Chapter 53

Rose and Scorpius stood there in silence after Astoria left, both wanting to say something without being able to. They both shuffled nervously on the spot, opening and closing their mouths. Scorpius heard a sharp intake of breath, drawing his attention.

"Thank you," Rose blurted out, her closed eyes slowly opening as she looked at the man in front of her. "For allowing me to join you," she continued. "I had a really good time." She smiled at him and his heart beat faster.

"Me too," he said, somewhat in a daze and still captivated by her looking back at him. A little laugh escaped her lips at his stunned expression. Scorpius happily smiled back as he watched her expression brighten and the small twinkle in her eye.

"Your Mum is really great," she said.

"Yeah, she is."

"Knowing her better, it explains a lot," she commented.

"Does it?"

"Yeah, it kind of does...at least for me anyway," she replied. Just when he was going to ask her what she meant by that, a beautiful, smiling blonde woman entered Le Coin Rose.

"Oh, you're both here. What a coincidence," Dominique said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, as she looked between the two of them. "Well, that makes things much easier," she added offhandedly.

"Hello Dom," Scorpius spoke up, not wanting her to start questioning them or coming up with false scenarios as to why he was there. "How is the proud Auntie/godmother?"

"Very well, actually," she replied. "Sammi is just the cutest little baby girl, but I am glad that Jacob and I have found a place of our own here now. She doesn't sleep much." Rose and Scorpius just laughed.

"Yeah, I have heard that babies can be like that," Scorpius teased with a chuckle.

"You and Jacob have a place here? In England?" Rose spoke over him. The two women completely ignored his comment, the redhead looking totally ecstatic at the possibility.

"Yes, we got a tiny little cottage out near Kingsford Hill," Dom said, gripping Rose's hands excitedly.

"Wait, I thought you liked living in France?" Scorpius asked.

"We finalised it all this morning," Dom continued. Scorpius rolled his eyes at the women ignoring him again. "Oh Rose, it's so beautiful," she went on, pulling Rose into a hug which Rose returned enthusiastically. "It has 3 bedrooms, one which Jacob said I can use wholly as my work studio," Dominique gushed. "It's isolated but not overly so and it's not too far from here, the Burrow or my new goddaughter."

"Oh Dom, it sounds perfect," Rose replied genuinely before wrapping her arms back around her cousin. "Congratulations, I am so happy for you," she spoke over her shoulder.

"Pfft, you're just happy that I will be around more now," Dominique brushed off, slowly pulling back from the embrace.

"Only a miniscule amount," Rose replied with a grin. Scorpius just watched as the two cousins smiled back at each other, almost as though they knew something he didn't which made this whole thing even more special than it seemed to be.

"Anyway, down to business," Dom said sternly, clapping her hands and walking over to their table.

"Business?" Scorpius mumbled confusingly. He and Rose shared a slightly frightened look as they took their previous seats at the table. Dom had on her serious face, or her game face as Scorpius had said before, which made Rose and Scorpius unnerved, especially as they had no idea what she could mean by 'business' that would include both of them.

"It's about my wedding," she finally said. "First of all, Rose?" Dom turned to her cousin and reached for her hand.

"Yeah?" Rose muttered curiously with a squeeze of her hand.

"Would you be my bridesmaid?"

"Of course," the redhead replied as a bright infectious smile took over her face and she leaned across the table to hug her cousin once more. "I'd love to," she added as they released each other.

"Fantastic," Dom returned. "Now, Scorpius, you've already agreed to be Jacob's groomsman?" she said finally acknowledging the man sitting across from her. After Scorpius nodded she continued. "Good. So, what I wanted to discuss with both of you is about the wedding," she seemed to get more nervous which caused both Rose and Scorpius' curiosity to rise. "See, Jacob and I want a very small intimate wedding planned and organised in a short amount of time, but we can't do it alone," Rose understood their rush for the wedding, knowing Dominique would want to get that out of the way before she got really pregnant. "However, our maid of honour and best man will be otherwise…engaged for the next month or so." Scorpius knew where this was going. "Victoire just had a baby and trust me she doesn't need anything else on her plate. Plus, she has offered to keep Mum from finding out which is a mountain to climb all on its own," Dom explained.

"You don't want your Mother finding out about the wedding?" Rose asked. Dom simply just shook her head.

"At all?" Scorpius added, still confused. Rose sent him a look he hadn't seen in years. He fought a smile at the thought that of some of the old Rose was still there, just like some of the old Scorpius was still in him, though he hoped much less.

"Really? What a stupid question. Of course, her mother is going to find out eventually," Rose said clearly amused. "Her coming home with a ring on her finger and a husband won't be a big hint?"

"Okay, so not the smartest thing to ever come out of my mouth," Scorpius replied, putting his hands up slightly in surrender, smiling back at the redhead. They all shared a small laugh before the attention was turned back to Dominique. "What about the Best Man? What's his excuse?"

