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Chapter 3

       "Rose! Oh-h-h Princes-s-s-s Rose!" Trey's rather loud voice sang from across the parking lot, a giant smile plastered on his handsome face as he waved over at me just like in the cafeteria. This boy just doesn't quit.

       I ended up not calling Tate to come get me like I originally wanted, the hope that mine and Rex's conversation gave me was enough to suck up my problems for the rest of the school day. It's not like I wanted him to develop a crush on me, like the major one I had on him. I wasn't stupid enough to think he could ever like someone like me in that sense, but just the thought of actually being friends with him put a giant smile on my face.

       I still doubled checked to make sure he wasn't hanging around though before I walked towards Trey and the others. It's not that I didn't want to see him, because believe me, I would stare at that boy all day long if I could. I just knew he still wasn't comfortable around me, and I didn't want to take him out of his comfort zone any more than I already did.

        "Hey." I smiled sheepishly as I stopped a few feet away from them, my eyes avoiding any of theirs. They just made me feel so... small, despite what I kept telling Brett. I watched from under my eyelashes as a big, cheesy smile broke across Trey's face.

       "You headed home Princess?" I nodded and tilted my head suspiciously as his smile grew. "Mind if we walk with you?" He gestured to Brett and Denton who both gave me a small nod, but Denton was the only one who shot me a cute little smile with that sneaky fire lighting his eyes.

       "Oh... Um, what about Rex?"

       Trey's smile dropped slightly as those bright green eyes everyone drooled over scanned my face, like he was searching for something that he wasn't quite sure was there. My eyes dropped to our feet again.

       "What about him? He's not here, and I'm pretty sure we don't need his permission to walk you home." Denton chuckled, energy pouring off him in waves as he walked in circles around us. I guess that's why everyone always referred to him as the energizer bunny...

       I was about to open my mouth to say 'no, it's okay', when a flash of light brown hair caught my attention. I froze as the person who would no doubt be haunting my nightmares tonight, made a point of staring directly over at me. My blood ran cold. "Uh, yeah. Sure, why not?" I hurried out, and didn't hide my desperation as I latched onto Trey's arm. He didn't stop me from pulling him away from the horrible boy with a deadly expression in his icy blue eyes.

       "Whoa, slow down Princess. You're gonna make me trip!" Trey laughed as he wrapped his tree trunk-like arm around my waist, that searching expression from before no longer swimming in his eyes. He picked me off the ground in one swift, effortless motion that left me breathless. I couldn't speak as he raised me until I was eye level with him.

       This was so odd.

       "What's the hurry Princess Rose?" He asked with a quizzical eyebrow raised, a soft gleam dancing around his bright eyes. I glanced back at Jason, and then Trey, and then Jason again, like that would get my message across. Trey followed my eyes until they landed on the furious, broken nosed, Jason who had stopped walking towards me when he saw the mountain that was Trey lift me into the air. He did nothing to hide the furious glimmer in his eyes.

       Trey's eyes locked with the one's sending us the darkest death glare that I've seen in a while, and his arm tightened around me before he lifted me higher off the ground. I watched with slightly wide eyes as his jaw clenched and his gaze narrowed at the arrogant football player in clear warning.

       "Brett! Denton! Let's go! We're taking Rose home!" He shouted at the Dimajio brothers, even though they were barely ten feet away from us. I had no doubt he shouted it that loud so Jason would hear.

       Brett and Denton were at our side in a flash, Denton smiling cheekily down at me while Brett's eyes followed mine to a fuming Jason. Those dark blues quickly turned into a solid glare as he gazed at the kid whose nose he broke a few hours before. "Point us in the right direction Princess!" Trey cheered loudly, his smile returning in full force as he turned his back completely on the creep behind us.

       I pointed down the deserted street of our small town that lead to my miniscule neighborhood with the only free hand I had. Without a backwards glance, Trey tucked me tight into his side like a football and marched off down the road. "Trey! Put me down!" I laughed and tried my best to swat at his arm, but he only chuckled and tightened his grip.

       "Not happening. I'm missing my lift-time cause' of you, Princess. Least you could do is let me curl you a few times." He lifted me up and down at his side twice, just to prove his point, and it only caused me to laugh louder. The satisfied smirk spreading across his lips gave me the impression that that was the plan all along.

