Chapter Forty Eight: Stand By Me by Ben E. King

Jack and Rose walked back to the home. Jack sat on his bed while Rose was in the shower. Jack looked up from his phone to see Rose standing in a towel. She dried her hair off and went to sit next to him. "I'm so tired," she whispered, nuzzling her head against his chest.

"I'm sure you are," said Jack. He kissed the top of her head, smelling her conditioner. "Have I mentioned how impressed I am that you thought to take my phone with you?"

"I figured someone would take mine," said Rose. "I knew your first move would be to track me."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jack asked.

Rose shrugged. "There's not really much to tell," she said. "It all happened quickly."

"You know if you ever do want to talk about it, I'm here," said Jack.

"I know," said Rose, and she smiled. She looked down, some tears building up in her eyes. "I guess for the sake of total disclosure, I had to kiss Cal."

"That's okay," said Jack. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," said Rose. She looked up at him. "When is it just going to be us? No more drama, no more people getting in the way? When will we get our happy ending?"

Rose started to cry against his chest, and Jack just wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Shhh, shhh." He stroked her hair as she cried. "We will, Rose. We will."

•••

The next morning, Jack woke up late. He hadn't heard from Rose the night before, and he hadn't heard from her this morning. He decided to text her, since she must be up.

J: Hey.

There was no response. That was strange; Rose was always on her phone and she always responded right away. He went to get a coffee for himself and for Rose and bring it to her.

He got back to the home, and he waited outside.

J: Got you a coffee.

He waited a few minutes, but Rose didn't respond.

J: Rose, what's going on?

J: It's a little late to start ghosting me now.

Jack was worried about her. She never ignored his texts, in the year and a half that they'd been dating. He decided to go talk to Molly.

"Hey, Molly," said Jack.

"Good morning, Jack," said Molly. "What can I do for you?"

"I haven't heard from Rose all morning. I was wondering if I could check on her," said Jack.

"You can't," said Molly, and Jack was deflated. "But I can."

"Thank you, Molly."

Molly went upstairs, and Jack sat down in the living room. She came back a few minutes later. "She's okay," said Molly.

"She's awake?" Jack asked.

Molly nodded. "Yes, but she says she doesn't want to talk."

"Why?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, Jack," said Molly. "I'm just telling you what she said."

"Okay," said Jack. He left the home and walked back to his room.

He stayed there the rest of the day, but he texted Rose again.

J: What's going on, Rose?

J: You have 20 minutes to respond before I break into your room.

Jack set a timer on his phone for twenty minutes. He hoped she would respond and tell him she was alright.

Unfortunately, she didn't.

J: Okay, I'm coming in.

Jack climbed out his window and up the fire escape, over the roof and down the ladder to Rose's window. He got down to the window and saw her. She was laying on her bed under the covers, looking at her computer. Her eyes were red and swollen, the way they looked after she'd been crying.

He opened the window and stepped inside. Rose looked at him, then covered her face with her hands and started to cry again.

Jack slowly walked over to her and sat on the bed, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He looked down at the computer and playing on the screen was old videos of Rose and her dad.

Jack kissed the top of her head. Finally, Rose stopped crying, and she looked up at him. "What…" Rose began, and she cleared her throat. "What are you doing here?"

"You haven't answered any of my texts," said Jack. "I texted you that if you don't answer, I'm breaking into your room."

"And you have," said Rose.

"Well, you didn't leave me much of a choice," said Jack.

Rose nodded and shut the computer. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," said Jack. "What's going on?"

"Today's the day my dad…" Rose trailed off. "I just kind of shut off that day and wallow. I'm sorry if you were worried."

"Don't worry," said Jack. He kissed the top of her head. "I just wish you told me."

"I forgot about it until I saw the date on my phone," said Rose. "And I haven't checked my phone all day."

"It's okay," said Jack. "Do you want me to go?"

Rose shook her head. "No."

"Good," said Jack. "You need someone here to hold you."

"Thanks," said Rose. She leaned against him and cried.

He held her tightly. "It's okay, it's okay."