puking. I pound on the door even harder.
“Rose! Goddamnit Rose, open the door!”
“She won’t answer you. From what I heard that boy say, she was completely ‘worn out’.”
The urge to punch his smug face is so strong I have to grip the doorknob with both hands and yank frantically on it. If I keep my hands busy I won’t sock the living daylights out of my own slimeball father. Farlon sighs behind me.
“If you’re going to be stubborn, at least be sensible. Do you think when your mother left me, I foolishly kept throwing myself at her door? No. I left with some pride still intact. I suggest you do the same.”
His receding footsteps don’t make me turn around. Nothing does. I’m laser-focused on the door, on seeing Rose’s face, on asking her if it’s true, if she really did sleep with Kiera’s pawn. The mistake slams into me with more force now than ever. Farlon is an asshole. I’m an asshole. But the difference between Farlon and I is that he’s right. I left her. I left Rose. That hurt. And now she’s leaving me.
That hurts more.
That hurts the most.
That hurts in places it shouldn’t – places I never thought could feel. It aches in my spine, in my ribs, in my lungs. I can barely make out the sound of my own shouts above the loud pumping of my blood in my ears. I’m yelling for her. Can she hear me?
Does she even want to hear me anymore?
His receding footsteps don’t make me turn around. Nothing does. I’m laser-focused on the door, on seeing Rose’s face, on asking her if it’s true, if she really did sleep with Kiera’s pawn. The mistake slams into me with more force now than ever. Farlon is an asshole. I’m an asshole. But the difference between Farlon and I is that he’s right. I left her. I left Rose. That hurt. And now she’s leaving me.
That hurts more.
That hurts the most.
That hurts in places it shouldn’t – places I never thought could feel. It aches in my spine, in my ribs, in the space between my lungs. I can barely make out the sound of my own shouts above the loud pumping of the blood in my ears. I’m yelling for her. Can she hear me?
Does she even want to hear me anymore?
And the door cracks open, held in place by a chain lock. It's not Rose's face on the other side - it's Felix's. He looks pale, but my rage quickly pushes that observation aside.
"Where is she?" I slam my hand on the door.
"I kicked her out," Felix says, dully. "I've had enough of her crap. She went too far one time too many."
It takes everything in me not to reach through the crack in the door and grab him by the collar to shake him. But the look in my eyes must tell him something, because he quickly corrects himself.
"Kiera. I kicked Kiera out."
"That's not who I'm asking about!" I shout. Felix looks over his shoulder and to the bed. He unlocks the door and motions for me to come in, but in the time it takes him to open the door I've already squeezed through. I stand at the bedside and look down at it. The sheets are crumpled, and nestled in them is a half-naked Rose, sleeping. But someone's pulled the covers over her. Her eyes flutter open just then, and my breath catches.
"L-Lee?" She asks in a sleepy voice.
"I'm here," I kneel at the bedside. "Rose, what did they do to you?"
She glances around the room with a confused expression. "Do to me? What do you mean?"
"Did he -" I point to Felix. "Did he touch you?"
She cradles her head in her hands, moaning. "N-No. But it's blurry. No one touched me, I think."
"Someone spiked your drink," Felix says. I bristle as he comes closer, so he stops in mid-stride. "At the tavern last night."
Rose's eyes widen. "The bakery! La Cigogne. And then I went to the bar, and Kiera and Grace fought. But Kiera left. Someone spiked my drink? It couldn't have been someone from the village. No one knows me. So who -"
Felix shoots a nervous look between me and Rose. I
“Rose! Goddamnit Rose, open the door!”
“She won’t answer you. From what I heard that boy say, she was completely ‘worn out’.”
The urge to punch his smug face is so strong I have to grip the doorknob with both hands and yank frantically on it. If I keep my hands busy I won’t sock the living daylights out of my own slimeball father. Farlon sighs behind me.
“If you’re going to be stubborn, at least be sensible. Do you think when your mother left me, I foolishly kept throwing myself at her door? No. I left with some pride still intact. I suggest you do the same.”
His receding footsteps don’t make me turn around. Nothing does. I’m laser-focused on the door, on seeing Rose’s face, on asking her if it’s true, if she really did sleep with Kiera’s pawn. The mistake slams into me with more force now than ever. Farlon is an asshole. I’m an asshole. But the difference between Farlon and I is that he’s right. I left her. I left Rose. That hurt. And now she’s leaving me.
That hurts more.
That hurts the most.
That hurts in places it shouldn’t – places I never thought could feel. It aches in my spine, in my ribs, in my lungs. I can barely make out the sound of my own shouts above the loud pumping of my blood in my ears. I’m yelling for her. Can she hear me?
Does she even want to hear me anymore?
His receding footsteps don’t make me turn around. Nothing does. I’m laser-focused on the door, on seeing Rose’s face, on asking her if it’s true, if she really did sleep with Kiera’s pawn. The mistake slams into me with more force now than ever. Farlon is an asshole. I’m an asshole. But the difference between Farlon and I is that he’s right. I left her. I left Rose. That hurt. And now she’s leaving me.
That hurts more.
That hurts the most.
That hurts in places it shouldn’t – places I never thought could feel. It aches in my spine, in my ribs, in the space between my lungs. I can barely make out the sound of my own shouts above the loud pumping of the blood in my ears. I’m yelling for her. Can she hear me?
Does she even want to hear me anymore?
And the door cracks open, held in place by a chain lock. It's not Rose's face on the other side - it's Felix's. He looks pale, but my rage quickly pushes that observation aside.
"Where is she?" I slam my hand on the door.
"I kicked her out," Felix says, dully. "I've had enough of her crap. She went too far one time too many."
It takes everything in me not to reach through the crack in the door and grab him by the collar to shake him. But the look in my eyes must tell him something, because he quickly corrects himself.
"Kiera. I kicked Kiera out."
"That's not who I'm asking about!" I shout. Felix looks over his shoulder and to the bed. He unlocks the door and motions for me to come in, but in the time it takes him to open the door I've already squeezed through. I stand at the bedside and look down at it. The sheets are crumpled, and nestled in them is a half-naked Rose, sleeping. But someone's pulled the covers over her. Her eyes flutter open just then, and my breath catches.
"L-Lee?" She asks in a sleepy voice.
"I'm here," I kneel at the bedside. "Rose, what did they do to you?"
She glances around the room with a confused expression. "Do to me? What do you mean?"
"Did he -" I point to Felix. "Did he touch you?"
She cradles her head in her hands, moaning. "N-No. But it's blurry. No one touched me, I think."
"Someone spiked your drink," Felix says. I bristle as he comes closer, so he stops in mid-stride. "At the tavern last night."
Rose's eyes widen. "The bakery! La Cigogne. And then I went to the bar, and Kiera and Grace fought. But Kiera left. Someone spiked my drink? It couldn't have been someone from the village. No one knows me. So who -"
Felix shoots a nervous look between me and Rose. I
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