ROSE

I shut the locker, turned around, and then rested my back against it. Lacy watched me intently as I heaved out a tired sigh. During the past few days, I had tried to keep myself as busy as possible. I had completely lost track of how many days Sean had ignored me. He always came over, either to see the boys or check on me, but he never bothered to actually speak to me. It was like instead of reverting to his old jerk self he decided to shun me altogether.

At first, it didn't bother me. I mean, why would the King of Jerks ignoring me bother me? He had been doing it our whole lives so it was like returning to normalcy. And yet, there was a part of me that craved to hear his voice or that chuckle whenever he thought my quips were funny. What pissed me off most was that Amira and Sean were suddenly way too cozy. Dean, as usual, warned me not to get involved but after everything Sean did to avoid Amira I couldn't understand why he would take her back.

"You should go home. It was a busy day, you must be tired," Lacy said in her motherly tone. Sometimes she treated me as if I were still nine. I didn't mind it, sometimes I actually liked being fussed over. It showed that no matter how old I got, they would still always care.

"I can't. I need to head over to your parents' place. Dean said I could use the music room to hold lessons," I sent her an appreciative smile.

After Sean and I had that discussion, Dean began calling me every day. Funny how all it took was feeling threatened by his brother for him to finally step up to the plate. Either way, I wasn't about to call him out on what he did. It wasn't as if I ever brought up my feelings for him. At least something pushed him to open his mouth.

It was Dean that suggested I do piano lessons for the summer. He wanted me to be productive so I wouldn't find myself feeling bored. So, during the days I helped Lacy at the coffee shop, and afternoons were spent at her parents' house giving kids piano lessons. It wasn't all that bad. Some of the kids were cool. I even had a kid that I was almost certain was a prodigy. She was brilliant in all sense of the word and every emotion she felt flowed out of her when she played so naturally.

"You know, I could come with you and get someone else to close the shop up tonight," Lacy offered but I knew better than to take her up on the offer. She still had a rocky relationship with her folks and I didn't want to put her in that sort of situation.

"I'll be fine. You know they don't mind me and the music room is soundproof so I won't be disturbing anybody. I'll be in and out and no one will even notice me," I grinned, pulling over a thin white lace jacket over the blue-tiered blouse I wore. The top was paired with black leggings and a blue sandals that had a pencil heel.

Thought I'd put more of an effort into the way I dressed this morning.

"At least let me drive you there," Lacy pressed further. I admired her resilience. She wasn't giving up until I caved in and, unfortunately for her, I wasn't going to cave in because Lacy and Dylan tried to shelter me too much.

At least, those were Sean's words.

He wasn't wrong when he said everyone around me tried to shelter me from the world. I needed to stop using everyone as a crutch and finally use my own two feet to stand, walk, and eventually run. Dean would always be with me whether I liked it or not but I needed to stop relying on him. This time away from him would teach me how to be on my own. Even if I felt as lonely as I did during my first year at Juilliard — when he was still in Senior year.

"I'll get an Uber," I said pointedly, leaving no room for discussion. Walking up to her, I bent down and kissed her cheek, she was honestly way too short, "and I'll phone you as soon as I reach and the moment I leave if that makes you feel any better."

"I guess," she shrugged, pouting her lips, "but make sure you call either Dylan or me if you can't make it in time for dinner, or else we'll both be stressing about you tonight."

I wanted to tell her that she worried for no reason but that would be false. They worried with good reason. If I could go back I'd stop myself from doing the stupid shit I did but I knew that wouldn't make a difference. I was bound to do something stupid again sooner or later. The antipsychotic medication I took helped prevent my manic episodes but sometimes — most times — I felt stifled. As if someone put me in a cage with nothing but the four walls around me. I felt claustrophobic in my own mind and sometimes all I wanted to do was set myself free.

"I'll call if I can't make it but I probably will. If Dylan's available then he can pick me up instead of me taking an Uber home," I knew suggesting that would instantly make her feel better.

Her lips split into a gleaming smile and I reciprocated, "Yeah, I'll make sure he's free. You should probably go before it gets late then. I love you," standing on the tips of her toes, she pressed a kiss to my cheek.

Honestly, I cursed my height, and wearing heels made me look even taller. I was so tall that when I walked out from the change room into the busy coffee shop I could see the shiny bald patch at the back of some poor man's head. He probably used baby oil to make the spot extra shiny so it could blind the person behind him.

Lacy waited with me until my ride arrived. It was a half an hour drive to the Black's home because of the traffic. They didn't live too far from the coffee shop though, owning a big house that showcased their wealth. I didn't understand why they needed a big home now when it was just Lacy's parents staying there. My style was more homely and quaint I guess.

