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I should have edited this chapter a while ago, it sucked so bad.

Updated/Edited- There will probably still be some spelling mistakes throughout this chapter though. So, don't be afraid to point them out for me! I will fix them asap.

-&-

Chapter 7

       "If you get so sick you throw up three times at school, it's okay to call Rosalyn!" Luce kept huffing that night as I sat wrapped in, like, four thousand blankets on my bed with a bowl of her homemade soup clutched tightly in my lap. And by homemade, I mean she got it straight from the Campbell's can and plopped it on the stove.

       It made me feel all warm and happy inside. Luce wasn't necessarily a very motherly figure- even though Tate seemed to make up for that just fine- but when I did need someone to take care of me she was always there. In her own special sisterly way. I was happy Tate was taking night classes though. I didn't need both of them fussing over me like a bunch of claustrophobic straitjackets. And Dad- Well, Dad just didn't really know how to do the whole 'over-caring' parent thingy.

       "Sorry." I mumbled around the spoon stuck between my lips. I actually felt perfectly fine. I really did just have a weak stomach, and the sight of all that blood streaming from Jason was just too much to handle. Luce didn't know about any of that though, and neither did Dad or Tate. I thought it was best not to tell them. They didn't need to be any more worried than they already were.

       Brett had brought me home while Denton went to practice- he even stayed with me for most of the afternoon. Dad was at his office, and neither Luce or Tate was home. I was thankful for his company, really. I never liked staying home alone, and after everything that happened I was happy one of the Big Four was there to reassure me. Brett was funny too, not as funny as Denton, but he still made me laugh. Before he left he put his number in my phone and told me he would call or text whenever he heard something.

       That was three-or-so hours ago, and I still hadn't heard anything.

       "Just call me, or Tate, or even Dad next time you start to feel sick." She let out a heavy sigh and ran her hand through her mid-back length dark hair as I spooned some soup past my lips. Just because I wasn't really sick, didn't mean I wasn't going to enjoy some yummy chicken soup.

       "Okay Lulu." I shot her a bright smile and big thumbs-up which she just rolled her eyes at before walking back towards my door.

       "Get some sleep, Rose. Hopefully you'll feel better over the weekend." She gave me one soft smile, that wasn't very common on her, before closing my door. I finished the soup quickly and placed the empty bowl on my nightstand before snuggling further down into the comfy blankets of my bed with the TV remote clutched tightly in my hand.

       Netflix, here I come.

-&-

       I used to suffer insomnia when I was little- but then again, I did have the worst types of nightmares. Thankfully, after a few therapy sessions and a ban on anything horror related, I was finally able to sleep at night. But that didn't necessarily stop the fear.

       I snapped awake as a small 'creak' echoed throughout the quiet room- the definite sound of my window opening. It had been hours after Luce left my room, and I haven't slept a wink. I was still so worried about Rex that it literally felt like my thoughts were eating my brain alive.

       So, now I laid awake in my bed, clutching my pillow to my chest and repeated over and over again that there was nothing there- that I was just dreaming. But when the creak got louder and I swore my window was pushed open all the way, I tried not to scream.

       It's just a dream. There's nothing there. It's just a dream. There's nothing there. It's just a dream-

       "Roza."

       I nearly screamed my head off when a voice so soft it was nearly a whisper spoke in my ear- but a large, and warm, hand clamped over my mouth before I could barely make a sound. "Rosalyn it's me!" Rex hissed as his dark chestnut eyes shot a worried glance at my door.

       My heart stopped at the sight of him- at the warm hand clasped gently over my lips, and my stomach clenched at the feel of his hard skin pressed against mine. I stared up at him in wide eyed shock- and slight adoration- when his dark eyes returned to my gaze.

       He sighed.

       "If you be a good girl and don't make a sound I'll let go, okay?" He raised an eyebrow as I stared at the perfection that was his face, before nodding slowly.

