🌹Rosalie🌹

I remember the first time I traveled this open road, the endless rolling hills and scattered cows like a scene from a sad movie. I thought things couldn't get worse after my mom and I lost everything in New York. When we lost the house, I used to tell myself that I at least had dance. But soon after, I lost that too. And eventually, I lost New York.

It was as though everything I once worked toward had simply vanished, replaced by the monotonous view of tan hills and meandering cattle. But as I look out at the night sky, those rolling hills hidden in the dark, I can't help but feel a sense of calm.

I remember one Christmas at my old ballet studio, we did one of those silly gift exchange things. I almost faked the flu just to avoid such shenanigans, but I knew feigning ill would mean missing practice the next day and the consequence was not worth the reward.

Anyway, I remember grabbing a black box, the sleek exterior glistening under the twinkle lights strung around the mirror of the studio. As I pulled it open, a plain white mug lay against a a silky black background. I pulled it out, turning it within my hands. The words Everything happens for a reason was etched across. I hated that saying. It felt like an excuse to turn something horrible into a positive. Sometimes things just need to suck without having a bright side.

But those very words trickle along my memories as I look out the window, Nolan's hand in mine.

I wouldn't go so far as to say my dad being arrested was the reason my mom and I found happiness. But I think there's a middle ground in there. Maybe it's not all bad. Maybe we didn't lose everything but instead gained something new entirely.

The radio slows, the familiar beat flowing through the speakers. There are some songs that play, that filter through to your soul and lift your vocals without warning. Like an instinct, a need to sing. On pure will, I begin to hum, to follow every note.

"Every time our eyes meet," I mutter, my eyes still peering out the window. "This feeling inside me..."

Nolan pulls the car to the side of the road, bringing us to a sudden stop as I whip my eyes over to his. He throws the car in park before he kisses my hand and pushes his door open. "Come on," he says, gesturing to his open door.

"Come on, what?" I ask, all furrowed brow and utter confusion.

"Just come on." He cranks the radio up to full blast before he hops from the car. I follow suit with no further questions. His headlights light up the darkened road in front of us, the still quiet of the night swallowed whole by the echo of the radio.

I walk to the front of the car, meeting him by the hood when he holds out a hand in front of him. "Will you dance with me?"

"Here?" I blurt out.

His smile heats my chest as he steps forward. "It wouldn't be right not to get a dance with my girl on Homecoming."

Am I blushing? I'm blushing. I glance around the open road. "What if someone sees?"

"Everyone is either at the dance or already home after the game tonight. We're alone."

He's right. I know he's right. After every game, the town goes all ghost-like. Everyone returns home after the hype of the night, all shops and diners already closed for the game anyway. I step forward, placing my hand in his. He pulls me into his chest, lifting my hands to his neck then dropping his to my waist and pulling me in tight to his chest.

He begins to sway slowly, the two of us bound together in the spotlight of his truck's headlights. I rest my head on his chest, feeling his heart beat along my cheek. I could live in this moment, spend the rest of my life right here in this very spot.

"Baby, you surround me," he sings. "You touch every place in my heart." I pull back just enough to catch the gleam in his eyes. He's looking back at me. "I don't know how you do what you do...I'm so in love with you."

My heart stops, my sway frozen as I look up at him, unsure of whether he was just singing the lyrics, not truly thinking about the words, or if he meant what he just sang.

He reaches up, his hand along my cheek, his thumb sliding along the tinted hue of my skin. "I've never felt the way I do when I'm with you," he whispers. "I'm falling in love with you, Rosalie."

My breath catches, the frenzy within my ribcage one I can't seem to quiet. It's all fluttery chaos and fireworks.

"I'm falling in love with you, too, Nolan," I whisper back, afraid that saying it too loud could mean losing the one thing that seems to bring me peace.

His smile ignites my chest, a shock to my system. Tightening my grip at his neck, I pull him to me, letting our lips meet. Beneath the light of the moon, he kisses me. He kisses me with a passion I could get completely lost in. And I think I have. I think I've been consumed by his strength, by the way he looks at me, by the fire in his touch and the grace in his gaze.

"I want to kiss you everyday just like this, Red. In the open."

I breathe out along his lips, holding his face close to mine. "I want that, too."

"Do you think it's possible? To live in a version of our world where we get to be together?"

I take in the night air, letting it fill my lungs before I release it between us. "I don't know. But I'm willing to fight like hell for it."

He smiles. "Me too, Red. I'll fight with everything I've got."

I nod, resting my head back against his chest. The song has come to an end, the next one much faster. We don't pick up our pace, though. We sway slowly, each of us wrapped up in one another. And we dance. We dance on the side of the road, in the wide open, not forced to hide, just...together.

