Every Rose has it’s thorn

If you like this story and find the financial strength to support me, it would mean a lot if you would do it here:

https://ko-fi.com/finn0815thewritingshark

Your support shows me more than anything that you value my work. Thank you. And if you are not able to give anything, you are still welcome here and I would be very pleased if you would like this chapter. Thank you again. Finn 0815.

Chapter 6

Oh fuck, I felt that.

Michelle Lynchwood. +9 (PS -56)

And that makes 500 tokens.

But what did I feel? What did Mom do that... She acted like a pet. Even without me? Shit, that's easier than I thought. Even if I don't know what she did, as long as she does what I and the MCD want her to do, I get progress score and tokens! Nice!

That means I can now buy the Chance of Pregnancy or Orgasm Denial perk and... The MCD vibrates in my pocket.

Hello Finn Lynchwood! The MCD has been updated. Here are the changes our team has made.

1. The restricted speech perk is temporarily deactivated and if you have invested tokens, they will be refunded. We ask for your understanding.

2. The orgasm Denal perk has undergone some changes and is now called Orgasm Control. This is intended to give you more control over the subjects you equip with this perk. You will receive further information when you buy the perk or activate it next time for a subject.

Okay, that's interesting. So that means that the MCD can just end perks like that. It would be crap if I was invisible in the girls' bathroom and the app suddenly stopped working. So caution is advised! But at least one of my potential perks has been upgraded. So now I can...

No. I have to think strategically. The chance that Mom will sleep with me today is... she is my Mom after all. So no, I'll wait with my tokens. The next level where things get interesting is 800 tokens. Until then, I'll concentrate on more interesting topics.

Rose.

I quickly look around. The schoolyard is full of people, the school is just over and everyone is heading home. Normally I would miss this hustle and bustle, I always wait as long as possible before I go home. Today is different.

And it also gives me the chance to avoid Lisa and Ryan. Shit, I can't do this forever, they're already starting to ask me what's wrong with me. I can't stop them from wanting to help me for much longer. They're my best friends after all. But Ryan... And Lisa. What if the MCD puts them on the list too? At some point I have to activate their names and then...

No. Quickly home to Rose. And there's my bus.

---

While the world goes by outside the window, I stare at my phone. The MCD actually. Hey, can this thing even make me talk to people? The seat next to me is of course free, people stick to the rules of popularity and so I enjoy the luxury of almost always having a free bench, not either Ryan or Lisa sitting next to me today. What usually hurts me is my advantage today and I hold up the MCD.

One last doubt. One last decision. Then I click on Rose's name.

Rose Lynchwood/ Best Bro "Right behind you bro!"

• As the subject progresses, it will see the user as their best friend and soul mate and will develop a deep and intense bond with them. The need for a close and intense friendship between the subject and the user will continue to grow, as will the need to have their back and be helpful and important.

Progress Score: -64

Okay, that's... not quite as bad as I feared. Wait, that's actually much better than I had hoped!

The MCD will ensure that Rose and I finally become a team like I always wanted!

And her PS is already so developed? Does that mean...

"Yes!" I pump my hand in the air. My sister doesn't mind being changed by the MCD as much as mom does! Okay, apparently that means I'll get fewer tokens, but I don't care for now. My sister wants, at least a little, the role that the MCD (and I too) have planned for her! That's good news!

"What are you so happy about?"

I blink and raise my head.

I think she goes to my neighboring class. What was her name?

"I'm Bella," the girl greets me with a gentle smile.

"Yes... Hey Bella." She stares at me without saying anything. Then she points to the seat next to me.

"May I?"

"Oh shit. Yes. Of course." I quickly make way for the girl who doesn't usually have much to do with me. I have other things to do than...

"What's up?"

"Hm?" Slightly annoyed, I turn my head to her.

"What's up with you?" She points outside. "You usually sit with your friends on the last bus home?"

"Yes... well..." I really don't have time for Bella right now, even if she doesn't seem to be nice and besides...

