The One They Left Behind

S E V E N T E E N

The next afternoon, Rose finally collected her courage and called her brother. She knew she needed to be the on to tell him about Renee or she would be blamed.

"Hey, what's up?" Jonathan answered, seeming a little preoccupied.

"I've got something to tell you and I don't really think I should do it over the phone. Could you come over?" She asked, deciding not to beat around the bush. 

"Yeah sure, is everything ok?" He asked, his voice growing concerned.

"Oh! Everything's fine, don't worry. I'll see you soon?" She said, eager to get him over soon.

"I'll head over as soon as I finish my laundry." He told her before saying a quick goodbye and ending the call.

Rose couldn't tell if she was starting to feel more relaxed or more tense and nervous as the minutes ticked by. She barely knew what she was supposed to say, how should she tell her brother that the promise she made to him had been broken, and she hadn't even been the one to break it.

All Rose could hope for is that Jonathan would understand that she was only trying to diffuse the conflict when she had explained their situation, and she hadn't been the one to tell Renee that he was back.

***

When the doorbell rang almost an hour later, Rose took a deep breath before scampering to the door.

"I came over as fast as I could, you seemed nervous on the phone." Jonathan said as he took his shoes off. 

Rose guided him over to the couch, sitting the two of them down. She stared at her hands, twisting her fingers around each other, trying to figure out where to start.

"You're starting to worry me Rose, are you sure everything's okay?" Jonathan asked, leaning a little closer to her.

"You know how I promised I wouldn't tell Renee that you're back?" She paused, looking at her brother as he nodded and his gaze seemed to darken considerably. "Well, she found out. I didn't tell her, I swear! But, she asked me if it was true and I didn't lie either." She explained, her gaze dropping back to her fingers.

"So, Renee knows?" Jonathan asked, his voice soft and his gaze focused on some point past Rose's head.

"Yeah. Look, I know I don't know much about what happened, but I think you should really talk to her. You two obviously have a lot to talk about and deal with." She rushed out, hoping she wasn't overstepping.

Jonathan seemed to deflate. 

"I know, I just don't know how I'd be able to talk to her about it, we haven't seen each other in years." He said, sounding exhausted. "I don't blame you, you know. This was bound to happen, I just thought I had a little more time."

Rose was more relieved than she thought she would be. Although she knew it was unlikely he would blame her for what happened, it felt good to hear him say it.

They spent the rest of the afternoon watching a movie, even though neither of them seemed to be totally focused on it. Jonathan seemed to be lost in thought about what he would do about Renee, and Rose was wondering what she would say to Clayton.

***

Rose had successfully ignored all of Clayton's messages and evaded Paige's questions about what was going on by the end of work the next day. She had briefly explained everything to Hillary, who seemed content to let Rose deal with Clayton herself but had offered moral support if it was needed.

Unfortunately, Clayton had volunteered to pick his little sister up and Rose had a sneaking suspicion it was so they could talk. His timing was impeccable too, he seemed to have waited until Paige was the last one there and Rose wouldn't be able to slink away.

"Rose! Look, Diana talked to me about what happened and I wanted to make sure you're okay." He said, entering the room in a couple powerful strides. 

"I'm fine. Do you have anything else to say?" Rose asked, waiting for an apology.

"I'm really sorry I told Diana, she asked me how you were doing because the two of you haven't really been talking or something and when I said you had a lot on your mind she begged me to tell her. I didn't think she would tell anyone." Clayton explained, one of his hands going to rub the back of his neck.

"She can be pretty persuasive, can't she?" Rose said, remembering all the times she had gotten into trouble because of something Diana had begged her to do. 

"Does that mean you'll forgive me Angel?" He asked, his expression turning so hopeful she almost laughed out loud.

"There's nothing to forgive Bear." She said, offering him a comforting smile.

"Finally!" Paige said, dropping heavily onto the frame of the door behind her, "I've got homework Clay, can we please go home?" She pleaded, her eyes widening into puppy dog eyes.

Clayton chuckled and Rose couldn't help but join in with a quiet giggle of her own, not noticing that his gaze was stuck on her. 

Paige cleared her throat, looking annoyed at the two for laughing at her expense.

"Alright, alright. Let's go crazy." Clayton agreed, holding his hand out in an unspoken offer to carry Paige's things.

"Perfect! Bye Rosie, I'll see you next week!" Paige said, darting over to give Rose a hug before chasing Clayton out the door, who gave Rose a little apologetic wave as they left.

Rose giggled at the antics of the siblings, before turning back to cleaning the little classroom.

"Be careful there honey." Hillary said as she entered the room.

"What're you talking about?" Rose asked, turning to look at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Anyone with eyes can see that he's got a thing for you and you just made it official with Sam. I don't want you getting hurt. By either of them." Hillary explained, looking concerned and almost conflicted.

"You don't need to worry about me, Clay's always been like that. He's just sweet, to everyone, not just me." Rose smiled reassuringly, trying to calm her friend's worry.

Hillary nodded, but didn't look completely convinced.

Despite Hillary's warning, Rose felt much calmer that evening, knowing that the entire situation with Renee and Jonathan was out of her hands and all she could do was sit back and let them deal with it.