A Rose To The Flames

Chapter 12

I slowly wake and Rowan leans forward to kiss me on the forehead.

"Morning Cutie." He says.

"Morning." I reply. I look up and kiss him back.

I stand up and put a shirt on. Rowan follows my cue and does the same.

I walk into the bathroom and lock the door. I pick up the razor and look at it.

"Rose?" Rowan asks from outside the door.

Tears stream down my cheeks as I turn the water on.

Rowan knocks on the door. "Rose?"

I look at the razor and place it on my wrist, not cutting into my skin yet. The door bursts open and Rowan grabs the razor and pulls me to the bed.

I start to cry into his shoulder as he comforts me.

"What's on your mind?" He asks.

"My father." I spit.

"Well, I might have a certain surprise for you." He says.

I pull away, wiping my eyes.

"So yesterday, I talked to the nurse and she gave me a certain address." He says pulling out a piece of paper.

I shed a few tears of joy and hug him. "I love you, Rowan."

"I know you do." He playfully teases.

I playfully slap him. "When can we go visit them?" I asks.

"As soon as you want. I cancelled training for a few days to let you heal." He explains.

"Can we go now?" I ask eagerly.

"Yeah." He answers.

I grab his hand and we walk out of the castle. We take a path to the right and eventually, tall trees start to sprout out of the ground.

"They live in the Rainforest District?" I ask.

"Yep." He says.

We continue to walk hand in hand. I stare up at the trees. Eventually, we make it to the house.

I stop walking.

"What's wrong?" Rowan asks.

"What if they don't like me? What if they don't remember me? What if they're worse that my father?" I ramble nervously.

"Listen." He says holding my head so I look at him. "You're amazing. And I they don't see that, all that matters is that I do."

I lean forward and kiss him. We then turn to face the house and link hands. We walk to the door.

I look at Rowan nervously. He smiles at me, I nod back. He knocks three times on the door.

A minute later, a young boy appears at the door and opens it. He looks to be about 8.

"Who are you?" He asks, starting to close the door.

"What's your name?" I ask him.

"Damien. Who are you?" He asks again.

"Hi Damien, my name is Rose. Are our parents home?" I ask politely.

"Our parents?" He asks. I can see the wheels turning in his head. "Rose?"

A few more moments pass and then he rushes over to me and hugs my legs.

He pulls away and runs into the house. "Mom! Rose is home!" I hear him shout.

I look at Rowan and try to smile but he sees right through it. He rubs his thumb across my hand to calm me. "It'll be alright." I look him in his brown eyes, worry filling mine.

Damien comes back rushing out of the house. "Mom says to come inside." He says waving his hand excitedly.

I walk in the house with Rowan and Damien runs upstairs. Rowan and I follow him to a room where there's a bed. A woman sits up in the bed and looks at me.

"Rosie!" She says excitedly.

I drop Rowan's hand and run up to her to hug her. "Mom."

She pulls away and starts coughing.

"Mom?" I ask. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Rosie, it's just the flu." She says.

I look over to Rowan, uncertainty crossing my face. I look back to my mom. "Mom." I say.

"It's only a heart disease." She says.

"Mom!" I exclaim.

"We can take her to the infirmary at the castle." Rowan cuts in, he steps towards her.

"Who are you?" She asks.

"My names Rowan. I'm your daughter's boyfriend." He says. I turn towards him and raise and eyebrow at him. He smirks at me.

"I'm never going back to the castle, anyways." She says.

"But Mom, you can get better." I say. "Do it for me."

"Fine. If my husband agrees. He won't anyways." She says, fear sprinkling her voice.

I look at Rowan. He takes my hand and starts to rub it with his thumb.

"Where is he anyways?" I ask, turning my head to look for Damien.

A door downstairs slams. Damien comes to hide behind my legs.

"Right downstairs." She says.

"Can I go ask him?" I ask.

"It's a little dangerous." She replies. Before I have a chance to figure out what that means, the bedroom door is flung open.

I stand up and whirl around, making sure Damien and my mom are behind me.

"Who the root is in my house?" He demands. I can smell the alcohol on his breath from across the room. I furrow my brows at his expression. It must be a swear from the jungle region.

Rowan comes to stand next to me and I hear Damien whimper behind me.

"It's your daughter, Rose." I say gently.

He smiles creepily. He tromps over to Rowan and knocks him on his head. Rowan crumples, not expecting it. I motion for my mom and Damien to run.

Damien helps my mom to the other side of the room.

"Perfect. Now I can touch two women without getting in trouble." He says.

He takes a few steps towards me and grabs me. He throws me on the bed and pins me down.

I struggle as much as I can. He starts to take off my shirt. I manage to get a knee free and knee him.

He punches me. "You little acorn." He shouts.

He grabs me and squeezes. He then takes off his pants and start to take it out.

"Get off my girlfriend." I hear Rowan shout at my dad. Rowan tackles my dad and knocks him out. He comes over to me and takes his shirt off and puts it on me as my dad ripped mine.

He looks at me as we catch our breath.

"Are you okay?" He asks me.

"No." I say as my voice cracks.

Rowan comes over and hugs me.

🥀 A/N 🥀
Wow, wish Rose had some better family members. If you enjoyed this chapter remember to comment and vote. Stay beautiful!