The City Of Romance

Chapter 22: After a Long Break

Belated Happy New Year's Everyone! With school, sports, and exams I wasn't able to write any chapters . I hope you had a great Christmas, and I hope you had a Happy New Year's! Welcome 2016! Sorry for the lack of chapters. I'll make it up to you by posting a really really long chapter. Enjoy!
-End of Author's Note-

Roe's POV (Back in The Steakhouse)
They went in and Roe saw Adam.
"Guys, I'll just go to the bathroom, real quick."
Ember replied "Sure, go ahead."
In Roe's head, "Phew. That meal was probably the most awkward one, I've ever had."
Roe opened the door, and put her bag down on the counter top beside the sink. She grabbed a pack of wet face wipes, and wiped her face.
She looked in the mirror and said "Calm down... He's just a friend. Adam's just a friend. Breathe..."
Flashback In Highschool
Adam and Roe were the best of friends.
Roe sat down on the bench beside the tree. Adam saw her and went towards her.
Adam said "Hey, Roe. How's it going?"
Roe replied "Well, pretty good. You?"
"It could be better, but you know life." Adam sat down beside her.
Roe chuckled "Ah, dear. What did coach say 'bout you being a bit li low on your studies?"
"He said that if I don't pass the exam, I'll have to drop my scholarship in tennis. Which is the hardest thing to do."
Roe tapped his back and said "Don't worry I'll help you pass that exam! Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!"
"Really?! I didn't even think about you possibly helping me. Such an idiot!"
Roe pointed his mind with her finger and said "So? When do you want this study session?"
"Hmm... Let's see. My tennis schedule is Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. So... Why not Thursday? You free?"
"Sure. My schedule is very flexible. So, definitely!"
"Great. Good. Something, about having no social life has finally come to use."
Roe softly hit his back and said "Pfffft... I have a social life. Just not this year."
"Ow! What was that for? Yeah, right, you're so famous. You're too famous you don't get invited to parties."
Roe hit him again, but hardly. "I'm a good girl. I don't party all night, like you people. I study."
Adam pretended he yawned and said "BORING. Study, study, and study. Bla bla bla bla. No one has the ability to study and not party."
"You like studying too. Don't deny. C'mon you like all the subjects!"
"Fine. I do, but I would rather have fun than study all day. I have different times for fun and studying."
"Adam. Bell's ringing! Let's go!"
-After School-
Roe saw Adam with a girl. Roe thought to herself "Is he flirting with her?" "Ew. Yuck. No."
"Stop. Don't think about it Roe."
The girl left, and Adam saw Roe. Adam went towards her and said "Hey there! What are you up to?"
Roe replied "Nothing. Nothing. I was doing... Uhh.. Nothing"
Adam smirked and said "Are you sure? It looked like you were throwing daggers at that girl."
Roe replied "Pfffft. Why would I? I'm not jealous or anything."
Adam knew she was lying and decided to just go with it "Yeah. Sure, you definitely weren't."
When Roe got back to her house, she thought to herself "Roe. Calm down. You are NOT jealous." She kept repeating the sentence "I AM NOT JEALOUS" over and over again.
Then, the next day came. Roe went to school and saw everyone was huddled around something. She decided to ask someone what it's all about.
She went towards the middle of the huddled crowd and saw Adam serenading a girl.
She felt something she's never felt before. A sting of jealousy in her heart.
She ran to the hallway as fast as she could. She grabbed her books and went to the classroom.
She was the only one there, because her other classmates are still with Adam and the girl.
The professor said "Why are you already here? Class starts at 8:00 it's still 7:00."
Roe said "Oh... Sorry, professor. I just forgot. Okay, I'll leave for now. Oh, and good morning professor."
After she left the classroom, she felt embarrassed that she didn't realize the time.
~Time Skip~
Months later, she still denies that she likes Adam.
Her phone rang. It was Adam calling.
She doubted if she should answer. She decided not to answer it.
-Flashback over-
Roe walks out of the bathroom. "What?! Where did everyone go? Why did they leave already? WITHOUT ME?!"
Roe decided to ask the waiter.
"Excuse me, when did the people sitting here leave?". The waiter replied "Well, they left about 15 minutes ago."
Roe was very surprised. She grabbed her phone and saw her phone had no battery left. She was now freaking out. Then, the waiter got weirded out and slowly backed away. She didn't know what to do, till Adam saw her and said "Roe? Is that you?"
Roe replied "Uhh... Yeah. Hi there Adam!"
Adam said with a shaky tone "Nice to see you around here. I didn't know you live around here."
Roe replied "Oh. No I don't live 'round here. I'm just here for a quick visit."
Adam replied "Visit? By yourself?"
Roe said "Well, not by myself. My friends are somewhere in LA right now. I just don't know where..."
Adam chuckled and said "How do you not know where they are?"
Roe said "Hey! I know where they are, it's just I don't know where exactly."
Adam offered "Why don't you call them then?"
Roe replied "My phone's.. Uhh.. Let's just say dead?"
Adam handed his phone to her and said "Here. Call them."
Roe said "I don't know they're number."
Adam replied "Well then... You're most likely gonna be lost in LA. So, I'll drive you to the nearest hotel, check in and charge your phone. Then, call them. What'd ya say?"
Roe doubted if she should go or not and replied "Okay then. Just don't 'accidentally' crash us into a tree. Deal?"
Adam laughed and said "I can't promise you that, but I'll try."

