Copyright © MonMoncheese
All Rights Reserved
48 Published 04.17.2020

•••

JAMES

Skimming through the words, I highlight my answer with a highlighter.

The yellow color causing the black letters to stand out.

The lamp beside me, illuminating the room through the darkness of the night.

It was late.

12:34 a.m. to be exact.

But I needed to distract myself.

My mind kept drifting to her.

She seemed to be all I could think about lately.

The ringing of my phone startles me and Theo whines from my bed.

"Sorry, boy." I turn to look at him. Theo simply lowers his down and closes his eyes.

Picking up the phone, I glance at the caller ID.

It's Nathan.

Answering the phone, I place it near my ear.

"You need to come to see her." He says and I grow worried. 

"What?" I ask as my gaze lands on the portrait of the girl.

Her identity still unknown to me. 

"She's not okay, James. I caused her to have a panic attack today all because I kept pressuring her to tell me about what happened to her. I feel so guilty right now. I caused my own sister to have a panic attack. I'm such a shitty brother." 

I feel my heart clench at the thought of her going through such thing.

"Did she tell you?" I get up from my chair.

"Sort of." He sighs. "But James, you need to see her. You're my hope right now. Maybe you can help her. I don't want to tell our parents what happened, but if she continues like this, I will have no other choice. Please, I'm begging you."

"Are you sure?" I ask.

I want to see her.

But she doesn't want to see me.

And I respect her.

"You're the one she needs." He says softly and I bite my lip.

That's all he needed to say.

"I'll be there soon." I tell him before hanging up.

Grabbing my things, I walk out of the room and I don't stop until I reach my car. 

THIRD POV

James parks the car and steps out of it in a rush not wasting any more seconds before jogging to the door.

As he stops in front of the door, his heart rate increases.

He was nervous. 

That much was clear.

He was about to meet the girl he's longed to see.

Pulling out his phone, James types a quick message before sending it to Nathan.

As he stands there, he can't help but pace around. 

What was he going to do?

 A few seconds later, the door opens and a tired Nathan appears.

His hair was disheveled as if he had run a hand through it several times.

James grows worried at the sight of his friend. 

He didn't look like that before.

"Thank you for coming." Nathan steps aside to let James in. 

"Is she okay?" James asks, a worried expression marrying his face.

"A little," Nathan closes the door and turns to the boy that was waiting for him. "She's sleeping right now."

"She must have been tired," James mumbles to himself, but Nathan hears him and he hums in response. 

"Just follow me, our parents are sleeping, so don't worry." Nathan motions to James before walking in the front, the boy behind him following closely.

But as James walks up the stairs, his breathing changes. 

His heart was going haywire.

The thoughts about her not helping him at all.

As the two boys turn around a corridor, they continue walking until Nathan stops outside a door.

"This is her room." He whispers. 

But James doesn't answer him. He is too focused on the door with a determined look on his face.

Because at the other side of that door laid Rose.

His princess.

"You're the one she needs. So just stay with her." Nathan gives James a desperate look.

"I will." 

With that, Nathan mumbles a 'thank you' and walks away to his room. 

As James watches the retreating figure disappear from his eyes, he wraps a hand on the knob that was cold underneath his warm hand. 

With one last breath, he twists the knob and the door opens slowly, revealing a dark room to the boy waiting outside the room.

Taking a step inside the room, he comes in contact with darkness, but the moon's glow that seemed to escape through the gap of the curtains illuminated a bed in which a small body laid on.

His lips part in response, as his eyes, twinkle at the sight laying before him.

It's her.

Sudden happiness drapes over him until he thinks about the last three days.

His heart aching at the thought. 

Walking towards the bed, he glances at the small body sleeping.

They were so close.

But she wasn't aware of it. 

Rose has a blanket over her body, but it was not enough to shield her from the cold. The rain from earlier seemed to have made it worse.

James takes off his shoes quietly, careful to not make a sound.

With one last look at her sleeping figure, he gets on the bed and pulls the duvet over them.

They were only a few inches apart, but he could still feel the warmth that radiated from her body.

And that's how he stays for a few minutes. 

The storm that was brewing inside him had calmed down, leaving only a trace of his sadness.

James turns to his side, his front, facing her back.

Propping an elbow up, he places the side of his face on his palm. 

But Rose keeps twisting on the bed, completely unaware of the presence that was near her.

She was restless. 

Taking notice of that, in one swift movement, James wraps an arm around her waist bringing her warm body flush to his chest.

For a moment he frowns at the way her body feels. He could feel some of her bones and it worried him.

Rose stays like that for a while, until she begins to move again causing James to stay completely still as she changes her position before burying her face into his chest. 

Rose was now facing his chest.

And he smiles at her action. 

