Chapter 52

Rose busied herself with making their drinks, while she watched Scorpius and Astoria. What Daisy had said was at the front of her mind. She couldn't believe how sometimes Daisy thought she could know everything important about a person just by looking at them. Of course, Rose knew that the majority of the time she was wrong, otherwise Daisy would know that she and Scorpius were magical. 'Mind you that is not a conclusion an average Muggle would immediately come to,' Rose thought. However, Rose also knew for herself that there was more to Scorpius then good looks and his occasionally charming nature; this had become really apparent since his return when she had actually taken more notice.

"No actually, I spent most of my time in the country. I lived and worked on a station in South Australia. It was run by this great loving family, and…" Scorpius was explaining to his mother, when he noticed Rose approaching. It didn't take him long to realise she had gone back to feeling confused and frustrated, having had time to think about what had happened again. He fought back a sigh, feeling as though he was going to butcher everything before there was really anything to ruin again.

"Your Latte," Rose said with a smile towards Astoria as she placed the coffee in front of her. "And… a hot chocolate," she added, her smile depleting slightly as she placed Scorpius' drink in front of him.

"Thank you, Rose," Astoria said politely. "Scorpius was just telling me about some of his travels. They are rather interesting and exciting, though you have probably heard them all before."

"Actually, no I haven't, but I am sure they are," Rose replied refusing to look at Scorpius, knowing that he knew that wasn't exactly true. He knew about how she actually at least some of read his letters.

"That's right, I haven't really had the time to fill everyone in," Scorpius went along with it, speaking up before Rose could get away. "You know, with little Sammi being born and what not. I mean I could have written letters telling everyone while I was travelling but I couldn't be bothered to write to anyone but Albus," he added in a somewhat fake voice, smirking up at Rose as she glared down at him.

"Oh Rose, you must join us then," Astoria exclaimed. "They really are quite fascinating." Scorpius' smirk faltered at that not really expecting that from his mother.

"Mother, I am sure this is not an appropriate time. Rose is working," Scorpius spoke up.

"Surely her staff can handle everything for a little while."

"Astoria, I wouldn't want to intrude. This is your time together and-"

"Nonsense, you wouldn't be intruding," Astoria assured Rose. "Scorpius, tell Rose we would love for her to join us." Scorpius received a disapproving glare from his mother when he didn't immediately speak up. He looked up at Rose and found her eyes already on him. Their glazes locked for a moment, Rose searching his, looking for the answer. Scorpius didn't know what to do; he enjoyed Rose's company but this would be awkward until they really had the opportunity to talk properly, privately and that was without even considering the fact that his mother was their present company. Just as quickly as he had found her gaze it seemed it was lost. Rose looked down at her feet briefly before raising them to Astoria. In the moment that her eyes left his, Scorpius knew that he didn't want her to leave. He knew that if he didn't insist that she stay, he wouldn't get to see her again before they left.

"I really appreciate the offer," Rose spoke to Astoria, slowly backing away, about to leave. The two Malfoys didn't miss the flicker of sadness and disappointment in her eyes. "But I do have some paper work that I need to-"

"No wait," Scorpius stood up, abruptly cutting off whatever Rose was going to say. "Rose...I…We would really love for you to join us," Scorpius said sincerely, hoping she didn't notice his slip up. Rose's mouth opened slightly, completely shocked and not sure what to say. He noticed the internal struggle going on inside behind her eyes. So, instead Scorpius made it simple. He reached around her and grabbed a spare chair from an empty table and positioned it at the unused side of the table in between him and his mother. "Please," he muttered. Breathing was a little harder as Rose was drawn in by his intense gaze. Breaking their eye contact, she nodded and sat down in the empty chair.

"Oh Merlin, that was amazing," Alison puffed, trying to catch her breath as she flopped back down onto the bed. Albus' expression turned smug as he too fought to gain his normal breathing pattern back. He lay on his back beside her, looking up at the ceiling with one arm tucked behind his head and the thin sheets barely reaching his waist.

"I can't disagree with that," he said proudly. Alison giggled.