"He is travelling for business right up until the wedding. Plus, I really don't want him to have any real input. He is the most cold-hearted, stone-faced, workaholic on the planet. I swear the man doesn't have a heart," Dom replied, not hiding her obvious dislike of the man. Dominique looked up at her two friends and read their expressions. "He's Jacob's only cousin; Jacob and his parents are his only family," she explained with a little sympathy. "Anyway, I trust you guys more than anyone and I know you'll do an amazing job, that's why I am asking you two," Dom finished with pleading eyes.

"You're asking?" Scorpius joked, earning a small giggle from Rose and a glare from Dominique.

"Even if we had a choice, we would love to do this for you," Rose said, squeezing her cousin hand that rested on the table.

"We would?" Scorpius said smiling at the fact that Rose hadn't realised she just spoke for the both of them, almost as though they were a couple.

"Yes, we would," Rose stressed, shooting Scorpius a loaded stare.

"We would," Scorpius smiled politely back at Dominique. The blonde woman let out a giggle at their behaviour.

Alison checked the time before she left. It was lunch time and she had told her father she would come see him then, but back at their apartment her very handsome boyfriend was waiting for her. She thought about if she had enough time to just quickly pop in to see her father before going back to Albus, but quickly realised she couldn't without making Albus wait longer. Knowing him he would over think about why she was late and she didn't need that. 'Maybe if I saw Al and then made an excuse to leave quickly, I could still see Dad,' she thought. However, even without having actually lied yet, the guilt had set in. Alison was beginning to contemplate actually explaining to Albus about her father's condition. She couldn't lie to him or herself anymore. 'It was real, it was happening and maybe having him to share it with would make things a little easier,' she thought. She knew that he would try to make her feel better and keep her positive, which couldn't be a bad thing at the moment, but he would mostly likely be hurt by the fact that she didn't include him straight away.

"Oh look, saved by the phone," Scorpius said as his mobile buzzed with a call. They had discussed many details regarding what Scorpius and Rose would have to do and what Dom and Jacob had already agreed upon. The engaged couple had decided the weekend of Dominique's birthday in about a month's time would be the perfect opportunity to do what they had in mind. They wanted to use her birthday as an excuse for a long weekend camping trip with all of their cousins and friends in which they would get married with little fuss and without their parents and the older folk. It would also serve as their honeymoon and a little summer getaway for everyone. They had already picked out the location and apparently Jacob was organising a Magical Bonding Minster to perform the service. The whole time Rose had been writing down notes and ideas on the back of her order notepad while Scorpius had been fighting the urge to simply just stare at her. The quick glances he sent her way just had to be enough for him, at least until they had the chance to sort things out. However, the glances didn't go unnoticed by Dom. "I'll leave you two to the girly bits while I take this," Scorpius said as he rose from his chair, flashing the women a witty smile. "Be back in a bit," he added this time directing a more reassuring smile to the red head.

"Okay," Rose mumbled, her lips tilting up in the corners as she watched him walk out the door. Her eyes followed him through the glass window in front of her as he answered his mobile and crossed to the other side of the street to what she assumed was his parked transport vehicle. Dom watched her cousin and the thoughtful expression take over her face as she stared at the blonde man across the street. However, Dominique was amused and delighted to see something that could only be described as hope also in her expression.

"Wow," she said, bringing Rose out of her daze and smirking into her cup as she took a sip of her tea. "You two are almost on your way to being the nauseatingly cute type."

"What?" Rose replied in innocence, a blush rising in her cheeks and her voice slightly higher than usual. Dominique just simply raised an eyebrow challengingly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mmm Hm, sure you don't," she smirked before taking another sip of her tea.

"So, I am assuming you have something simple in mind for your dress and the wedding party?" Rose changed the subject quickly. Dominique looked at Rose curiously; Rose was almost worried she wasn't going to let the subject drop but then the blonde smiled knowingly and answered her cousin's question.

"Yes, I have all of that under control. As soon as I spoke to Jacob about my idea and he agreed, I immediately started designing what I wanted. I drew a scene of something similar to what I saw in my mind," she explained excitedly. Rose smiled, 'Dom and her sketches,' she thought. Rose remembered how ever since her Aunt, Rose's Mother, gave her a sketch pad for Christmas one year, she always carried her sketch pad with her. It was how Dominique had done so well in the fashion industry. Her sketches were always so detailed and in some way delicate, equally fragile and beautiful just like their artist. Rose knew that almost everything was already envisioned in Dominique's mind and that her job would just be about bringing everything together. She could live with that, seeing as how happy her cousin was. "I can give it to you when we all meet up tonight," she said, drawing Rose's attention. "I thought Hugo's was best, since it is probably the biggest and somewhere our parents wouldn't find us."

