Chapter 40
Alison couldn't get what Brittney had said out of her mind. "'Why wait?' It's a good point. Mind you, at 6 months, it probably wouldn't hurt to wait a little bit longer," Alison mumbled to herself as she strolled down the street. "But Al and I have been together for years, and he already gave me a promise ring so why have we waited this long?" Her thoughts immediately drifted to her insecurities, but she found herself also wondering why she still had these insecurities. She already knew she loved him and he loved her; last night was definitely proof of that. She had been with Albus for 5 solid years and they had both already discussed settling down very early on. However, Alison snagged on the thought that they hadn't really talked about anything too serious in a long while. Especially now after the birth of Teddy and Victoire's baby, Alison would be lying if she said starting a family hadn't crossed her mind while waiting in St Mungo's or many times watching Victoire during her pregnancy.
It was just after lunch and she was on her way to see Rose; now more then ever she wanted to talk to her best friend. However, she was still feeling nervous, hoping Rose would accept her apology and that there wouldn't be any awkward or tense vibes between them.
Le Coin Rose, which translated to Rose's Corner, sat on a corner street of a new Muggle suburban shopping district. Albus had suggested it. He wouldn't tell Rose why, but he just said to trust him. He had also taken care of all the paper work and permits Rose had to get through the Muggle Liaison Office because she would be working so closely with Muggles. Rose handled most of the baking, but for the café side of things she hired one of her friends from culinary school, Daisy, as her chef. Nate had also come to work for her, this time as a server; he and Rose had stayed good friends over the years.
It seemed the lunch time rush had finally simmered down, giving Rose and Nate time to join Daisy in the kitchen.
"So, do you know what her name is?" Daisy asked in a sweet, excited voice. Rose had told them that morning about her cousin giving birth yesterday.
"No, not yet," Rose answered as she began cutting up an apple. "Next weekend they're having a little naming ceremony and we will find out then, but I suspect Dom knows and maybe her parents know."
"Still, it must have been boring to sit around in the hospital waiting room with basically your whole family for that amount of time with nothing to do," Nate commented.
"It really wasn't that bad," Rose said thinking about how much fun she had had hanging out with Scorpius and Dom.
"Oh, I bet there was some family drama with everyone in the one place," Nate said. "Come on, spill." Rose laughed. They really didn't know the half of it, but it wasn't really family drama, more so her drama.
"Nope, sorry," Rose replied. "Everyone knows some things must stay within the family."
"Oh, you're no fun," Daisy teased. Rose laughed along with her friends while she finished her apple.
"Well, back to work," she said as she made her way back out of the kitchen, passing the cash register, towards her office. However, before she could retreat to the book work in the sanctuary of her office, someone walked through the door. Rose froze at the sight of her best friend, feeling completely unprepared to apologise the way she wanted too. Rose had already made arrangements to leave early from work so that she could talk to Alison without being late to her parents for dinner, but she didn't think Alison would drop by today.
"Hey," Alison greeted Rose with a small smile.
"Hey," Rose returned. The two friends stood there in silence, both trying to figure out the best way to navigate the situation, when suddenly they both gave up.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time, causing the two friends to laugh wholeheartedly at their nervousness.
"Would you like some lunch?" Rose asked, pointing to a free table in the corner.
"I would love some," Alison replied, smiling gladly.
"Thank you," Alison says as Rose placed a slice of quiche in front of her and joined her at the table. Rose smiled in reply as she took a sip of her tea. A silence passed between them. They had both enjoyed small talk while Rose was serving to Alison's order, but they both knew they had to discuss what happened. On top of that, Alison was still thinking about her situation with her boyfriend as her boss' words floated around in her mind.
"Listen Rose, I am really sorry about how I acted last night. It was the wrong time and place to bring it up, and probably the wrong way to say it too," Alison rambled. She slowed down to take in Rose's reaction. Rose just nodded numbly, seemingly taking in all her best friend had to say. "You're my best friend, I just want you to be happy," Alison sighed, reaching across the table and placing a comforting hand on Rose's forearm. Rose looked up and smiled gratefully.
"I know you do and you're right, it wasn't the right time or place, but it still needed to be said," Rose said, looking down at her tea. Alison was shocked that she admitted it so easily; she thought that because she had called Rose out on it last night it would take longer for her to admit it today. Rose sighed and looked up, to meet Alison's eyes. "I am so sorry about Ben's treatment of you and how I snapped at you last night. You are right. Things between us haven't been what they used to be for a while now. It's just we are both so focused on our jobs at the moment and it is showing."
"I think he is a little more then you," Alison commented.
"Maybe…but that is just who he is," Rose mumbled.
"And I respect that, Rose, but it's not who you are," Alison reasoned. "And you should be able to be yourself with him." Rose just listened and nodded, slightly ashamed that she let it get this far, and that she had never truly opened up properly with Ben. She held back parts of herself to be what she thought he wanted, needed and what made it simpler; now it was coming between them. What made it worst was despite everything, she still cared deeply for Ben. He may be a bit of a workaholic, and extremely driven to the point that it may be considered unhealthy, maybe even a little self-centred, but he was still sweet and caring, and she still cared about him. The problem was that she realized it may not be in the same way he cared about her; the way in which someone should care about who they intended to marry.