       "I get to carry Buttercup next!" Denton announced with that ever-present, mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Though it only earned him a slap to the back of his head from his twin.

       "The kid is too young for you, man."

       "We're the same age." I grumbled at the ground and tried to fold my arms across my chest, but my body was still being held like a giant football. It's not that I wanted to date Denton or anything. I mean, he's cute and all, but the only boy that ever crossed my mind romantically was Rex.

       Brett rolled his eyes, but couldn't hide the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. "You're too sweet for him, kid."

       Well, I guess that's a little better. Right?

       "Will you put me down, please?" I begged again as Trey started to jog across the street, my body shaking uncomfortably in his hold. My back was starting to ache, his arm was squishing my stomach painfully, and even though I was two times smaller than him it couldn't have been easy lugging me the whole way to my house.

       "Hm, how about no?" I shot him a glare, but he only laughed and curled his arm tighter around me. Ouch. We walked like that the whole way to my house, the boys laughing at random things and dragging me into their discussions until I laughed too. Before I knew it, we were walking down my street and I was pointing out which house was mine. "Dude, no way! Trey laughed as we started walking past the homes surrounding us.

       "What?" I tried to wiggle my body around enough to look up at him, but his giant tree-trunk of an arm wouldn't let me.

       "I literally live like right down there. That house with the wrap-around porch is mine." I followed his pointed finger to the cute two story house at the end of the street, and smiled.

       "I know." He lifted me up enough so I could see the raised eyebrow directed at me, and I felt a blush pull at my cheeks as those bright green eyes flickered in amusement. "I, um, I-I've seen you guys pull in there before and go inside. I-I figured one of you lived there..." I couldn't meet his eyes as his lips rose into a little smirk.

       I didn't want him to think I-like-stalked them or anything. We've lived on the same street since my dad brought me home five years ago. I was bound to see them there at one point or another.

       Trey smiled and as the Dimajios shot each other a look. It made my stomach flip rather unpleasantly. I hoped they didn't think I was some creep or something- "You should have come over and said hi then! We would have totally invited you right in." The heat on my cheeks only got worse as a small smirk pulled at Trey's face.

       "Well, I uh, I..."

       "Seriously Buttercup, we could have been friends long before this if you just came over and said hi." I gave the younger twin a small scowl as his blue eyes lit up in laughter. He so wasn't helping at all right now.

       "Oh well, at least we're friends now. Right Princess?" I glanced up at Trey's bright eyes and gave a little nod as he squeezed me tighter. "And you can come over anytime you want." My eyes dropped down to the ground at that, but I couldn't hide the ecstatic smile that spread across my face.

       The Big Four, the Big Four, wanted to be my friends... Well, at least three of them did. This doesn't happen, this never happens. They never accept people into their group, especially some random girl they met the day before. It was unheard of. But here they were, acting like we had been friends for centuries, scolding me because I didn't introduce myself to them sooner. It's official. I entered the Twilight Zone.

       And I couldn't have been happier.

       I'll admit, that when Trey finally set me down in front of my house and gave me a small smile, that I didn't want them to leave. I didn't have friends- besides my family- and they were the first ones to ever really acknowledged my existence. Why? I didn't know, and despite their supposed anti-social reputation, they were the friendliest, nicest people I had ever met. I didn't want them to go.

       "Rose!"

       My head whipped around at Tate's angry voice, a frown quickly replacing the smile on my lips. He was standing on the porch with narrowed eyes and his hands fisting in anger. I stepped towards him hesitantly. Tate was never like this, he never really got angry. Sometimes he would roll his eyes at something Luce said and snapped back at her, but it never really meant anything. Seeing him this- agitated was new for me.

       Was he okay?

       I felt Trey tense behind me, the other two boys growing deadly silent behind him. I eased back some when Trey's giant hand rested gently on my shoulder, like he was ready to drag me away from the fuming man on my porch.

       "Do you know him Princess?" He asked softly, something dark lacing his usual happy tone. I glanced over my shoulder with that frown still tugging on my lips. They all looked so tense, like they were all ready to jump into action at any moment.

       What got them all riled up?

