I flipped through the Weiss magazine on my lap, taking in all the elaborate designs models were showing off in the numerous photos. A twinge of superiority ran through me as I realized while my dress was designed specifically for me, the dresses they were where weren’t. My dress was special. But it had taken a heavy beating after my fall… I grimaced at the memory, my left hand moving subconsciously to my head where a bandage was wrapped tightly around it.

            The door suddenly burst open and I nearly had a heart attack. In came Chace, his eyes filled with concern. “Rosie! Are you okay?”

            “Hello to you too,” I responded, smiling at the brunet.

            “Are you okay?” he reiterated, dropping into the seat near my hospital bed. His face was pale.

            My smile faltered at his worry. “Chace, I’m fine.”

            “I’m so sorry,” he apologized quickly, ducking his head. “I should’ve helped you. Or gone first. I didn’t realize how difficult climbing down a ladder could be. I couldn’t even stop your fall…”

            “It wasn’t you fault,” I told him, reaching out my hand and placing it on his knee. “It was mine.” Actually, it was my vision’s fault, but I wasn’t going to let him know that.

            His gaze met mine again, but his eyes were still filled with disquiet. “I almost had a heart attack… I thought maybe you’d…”

            “Broken my neck?” I finished for him with a laugh. “No way! I’m built tougher than that. I only have a minor concussion and a sprained wrist. And some bruises on my ribs. I got really lucky.”

            “I’ll say,” he breathed, slumping back into his chair. “You did save me though. Because I had to call an ambulance, all the questions everyone wanted to ask me were related to you. They thought I had enough stress with you falling down and all. Didn’t want to ask me anything too thought provoking.”

            “They?” I echoed.

            Chace shrugged. “You know, the people from my father’s company. They think it’s so wonderful how close he and I are despite are rare chances to see each other. They’re a bunch of idiots.”

            I grinned. “Then I’m glad to be of help.”

            “But you’re really okay?”

            “Perfectly okay.”

            Finally, his handsome smile eased onto his face. “Good. Sorry I didn’t get to come see you sooner. My dad made me stay for the rest party and by the time it ended I was beat. And your dad told me you were fine, so I just slept. Then on Saturday I was forced to New York for an interview. And now I’m here.”

            “I can leave today,” I informed him happily. “I could’ve left yesterday, but since my dad has absolutely no idea how to take care of an injured person, they decided to keep me here. You know, to make sure I didn’t have brain damage or whatever.”

            His eyes lit up. “Does that mean I get to take you home?”

            I nodded. “If you want to.”

            “I do. We can stop by Florence Pizza and eat lunch too. I bet you’re tired of hospital food.”

            “I am. Real food sounds so good,” I sighed dreamily. “I’ll just get dressed and then notify the doctor’s and we can leave.”

            “Sure.”

            I stared at him pointedly.

            He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

            “Are you going to leave or do I have to change in front of you?”

            “Ah, I’m leaving,” he said quickly, holding up his hand and backing out of the doorway.

            As soon as he was gone, I slid out of my bed, wincing at the pain in my thoracic cavity. Pressing a hand to my ribs, I slowly moved myself to the bag of clothing my father had brought earlier. I struggled into my pants, annoyed that he’d chosen the tightest pair of skinny jeans I owned. After that, my challenge was my shirt. It hurt to raise my arms, but somehow I suffered through it. I decided against putting on my sweatshirt.

            I called in the doctor, received some pain medication prescriptions and well wishing, and then headed toward the hospital exit with Chace. Being the gentleman he was, he offered to carry my possessions. Before we exited, he ordered for me to put my sweatshirt on.

            “It’s cold,” he stated flatly after I protested.

            I puffed my cheeks out at him. “It hurts to lift my arms.”

            “You put on your shirt, didn’t you?”

            “I can live without a sweatshirt!”

            “Put it on.”

            “Don’t be such a worry wart.”

            We held each other’s gazes for a few moments, challenging the other. Finally, a smirk spread across his face. “I’m just worried about my girlfriend. Don’t normal boyfriends worry about their girlfriends? It’d be weird if I wasn’t worried about my girlfriend, right, girlfriend?”

            “Okay, okay! I get it!” I huffed, warmth spreading across my cheeks. “I’ll put the dang sweatshirt on.”

            “That’s what I thought,” he said smugly. “Put up your arms.”

            “Why?”

            He pursed his lips. “Just do it.”

            Holding my breath, I eased my arms over my head. Chace then slipped my sweatshirt over my head, yanking it down to my stomach. Somehow my hair got caught in one of the buttons near the top. “Chace! Chace! Wait!”

