Chapter 26

Rose couldn't explain it, she just knew he was there; it was like she could feel it. She always had to have her guard up around him and she could feel the walls build up again when he entered the club. Her eyes started to scan, and then she saw him through the mass of people. He was sitting with a beautiful dark-haired woman, across the room. She was laughing at something he had said, her hand sliding up and down his thigh. Rose felt what she finally admitted to herself was jealousy burning in the pit of her stomach. The woman pressed her body against his, her hand playing with the top buttons of his shirt. Rose felt torn between wanting to punch a wall and cry. 'How was it even possible for him to be at the exact same club? Albus obviously didn't read my letter thoroughly,' she thought to herself. She put those thoughts aside and tried to steel her emotions as she watched Scorpius more closely. On closer observation, she could see that Scorpius was clearly a little taken back and uncomfortable with the woman's flirtatious behaviour. Against her will, Rose's heart leapt at this.

Rose felt someone touch her hand and turned around to come face to face with Nate.

"Are you okay, Rose?" he asked, concerned. She didn't know why he suddenly felt the need to talk to her now; he had been giving her the somewhat polite but cold shoulder all night.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rose answered, staring at a nervous Albus. Anger was rising, Rose knew he had something to so with this. "Albus, would you help me get the next round?" Rose asked politely, as she turned, making her way through the people, to the bar. To Nate and most people who didn't know Rose that well wouldn't think anything of it, but Albus could see the bitterness and anger behind her refined behavior. She had obviously seen Scorpius and Albus knew he was about to be blamed for his presence. When Albus made it to the bar, Rose immediately rounded on him.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Rose whispered through her teeth as an obvious attempt to keep herself from yelling. Albus was deciding exactly how to play this, when she continued, not allowing him to answer like usual. "Especially with her," she spat. "Who acts like that? She is basically saying 'screw me now' with the way she is conducting herself." Rose's voiced started to rise as she continued in her rant and Albus began to worry that soon she would start yelling.

"Rose, if you let me ex-"

"Who does she think she is," she continued ignoring him.

"Rose-"

"Doesn't she have any dignity?"

"Rose!" Albus regretfully raised his voice and a few in the crowd of people stared at them. Rose didn't seem phased and asked another question; this time waiting for the answer.

"Who is she?"

So, it turned out, he was in the clear for now. Her anger at him was overpowered by her obvious jealously. What he was concerned about was whether she was going to act on these feelings or ignore them and become more mad and distant. However, he decided to give her a little information.

"Her name is Ava and it's their second date," Albus said with a frustrated sigh. Rose scoffed in disbelief.

"Ha, right. Scorpius Malfoy doesn't go on second dates," Rose said condescendingly. "He doesn't even have first dates, just shags."

"Well, he does now," Albus said, a little angry at Rose's tone, getting the drinks and making his way back to the group. Rose wasn't sure how she felt, she was so confused. She turned to look back at Malfoy, just in time to see Ava lean in and press her lips to his. She hung her emotion clouded head, not wanting to witness anymore. However, she missed the most important part; the part when Scorpius pulled away.

Scorpius was sure he'd heard someone call out the name 'Rose'. A jolt of hope shot through him. The hope of getting to see her, to just lay eyes on her beautiful features, a pleasure he had been denied thanks to his own selfish actions two months ago. However, as he began to scan the club, Ava pulled him into a kiss. He kissed her back briefly, torn between messing this up and looking for Rose. Once she decided to deepen the kiss, he pulled back.

"Hey, let's not go too fast," he whispered to her quickly. She seemed a bit taken back, but nodded all the same. "Would you like another Martini?" he said standing up.

"Please," she said a little bitterly, nodding. Scorpius caught the tone but he honestly could not care less at that moment in time. He slowly made his way towards the bar, looking for Rose. However, when he finally laid his eyes on her he didn't see what he expected.

