Forever Tied.

15.

Chris asked, "A pregnant lady?" Levi sighed.

They were playing charades and even when they had no teams, Rosie felt like a third wheel.

This was an average Wednesday night where everyone was on the couch playing various games.

It would have been next on the agenda to play Monopoly, but Rosie had to get up for work early, so they played a few more rounds of charades before Rosie went to bed.

Levi replied, "A fat guy who drinks too much beer, but it was close." he sat down.

Now it was Rosie's turn, and she had no idea what to do. She briefly considered mimicking her boss. Her first love. Her first heartbreak.

The reason she chose to imitate Anna from Frozen was mostly because she could use her hands.

In a way, she felt like she had powers. Wanda Maximoff might have been a better choice. Once the games were over, Rosie said goodnight.

As she lies in bed, she considered the problems the company was having with employment.

Elijah didn't fire many people, but his manager did it far too often.

Rosie was safe because only Elijah had the authority to fire her, and he hadn't considered it.

Fidgeting with the locket she wore, Rosie sighed. The necklace had been a Christmas gift from Elijah.

Rosie suddenly realized that tomorrow would be her birthday, which she wasn't thrilled about.

She would be 22. It was obvious to Rosie that Chris would go overboard and take her to a club.

In the days preceding the girls' split up, they planned a memorable day, but Rosie would actually be spending the day with her brother, Elm.

Rosie would meet him at her home tomorrow morning after he had arrived from his flight.

Out of all her siblings, Rosie was the most mature, despite Elm being the older brother.

For as long as she can remember, Elm was the one who was reckless and Rosie was the one who was cautious.

He was only that way because of drugs, but now he was clean. Their sister passed away from kidney failure, and Elm lost control.

Unfortunately, illness ran in the family. Originally, Elm was closer to Lily than Rosie. They have a little brother as well, his name is Zinnia.

They protect him with every fiber of their being. Their mother loved flowers, and so she named each of her kids after a flower.

According to her, they gave her hope and comfort, as if she had her very own garden that was just for her.

His fiance Bailey was the only reason Elm would stay the weekend.

They didn't have much, but they would manage. Every month, Rosie sent money to her mother, though her mother had a stable job with a good salary.

Rosie was just worried that it might end at any moment. Her mother uses Rosie's money to save for Zinnia's college tuition instead of spending it.

There was no need for Zinnia to worry since he was only 14 years old. Elm has already settled down at 25.

Back then, he didn't know about Elijah, and Rosie didn't think he needed to know now.

Instead of beating Elijah up or at least trying because he has no chance of winning, Rosie was sure he would keep Elijah all to himself. He would even worship him.

All thoughts were put aside, and Rosie closed her eyes to get some rest.

The next morning, Elm was at their door with bags in hand. Rosie had half the day because Elijah had needs too and he really needed her.

Her plan was to keep Elijah away from Elm. Elm would sleep on the couch with no complaint.

She grabbed him for a hug and exclaimed, "Big brother!". He held her for quite a while before releasing her.

"Happy birthday, Rose-Rosie," he said, and Rosie was thankful he didn't use that dreadful nickname for her.

It's bad enough that Elijah calls her that and she's certain that he knows that she didn't like to be called that.

Looking around the house, Elm said, "It's good to see you"

He was looking for something or someone.

Elm asked Rosie, "Where are the girls?"

He had no idea they had split up and she didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise he would try to comfort her or convince them to come back together.

He would also interrogate her afterward. Rosie was not looking forward to that.

"Uh I moved out because the house was getting too crowded and you won't be seeing them this weekend anyway" Rosie lied through her teeth.

She hated lying to her brother. Elm in particular, since she told him everything except for her mother.

No one in her family knows about Elijah except Calliope, and she shared a few details with her mother.

"Aw, that's just terrible!" Elm moaned wincing. He loved her friends because they made her happy.

How could he accept that they were no longer friends?

"What are we doing here? Let's go!" Rosie screamed as they drove around to different places.

She showed him where to eat the best pizza.

During most of the day they enjoyed each other's company and took pictures.

She hoped her friends wouldn't pity her because they weren't there.

She had to prove to herself that she did not need them and that she could live without them, but it was more like convincing herself she could.

If she was then she would take their picture out of her locket.

That's clearly something Rosie couldn't bring herself to do or try to. It was just too hard to go through with it.