The funeral was full of emotion, of mourning. It reminded Rose of Steven's funeral, in which thought it occurred to her that she'd once been in Karen's place at a young age.

It seemed as if everyone in Tree Hill was there. Even Dan was there, and Rose wondered how he could have the audacity to show up when he'd treated his brother so badly, even to the point that it wasn't even sibling rivalry but a war. Rose wondered how God could let a man like Dan live and a man like Keith die.

Her own brothers stood at either side of her, and at Lucas' other side was Karen.

It was time for the burial. Everyone threw dirt on the coffin, burying someone they loved, someone they didn't want to let go. For the second time in her life, Rose had lost someone she cared about, and she wondered how many more people she'd have to lose.

She saw Karen, crying, Lucas' arm around her. She approached Karen.

"Karen?" she tried.

Karen looked up at her with red, puffy, lost eyes.

"I wish I knew the right words to say, but no one ever really does. All I know is how it feels to lose the one you thought you'd spend the rest of your life with so suddenly." Rose hugged Karen. "It really does get better, trust me."

"Thank you," Karen nodded.

...

It was the first day back to Tree Hill High, and Rose felt like everything was a dream. There was a memorial for Jimmy Edwards at his locker.

Rose took a deep breath as she walked past the memorial and opened her locker. There were consolatory letters, Hallmark cards, and other things from both the cheerleading squad and the basketball team.

"We're here for you," some of them said.

"So sorry for your loss", "Sorry you got shot", "You took a bullet for all of us".

Rose wasn't so sure about that last one. She hadn't taken a bullet for Keith or Jimmy. She hadn't taken a bullet for Peyton. They'd all taken their own bullets. Maybe she'd taken a bullet for people who would've gotten shot otherwise, but for two losses, it didn't seem to be enough.

Rose shut her locker and turned around just in time to see Lucas kick the memorial, destroying it. Everyone stared at him in shock, but he looked around and walked away. Jake approached Rose, seeing the cards and letters she held.

"Wow, they must really like you," Jake observed.

"Yeah," Rose put them in her purse. "I don't see why."

"I do," Jake said.

Rose smiled as she hung the strap on her good shoulder.

"How's the shoulder?" Jake asked as they started off to English.

"It's better than it was a few days ago," Rose said. "They said it'd take a bit to heal."

Jake nodded.

Rose saw the sign on the Tutor Center. She thought back to that day, and it she as if she'd been shot in the heart rather than the shoulder.

Jake saw her expression and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It'll all be okay," he said, trying to comfort her.

"I hope so, Jake," Rose said.

...

English class was somber, as if there was a looming rainy cloud on the ceiling of the classroom. A group of girls whispered and glanced at Lucas as they did. Rose turned to them and snapped, "If you've got something to say to him, I'm sure he'd love to hear it." The girls turned away and whispered again, this time about Rose. Rose chuckled coldly.

"You didn't have to do that," Lucas said quietly.

"It wasn't a matter of having to, it was a matter of wanting to," Rose said.

"Well, thanks," Lucas said.

Rose half-smiled.

...

After school, Brooke, Peyton, Rose, and Haley hung out at Haley's apartment. Rose hadn't really wanted to go because Peyton was there, but she went for Brooke and Haley.

"Who wants drinks?" Haley asked.

Brooke and Peyton said they did, but Rose shook her head.

"Why don't we ever see you drink, Rose?" Brooke asked.

"Because I don't. It impairs your judgment and horrible things can happen," Rose said.

"You've never had one drink?"

"I didn't say that. I drank when I was fifteen, and then something changed my mind about that," Rose half-explained.

"What changed it?" Peyton asked.

Rose tried her best to remain civil. "I've told Haley this, but, um, I had a boyfriend who was in the car with someone who was drunk-driving and they crashed. My boyfriend died. After that. I vowed never to drink again."

Brooke, and even Peyton, looked sympathetic. Rose noticed this and swallowed. "Uh, anyways," Rose said.

"Let's all not drink tonight," Brooke proposed, "in memory of-what was his name?"

"Steven."

"In memory of Steven."

"That's a good idea," Haley said, putting the wine back in the cabinet.

Rose smiled, honored that her friends would be that considerate. it wasn't necessary, though. Rose was totally okay with people drinking around her as long as they made sure they were sober before they drove. That was all she was concerned about.

"So, what should we do?" Peyton asked.

"Let's get pizza," Rose said, "I'm hungry. I'll buy."

They ordered pizza and sat there eating it, gossiping about anything a normal group of teenage girls would gossip about. Rose thought that maybe everything else could wait. Maybe grief could wait. Maybe all the bitter coldness of the world could wait. Maybe she could just stay in that moment, eating pizza and acting like nothing was wrong, for a long time.

...

Rose got to her hotel room and lay on her bed. She took the letters and cards out of her purse. She picked up the first one(it was from Lucas), opened it, and it read, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." It was all it said, but it still meant a lot to Rose.

The next one was from Brooke. "We are really going to miss you on the team this season. Can you at least diss the other team from the stands?" Rose chuckled.

The next one was from Nathan. "Hey, sis. Congratulations, you survived a gunshot wound...it'll be harder to beat me and Lucas at ball now, won't it?" Rose shook her head, laughing. Classic Nathan.

The next one was from Peyton. It was in a big legal envelope. She pulled out a note first. "I know we're not getting along right now, but I drew this while you were in the hospital. " She then pulled out the bleeding black rose. She ripped the drawing. "Yeah, they can save her," she said as she threw the two pieces into the trashcan.

The next one was from Jake. There were two concert tickets accompanied by a note. "To make up for that date we never went on. Friday, 9:30. "

Rose smiled, grateful to be looking forward to something other than recovery and funerals.

There was hope for someone in Tree Hill after all.