Rose was standing by the bar, accompanied by a man who could not be much older then Scorpius. Much to his annoyance, Scorpius noticed the other man wasn't unfortunate looking. They stood close to each other, as he seemed to be comforting her. He whispered something in her ear, causing a smile upon her lips. Scorpius just watched in distress from the crowd, as the man grasped Rose's hand softly and led her towards the door, only stopping to say a quick goodbye to a large group of people who he identified as a few Weasley's and their partners. Scorpius felt a pain in his gut as he watched her leave with the man. He knew it was naïve of him, but he didn't think Rose would be able to find a guy that quickly. Sure, he had been on the town for the last month, so why couldn't she have too. The thought had never crossed his mind that Rose could be out enjoying herself as much as he was pretending to every night.

Rose slid into the taxi with Nate. He had to work in the morning and didn't want to be late for Dishwasher Jerry, so they had left early. Oddly enough he seemed less awkward now then he had on the way there, leaving Rose to wonder what had changed. Nate broke the silence.

"Rose, I have to apologise for my behaviour earlier tonight. I have not been the most charming or pleasant of dates."

"Its fine," Rose replied courteously, looking straight ahead.

"No, its not," he challenged. "Rose, I am going to be completely honest with you, like I should have been from the start." Rose turned to look at him. She could see whatever the truth was it was a rather painful subject for him. She placed her hand on his knee and he directed his eyes to hers.

"It's okay, you can tell me," Rose said, in what she hoped was a comforting and encouraging manner. He covered her hand with his where in rested on his knee, before explaining.

"You see about a month ago, my girlfriend of three years broke up with me."

"Oh, I am so sorry," Rose sympathised. Nate shrugged, covering up how hurt he really was.

"Anyway, when you asked me out for drinks, I thought I was over her but honestly I'm not," Nate explained, now avoiding eye contact. "You know, I even subconsciously went to her house first when I was meant to be picking you up. I only realised what I was doing once I got there and had to tell the cabbie the new address," he added with a small chuckle. It started to make sense now for Rose; she could see that he wasn't lying.

"Don't worry I understand, it is totally fine," Rose said with a small sweet smile. He returned it graciously. "Besides we can still be friends, can't we?"

"I hope so," he answered easily, the tension disappearing as they cleared the air. They smiled at each other before Rose removed her hand from his knee and turned back to face the front again. They sat in silence for a moment until Nate broke it once again.

"So now that we are friends, are you going to fill me in about whatever happened between you and that blonde bloke?"

"What?" she said, her eyes snapping onto his. Rose was so shocked that he had noticed her jealousy. She was glad that Scorpius hadn't seen her, that would have made it worst.

"Come on Rose, I know what it is like to want to be with someone out of reach," Nate said coolly. Rose dropped her gaze and looked at her hands in her lap. "Did you dump him or did he dump you?"

"He's not my ex," Rose replied.

"Alright then, who is he?"

"His name is Scor…Scor…Scorpius Malfoy," Rose stuttered. "He is Albus' best friend and basically adopted by my whole family."

"Weird name, but I meant who is he to you?"

"He is…He's...Well he's…it's complicated," Rose stammered as she tried to find the right words. Nate just nodded.

"But you like him?"

"Rarely," Rose replied with a smirk. Nate looked at her with a confused expression. "Like I said it's-"

"-complicated," they finished together. Nate nodded. "Well, one day you'll have to tell me the whole story," he said, as they pulled up in front of Rose's building.

"Maybe," Rose said as she got out of the car. "Thanks for coming tonight anyway."

"No thank you, Rose. See you at work?"

"Yeah sure," Rose replied, closing the door. She waved as the car pulled away before turning around and entering the building. Walking up the two flights of stairs, she thought about what she had seen tonight; it had hurt, but it wasn't enough to get worked up over. At least that is what she repeatedly told herself as she took each step. Once finally inside her flat, she lightly threw her purse on the lounge and headed straight for her bedroom.

Scorpius just needed to see her, talk to her about what had happened. After speaking to Victoire and the rest of the gang, he left Ava and the club. Now, he rushed inside the building he knew she was in, bounding up the two flights of stairs as fast as his legs would carry him. Upon reaching the door, he knocked several times desperately until he saw the light shine through the gap at the bottom of the door. 'Thank Merlin, she's here,' he thought.

So sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Computers are just a pain in the butt sometimes ;) Please review and let me know honestly what you think. Thanks again to my awesome beta, peacock33 :)

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