"I'm sorry, Hugo's?...tonight?" Rose was a little confused. "What are you talking about?"

"We'll get everyone together tonight to explain and invite them to my wedding."

"Ah…Okay."

"Now, I will let everyone know, but if you could make sure Scorpius and yourself are there that would be great," Dom said with a smile as she finished her tea. "So, seven sound good to you?" she added, standing up and not waiting for an answer. "Got to run, plenty to do, see you tonight," she quickly rambled, as she made her way to the door, giving Scorpius a brief hug and kiss on the cheek on her way out the door, a large bright smile spread across her face.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad to see her so happy but she is a little scary sometimes," Scorpius teased as he made his way back over to Rose.

"You're telling me?" she laughed.

"So, everything sorted then?" he asked as she stood up and cleared their table.

"Well, sort of," Rose replied, taking their cups and saucers up to the counter with Scorpius following close behind. She handed them over to Nate, who took care of them. "But everything should be in motion after tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Dom is unveiling it to everyone tonight at Hugo's," Rose explained, now making her way to her office. "Anyway, what was that call about? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, but hang on, back up," he followed her closely, soon finding himself in her office. "There's a meeting tonight?"

"Yes, at Hugo's," Rose replied, as she closed the door, shutting out the rest of the world for a moment.

"And I have to go?"

"Um…Yes," she said, a little concerned when she saw the stress and small disappointment on his face. "You have somewhere else you need to be? Like maybe on a date or something?" she asked nervously, afraid of the answer as she sat down on the sofa in her office.

"Ahh…No," Scorpius replied, his hand reaching up the rub the back of his neck. "Not exactly, just something I have to do."

"Right," she said removing her gaze from him, slightly disappointed that he wouldn't tell her. She knew he was hiding something, but was unsure if it was anything she needed to worry about. 'I'd probably worry anyway,' she thought. Rose was brought out of her thoughts when she heard him sigh and sit down next to her. She watched him as he rested his head in his hands.

"Rose," he almost groaned out. "It's not a date or anything like that, I swear," he added as he dropped his hands and turned his head to look her in the eye, his shoulders still hunched over.

"It wouldn't matter even if it was," Rose said in a strong voice as she broke their gaze and studied the floor. However, her gaze was quickly ripped back to him when she felt the warmth of his hand on her own which rested in her lap.

"Yes, it would," he corrected her, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips.

"But it's not?" she asked, finding the corners of her lips twitching up as well. Scorpius' smile grew as he simply shook his head, no.

"Well…I'm sure if you ask nicely, I could cover for you," she replied with a mischievous quiver in her tone.

"Oh, you'd really do that for me?" he asked playfully, squeezing her hand lightly in his while he placed his other hand over his heart dramatically.

"I don't know what would possess me to do such a thing…" Rose cheeked. "But… yes, I would," she smiled, he chuckled. Rose noticed Scorpius glance down at her lips and she couldn't stop the excited thrill that ran through her, but then she heard that voice inside her scream out that it wasn't the right time, that it wasn't going to work. Nevertheless, Scorpius turned his body towards her and slowly started to move closer causing her breathing to quicken along with her heart. He was barely an inch away when his eyes flickered back to hers. He must have seen her doubt and fear in her eyes, as he hesitated. She could see in his expression the battle that was going on inside of him. The slight frown was the fight between what he wanted to do and what he knew he had to do. All Rose could do is sit there waiting for his decision because she knew that she didn't feel like they were ready for what it would mean if they crossed that line right then and there, but she also knew that she wouldn't stop him. Rose felt him entwine the fingers of their hands that lay clasped in her lap as he lifted his other had to caress her cheek, and not once did they break the intense gaze that they found themselves holding. She began to worry that her heart might actually explode when he started to lean in again. Rose closed her eyes knowing she wouldn't stop him. However, instead of placing his lips on hers, she felt them first on her cheek and then again a bit closer to where her body wanted them.

Much too quickly for Rose's liking, it was over. She no longer felt him so close, as she realized he had removed his hand from her cheek and released her hand with only a soft squeeze. Rose opened her eyes to see him standing and obviously avoiding her gaze.

"I better go, but I'll see you around," he spoke clearly trying to keep his tone emotionless.

"Yeah, sure," Rose mumbled with a sigh, looking back down at her hands, one still tingling in her lap. She heard his footstep moving towards the door, but she didn't hear the door open.

"I just have some things I need to sort out," he spoke again, snapping her attention back up to him. He stood with his hand on the door knob facing the door. "And then we can talk about what's happening between us," he said before he opened the door and walked out. She only just heard him say "I promise, Rose," as he shut the door.

Sorry about the wait. I really am doing my best and I could have had this up about a week ago but my internet decided to crash thanks to a storm. But after much cursing all I had to do was wait. But as you can see it is working now, yay! :)

I hope you like this. Please let me know what you think.