"Okay. Let's see. Five things. What's your guilty pleasure show?"

"Not telling you that."

"Come on! Alright. Favourite movie?"

"Eh. Don't have one."

"Rose! You're killing me here."

Rose shrugged, before cutting into her syrup drenched waffle.

Breakfast was delicious, Sebastian hadn't lied. They were both perched on tools around the kitchen island, eating. More specifically, Rose was eating. Sebastian was too busy trying to find a question Rose would be willing to answer.

"Fine. Okay. This is easy," Sebastian started, refusing to give up. "What's your favourite colour?"

Blue.

"Nothing. I don't have one," Rose said instead, gripping her fork just the tiniest bit tighter.

Sebastian sighed, running his palm down his face.

"Okay, fine, fine," Rose said, taking pity on him. He wasn't wrong, either. They should get to know one another. "I'll answer your next question."

Sebastian perked up. "Alright. Um... Okay, got one. What's your favourite season, and why?"

This, Rose could answer. "Summer," she said immediately. "It always feels like a warm hug after winter. I always feel more... free, I guess? Like I can finally come out of my cocoon and start to fly."

"Thank you," Sebastian beamed, before looking out of the window, taking in the blanket of snow from the previous night. "Not a fan of this current weather, then?"

Rose shook her head. "It's fine, but... yeah. No. Winter is just sad. All cold and grey and empty and cold."

"I see, I see. Okay, next question. What do you like doing? Hobbies, passions?"

"I feel like I'm giving an interview."

"Given how many questions you've skipped, Miss. Beaumont, I'd have to say you aren't getting the job," Sebastian laughed, but immediately stopped on seeing the expression on Rose's face. "Um, shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend-"

"No, no," Rose cut him off, trying for a smile. "It's just... It isn't Miss. Beaumont anymore, is it?"

"Oh. Right." Sebastian was quiet for a beat. "I almost... forgot? I'm sorry."

"No, I get it. In theory, I know. But... yeah. I hadn't even thought about becoming Mrs. Price."

"You don't have to, you know?" he said softly. "You can keep your name, I would never ask you to change it if you don't want to."

Rose looked down at her plate, pushing around some of the bacon. "I don't know," she sighed. "I don't really feel any real connection with Beaumont, either. I just... I don't know."

"Just Rose, then. For now. We can figure the rest out as we go," he said, and then, ever so carefully, he reached out. His hand hovered for a second, before gently coming down to give her hand a soft squeeze. Rose stared at his hand, before looking up, meeting his eyes mutely.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and began to stand up.

"Rose, please. Don't," Sebastian let go of her hand, but stood up with her. "You don't have to apologise. Really. This is really confusing, of course it's going to be jarring every now and then. But we'll figure it out, okay? I promise. One day at a time."

Rose wanted to cry. "Why," she asked, looking up at him almost accusingly. "Why are you being so nice? This can't be fun for you either, so why are you being so..." she gestured wildly with her hands, at a loss of words.

"No, it isn't fun," he started, before looking around his kitchen. "But not as hard as you have it, either. At least I get to stay in my own home."

"Congratulations."

"I'm really just trying to make it easier for you. That's all."

"Well, it won't work," she snapped, all of the bottled up anger and resentment of the past few months coming pouring out. "I am stuck here, and no amount of niceness will change that. So you don't have to do all of this, okay? And you certainly don't have to pity me."

Sebastian opened his mouth, but Rose had turned around and stormed off before he could figure out what to say.

-🥀-

What on Earth was that?

It had been a couple hours since Rose's outburst in the kitchen, and all she wanted to do was bury herself under a thick layer of earth. She had no right, or reason, to scream at him that way. He had been nothing but accommodating throughout, and Rose had yelled at him.

"Fuck me," she groaned, pressing the heels of her palm against her eyes.

She had to do something.

But getting her feet to move proved to be a herculean task. It would be so much easier if she could just text him an apology and call it day. But no. He deserved better than that. Rose took a deep breath, and swung her feet off the bed. Walking towards the door, she wondered what she could possibly say to him to explain her behaviour. How could she possibly make him understand that every time he was nice to her, it made her hate herself even more?

