The Rose Boys

Chapter Twelve

Darren pulled away from me and I felt as though our kiss was not long enough. Still, I stopped myself from making a noise of protest. He turned back to the railing and stuffed one of his hands in his pocket, his eyes out at the sea. "You know I like you." He said quietly.

I stared at him, too awkward to even nod.

"You know that I want you more than anything else." His eyes flicked to me. I stiffened under his gaze. "But I don't know why. Why do I like you? I've been unable to get you out of my head since the day we met."

I continued to stare in silence.

"But it hurt when you ran after Kevin like a lost little lamb. I wanted you to be crazy over me." He sounded hurt to me. I wanted to comfort him but I had no idea how I would do so.

"I-I'm sorry." I apologized for what felt like the millionth time that night. This time I seriously meant it.

Darren sighed and shook his head. He turned to face me. "I hope that's true." He said, standing awfully close to me.

I stared up at him, still feeling short as he towered over me in the dim lights from inside. Darren pulled something out of his pocket, holding it tightly in his fist. 

"The real reason I asked you to come out here is-" He was interrupted.

"There you are." Nick said, appearing suddenly from the room where the dance was taking place. "We have a problem." 

"What?" Darren hissed, obviously annoyed by the intrusion.

"It's kind of important, I need you to come with me right now."

Darren turned from Nick, hanging out the door as the music spilled out into the quiet night, and turned to me. "Wait here." He said, jamming his hand back into his pocket and following after Nick quickly.

The door shut behind them and suddenly it was quiet. I leaned against the railing like Darren had done only minutes before he'd kissed me. I got all hot at the idea of his lips on mine; kissing was still a foreign concept to me. 

I lifted my head and enjoyed the cool, misty air on my skin. I hadn't imagined that I would be on a giant boat that kind of looked like the Titanic only a month before. I also hadn't thought that I would have been kissed by boys and hang around the school gang of popular, handsome and rich boys. 

"January." A voice suddenly broke that private moment that I was having with the round moon and twinkling stars in the creamy black sky.

I turned to the source of the noise and saw Kevin, dimly lit, his blond hair looked a little less shiny. He almost looked like a regular person in these circumstances and not like a perfectly skinned rich boy who's never had to lift a finger for himself before.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, gripping the railing behind me tightly.

"I wanted to apologize," he said. He stepped forwards, getting awfully close to me. 

"Stop." I said angrily, edging away from him. "I don't really want to talk to you right now." I'll admit that I felt vulnerable. It was almost just like when he'd stolen that kiss from me. It was dark, he was alone and he'd surprised me.

"So, you don't forgive me? Did you get my note?"

I glared at Kevin harshly. "Are you kidding me?" I smirked. "I threw it out."

Kevin looked a little taken aback. "What?"

"Yep, when normal people want to apologize for their inexcusable behaviour, they man up and apologize in person. I wasn't surprised that someone who's never done anything for himself would write a letter and ask me for my forgiveness without facing me personally." 

Kevin's brows furrowed. "I thought you wouldn't want to see me after that!" 

"You're damn right I didn't!" I shouted. "Why the hell would I after what you did?"

"It wasn't that bad." Kevin scowled. "You're just over-reacting."

I stared at Kevin dumbfounded. 'How could I have ever liked a jerk like this?' I wondered angrily. But I guess when you just decide that you like a guy without knowing him, this happens. I just couldn't believe how much of a douche Kevin was. 

I shook my head. "I'm done with this." I let go of the railing behind me and walked past Kevin, my heels clicking on the hard deck. 

"No!" Kevin yelled, grabbing me by my waist and yanking me back. I felt myself falling backwards until my head hit the ground hard. I heard a sickening crack and saw stars as my eyes seemed to black over. 

I blinked rapidly as I stared up into space. My head instantly ached and worse, Kevin's hands were on my shoulders roughly. "Don't ignore me!" He shouted, shaking my shoulders roughly. "It's your fault the guys won't talk to me!"

The lights from outside slowly began to become visible. I also saw Kevin's angry face above mine, his eyes glaring into mine as he continued to yell and shake me. 

"Stop..." I grumbled weakly. "S-"

"How could you?" He cried. "How fucking could you January? And now you won't even forgive me? Fuck you!"

To say I was a little shocked at the dramatic change in Kevin was an understatement. This pretty little rich boy had quickly turned into a monster of a wreck and I was pretty much to blame for it.

"Don't!" I yelled into his face. "Get off of me!" 

"Fuck you!" He continued to shout, though he'd abandoned shaking me. 

"D-" I couldn't believe I was going to say it. "Darren!" I shouted even though I knew he couldn't hear me.

Kevin stopped. "What?"

I looked up at him even though my brain felt like it was being ground between to sandstones. 

"You like... Darren?" He asked slowly, trying to absorb that last bit of information. 

I used that moment to scramble to my feet and burst into the large room with everyone dancing. The people nearest me turned and looked at me with strange looks on their faces. I suppose I must have looked terrible, considering I'd whacked my head pretty hard on the deck.

I was terribly off-balance as I tried to slip through people. I basically walked into and pushed past the dancers on the floor. I looked behind me as Kevin entered the Dance Floor and picked up the pace, heading back to the only room I remembered how to get to.

I entered that large hall and took off down that adjoining hallway towards the room where Darren's sister had taken me to fix my hair and put make up on me. I ran like my life depended on it, not bothering to look over my shoulder for Kevin. 

I slipped into the makeup room and before I had a chance to shut the door, the door to the hall slammed shut behind Kevin. I dropped to my knees and crawled in the dark towards the wall. I curled up under one of the counters and hoped that Kevin wouldn't find me.

I heard his footsteps as he quickly ran down the hall. My heart was pounding so hard I felt like I was going to pass out. My hands shook as I held them tightly, pinning my knees against my chest. 

"January!?" It wasn't Kevin, it was Darren.

I burst into tears of relief, crying hysterically. "Darren!" I called in between the waves of sobbing. 

The lights flicked on and Darren was suddenly on his knees with his arms around me, pulling me out from under the counter and lifting me in his arms. I saw his sister Amber behind him, standing triumphantly. 

"And that's exactly why I only buy waterproof mascara." 

Then I buried my face into Darren's shoulder as he carried me out of the room. I knew that I was safe at least with Darren by my side.