When I arrived at the house the little girl I was meant to be teaching was already there waiting for me. One of the many housekeepers had set her up in the music room and she was already playing the tune of twinkle twinkle little star when I walked in. I silently walked up to her and took a seat beside her on the long bench. The little girl smiled up at me, dimple poking through her skin. For a moment she reminded me of myself.

She gradually ended the song on a soft note and asked, "How was that? I've been practicing at home." The little girl shook her head gleefully with a toothy grin. Her two brunette pigtails shook as she moved, making her look all the more adorable.

"That was great, Claire." Giving her a thumbs up, I said, "today I thought I'd teach you something different."

"Oh, really?" The girl's blue eyes shimmered with excitement and interest. At the age of six, she was far better than most of the kids her age so I was excited to introduce her to something else.

"Yeah, I thought I'd teach you how to play an easy piece by Beethoven called Für Elise."

"That sounds difficult," she gasped and her eyes widened.

I chuckled at her response. That was the expression I gave Dean when he first told me he would teach me something composed by Beethoven, "You have to put in a little more work than before but I bet you can do it. I'll teach it to you in different parts and once you've got everything down, we will join it."

"You think I'll be able to learn it all by the end of summer?" She quizzed, the smile on her face never falling. I could tell that she was eager to learn.

"Definitely," I murmured, getting ready to play the first bit I would be teaching her. Because she was a quick learner, it didn't take her a lot of time to nail it down. The hour went by faster than I expected. Teaching her didn't feel like work. It made me happy and when you did something that made you happy it never felt like work.

Claire's mother came to pick her up after the hour passed. I had no other students for the day. The most I taught was four a day but if I worked at the coffee shop then I limited it to one or two. However, I remained in the music room and continued playing the piano. There were two reasons that I chose to teach Claire this particular piece. The first being because it was an easy piece to learn even if it sounded complicated. The second reason was that it reminded me of dancing outside on a rainy day with someone you loved. I wasn't sure why the melody reminded me of such a thing but it did.

My fingers moved on autopilot over the white and black keys of the piano. I had played the song so many times over the last couple of years that I could play it with my eyes closed. It didn't matter the song, I could play anything with my eyes closed because I knew where every key was. I could see it in my mind. If I had to describe it I would say it was similar to an avid texter. They could type without even looking at the keyboard and they could type really fast without making a single mistake. I was exactly the same.

When I was done playing everything settled into a comfortable silence but that silence barely lasted. A throat being cleared at the entrance caught my attention. I jumped back in surprise, hand flying to my chest so my heart wouldn't leap right out and land on the piano keys.

"Damn it, Sean!" I breathed, trying to stabilize my erratic heartbeat, "Why do you have to sneak up on me like that?"

He shrugged a shoulder, lazy form leaning against the door with crossed arms. Those tattooed, muscled biceps of his looked as if it would tear through the seams of his shirt, "I forget how good you are sometimes," he said, gesturing toward the piano with a nod of his head.

His voice did nothing to slow down the rhythm of my heartbeat, in fact, it had my heart doing crazy things in my chest. I hoped he knew CPR because if things kept going down this road I would probably be needing it. I kept my face smooth though, trying to show him that he didn't affect me, "I find that difficult to believe. You do realize I went to Juilliard? They don't let just anybody in there the last time I checked."

"Yeah, you're right but I haven't heard you play in like four years. You've gotten better," he pushed off the door and casually strode over to me.

With every step he took the tiny hairs on my body stood on end, my palms turned clammy, and my brain decided it would take a vacation because suddenly, I didn't know what to say or do. Before I knew it, he was standing beside me, fingers gliding over the keys of the piano.

Wow, his fingernails looked so nice and so did his fingers! Long, thick...

Wait, why was I thinking of his fingers?

"What are you doing here, Rose?" He dared to speak my name with that stupid panty-dropping charm he always used. Yes, that was exactly how I would describe the tone of his voice whenever he rolled out my name on his tongue.

I scowled at that. How could he shun me for so long and then think he had the right to ask me questions? This was a loud of bullshit. I didn't need to answer to him, "The last time I checked, what I do has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't butt that big ass nose of yours in other people's business."

He chuckled, looking down at me and cocking a brow, "You can't hate on this face, princess, because you know you love it."

I stilled for what felt like a very long time, glaring at him. Love? I didn't love his face. Where in God's green Earth did he pull that idea from? His head was probably stuck so far up his ass again that it was turning him stupid. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to deny it. From his square jaw, to his dark brown orbs that looked almost black, everything about his face was attractive. He was made to be a woman's kryptonite.

He definitely noticed that he stunned me into silence because he then elaborated, "You can't hate this face if you're dating my identical twin brother. We literally share the same face."

His words made sense. They did share the same face. I should have known better than to think that he was talking about himself there. He was always that jerk though, so I always expected him to live up to his role.

"I should get going," I murmured more to myself, making a move to get up and grab my things.

