A Moment in the Cabin

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I am so sorry!! There was a glitch and this chapter did not post!!! Please read me! It will make the next chapter make sense

Three weeks later and we are on our way to Baia! Rose finally relented to Lissa using a small dose of Spirit to heal the remaining breaks. While Lissa's Spirit was diminished after the bond breaking it has finally come back to full power, and she was relentless about healing Rose further. Rose repeatedly told her not to and we could all see Rose's struggle with the ache in her chest. When I pulled her aside a few days ago and asked about it, Rose merely muttered 'darkness' and I figured out why.

A few days later, Rose finally shook her head and sat down on Lissa's couch after being pestered about it and let Lissa heal her. While Lissa was happy about it, Rose was not.

I look over at Rose in the passenger seat as her leg bounces and she gnaws on her thumbnail. I reach over and put my hand on her thigh, halting her movement and pulling her from her internal monologue.

"Why are you so tense?" I ask, squeezing the taut muscles in her leg. Rose stops chewing her nail and looks over at me, a frown pulling across her anxious features. I look back at the road for a moment and glance back at Rose. Thankfully, the road ahead of us is empty.

"What if they don't like me?"

I chuckle under my breath and move my hand up to cup the back of her head. Rose turns her head to look at me as I twirl my fingers into her hair. "Roza, they're going to love you," I soothe. Rose bites her lip and looks back out at the room, the setting sun casting shadows across her face beautifully. I bring my attention back to the highway and change lanes to take the exit, only twenty more minutes away from Baia. I pull my hand out of her hair and place it back on her lap, rubbing circles into her leg.

Rose grumbles under her breath and I hum at her to repeat herself. Rose huffs, "I said I don't believe you. I think you forgot that while our relationship may be somewhat accepted at Court, it's different here. Your family knows that I was your student, but they have never seen us together."

I shake my head and squeeze her leg again, knowing that at this very moment there isn't anything I can do to soothe her. While her anxiety heightens the closer we get to the house, I become more excited. I pull into the driveway just as the sky turns purple and park the car. I get out and make my way over to Rose's side of the car and open the door. Rose looks up at me nervously and gets out. She steps towards the trunk but I stop her, leaning her against the closed door.

I place my hand on her upper arms and rub up and down, leaning down and running the tip of my nose against hers. "Rose, you have no reason to be worried. Mama has already told me how excited they are to meet you, and I can guarantee that they will love you," I say softly. Rose looks up at me with her big eyes and sighs, resting her head against my chest. I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest, kissing the top of her head and squeezing her tightly.

"I love you," I whisper. She hums quietly before pulling out of my arms and heading to the trunk, pulling it open and pulling her bag out. I smile and do the same and put my hand on her back, guiding her up the stairs to the childhood home. I give her one more smile before knocking on the door and waiting. I can hear excited voices growing louder and feet thumping towards the door, and the door opens, revealing Viktoria.

Viktoria launches herself at me and I drop my bag to catch her, laughing as she talks a mile a minute in my ear. I hug her tightly before setting her down on her feet, and she lets go of me to latch herself onto Rose. I hug Karo and look over her shoulder as Vika bounces up and down while hugging Rose, her speech becoming more unclear the longer she hugs Rose. Rose flicks her eyes up at me, alarmed, probably because my sister is talking too fast for her to understand.