[A/N: A fun little chapter coming your way. Enjoy!☀️💐🍃
PS: there's a secret project at the end of the chapter, so don't miss that!💗]

I was in the car with Lin, as he was about to drop me off at Dom's building. He had just pulled over and stopped by Dom's door when he looked over at me.
"You've got your water bottle? Your apple? Your EpiPen?", he asked me, and I nodded at every single question.

I looked back at the past week.
I had been tested for several allergies.
But peanut shone the brightest.
And Lin and Vanessa had cleared out everything that could potentially contain peanuts, from energy bars to peanut butter.
And I knew I wasn't supposed to, but I felt like I was in the way.
I just couldn't seem to let that feeling go.

"Yes. And I promise I'll call if something happens", I replied with a smile on my face.
He beamed at me, though there was a slight tone of worry in his eyes. Like always.
"Good, Niñita. Have fun now, alright?", he said, hugging me quickly before I opened the door.
"Yeah, I will, Dad-", I said, the word just slipping out.
I instantly felt embarrassed, the feeling just washing over me as I tightened up and pulled away.
No.
I regretted it, even if it wasn't something I had intended to say.
You shouldn't have said that.
I even felt ashamed, in a way.
Like I had done something wrong.
Something so utterly wrong.
"Bye", I quickly said, cutting myself off as I turned around and opened the door, stepping out. "S-see you tonight", I forced out, trying to not seem affected by the situation as I hurried off to where Dom was standing outside his building.

I shouldn't have said that.
I really shouldn't have.

"Hi", he said, kissing me quickly before he gave me a hug.
"Hi", I said, smiling brightly at him as we let go.

Before we entered his apartment building, I looked back over my shoulder.
Lin hadn't left yet.
I quickly turned away, scared to look at him and see his reaction.
That feeling in my gut just wouldn't go away.

As we walked up the stairs to Dom . apartment, we met his mom walking down while carrying a weekend bag.
"Oh, hey Rue!", she exclaimed, smiling as she saw us.
"Hi mrs Moreau-Fletcher!", I told her.
"No, no more of that. It's Agnés", she said, and I nodded. "I'm sorry, but I've got to get to this conference. My cab's right outside", she explained with a sad look on her face.
I kept smiling, though the word cab put some awful flashbacks in my head. I blinked a little extra.
"Please, come by this weekend for Sunday dinner. We'd love to have you", she suggested.
I hesitantly nodded.
"I'll... I'll have to check with my parents first though", I told her, though in reality, having dinner at another house scared me. I could barely eat at my own house anymore.
She seemed happy with my answer, as she turned to Dom.
"And you'll take care of Florence, eh?", she asked him, and he nodded. "Your Dad will be home by 12 pm at the earliest with this big event today, you never know when those things end. And call me if anything happens?", to which Dom nodded. They quickly hugged. "Alright then. Love you, Nicky. Bye!"
With that she disappeared down the stairs
"Nicky?", I asked him, having a hard time picturing him as someone else than a Dom.
"Only my parents call me that", he said, blushing slightly. "So please don't-"
"I won't", I said, kindly shaking my head, as we entered his apartment.
"Rue!", Flo exclaimed as she came running towards me with their new puppy in her arms. "Look at Ariel! Isn't she adorable?", she asked me.
"Hi Flo and Ariel!", I told her, letting the puppy sniff me before I petted her behind her ear. "She's really cute", I added, adoring the small golden retriever that was looking rather comfortable in the little girl's arms.
"I know, right?", Flo told me, her eyes big and excited. She turned to Dom. "Please Dom can we go to the park now-"
"But Rue just got here, Flo-", Dom told her sister with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
"I know but you told me we were gonna go to the park with Ariel today!", she objected.
"Flo, please", Dom continued.
"I don't mind", I said, to which Flo's face lit up.
"See? She doesn't mind", Flo happily concluded, looking content with the situation. "So, can we go?"
Dom sighed.
"I guess", he said, letting her win.
Flo jumped out of excitement.
"Yes!"

