Rose

Chapter Nine: How To Love What You Don't Understand

And yet, Alec sat on the railing of Rose's front porch as Rose arrived home, staring at his phone. His eyes lit up as Rose kicked the stand out on his bike, walking up to him, confused. "Uh...Alec? What are you doing here?"

"Rose! Finally, I've been waiting for, like..." He checked his phone. "Oh, ten minutes. Huh. Felt like it longer than that." He shrugged and shoved his phone back in his pocket carelessly. "You look good."

Rose rolled his eyes, unlocking his front door to allow himself -and Alec, as unplanned as it was- inside. He opened the door with his foot, using his hands to rifle through a stack of mail. "And you look like shit."

Alec laughed. "Sorry. What, you expect me to come out clean from climbing a courthouse over and over again?"

Rose smiled, rolling his eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Yes you can."

"Whatever can I help you with?"

"Well, Dylan's out of town for the next few days, which means I have the house to myself. I wanted to know if you wanted to come over one night. I can make dinner, we could watch a movie -this way we won't miss it- or whatever you want."

Rose chuckled. "Yeah. I'd love to. Although, don't you think it's a bit quick to ask for another date in person, especially considered we've known each other for less than a week, and we went out last night?"

Alec went pale. "Well...yeah...but..." Alec cleared his throat. "I just thought that, you know, we had fun last night so..."

"Yeah. I'll come, I just thought it was weird. I mean, we just met."

"I swear I'm not some creepy stalker guy with a mural of your pictures on my wall. I'm just..."

Rose shook his head. "I never figured that. Really, the first thing that crosses my mind is that my father hired you to gain my trust so you can force me back home."

"No! No, no, not in the slightest! God, no, it's nothing like that, I promise, I'm just really sad and lonely."

Rose laughed. "It's fine, Alec. You seem honest. I can see it in your eyes." While Rose winked and strutted into the kitchen, Alec went red, fighting an emotional, metaphysical boner. "Do you want some water? I have an ice maker, so it can be cold too. That's pretty nice. I also have a loaf of bread- Oh, nevermind. Ooh! I forgot! I bought Oreo's last week!"

Rose excitedly removed a package of cookies from the otherwise empty cupboard. "God, I love these things! Whoever invented them must be some sort of...higher being! Do you want some?"

Alec smiled. "Sure." Rose ripped the package open, sitting criss-cross on the floor. He jubilantly patted the area in front of him, inviting Alec to join him. Alec did. "You know," he began, taking a cookie from the package, "you could get some furniture so you don't have to sit on the ground. Just a thought."

Rose shook his head, licking icing off of one side. "I told you. If I need to leave short notice, I can't have a whole bunch of stuff weighing me down."

"Well...you don't have to leave. You can stay."

"In theory, yes. But I'm not going back. And I'm not going to risk going back. Well, I suppose being with you -or anyone- is a risk itself, but you're lucky I'm very social."

"Just kick his ass. You've proven that you can. I'm, like, a foot taller than you and you had me against the wall in a second flat."

"Well, yeah. You're easy. You weren't prepared, you didn't even try to fight back, and, let's face it, I don't think you could take a duck in a fight."

"Oof. Harsh."

"Harsh, but true, Alec."

"Eh, whatever. I've taken on a few drunk rednecks before, and that went okay."

Rose scoffed. "But I'm not a drunk redneck, am I?"

"Well, no, but..."

"I also spent the first eighteen years of my life doing nothing but training to kick asses like yours, from him."

"All the more reason why it would be logical to kick his ass. You guys are pretty much equals!"

"No smart man -or even dumb man- would teach someone all that they knew. That would just be creating an enemy from scratch."

"Yeah, but he's prolly some ancient dude with arthritis. You, meanwhile, can probably just do some of that gymnastics shit over his head. You could totally kill that evil fuckhead if you wanted to."

"Language," Rose coolly noted. Alec just laughed. Rose, himself, smiled. Alec laughed confidently, masculinely, like he was so sure of himself and his laugh. He laughed like there was nothing wrong with it, he laughed like it was a thing that everybody did, that nobody didn't. He laughed like he knew what he was doing, like he knew how to laugh. Alec laughed like he had never been taught that laughter was wrong.

Suddenly nervous, Rose put the cookie back into the container, standing up. Alec's head followed him.

"Are you okay?"

Rose nodded, filling a plastic cup with water from the sink silently. He took a long sip, looking around his own kitchen. The cupboards were all brown with fake-bronze handles. The refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher and stove were all white, as were the washing machine and dryer in the hallway next to him. The kitchen was intentionally kept dull, as was the case with most rental houses. It was stark white, completely clean, never having been used by Rose, even though he had inhabited it for over a month. He had no reason to cook, nor did he even really know how. He didn't have the appetite for it, either, what with vomiting after a bowl of cereal. Alec, on the other hand, could eat a horse and save room for a pony. Rose turned to look at Alec again, who was leaning against the wall with his legs crossed, on his phone. His stomach churning, Rose took another long, long sip.

He winced as the daunting voice behind his forehead began to speak.

What, you're just now realizing the situation? He'll never understand you, Son. These people will never understand you. We are the only ones that can.

Come home.

Luke-warm water sprayed out of Rose's mouth as the cup collapsed to its side on the ground, clear liquid spilling out onto the floor. Rose gripped his throat with one hand, coughing violently into the other. Alec got to his feet and hurried towards him. "Rose? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Rose choked, reaching for the cup at his feet. He furiously cleared his throat, refilling it with the tap. He threw it back in one gulp, letting out a refreshed sigh after the fact. "I just...choked."

"I can see that. You good?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay."

"Okay."

The two were silent for approximately forty-five, awkward seconds.

"So...I'll text you about coming over?" Alec finally confirmed, walking backward towards the door. Rose nodded, reaching down for the pack of Oreos.

"Yeah. I'll talk to you then."

Rose waved him goodbye and shut the door again.

Afterwards, he closed the blinds, got out his candles, and cut his hand.