Do continue to take care when reading these chapters, although the event is over, Rose's processing may still be stressful to read.

Previously: Rose and Scorpius snogged at a party. But that was before Nick. He lulled Rose into a sense of duty and then took advantage of her drunken state. She managed to escape and Scorpius spent the night comforting her. Liam and Carmen, for reasons yet to be revealed have finally admitted their feelings for each other in a prolonged make-out session.

It wasn't until Rose had gone two days without a proper nights sleep that the full effects of what had happened really hit her. Exhausted and unable to keep her tear-filled eyes open she dozed off hours before the sunrise.

She was running through the woods, the trees grabbing at her clothes, ripping her shirt. Every time she thought she escaped his face loomed in front of her, leering down at her torn clothes. Suddenly he would be grabbing at her waist, trapping her.

"Rose!" Her father's shout came from just outside the door, "Rose! We're running late."

She blinked groggily and rolled from her bed, her hair damp with sweat. She'd spent the last few days tucked in her room, pacing and rereading every book she could find to keep herself busy. She was too worried about seeing Nick to venture very far beyond her house. But today it would be inescapable.

A quick shower, and Rose was nibbling on a piece of toast as she moved towards the car. Her trunk was stowed safely with everyone else's and she piled in, the last one on the pick up route. Hugo was next to her, and Albus sat across. Nick sat on the far side of the car, his gaze averted. Albus had already pestered her with questions about their break up, and he didn't seem satisfied with the reply that Rose simple 'didn't have time'. Unfortunately that had been the best answer she could come up with.

The car slowly filled with noise as Hugo and Lily began imagining how the next year would be. Rose settled into the most comfortable position she could find, her feet tucked safely under her, staring out the window thoughtlessly.

The same blank mind persisted as she wandered through the train station, half listening to Albus' ramblings. But then he spotted Jen and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Rose to settle herself comfortably into an empty compartment.

A forced smile was still half formed on her face as she waved out the window at her parents. They smiled back, looking mostly reassured, before turning to find Hugo and warn him off getting into too much trouble. Slowly the train filled up, but her compartment stayed empty. It was only when the whistle blew that Carmen and Liam stumbled in, sprawling on the seat opposite Rose as the train lurched into movement.

Carmen stood up and moved forward, her arms wide for a hug. Before Rose's instinctive retreat could be noticed, Scorpius appeared. Rose sighed in relief as Carmen was forced to sit down, allowing him to swing his trunk into the overhead compartment.

"How are you?" Scorpius settled down a seat away from Rose, his warm eyes casting a supportive glance over her. She responded with a mostly genuine smile.

Somehow since the event he was one of the only people she felt truly comfortable around. He had taken the time to write to her, keeping her mind off the other thoughts. Their vague bickering had become much friendlier, as he was careful not to criticize her even jokingly. Even better, Rose had only caught a few traces of pity in his words over the past few days.

Carmen rose to attempt another hug. Her mouth opened and Rose could already guess the type of question that would emerge from her lips.

"It's okay Carmen. I'm okay. Can we just not talk about it yet? Especially not now. Albus still doesn't believe my explanation for our break up."

Carmen settled back into her seat, trying not to look defeated. Liam placed an arm around her shoulder, and her barely-disguised hurt faded slighty. Rose's face slipped into a contented smile as she looked at them, their obvious feelings had been bubbling under the surface for too long to ignore.

"I suppose I should be thankful that something will finally keep Liam quiet, but if any snogging commences I'll have to ensure that you cease and desist immediately." Socrpius' words were so eloquent they barely sounded like a threat. Liam squinted at him, deciphering the meaning for a few seconds before flipping Scorpius off and turning his head to quickly peck Carmen on the lips.

Carmen giggled, but Rose knew Liam would take Scorpius' words to heart. Liam was notoriously opposed to any sort of conflict, and he didn't want to risk incurring the wrath of the taller, leaner, blond Slytherin.

Scorpius chuckled slightly. He leaned back in his seat as much as possible, while ensuring he didn't slide off the narrow cushion. His arms fell onto the seat behind him and he rolled his head back, his neck cracking.