After a few minutes we were down in their storage room on the ground floor, where Dom was taking out Flo's bike. It was yellow with pink handles and white details. It also had a weaved basket where Ariel just fit, as Flo instantly placed her there.
Before I knew it, he had placed a bike in front of me.
"Oh, sorry, I- I don't know how to bike", I admitted, backing away from it while giving Dom an unsure look.
"Oh", Dom said, looking quite surprised. "That's alright", he added, smiling as he put it back and took his bike down from the wall.
Still, I felt a need to explain myself.
"Nobody ever taught me, y'know, between living with an alcoholic father and all the foster homes-", I said.
"No problem. Not everyone knows how to ride a bike", he said, laughing as he handed me a helmet. "I'll give you a lift then, it's not very far anyway. Just take a seat on the parcel shelf and hold on to me", he explained, putting on his helmet.
"Isn't that, like, kinda dangerous?", I asked him, feeling slightly embarrassed while I put on my helmet.
"Everything is dangerous to you", Dom kindly pointed out, pulling me in for a hug. I looked up at him. "It's not like I'm asking you to ride on the back of my motorcycle. I think your parents would have a heart attack if that was the case", he added with a smirk on his face. I laughed. "Just hold on to me and you'll be fine"
I smiled at him.
"Okay", I said, and we leant in for a kiss.
"Are you coming, or what?", Flo shouted from outside the storage space, as she peaked her head in the doorway and saw us. "Ew! Stop kissing! Let's go now!"
Dom rolled his eyes, as we let go of each other. He smiled at me, before he turned to Flo, shouting back.
"We're coming, Flo"

After a while, we were at the park. I had been at this one before with Dom, so it didn't seem as big of a obstacle as it could have been. I had managed to stay on the bike and not fall off, while probably holding on to Dom too tightly.
"Verdict?", Dom asked me, as I hopped off.
"Dangerous. Though, I should probably learn how to bike", I concluded. He laughed, taking off his helmet.
"You look cute in your helmet", he told me, quickly snapping a picture of me with the camera he always had on him when he was out and about.
"Thanks?", I replied, taking off my helmet, as I tried to fix my hair from looking too pushed down.
"I found a spot, Dom!", Flo shouted while waving her hands in the air, from a place on the big lawn in the shadows of a tree.
We walked over, and Dom put out a blanket for us to sit on. Flo pulled out a toy for Ariel from the backpack they'd brought, after filling a bowl with water.
"Oh, that reminds me-", I said, taking out a tennis ball from my tote bag. "Here, Flo. It's for Ariel. My dog already has one. I thought they could match", I told her, handing her the tennis ball which I had sown the name Ariel onto.
"Wow, thanks! Dom, look. Look! It says Ariel!", she exclaimed happily, showing it to Dom for a split second before showing it to Ariel.
"Wow!", Dom said, matching her energy right before she ran off with Ariel, already throwing the tennis ball.
"That was really nice of you", Dom told me, sitting down next to me.
"No problem", I said, smiling at him.
"Sorry that we have to hang out with Flo all day, my parents work weird hours sometimes so I have to look after her-", he said, looking at me apologetically. I shook my head.
"Don't worry, Dom. She's fun", I replied, looking right at him. "What do your parents do?", I asked him, having met his mom Agnés three times now and his dad, David, only briefly once. It felt silly not to know.
"My Mom works at a travel magazine and my Dad works at a hotel", Dom explained. "They actually met at a hotel in the city, when Mom was doing an article about New York for a magazine back in France. Which they'll definitely tell you about it if you come for dinner on Sunday", he pointed out, laughing. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who's so proud of the story of how they met than my parents"
I smiled at him, as I put my hair up in a bun.
"They should. So your Mom moved here for your Dad?", I asked him.
"Pretty much, yeah. She still travels a lot for work, and we go back to celebrate Christmas with my family in France every year", he told me.
"That's cool", I told him. "I suppose you got your fantastic itinerary skills from her then?"
"I guess", Dom said, laughing for a second only to look at me sincerely. "So you mentioned your biological father earlier-", he hesitantly told me, putting his arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah", I told him, as I instantly began to look down at my hands that never seemed to stop fiddling and tapping.
"What was he like?", he asked me. "I mean, you don't have to talk about him if you don't want to-"
I looked up at him.
"It's alright", I told him, while I started tap much quicker. "His name was Robert. He was fine, I guess. He worked a lot, so I had to take care of myself. And when he was home, he drank a lot so that didn't exactly help", I said, trying to not seem too affected by the memories that were suddenly pouring over me. "He had good and bad days, like everyone", I said as I swallowed my anxiety, as I was suddenly back in the kitchen I had grown up in, the cracked cereal bowl on the ground after he had thrown it at me.
I tried to smile, though it was painful.
I still had this feeling of that I had to be fine.
Dom let me be quiet for a second or two.
I think he could see that I was hurting.
I closed my eyes.
"Did... did he hit you?", Dom carefully asked me, quietly so no one else but me could hear the question.
My smile was gone now.
I slowly nodded, looking away onto the big lawn of the park.
"But he always said sorry", I added, still feeling as if I had to defend the father of my past. "Because he loved me, and I loved him, so that was okay"
Dom squeezed my hand.
"That's not okay", he told me.
"I know", I said, my voice cracking. "But I didn't know any better", I whispered, quickly wiping the tear that rolled down my cheek.
Dom put his arms around me, hugging me tightly.
"I'm sorry", he quietly told me.
"Don't be", I told him, trying to pull myself together. "It's in the past"
Both of us knew that wasn't true.
"I'm still sorry"