       A bright flash shook through his sharp gaze before that warm, rough hand slowly pulled away from my mouth. I could only watch with wide eyes as he stood steadily from his kneeling position and walked towards the bedroom door- which he locked. I could feel a frown wanting to pull at my lips, but despite the rather creepy action- I wasn't afraid. He basically saved me from being- being used twice. He wouldn't hurt me physically after that, right?

       "What are you doing here, Rex?" My voice came out slightly louder than a whisper, which I was surprised about honestly. There were so many thoughts and emotions swirling through my head that I couldn't believe my tone actually sounded as stable as it did.

       But despite the fact that I had no idea what he- of all people- would be doing here, as he walked with that steady stride of his back to the window, I was actually afraid he was going to leave. I tried to hide my relieved sigh when he sat down on the window seat and propped his knee up instead.

       "I needed to talk to you." His voice was calm, and his face was set in that always-there blank expression of his. I frowned again when his dark eyes glanced out the window. He always hid what he was truly thinking so well, and that ate away at me. I wish that cold demeanor would crack, even if it was just a little bit.

       "H-How did you know which room was mine?" My voice shook a little, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the nerves of this unexpected visit, or because this was the first sort-of conversation we had ever truly had. I fidgeted nervously with the edge of my blankets.

       "Brett told me."

       That-that made sense. I guess.

       "Trey got you out of- of jail?" The word sounded foreign as it left my lips, and I could tell Rex noticed too when he cast me a sideways glance with those chestnut eyes. I looked away from him sheepishly.

       "I was never in jail. They just held me at the police station until Trey showed up and explained the situation."

       His voice was so- so soothing. It was weird, really. I knew his voice was amazing, but all I ever heard from him was shouting and anger. When it was calm like this and peaceful, the dark lull made me want to close my eyes and listen to him talk all day long.

       "What did he say?" I tried to keep my tone light and calm like his, but I couldn't hide the curiosity ringing through it. Trey was just a teenager, like us, and 'grown-ups' usually never listen to teenagers. Whatever Trey had said must have been pretty convincing.

       Rex shrugged and turned his gaze back out the window before chewing down hard on his gum. "He told them the truth. He said that was the second-time Jason tried to- sexually harass you." He shot me a glance when he spoke, one that made my stomach flip uneasily.

       The dark look in his eyes made it quite clear he was reliving this afternoon- but I didn't want any of those images coming back. "And that I was merely jumping to your aide." I saw the closest thing to a smirk light his face before it quickly went away and that blank expression took over once again.

       "Why did you help me?" I asked slowly, carefully even. This conversation- if you could call it that- was going better than any of the other times we had spoken. He didn't seem mad at me- no yet at least, and I wanted to see how long I could keep him relatively passive.

       He scoffed and turned to fully face me, but when those beautiful chestnut eyes fell on my face- he paused before answering. "I wasn't- I wasn't going to let him hurt you, Roza. No one deserves to be hurt like that." His tone was soft for once- almost comforting, and it made a smile pull at my lips. He wasn't being nice necessarily, or friendly even, but this was a side of Rex I very much liked.

       I carefully lifted the blankets off my lap and swung my legs over the side of the bed so I could easily stare at the perfection that was Rex Turner. He was just so darn gorgeous- a gorgeous that should be illegal. My heart fluttered in my chest. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked softly after a minute of a tense quiet had fallen over us. He dropped his gaze to the carpet and snapped his gum before drawing his dark eyes back to me.

       "This past week." When his voice turned hard like all those other times- I suddenly felt like throwing up all over again. After all that has happened today, after he saved me and told the Dimajios to take care of me- he was still going to tell me to stay away. He was still going to push me away. I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around them- like that would stop yet another heartbreak.

       "I'm sorry."

       My heart skipped a beat at his words, and my head snapped up faster than any bullet firing from a gun. "What?" I was breathless, completely utterly speechless. How could he be sorry? He was the one who saved me! And I was the jerk who called him a rotten name!