"Oh. A message?" I look at the MCD. Yup, Bella's name is now next to my family's. She seems really nice but... "I'll leave you alone," Bella says and her voice sounds strange somehow. I quickly look at her but she has already lowered her gaze.

“I’m sorry… Bella?” She raises her head, looks at me, not eagerly. “Nothing personal okay? I’m just under a lot of stress at the moment and…”

“Oh that’s okay! Really!” She almost sounds relieved not to have to talk to me anymore. She smiles at me one last time, then takes out a book and starts reading.

Okay… Back to Rose… But what’s up with Bella? Is she sad now? Or maybe…

I shake my head. Rose is important now.

I just have to make sure that she sees me as a partner in crime who… Oh… That’s going to be difficult. And best bro? Rose is my sister, adopted, okay, but still my sister. Shouldn’t there be something like that? Will she even want to sleep with me? What am I actually thinking? Rose and I… Okay, fuck, no reason to hide it from me. I want it and with the MCD… Maybe it’s possible. Best bro then? Soulmates? That's fine, even if the soul thing will be hard for Rose to accept.

So keep grinding, collect PS and earn tokens.

It's going to be great.

---

"Mooooom! I'm home!" If I try, I might be able to get a few more points out of Mom before I take care of Rose. "Mom?" No answer.

Never Mind. There's Rose, in her school uniform... Fuck, I want to fuck her. Or make love to her. At least the MCD doesn't consider her a pet, but something I can respect. "Hey Sis. Where's Mom? She wanted me to come home but..." Her urgent eyes silence me.

"She's totally pissed off with you," she hisses urgently, grabs me and drags me through the house. Her hand feels warm on mine and I'm happy to let her drag me through the house like a doll if she touches me in return. "I've never seen her so angry. Finn?" I blink.

We are in the garden, behind our mother's rose bushes. This is where my sister always hid when we were little and my mother was angry, and we still do it today. This is where she has taken on her personality, Rose the rose with the thorns behind the protective wall of roses. Even then it made her giggle when I rolled my eyes at her, today she just looks scared.

"What did you do?" she asks, still quietly, eyes wide open.

"I don't know," I shake my head, I can hardly tell her that I want to turn her into my pet. Then I wince in pain as my sister punches me hard on the shoulder.

"Fuck off," she hisses, her cheeks cutely red and her knuckles frighteningly white. "You've been pulling such psycho bullshit with Mom these days. What's up with that?"

"I just want to be nice to her," I say, and I'm not lying. Now I have a reason to do so. But Rose hits me again.

"Ouch! You..." But I stop mit sentence. That's not me anymore. No fighting. We stand together, even if she fears that vulnerability more than standing alone against the storm. My frightened brave little sister.

"Are you stupid or something? Being nice doesn't work? Or do you think you're 16 again and can try it that way? What's the point?" And her look changes to something else. Rose is angry at my behavior, letting her in the rain while trying to fix things she can't. I understand her.

"Did she treat you worse because of that?" I ask worriedly but she shakes her head in sad acceptance.

"She exploded today," she murmurs. "Threw things around and yelled that she didn't want to see you anymore." And Rose is scared. "I thought we had found a way to deal with her?" She looks at me reproachfully. It's true. We had a deal, scratching each other's souls out to not get mom angry at us. But fuck it doesn't work for me anymore. I can't stand to see Rose so tormented, even if she, sometimes, deserved this treatment. Time for a new deal. "I thought you were happy with..."

Her shrill squeak is the sweetest sound I've heard in a long time and I can't blame her for being surprised. A hug, tight and intimate, is surely the last thing she expected after telling me that she wanted to leave things as bad as they were with me.

Not on my watch Sister.

"It's okay, Rose," I say soothingly into her ear. Her petrified body feels like a marble statue, but I don't let go of her. That's the message I want to send her. "I understand what you want from me." My hands begin to gently stroke her back and I feel the tense muscles in her body as well as the shallow, barely noticeable breath on my neck. "But I don't want it to be like it used to be."

"Finn... let me go..." she begs me to stop.

