But I've got something that you'll really like

“I just don’t see what the big deal is,” Rose said, her voice oozing with arrogance. “It’s just a burger. It had far too much grease for my liking.”

In spite of her claims, Nick felt that the date was still going pretty well.

“You ate the whole thing, though,” he pointed out. “So you must have liked it.”

She frowned. “I did that because it would be wrong to waste food,” she replied, tucking a lock of her hair aside to primp herself. “It may surprise you, Nick, but I was not always overflowing with wealth and class the way I am now.”

“Class?” Nick looked at her in surprise.

Rose glared at him.

“Yes, class!” She snapped with a huff, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Never you mind. You’re missing the point completely!”

Exasperated, she shook her head and sighed.

Nick was well aware of Rose’s poor economic background. It was one of her motives for coming onto this show in the first place, after all. So of course she would have adopted a few habits like cleaning her plate, even if she didn’t like the food.

“Well… I’m sorry that I made you sit through something you didn’t like, then,” he apologized to test the waters.

Rose immediately became uncomfortable. “N-no, don’t… you don’t have to apologize,” she said hastily, biting her lip. “I’m just… that’s… I…”

Nick stared at Rose and waited for her to self-destruct, knowing it was coming. After a few more seconds of flustered words her cheeks turned red and she fumed at him, before hanging her head and looking down.

“Okay, so maybe… I’m making a bigger deal of this than I need to,” she admitted sullenly, covering her face.

Nick fought back a smirk. “Maybe?”

“It… it wasn’t the worst thing ever!” Rose said, puffing up her cheeks. “It was too greasy, yes, but… maybe I didn’t need to complain so much… don’t apologize for taking me somewhere you wanted to eat, okay!?”

“Sorry,” Nick said again, unable to hold back his amused expression any longer. “I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to see you get a little flustered, that’s all.”

Rose blinked, confused by what he was saying for a second. Then she gasped.

“W-wait, you mean… Oh, you-!” She wanted to smack him but she held back. “You were just teasing me, then!?”

“No!” Nick shook his head. “If I thought you really didn’t like the food, then I really would have felt bad, and of course I would have apologized!” He assured her.

Rose nodded sullenly and crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course.”

“But you DID eat the whole thing. And it didn’t look like you were forcing yourself that much, so… I figured you were just complaining because you wanted to be difficult.”

Rose’s mouth fell open and she stared at him.

She couldn’t deny it.

“…You said you liked it when I was difficult,” she reminded him, recovering admirably.

Nick smiled back at her. “I do,” he replied. “Especially because it gives me more opportunities to tease you and see you get flustered!”

Rose fumed, but Nick could see her lips twitching in an effort to smile, which made him feel like smiling even more.

Until he realized what he was doing.

Wait… all this teasing… it’s not unlike what Vivian was doing to me, is it? I mean… the hospital was over the line, but all the other stuff… Yeah, maybe… that’s not so far off.

“Nick?” Rose sensed his change in demeanor right away, and her flustered expression shifted into a serious look. “What’s the matter?”

“N-no, it’s… it’s nothing,” Nick assured her, shaking his head. “I was just thinking about something else, that’s all.”

Rose bit her lip. “Like what?” She asked quietly. “If you’re upset, I’m sorry… I thought we were having a good time together.”

The last thing Rose wanted was for things to become uncomfortable between the two of them; especially before she had the chance to show Nick what she had planned for tonight.

Nick quickly shook his head again. “Believe me, Rose, it’s not about you at all,” he assured her. “Trust me, you’re amazing.”

Rose smiled bashfully and her cheeks pinkened. “O-oh…”

“It’s just… I’m realizing that maybe I’ve been teasing you too much,” he said, scratching his head sheepishly. “It’s not right, I mean… yeah, you’re really adorable when you get flustered, but constantly making jokes at your expense like I did just now…”

Rose sighed. “Well, no one enjoys being the butt of the joke,” she pointed out, twirling a lock of her hair. “But if you are worried that I will be offended, you don’t need to be,” she assured him.

“Really?” Nick asked. “I’m just worried that I might cross a line with you and go too far…”

“Nick, do you love me?”

The question came so out of nowhere that Nick nearly fell over in the street, run down by the **** of Rose’s words. Her tone carried immense weight and her eyes burned holes into his chest as she stared at him with unyielding intention.

“R-Rose…”

“Do you love me?” She repeated again, her voice softening. She took a step closer to him and placed her hand on her chest.

“Err…” Nick’s face burned with embarrassment and he looked away. He couldn’t believe he was having trouble with this! Rose had just asked him the easiest question in the world, and yet because he’d been caught so off-guard he couldn’t even answer it!

“…Of course I do,” he finally managed to spit out. “…Of course I love you. And sorry it took so long to say, I mean… I should have just… …Sorry. I was embarrassed.”

Rose laughed. “And I’m not?” She asked, her cheeks reddening. But her delight was overwhelming her embarrassment by quite a lot. “It’s fine. I know that you do.”