       "I'm the one who should be saying sorry! I called you an ass! What type of person-"

       His dark chuckle reverberated around my room and cut my words off effortlessly. I tried to ignore the heat that spread to my cheeks and bit down hard on my bottom lip. "You think you're in the wrong for calling me an ass? You think that makes you a bad person? God, Rose." He let out dark sigh and turned his eyes back out the window as his heavy head rested against the wall. I tried to ignore the butterflies that erupted in my stomach every time that warm and soothing voice of his spoke my name, but it was hard.

       "I've been a complete and total fucking ass hole to you all week, and you're upset for stating the truth?" He shook his head as the faintest hint of a smile touched the corner of his lips. That action alone took my breath away. "Why would you even want to be nice to me in the first place? Why do you even want to be my friend?" His voice was soft again- low, like he wasn't necessarily sure he wanted me to here. I played with the end of my pajama shorts nervously.

       "Because I like you..." I murmured uneasily, and kept my eyes pointed towards the bench seat. "I know everyone thinks you're bad and all, but I remember when we were kids in elementary school and- even though you never really talked to me- you were nicer than all the others." I wanted to cringe at my own words. I sounded utterly pathetic.

       I never really knew how to act around people I didn't really know, especially if that person was Rex Turner. But, it was true. I didn't have a bright and happy upbringing, and for half of it I wasn't even with my family. But for those few short years Rex and I went to elementary school together- I was just as infatuated with him as I was today.

       "You like me because I was nice to you as a kid?" His voice seemed relatively shocked, but that kind-of unbelievable shock like he didn't think what I said was true. I dropped my eyes to the pillow I clasped my hands together tightly in my lap as his chestnut orbs stared holes into my head.

       I shrugged.

       "Good memories are something to hold onto, something to cherish. So, I tried to keep all the good ones of you. Even after you went to juvey and all." I shot him a bright smile, which caused him to grace me with another dark chuckle. My heart jumped in my chest happily.

       "You really are too innocent for your own good, Roza." His voice came out as a dark mumble, and I felt a frown pull at my lips. I wasn't so sure how I felt about that statement.

       "That's what Trey said."

       He rolled his dark eyes and scoffed before glancing down at the floor. "Where do you think he got it from?"

       "Do you- do you talk about me- with them?" My words were shaky and uneasy as they whispered passed my lips, and I kept my gaze on my pillow as his flickered over to mine. I was blushing way too hard to look at him.

       He didn't answer, and after a long awkward, silence filled the room- I decided to change the subject. It wasn't that important of a question. "Is Rex your real name?" I asked casually and sneaked a peak up at him as I ran my feet gently over the carpet.

       "Yup." He popped the 'p' and stretched out across the bench until he could prop his arms behind his head and gaze up at the ceiling.

       "It kind of reminds me of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. You know, like T-Rex." A smile tugged at my lips, and I couldn't help the bubble of happy laughter that rumbled in my chest.

       He stiffened as soon as the words left my lips and slowly sat back up. "Don't you dare-" His voice came out as a dark warning, but I ignored him and clapped my hands together excitedly.

       "T-Rex! I'm so calling you that now! Or just T for short!" I laughed and clapped again as his dark eyes glared holes into mine. My mind was suddenly going a million miles a minute as a bunch of different nicknames flown through it.

       "I like Rex." He grumbled from the window seat and shook a heavy hand through his dark hair.

       I quickly nodded in agreement, but didn't let that damper my mood. "I do too, but you and all the boys have a nickname for me, and I want one for you!" I smiled in genuine happiness for the first time in a week as I tried to contain my excitement. He wasn't mad at me, he wasn't yelling, and this is the longest we have ever spoken! What isn't there to be happy about!

       "Ugh, just go make one for them, or something." His tone was hard and he clenched his jaw before snapping his gaze back to the window. I felt a frown try to pull at my smile

       "But I don't want one for them. I want one for you."