Sean, being the person I knew him to be, placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me from going anywhere. Warmth filled me the moment he did so and all I did was openly gawk at his hand, amazed at how my skin tingled under his touch, "No, you don't have to. I'm leaving anyway."

"No, I actually do have to leave if I want to make it on time for dinner tonight," I kept my voice steady although inside I was panicking. My body always reacted to him without permission and I hated it.

God should have made us with an off switch when it came to shit like this!

"You can eat dinner here and message my sister that you'll be home later. I'm sure they won't mind," he suggested, finally releasing my shoulder and filling his pockets with his fists.

"I can't do that. I promised Lacy I would make it on time. You get to stay since I'm leaving so it's a win for you at least," I pressed my lips together and offered him a tight smile. It was forced. Leaving the piano felt like leaving the place I called home. It was my comfort zone but I had to leave it behind.

"You're one stubborn woman," he scoffed, rolling his eyes at my defiance.

"I'm sorry you see me keeping to the plans I made as being a stubborn, jerk!"

"Fuck the plans you made. You'd prefer to be here, playing this piano than eating there anyway," he bent down, bringing his face way too close to mine as he challenged, "prove me wrong."

I couldn't prove him wrong because he was right on all accounts and it was weird that he knew that about me, "I don't want to overstay my visit." I said curtly, deciding to finally stand to my feet.

He let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand through his hair which allowed a few curly strands to fall onto his forehead, "Rose, for fucks sake, shut up and sit the fuck down. It's difficult to overstay your visit or to intrude when the owners of the God damn house aren't even here."

"How do you know they aren't here?" I quipped, placing a hand on my hip and glaring at him as if the answer were written on his forehead.

"Do you fucking think I'd be here if they were?" He deadpanned, looking around the room at the multiple instruments. His eyes landed in an acoustic guitar, one that had a beautiful design of a rose drawn on it, "that's what I came for," he gestured toward the guitar with furrowed brows, "I haven't played in a while but after messing with the guitar in your room I thought I'd see if I still remember how it worked."

"You play guitar?" I quizzed, sounding a little impressed.  That day I hadn't thought much into him using the guitar. There were other more important things to deal with like him seeing my rainbow granny panties and Amira showing up at my doorstep.

"I play piano, too."

"Well, aren't you quite the musician," came my sardonic response.

He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, pulling the corner between his teeth, "Yeah, guess I am."

"You don't have to go," I found myself saying before I could stop myself. If Dean heard about this he would probably be mad but I would find a way to pacify him, "you could stay and enjoy having the house to ourselves. We could see how good your guitar skills are and if you can match me on the piano."

"So you're staying then?" He asked in a hopeful tone. The corner of his lips twitched upward in the slightest before falling flat again.

"Yeah, I'll stay but you've got to stay too. I'm not a fan of big, empty houses in the night," I muttered, looking toward the window where yellow and orange hues of light flooded the room from the setting sun.

"Fine by me," he grinned wickedly, "I've literally got nothing better to do anyway."

"Sure about that because I'm sure Amira would disagree," I taunted, taking a seat behind the piano once more.

Sean groaned, running a hand down his face, "Amira and I are working things out. I swear, I'm never fucking her again but I guess we could be friends. We're working on it." Then a devilishly handsome smirk that screamed trouble crept onto his face, "Do I sense some jealousy?"

"What?" I shrieked in horror, "why would I be jealous of her?"

"I don't know, you tell me." He answered.

"You're incorrigible, Mr. Black."

"It's one of the finest fucking qualities I have, princess," he shot me a wink.

"It really isn't, jerk," I grumbled, looking at the sheet music displayed on the piano. Claire had taken a copy so she could practice at home for her next lesson. Pretty soon, she wouldn't need the sheet music to play.

"Why that song?" he quizzed, taking the sheet music and skimming through it. Since he could play both the piano and the guitar I figured he knew how to read it.

"No specific reason," I dropped my gaze to his shoes so he couldn't pick up on my lie. He wore black and white checkered vans today with black shorts and a white t-shirt. He looked like a chessboard.

A handsome chessboard.

"You must love shit since you talk a whole fucking lot of it," he snorted, placing the sheet music back onto the piano and then pulling out his phone, "I'll give you a chance to think over your answer. In the meantime, is pizza good?"

I pouted lips, picking my head up to meet his gaze once more, "Sure, extra pepperoni and pineapple."

He crinkled his nose and narrowed his eyes in the cutest way possible, "I always knew you were weird. The fact that you eat pineapple on pizza just solidifies the fact."

"Let's be honest, between the two of us I have better taste than you so let's not go down that road," I warned, pointing a finger in his face.

He caught my finger with his, hooking them together and grinning mischievously, "Just because this finger of yours is all better that doesn't mean you have to point it at me. You won't like the repercussions of a repeated offense."

