Fool For You [2]

Chapter Six

        When Rosalie arrived downstairs for breakfast, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Will was not there. He seemed to be missing from quite a few meals as of late, but it was certainly for the best. After the events of the past few days, Rosalie had been reminded precisely why she needed to stay away from him. Feelings for him lingered; and she needed time and distance to overcome those feelings. There would never be a future there... and why should she wish for there to be? All of the fighting had begun to wear her down; and eventually, she would have no hatred left to stave off those feelings. Will made hating him so easy, but Rosalie had never considered herself to be a hateful person. But the truth of the matter was: Rosalie had realized she knew relatively little about herself. There had been a time when she had thought she understood herself completely; yet the past couple of months had changed that entirely. Now she found herself capable of hating someone- and learned that said hate gave her strength. It gave her the strength to get out of bed each day to face whatever challenges were thrown at her. Perhaps she should be thanking Will for giving her someone to hate. Before finding herself in this messy world of demons and troubled boys, Rosalie had never had an excuse for such strong feelings. Before Will Herondale, the strongest emotion she had felt was grief. Grief over the loss of her parents, and then grief over the sudden passing of her aunt. Rosalie's sheltered lifestyle had never given her much reason to feel things like anger. The life she led was one she cherished. Girls had envied Rosalie for her beauty and her charm. They had disliked her for drawing attention away from themselves. And there were times that she missed those days- missed the simplicity of her life. But that life felt more like a dream now. There was no way to go back when she now knew the true horrors lurking within the shadows. Rosalie had watched her own brother become one of those horrors.
Tessa nudged Rosalie's leg under the table, and she blinked slowly. Everyone had finished eating and were dispersing- setting off to begin their days. "Are you feeling well?" Tessa asked, her eyes swimming with concern.
"I am completely fine." Rosalie said. "I just have a lot on my mind." she added while rising from her seat. It took a great deal of effort to refrain from grimacing; her body was sore from working so hard yesterday. Every muscle screamed, silently cursing her for not using them enough. But that would pass once her body became accustomed to training. Maybe I should have taken it easier yesterday, Rosalie realized and frowned. How would her body fare training two days in a row? If she was in pain now, Rosalie could only imagine how she would feel tomorrow.
They walked to their rooms in silence, but it was clear Tessa wanted to say something. Her lip was pulled between her teeth and her brows scrunched together. It was nice to see such a readable expression on her face. That eerie mask she had taken up was gone.
"Out with it." Rosalie said with a sidelong glance at Tessa.
"What happened with Will yesterday?"
Rosalie's step faltered but she recovered quickly. She could only pray Tessa hadn't noticed the slight misstep. "He was just being his usual self." she shrugged. "You know how he gets when Gabriel is around."
Tessa shook her head and sighed heavily. "I mean after Gabriel left. I-I was watching from upstairs."
"Oh." there was a hint of irritation behind the word. But it came as no surprise that Tessa would be watching. Ever since they were children, she'd had a knack for eavesdropping. Of course, she never had ill intentions with it... she was just curious. And that would never change. "Will and I had a fight- as I'm sure you are perfectly aware. He... he's angry with me for asking Gabriel to come here yesterday to train with me." Rosalie blew out an exasperated breath. "After what happened in Yorkshire, I was upset that I couldn't have been more helpful- I was upset that I froze when that thing came at you. I wanted him to teach me something I could use the next time we are in trouble."
"And did he?"
Rosalie laughed lightly and nodded. "He is an excellent teacher, Tessie. The things I learned from him could make all the difference between living and dying." With that, they went into their rooms to change.
Will would have to find some way to set his hatred of Gabriel aside, because Rosalie refused to stop asking him to help her. And it was wrong of Will to expect such a thing from her. Even if she had asked Will for his help, she doubted he would give it. He always seemed to be so busy; always off doing something. It made Rosalie wonder: where was Will always disappearing to? Why was he always missing breakfast? She would never bother asking him these questions because she knew how pointless it would be. He would give her nothing but vague answers. Just as he always did.
Something crinkled beneath Rosalie's foot, and she paused. There was a piece of paper on the floor; bending to retrieve it, Rosalie opened the folded sheet of paper. The handwriting on the now rumpled paper was unfamiliar. 'Miss Gray, as a reward for your hard work yesterday, I have decided to give you the day off.' at the bottom of the page, Gabriel had signed his name.
Part of Rosalie was relieved to give her aching body a break, but the rest of her wanted to train despite the pain. No, it was best to rest. Besides, this would allow Gabriel to give his undivided attention to Tessa instead of splitting his time between the two of them.