Rosemary's eyes fluttered open groggily the next morning. The light that poured into the bedroom she shared with Russell blinded her and planted on her cold arms. She let out a long yawn and closed her eyes that were itching with tiredness. She was never a morning person. Usually, every morning, she would be grumpy and cross. She remembered she used to tell her friends, "You like me now, but you'll hate me the next morning." She only said this as a little joke. But once morning subsided and noon took its place, she would feel terrible for being so cold towards her friends.

She reopened her eyes hesitantly. She wasn't feeling so grumpy this time. The feeling of Russell's safe, comforting arms tangled around her slim waist made her smile. She loved feeling his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. Loved to feel his steady heart beating against her back. The thought of her finally living with him made her feel like flying. Maybe she did love Russell after all. The mere thought relieved her.

Rosemary turned on her right side, gasping in shock when she saw a pair of cinnamon-brown eyes boring into hers. A voice chuckled warmly.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," Russell said sheepishly.

"Hi," Rosemary sleepily smiled. She buried her nose in the crook of his neck and breathed in his usual, lovely scent: honey and daisies.

"You're in a good mood," Russell said, surprised.

"Can't a girl be happy living with her boyfriend?" Rosemary smirked.

Russell snorted. He rolled over and fumbled to grab his wrist watch. Seconds later, he finally laced his fingers around the leather strap and pulled it towards him. He held it close to his face, squinting his groggy eyes and reading the time. His eyes widened, and he sat upright abruptly.

"It's 11:30!" he exclaimed, suddenly forgetting about his past exhaustion. "How'd we sleep in this late?"

"I don't know," Rosemary giggled at her lover's minor freak-out. "It's not a big deal. You have a day off today, don't you?"

"Well, yes," Russell nodded. "But I thought we'd go shopping today for your clothes."

"Oh, right," Rosemary cocked her eyebrows as she remembered her and Russell's plans for the day. "Ok, let's get ready and grab some toast for breaky."

"Alright, works for me," Russell agreed.

Rosemary kicked the blankets off her now exposed bare legs and tumbled off the bed. Regaining her balance, she wiggled herself out of the oversized shorts and shirt that Russell had let her borrow as pajamas the other night. She pulled on the same clothes that she wore the day before. Russell blinked once he noticed this.

"You're wearing that again?"

"Hey, these are my only clothes that didn't die in the fire. Wearing your clothes as pajamas is one thing, but I'm not wearing your clothes for the rest of the day in public."

Russell laughed, amused. Soon, the couple were in his car, munching on toast while he drove to the nearest clothes shop. It was terribly hot that day. Rosemary already started to feel sweat cool on her forehead.

"I'm glad you're feeling better already," Russell said softly as he turned on the A.C.

"Me too," Rosemary murmured.

Minutes later, Russell pulled over in front of the clothes shop. Rosemary had never shopped so much in her life. Not even with Carol. Their shopping cart was filled with pants, t-shirts, tank tops, jeans, shorts, underwear, socks, and more.

"Can we afford all this?" Rosemary said stiffly.

"Don't worry your pretty head," Russell winked. "I've got it covered."

"I need to get a job," Rosemary muttered under her breath.

"Oh!" Russell perked up. "We should get you a bathing suit!"

"Why?" Rosemary questioned.

Russell stared. "To raise chickens," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Rosemary chuckled. "I just thought we could go to the beach today. It's blazing hot."

Rosemary shrugged. "Beach it is," she replied, leading a very excited Russell to the rack full of bathing suits.

***

"How's life like living with Carol?" Davy murmured into Rosemary's ear one day at their favourite place for alone time: the park.

"Like any other sleepover I've ever had with her," Rosemary replied in a quiet mumble.

Davy absentmindedly played with her hair, twisting the soft strands around his fingers. He didn't show it, but he was angry. Rosemary had told him what had happened between her and her father. He was outraged. He never thought Mr. Ackers would stoop so low as to slap his girl. Davy had never held so much anger towards a man in his life.

"I'm sorry," he said serenely. "This shouldn't have happened. I thought things would turn out a lot better than this."

"You're making it sound like it's your fault," Rosemary arched an eyebrow.

"Maybe I feel that way," Davy meekly shrugged.

"Well, don't!" Rosemary crossed her arms. "It's not your fault. I'm the one who should feel at fault, not you!"

"Rosy!" Davy stared at her incredulously. "How could you say-"

"You and your dad were close," Rosemary interrupted. "And now that I'm with you, you guys are always fighting! My dad was the one who messed around with your dad, and it's bullshit!"