       "Yeah, that's Tate. He's my sister's boyfriend." Trey's usual bright and happy eyes hardened as they broke my gaze to turn and glare over at Tate.

       "Maguire." Trey's last name sounded strained and forced as it left my sister's boyfriend's lips. Tate was the only friend I ever really had, if you didn't count my sister, and Jax. But Jax wasn't in the picture, and my sister was far too strict to be considered a friend. She was more like a distant mom, who only got involved if she needed to.

       "McHail."

       Trey's tone matched Tate's, and as he kept his hard eyes trained on my friend, he pulled me closer towards him. Tate's eyes narrowed at the action, and I watched in slight surprise as he took a step off the porch. His narrowed eyes and shaking hands looked like he was ready to tear me from the three and lock me in my room if necessary.

       "Rose, come here. Your sister wants you." His words were short- clipped, the sure sign that he was trying to hold in his temper. His short, sand-colored hair was spiked in the front and reflected off the sun's rays as his usually warm brown eyes glared coldly down at Trey. I gently eased my way out of Trey's tight grip, and bounced up the steps not-so-gracefully. I glanced back at him and the twins as Tate grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him, like he wanted to protect me from them.

        My frown only grew as I watched Trey tear his hate-filled eyes off Tate to look over at me with a soft, kind of sad, pained look on his face. Brett's eyes were as hard as this morning and he was glaring daggers at Tate, while Denton just looked awkwardly uncomfortable.

      Tate finally looked away from the Big Four and grabbed my hand to give me a quick once over, like he was trying to make sure they hadn't done anything to me, before sighing in relief. His eyes met mine and the hard brown from before softened into their usual chocolate color.

       "Let's go inside." He urged quietly as he nudged me towards the front door. I looked back at Trey only to find those usual bright green eyes dark while they watched us go.

       "If you need anything Princess, you come and get me alright? You know where I live." I nodded and shot him a small smile as I watched him relax slightly. But that hard gaze didn't leave his eyes as he pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear. "We got a problem-" I heard Trey start to mutter into the receiver before Tate pulled me through the front door and slammed it behind us.

       Who was he talking to?

-&-

       "I'll get it!" I sang at the top of my lungs as I bounded down the stairs in my pajamas. The pounding on our door didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, and it even grew louder the longer it took for me to get to the door. I didn't bother looking through the window to see who was on the other side before I unbolted the lock and threw it open.

       My smile turned into a shocking, gaping, gasp as Rex's chestnut colored eyes glared down at me in a type of anger I hadn't seen in a long time. He didn't look frustrated like today or yesterday, but he thrummed with an anger that would make most shake in fear, especially me. I took a step back to a void his threatening gaze.

       What in the world-?

       "You answer the door in that?" The venom in his question hit me like a freight train as his angry eyes swept over my pajamas. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, I patted down my shorts until I could tug on the ends, and frowned. Why was he always so mean to me? What did I ever do to him? I thought we were on good terms after lunch. But now I guess not.

       Before I could ask what he was doing here, Tate came walking in from the living room with a smile on his face, until his warm brown eyes glanced over at Rex. "What are you doing here?" His voice was filled with such a spiteful hate as he spat at the boy who hated me, that I actual took a step back in shock. Tate saw the small movement, and his eyes soften briefly before they went back to glaring at Rex.

       "I could ask you the same thing, brother." Rex's words were laced with so much hatred I felt like someone had stabbed me in the chest, and his words weren't even directed at me!

       Um, uh... brother?

       "Y-You two are brothers?" I stared in shock at one of my only friends before turning wide, slightly terrified eyes on Rex. He wouldn't even look at me, those dark, chestnut eyes were glaring so hard at Tate I was surprised if he didn't feel it.

       "Half-brothers." Rex ground out through gritted teeth as his hands curled into fists at his side.

       "Whatever you need to talk to me about we can do in the kitchen." Tate's voice was a dark growl as he nodded towards the kitchen down the hall. I tried not to frown at the reassuring look he shot me, but my mind was in a full tail spin. He and Rex were brothers? What was Rex even doing here?

       Rex's jaw clenched as his dark eyes flickered towards mine before he went back to acting like I wasn't there. He gave Tate a stiff nod before following his half-brother through my house, leaving me behind in their wake. I knew I wasn't invited into their conversation, so I didn't bother following. I didn't want to give Rex another reason to hate me. I found myself looking down at my clothes once again.