He found the small action so endearing and that only made him want to see her more. But she had a hoodie on, preventing him from seeing her face. The darkness not helping him either.

James just wished to be able to rip that damn hood away from her face but he resisted the urge to do so.

Instead, he holds her tighter to his chest, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms.

She smelled like lavender.

Oddly enough, the smell reminded him of someone. 

But he wasn't sure of who.

James decides to ignore it, for now at least. Right now he just wanted to cherish her.

That's how the two of them stay, both enjoying the feel of their bodies close together. 

Rose suddenly begins to cry and James freezes.

The hold on her waist loosening a little bit. 

"Rose?" James whispers, hoping that she was awake. But there was no answer. 

Meaning that she was crying in her sleep.

And that absolutely hurt him.

 As she cried in her sleep, he felt tears wet his shirt and he held onto her tighter, pained to hear her cry.

"I'm sorry." She murmurs and trashes in his arms. This time she lets out a sob.

"Dammit, Princess!" He curses quietly, his heart clenching in pain at the sound of her cries.

He wanted to stop her tears. To let her know that he was here for her, but there was no use. Her mind was completely overpowered by the nightmare. 

James feels Rose grasp his shirt with her small fists as if she were holding onto the only hope she has.

Another sob escapes her and he growls in anger, not being able to take it anymore. 

James pulled her tighter and turned so that his back was on the bed. This caused him to bring her body on top of his.

Tucking her head under his chin, he held on to her small body. At that moment it was all he could do.

Because even if it was a small gesture, it meant something to both of them.

They needed this comfort. 

James starts caressing her small hand, whispering sweet things for her.

"Love, please wake up. I'm here now." He murmured to wake her up, but there was no use. Her mind was oblivious to the boy holding her.

"Please don't hit me," Rose begs and James goes rigid at her words.

Someone had physically harmed her before. 

Rage fills his body. He had a sudden urge to hurt everyone who had hurt the girl in his arms, but he knew that Rosie needed to be held right now.

She needed him.

And so he would be there for her.

Those who hurt her could wait, but they would pay.

He was angry. But his pain for her overpowered that anger.

"Please, just let me go." Rose sobbed harder, her small hands fisting his shirt.

"Baby, wake up. I need you to wake up. Please." He murmurs once again, the ache in his heart becoming more intense by the second.

"Don't ignore me again, princess. Let me be here for you. But please don't ignore me again. I care about you." James whispers in pain.

He missed her these past few days.

There was a hollow feeling in his heart that only she could feel.

"I missed you." He whispers again, hoping that she would open her eyes any second.

But she wouldn't wake up. Rose was trapped deep in within her nightmare to notice the boy who was holding her.

So he did the last thing he could do.

He adjusted her body well onto his chest so that she was laying on top of him. And held on to her in a way that meant he was never letting go.

Forever and always.

And he whispered into her ear.

Hoping to soothe her tears.

Eventually, he felt her move until she was comfortable on his chest.

And she held on to him as if he was her world. Her saviour.

Because at that moment, he was.

And right now, it was as if the two of them existed.

Rose places her cheek right above where his heart is.

And unconsciously, she listens to the beats of his heart that were like a sweet melody to her ears.

With the help of his constant whispers, she escapes her nightmare and is lulled into a peaceful sleep.

All because of him.

Rosies was sleeping, but he wanted to wake her up. To let her know that he was finally here. But James knew that she wasn't ready to meet, yet.

And he couldn't be selfish.

James sighed and closed his eyes, sleep was finally catching up to him. As he rested his mind, every now he would feel fist his shirt as if to check for his presence and that made him smile.

Because even if they didn't know each other, she still searched for him. And that caused a funny feeling to bloom deep within him.

So he stayed there all night, simply holding her. Shielding her from anything that wished to harm her. As long as he was with her, he wouldn't let anything harm her.

He would protect her even is she pushed him away.

With a lazy grin, James rubs her back in a soothing way. He felt content to hold on to her like this. Their bodies flushed together.

Eventually, with a smile on his face, he fell into a blissful sleep. 

○○○

SECOND UPDATE OF THE DAY.

THIS IS THE MOMENT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TOO!!!

DO YOU NOW GET WHAT I MEAN BY NOT "OFFICIALLY MEETING"?

BUT DON'T WORRY, THEY WILL MEET.

DID YOU LIKE IT???

I HOPE IT WASN'T BAD.

There are probably many errors, but I will get back to them later.

I actually had this scene planned out when I first started this book, so I'm glad to finally publish this part.

I do have a question for everyone who enjoyed this chapter. You see, I struggled to decide in which pov this chapter should be. Either James' pov or third person pov. And now that I should be the one making the choice. But what pov do you guys think would have been better? Which one would have gotten a bigger impact?