"He apologised this morning," Rose interrupted their silence, looking down at her hands. "He was his sweet self again," she added solemnly. "It was like it used to be for a little bit, but at the same time it wasn't." Alison just nodded and waited for her best friend to continue. "He talked about being part of my family officially," Rose said hinting clearly at what she meant. Alison looked up shocked. She couldn't help but feel envious towards Rose, Ben was thinking about marriage after a year and she and Albus hadn't talked about it in well over that amount of time; probably not since she moved in with him nearly two years ago. She had to bring herself back, knowing that she had to be there for Rose at the moment, rather than worry about her insecurities and her relationship.
"And how did you react to that?" Alison asked.
"I freaked," Rose replied. "But on the inside, he was oblivious to my internal mental breakdown."
"Was he really hinting at asking officially soon?"
"No, he definitely wants to wait until much later down the track."
"Oh."
"What do you mean by 'oh'?" Rose asked knowing that Alison was trying to tell her something. "You know, you can say it," Rose started into one of her rambling rants. "You're wondering why I would freak out if he made it clear he wouldn't be doing anything about it for a while? Well, we already both know that answer, don't we?"
"We do?" Alison asked, clearly amused but happy to see her friend show some of her usual behaviour.
"Yes! We do. It's because the idea of ever marrying him is scary enough as it is," Rose finished with a huff. Then, as if finally hearing what she said, Rose groaned as she leaned forward resting her head in her hands. "Why is it such a scary thought?" Rose mumbled.
"You know why," Alison replied.
"He really is a great guy though," Rose sniffed, holding back tears that she hadn't notice filling her eyes.
"I know he is, but all I am saying is he may not be the right guy," Alison said, her hand giving Rose a comforting squeeze where it rested against her forearm.
Hugo's Apartment
"Hue, I'm back," Scorpius called out, as he entered the apartment with Albus right behind him.
"We're in the 'Cool Room'," Hugo replied. Albus raised a questioning eyebrow at Scorp. Albus hadn't actually been in his cousin's new apartment before and was wondering what Hugo had dubbed the 'Cool Room'.
"He has all of his Muggle arcade games and video games set up in there, among his Chocolate Frog card collection," Scorpius whispered humorously to Albus, as they made their way to the room in the back. "It's a bird free zone."
"Oh Scorp, this guy showed up looking for you," Hugo called out as Albus and Scorpius neared. "And he looked pretty cool so we let him stay." Scorpius and Albus looked at each other, slightly worried about Hugo just letting a stranger into the apartment because he looked cool, and walked a little quicker.
"Really? Who?" Scorpius stalled as they rounded the corner and entered the room. Scorpius scanned the room, finding Hugo, Lysander and John, who was another player for the Canons, lounging on bean bags in front of a large flatscreen each with a game controller in their hands. Beer and Popcorn scattered the floor. Albus and Scorpius moved further into the room as Lysander started complaining to John about him cheating. "Hugo, who is here to see me?"
"Oh, he was around here somewhere," the redhead replied, clearly distracted.
"Quite the 'crib' you have here," a voice said. Scorpius knew who it was immediately by the way he said crib with a mocking tone. He and Albus both turned around to see a man with shortcut, sandy brown hair with gentle yet manly facial features. "Hey mate, fancy seeing you here," Scorpius greeted his friend kindly, slapping their hands together in what seemed like a special kind of handshake. He looked familiar to Albus but he could not place from where, but he could detect the existence of a subtle Irish accent in his voice.
"Al, do you remember Max?" Scorpius asked, stepping to properly introduce his mates.
"So, this is the famous Max I have heard so much about," Albus said with his kind smile. "Scorp has told me many things about you."
"All good, I hope," Max replied with a chuckle.
"Of course," Scorpius added, seriously.
"Well…" Albus trailed of suggestively with a smirk.
"Don't worry, whatever he has told you about me, I have three times as many good stories about him that I'd be happy to share," Max teased.
"I just might have to take you up on that sometime," Albus mocked back as Scorpius groaned. "Anyway, you seem familiar, have we met before?" Albus asked, extending his hand out to Max's in greeting.
"Not officially. I was a year below you at Hogwarts," Max replied, as he shook Albus' hand.
"Well, it is nice to meet you, officially."
"Likewise."
"So, I am curious, how did you meet Scorp?" Albus asked, looking between Scorpius and Max. "I knew everyone he knew at Hogwarts."
"It's a long story," Scorpius replied.
I am so sorry about how slow I am updating. I have no excuse :( But I hope you enjoy this. We meet a new character and we will see more of him as we progress. Next chapter is family dinner with Rose and Hugo's parents. Should be interesting ;)
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