The next time Molly saw Steve was at one of those glorified office parties Tony threw at the Tower. He was sitting near the bar holding a drink while a young pretty brunette eying him from the side. It had been just shy of a month since Rose had left. She had sent an owl stating that although she had sorted things out she wanted to take a break of fresh air. She said she needed to put things into perspectives but that she would be back soon. It both comforted Molly and worried her.

The longer Rose was away the greater a chance someone would snatch Steve up. He was hurting right now and even though he wasn't the type for a casual fling the mental state he was in might push him to a rebound relationship.

"You're making that face again," said Tony.

"Look at him! She's been gone for a month and if she stays away any longer he's not going to make it," said Molly.

"I doubt a couple of drinks are going to kill him. Besides he deserves them," said Tony.

"Not that, though he's had more than a couple of drinks, it's the girl," frowned Molly.

"It's been a month Molly so you can hardly blame him. Maybe if they left on better terms but she just broke up with and went back to England," said Tony.

"I know! That's what makes it so frustrating. I can't march up to him and stop him and I can't force Rose to come back if she's not ready. I do wish she wasn't going back to France," said Molly as she turned away from the talking duo.

"I thought you were from England?"

"She's staying there with Gabrielle. She stayed there for a while before coming to New York so I guess she wants to stay there for a while before coming back," said Molly.

France was the best place for Rose right now. The Burrow was nice but being constantly surrounded by family wouldn't give Rose a chance to think. France was familiar and Gabrielle was a good listener and at the same time Rose had time to just sit back and breathe. She might have gotten her answers in England but she was going to make up her mind in France and Molly only hoped that the outcome would be for the best.

"Don't worry about her," Lucy chimed in as she joined them.

"That's my job remember? You go on adventures. Rose pretends to be normal and I worry. It's a brilliant system and we've had it for ages."

"She'll be back. Rose and Steve will work this out now that she had a chance to sift through her issues," said Lucy.

"You might not want to bet on that," said Tony.

"Why?" asked Molly.

"Seems like red heads aren't the only thing Steve likes," said Tony as the girls whirled around in time to see the young brunette and Steve kiss.

_***…***_

The advice her grand dad gave her still swirled in her head and to be honest she wasn't sure if Steve was the one. She liked him well enough but it scared her that after so few months she was so close to him. Those were the thoughts that swirled through her head when she first ran away.

She didn't have a chance to really dwell on it while she was at the Burrow. Her parents were delighted in having her back and wasted no time in trying to make her feel comfortable. She didn't mind their efforts too much because she didn't want to face her fears.

Seeing her cousins all gathered around and being happy made Rose content. It also made the choice harder for her. It made her wonder if she gave up on the magical world a bit too soon. Here in the world of magic they had found happiness. They all had the same problem as her, the problem of fame, yet they still managed to find people that saw them for their true selves. She wanted that and her family just wasn't enough.

It was then she realized the true core of her problems. She needed to decide what it was she wanted, stay home and maybe find happiness or go back and take a chance. Either option was risky and she needed a place to think so France was naturally next on the agenda.

The week in France was perfect. Here in France in the presence of a world that continued to move on ebbed away Rose's fear. Love is layered. One simple surfaced fact wouldn't destroy the entire foundation of a relationship. The only question now was did she love Steve and more importantly did he love her. It didn't take too long for Rose to gather up her Gryffindor courage after that.

It was too bad that courage failed her when she arrived.

The first thing she did was head back to the flat. Either her cousins were home or they were at the Tower. Since it was a little late in the day it didn't really surprise her to find the flat empty. Either way she needed to set her bags so Rose didn't really mind terribly.

She made her way to Stark Tower quickly before even the thought of phoning ahead even crossed her mind. She probably should have called because she wasn't allowed in the Tower. Apparently she had been gone to long so Rose was forced to wait for Tony to manually let her in. She had only been waiting for a couple of minutes when she was joined by a young woman.

She didn't recall ever seeing her but she supposed that there was probably a party of sorts at the Tower which would easily explain her appearance.

"Do you come to the parties often?" Rose asked.

"Sometimes, more now than before," the stranger answered easily enough.

"Ah," said Rose as she tried to stifle the awkward atmosphere with mindless chatter.

"Yeah."

They stood, fidgeting under the pretense of looking somewhat busy as they tried to will the door to open. The minutes stretched to what seemed like an eternity when Tony finally appeared at the door. Rose wasn't sure if the look of shock was at her appearance or at the other woman.

"Ah, Rose you're back. Molly didn't mention anything…Amanda why don't you go up. I need to key in Rose to the Tower again," said Tony.

The woman, Amanda as Tony called her, gave a lingering look at Rose before she went on her way. Tony had never looked so awkward and she wondered what it was that made him squirm.

"So did you have a nice time back in France? Lucy mentioned that you liked it more than New York. Good memories?"

"Yeah…I worked there for a bit before coming to New Work the first time. Look Tony, you look like that one time dad was hiding the fact that my goldfish died. Is something wrong?"

Tony didn't even have a chance to answer before Amanda came back down, this time tugging someone along with her.

"Thanks Tony for letting me in. I'll make sure to bring him back before his curfew."

Rose had to blink a few times to convince herself that she was not dreaming. It really was Steve holding some other woman's (Amanda her brain provided) hands. Steve looked a bit shocked as well but the look didn't stay long as Amanda already had him halfway out the door. The door clicked with a resonating thud and Rose turned back to face Tony.

"Well I can see why you were so nervous now," Rose said dryly.

"Well you were gone for a long time and ─"

"It's okay Tony. I didn't expect Steve to wait forever. You said Lucy was here too? We should probably go up then, she has this thing and always knows when I'm in the same building. If we don't hurry up she's going to get very annoying," said Rose.

She didn't expect Steve to wait forever, logically it was impossible, but she had hoped things would still be the same. But she had waited too long. Not that she could blame him. The girl he was going to confess his secret to went ahead and broke up with him before he had a chance. He probably thought it was his fault so he had no reason to believe Rose would come back for him. Plain and simple, she was too late.

A/N: Chapter Three! So the next chapter will hopefully be out next weekend but with finals looming in a few weeks I might have to postpone until the holidays. That being said I have two possible ending planned out for this story. One is a much harsher end and another totally takes a leaf from Shakespeare and is more optimistic.

I wanted to the readers to decide which ending they want since I'm pretty much undecided as to which one I want more. Either way I would still post the alternative ending just not with this story.

I'm planning a collection of one-shots about the Average Universe or at least with the same concept. I would publish the alternative ending there.

I also wanted to thank everyone who had reviewed/followed/favorite this story. I didn't think the story would hit off so I'm really grateful for your reviews.

On that note, can Rose survive the competition? Will Molly take her role as protector too seriously?