We sat like that for a while.
I was leaning onto him, my head on his shoulder, his head leaning on mine while his arms were put around me.
We just sat there, talking quietly.
About other things.
That weren't as sad.
Like our favourite ice cream flavour.
I said vanilla, because it was.
Dom laughed, because it was very me.
Dom said his changed every time.
That he always wanted to try something new.
But that he then realised he always bought the Ben and Jerry Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough when he craved ice cream.
In hindsight, I think that says a lot about the two of us.

I suddenly spoke up, changing the subject.
"I accidentally called Lin Dad today", I said, feeling ashamed to even say it out loud.
"Mhm?", Dom said, asking to hear more.
"And it felt like I was betraying my Dad", I quietly explained, swallowing my anxiety, as the feeling of shame poured onto me. "I know it doesn't make sense-"
"I probably would've felt that way, too", Dom calmly said. "I think you should tell Lin that"
I slowly nodded, not really knowing what to say.
I looked at him.
"Thank you for not freaking out", I told him quietly, the sentence probably out of the blue. "About everything"
He smiled to the side.
I continued.
"But I don't want you to worry... or for you to feel like you have to take care of me all the time", I slowly said, piecing the words together as I said them.
He just shook his head.
"I don't feel that way", he said. "However, I want to take care of you-", he began to say, when he suddenly froze to look around. "Where's Flo?"
His voice had a tone of panic to it.
I couldn't see her either.
"Flo?!", Dom shouted, standing up as he did it.
I started looking around us, the nervousness hitting me now, too.
"FLO?!", he continued, ready to walk off.
"Yeah? I'm here", Flo's voice said from behind us as she emerged from a bush with Ariel in her arms. "Ariel ran and hid in the bushes so I had to go get her", she casually explained.
"Yeah, yeah. That's okay. Just tell me when you wander off, alright?", Dom told her, seeming rather relieved to see his little sister.
"Right, Major Dom", Flo replied, as she ran off into the field again.
Dom sighed in relief, as he sat down next to me again.
"Sorry, Flo's just-", he began, only to shake his head, as if to start over.
He paused for a while.
He looked at Flo.
And then started over.
"Flo... she got really sick when she was four. She... she got leukemia and it didn't look like she was gonna make it, and... and then she did. She was officially cancer free last year, and now she's coming up on her next check-up in two weeks so I'm just scared", he said, rambling as if he didn't want to talk about it.
"When she first got sick, and we didn't know... we had been at this park for a little while and I couldn't find her. And when I did she was sitting on the ground crying, her face almost grey as she told me that everything hurt", he continued to tell me, looking at Flo as she continued to run around with Ariel while at the same time trying to teach the puppy how to sit.
"I guess that's why I'm always prepared for the worst", he concluded, staring out into thin air, as he shrugged his shoulders.
I could see the sadness in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Dom", I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "I can't imagine how that must've felt"
He looked at me.
"Thank you", he said, sounding genuinely thankful. "I haven't really told anyone that... it's just... just-"
"Yours, in a way?", I asked him, knowing exactly what he was describing. He nodded at me.
"Yeah", he said, smiling at me sadly. "I don't want people to feel sorry or worry about me"
"Touché", I replied, smiling sadly, too.
"I think we're more alike than we like to admit", Dom said, laughing a little. "I take care of people so they won't worry about me, and you look out for people-"
"By worrying and then doing the most illogical things? Yes, I do", I finished his sentence, trying to sound funny. He cracked a laugh.
Dom threw a glance at Flo, and then back at me.
"What?", I asked him, feeling as if he was up to something. He smugly looked at me as he handed me my helmet again.
"No-", I began to say, already knowing where this was heading.
He was smiling up to his ears now, as he shouted for his sister.
"Hey, Flo, wanna help me teach Rue how to ride a bike?"

