This Rose Bleeds

Chapter ~Twelve~

He made me stay overnight. I thought he was going too far and it was unnecessary but he insisted. Twice throughout the darkening afternoon, I caught him staring at me. He would look away and pretend he wasn't. It really made me confused, and a bit self-conscious, but I tried my best to ignore it.

He threw a bundle of oversize clothes at me. "Um, go take a shower." I nodded but half way across the room he stopped me by the arm. He smirked and added, "Don't fall this time."

Wouldn't that be an interesting situation?

I escaped the moment by rushing into the bathroom. I felt really weird. I pushed those feelings aside and hurried to get in and out of the shower. It felt nice– everything was nice here. Considering the standards I lived by, I was really setting the bar low. Speaking of which, the bill should go down since I haven't been using any electricity back at the house. I smiled and pulled on Ryder's shirt. It was way too big, but did nothing whatsoever to fool anyone of my thin frame. I left the bathroom to find he wasn't in the room.

I threw the clothes I was using in the hamper by his dresser and laid back on the bed.

I felt my eyes droop. How can I be tired? I slept so much! I couldn't still be sick; I took actual medicine and ate actual meals, and had actual sleep. I had been actually cared for. I better not fall into this routine, otherwise it would be hard to start back with work.

Mrs. Stevens smirking face lingered at the edge of mind...

It's decided then. Tomorrow, I'm going back to work.

.~*~. RYDER .~*~.

"Oh honey, I knew things were hard for him, I didn't know it was like that!"

I nodded silently on the other side of the phone. I called mom and informed her the basics about Nate. Huh, Nate. That's cute. Wait, don't get distracted.

Apparently, she knew he lived alone and worked as much as he could pay off some bills and stuff. I told her a bit about the debt, and she got worked up. I didn't tell her what the man did to Nathan before. She would blow up. Literally, explode.

"You really like Nathan, don't you?" She taunted on the other end. Seriously, sometimes she just doesn't act her age. She knew about my sexual preference, and sometimes it got really annoying. "I knew you'd like him. That's why I took you to that café in the first place–"

"Wait, you were setting me up?" I asked in bewilderment. "Mom!" I knew she had a reason for taking me there, but not...

"It's okay, no need to thank me."

"Mom!" Then I lowered my voice. "Geez...how do you even know him?"

"I do go to the café a lot, but I also knew his parents."

His parents? I felt my eyes grow heavy. "They died."

I heard her sigh. "Yeah. We were good friends. When his mother, Molly, died, I hadn't known his father had grown abusive. Not until..."

She trailed off. "Not until?"

"Not until he decided to end both his and his sons life."

She knew about that too? Was I the only one that hadn't known? "He told me about that." I felt myself smile a bit. "He trusted me enough to show me his scars–including his wrists."

There was silence before a loud squeal erupted on the other end. "He trusts you! Okay, I better go now. Remember, use protection."

"Mom!"