Consequences

Rose tried not to worry what her mother had been told by Bob about their informal arrangement. She wondered if that was part of his so-called 'plan' he'd been on about. Now though, she was nervous about staying at Alec's house when John dropped them off.

"Hold on Alec," John called as they got out of the car. "Nervous?"

"We've stayed in a caravan for a week twice."

John let out a laugh and looked at Rose. Alec went to stand by her and they both waved him off.

"I had a great time Rose, really," Alec tried to assure her.

"Yeah, it was good. I'm glad I don't have to go home, it would have spoilt everything."

"Well my dad did agree to you staying. The spare room's not much though."

"I don't really care Alec. When it's my birthday, hopefully I'll be staying at your aunt's."

"If everything goes well," Alec replied as he opened the door.

His dad was waiting for them.

"Did you two enjoy yourselves?"

"It was great," Rose replied for the both of them. "Thanks for letting me stay over."

"Well just you two behave yourselves and maybe you can stay over for your birthday?"

Alec led her upstairs, Rose picking up her overnight bag from his room.

"We could kiss goodnight," Rose suggested.

"Rose, I was going to," Alec grinned. "Thanks for the present."

Rose looked at the watch she'd bought him. It was the first time he'd worn it.

"Rose, it's the best present I ever had."

"Better than the camera your dad got for you?" she teased him.

"Is that a trick question?" he laughed, putting his arms around her.

After they kissed for a while, Rose said she should go before his dad knocked on the door and reminded them. They spent the next day together, going to his aunt's later as they went to the riverbank and all too soon, it was time for Rose to go home.

They stood outside the block of apartments, Rose leaning into his shoulder and her arms around him.

"I hope no-one's in there," she told him.

"It's not Saturday Rose," he reminded her.

"Huh, like that's gonna stop them? It'll be just like them to change the day. I'll have to try to get to my room without being seen. I'm a bit out of practice with that."

"Yes, you are," Alec agreed, leaning on her shoulder. "I love you Rose, I promise, things will be better once you get to your birthday."

"Yeah, I hope so. I love you too Alec and about us having a limit, maybe we could extend it a bit?"

"I'd like to Rose, if you do? Let's just have one afternoon we do normal things?"

"From tomorrow?" Rose smiled.

"Yes Rose, you can bet on that," he whispered in her ear as he moved a strand of hair away.

He took her upstairs and they kissed again, then Rose went inside to try not to disturb anyone. Bob had not been happy the previous evening, having to yet again tell his friends Rose was absent. When they'd gone, he reminded Jackie of a few things.

"They are going to stop coming round Jackie, if we are not careful."

"Bob, we've tried to get Rose to stay. What else can we do?" she asked him.

"Go ahead with what we talked about. I can set things in motion on Monday. Do you still agree she needs someone to set her straight? She will have to take notice of what she's told. Well?"

"Yeah, whatever ya say Bob, she does need something to go by. What we talked about before though?"

"That still goes Jackie but it does not change anything."

Jackie thought it was always strange when Rose stayed out overnight as she went to the kitchen. That was the only place they talked these days and now, Rose had talked about going to stay at Alec's aunts but would Bob put a stop to that if their agreement became formal?

The next week at school, John was amused the two of them somehow seemed happier at the thought Rose would soon be leaving home. Alec's aunt had no news the next Sunday about his other cousin giving up his room for Rose but she didn't seem bothered, she was getting away from being unhappy in what had been made her home for the past few years.

She and Alec were sat in his aunt's kitchen when John joined them.

"I thought you might like to talk Rose, since you'll be coming to live here?"

"Are you gonna have a few rules?" Rose asked cheekily.

"Nah, it's just a big step for you, leaving home. You have to do everything you can to get into college Rose, that's what my mother expects. She's not bothered about you taking responsibility and getting a job. My brother left home and she still misses him, you can help make up for it."

"I hope I don't let her down then?" Rose replied.

"Don't say that Rose, just be yourself," Alec encouraged her. "John's right, you'll make up for Peter not being here. She won't care if you can pay or not, she just wants you to finish your education."

"Rose, Alec, I know you both want to go to the same college so we'll all work together to make that happen," John told them.

"Yes Rose, we'll get you into college, no matter what it takes," Alec agreed. "I promise, if you don't get in the same one, we'll try again and we'll see each other every night."

Rose knew they'd do their best to help her. When she got home though, her mother was waiting for her.

"Rose, there's gonna be a few changes around here."

"How do ya mean Mum?"

"I can't say yet, Bob has a few things to sort out but I wanted to ask ya not to leave."

