What would you choose for me?”

" Something to do with chemistry," I answered without hesitation.

I had never seen Christian so sexy as when he was all focused on his experiment in the lab.

" We can talk about it," he assured me, releasing my hand as he finished my fingernails.

Without hesitation, I leaned toward him, stealing a brief kiss, enjoying every second of being with him.

But before we could go any deeper, a knock at the door interrupted us, causing us to pull away.

" Did the guys come back? " I frowned as Chris got up to answer it.

Our surprise was complete when we saw Harry standing outside. He had purple bruises under his eyes and looked very tired.

Christian looked speechless as he stared at his friend, and I stood up, walking to the door.

" What are you doing here? " I frowned.

" I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I really need to talk to someone or my head will explode," he let out in his accent, "I know I'm probably the last person you'd want to see, Rose, but…”

Did I want to see him after everything he did to my friend? No. But I couldn't help feeling sorry for him at the look on his face. Christian looked at me, as if waiting for some decision on my part. In the end I just shrugged and nodded so that Chris would let him pass.

I sat down on the bed we had made before lunch, watching the boy without saying a word.

" You seem more agitated than when I was in the room. Has something happened?”

" Charlotte called me, she wants to talk," he began, sounding anxious, "but I don't want to talk to her, in fact, the only person I want to talk to doesn't want to see me painted gold.”

" You don't want to talk to the girl you got pregnant? " I stared at him with both eyebrows raised.

Could this guy possibly be an even bigger asshole?

" Look, don't get me wrong, I talked to her sister yesterday and after the DNA, if it's really my kid I'll do whatever I have to do for the baby…but I can't look at her now "he looked away looking embarrassed.

" You can't look at her now? But I bet you could look at her while you were having sex with her," I returned angrily as Chris seemed torn by the situation.

" I don't know, I don't remember! " he returned angrily.

I frowned at his statement, but before I could have any reaction, Christian stepped forward.

" What do you mean, you don't remember? " he crossed his arms and stared at his friend.

Harry took a deep breath, pulled out the chair from Allie's desk, sat down facing me while Christian took his place beside me on the bed.

" I don't remember much from that party. You know, we had both had a lot to drink by the time they took you to where Van Derr Waal was. I remember being very angry that you left me out, and I followed you and Sky was sitting next to him," he started to narrate, "so I started drinking more. And then there was all the confusion and once again you forgot about me. I remember seeing Sky leaving with Van Derr Waal, I remember feeling very angry, and I remember Charlotte approaching me with another cup in her hand, and asking me to dance. After that I just woke up the next morning with her in bed and I felt terrible.”

You could tell by the look on his face that these memories had really hit him. And not only him. I felt bad, because I could have been in his place. My friends made sure that nothing like this happened to me.

" Don't you remember anything? " Christian stared at him.

" No. She was overjoyed and delighted with me when we woke up and I couldn't understand what happened, or how it happened. I know this is going to sound like a cliché excuse, but I was really into Skyller and I wouldn't do anything to hurt her when I was sober," he bowed his head, and for a moment it felt like a cake forming in my throat.

" Are you saying that this girl was sober and took advantage of you? " Christian looked for confirmation.

" Look, I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's what happened. I don't know if she was completely sober or not, but she remembers everything that happened, I don't! I shouldn't have kept it from Sky, but I was so afraid of losing her! " Harry stood up " So I thought the best solution would be to forget about it and pretend it never happened.”

The boy paced back and forth in the room, looking extremely bewildered, as if the mere mention of that night brought back bad memories.

" If she took advantage of you while you weren't sober, you should report her," I muttered, getting a laugh in return.

" Report her? What for? To end up as a joke on campus? Besides, she is pregnant and if the child is really mine, I will do my best to be a good father, and that includes not hurting the mother," he shook his head negatively.

That choking feeling in my throat began to rise as I thought about all that could have happened that night if my friends hadn't been there.

" So what? Are you going to pretend that nothing happened? " Christian looked annoyed at this possibility.

" I'll forget that night and take care of the child. But I can't look at that girl," he took a deep breath, "and there's Sky, I know she doesn't deserve to be in the middle of this mess, but I need to at least apologize to her.”

Once again I looked away, fighting back the tears that threatened to come to my eyes at the thought of what might have happened if I had been left behind.

" Skyller will need some time to digest what happened," Christian began to explain, shutting up as I stood up and left the room, closing myself in the bathroom afterwards.

I sat on the toilet seat, hiding my face with my hands. Damn it, Rose. You shouldn't let this mess with you!

I stood there for a while until Christian's voice sounded after a short knock on the door.

" Rose, are you all right?”

I took a deep breath before getting up and opening the door, avoiding looking into his eyes because of the embarrassment of the situation. Harry was no longer in the room, and Christian kept trying to look into my eyes.

" Yes, I…”

" What's the matter? " He held my face, forcing me to look into his eyes.

For a second I found myself caught in his almost icy stare, but Christian insisted on his questioning.

" So?”

" There's no problem," I removed his hand from my face, pulling away before sitting down on my bed.

" Rose, why are you lying to me? " Christian followed me, looking unwilling to drop the subject.

" What happened to him could have happened to me, okay? And I can't get it out of my head, because we left him behind," I burst out, "but it could have happened to me, and just thinking what that guy would have done if..”

Christian covered my mouth, preventing me from finishing that sentence. He came closer to me, still with his hand on my lips and his gaze locked on mine.

" Don't say that, don't even think about it. I would never leave you behind, do you understand? " he spoke slowly.

I just nodded my head in agreement, and only then Christian took his hand away from my mouth, giving me a satisfied smile at my expression.

" Now, come on, you wanted to paint your nails, didn't you? " he changed the subject,

" What are you, my private manicure now? " I sneered, running my hand over my eyes to wipe away any remaining tears.

" If it makes you feel better, yes," his open smile made me forget everything that was troubling my mind, and I could at that moment focus only on the two of us.