She opened the door, immediately facing a new wave of guilt. All her suitcases were meticulously arranged by the door, with a sticky note on top that read, "If you need help unpacking, let me know."

Rose picked it up, studying his handwriting. It was neat, so much so that it almost looked printed. Rose herself had never quite mastered the art of writing well - her handwriting forever resembled chicken scrawl.

Pocketing the note, she ventured towards the living room. Worst case, she would finally go upstairs, and try to locate his room. Luckily for her, though, she spotted Sebastian almost immediately. He was lounging on the sofa, his back facing her. He had his phone in one hand, and was focused on its contents.

Rose took a deep breath, and approached him.

"Baking," she said quietly, immediately making Sebastian turn around. His expression was unreadable, but Rose continued on. "My hobby. It's baking. I realised a couple years back that I really, really enjoyed it. It's very calming for me, meditative, almost. And I'm pretty good at it. So yeah, baking."

Sebastian nodded slowly, looking equal parts confused and on edge.

"And a show that's my guilty pleasure," she continued, recollecting all the questions he had asked her earlier. "Gossip Girl. I will not explain further."

At this, Sebastian cracked a smile, and gestured for her to sit. She did so, perching at the end of the sofa, before continuing.

"I really don't have a favourite movie. There are so many that I've loved through the years, and each have their merits. But if I had to pick... it'd be 'Notting Hill'. There are all kinds of   fancy and pretentious movies I've watched, but when it comes down to it, nothing can beat a good old fashioned rom-com. And this movie has seen me through thick and thin. So yeah. Notting Hill." Rose stopped, taking a deep breath. "And my favourite colour is blue."

"All five questions, huh?" Sebastian finally said, grinning.

"I'm sorry, for snapping at you, for storming off, for refusing to talk," Rose muttered, chipping at her nailpaint. "And I'm glad you're being so understanding and nice, I should never have gotten upset about that."

"So you don't want me to turn broody and irritable? Because I can channel that, if you want. I was a theatre kid back in the day."

Rose's eyes widened. "I was a theatre kid in school!"

"Really?" Sebastian leaned forward, matching her excitement. "What was your favourite production?"

"Oh, that has to be King Lear. This was all the way back in middle school, and I played Cordelia. It was one of my first proper plays, but... okay, this next bit is embarrassing."

"Consider it repayment for wounding my soul so heinously back in the kitchen."

"Oh, God," Rose groaned, but didn't lose her smile. "Fine. Okay. But only because I have no idea how else to apologise to you."

"Oh, how lucky I am," Sebastian grinned, his eyes twinkling.

"So... I had a fat crush on the actor playing King Lear, but didn't know how to talk to him. In the last scene, I had to die in his arms, and I was absolutely certain that would make him fall for me, and I wouldn't have to do any wooing at all."

"Wait... isn't King Lear Cordelia's father?"

Rose laughed a little. "Mhm, but we can just ignore that."

"Sounds healthy. So, did dying in his arms work? Did you end up dating him?"

Rose grinned. "Nope. I dated the boy who played the Jester instead."

"Promiscuous!" Sebastian laughed, before delving into his own theatre stories, featuring a costar he tripped up onstage accidentally, and how he forgot his lines for a play so the cast collectively improvised more than half the play.

The stories rolled on; highschool didn't have a dearth of embarrassing stories. And something about talking to Sebastian felt... easy. By the time evening drew near, Rose had forgotten to force her smiles back, and was laughing more than she had in a long, long time.

—🥀—

A/N: I accidentally forgot Thursdays existed, and almost posted this a day earlier. This is why I should get more sleep.

Also fun fact; there was an initial draft of Rose (that was Vastly different from the current version), where instead of staying back, Rose and Seb actually go on their honeymoon to the Maldives. Maybe I'll share some of the scenes from those deleted parts someday :>

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be out on Tuesday.

Vote, Comment, and have a Great Weekend <3