It didn't go well.
I tried for half an hour.
I got to use Flo's yellow and pink bike.
Not that the bike was at fault.
I probably was.
The second Dom let go I would feel unstable and put my feet down on the ground.
I didn't feel like I was in control at all.

After Dom had been far too patient with me for half an hour, I gave up.
"No, no, no- Shoot, sorry. Maybe next time?", I asked him, trying to sound calm and collected as I panically put my feet to the ground and then hopped off the bike simultaneously. "I think I'll need training wheels to be honest", I said, handing the bike to Flo.
Dom smiled.
"You're like Bambi on ice", he remarked. Flo nodded along with him, giggling under her breath.
"Ha-ha", I sarcastically replied, knowing what he was saying was true. Dom put his arm around my shoulders.
"You're adorable", he quietly told me in between his laughs, as he beamed at me. A smile spread across my face. "I promise I'll always give you a lift if you want me to"
I nodded, joining their laughter now.
"Good to know", I said, right before kissing him.
"You'll also be glad to hear that I got some great photos of you being a cute grump in that helmet of yours", he added, as we let go.
I blushed.
"Oh no, Dom", I said, shaking my head.
"Oh yes, Rue", he smugly smiled at me, kissing me again.
"Oh, please stop kissing. I wanna go home now", we could hear Flo announce behind us, and we could also almost hear her roll her eyes at us.
Dom laughed and let go of me.
"Alright, alright", he told her, and started to pack everything down again. I helped out, but something had stuck to me.
How it had all seemed so normal.
The thought hadn't struck me before.
How he had gotten so normal to me.
I never thought I'd let a person get close to me.
I never thought someone would even choose me.
And here I was, with him.
Just being.
And it was no big deal.
Because it was normal.
"Ready?", he asked me after I had put on the helmet again.
"Yeah"

When we got back to his apartment, me and Dom just sat on the carpet of his room and talked for the remaining afternoon. He had taken some salted crisps out, because he knew I liked them. I had eaten a few.
Flo had decided to watch Beauty and the Beast because she got bored with us.
So we just talked. About everything.
Like we always did.
Until the point where I checked my phone and realised that I was supposed to go home for dinner soon.
"You can have dinner here", Dom casually suggested, before I could text Vanessa that I was about to go. "The little sister has requested tomato soup and grilled cheese"
I smiled at him, because I knew I had to decline.
"Sorry, it's not that I don't want to, it's just-", I began, trying to explain. "It's just that my parents want to make sure that I, um, y'know... actually eat?"
Still, there was a part of me that was ashamed of saying it.
He smiled back at me.
"Well then, I'll walk you home", he said, and I knew I couldn't protest.
He always walked me home because it was part of a deal he'd made with Lin and Vanessa. I wasn't allowed to go home on my own, since I probably couldn't and wouldn't manage it.
So, whenever I was with Dom, he would walk me home.
Just in case.

