Rosie hadn't realized how much she had missed the sunlight. As the beams licked at her pale skin, she was reminded of when she had first arrived to Earth. She had stepped outside, Bellamy by her side, and knew that nothing would ever be the same. The same feeling was present now.

"We're free..." John breathed out, sounding almost in disbelief.

Rosie fell to her knees, whether it was due to relief or weakness, she did not know. Her fingers grazed the grass beneath her, plucking at the strands just to ensure that all of this was real. Her mind was racing. Only moments before she had been talking John off the ledge. She had been questioning whether living was even worth it. Now, there was so much to live for.

"We can go home," The realization hit Rosie like a brick, soon bringing a smile to her face. Home meant Bellamy.

As John processed her words, his smile slowly disappeared, but Rosie didn't seem to notice.

After what felt like hours, but must have been only minutes, the familiar buzzing of a drone drew Rosie and John's attention towards the sky. The sound filled Rosie with mild annoyance, at most, while it infuriated John. Soon, he was on his feet, chasing after the thing. While Rosie looked at their freedom as something to rejoice, John looked at it as an opportunity to take out all of the anger that had been building inside of him while trapped down there.

"John, wait!" Rosie called after him, willing her feet to chase behind. The shore had been right in front of them, they had the opportunity to leave. Instead, they were chasing a drone further into the depths of the island.

"Get back here, damnit!" John called out

Rosie's feet trembled beneath her. She was positive that soon, her legs would fail her. But John seemed to be on a mission, and some part of her knew that meant there was no stopping him. Rosie focused on her breath as she tried to match pace with him, but it was no use. She simply couldn't keep up.

Then, he stopped abruptly in his tracks, causing Rosie to nearly run into his back. She slid to a halt, just barely avoiding a collision with him. Her breath was choppy and she found herself bending at the waist with her hands on her knees, trying to regain her composure. Clearly, she was no longer as healthy as she was before their trek.

"Do you see that?" John questioned, stretching a pointed finger outward.

Rosie raised her head and looked directly ahead, letting her mouth drop in shock. In the distance stood a perfectly kept mansion, one like she had seen in pictures from the old world. She never thought she'd see anything like it. In the sky above it, hundreds of drones circled, their annoying buzzing reaching their ears even in the distance.

Without a word exchanged between them, John took off again, this time with Rosie not far behind. She wasn't complaining about their pace anymore, too distracted with awe to even notice how weak she felt. They had to make it to that house and find what was stored within. At that moment, Rosie hoped it would be food.

Upon pushing open the heavy glass doors, John immediately collapsed in a heap. Rosie stumbled over him, causing their bodies to tangle on the floor. She couldn't help but to erupt into a fit of giggles, finding their current situation comical. As they untangled themselves, John never even broke a smile.

"Sorry," Rosie composed herself, noting John's serious demeanor. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He answered, pushing himself up. His eyes were fixed ahead.

Rosie followed his gaze, taking in the footsteps approaching them. She sat upright, suddenly on high alert. As her vision focused in, she found herself almost wishing it was some unknown enemy. But no. Of course, with their luck, it was Thelonius Jaha.

"There you are," His deep voice bellowed, a smile spreading on his face.

"Jaha?" John questioned in disbelief, an underlying anger lacing his words.

"Welcome," The man greeted them as if they were expected old friends, rather than the two kids he left to die on more than one occasion. "We have so much to talk about, and so little time."

John pulled himself to his feet, while Rosie sat in shock. She silently cursed the notion of 'hope,' seeing as every time she felt it, it let her down.

"I found it," Jaha finally stopped, just a few short feet in front of them. "The city of light is real."

"You left us there."

As soon as the words left John's mouth, Rosie knew there would be trouble. In the blink of an eye, John was lunging at Jaha. She was quickly reminded of how weak they had truly become as Jaha quickly dodged John's blows, something he would never have been able to done in the past. John stumbled with the misplaced force, causing Jaha to lean forward and catch the boy in his arms.

"John!" Rosie shouted, finally rising to her feet. Jaha quickly picked the boy up completely, his entire body limp.

"Follow me," Jaha ordered, and for once, Rosie actually wanted to listen to him.