       The shorts were short, but they weren't booty shorts, and I only wore them when I went to bed, along with the tank top. Surely Rex must not think I'm like an easy person or something... My eyes widened at the realization that he probably thought I dressed like this on a regular basis, and I was running up the stairs to change before I even realized it.

       I pulled on an old pair of Luce's sweats that were too small for her, even though they barely clung to my hips, and grabbed one of my dad's giant t-shirts that he let me sleep in. Tate used to let me sleep in his shirts, but Luce got really mad about that one day, so I stopped and started wearing dad's. After all, he is her boyfriend, he's just my friend.

       When I was satisfied that the category of easy couldn't be placed anywhere on me, I walked out of my room and down the steps. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I sat down with my arms wrapped around my knees, and waited for them to finish talking. For how angry the two of them seemed to be at each other, their conversation was relatively quiet.

       It had only been about five minutes before I heard a door slamming and Rex's furious form stomping down the hallway. I clung to the banister and wrapped my arms tighter around my knees, like that would stop him from seeing me.

       Rex's words hurt me more than they should, and I didn't want his anger directed at me again. Watching those beautiful eyes of his glance over me like I was some piece of trash stuck on the sidewalk made my chest ache.

       I watched as he stomped down the hall until he reached the front door and slammed it open. He didn't leave though, not yet. He just stood there frozen, one hand gripping the door tightly and the other clenched into a fist at his side. I closed my eyes and waited for the worst when I saw him turn around and his angry chestnut eyes found me.

       There was silence for a few tense seconds, both of our eyes locked on the others. I gulped as his mouth finally opened, and that alluring voice filled the foyer. "Your clothes were fine. You didn't have to change." My eyes snapped up at his words and I saw the briefest amount of guilt flash in his, before it was gone and replaced with that cold demeanor once again.

       He turned to leave, but stopped one more time and glanced over his shoulder. "Keep your distance from Tate, he's not someone you should trust." He didn't give me any other explanation, and he was gone before I could ask him what he meant.

       Tate came stomping into the hallway a moment later, his posture stiff and his dark eyes hard with anger. He stalked right over to the door and slammed it shut before dead bolting the lock and turning to face me.

       His usual warm brown eyes softened when he saw me curled into a ball on the stairs and hugging the banister for dear life. "Are you okay, Rosie?" He asked softly as he walked over, his fingers gently brushing my hair out of my face.

       "Why didn't you tell me you had a brother?" Those were the first words out of my mouth, and the guilty look flashing in his eyes made me feel sorry for even asking.

       "We don't know each other that well. We have different moms and we only lived together for a very short while." He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal before easing himself onto the step next to me.

       "But you both have a different last name."

       He let out a hard sigh and ran a heavy hand through his hair as his eyes blinked up at the ceiling. "I have our dad's last name. Rex has his mom's. Look Rosie, I don't really want to talk about this. Rex and I aren't family in any sense of the word except by blood. And I want to keep it that way."

       I didn't question the cold tone his voice took over as I lifted my head from my knees to give him a sideways glance. How could Rex tell me to be careful around him? This was Tate, my Tate. I've known him for a year now and he's never done anything to make me question him. He dropped his head between his knees and locked his fingers in his hair. His breathing was labored and I could tell he was trying to calm down. His pain broke me.

       "It's okay Tate." I made my voice soft and gentle as I cuddled up to his side and ran my fingers through his short hair, pushing his away in the process.

       His short laugh brought a small smile to my face, and when his arm wrapped around my shoulders in comfort, I snuggled into his warmth. "You know I love you, right?" He asked with a small smile on his face, his brown eyes warm once again as they looked over at me. I smiled and leaned my head against his shoulder in answer. I didn't really need to speak around Tate, sometimes he just understood without words.

       "Sometimes, I swear I only stay with your sister for you."

       "Tate!" I gasped and tore my head off his shoulder, but he only chuckled and brought his lips close to my ear. "She drives me insane." I burst out laughing, which only made him laugh, and then we spent the rest of the night sprawled out on the stairs and talking about anything we wanted.

       Anything but Rex.

-&-

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