Thorns On My Rose: A Story of the Daughter of Robert Downey Jr. (EDITING)

Chapter 13 - Part 1 - All In The Same Boat

Alex's Perspective

She was cute when she slept, I thought. She seemed a lot more at peace while she was unconscious than when she was awake, swearing and cursing just about everything. I didn't really get why that was. I honestly didn't even know her that well, which made me feel even more like a dumbass for asking her out in the first place. But that was just one of the things on my long list of reasons why I should not be dating this girl.

Reason Number One. She was a good eight, almost seven, years younger than me. Meaning, when I was eight, she was about to turn one year old. I mean, it's not that big of a deal but, if you think about it long enough, it becomes a big deal. I could be her brother, goddamn it. I mean, I tried not to even think about stuff like that but... God.

Reason Number Two. She's highly unstable. She's ADD, obviously, and she has some sort of an anger management issue going on where she curses in every fucking sentence. It's attractive, to a degree, but just not normal. How am I, of all people, supposed to handle that? I'd like to think that I'm an easy-going guy, pretty laid back. We are opposites in every way. But, I guess that's why I'm attracted to her in the first place.

Reason Number Three. Her dad, is THE Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers, he has like three major franchises going for him right now. He's double my age and the fact that I'm seven years older than his daughter and a cab driver doesn't exactly put me in the Stereotypical Boyfriend button. At. All.

Reason Number Four. She lived in Malibu, I lived in San Diego. This was probably the biggest issue. Long distance relationships suck ass, I can personally tell anyone from experience. Don't do it.

And, though some of those reasons where pretty legit, I still couldn't find it in myself to change my feelings for Alana.

Yes, she was some sort of bipolar. SO WHAT? She was kinda rude at times and frowned more than she smiled. Who gives a rat's ass? She's perfect, she's perfect to me. And, yeah, maybe we would have some rough patches, some hurdles. But I think that's what makes couples stronger, right? The fact that they can pull together and see that they are better together than they are apart.

And that's just what we'd do. I smiled down at her, adjusting the blanket around my shoulders. I heard the door open and jumped. I titled my head to get a good view.

Robert.

He was quietly closing the door when he turned and saw me. His face was one of indifference but the raised eyebrow is what gave away his curiosity. He smirked, pulling up a chair to the opposite side of the bed.

"You are not supposed to be here." He grunted, sitting down into the chair, his baseball cap's bill hovering over his eyes, shading them.

I smiled. "Neither are you, sir."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, you are definitely not supposed to be here, non-family member." He said, sipping on the Gatorade bottle in his hand.

"Yeah." I agreed. He watched me, screwing the bottle top back on his drink.

I looked towards Rose whose eyes were still closed. Her head and body were titled towards me, her dark brown hair up in a ponytail.

" When did you get here?" Robert asked, quietly.

"About an hour and a half ago." I said evenly. Robert frowned.

"She was awake." He said. It wasn't question, but I nodded anyway. He blinked, looking down at his hands. "Did you... did you talk to her?"

I sighed. "Yes. I did. She was really tired, though, so it was only it was only for a few minutes." I told him . When he didn't respond I cleared my throat.

"Hey. She's... She's gonna be alright. She's a lot stronger than you think she is. And, um, she didn't remember me either." I confessed. He looked up at me, his mouth slightly opened.

His eyes widened before we frowned. "I never said--" I smiled.

"You implied. It's okay. We're all in the same boat, sir." I said softly. I adjusted my glasses. Robert frowned. We sat there in silence for a minute.

I repositioned my broken leg. Robert sighed loudly and I looked up, watching his gaze shift from Rose to me. He leaned forward in his seat, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Listen. I don't know you. I know your name is Alex. I know that you're a cab driver. I know that you were in this crash with my daughter and I know that this is.. all this shit... this isn't your fault. But... I also know that you're older than Lana. I'm not an idiot. I see the way you look at her and no man would risk being put in jail for lying to hospital officials because of a rider that he had in his car. I'm not stupid... but I am tired. I think, right now, what I'm going to say is going to be either seriously regretted or completely forgotten."

I nodded. Oh, shit. I hoped I looked braver than I felt.

Robert pointed to me. "Don't hurt my girl. Don't do it. If you're gonna be... Well, however old you are and date a teenage girl, you've got some serious balls and I respect your balsiness. There shouldn't be a label on love, and if that's really how you feel about, then, whatever. Have fucking at it. You do feel that way, don't ya?" He asked, scrutinizing me.

I nodded slowly, too stunned to speak. Robert swallowed.

"Well, then. I just want to reiterate that if you hurt my girl... Well, should be pretty obvious what will happen. You'll wish you were never born, yada yada. I'm fucking tired of threatening people. I've done enough of that today already." He said, looking at Alana.

I smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Downey." He rolled his eyes.

"Kid, I'm fricking forty-eight years old. Please, don't make me feel oldee with the Mr. Downey shit. I can take Robert or Downey. One of those is just fine. We're both grown-ass men. No need to be polite." I laughed.

God. Now I know where Alana-Rose gets her trucker mouth.

He smiled, a smirk still tugging at his lips.

We talked for about an hour. I mostly helped Robert get to know me, since this was a little more than awkward and very personal. We actually weren't too different, save for the millions of dollars he had and the zeros of dollars I had.

It was midnight when there was a knock on the door. Robert was smiling from a joke I'd made and I watched him as he got up to answer it. I shifted in my seat a little so I could see who it was.

Roberts face went blank for a moment before he looked confused... upset. He opened the door wider and I didn't recognize who it was. But Robert did.

"Indio?"