A/N: (I posted this on 'Every Time We Touch' but I'll post it here too.) I just wanted to let you all know I'm taking a break from "The Twenty Years". Hopefully I'll start it up again in a few days/weeks, but I just felt like the quality of my writing in that story went down. I want to take some time to think about the story and come up with some ideas before starting again. Thanks for your understanding, and I'm sorry.

Chapter Twenty Two: Doubt by Twenty One Pilots

It was the next morning. Rose had stayed in the hospital overnight, and Jack stayed with her. Finally, she was discharged, and she and Jack were going to the bus. Rose was using her crutches carefully. The doctor had told her she wasn't allowed to put any pressure on her foot for two weeks.

They finally arrived at the bus, and Rose stopped. Stairs. Jack smiled. "Come here," he said, as he scooped Rose into his arms. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck.. "I must be so heavy."

Jack scoffed. "Are you kidding? You're tiny," he said. "Besides, I'm just strong."

Rose giggled as Jack walked on to the bus. Jack carefully put her down into the chair and put her crutches under their seats. "My hero," Rose said with a smile. Jack sat down next to her and kissed her lovingly. He picked up her leg and put it on his lap. "What are you doing?"

"The doctor said you have to keep your foot elevated whenever you can," said Jack.

Rose smiled. "Thanks," she said.

"How much does it hurt?" Jack asked.

"It doesn't hurt that badly anymore," said Rose. "It really hurt once I walked off stage, but now it's just uncomfortable. I don't even remember when they set my ankle. Did I scream?"

"Yeah, you did," said Jack. "You were… beyond high."

"Oh god," said Rose, and her face turned bright red. "Did I make a fool out of myself? What did I say? What did I do?"

Jack smiled. "Well, I had my arm wrapped around you and I was holding your hand, and you told me that hopefully we'd be in that position again, when we have babies."

"Oh my god," said Rose, her eyes widened. She took his hands. "Jack, I'm so sorry. I must have freaked you out."

Jack looked at her and smiled. "You didn't," he said. "I mean, I thought that would freak me out, but it didn't."

"Well it freaks me out," said Rose, and she looked down. "I mean, I do want that at some point, but not any time soon."

Jack smiled and kissed her. "I agree. We're only sixteen. But one day, we'll be ready."

"You think so?" Rose asked.

Jack nodded. "I do."

"I can't believe you came all the way to Connecticut for me," said Rose.

"Of course I did," said Jack. He kissed her lovingly. "You have no idea how scared I was when I saw the stunt fail."

"I'm fine, Jack," Rose whispered. "I promise."

"I know you are," said Jack, placing a hand against her cheek. "You're so strong, Rose."

"I love you," Rose said.

"I love you too," said Jack.

She put her head on his shoulder. "So tell me what happened between Fabrizio and Helga," said Rose.

"I only know Fabrizio's side of it," said Jack. "But apparently he was innocently talking to another girl, and he didn't tell her, and Helga flipped out."

"Oh god," said Rose. "There's no such thing as innocently talking to another girl when you have a girlfriend."

"You don't believe that, do you?" Jack asked. "I mean, what if you have to work together for school or something?"

"It could be totally innocent, but you have to expect that your girlfriend is going to expect the worst," said Rose.

"So let's say, I talked to a girl in my math class. I missed class one day, and she has notes," said Jack.

"I would understand that," said Rose. "But you have to know your girlfriend. And Helga is the classic 'reading between the lines' type of girl."

"Right, I guess she is," said Jack. "What's the rule with you?"

Rose shrugged. "Air on the side of caution. If it's one innocent conversation, I don't really need to know. But if there's anything that would make me unhappy if I found out without you telling me, just tell me."

Jack nodded. Should he have told Rose about what happened with Ivy? She had already had an incredibly stressful day. How would it help to tell her about a kiss that meant absolutely nothing?

Rose put her head on him. "I'm so tired."

Jack took out his headphones and gave one to Rose and put one in his ear. They sat there for a few minutes while Jack deliberated telling Rose about Ivy. It was meaningless, and it would only upset her. But maybe it would come up again, and it would upset her even more.

"There was something I wanted to tell you," Jack began. Rose didn't respond, so Jack looked at her. She was asleep.

Finally, they arrived back at the gym. Jack stroked her cheek. "Rose, baby, it's time to wake up," Jack said quietly. "We're home."

Rose slowly woke up and smiled. "I slept so well," she whispered. "That was the best nap."

Jack smiled. "Good," he whispered back. He reached under the chair and pulled out her crutches. "Come here."

Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around Jack's neck, and he held her in his arms. They got off the bus. "Okay, you can put me down," said Rose.

"No, I'll carry you home," said Jack.

"Jack, that's eight blocks away," said Rose.

"I'm going to help you any way I can," said Jack.

Rose smiled. "Okay, fine. Just don't get used to this, because I am walking to school tomorrow."

Finally, they got back to the girls' home. Jack carefully put her back down over her crutches. "Good night," he whispered. They both went their separate ways, and once Rose went inside. Her phone buzzed. She unlocked it and saw a text from Cal.

C: Thought you might want to see this.

It was a picture. Rose wanted to ignore it, but it popped up anyway. The picture was of Jack kissing another girl. She wanted to assume that it was an old picture, maybe from before they started dating, but she recognized the sweater she had bought for him while they were dating.

Rose was shocked. She got two girls to help her up the stairs and into her room, and Helga was in there. "Hey, would it be okay if we didn't switch tonight?" Helga asked. "Fabrizio and I aren't talking. He was talking to some other girl, and he didn't tell me."

"Oh, yeah?" Rose asked, slamming the door. "Well, Jack kissed another girl, and didn't tell me."

"Okay, you win," said Helga.

Rose may have been able to handle all of this better under different circumstances, but her ankle was itchy, her arms hurt from the crutches, she smelled like school bus, and she had a migraine from the morphine.

Jack and Rose had discovered that they could see each other's windows from afar. Rose walked over to the window to close the shade before they went to sleep. Jack was standing at the window too. He smiled and waved to her, but she just glared at him and put up her middle finger and walked away.

Her phone started to buzz. Jack was calling. She declined the call, but then he just kept calling. "Rose, Jack's calling me," said Helga.

Rose groaned. "Fine, just answer." Helga answered the phone.

"Helga, where's Rose?" Jack asked.

Rose stormed over to Helga and took the phone. "Stop calling," she said, as she was about to hang up.

"Wait, wait, Rose," Jack said. "What happened between twenty minutes ago and now?"

"You can't think of anything that might have happened that would make me angry?" Rose asked. "You kissed another girl while we're together, and you didn't tell me."

"Wait, Rose, she kissed me. I pushed her away as soon as it happened!" Jack said. "I don't want to do this over the phone. Let's meet on the roof."

"I can't climb up the fire escape with my crutches," said Rose.

"Fine, I'll come over," said Jack.

"Fine," said Rose, and she hung up the phone.

Jack went over to their room and climbed through the window. "Hi," he said. He took her hands and sat down on the bed. "I want to say something, and I want you to listen, okay?"

Rose had calmed down a bit after their phone call. "Okay."

"Remember the girl I told you about, that I kissed once in eighth grade? She came over to me and told me was sorry about what she did, and she kissed me. I pushed her off as soon as it happened and told her I have a girlfriend. She showed me a picture of you, about to kiss someone, and I told her it was either old or photoshopped," said Jack.

"Who was the picture of?" Rose asked.

"You and Hockley," said Jack.

"Listen, I have no doubt you pushed her off," said Rose. "But you have to understand, when you don't tell me this, it seems like there's something to hide."

"I know, and I was going to tell you," said Jack. "I couldn't tell you over the phone, and I certainly couldn't tell you in the hospital. I tried to tell you on the bus, but you were asleep."

"Oh," said Rose. "Okay."

"That's it? Okay?" said Jack. "She showed me a picture of you about to kiss Hockley, and I said it was either old or photoshopped. Why couldn't you give me the benefit of the doubt, like I gave you?"

"I tried, Jack, but-"

"But what? It's simple. I assumed there was some kind of mistake, and you just assumed it was true," said Jack.

"I assumed it was old, but you were wearing that blue cashmere sweater I bought you, and I still feel woozy," Rose said, and she sighed. "Listen, there's no excuse. You're right."

"Thank you," said Jack.

"But you have to understand how if you don't tell me about something, it looks like you're hiding something," said Rose.

"I know," said Jack. He wrapped his arms around her. "Can we just put this whole mess behind us?"

Rose nodded and hugged him. "I love you," she whispered.

"Awwww, how sweet," said Helga. "I'm going to find Fabrizio."

•••

Cal and Ivy met a few blocks away. "Well?" Ivy said.

"I sent the picture and didn't get a response," said Cal. "They're probably breaking up as we speak."

"I've got some bad news," said Ivy. "I passed by their home a few minutes ago, and I saw this." She showed Cal a picture of Jack and Rose hugging.

Cal sighed. "Okay, time for plan B."