Harley's POV:
"Continue on then, I'm listening."-said with a cautious approach.
"I know this might be a sensitive topic to talk about, but we can't avoid it. I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but everything has bad timing."
"I think I know where you're going with this. I've also been trying to talk to you about this."
"Harley, I don't know why I keep feeling something when I'm around you. It seems like the world stops. But, I know that we're not together anymore. I might just be over contemplating things."
"Look, it was hard before when we were still together, but now it's different. When we broke up, it was harder to cope up with world around us. I spent all day, filled with guilt, and regret. But, I didn't do anything to change my decision. To this day, I still think if that decision was the best thing to do or the worst mistake I could ever make."
They still felt something for each other, but they were both scared to get hurt again.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Harley. It wasn't your fault. It was your anger that lead to your actions."
"I really can't blame anyone for this, except for myself."
Ember looked Harley straight in the eyes.
"We can't change anything now. But, we can change how the future will go for us."
"How?"
"By doing what's right and not look back at harsh memories in the past, which will only hurt us."
"The horrible memories in the past are inevitable. You can't change the past; you can only learn from it."
"They are inevitable, but nonetheless we can try to at least forget them."
"Let's forget about the past and look forward to the future. We should live in the moment, rather than looking ahead and forgetting the present."
"So, shall we?" Harley put his hand out to shake Ember's. They shook hands.

Harley checked his watch and noticed it was 5:30 am. "Since I'm not going to be sleeping, I'm just gonna start preparing food now. You can go back to sleep now if you want." Ember nodded no "No thanks, I'll help you. Besides, when I wake up, the house might be burned down." She laughed. "Hey, hey! Watch it. I'm not 'that' bad." Trying to cover her mouth from laughing "Yup. Definitely." "Shhhhhhhh!!! People are still sleeping" said Harley with his index finger in front of his mouth. After 2 hours, Roza woke up. She walked towards the fridge and grabbed the pitcher of cold water. Harley surprised said "Oh! You're awake. " Roza said trying to open her eyes properly "You guys woke up early."

Harley replied with a chuckle "I don't even think we slept."
"I'm trying to cook and clean but someone doesn't trust me enough." He looked at Ember with an angry look. Ember laughed at him and said "Well, you can't blame me. You actually might burn the house down." Roza tried not to chuckle, "You guys are literally like dogs and cats. Anyway, if Harley's not gonna cook, I will." Harley scuffed, then proceeded laugh.

~After 2 hours~
Everyone has woken up, but someone's not there. "Wait. Why do I feel like someone's not here." --- Harley said to himself.

Roe's POV
"I should probably call them now, shouldn't I?" Adam replied "Well I mean, yeah, unless you want to stay here, with me." Roe's face became redder and redder by the second. "Why would I stay here, with you?!" Adam chuckled, "Roe, why do you look like a tomato right now?" Roe grabbed her fully charged phone and called Ember. It rang 2 times, then Ember answered. "Roe?! ROE! Are you okay? Where are you? Where did you go yesterday?" said Ember with worry in her voice. "I'm fine. My phone battery died so I had to go somewhere to charge it. We're in a hotel right now." "Roe? What do you mean, we? You have someone there with you? Are you sure they're not gonna kill you? Be careful Roe." Ember said hurriedly. "Ember, calm yourself. I just met a good friend at the restaurant. We've known each other since school, I trust him." "It's a him?! Are you sure Roe? He might've changed you know."

So, thats gonna be that part of the chapter. I will update it at least 1000 words every week. (But don't count on that)
I want to make it a really long chapter. So it's up to you if you want to read it part by part or read it until the whole chapter's finished. Thank you!