Chapter 4


The next day, Rosa didn't see Connor at all. When Achilles brought her dinner after having brought her both breakfast and lunch earlier in the day, Rosa couldn't help wondering where the man had disappeared to. When she inquired about this Achilles simply said he was "working in the city." It reminded her of Connor's edgy reaction to her question about what he did for a living the other day, and it only made her more curious about the matter.

Connor had told Rosa that there were several other people living on the grounds, and since Achilles wasn't set on taking care of the woman who had intruded into his home all by himself, she got to meet some of them for the first time while Connor was gone.

There was White, the doctor, who she had met on her first day in the house. She was also introduced to two women: Diana, who was White's assistant, and her friend Catherine. They seemed like nice enough people, but Rosa found their company hard to enjoy as they constantly giggled at her heavy Italian accent and asked her questions which really were just intrusive. For that reason, she tried to keep their conversations brief whenever they came to bring her something. This was fairly easy, since she could actually be pretty charming when she wanted to. But there was one thing she did want to ask them about.

"Do you know what Connor's doing?"

At this question, they all went quiet for a moment. Then they tried to deflect it, awkwardly excusing themselves from the room or just mumbling something about how they didn't know, even though their shady behavior told Rosa otherwise. Once they left, she'd voice her confusion with a drawn-out groan.

What is it with the people in this place?


In Boston, Connor was having difficulty focusing on his current mission. There were people, Templars specifically, that he needed to track down, but his brain didn't seem to want to think about anything except yesterday afternoon.

To put it simply, he was thinking about Rosa.

He often thought about the residents of the Homestead during his missions. He worried about them, and it wasn't particularly strange that he did. He was in a dangerous line of work, and he had already lost one family. That had been more than enough. But with Rosa, he wasn't exactly worrying.

Why did I do that?

She'd asked him to, and it was to help her. That was reason enough, wasn't it?

Then again, I could just have asked Ellen or one of the other women to do it.

But she had asked him specifically.

She didn't even know that there were other women living in the Homestead.

This was getting him nowhere.

Agreed.

With relative success, Connor pushed the memory out of his mind and tried to return to his duties.


"I could sew you some clothes if you'd like. "

Rosa hadn't seen Connor for a few days now and in that time she had been introduced to another of the Homestead's residents: Ellen. Right now the woman was admiring one of the nightgowns Connor had bought, the one Rosa wasn't wearing.

"I'd love that." Rosa responded.

The two women continued their conversation. Rosa enjoyed Ellen's company. Out of the people she had met here so far, Rosa probably liked Ellen the best. The Homestead was a very peaceful place, up in Rosa's room you could hear little more than birdsong from outside her window, so when they heard a pair of feet climbing up the house's stairs it was a big enough distraction for both women to fall silent and listen.

The door opened and Connor stepped into the room. When Rosa saw him she was both surprised and a little flustered. She hadn't thought much about their encounter in the past few days of not seeing him, but now she was starting to remember just how awkward it had been, how uncomfortable he had seemed.

Connor nodded to both of them, somewhat stiffly. "Hello Ellen, Rosa."

"Hi." They both responded.

Ellen seemed to notice the awkward air between Connor and Rosa because she quickly excused herself, saying she had work to do. She hurried out and closed the door behind her, leaving the pair alone in the room. An uncomfortable silence fell between them immediately. When one of them broke the silence, it was Rosa.

"Haven't seen you in a while." Rosa said, trying to inject some light-heartedness into her words.

"Yes."

Rosa waited for Connor to continue, but that seemed to be all he had to say about that.

He moved from the doorway to the middle of the room. "How are you?" he asked.

Rosa shrugged. "My leg's still broken, but other than that I'm fine."

"Oh, right."

More silence.

"Well," Connor muttered, "I should go make you something to eat."

"Oh, alright."

Connor walked out of the room. Once he was gone, Rosa let out a long breath she did not know she had been holding in.

Why the hell is he acting like this?


Two days passed. Connor was once again the only one taking care of her, save some occasional visits from the Homestead's women, and his behavior around her was still… off. Everything from his speech to the way he moved felt guarded. He had gone from constantly probing Rosa with questions and trying to get to know her to leaving her room as soon as he possibly could. Originally, his constant questions had annoyed Rosa, but now his silence was even more infuriating.

She tried to turn the tables on him. She asked him the questions and tried to invite him into conversation, for some reason determined to figure out what was wrong with him. But no matter what she said it was as if Connor wanted nothing to do with her. A few days ago Rosa wouldn't have cared at all, but now it was driving her insane.

By now she had accepted her situation. It was a bit strange, but compared to her life just a couple of weeks ago it was wonderful. She was actually starting to feel thankful to Connor for taking her here. She just wished he'd act less… weird. Also, she was bored. So, so very bored.

She still couldn't leave the bed due to her leg and so she was confined to staring at the walls and out the windows at the sky. At times the silence of her room was mind-numbing. The occasional visits from the Homestead's residents were the highlights of her day, but these visits were usually pretty short, as everyone here seemed to have very busy schedules.

"I'm bored." She stated when Connor brought her lunch that day, before he could escape like he always did now.

"Oh." He said, unsure what she wanted him to do about it. He just stood there for a moment, thinking. "I could find you something to read."

"I don't know how to."

Connor just nodded, taking it in, but said nothing.

"But you could read to me." Rosa finally said, tired of waiting for him to suggest it.

Connor came back five minutes later, carrying a decent sized pile of books. Rosa asked Connor which book was the best. Connor said he hadn't read any of them. Based on its cover, which depicted a gothic castle, Rosa picked a book that was apparently called The Castle of Otranto. Still somewhat confounded that Rosa wanted him to do this, Connor brought a chair to the side of her bed, sat down, opened the book and began to read.

Almost as soon as Connor started reading aloud, Rosa stopped paying attention. She'd never felt like she missed much, being illiterate. She'd had more pressing things to worry about, and even now that she didn't she couldn't say she was particularly interested in literature. Still, this was better than sitting alone in silence.

She looked at Connor, sitting at the side of her bed, staring down into the pages of the book. His long hair hung down in front of his face as his lips slowly pronounced every word. Watching him like this, still not interested enough to listen to what he was saying, her mind began to wander.

He looked like he was really concentrating, and his dark hair was hanging down in front of his face as his lips slowly pronounced every word. Was it weird that his hair was longer than hers? And his voice sounded so soft, really soothing actually. How come she hadn't noticed that before?

When Rosa finally realized she was spacing out, Connor had been reading for a long time, not once stopping. Rosa had been looking at him the entire time, not hearing a word he was saying.

"You don't have to read me the entire thing right now you know?" she said. She didn't really want him to leave yet, but he probably had something he had to do. Everyone always did.

Connor stopped, having been abruptly brought out of the story. "Oh, right."

He put the book back on top of the pile and stood up to leave. He almost seemed a little dissappointed. Maybe he really had been invested in the story. As he approached the door Rosa's voice stopped him.

"Hey, Connor," she said casually, "sorry for being a being a bitch earlier."

Connor looked at her. His face betrayed little as usual, but he seemed confused. "What?"

"When I first got here, I kind of was one. Oh, and sorry about stealing your wallet too."

Connor seemed unsure what to say. "Rosa, it's…"

"Fine, I know, thanks."

Connor nodded, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"You can leave now if you want." Rosa said.


A/N: Sorry that nothing really happens in this chapter, some are going to have to be like that unfortunately.