LOVE

Chapter 3

The next morning, Rose woke up in her room, next to Stan staring at her. She didn't remember much from last night, probably the alcohol effects, but all she knew was, she had a lot to take care of.

She tried talking to Stan but he kept ignoring her and moving further and further in the bed. "Don't touch me!" He yelled after she tried to grab his hand, "What's going on dearling?" "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about sweetheart!" "Last time I checked, I did nothing!" "Then go ask Marley, since he brought you to bed yesterday!" there it was she remembered everything, every look, event and word, she knew she screwed up but so did he!

"I rather not talk about it now!" "Yeah, run away from the consequences of your actions like usual!" Rose got up and walked straight to the door and before stepping out she looked back and replied "I'm not replying to you now but just know that yesterday was a lot to process!"

They ended up spending the day avoiding each other; he didn't look at her and she didn't search to speak with him.

It was already the last night for the group at Hammamet, they wanted to do something special, but in their own way, which means barbecue, some beers and their endless conversation.

Once the night came, they were all around the table discussing some meaningless subjects, asking about each one's life and things they always wanted to know, when one of them asked "Who are your favorite couple from this group from the old days'' Rose seemed kind of surprised, she knew the answer most of them wanted to say but she wished no one will speak it out loud, and there was a silent pause for some seconds, it felt like no one knew what to say, when one of them named Omar, broke the silence and said "In fact, and in my opinion, and I know they were never in a relationship but' they all looked at him surprised but mostly afraid of where his sentence was going 'I could say from the way they used to look at each other, they are or at least were in love with each other' Marley kept looking at Rose like he was envying her, and as he was setting next to her, she whispered in his ear: "I bet he is talking about you and Dora" he waved his head to say no disappointedly. 'And from the way they are close I could tell! Omar added "It's Marley and Rose!" for a second Rose felt like her heart stopping, "this is not going to end well" she thought.

She couldn't believe what she just heard, and even though Omar just said what everyone was thinking, yet none of them did believe their ears! All eyes were on Rose and Marley, Stan was feeling humiliated but he couldn't tell from what exactly, from the fact that no one could deny what he just said, not even their best friends, was mind blowing for him! Or because no one looked at him at that moment, as if he didn't exist, he was as shocked as her but they couldn't say anything. Marley looked at them and replied: "no one can deny what you just said my friend, in fact, the circumstances never let us be or even discuss it! And I'm talking about my own perspective, this woman has a place in my heart that no woman can take. and there have been times that I wanted to.' He started looking at Rose fixedly as if there was just them 'and it has been... overwhelming and humbling and even painful at times, but I could not stop loving her any more than I could stop breathing"

Hearing his words made Rose so emotional and without controlling or noticing it she started crying and looking at him but words couldn't come out from her mouth, the way he memorized these lines from her favorite tv show made things clear but she couldn't possibly admit it, at that moment Marley felt relieved, he kept it for himself for so long that he couldn't take it anymore, he had to get it out, and even though he felt selfish for doing it after what happened, he had hope she will change her mind about the proposal, he kept looking at her fighting his urge to kiss her but all he could do was wrapping his hands around her and kissing her on her forehead. He knew what he did was maybe selfish but he couldn't risk even the slightest chance to be with her and he knew that moment was the only chance he had.

For the rest of the night they kept all talking like nothing happened.

During the night Dora looked worried and on edge, Marley tried to talk to her but she kept saying she was okay, till the moment she decided to take Rose aside and talk to her. Rose was happy, she thought Dora will tell her about how she was been feeling, she knew Dora used to be in love with Marley back in their highs school days but she didn't know if those feelings are still there or not and she knew that it must be hard for her to hear what Marley said.
"Rose, do you still love him' with a serious yet worried face' Marley, do you love him?" Rose was surprised by her question, it was really unexpected and super forward.
"I used to love him more than myself," Rose replied, trying to keep a straight face 'but after me moving away from him, and my relationship now, I can't tell truly, I love my boyfriend! But Marley will always be Marley for me!" She looked at her with compassion and said "It's been years now, I been noticing you both, how you are around each, I heard him talking about you days and nights, and I know it's hard to hear but you should be with him or leave him, and I'm not saying this because I used to be in love with him but because as his best friend I can't stand seeing him hurt once again because of your stories!"

Rose was surprised and kind of hurt from what she heard; she knew she was right. She went running to Adrian to ask him about what had just happened. "Adrian hey! I won't take long from your time, but I'm surprised, Dora just took me aside to ask me if I'm still in love with Marley plus all those words he said I'm surprised and confused I mean from where is it coming from!" Believe me she knew where it came from, she just had this need to hear it. He looked at her with a smile in the corner of his mouth like he knew why she was asking him. "Rose, Marley has always been in love with you and he still is, and even if he never communicated it to you, for years now, it doesn't mean it disappeared, and what happened today was super expected, he put this reunion all for you! God damn it! And for Dora, you know her, she is always worried about him!"

Rose spent all of her time thinking about what she should do, nothing seemed to be right, but she knew she had to talk with Marley.