Hard To Believe

Chapter Fourteen

The sun had completely set as soon as Rosemary sprinted outside. The moon soon rose, peeking out behind the thick grey puffs of cloud. The rain grew harder and faster, the water harshly slapping Rosemary in the face, disguising her tears. The once gentle breeze now felt like freezing knives piercing every inch of skin on her body. By now, it was cold. The coldest night of the season.

Rosemary's sobs turned into sharp and shaky gasps for air. She could almost feel Russell's strong fist colliding with her cheek. She could almost see his and that girl, Kelly's icy smirks. She could feel their spine-chilling eyes burning into the back of her head as she ran out of the bedroom.

Things weren't supposed to turn out this way. Rosemary wasn't supposed to watch Russell snogging another girl. She wasn't supposed to feel him throw a punch right at her without a care in the world. She wasn't supposed to be out in the streets, running further and further away from Russell's home, alone at night.

She wasn't supposed to lose Russell the same way she lost Davy.

Then she realized something.

Russell didn't give a damn. He didn't care about Rosemary's feelings. He didn't think there was a problem in kissing another girl behind her back. He thought it was ok to let her slip away through his fingers. Thought it was fine to hit her ruthlessly and throwing her out minutes later. Russell just didn't care. He didn't love Rosemary anymore. She meant nothing to him.

But Davy was different. After Rosemary had caught him kissing that girl, he was in hysterics and tears. He had begged her to stay with him. He had told her that he truly did love her. He was willing to do anything to change just for her. He had tried everything within his power to get her to stay with him. He had felt guilty for what he had done. He did something that Russell didn't bother doing. He tried.

Still, Rosemary couldn't bring herself to forgive him, however. She was too defensive and sensitive. For her, it takes a lot more than an apology in order for her to forgive him. But she appreciated what he had that Russell didn't have. A heart. He had a heart. She at least believed that he was truly sorry for what he had done.

Rosemary slowed down once she found herself in an alleyway. She bent down, placed her hands over her knees, and gasped for breath. Through all of the thoughts about Russell and Davy, she didn't realize she was running for so long. Her whole figure shook tremendously. Her eyes were wide and pooling with fresh hot tears. The bag that contained some of her clothes hung loosely on her arm. She closed her eyes. She had never ran so much in her life.

"Well, well, well," a voice chuckled behind her. "Look what we have here, boys."

Rosemary froze. Slowly, she turned on her heel, where she spotted three men dressed messily in leather jackets and torn-up jeans. Their hair contained way too much gel. The one in the middle was smoking heavily on a cigarette. The other two had their arms folded, acting as bodyguards.

"We have company, boys," the one smoking smiled.

He approached Rosemary, and his two friends followed closely behind with smirks etched upon their faces. Rosemary backed away in fear.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" the smoking boy cooed. "Have a bad night?"

Rosemary didn't respond.

"Cat got your tongue? Hm?" the one on the right snickered.

"Don't worry, princess," the smoking one, whom Rosemary guessed to be the leader, said softly. "We'll show you a good time. How does that sound?"

Rosemary choked on her own breath. "I... no," she croaked, her voice scratched and torn from crying and running.

"Come on," the leader snaked his arms around Rosemary's waist. She stiffened. "We won't disappoint."