            “What?” he replied, confused at the panic in my voice.

            “My hair’s caught!”

            This caused him to chuckle. “Oh, where?”

            “By the button,” I told him, keeping my body stock-still.

            “I’ll untangle it for you,” he offered, brushing all the hair that wasn’t entwined in the button behind my ears.

            I watched as he brought his face closer to mine, his eyes trained on the button my hair was stuck in. If he moved any closer, he’d be in kissing distance. Realizing the direction of my thoughts, I faced away from him, focusing on the ambulance now pulling into the hospital parking lot. After a few seconds my hair was freed and I backed up a few steps, putting distance between us. “Thanks,” I muttered.

            “No problem, Rosie.”

            Offering me his hand, I took it and together we headed for his car. I took deep breaths, enjoying the clean, fresh air. It was a huge improvement to the sterile, stuffy air of the hospital. There would never be a day when I enjoyed the odor.

            Chace opened the passenger door for me and I climbed in, letting out a heavy sigh of relief. It was good to be leaving the hospital. My stomach rumbled in anticipation of real food.

            “Sighing is unhealthy!” Chace chirped cheerfully.

            I gave him a flat look. “Oh really?”

            “Really,” he insisted, grinning. “Anyway, what’s there to sigh about? You’re with me, aren’t you?”

            “It was a contented sigh.”

            “Oh… Well that’s good.”

            Smiling, I turned to gaze out the window while he drove us to the restaurant. After a few seconds he decided to break the silence. “So, I have a question.”

            “Are you going to ask it?” I responded slyly.

            “I am,” he laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way though.”

            My humor faded a bit and I turned to face him. “What is it?”

            “Do you have a um, problem?”

            “With…?”

            His hands tightened around the steering wheel. “I don’t know. Like a disease or maybe a physical issue.”

            My heart skipped a beat in my chest. “W-why would you think that, Chace?”

            “You’re just really clumsy,” he said quickly. “Don’t take it the wrong way! I think it’s endearing— you’re like a fawn or lamb! It’s just, you seem to fall a lot. It takes a few years off my life every time. I’m worried about you, Rosie. I don’t want to do anything that might put you in danger. I shouldn’t have taken you up to the roof…”

            At his words, it felt like my heart had dropped into my gut. This was exactly the response I didn’t want. It didn’t matter if he wanted to keep me out danger or not. If I wasn’t blind yet, I wasn’t going to give up on the things I wanted to do. Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t told him yet. “Well, I appreciate your concern,” I started. It was true. His concern was admirable. “But there’s nothing wrong with me. You just make my knees weak,” I joked light-heartedly.

             “Are you sure, Rosie?”

            “I’m sure,” I lied easily. “But even if I did have a problem, I wouldn’t want you keeping me from the things I want to do.” My words came out harsher than I’d meant them to, so I quickly tried to cover up for it. “No offense. I’m grateful for your concern, but I’d rather have fun, you know?”

            Frowning, he hummed a noncommittal response. Knowing I’d made it awkward, I sunk my head into my hands, cursing myself inwardly. Why did it have to be so difficult to keep a secret? Maybe if I told Chace, he’d understand where I was coming from. It was obvious by his personality that he wouldn’t run away when I revealed I was going blind, but my heart couldn’t shake that one cloud of doubt away. That one cloud that blocked out all the hope.

            “Hey, let’s eat at Friendly’s instead,” Chace suggested, flicking on his blinker. “Change of plans.”

            I glanced out the window, recognizing the giant red and white sign of the family restaurant. “Why here?”

            “I’m in the mood for some loaded waffle fries.”

            Squinting at the sign, I realized the Munchie Manias were buy one get one free. “Oh, so you just feel like being cheap.”

            “You know it,” he responded with a grin.

            “Shows how much you care about your girlfriend,” I sighed dramatically, putting a hand over my heart.

            He laughed. “Oh, so now that you know I’m rich these restaurants won’t cut it?”

            “Nope,” I responded cheekily.

             Parking in the spot nearest to the building, he cut the engine. “No, the real reason is I have to be to work in about two hours. Why don’t we order out and then go back to your place?”

            “Oh, right, I forgot you have a job…”

            He grinned at me. “Yeah. Some of us have to work for our money.”

            Rolling my eyes, I pushed open my car door and climbed out into the chilly air. Chace locked the car before following me up to the entrance. A tiny bell dinged as we opened the door, alerting a cheerful looking waitress of our presence. “Hello! Welcome to Friendly’s! How are you today?”

            “Great! How are you?” Chace responded just as enthusiastically.

            She looked a little thrown off by his gusto, but quickly recovered offering him a wide smile. “Excellent! Table for two?”