As we were putting on our shoes, Dom shouted for Flo, who was in her room.
"Hey, Flo, come on! I already told you, we're going to Rue's place and we're walking Ariel! And you're not allowed to be home alone!", he said, sounding a little annoyed with her, having already told her that once l. She came out of her room, holding Ariel in her arms.
"Will your dog be there?", she asked me.
"Yeah", I replied while I was tapping and blinking to get ready to walk home.
"Then Ariel and Tobi can meet!", she happily announced, putting the leash on Ariel.
Dom looked at me, raising his eyebrows as he smiled and matched Flo's energy instantly.
"Great!"

It wasn't too long of a walk between our apartments, but everything took a long time when I was in the mix. And maybe because also there was a curious puppy with us who wanted to smell everything.

"Hey, I'm home!", I announced as I opened the door after I had slowly unlocked the door four times. Tobi came running to greet us, but ran past me as she was more excited to see another dog than the person she already knew.
"Hey Rue-Rue!", Vanessa said, walking towards us. "And Dom! And you must be Florence, right?"
Flo nodded proudly, proudly holding onto Ariel's leash.
"Well, thanks for walking Rue home, Dom", Vanessa told him, like always.
"No problem", he said, like always. "You do know that she doesn't know how to bike?"
"Dom!", I exclaimed.
"No, I didn't...", Vanessa replied suggestively, looking at me with a mischievous grin. "Maybe something to add to the summer list-"
"Oh, gosh", I said, turning to Dom. "Look what you've done", I told him, trying to sound annoyed even though I was smiling.
"I'll see you tomorrow, right?", he said.
I beamed at him.
"Of course", I replied, hugging him goodbye. "Bye", I quietly told him as we let go.
"Bye", he softly said, and with that they were off after we managed to separate Tobi and Ariel.

When they closed the door, Vanessa smiled at me.
"He likes you", she said. "It shows"
I blushed.
"I...", I began to say, shrugging my shoulders, as I put my bag down. "I guess it's good I like him back?", I continued, not really knowing what to say.
She looked at me, proud, before she seemed to remember something.
"Also, Lin asked me to give this to you. He managed to get 8 tickets for Tuesday", she told me, handing out an envelope. "Don't know how, but he did"
I happily accepted the envelope.
"I really didn't think he could, I... It was just an idea", I said, suddenly feeling bad.
I pushed the feeling away, knowing I should be grateful.
Pretty much no one could get tickets.
And now I could bring Dom, and Sepi, Carson, Haley, Parker, Stella and Sherri.
"Can you tell him thank you so so so much when he gets home?", I asked her, looking straight into her eyes.
"Course"

We had dinner, and I managed to eat half a plate of mac 'n cheese before the thoughts got too loud.
"Please, Rue. Just one more bite", Vanessa said, her focus entirely on me as Sebastian had finished ages.
I shook my head.
"No, sorry... I... I can't", I said, not really making any sense. "I can't"
Her face softened.
"Okay, Niñita. That's okay"

We watched some Chuggington with Sebastian before he had to go to sleep, and then the news, as we were talking about a little bit of everything. I could feel the tiredness creeping in, and so I went to bed at the same time as I always did.

But I couldn't seem to fall asleep.
The conflict within me didn't seem to want to leave.
My mind began to spin, convinced I had done something so wrong.
I couldn't let go of Lin's face this morning.
The surprise and happiness that word had brought.
And I couldn't let go of that other feeling either.
That feeling of betrayal.
That I had let someone down by making someone else happy.

At some point I heard Lin come home.
He and Vanessa spoke for a while.
Then, she must've gone to sleep, because I could still hear Lin walking around.