"Mum, everyone leaves home in the end. I'm only going a few streets away, not to another planet. I have to do this and besides, it'll give you and Bob more time together."

"Yeah, I suppose so. He just wanted to take responsibility for ya."

"I know Mum but I don't need that. I have Alec's family and I have to learn to be on my own. I'm gonna try staying there for a week, then come back and if it goes well, I'll go for the two week holiday. She thought it would be better that way to help me settle in."

"Don't go Rose, things can change."

"To what Mum? Bob telling me what to do all the time? That he wants me to stay so his creepy friends are satisfied? They come every week, hoping I'll join them and for what Mum?"

"Don't say that Rose, they're Bob's friends. They're the only ones who still come over apart from Christmas and new year."

"So why haven't they given up? I ll tell ya why Mum, they're trying to push me towards their son and get rid of Alec. Well that's never gonna happen, why don't they get that?"

Rose got up and went to her room but Bob joined Jackie.

"She'll have to change her attitude soon Jackie."

"She's leaving, properly, just after her birthday Bob, she'll not change her mind," Jackie replied.

"Well, I'd best make a start tomorrow then, unless you actually want her to leave Jackie? I'll have to get a document drawn up that says she has to get both of us to agree when it comes to things like leaving home."

"If ya think that's the best thing?" Jackie replied, not thinking he'd go that far. "So does she need a parent's permission to leave home at sixteen then?"

"I will check up but we can make it part of our agreement Jackie. We're just doing it to stop her making any mistakes. What if she gets into college?" Bob asked her.

"She said something about when Alec gets into police college, she's gonna go live with him," Jackie admitted.

"That's why when she's older and if she's still with him, we have to get her interested in our friend's son Jimmy before it's too late. If we make her stay Jackie, there's more chance that will happen."

"Rose said she won't ever leave Alec," Jackie told him.

"Well, we'll see about that, won't we? Tell me you don't want her to leave home Jackie?"

"I don't Bob but what's the harm in her staying at Alec's aunt's now and then and her going out with him?"

"Everything Jackie, you don't get it, do you?"

Jackie shook her head.

"Then you'd better leave it all to me and sign any papers I can have drawn up."

"Yeah Bob, okay then, you see what ya can do."

Bob smiled at the thought of what he could come up with regarding Rose and her boyfriend. He knew he couldn't just ban her from seeing Alec but he had to make Jimmy more appealing to her and he was running out of time. His friends had made it quite clear in the arrangement they'd made while Jackie had been absent that Rose had to be under sixteen and there were only a few weeks to her birthday.

Now, he'd been told Rose was going to be staying out yet another Saturday and he wasn't happy about it, let alone his friends once he'd told them. Then he had an idea. He'd get them to come over on the Sunday night Rose would be back, it would give him plenty of time to get them to agree and to tell Jimmy what to do.

Once he got Jackie to sign the papers and Rose had to stay, he'd have to work on his friends, then once things were sorted, he'd be accepted back with the others and Rose would be more agreeable or made to be agreeable. She wouldn't have a choice. Jackie had so far kept fairly quiet about it but only because he'd given Rose some leeway with Alec.

He knew the two of them must have got around to having sex, which should make it easier to lure Rose away from him and towards Jimmy. If he didn't get this agreement between him and Jackie soon, things could start to fall apart.

Over the next few days, Rose told Alec and John about the conversation with her mother and they were both worried about her. They were waiting for Rose after school one afternoon.

"Has Rose said anything else?" John wanted to know as he stubbed his Converse trainer on the ground.

"No, I don't think she wants to talk about it," Alec replied. "What you said, about there being consequences if Rose left home? If Rose stays at your house, can her mother make her leave if she splits from Bob?"

John rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, legally, then yes but it's up to them Alec, Rose would still have to agree to it. She could stay as long as her mother's satisfied Rose is being taken care of. I don't think you have anything to worry about Alec. What takes Rose so long after classes?"

"She talks to Sandra, probably about me," Alec smiled.

John patted him on the back.

"She's probably trying to guess what you've got planned for her birthday."

Over the next few weeks, Rose was looking forward to her birthday and staying with Alec's aunt for a week to give it a try. She knew this was different to when she'd stayed the odd few times and while her mother had been away but now, there was only a week to go and she was getting anxious and trying to find out what Alec and John were up to regarding her birthday.

The Saturday night before, they'd decided to stay in to save money.

"I wish I could stay tonight as well," Rose was telling him as they'd gone to his room for an hour.