            “Nope, we’re just ordering out.”

            “Need a menu?”

            “Nope.”

            “Okay, then you can just go straight to the counter,” she instructed, pointing to the counter beyond the ice cream freezers.

            As we strolled by her, she threw a flirtatious wink at Chace. Which he responded to with a wink of his own. Annoyed, I elbowed him in the side. “Don’t give her false hope.”

            Chuckling, he took my hand in his. “What’s this? Jealous of a wink?”

            “No,” I muttered.

            He ruffled my hair. “Don’t worry, Rosie. I only have eyes for you.”

            “You’re so cheesy.”

            “Cheesier than provolone.”

            I punched him in the arm. “Punny.”

            He winced. “Ow! You broke my Parm!”

            “Well, that’s not very Gouda…”

            At this, we both burst out laughing, earning a disapproving look from the old woman behind the counter who was manning the register. After composing ourselves, Chace leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter. “Good afternoon.”

            “Hello,” the waitress with grey hair responded flatly. “How may I help you?”

            “Can I have two Munchie Manias? One with loaded waffle fries, and two sides of mini mozzarella sticks. And the other with…”

            I stepped forward. “Loaded waffle fries, mini mozzarella sticks, and chicken tenders. Barbeque sauce. And this is all to go.”

            The woman nodded, scribbling down our order. “Will that be all?”

            “Yep.”

            “Your total is $9.52.”

            Chace fished his wallet out of his pocket and handed the waitress a ten. A few moments later she handed him back his change and went off to put in his order. I watched as he dug all the change out of his pocket and put it into the tip jar. When he caught me staring, he smiled sheepishly. “I don’t have any ones…”

            “I’m not judging— ow!” My hand shot to my forehead as a jolt of pain shot through it.

            Chace’s sheepish expression was wiped away and replaced with worry. “Are you okay?”

            Gritting my teeth, I suffered through another streak of pain. “It’s just a headache, I think. Because of the concussion.”

            “Come here,” he ordered, gesturing me toward him with his slim finger.

            Obeying him, I took three steps closer to him and stopped. Placing his hands on my hips, he turned me around so my back was against him. As I was about to ask what he was doing, he moved his hands to my head and began messaging my temples. The pressure in my head dissipated immediately. “You’re like a jack of all trades,” I murmured, reveling in his touch.

            “What trades are those?” he whispered in my ear.

            “A masseuse, a gentleman, a grocery store worker, a cook, a counselor…”

            He stopped. “Counselor? I resent that.”

            “Don’t stop!” I said quickly, feeling the throbbing returning.

            Laughing, he began to massage my temples again. “I think you’re misinterpretation the meaning of jack of all trades.”

            “I don’t even care,” I sighed contently. “You’re like a God.”

            “Well, that’s the best compliment you’ve given me!”

            A few minutes later, our order came up. I grumbled as Chace removed his hands from me so he could carry out the food. The throbbing returned, but much more bearable and duller. On the way back to my house, we chatted about casual things— like the weather, my friends, and his job. Upon pulling into my driveway, I realized there was one too many cars parked in it.

            “Is that a new car?” Chace asked, appraising a Dodge Viper parked between my father’s car and my own.

            My heart dropped into my gut as I recognized it. “Oh, no. That’s my mom’s car…”

            “Is that a bad thing?”

            “Usually, no. Today, yes.”

            “Why?”

            I held my tongue. I couldn’t tell Chace the reason. What was I going to do? She was probably going to scold me for trying to climb down a ladder when my vision was as erratic as it was. Chace couldn’t be in the house for that. But I wasn’t going to send him home before he ate. Maybe if we were quick, we could flee to my room before being seen.

            “Follow me quickly,” I instructed, unbuckling my seatbelt. “Let’s hope no one notices us.”

            Chace seemed a bit uneasy. “Geez, I was preparing myself to meet your dad, and now I might have to meet both of your parents at once.”

            “You won’t if we hurry,” I urged, slipping out of the car.

            Together we nearly sprinted up the path to my front door. Quietly, I opened it, hearing my parents voices in the kitchen. Luckily they weren’t talking about me at the moment. Holding my breath, I tiptoed in, gesturing for Chace to follow me. “Shut the door,” I whispered to him.

            “Sure.” In an act of complete thoughtlessness, he let the door close loudly. An expression of complete horror crossed his face.

            “Rose? Are you home?” came my father’s face.

            Grimacing, I let my shoulders sag. “Yeah. I’m back with my boyfriend Chace.”

            “Boyfriend? What boyfriend?” I heard my mom say to my dad.