***

The house is quiet when we get back, the lights off. I'm not surprised our parents are already tucked away in bed. If there's one thing our parents are not, it's night owls. Early risers are more like it. We both head to the kitchen. Nolan opens the fridge, always searching for something else to eat. I, on the other hand, head to the cupboard for a glass.

Nolan spins away from the fridge, a yogurt in one hand, water in the other. With a smile, I hold out my glass as he fills it to the top and returns the water to the fridge.

When I turn to the counter, placing my water beside me, I see a single envelope lying there, and suddenly, I'm a frozen statue. All Anna in Frozen like. You know the scene, where she becomes a complete ice sculpture? That's me. Locked in place, waiting for my one true love to come and thaw my frozen heart.

As if on cue, Nolan asks. "Is that it?" When I fail to answer, he steps forward, placing his yogurt down and lifting the letter before looking at me with the brightest smile. "It's from the Academy," he beams.

I look up at him, still unable to move, barely able to breathe. He reaches out, pushing it in front of me.

I shake my head. "Can you open it?" I ask.

He holds my gaze for a beat before he nods. His finger slides beneath the seal, my heart tight as I wait. He pulls the letter out, unfolding the creases as he scans it. I wait, scared to read his reaction.

When his eyes roll back up to mine, the smile hidden at the corner of his mouth, my heart leaps.

"You got in," he says, his eyes bright. "Red, you got in!"

"I..."

But I don't finish that sentence. His arms are quickly wrapped around me, spinning me around the kitchen before I can even manage to catch my breath. When he places me down, I grab the letter from his hands, scanning the words and digesting the fact that my dream is actually real. I did it.

"I did it."

"You freaking did it."

I look up at him, tears across my eyes, a smile tattooed permanently across my face. "Is this actually real?"

He steps closer, his chest against mine, a hand along my cheek as he looks at me. "This is real, Rosalie. You're going to dance at the National Ballet Academy."

I let out a breath, the disbelief and pride buzzing across my skin. "Thank you," I say. "For getting me to the audition. For believing I can do this."

He smiles. "You did this. And you would have done it with or without me. But I'm so thankful I got to be beside while you did."

I smile up at him, basking in the way his eyes drink me in. "I'm thankful, too. For so much more than that audition." I place the letter down beside us before I slide my hand along his chest. "Thank you for tonight, Nolan. For the dance. For the rose you left in my locker."

His smile heats my chest. He slides a hand around to my lower back and pulls me against him, my breath caught in my throat as his eyes grow darker. "And thank you for wearing this dress."

My cheeks flush, my smile fighting to contain itself. I bring my hands around his neck. "I take it you like it?"

"Do I like it? Baby, I'm a bit obsessed." He leans in, his lips on mine. I push into him, longing for the touch of his chest. His hand tightens along my back, pressing me firmly against him.

My lips part, the smooth, intoxicating roll of his tongue collides with mine. A craving I never seem to get enough of. My backside hits the counter, his hands tight along my waist as he lifts me up and places me on top. My legs open for him as he pushes himself against me. My hand now lost in his hair, I pull him desperately closer.

"Oh my God!" We hear behind us, and just like that, my world is turned upside down.

My hands drop from his hair, his hands fall from my waist. We both part. Nolan takes a frantic step back as I hop off the counter, nearly collapsing on wobbly legs when my feet hit the floor. I grip the counter for balance as I look in the direction of the voice. There in the entryway, a lavender robe draped over her frame, her hair tied high in a knot, is no other than my mother.

"Mom," I say, sliding my hand across my mouth. As if wiping at my lips will actually erase the evidence of what she just saw.

"Please tell me I did not just see what I saw. Please tell me I'm sleeping. Tell me you heard me coming and this is some crazy and ridiculously stupid prank. Tell me anything but what that was. Please," she insists, her eyes bouncing from mine to Nolan's.

When neither of us can muster up so much as a lame excuse, she buries her face in her hands, shaking it back and forth.

"Mom," I begin again, this time taking a step forward.

"Is this a thing?" she asks, barely peering up from her hands. "Was this the one and only time or are you two..." She doesn't finish that sentence, her head shaking back and forth again, willing away the reality of what's in front of her.

"It's not the only time," I admit. "But, Mom..."

"Go to your room," she stops me, her hands at her side as she straightens.

"Mom, if you just let me–"

"To your room, Rosalie. Now."

I hesitate, ready to fight this battle right here and now. But I see the hurt behind her eyes, the fear and confusion. So, instead of giving this my all right here and right now, I nod. I follow her lead and slowly walk to my room.

"Diana," I hear Nolan say as I turn into the hall.

"Not now, Nolan," she says. "Please, not right now."

I don't hear anything after that but my mom's footsteps. She's close behind me, and she's pissed.