A Rose by Any Other Name

Chapter 35

Writer's Note- I loooooove Paramore. I'm a Haley Williams stan bc why the heck not. Idk why one of their songs hasn't appeared until now.
This song is very Derrick atm. He probably listens to this while painting or looking out the window and being dramatic.

I've been uploading a lot of chapters as of late mainly because why not (I'm on winter break rn). But this is me going back on schedule as of this chapter.  Thank you again for the support and reads!!

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One week later.

I opened the door a crack, seeing Darren standing on the other side. The only people I'd seen the past few days had been delivery men. Even then I only opened the door a sliver, slipped the cash through and told them to leave the box on the ground, waiting for them to leave before I dragged the box inside. I hadn't actually left my apartment in days.

I'd been half heartedly cleaning and rediscovered the Detective Hodgins painting I'd done for Roe. I called Darren to schedule a time for him to pick it up. So here he was, standing on my door step. I slipped the canvas through the opening of the door, looking down. "Here."

"C'mon, Derrick. Let me in. You agreed to a cup of coffee, right?" His voice was needling and insistent, his words loud against the quiet I had been used to the pas week.

I nibbled on my lower lip, bringing the painting back inside. I closed the door, considering locking it and then removed the security chain and opened the door.

Darren looked better than the last time I'd seen him, beard trimmed neatly, his hair in a spiky and fashionable cut. And he didn't have that haunted look in his eyes anymore, it seemed to have transferred over to me. My heart fell when I realized Roe was there. Hell, I didn't want her to see me like this. Before I could change my mind the both of them walked into my apartment.

I looked around trying to see what they saw. The apartment was clean at least. Mostly. Everything exactly where it was supposed to be. Kind of. I hurried into the living room removing the pillows and Mike's sweater and a blanket I left on the futon. Shit, I should have swept. I cradled everything to my chest, muttering for them to give me a second. I stuffed everything into a closet in the hallway.

I went to my room, not wanting to go in there but feeling like my clothes were getting a little musty. I slipped on a different t-shirt and sweatpants, going to the bathroom and examining my face. Yeah I looked like shit; hollow eyes, patchy beard from the past week, and my eyes were red. I lifted my arm and sniffed an armpit, okay good. At least I didn't smell.

When I re-entered the living room, I saw that Darren had opened a window. It must have been a little ripe in here. God, they probably thought I was gross. A feeling of shame clung to my skin and the disconcerting crawling sensation was the most I'd felt in days. I hated the idea of what Mike leaving was doing to me.

He hadn't called or texted and I don't understand why I thought he would. I'd called in sick to work and Chrissa had been leaving voicemails I couldn't bother replying to. But Darren and Roe seeing me in the flesh made me realize how ashamed I was of how I was living.

Roe was examining the picture I'd drawn of Detective Hodgins and his trusty dog, Wolfram. When she saw me, she gave me a big smile, whispering loudly. "I love it! Is it really for me?"