Rosaline Wood (A Violet Eden Follow-on Reboot)

Chapter Eighteen: Now Tell Me I Love Cameron D'Arcy

AN: Fellow beings of Wattpad, I'm so sorry. I had most of this chapter all ready to go when I last posted, just one more thing to do. Then I stared at the description I was meant to write and was like 'How can I explain that? I've never experienced it. Can I even do it justice?' I've finally given it a shot. I think you'll know when you read it what I'm talking about. Please, pretty please, give me hints on how to write about it!!! And forgive me...

. . .

There are many things I dislike and one of them was definitely breaking down in front of my mother. She was always so calm and collected. So in control of everything even when it was all chaos. Sure she had moments of panic but that's all they were. Moments. She always knew what's going on. Breaking down in front of her made me feel like I wasn't up to her standard. But I couldn't help crying when I saw Griffin lying motionless on the stark white hospital bed. All the steady foundation stones in my life seemed to instantaneously crack and crumble into dust. The reality that one of the most constant men I knew could be injured and was dying hadn't quite settled in until that moment. Sitting up on the roof garden I was able to finally process what had happened.

Here's what I came up with. Griffin was in hospital on the edge of death. The doctors believed that he wasn't attacked by an exiled angel but an animal. A wolf or bear, maybe, which wasn't that strange as he had been in the parklands when he was discovered. Dad wasn't taking it well so Mum wouldn't leave his side, I hadn't seen Nyla yet and Cam was unconscious too so I had no real female support. Dean was keeping his distance while still seeming to be stalking me like an overprotective tiger mother. Alec was probably around somewhere, hopefully not too near anyone who might sense his ... unique presence and try to turn him in. In a nutshell; it was bad. I sat gazing out over the expanse of sprawling neon lights, concrete and steel that was New York, pondering if I could fix this 'bad' that was taking over my life. I was always a big believer that soap operas didn't happen in reality but I'd been wrong about a few things before. My current state of life was proof that soap operas could be real. At least up here I could block out the music of the people; exiles and Grigori alike.

The moon was high when Dean graced me with his presence. He quietly slipped onto the bench next to me, amongst the roses. Silence followed until I got fed up with it. I needed to stop feeling like a thin sheet of sugar glass.

    "Hi," I whispered in greeting. Dean almost jumped out of his skin with fright.

    "Uh, hi," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck which had turned very red. "I ... I wasn't expecting you to ... umm ... say anything. That's ... uh ... why I kinda jumped." I nodded, fighting a smug smile.

    "I get it." Another bout of silence stretched between us. I listened to his steady breathing and the faint hum of nervous energy he was emitting. I had spoken first, now it was his turn.

    "I checked on Cam before," Dean informed me, clearing his throat, "They gave her a sedative and she's resting peacefully. For now." He trailed off and I waited for him to go on.

    "Does she have a ... umm ... boyfriend?" he inquired. 'I knew it!' my heart screamed 'Dean has the hots for Cam!' I waited a moment pretending to have to think about the answer.

    "No," I replied feigning nonchalance, "Not at the moment." Dean readily swallowed my bait.

    "So she's had boyfriends before?" he asked eagerly soaking up the story I was weaving.

    "Well . . ." I drawled, "I should warn you she's a bit of a fast mover." Dean nodded absorbing my every word.

    "She likes to keep things rolling in a relationship?" he guessed, "Kissing on a first date?" I shook my head, clucking my tongue at his naivety.