"I would hope not," she commented as she rolled onto her side and propped herself up, leaning on her elbow, to look down at the handsome, sweaty man beside her. Albus tore his gaze away from the ceiling and turned his head towards his girlfriend. She smiled down at his smug face as her fingers absentmindedly traced the contours of his chest. Momentarily, Alison leaned down and whispered sincerely, "I love you," before capturing his lips with hers in another searing kiss. Albus quickly moved to hold her against him as his fingers slid into her hair, preventing the kiss from ending. As experienced lovers, their mouths moved in perfect synchronisation with each other's. Albus expertly rolled them over so that he was above her before moving his attention to her neck. "So, I can take this to mean you're up for a round two?" Alison said cheekily, followed by a moan as Albus reached the spot on her collarbone he knew would get such a reaction.

"Well, technically it would be round three," Albus leaned back and answered her with a smug smile. "But who's really counting." Alison grinned at him before pulling his lips back down to hers in response. The noise of tapping at the window could somehow be heard over the sound Alison's moaning and Albus' grunting. "Just ignore it," Albus muttered against her skin, resuming his previous activities, knowing that Alison would be tempted to let the owl in.

"But-"

"No, not now."

"Albus," Alison said more sternly, pushing him up lightly. He took his attention away from other parts of her body and looked back up at her face. "What if it's something important?" she added as Albus hung his head and sighed.

"It better be," he mumbled as he rolled off her, laying back on the bed. Alison shot up out of bed, quickly slipping into Albus' button down shirt, and retrieved the letter.

"It's work," she said opening the letter and walking back over to the bed. "They want me to go back in," she explained as she read, lying flat on her back next to Albus. "Looks like I am in a bit of trouble."

"Well, you can't," Albus said simply. Alison turned her eyes away from the parchment in her hand and smiled at him.

"And why is that?" she replied in an almost flirtatious manner.

"I have kidnapped you, and what sort of kidnapper would I be if I just let you go." Alison just out right laughed. "Plus, I love you and I don't want you to go," Albus said in a much more serious tone. Alison smiled and leaned over to kiss him again.

"I will never tire of hearing you say that," she replied when she pulled back. "But, my dearest kidnapper, have you ever heard of the saying 'if you love something, set it free and if it comes back, it was meant to be'?"

"Sounds much too risky," Albus said.

"Oh come on, Albus, it won't take long."

"Fine," Albus sighed. "But how do I know that you didn't just use me for the sex and now you're going back to work and leaving me here alone for the rest of the day?" he added with a pout.

"Guess you'll just have to trust me," Alison replied with a smirk as she made her way to their conjoining bathroom for a shower. "Besides, if I was going to do that I would have definitely tied you up," she teased, sending a wink Albus' way before ducking into the bathroom.

Once their order had been completed, Daisy snuck back out of the kitchen to her perfect hiding spot behind the large coffee espresso machine, and watched as Nate delivered their food. Rose was sitting at their table with them, smiling and enjoying what looked like a lovely conversation. The man was very handsome, there was no doubt about that, which made it more believable as to why she still felt like she had seen him before. She would have definitely remembered such an impeccable male specimen, but she just couldn't remember from where. A smile found its way on her lips, despite her deep searching thoughts, as she watched the cute scene play out in front of her. While the older woman chatted to Rose, the handsome blonde man scraped the mushrooms off of his plate and onto the saucer from his hot chocolate. Then he added a piece of his bacon and a little bit of his scrambled eggs, before sliding it in front of Rose. He gave her his cutlery, then got up and retrieved some used ones from free table for himself. They shared a smile, before they both directed their attention back to the older woman.

"What are you doing?" Nate said, humour dancing in his voice.

"Shhh, I am trying to be covert," Daisy replied, not taking her eyes off of Rose and her companions.

"Daisy, you're not MI6, covert isn't your specialty," Nate chuckled, as he attended to another customer's coffee.

"How do you know?" she asked with a cheeky playful smile, turning around and facing him. "Maybe I am in deep character for my undercover mission," she added, cocking out her hip.

"Really? At a café?" Nate teased. He reached across her to get a takeaway espresso cup, suddenly very close. Daisy's breath hitched as she caught a whiff of his cologne combined with the smell of coffee and maple syrup. He turned his head to look her in the eye, his face only inches away from hers. Her gaze flicked to his lips briefly, before staring back into his steel grey eyes. A moment later, he was gone from in front of her and she watched as he smirked while he went back to the drink orders. Daisy wanted to laugh. Ever since they had met a year ago, Nate and Daisy had developed a teasing flirtation that they both knew was just a game. However, Daisy had to quickly shove away the feeling that it was different this time.