       There was a pause before his butterfly bringing eyes slowly made their way back to me. "Why?" His voice was soft, and slightly curse, but it didn't fail to send my stomach into a fit of fluttering nerves. I shrugged my shoulders all- nonchalant like- and messed with the fringe of the pillow.

       "Does this mean I get to be friends with them again?" I asked instead of answering. I wanted to draw his attention away from this kind-of embarrassing topic. We were just now becoming friendly, if he found out how much I liked him- he would run for the hills. And I did not want that one bit.

       "Friends with who?"

       "Trey, and Denton, and Brett." I murmured softly. Rex was still one giant ball of anger set to go off at any minute, and I was terrified of say one wrong thing that would make him explode.

       He sighed, and I forced my eyes to look back over at him- but he was staring at the floor with his strong arms resting against his thighs. "It's not like I could have actually stopped you. I can't tell you who you can and can't be friends with, and that goes for them."

       "But you would have gotten upset about it."

       "I know, but I don't care what those idiots are to you now."

       I suppressed a flinch as the words left his mouth in a harsh grumble, but that didn't stop me from asking the one question I wanted to know the answer to the most. "So, does this mean that we can be friends?" I asked slowly- cautiously. I was terrified of his answer, and of the tone he would use. I don't know why I had such a big crush on him, and I couldn't help the fact that I did. And I wanted any part of him I could get, even the angry part.

       "Yeah, we can be friends." His answer flowed pass his lips so easily, and his voice was so lazy it made me wonder if he even knew what he just agreed to.

       "Really?!" I almost squealed like a little girl in excitement, that only earned me a scoff.

       "Don't sound so excited. That's not necessarily something to be proud of-"

       "Don't be ridiculous T!"

       His unhappy groan filled the dark room, but I only smiled. He said we could be friends! All the boys and I could be friends! This was the happiest I had ever felt in quite a long time. I just sat there smiling as a weird silence filled the air around us. It wasn't necessarily awkward, but it was uncomfortable. Rex wrung his hands together between his knees and glanced up at me before looking back down again.

       I could tell he wanted to tell me something, but he kept refraining himself. It made my smile pull into a small frown. Five minutes passed in that silence before he finally sighed and turned to face me. "I know you don't think that I'm- that I'm the best person, Roza. But everything I do- I do for a reason." His voice was soft once again and he glanced back down at the floor before resting his arms on his knees.

       "Then what was your reason for vandalizing that store last year?" The whole reason he got sent to juvey to begin with was because of that store. He hadn't made it out fast enough and the police made it there before he was even finished destroying the whole place. The 'correctional facility' was supposed to help with his anger problem. Obviously, that didn't work out so well. He didn't hide the hint of a smile that played on the corner of his lips- the one that took my breath.

       "The owner pissed me off."

       "And you think that's a good enough excuse?"

       He just rolled his eyes. "The point I'm trying to make, is that there is a reason for everything I do- even if it seems stupid at the time." His voice was slightly sad as he ran his fingers through his dark hair. The warm chestnut color of his eyes glanced over at me in something close to- close to care. It made my heart stop in my chest.

       "I- I know you're not a bad person, Rex. That's just the persona you give off." I mumbled as he pulled his fingers from his hair and chuckled.

       "I thought girls always liked the bad boys." He teased, actually teased! I smiled even though we both knew he had no interest in the girls at our school- or me for that matter.

       "I wanted to be your friend long before you were considered 'bad'." My voice came out as a mumble, and I watched a frown pull at his lips as he leaned his back against the window. He let out a heavy sigh and as his dark chestnut orbs stared over at me- I couldn't stop the goosebumps that covered my arms at the intensity of his gaze.

       "I'm bad for you, Roza."

       That was the second time he had told me that, and as the self-loathing flashed through his eyes I wanted nothing more than to prove him wrong. I mean, he didn't come all the way over here just to apologize and talk if he was bad. Nobody who was actually bad would do that. But when I opened my mouth to protest, he beat me to it.

       "But I will always