Page 230 of When We Fall: Part Two
I nodded. “I could make love to this, it’s so good.”
That made her smile. “Seems messy.”
“My brand of love always is,” I said, winking at her.
Her cheeks darkened again.
She hadn’t been talking about apartments so much the last week. I assumed maybe she’d decided not to and to stay here with me. I really hoped that was the case.
“Tell you what. Let’s eat this delicious meal and then work on your song,” I suggested.
She froze for a moment before shaking her head. “No. I-I don’t want to.”
“Why not? Grab your guitar?—”
“I gave it away,” she mumbled.
I wasn’t sure I heard her. “What?”
She cleared her throat. “I gave it away. Donated it to the music center. Figured one of the kids there needed it more than I did.”
“Rosalie,” I whispered, my heart falling. “No. Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think I’m ready to do it. My head and heart are still hurting. I-I’m confused.” She sat next to me and pushed her food around on her plate. “It feels weird to write my songs alone.”
“You’re not alone. We can do it together,” I urged softly. “Me and you. Like always.”
“It’s not like always,” she said.
“It is,” I insisted. “Don’t you want to?”
She licked her lips and nodded. “I-I do…”
“Then we will. Let’s eat. Dance. Make up stupid, funny lyrics, and just relax. You and me. How does that sound? No pressure. If it sucks, then it sucks, and we can laugh about it someday.”
She contemplated my words as I held my breath. Finally, she nodded, and I silently thanked god.
We dug into our food. I was happy she’d eaten the entire thing. It meant she was getting better.
When we finished, she excused herself and went into the bedroom, where I was still letting her sleep.
I took off my hoodie because I was hot, but I left my t-shirt on with my sweatpants. Ryder called earlier to ask if we wanted to go out, and I said no the moment I saw Rosalie in the kitchen, making dinner and acting more like her old self.
Call me selfish, but I wanted to keep her like this to myself. Guilt ate at me over the feelings. While I was technically engaged to Bianca, I didn’t love her, and she didn’t love me. We were good friends, and I knew she’d fuck Dom and kings the moment I left her alone with them, but it didn’t matter. My morals were where they were with it. I committed to seeing it through.
Rosalie came out, looking so pretty in her little pink tank top and matching pajama shorts.
“Come on.” I patted the cushion next to me on the couch. I’d grabbed my guitar from the corner and had it on my lap. “Let’s write something that’ll take the world by storm.”
She sat and smiled.
“What do you want to write about?”
“Um.” She chewed her bottom lip for a moment. “I don’t know. Maybe something fun and upbeat. I-I want goofy.” Cotton jumped onto her lap and purred. She smiled down at him, petting his head.
“How about… falling in love, but all the things go wrong? We can make it sound like fate has a sense of humor. Traffic jams. Wrong numbers. That sort of thing.”
She nodded eagerly, and that was it. We set to work.