I stood up and walked to his office, where I found him sitting on the piano stool, setting up his headphones.
I knocked on the doorframe, scared that I might scare him.
"Hey, Lin", I quietly said.
He looked at me, a little surprised to see me up. I hadn't scared him, at least.
"Oh hi, Niñita. I thought you were asleep. Sorry, did I wake you?", he said as he stood up, hugging me simultaneously.
I shook my head.
I instantly regretted why so had come to tell him in the first place.
"Couldn't sleep", I said, shrugging my shoulders, feeling a little stupid.
"Okay, well you can hang with me for a while", he suggested, sitting down again. "I have a deadline coming up", he continued to say, gesturing towards his set up.
"No, I don't want to bother you, I just wanted to say goodnight", I told him.
He smiled at me, but I could see that I had sparked a worry within him.
"Are you sure there isn't something else?", he asked me, taking my hand right after I turned away to go back to my room.
I shook my head.
"Hey, Rue, I know when something's up", he said, squeezing my hand.
I looked at him again, unsure of what to say.
"Sorry, it doesn't matter really", I blurted out, wondering why I had thought this was a good idea in the first place.
"I'm sure it does", he said, kindly looking at me. I avoided his gaze as I looked down, realising that I was tapping in the pattern I liked.
"I... I'm sorry for calling you Dad earlier, I didn't mean to-", I slowly told him.
"No, no, honey. It's fine, you can call me that if you want to-", he began to say, but I cut him off.
"I... I don't think want to", I said. Lin looked at me, his eyes calm and kind. "Yet"
"That's alright too", he assured me.
He didn't seem mad.
But I was still ready for him to be.
I sat down next to him.
"I don't know, I just felt so... It... Um, I mean...", I tried to say, or explain, but the words just wouldn't come out.
Lin didn't cut me off.
He only looked at me, calmly waiting for what I had to say.
"It felt like I was... betraying my Dad in a way", I quietly said, looking down and avoiding his worried face as I tapped, and tapped, and tapped. "I know that he's dead... and that he was a shitty person, but-"
"But he's still your Dad", Lin concluded, his voice soft and kind.
I leant my head on his shoulder.
"Yeah", I said, squeezing my eyes shut. "I'm sorry"
He put his hand around my shoulders and took a strand of hair out of my face.
"You have nothing to be sorry for", Lin told me, hugging me. "It's human to feel this way"
"But-", I began to say, only for him to cut me off.
"I know, I know", he softly said and paused for a second. "I know, Niñita"

—————
Hey, hey, hey!
A new chapter with a little bit of Lin and Vanessa and a little bit of Dom 🎉
I do indeed hope you liked it. I think it's all about being in the moment and realising how you've got people around you who loves you❤️

So, I've been working on a little secret project over the last few days. I've always tried to envision my characters by casting real people as them. But it's always hard. So I decided to train my character design skills and illustrate how I feel my characters look like🙈 I also needed to get better at illustrating people since I'm going to study graphic design so... Although, I'm probably not going to do the ones that are real people already, like Lin, because they're already people haha🌸

Oh well, here the two first ones are:

Of course I had to start with Rue💛 Which will probably be the hardest to design, since I've had so many versions of her in my head. And this is just one of them. However, if you want a real life person to represent her I've casted young Chloë Grace Moretz🐝

And here we have Dom😌 The confident, easygoing and determined Dom. Who always has his camera hanging over his shoulder and wears the same bomber jacket in the colder months, and who always has to fix his glasses because they always slip down on his nose🍃 If you want a person in real life to be cast as him, it would be the actor Drew Davis (who also has a little sister named Millie Davis who I've casted as Flo).

I'm actually really happy with how these turned out. I still have a hard time with hair texture but it's getting better 💗
With that said, I hope you liked them. Do you envision them in any other way? Who would you have casted as Rue or Dom? I'd love to know☺️
And final question:
Who should I design next?💐

Okay so that was fun. But I also have some great news to tell you all: I got into my top pick for University today!🎉
I knew I would, but it's always good to see it on paper😅 The program is a bachelor's degree in Graphic Design and Communication☀️ It's also in the technology faculty and it focuses on every part of the design process so I'm very excited!💗
And, I also managed to get a student apartment today! I got an offer on one of the ones I was interested in and said yes, so now I just have to sign the papers and it'll all be done💐
Honestly so relieving 😮‍💨

Q of the Day: Anything you wanna talk about, how are you? Tell me in the comments!🤩

I hope you liked the chapter, and if you did - please leave a like or a comment❤️ They make my day😌

Have the loveliest of days,
Sincerely,
H

Published: 12th of July, 2022