Comfort

I never did follow them up, but I didn't hear any more yelling, so I'd hoped that'd be the end of it and went to bed. That being said, sitting in attendance with Rosie giving me the occasional **** glare definitely gives me the feeling I've become public enemy number one.

"You know, if you keep looking like a murderer then your fan club's gonna lose interest." I joke, referring to the group of guys who'd occasionally sneak a peek at her. "Come on, it worked out, everyone's friends again."

"She's not a friend, she's barely family." Rosie snaps at me, continuing to jot down in her notebook. "At the moment I could say the same about you."

Ouch, I knew getting in the middle of the argument was a bad idea, but this is worse than I thought. "Don't be like that, I just said what I said to protect Poppy." I answer.

"Yeah!? And what about protecting me!? Or does that come second?" Rosie growls in response, slamming down her pen. "Fuck this." She whimpers, before standing and leaving the classroom entirely before the teacher even arrives.

I look around the now silent room, some of the faces of our peers shocked, some confused, some angry... Especially the fan club. "Oh, don't worry, in France that's how every woman leaves the room!" I joke, to a mixed reaction, but everyone turns away anyway, I guess that works.

*

I decide to let Rosie cool off, we've got English this afternoon anyway, so she'll have to listen to me then. I spend lunch at the gym, I haven't had much chance to work out lately, and with my ribs a bit of power walking is all I can really manage, still, it's nice to hit the treadmill again.

"Hey stranger." A friendly voice greets me, as I turn to see Andi activating the machine next to me. "How're the ribs? We talking honey glazed or barbecued?" At this point I've come to appreciate her lame jokes, they're like trash TV, them being stupid makes them enjoyable.

"Thoroughly tenderised, but otherwise okay." I respond, keeping my pace up. I'll be damned if some gorilla's bad tackle is going to ruin my cardio.

Andi's pace is much quicker, but then she's not working with a handicap... I try not to think about it too much or I'll get competitive. "Hmm... Ran into Rosie earlier, she had some less than nice things to say about you." Andi informs me. "You steal the last of the ice cream or something?"

I snort at the idea, but honestly, that's about all it would take to piss off Rosie. I explain most of the details of what happened, apart from the details about Poppy and the dildo, it's not really anyone's business.

"So yeah, I'm the bad guy, turns out the only winning move was not to play." I conclude.

"True, you do tend to mess things up a lot." Andi sighs wistfully. I'd take offence to that if it wasn't painfully true. "Bit of unsolicited advice, try listening more than talking, it'll probably help." She tells me. The bell rings before I have chance to follow up on that, but English is next, so I guess it's do or die time.

I change and make my way to class, strangely there's no sign of Rosie when I arrive, weird, she's usually way ahead of me. I take my seat and wait for her arrival but it never comes, finally the teacher comes and the lesson begins without her.

What on Earth is going on? Rosie never skips classes, she'd jump down my throat for even joking about it. Maybe I underestimated how upset she is... Maybe I really did talk too much instead of listening. I feel a pit in my stomach, I need to go and check on her. I need to get out of here, it's break in case of emergency time.

"Miss? I think I've opened a wound, I'm bleeding." I declare, raising my hand covered in the fluid. There's a range of screaming and jeering, I turn to Ty and nod my head to give me a hand out the door, who swiftly accommodates my request.

Soon we're out the door and halfway down the hall when I release him. "Thanks man, I'm good from here." I smirk, tossing an empty packet to him. "Prop blood, really handy for cutting class if you're bored, thanks again!" I explain, before turning on my heels and rushing down the halls before he has a chance to respond.

Now, if I were a little red-headed ball of rage, where would I be? If I know Rosie there's only one place she would be if she can't go to class. A class of her own, and there's no way she'd stay at school, the idea of being caught would terrify her. I head to the front desk and sign out, before heading for home.

I hurry up the stairs and immediately knock on the door to Rosie and Poppy's room. Hearing a "Who is it?" From behind the door, I open it to reveal my sister sitting there. "Oh, it's you, what do you want?" Rosie scowls, before continuing to type away on her laptop.

"I guess... I came to listen, to hear what's got you so heated." I answer, sitting on the side of her bed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dismissed you earlier." I add, causing her to finally look at me with something other than anger.

"Look... You're not gonna get it. I know you care, I do... It's just... It's not enough." She begins. "You don't care as much as I do, you can't, so I have to be like this, I have to be the control freak... Because if I wasn't... I don't know what would happen." She states vaguely. I think I know what she means, she wasn't ready for Poppy not to rely on her for everything anymore.

I look her in the eyes. "I think I get it." I decide, causing a light to flicker in her eyes. "Look, Poppy's always going to need you, even if you don't have complete control over every part of her life. We've all grown a lot recently, but we'll always need you to bring us back down to Earth." I reassure her.

My words seem to have the opposite of their intended effect, as the light in her eyes dulls and fades, as if her hope of me understanding has faded with it.

"That's not it... I... It's... Look, just leave, would you? I don't want to talk anymore." She barks, as tears begin to roll down her cheeks. "I said fucking leave!" She yells, completely breaking down.

I don't know what to do other than follow her instructions, exiting the room and closing the door behind me.

I fucked up again, didn't I? How do I keep messing everything up?