He left me with those words as he ordered the pizza. I pulled my phone from the little backpack I carried, sending both Dylan and Lacy a text telling them not to wait up for me and that I was safe and with Sean. Sean was still on the call when I was done. I watched him pace across the glistening hardwood floors, one hand in his pocket and the other holding his phone to his ear.

Why did that make him look hotter? Curse him for always looking so Instagram-worthy!

When he ended the called he turned to me with a sinfully gorgeous smirk, "Better catch yourself, princess, before you begin drooling."

And all he had to do was open his mouth to ruin the perfect image in my head!

"God, you're a pretentious, egotistical, narcissistic asshole," I grumbled, running a hand through my long hair. The dirty blonde locks created a curtain around me, one that gave me a false sense of security as I mumbled, "the song reminds me of being outside in the rain. It's theatrical yet calming, fast-paced, and yet it slows everything around me down just enough to enjoy it."

"Being outside in rain, huh," he mused, looking out the window at the sun that had fully descended. A soft hue of pink and orange blended it to the now navy blue horizon, "I guess we still have time," I wasn't certain if he wanted me to hear those words or not but before I could protest, his fingers gingerly gripped my wrist with the lightest touch possible and he pulled me to my feet, "come on."

I followed behind him, practically running to keep up as he dragged me out of the room and through the halls of the house until we reached the main staircase. He seemed excited, jittery, and if I were reading him correctly, maybe even a little flustered and scared. There was a coloring of pink building up on his face. If he didn't calm down he would be looking like a tomato soon.

We entered the grand kitchen, ignoring everyone that was inside. I shot the cook and the other helpers an apologetic smile for Sean's rudeness but they were used to it. We all were because the boy didn't know how to be nice. He connected his phone to the sound doc and seconds later the beginning of Für Elise began playing.

Turning and winking at me playfully, he moved his hand to the small of my back and ushered me out the door leading to the massive garden, "And three, two, ..." On one the entire garden lit up with fairy lights. Every path leading deeper into the garden had lamp posts along its edges. The water in the water fountain glowed a bright blue thanks to the neon lights installed inside it. The entire place looked like a magical wonderland.

"This is beautiful," I breathed in awe.

"I know, my aunt has been adding to the garden a lot lately since she has no space in hers," he chuckled. Macy's mother did love gardening, "she's probably going to turn this place into a rain forest one day."

"Difficult to do that when we're lacking the rain," I pointed out, spinning a full 360° so I could prove my point but halfway through the spin the sprinklers turned on, drenching me in freezing water.

"There's your rain," his boisterous laughter filled the air as he strode up to me, drenching himself in the process. His jet black hair instantly fell flat, locks matting to his forehead, and beads of water steadily rolling down the canvas of his toned body. He bowed in front of me, extending a hand forward, "May I have this dance?"

I giggled. Freaking giggled like some weird-ass teenager, "You dance?"

"I'm not as good as my brother but yeah, I dance," he stood to his full height and quirked a challenging brow at me, "relax Rose, I don't bite..." He drawled, eyes moving down my figure the way he always did, "not if you're fully clothed anyway."

"Gross," I feigned a gag but put my hand in his and said, "let's see what you got."

I had to admit, he never stepped on my toes once, leading me around the garden in a smooth waltz. He dipped me with a bright smile pulling at his lips and turned me with skill. This must have been the first time I had seen Sean in such a playful mood, laughing with no restraint and dancing with me — someone he once couldn't stand the sight of. It felt good, this felt good. I felt beyond happy.

The song gradually ended and just as it did, I decided I'd trip on my feet because dancing with heels on grass and mud was bound to end up with me falling. Sean tried to catch me but this was no movie for him to catch me mid-air so that I could stare into his eyes. No, this was reality and instead of saving me, I took him down to the ground with me. I landed first onto the wet grass with a thud and Sean's massive body landed on top of mine, knocking the air right out of my lungs.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath, getting off me as fast as he could, "did I squash you to death?"

"If only you were that lucky," I heaved, drawing in a deep breath to cool my burning lungs, "but no, you haven't made a pancake out of me just yet."

He chuckled as some Spanish song I didn't recognize began playing, "I know it's not rain but it's a close second." He murmured, propping himself up on one elbow and leaning over me. 

A single droplet of water dripped down from his hair, landing at the corner of my lips. I couldn't help but smile at his pure intentions. This was so unlike him. It was so NICE, "It's perfect," I grinned cheerily.

He shifted, lying on his back and placing his hands under his head as he stared at the now starlit sky, "Sure fucking is, princess," he whispered, "sure fucking is."

I have an updating schedule up on my IG account! Link in bio. This chapter is long as fuck... The song mentioned in the chapter is above on the media so check that out! Hope you enjoyed this chapter lovelies🥺🥰