            “Well, she’s not a kid anymore…”

            Chace caught this and grinned. “Maybe I should go introduce myself.”

            I opened my mouth to advise him not to, but my mom beat me to it. “Why don’t you come into the living room and introduce yourself?”

            “Sure!” Chace called back eagerly. “Come on, Rosie.”

            My heart thumped in my chest loudly as we moved into the living room. I prayed to God neither of my parents mentioned my disease. Before I could take even three steps into my living room, my mom threw her arms around me in a tight hug. The only thing I could see for a few moments was her curly, chestnut hair. “Rose! It’s so nice to see you!”

            “Hi, Mom,” I greeted, a little embarrassed by her actions. She pulled away from me, her green eyes lit up with excitement. The same eyes I inherited. “Don’t kiss me—”

            Ignoring me, she gave me a big, fat kiss on my cheek. “You should call me more! I’m worried about you!”

            “I’m fine,” I said quickly.

            “What about your—”

            “This is Chace,” I interjected, pointing at said young man. “He’s eighteen and in his first year of college.”

            Immediately my mom switched over to Chace, holding out her hand. “Hello, I’m Brenda, Rose’s mom.”

            “Well, I see where Rosie gets her beauty from.”

            I smiled wryly. Leave it to Chace to say something like that.

            My mom laughed. “Well, I think I’m going to like you. Aside from the fact you sent my poor little girl to the hospital…”

            “Brenda, it wasn’t his fault,” my dad cut in, rolling his eyes. “Ignore her, Chace. I’m Todd, Rose’s father.”

            Chace offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

            “Call me Todd.”

            “He’s even polite,” my mom said, nodding. “Nice, nice.”

            Feeling a little anxious, I gave them a small wave. “Okay, we just got lunch so we’re going to eat—”

            “Wait! I came to visit you! You were in the hospital! Are you sure you’re okay?” my mom asked, grabbing my arm. “We should go take you to Dr. Vasquez.”

            I shot her a warning look. “Mom.”

            Her eyes wandered to Chace and a frown flitted across her face. “Oh… You haven’t…”

            My dad cleared his throat, coming to my rescue. “Why don’t you two go eat? You can visit with your mother after Chace leaves.”

            “Sorry,” Chace apologized. “I don’t mean to invade.”

            “You aren’t,” I assured him.

            “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” my mom added. “Take care of my daughter, okay?”

            Chace grinned handsomely at her. “I’ll try my best. She’s a bit clumsy.”

            “What do you mean?”

            Once again my dad interjected. “She’s always been clumsy. Don’t stress yourself out too much.”

            “I’ll try not to,” Chace responded with a laugh.

            Holding my mom’s gaze, I grabbed Chace’s hand and began dragging him out of the room. “Come on, let’s go up to my room.”

            “You’ll have to come to my house for dinner at some point, Chace!” my mom called after us. “I make a mean corned beef and cabbage!”

            “Sounds good!” Chace replied.

            I nudged him in the hip with my hip. “Don’t encourage her.”

            “I’m not. I really want to.”

            I glanced up at him, surprised by the look of longing on his face. For a few seconds I was confused, until I remembered his mom lived on the other side of the country. Feeling guilty now, I squeezed his hand. “Okay, then we can go soon.”

            “Good,” he responded happily. “But, ah, speaking of plans. I forgot to tell you. I’m really busy this entire week, so I probably won’t be able to have dinner with you, so don’t worry about it.”

            I frowned. “What? Why?”

            “Well, I have work Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night. And on Wednesday I’m meeting with Noah, remember? I won’t have time to come over and I don’t want to keep you up late on a school night.”

            “I really don’t mind, Chace.”

            “I do,” he insisted. “You can come over Friday night and I’ll tell you all about what happened with Noah, okay?”

            “Okay,” I agreed reluctantly.

            Chace chuckled. “Maybe we’re hanging out a little too much. You’re so eager to see me all the time.”

            My cheeks warmed. “T-that’s because…”

            “Don’t worry, I feel the same way,” he told me, leaning down to kiss my cheek. “But I don’t want you to get bored of me either.”

            “I could never!”

            “That’s good to hear. Can you believe it’s already been a month and a half since we met? Or rather, started actually hanging out.”

            I shook my head. “No. It feels like it’s only been a week.”

            He placed his arm around my shoulder. “Well, they do say time flies. But this is my first time going to your room. I’m excited.”

            “Remember my parents are downstairs.”

            Laughing, he glanced down at me. “Thinking of something naughty?”

            “Nope. I don’t put out on the first date,” I told him with a wink. “Especially one to Friendly’s.”