“Th-then why did you ask?” The whole reason Nick had been caught so off-guard was because Rose’s question had blindsided him. He’d made his feelings for her more than clear before now, so the seriousness with which she’d asked, as if she genuinely didn’t know, had caught him by surprise.

“Because I wanted to hear you say it,” Rose bluntly replied. “Show me a girl who wouldn’t like to be told that someone was in love with them?”

Valid point. Nick was about to reply, but just as he got his mouth open, Rose continued her own thought.

“Also, because I wanted you to hear yourself say it,” she added with a playful smile. “And get all embarrassed like I knew you would.”

Nick closed his mouth. His face was still burning.

“There, that right there!” Rose poked him playfully on the nose. “That’s what I wanted to see, my man completely flustered and at a loss for words! You’re so much cuter this way…”

“Urgh, Rose, stop,” Nick said, covering his face. He felt a little ashamed getting so flustered by her teasing, but he couldn’t help it. Rose was really overwhelming sometimes.

She laughed.

“Nick… you’ve answered your own question,” she informed him. “Am I worried that you’re going to cross the line and say something that will upset me? No I am not. Because even when you’re teasing me, making me get embarrassed… and, on those very few, rare occasions, point out when I’m wrong, I know that none of that matters because you love me.”

Rose reached out and ran her hand along his cheek. “For a girl like me, a little love can go a long way.”

Nick tensed. He wasn’t sure he liked that answer, to be honest.

“That’s still not right though,” he said, removing her hand and holding it gently. “Just because I love you, that doesn’t give me some magic right to make jokes at your expense.”

Rose pinched her lips together tightly and shook her head. “No, you’re right, it doesn’t,” she agreed. “But that’s not what I’m saying. Nick, if there’s one thing my most recent transformation has enlightened me about, it’s that every relationship is different, oui? My relationship with you is different from the relationship you have with Mary which is different from the relationship you have with Carly which is different from… you get the idea.”

“Yeah, I mean… you’re right about that,” Nick agreed. He cared deeply for all the women in his harem, and that’s why he could never say he had a “favorite”. All the girls were special and unique in their own ways, and each of their relationships was special to him because of that.

“The jokes you make at my expense, I won’t deny that they vex me slightly,” Rose admitted. She scoffed. “A beautiful young lady like myself should be pampered, and lavished with praise and wealth and luxury, after all! …But I also know that you would never tell jokes of that kind to Morgana, for example, out of fear of hurting her feelings.”

Nick winced. That was true. Morgana and Ella especially may have been stronger than he’d initially given them credit for, but he also knew that due to their sensitive backgrounds he couldn’t joke around with them or tease them the way he could with Rose.

“…But I don’t want to hurt your feelings, either,” Nick pointed out, still thinking back to his date with Vivian. “I don’t want to hurt you, Rose. And I’m afraid that my teasing, well… it can be insensitive, especially with how hard you’re trying even right now.”

Rose pinched her lips together into a frown. This was very odd. As serious as this conversation had been so far, she felt now that there was something else here, even more serious, bubbling under the surface. This wasn’t just Nick being concerned about her; it was something else.

“What brought on this change?” She asked sternly, reaching up and brushing Nick’s hair aside. She looked firmly into his eyes. “Who are you thinking about right now, on your date with me?”

That Nick would be occupied with thoughts of another girl while Rose was right in front of him came as a grave insult to the Frenchwoman.

And it wasn’t like Nick could lie to her; whatever else Rose was, she could be incredibly perceptive when she chose to be.

“…Vivian,” Nick admitted, averting his eyes. “I was thinking about Vivian.”

Rose blinked. “…Why her? Did something happen on your date with her yesterday?”

A lot of things. Things Nick wasn’t fully comfortable with revealing, especially not to a blabbermouth like Rose who would probably use whatever he said to her own ends.

So he revealed what he could.

“Vivian and I, we had kind of a fight,” he admitted cautiously, trying to avoid touching on the specifics. “About how her teasing could be kind of mean-spirited and cross the line sometimes. And when we were joking around just now, I thought… maybe I was doing the same thing.”

Rose’s face softened. “I see… well, I can understand how you would be concerned. But don’t worry, it won’t bother me. Like I said before, right? I know that you love me. And although you making me out to be the fool can be frustrating… I know you do so because you’re simply blown away by my cuteness, of course!”

She batted her eyelashes and cupped her chin with her hands.

Nick **** himself to smile, but his heart wasn’t in it. And she noticed that right away.

“…Nick?” Rose asked quietly, standing up straight.

“What if I do cross the line, though?” He asked her. “What if I did something that was too far? Teased you about…”

He wracked his brain trying to come up with something that would be over the line to joke about with Rose. Her acting ability? Her rivalry with Mary? Certainly not his love for her…

Wait. It was so obvious. The answer was staring him right in the face.

The next words past Nick’s lips hurt to say, but he couldn’t avoid them.

“…What if I joked about your mother?” He asked quietly. “Reminded you that she… was dead? Not on purpose, but… by mistake, even?”