"I know but you go stay with my aunt on Monday," he replied, since it was the beginning of the school holiday. "I'll come and help you on Monday morning, you can maybe leave a few things, for when you go back?"

"Yeah, if it's okay with your aunt? I should be feeling nervous but I'm not and I expected some objections from my mum and Bob. Should I be getting worried?"

She went to lean her head on his shoulder, since they were just laid on the bed, not daring to do anything else while his dad was downstairs.

"There's no sense in worrying about it Rose, it's your birthday next week and once you're out, he can't make you go back if your mother doesn't agree. Talk to John about it, I was asking him the other day while we were waiting for you. What do you and Sandra take so long in talking about?"

Rose let out a laugh.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Do ya think we talk about you?"

"I don't know if I should be disappointed if you're not or worried if you are," Alec tried to sound serious.

"Yeah? You'll have to keep guessing then, it's just girl talk. I should be more worried where we're going next Saturday. After that, we'll have to start saving for the holiday, if ya tell me where we're going?"

"You know it's a surprise Rose. At least we won't be worried about my dad being on his own though."

"Yeah, we'll have a laugh with John being there. Wherever it is, I'll be great. Hey, let's fool Bob by me getting home early tonight and go straight to my room before he realises?"

He pushed her over onto her back, Rose ruffling his hair.

"Why are you so worried when you can be so devious?" he asked her

"I might be devious Alec, I had to learn to be since being here. I've lost count of how many times I've had to sneak in."

"That will all be over soon Rose, just focus on that."

"I am but I can't help thinking I'll be lucky to get away with it," she replied, pulling him down for a kiss.

They lay together for a while, arms around each other and Alec resting his chin on her head. He knew she wouldn't stop worrying completely until after her birthday. Even then, there was still time for Bob to get her mother to object, such as what John had said, telling her to leave but what then? Would Rose choose to go with her mother?

He couldn't say anything to her, she was worried enough about being stopped from leaving home.

"Alec, I should be going, Bob won't be expecting me back this early," she told him just before ten.

"Fine, I'll walk you home then but just concentrate on this Rose, you won't have to face him for a week, after Monday."

"Yeah, thank goodness. You could come in for a while, we when get there?"

"No, that would alert him to the fact that you're home. You were wanting to avoid that," he smiled, kissing her cheek.

As Rose was getting ready to leave, Jackie had gone to get some more tonic water out of the fridge so Jimmy's dad took the chance to talk to Bob.

"So come on then Bob, are you still working on getting Rose to stay?" Bob was asked, after he'd told them he was trying to stop Rose leaving home.

They had been very disappointed when he'd told them.

"Oh, I've been working on it, trust me," Bob tried to laugh it off. "I'm just waiting for Jackie to sign something, she'll find out on Monday and she'll be willing to go along," Bob replied.

He was so busy being smug and pleased with himself he'd heard from an unscrupulous solicitor who dealt with domestic arrangements, whom one of his friends had recommended and had come up with a legally binding document to suit his needs and that Jackie probably wouldn't read the finer details and just sign it, that he'd never heard Rose come in after she and Alec had kissed goodnight.

Her mother had just come out of the kitchen and Rose had put her finger on her lips and shushed her as her mother was about to do her usual 'Rose! You're back!'.

Jackie went over to her as she unlocked her door.

"What are ya sneakin' in for?" her mother whispered.

"Why do ya think Mum? I'll talk to ya in the morning, then before I go to Alec's aunt's on Monday."

"I still wish ya weren't going," Jackie replied quietly. "Go on then, before they know you're here but I heard Bob saying something to Jimmy's dad about coming over next Sunday instead, since ya wouldn't be back on Saturday."

Rose was about to reply with a loud "What?" but thought better of it.

"Well I'll just have to sneak back early again, won't I?" she replied instead.

So that was their little game was it? To try and spoil her birthday and make a last desperate attempt, on her birthday to push her towards Jimmy. Then it dawned on her, when Bob had come out and said he suspected she and Alec were already having sex.

She shivered at the thought and went into her room. She had to see what Alec thought about it but if Bob's friends thought that was ever gonna happen, they could think again.

She carefully avoid Bob the next morning, not even getting a chance to talk to her mother but when she got outside with Alec, she told him Bob's friends were changing the night they came over.

"They are getting desperate," Alec told her as they walked back to his house.

"Geez Alec, I'm not going back next Sunday night, I'll sneak my school uniform out and take it to your aunt's," Rose told him.

"Try to calm down Rose. Just go back early like you did last night. They never saw you, did they?"

"No and I hope mum never said she'd seen me on my way in either. I'm really worried Alec."