"Anyway…what were they talking about when you were over there?" she asked.

"Umm…from what I could gather, the older woman is the guy's mother and she was talking about when he was a baby or something," Nate replied. "Rose was giggling quite a bit," he added, as Daisy turned back to look at them.

"He looks familiar, but I just can't figure out from where." Daisy thought out loud.

"Yeah, to me too," Nate agreed, both of them searching their mind to see if they could figure out who the Blonde handsome man was.

Albus knew that they had to really talk when she came home. He enjoyed their previous activities and how they got carried away, but he couldn't afford to do that again until after they had talked. Alison had owled him when she got to work, saying that everything was alright and that she shouldn't be more than twenty minutes. He had taken a shower and now expected her home any minute. He paced the length of their small lounge/living room trying to figure out what to say. He decided to busy himself by tidying up the mess they had made with their scramble to the bedroom earlier. He had put away his shoes and his belt, before spotting his coat on the floor by the fireplace. Dusting it off, he picked it up and searched the pockets until his hand found the small velvet box. The thought of forgetting his idea for a perfect proposal had crossed his mind several times that day, but he wanted it to be special. 'She deserves perfect,' he thought. With that in mind, he knew he had to wait a little bit longer. "However, in the meantime, I don't think I will carry you around anymore," he said, as though speaking to the velvet box while his eyes scanned the apartment, looking for a safe place to hide it.

"So, it turned out the contract was for the week after," Scorpius finished telling a story from when he worked on a farm in Australia, a chuckle escaping his lips. Rose stifled a laugh as well while Astoria was torn between questioning the intelligence of Scorpius' old boss and laughing.

"So, you stayed up into the early hours of the morning shaving sheep when you didn't need to?"

"Sheering," Scorpius corrected. "And yes. At the time, we were a bit annoyed but it didn't take long before we could laugh about it," Scorpius confirmed.

"Well, it seems like you enjoyed your time there," Astoria said.

"I did, they were like another family for me," Scorpius said.

"It must have been hard to leave," Rose spoke up for the first time in a while.

"It was, but I had to."

"Why, dear?" Astoria asked.

"There was still so much of the world to see, still so much to learn," he replied.

"They must mean a lot to you," Rose commented. "It's the longest you stayed in the same place."

"Yes. They do," he said simply. Scorpius had already explained everything about the family who he had worked for while in Australia. He told them about how they had made him feel like he was a part of their family, just like the Weasley's. He didn't seem to notice but Rose saw the slightly embarrassed and regretful but also envious expression that flashed across Astoria's face for a brief moment. She felt sorry for Astoria. The woman had spent the last six years constantly feeling as though her heart was being torn in two different directions, with no guarantee that either way would work out or be the right one. Rose had experienced the feeling before but not as a constant in her everyday life. "I still write to their youngest son, Jack. And I hope to go back one day," Scorpius continued. "Who knows, maybe with someone…special," he added, unable to stop his eyes from flicking to Rose as he spoke. She blushed slightly as she caught his meaningful gaze.

"Oh Merlin, look at the time," Astoria said and Scorpius and Rose quickly diverted their gaze to her. "I have to go, I have an interview," she explained with an excited smile. They all stood up and made their way over to the counter. Rose told Nate to give them her employee discount as Astoria stepped forward, not allowing her son to pay. Rose hung back with Scorpius, both sending nervous glances at the other and the floor. They wanted to say something, but both weren't sure what to say.

"Well, thank you dears," Astoria turned around and said, having taken care of the bill. "I had a wonderful time." Surprising Rose a little, the older woman stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her in a warm embrace. "Oh, don't worry son," she spoke up, releasing the red head and noticing Scorpius getting his keys out for his Ute. "I will make my way there by other means," she said winking at him and pulling him into her warm embrace. "It's just easier that way."

"Okay, Mother, let me know how it goes," he said.

"Will do," she replied as she made her way out the door. "Toodle-loo." And with that she was gone, leaving Scorpius and Rose standing there alone.

Sorry for the wait, but I hope you like this chapter nonetheless :)

The countdown to Christmas has began, yay! :) I hope you are all getting into the Christmas spirit and getting ready for your holidays :)

To my readers in the U.S I wish you a happy Thanksgiving :)

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