Rose opened her mouth slightly and her blue eyes looked deeply into his. Nick could see the stunned surprise in her gaze- clearly that had never occurred to Rose, either.

Then she closed her lips into a gentle smile and her eyes softened.

“But you would never do that,” she murmured, taking her hand from his and stroking his cheek with it. “You know how much I love maman, and you would never make me hurt about her, I know that all too well.”

Nick felt a churn in his heart. “But… but if I did… even by accident…”

“You wouldn’t.” The firmness in her voice reminded him of Amelia, and how his stepmother would succinctly end a conversation. When she took up that tone, it meant there was no point in saying anything further.

Rose must have been paying closer attention to his stepmother than he realized.

“Rose…”

“You would not joke about that,” Rose said plainly. “Not even my accident. Not even by mistake.” She shook her head. “You never could, and that is why I love you.”

“B-but… I…” Nick still wasn’t convinced. If it wasn’t that, then it would be someone else. And like Rose said, she didn’t like him teasing her anyway. He should just stop, it wasn’t healthy for their relationship. It almost felt like by doing that, he was keeping Rose at arm’s length, instead of…

“You don’t believe me? Fine.” Rose crossed her arms over her chest and took a step back, sniffing in dissatisfaction. She could sense the hesitation and doubt wafting off of him. “Do it now, then, if you would.”

“Huh?!” Nick looked at her in confusion. “Rose, what…?”

“Joke about maman,” Rose urged him. “Please, by all means. You have my full permission. I will not get mad at you, I promise.”

Nick’s mouth fell open as he processed her request. “I… that…”

“I’m waiting!” She sang, tapping her finger on her elbow. “Any joke you choose.”

Nick’s mind went completely blank. Even if he could think of something to joke about in regards to Rose’s mother, there was no way he could tell it! Whether Rose gave him permission or not, that was just-!

“You can’t do it, can you?” Rose asked with a smug grin.

Nick’s face turned red. “Err…”

“Exactly my point!” She chirped, dismissing the tension like blowing away smoke with a fan. “Nick… you would not joke about that, even if you could. Because you are too kind and sweet.” She leaned forward, and for a moment Nick thought she was going to kiss him.

He stiffened up, but she pulled back, taunting him with her eyes, and clicked her tongue.

“Were you expecting something perhaps?” She tittered, batting her eyelashes.

Nick felt his face heat up as his expectations were dashed. “Th-that…”

“Nick, because of what happened yesterday you’ve got it all in your head now that teasing someone is unconscionable,” Rose said gently. “That you’re hurting me when you tease me. And yes, with some people, that could be the case. But you and I… there is a bond of trust between us, is there not?” She asked hopefully.

“Yeah… of course…” Nick swallowed and nodded. How could there not be?

“Then you have nothing to fear with your jokes,” Rose assured him. “I may not like to be embarrassed, but I know that is one of the ways you show how much you adore me, and so I tolerate it. Do you think I would have let things go on so long if I did not appreciate it?”

Probably not. Not someone as forceful as Rose.

“So what you’re saying is that when you do something stupid, it’s okay to make fun of you?” Nick asked. “Or when you’re making a fool out of yourself?”

Saying it so bluntly actually made him feel kind of bad.

Rose snorted and rolled her eyes. “Do you think I do foolish or stupid things frequently enough for it to be a problem?” She asked, shaking her head. “Yes, Nick, although it doesn’t merit permission, should I do something that makes you wish to tease me, yes, you have my blessing to do so.”

She winked.

“But of course, we both know I’m not the kind of girl who just makes a fool out of herself for no reason,” she pointed out.

“Right, no, of course, not you,” Nick said, shaking his head. He was glad she’d lifted this burden at least; teasing Rose did make him smile. And now that he knew she was “in” on the joke, he could do it in good conscience.

He was glad to have reaffirmed how strong his bond with Rose really was.

“Every relationship is unique,” Rose reminded him again. “You knew that it would be okay to tease me even before I permitted it… because you could feel we were that close.” She placed her hand on his chest.

“And maybe you’ll be that close with Vivian,” she added, her voice holding a tinge of hope.

Nick felt the same way. He nodded.

Rose pulled back slightly and cleared her throat. “Now, since we’ve settled that matter… I believe we should get back to our date, yes?”

“R-right!” Nick hastily agreed. “Yeah, we… we should.”

He was still feeling a little out of sorts, something Rose picked up on immediately.

She smiled slyly.

It would appear my dear Nick needs a bit of a distraction… a palate cleanser, as it were. Well… I’ve been saving this for a rainy day, so… it should do just fine.

“Oh, Nick?” Rose batted her eyelashes.

“Hmm?” Nick looked at her.

Rose snapped her fingers, and suddenly her outfit changed immediately. Her casual clothes shifted and the color drained away from them, turning stark black. Her shirt turned tight and low-cut around her greatly-enhanced chest, and black jeans wrapped around her slender legs. Her style was changing right in front of his eyes and he could only watch as his date turned into a goth witch- complete with a wide-brimmed hat!

“Well… are you surprised?” Rose cooed.