They told Alec's dad when they got back and he said they'd talk about it with John.

"Rose, I think you should get John involved, as one of your teachers. He can visit your mother and try to explain how worried you are."

"Yeah, I think you might be right Mr Hardy. Mum's been really edgy lately, she might listen to him now. I'll try and talk to my mum in the morning before Alec comes over. I know it's the holidays but she can't object to him taking the time to call and see her."

"Good, I'm sure John will agree," Alec's dad told her. "You'd best tell him what's been going on lately though."

John was just as worried as the rest of them when they told him that afternoon.

"I think I'd better go and see her Rose, the sooner the better. She'll wonder why I'm bothering in the holidays though?"

"If you go tomorrow evening, she may not be that surprised?" Alec suggested.

"Good idea Cous," John grinned. "Best you stay here Rose, unless you really want to be there?"

"No, I'll leave it to you then. I'll go and see her the day after. She has to take notice of you John but are ya gonna tell her that you're Alec's cousin?"

"Mmm, I'll have to think about that. Maybe after I tell her you came to me because you were worried about Bob's friends being so anxious you stayed when they visited?"

Rose sat at the kitchen table with her head on her hands, Alec putting his hand on her shoulder.

"She's gonna be so mad I told anyone."

"Well, you know what the saying is?" John tried to lighten the mood. "You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. I'm sorry Rose but it's the only way to get her to see what's going on. Do you want me to wait until next weekend, say Friday?"

"You'd best get it over with John," Alec's dad told him. "You'd best tell your mother as well, Rose may have to face the consequences when she goes home after next weekend."

"I don't want to go home next Sunday," Rose told him. "Alec says I should though and if I do, I'm going back early again. What are they up to?"

Neither Alec's dad or John wanted to tell her.

"I think you already know Rose," Alec's dad told her, glancing at Alec. "Unless we are all totally wrong about this? Think about it, once you turn sixteen, this Jimmy may not be all that keen them pushing you towards him but just after your birthday?"

"I know what ya getting at," Rose replied. "So this could go on then, for a few more weeks?"

"That's what we're all afraid of," John told her, glancing at the other two.

"They are trying to get you to give in Rose, by making the insinuations and changing the night they visit," Alec's dad agreed.

"What if they expect Rose to give in, because I'm her boyfriend and they think she'll just go off with anyone?" Alec asked. "Just say they think because of that, well Bob asked her a personal question a while back. Tell them Rose."

"No, I can't," Rose looked up for a second.

"John, go get your mother," Alec's dad told him. "Rose, talk to her, tell her what he said."

John went off to get her and Alec's dad backed off, leaving Alec with his arm around Rose's shoulder.

"I know what you're holding back Rose," he told her while they waited. "Why do you think I impose those rules? Tell me you both agreed to wait until you are both sixteen?"

Alec knew he'd catch them out but he had to defend Rose from the question.

"Yes Dad, we've talked about it and we agreed," Alec replied, thinking he wasn't completely lying.

"Good but Bob suspects it's already happened, doesn't he? He thinks if she's been with you, she'll be keen to try someone else?"

"Stop it, both of you," Rose spoke up. "I'm the one they're tryin' to push onto that creep."

"We know Rose, sorry," Alec apologised.

"What's happened?" Alec's aunt wanted to know. "Rose, what can't you tell them?"

"They already guessed," Rose replied, trying to sit up.

"Did that Bob confront you Rose and asked if you and Alec were in a sexual relationship?" she asked Rose.

"Yeah and I refused to answer him and he took it the wrong way," Rose told them all. "So now, he thinks we are and nothing will persuade him otherwise."

Rose thought at least that was better than a complete lie.

"You mean you let him carry on thinking that?" Alec's dad asked her. "Rose, you did even more harm that way, goodness knows what he's told his friends."

"Oh, I think he'd already made his mind up before asking her," John disagreed. "I think the damage was already done and no matter what Rose would have said, it would have made no difference. Rose, you said Bob's other friends don't bother going round any more?"

Rose nodded as John leaned on the back of another chair.

"Well, I think we all know why that was? The other teenagers were already involved with each other and Rose and this Jimmy were the last ones. The friends of Bob's who still go round were also excluded until they got Rose to comply."

Rose suddenly got up and ran out of the kitchen.

"I'll go after her," Alec's aunt told them. "Now look what's happened? Mark my words, there are going to be some consequences to this. Alec, was Rose telling the truth?"

Alec didn't know what to say. He knew Bob had asked her if they were having sex but he'd just denied it.