Instinctively Rose's eyes trailed down his chest, where his shirt was pulled tight, revealing strong muscles beneath. She felt her cheeks flushing slightly and looked away. Unbidden, her mind replayed their heated kiss from the party.

A voice suddenly popped up in her head, criticizing her for even looking at a man like that after what Nick had done. She gritted her teeth, wondering if maybe she had lead Nick on, it wasn't like she had stopped him from doing anything physical before. Maybe she had been unfair to him; it wasn't like she didn't want to have sex some day. Her eyes welled slightly, wondering just how much she was actually to blame for the events of the party.

Rose bowed her head, swinging her hair in front of her face before anyone could see her red eyes. Apparently she hadn't ducked quickly enough, because a moment later Scorpius had moved a seat closer and his fingers brushed feather-light against her shoulder.

She swallowed and blinked hard, forcing back any nearly formed tears. Albus walked in just as she looked up to smile reassuringly at Scorpius. He looked around the compartment, his brow furrowed.

"Any of you seen Jen?" His voice was filled with confusion as he plopped down into the seat Scorpius had originally occupied.

"Didn't she have some club meeting or another?" Scorpius proffered with a wave of his hand. It was very clear he gave very little care and thought to what groups Albus' girlfriend belonged.

"Cheerleading, yes. But she said she would come find me once it finished and it was only supposed to be for fifteen minutes."

"It's been half an hour Al, give the woman a minute to herself. You two can live without each other." Scorpius jokingly punched his friend, and Rose felt a slightly cold laugh bubble to her lips.

"You wouldn't think they could, the way they started sucking face when he saw her today, like an animal deprived of water." Rose was only half kidding; the other part of her wished she could be as normal as Al.

"Oh shove off Rose, don't pout just cause you decided you had better things to do then snog Nick." Albus spoke in gest but the whole compartment suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked away, Rose couldn't even begin to think up a good come back, her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Nick's hands grabbing at her.

"Alright, what actually happened Rose? You can't pretend you just didn't have time for him. Something happened and I want to know what." Albus glared across Scorpius at Rose, frustrated with all the lying he knew was going around.

"Fine." She felt Scorpius' hand squeeze her shoulder in support, letting her know he was there to keep Al in check if she decided to tell him the truth. But Rose had finally found her voice, and a somewhat more reasonable excuse than her original one. "Nick and I had a fight. Summer was ending and I wanted things to get more serious." She forced herself to look Albus directly in the eye as she lied to him. "I was ready to be in an intimate relationship, and he didn't want to take advantage of that when he was more interested in a casual summer thing."

Albus looked away, obviously interpreting what Rose meant. He really did not want to think about his cousin being ready for that. If he hadn't looked away, he would have noticed the shocked expression on Scorpius' face, and the disbelief as he glared at Rose. Scorpius felt a slight surge inside, anger rising in his throat. He wasn't mad at Rose, but he was definitely mad.

Carmen and Liam looked at her in awe, surprised that she was willing to flip the story. Even Rose didn't fully know what she was doing. She just knew that she felt guilty about what had happened, like it was somehow her fault. Her head was spinning. She didn't want to have to cope with this anymore. She didn't want to have to relive the details, or ever have to look at Nick again. Rose knew that if Albus found out the truth, he would ask her to tell him everything, and then he would make Nick come and apologize. He might even punch Nick, and Scorpius had already done that, so she didn't think he deserved any worse.

But even with those thoughts defending her actions, she felt her throat close at the knowledge that she was betraying her closest cousin and herself.

AN - Wow okay so late late late I know... I kind of get distracted by university and writing essays these days. Shouldn't be an excuse I know. But just wanted to say I haven't forgotten about this story! It's actually the one I am focusing on, and with term coming to a close I may actually have time to finish it. I do have the next two chapters written and will publish them over the next week to thank you all for sticking with me through my delay.

This chapter is meant to be a coping chapter because what Rose went through was big for her, and that's not something you move on from quickly - but the action does resume shortly, I promise.

Please do review, let me know how you're feeling about the progress, and as always, criticisms and compliments more than welcome.

I hope your life is all going well!

Cheers lovelies,

- FTLOS xx