Rose made good on her promise to Renee.
She called her brother after school and asked him to meet her at the coffee shop later that week, she just wanted to get everything out of the way.
***
That weekend, Rose ushered her brother into the local coffee shop they often went to. When Jonathan's entire body seemed to tense up and his steps came to a halt, Rose knew he had caught sight of Renee sitting at the corner table.
Jonathan caught Rose's eyes in an accusatory glare, rightfully assuming that she had orchestrated this meet up.
"It's time you two talked, I'm just making sure it happens." Rose said, shrugging her shoulders and pushing him gently towards the seat opposite Renee. "I'll wait in the car for you, Jonny."
She sat in the car as promised, closing her eyes to just breathe. She almost jumped when she heard her phone ring, but calmed down when she saw the familiar name on the screen.
"Hey Clay, what's up?" She greeted, leaning back in the driver's seat and closing her eyes again.
"Nothing much, just wanted to check up on you. I haven't heard from you in a while and I thought I would see how you're doing." He said.
"Yeah, sorry. There's just a lot been going on here. Sam and I had a disagreement, and I've been trying to get Jonathan to actually face Renee. How've you been doing?" She asked.
"Not bad. My dad's on my case about figuring out what I want to do after my gap year. He really wants me to go into business, but I'm still not sure." He said. "Are you and Sam okay?"
"I think so. We're getting better. He wants me to open up more and communicate better." She said. She took a beat. "I'm sorry about your dad."
"Eh, it's okay. Honestly until I've figured out what I actually want to do, I'm just going to let him talk about what he thinks is best for me. I don't want to argue about it until I actually know what I want to say. Does that make sense?" Clayton said.
"Yeah, that's fair." She replied.
She found it strange that he could be so calm about disagreeing with his dad, Rose couldn't imagine feeling that way. It was something she had always admired about him, Clayton had always been able to take a deep breath to look at a situation calm before making a decision that was usually well thought. Honestly, sometimes it could be a little annoying.
Rose chatted with Clayton for a while, only ending the call when she saw Jonathan leaving the coffee shop. She was too far away to figure out his expression. Even when he got into the passenger seat he kept his face stoic which left Rose with the terrible guessing game of trying to figure out how his talk with Renee went.
"So, how much do you hate me for forcing you to do that?" Rose asked, her attempt at humour the only way she could think of bridging the gap.
"I wish you had warned me, but I get why you decided this was the best thing to do. I don't hate you." Jonathan said, dragging a hand down his face.
Even though Rose had been mostly joking, a wave of relief crashed through her body.
She thought it was strange, how stressed and emotionally stretched she had felt about a situation that didn't even really involve her. Rose hadn't even been aware of it, but she had been afraid that Renee and Jonathan wouldn't be able to talk things out and he would disappear again, maybe for good this time.
"You know, I was nervous about you two talking too." Rose admitted, deciding to tell her brother what was going on in her head.
"Yeah?" Jonathan said, turning to look at her, intrigued.
"I didn't want it to push you away again or take away from any progress you've made. I just thought it would be good for you to let go of all the guilt." She said slowly, trying to pick her words carefully.
Jonathan smiled at her, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thank you. Just promise me you won't always be worried about me, I'm the one who's supposed to worry about you." He said.
"I think we'll both be worried about each other for a while." Rose said. She couldn't promise not to worry about him, not when he had only just come back. Not today.
***
As Rose was pacing around her room later that day, she decided to call Sam.
"Hey babe," he greeted.
"Guess what?" Rose asked, ignoring the new pet name.
"What?"
"I got Renee and Jonathan to talk things out! I think they'll be able to work everything out." Rose answered, flopping onto her bed, a self-satisfied grin settling on her face.
"I'm glad things between them seem to be settling down, just remember that the rest is up to them. You've done what you can and now it's time to back off and let them figure themselves out." Sam reminded her gently.
Annoyance flared within Rose, but she pushed it down and smiled tightly, despite knowing that he couldn't see her over the phone.
"I know that." She answered shortly, deciding against saying anything about her annoyance with his flippant attitude towards her good news.
"You okay?" Sam asked, his tone growing softer.
"Yeah I'm fine, I guess the adrenaline and excitement is just wearing off" Rose said, cringing at her own excuse.
"Fair enough"
"I think I'm going to try and get some homework done. I'll call you later?"
"Yeah, we'll talk later. Good luck with your work."
Rose hung up, curling up onto her side and wondered why she felt so guilty.
***
I'm so sorry that this came so late! Life has been a little wild lately, I've been trying to balance classes, work, and just general mental health struggles. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck by me and to those who reached out and asked how I was doing, I appreciate and love every single one of you so, so much. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Love CottonCandySkies
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The One They Left Behind
Romantik"If you loved me, why was it so easy for you to walk away?" Rose was used to being forgotten. Her mother had left, then her brother. The one person she never expected to leave her was Diana, her best friend. Diana left in 10th grade, leaving an opt...