"Stop right there," Davy held up a hand before Rosemary could continue. "Yes, your dad and mine aren't exactly on good terms. But that doesn't make it your fault. You can't help it!"

Rosemary carelessly laid her head on his shoulder. "I know," she sighed. "I just needed a reason to yell."

Davy laughed silently. "Good," he said, resting his chin on top of her head.

They stayed like that for several moments, letting the peaceful silence fill up the space between them.

"Davy?" Rosemary spoke up.

"Hm?"

"What if... what if we weren't meant to be?"

Davy stiffened. "Why would you say that?" he said quickly.

"Well," Rosemary shrugged. "All of this had to have happened for a reason. Your dad and my dad hate each other. They don't want us together. But we are anyway. I just can't take this as a coincidence. It's like..." She struggled to find the right words and stopped mid sentence.

"Like what?" Davy prompted.

Rosemary took a deep breath. "It's like... Romeo and Juliet. Their families were enemies, but they got together anyway. They moved too quick. A lot of tragic events happened, and it all lead to their deaths. It shows that they weren't meant to be together."

"That's a story, Rosy," Davy pointed out. "This is real life. And it's not like we moved too fast, right?"

"No," Rosemary agreed. "But... I just don't want us to get hurt like Romeo and Juliet did. They hurt each other and themselves unintentionally."

Davy closed his eyes for a split second, then reopened them. He lifted Rosemary's chin up and looked her in the eyes.

"Romeo and Juliet decided they loved each other the minute they met," he said. "And they married the next morning. We decided we loved each other months after we met. And hell, we're not married yet, right?" Rosemary couldn't help but laugh at this as it was undeniably true. "So maybe there are some similarities between us and them. But we also have to look at the differences."

"I know," Rosemary said quietly.

"Also," Davy pulled her forward, making their foreheads collide. "I would never hurt you. Not on purpose, anyway." He playfully winked.

"Shut up," Rosemary giggled.

They had gone to this particular park almost everyday just to see each other. Davy's father never knew about this. Rosemary's father had no idea what would come to be after she left. Her mother lived in America, as she and Rosemary's father are divorced and was unaware of this. This had been going on for the next month or so.

And by then, Rosemary had started growing sudden suspicions.

She hadn't seen Davy at the park for days. She had started to grow worried. Did something happen to Davy? Did his father find out about their secret meeting place? Whatever was going on, she knew for sure that he was hiding something.

"Hey, look who's smiling," Mike grinned the next morning as Davy seated himself beside Peter.

"Morning, fellas," he greeted happily.

Micky playfully eyed him suspiciously, then gasped. "He's onto something! It's a trap!" He jumped and hid himself under the table.

"Drama queen," Davy muttered.

"Micky, get up," Mike rolled his eyes. "Eat your breakfast."

"Yes, mother," Micky innocently smiled up at Mike as he slid back into his seat. "Seriously, though, what happened to you?"

"Nothing," Davy shrugged. "Talking about it all made me feel a little better."

"A little better?" Peter snorted.

"A lot better," Davy admitted cheekily.

"Good," Peter smiled. "So now that you aren't sulking around, can we play some volleyball later on?"

"Fight me," Davy chuckled. (ok, I say this too often. I have a problem.)

The boys shoveled their breakfast in their mouths. While Davy and Peter spoke, Micky annoyed poor Mike, and at some point, when Micky made an inappropriate joke, Mike spat out his water, and it spurted across the table.

"My Jesus!" he glared at Micky.

"Mike," Peter said, unaware of the fact that Micky had whispered the dirty joke in Mike's ear, "I hope you know that normally, people swallow their water. Not spit it out. You know, for future reference."

"Yeah, Mike," Micky was in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"Micky, I will kill you," Mike managed a smile.

The boys finally finished their meal. They quickly jumped into their shorts and t-shirts and raced down the beach. It was a fine day. The sky was clear and cloudless and a brilliant blue. The sun was blinding. The waves generously and gently landed on the warm sand. Several parents with their children were out either swimming in the sea and close to shore or tanning.

The four boys set themselves up. Mike and Davy teamed up against Micky and Peter.

"Ok guys, ready to be crushed?" Micky challenged.

"If I don't make it out alive, will you take care of my hat?" Mike sniffed dramatically, stroking his wool hat lovingly.

"Shut up and play."

"Bring it on!"

Hehe, I hope you guys realize that I mentioned Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet for a reason a few chapters back. ;)