            “This isn’t our first date though,” he pointed out.

            “Since we started officially dating, if I did count this, then it would be.”

            He hummed. “I see. So it’s starting now. So how many dates do I have to wait before I can get into your pants and then ditch you?”

            I shoved him to the side. “You’re not supposed to tell me your plans! You’re supposed to wait to the fifth date, then after I fall asleep when the deed is done, you escape and leave me to figure it out!”

            “That’s no fun!”

            I laughed now. “I could never imagine you doing that, Chace. No matter how hard I try.”

            “That’s because I’m not a jerk. But is that five date thing the rule?”

            I raised an eyebrow. “Is that a serious question?”

            “Yes.”

            My heart skipped a beat. “Oh, um. Not really. I mean, I guess…”

            “You’re so cute,” he commented, crushing me to his body. “Too bad for you, I have no date limit rules. It’s an I-love-you rule.”

            “What’s that?”

            “I have to hear the words I love you from your lips,” he clarified. “And you have to hear them from me too.”

            I smiled at him. “That sounds good.”

            “Do you love me yet?”

            “Nope,” I responded teasingly. “We just started dating two days ago, remember?”

            “Damn,” he swore quietly.

            Coming to my room, I opened it, revealing the sea of blue and green. “Sorry, it’s a bit… color coordinated.”

            He peered inside and grinned. “Ocean, huh?”

            “I guess it could be an ocean,” I mused, glancing at my white walls, light blue carpet, and dark blue bedspread. The desk in the far corner of my room was made out of white birch, as were the window frames.

            Plopping himself on the floor, Chace opened the paper bag from Friendly’s and pulled out his food. “Come to Papa,” he said wickedly.

            “You’re weird,” I stated, taking a seat across from him and folding my legs under me.

            “I love loaded waffle fries,” he groaned, shoving a handful into his mouth.

            “Hey! Careful! Don’t spill on my carpet!”

            He waved me off. “Don’t worry, Rosie. I’m not a messy eater.” No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, a glob of cheese fell off his fries and onto the floor. “Er… I can clean that.”

            “No, no, it’s alright,” I sighed. “Should’ve expected that.”

            “Always expect the unexpected with me.”

            “Except that wasn’t unexpected.”

            He stuck his tongue out at me. “Jerk.”

            “If I was a jerk, I’d make you lick my carpet lean.”

            “That’s what she said.”

            I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Chace, you’re gross.”

            “You have to admit, that was funny,” he responded in a chuckle. “Eat up, Rosie.”

            “I don’t know if I want to after that.”

            He pushed my plastic box of food toward me. “Don’t make me waste my money.”

            “Mine was free!”

            “Actually, mine was free. I paid for yours.”

            Scowling, I flipped open the top and pulled out a chicken tender, ripping a piece of ferociously. “Happy?”

            Chace squinted at me. “Here we have an example of a carnivore in her prime, ripping tender flesh from a chicken with her sharp teeth.”

            Blushing, I chucked the rest of my chicken at him. “Shut up!”

            “Hey!” he protested as the meat hit him directly on the nose. “Don’t waste food!”

            “Don’t make fun of me!”

            “I wasn’t! I was making a science documentary on the Rosievore!”

            Just as I was about to shout at him, my head throbbed painfully and I bit my tongue, holding in a cry of pain. This didn’t go unnoticed by Chace. Before he could say anything though, I held up my hand. “I’m fine. I guess I shouldn’t yell.”

            “You still need rest,” he told me, frowning. “I’ll finish eating and then get out of here.”

            “You don’t need to—”

            “I want to,” he cut me off. “I don’t want to cause you pain.”

            “You’re not,” I promised him. “It’s my head.”

            “I know, but…”

            I smiled at him. “You’re really kind, you know that Chace?”

            He caught my eye and half-smiled. “I’ve heard that before.”

            “I’m happy you let me be your girlfriend.”

            “And I’m happy you are happy about that. Now finish eating and take a nap.”            Sighing, I decided not to argue with him. “Okay, okay.”

            “I’m sure you’ll have wonderful dreams about me.”

            I was sure I would too.

_________________________ 

Phew! Another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it :D I don't have much to say, except I wish I'd get a lot of snow so I could have a snow day tomorrow. I really don't want to go to school, haha. Ah! Also, I only have about three more banners for the pictures on the side, so if anyone would like to make one, I'd appreciate it! You can post them on my fan page (in the external link!) or e-mail them to me (my e-mail's on my profile where you can copy-paste it!) 

Anyway, if you haven't already voted in the Watty Awards, please go vote for "A Surreptitious Relationship" under Most Popular! Thank you very much! C: