Till I Crash & Burn

Tensions Arise

Mark couldn't sleep a wink. The information from his brothers replayed in his mind like a relentless drumbeat. It was all too consuming and too much to bear. Rosie's innocence, the truth about her case—it all pointed to one man: Paul. The name left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He never had a single positive memory when it came to Paul. All he knew when he met him was that he screamed trouble. And now Mark feared that he had come back to get even.

Paul could have possibly orchestrated the entire mess. It was retaliation, a vendetta for Mark exposing him back when they were trainees. The realization hit him like a freight train: It's my fault.

Questions spiraled in his mind, keeping him up all night. Why? Why now? He had never even had any interaction with Rosie until the accident, so jealousy couldn't possibly be his reason.

What more is he missing?

His fists clenched as anger, frustration, and guilt surged through him. He wasn't sure which emotion burned the brightest. Mad at Paul. Angry at himself. Irritated at the mess he'd dragged Rosie into.

The questions eventually tired him out to sleep. But it wasn't over; it was just the beginning.

***

The next day, Rosie woke up in the best mood, especially after being greeted by the Pikachu doll she and Mark won at the arcade yesterday.

"Good morning to you, Mr. Pikachu." She said playfully before giving it a kiss on the nose. She proceeded with her morning routine, thinking about messaging Mark first.

But she needed a plan, or a script—something. What should she say?

Hey, sup?

Delete

"Gosh, that's embarrassing." She muttered, typing another greeting.

Hiya! Good morning!

Delete

"Absolutely not. Who the hell says 'hiya' nowadays??"

Heyyyyyyy

Delete

"Too many 'y's!!"

Hey handsome 😉

Delete

"It's 7 AM, Rosie! Who sends a winky face at 7am??" She reprimanded herself, rolling around in bed, her phone pressed to her face.

"Shit, why is this so hard?! This is why guys should always make the first move!" she whined, staring at the empty message box.

"Alright, fuck it."

Good morning ☺️☀️

Sent.

"Oh gosh, I sent it," she mumbled under her breath, surprised her fingers had a mind of their own.

Is that too many emojis? She thought, her nerves getting the best of her. She hadn't even gotten a reply, and she was already in manic mode.

Minutes passed. She paced around her room, trying to distract herself. She even double-checked if her phone had signal or was on silent.

"Hey, Lisa, can you text me back? Just wanna check if my signal's working." She called across the room.

'He might be busy, dork. Go watch Netflix or something.'

Rosie could hear Lisa's mocking snicker from the other side of the room. She hadn't even said anything yet, but her best friend already knew. Or was she that obvious?