Rosie's favorite type of music is either solo female country singers or heavy rock, with no in between. If I let her DJ Carrie Underwood would come on and then ACDC right after her, with the occasional oddball, Thirty Seconds to Mars. I noted this as Bon Scott made a ruckus in the back ground of our current adventure: Baking with Rosalie Jenkins and her less competent sidekick, Gwen Degray. 

     "Okay last time I did this I added more sugar and it evened it out really well so do me a favor and change that on the recipe." Rosie said, with flour all over her face and a finger in her mouth. "Oh, these are going to be good."

     "They're always good." I mused, marking up the already voraciously scribbled upon novel that was Rosie's cook book.

     "You're too nice." She waved me off and added more sugar to her batter mixture.

     My favorite thing about Rosie was watching her shyness melt off her when she was in the kitchen like hot fudge on a cake. She had so much skill and talent with food, it amazing seeing that come out of her shell.

     "Are you going to tell me what you're making this time?" I asked, leaning forward to breath it in.

     She smirked. "Nope, you have to guess."

     "Mm, remember that time you added chocolate chip to the sugar cookies to throw me off?"

     Rosie snorted. "Yeah. Remember when you ate the parsley I put on top of your pancake?"

     I slammed my hand down on the marble counter. "Why would they put it on a plate if you're not suppose to eat it?"

     She cracked up and doubled over laughing and I couldn't help but smile. I loved it when she laughed. I loved it when she was happy. Rosie, of all people deserved to be happy because when she giggled so did everyone around her. If her happiness was an infectious disease then I was terminally ill. 

     "Oh yeah, what did Ramon want to talk to you about?" She asked.

     "Uh, I'm not sure if I should say." I admitted.

     "Was it about Johnny?" She asked gently. "I kind of already know."

     "Oh, you do?" I glanced up at her.

     She stopped baking to lean against the counter. "Yeah... It was just a guess. Ramon and I... we're kind on our own with these kinds of things."               

     She glanced up at me, it was the first time I had seen her nervous all night. I stared at her for a moment, getting the feeling I had missed something. Then it clicked.

     "You're gay?"

     She nodded slowly, blushing.

     "Oh!" I gasped. "Oh. Oh that explains so much! Rosie!"

     She blushed. "Psh, I've been told it's obvious but I didn't think it was that obvious."

     "Is this why you're so uninterested in dating?"

     Rosie shrugged. "Nah I just don't think I'm ever gonna get with my soulmate. She's kind of amazing and way too good for me."

     My jaw dropped. "Who!"

     "No one you need to worry about." She insisted, unclipping the cake beaters from the machine and handing one to me. "Here, taste this."

     I sucked on it, and shot her an unamused look, this was not the end of that conversation. "It's fantastic, as always, now who-"

     "Ah, ah, ah," she waved a finger in front of my face. "You have to guess."

    I stuck out my tongue at her. "Chocolate chip?"

     She raised an eyebrow. "There's no chips in there, you sure that's your final answer?"

     "Yes."

     Rosie grinned, then pulled out a bag of chocolate chips from under the counter. "Correct!"

     "Ah sick!" I whooped, momentarily distracted. "I think that's the first time I've gotten it right."

     "Must be learning." She remarked, forming the batter into quick little balls and dropped them on the tin.

      I notice there's a look in her eyes. It's like looking into black water. The golden dirt and red clay swirling squishing in between your toes. You can't see the drop off beneath your feet.

     "You okay?"

     "Yeah I'm just... relieved. I've been wanting to tell you for so long and then you came out like that, and it was so easy for you. I wondered why I couldn't do that."

     "Were you scared of telling me?" I asked.

     Rosie nodded. "I'm sorry."

     "Don't apologize. It's okay." I instinctively reach out and patted one of her hands. "I'm glad you told me. It doesn't matter if you made a big deal out of it or not."

     A small smile pulled at her lips. "Is it okay of I ask you something?"

     "Of course!"

     "What made you realize you liked girls?"

     "Oh. You know, I think I've always known." I admitted. "I think Gordon just came along before I really knew what I liked. It was always there, I just didn't need to pay attention to it. Until now."

     "Until now?" She blinked.

     "Yeah... I mean I want to date again eventually. I want to find this person." I held up my pinky finger.

      Rosie's eyes widened. "Do you... do you know who it is?"

     "Nope." I grinned. "Gosh, that makes me nostalgic. Remember those days? When we didn't know?"

     I could see her living through those memories in her smile. "Yeah. Things were less complicated back then for sure."

      The cookies baked, we split them half and half with bowls of ice cream and stretched out on the floor in our sleeping bags to watch Netflix. Rosie had invited me over, we had sleepovers a lot. We had done this in a really long time and I'm so glad we were. I missed her so much. I really had gotten caught up in Gordon's craziness and pushed her aside.

     I wondered how long I had been doing that.

     "You want to watch something gay?" Rosie raised an eyebrow at me.

     I smirked. "You know what? I think so. Time to reconnect with my girl-loving self."

     Rosie flipped through titles and selected Blue is the Warmest Color. I turned off the lights and dived under her blanket. We laughed and giggled as we got settled and ready to have a chill night of fun.

     My phone buzzed.

     I lifted it up and my heart dropped when I saw it was from Gordon.

     I'm sorry. Please you're the only one I can talk to.

     Rosie read it over my shoulder and then looked up at me. I bit my lip, I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to remember what it was like being with him. Not here, not now. Rosie gently put her hand on my hand and took my phone out of my palm and placed it on the coffee table, out of sight.

     "Don't think about him right now." She whispered, the sound was barely audible. 

     Rosie rested her head on my shoulder and I was surprised at first, but didn't move. She snuggled close and settled down. My heart skipped a beat. This felt so safe. God, I really did miss this. I missed the way we used to hang out when we were kids. She was always with me no matter what, we were inseparable. I missed that so much. Something about the tender way Rosalie cared about me was eerily familiar. I don't remember where I had felt this before but I honestly never wanted it to end.

      My eyes felt heavy. I was going to fall asleep before the movie was over, rats.

     When I woke up it was still dark, of course. I always woke up early. Rosie would always say humans were made for sunlight, Go back to bed Gwen. I smiled at the thought. She was like overly sweet strawberry lemonade you could only make at home. I didn't deserve her kindness sometimes, honestly. I should do something for her, maybe make breakfast. I wasn't as talented with food as she was but I bet I could throw some cheese on some eggs and it'd still be pretty killer.

     I gently pushed her off of my shoulder, where she was still peacefully sleeping, exposing my arm to the cold air of my house at five in the morning. Then re-tucked her in and brushed her hair way from her eyes, aw.

      I spotted my phone sitting on the coffee table and that feeling of my stomach turning to glass returned. I wouldn't let Gordon weight me down, not now. I wouldn't let him crawl back into my life on his hands and knees just so he could chain me down again. Besides, I had someone new... someone soft and caring... someone who would love me.

     I looked down at my hand, at the string tied around my finger. It brought me immense comfort. It was going to be okay. Then... I noticed it seemed to be leading into the blankets on the couch. I couldn't find it trailing anywhere else, like the person on the other end was under the couch or...

     I sifted through the blanket until I found Rosie's left hand, tied around her pinky finger, was the other end of my red string.