"No." And she raises her arms too. I can feel them hanging in the air, weak and powerless. "I'm not letting you go, Rose." I squeeze harder. "Never."

And she returns the hug.

---

At some point, we are sitting in the grass in the shade of the rose bushes that our mother loves so much and I stroke my sweet little angry Rose on her back and shoulder while she is still clinging to me. Now she is the one who won't let me go after all these years of fighting and accusing each other of stealing the lousy scraps of love we both needed so much.

I don't get any points for that but I don't care.

"I want our relationship to change," I confess to her, warming her skin with my breath. "We're always fighting against each other but Rose... We only have each other. Tammy hates us and Jasmine doesn't care."

"But I'm scared," my sister confesses. She doesn't sound weak and helpless, she just looks like that but inside she's just as hardened by battle as I am.

"You don't need to," I shake my head and rub my ear against hers. Her long curly hair tickles my neck but the warmth that radiates from her body is full of energy. "Nothing will happen if we join forces. We don't have to fight against each other."

"But I don't want to fight against Mom," she says and I understand. I slowly pull away from her, hold her by the shoulders and stroke the white fabric of her school uniform. "We will lose and then... I don't want to hurt you Finn..."

Damn, she sounds sexy.

I take her in my arms again and this time she presses her upper body tightly against me, immediately, voluntarily, while our feet are in each other's way.

"You're my little sister, Rose," I say encouragingly while the girl seeks protection and comfort from me. "We're meant to stand together, okay?"

"Mhm," she mumbles into my shoulder.

"We weren't always there for each other and..."

"Shut up," her voice sounds from my armpit and then she raises her head and looks at me. Her eyes are wet and her face red. She looks damn sweet. "We both know that I've given out far more than I've taken." She smiles in pain. "You really are such a lousy little looser Finn."

"I forgive you." That's startles her. She knows she's right about her self-accusations. She knwo's she's the evil one... And I forgive her. "All the fights and the rivalry and the mean words like lousy little loser." But I grin at her. And she grins back. "I forgive you and if you can forgive me too..." She nods eagerly before I've even finished the sentence. "Then we can work more closely together from now on. No more fighting, okay?" A nod. I grin. "We're bros now, got it?" Another nod, stronger.

"Okay... bro." And she giggles.

Finally, I help Rose to her feet, brush grass off her knees and clean her clothes.

"So Mom doesn't get mad at you," I said with a smile and Rose, swaying slightly under my touch, smiles back. Then I look at the house. "Let's go to battle."

"Wait," she says as I turn around and stands in front of me. She hesitates, her teeth sliding over her lower lip, then she decides. She hugs me of her own accord and presses herself tightly against me.

Rose Lynchwood. +1 (PS -63)

Rarely has a point felt so good.

"You can do it, Finn," she encourages me. "Thank you for doing this for me." In response, I stroke her back. Then I pat her body.

"Let me go now." I turn away from her, sure that it was the right decision to activate Rose's profile. I can use all the help I can get, not just with Mom, but also with what I have planned.

"Finn?" I turn around one last time. Rose can't look at me at first, rubbing her foot on the floor. "No matter what Mom does or says... I'm here for you."

Rose Lynchwood. +2 (PS-61)

"I know."

---

Message from the author: This doesn't really fit with Rosy Rose, but you still have to tell me where Finn should work. Of course, it will be a shitty job that he doesn't like, with annoying colleagues, a mean boss and generally nothing that he likes. But that's what the MCD is for. I already have a few nice ideas.

I was thinking of a lifeguard, either at a public swimming pool or the school's female swim team.

Then there's the local girls' volleyball team, not from the school but still made up entirely of girls.

Or we could go professional and have him work in a fashion agency with a lot of models.

I'll wait a bit with the poll till next chapter in case someone else has other ideas. Please let me hear them!

The main thing is that Finn doesn't like it there and he has access to hot chicks. ;)

Of course, it would be unbeatable if we could use the perks and paths to find possible combinations that we can have fun with in the future. Invisible in the girl's locker room or something, you know?