❀

Rosie's leg bounced anxiously as she watched her love sleep. Jaha swore he'd be okay, but she had learned her lesson when it came to trusting that man. Now, all she could do is wait and worry.

At the slightest muscle movement from the boy, Rosie sat upright, prepared to cater to any need he may have upon waking up. The boy's eyes fluttered open, slowly taking in his surroundings before sitting upright in confusion. Rosie quickly grabbed the glass of water Jaha had left for him on the table, forcing him to drink it whether he wanted to or not. Luckily, he grabbed for the apple left for him before she even had to tell him.

"Where is he?" John questioned after swallowing a few bites of the fruit. Rosie cocked her head to the side, sending the boy's attention to the room next to them where Jaha sat. He was on his knees, almost as if he was in a trance.

"Don't bother talking to him, he can't hear us anyways," Rosie sighed, eyeing the man with disgust.

"What's he doing?"

Rosie shrugged before averting her attention back to John.

"I dunno, said he was going to the City of Light."

John rose to his feet and started towards him before Rosie had the sense to stop him. Quickly, she rose and followed after him, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket to get him to stop.

"Hey!" She called, forcing his attention back to her. "Forget about it, let's just get out of here."

"Get out of here?" John repeated back, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"Yeah, let's go while he's still meditating," Rosie urged. "I know where the kitchen is, we can grab enough food and go."

"Where would we go?"

With his words, Rosie let go of her hold on his jacket sleeve. Now, it was her turn to be confused. She couldn't comprehend John possibly wanting to stay there.

"Home?" She offered, feeling silly that she even had to say it out loud.

John scoffed and Rosie found herself questioning where his sudden anger was coming from. Perhaps being freed from that bunker truly had changed him.

"We both left for a reason, why should we go back there? Especially when we could just stay here together."

"I can think of about a thousand reasons why we shouldn't just stay here, starting with the delusional man in the room next to us," Rosie's voice began to raise, something she hadn't expected of herself. Judging by the look on John's face, he hadn't expected it either.

"Do you really want to go back to your mom? To all the people that think you're crazy?" It was clear the boy was slowly losing his temper, hitting Rosie with deeper blows as he continued on. She had never expected the boy to use her mom against her.

"What's your problem?" Rosie recovered, doing her best not to show the hurt she felt from his words. "Weren't you the one who was just dreaming about what things will be like with us and Bellamy?"

Perhaps she was foolish to think he meant the words he spoke while on the brink of death, but she couldn't help it. She had wanted so badly to believe they could have a picture perfect life together. That one day they would return to Arkadia, and the people would accept them with open arms. As she thought about it now, she realized she truly was foolish.

"That was different..." John trailed off.

"What was different? What could have possibly changed between then and now?"

"We got out!" And with that, any hold John had on his temper was gone. "God, Roseanne. I said those things in the bunker when I thought we could die any day. Now we're free, so why would I want to go back to a place full of people that have never even treated me like a human?"

Rosie stared at the boy, stunned. She couldn't find the words to accurately portray how she was feeling, mostly because she didn't know how she was feeling. Despite the way she paused and the hurt in her eyes, John wasn't backing down. Not now. Not when he was so angry.

"Why do you want to go back, huh?" He started, taking a step closer to her. When she didn't respond, he scoffed. "Just admit it, you want to go back for him."

In that moment, Rosie felt like she had months ago. The voice she had worked so hard to build up was gone. She was sure that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't muster the strength to speak. Tears welled in her eyes, but she did everything in her power not to let them fall. Although, seeing the way her eyes began to glisten was enough to soften John, just a little bit.

"If we go back there, you're just going to realize you're too good for me," John spoke, his voice a calm tone yet still laced with resentment. "You're not the quiet girl you were when we left. And..." He slowly trailed off, glancing away before back at the girl. "You're the best person I know, and I've got to be the worst."

"God," Rosie's voice returned at full force, the tears spilling as she spoke. "I don't care about any of that! I don't care that you think you're a bad person or that you think I deserve better. I want you!"

"Now you do, when I'm the only option you've had in weeks. But what about when we go back? What about when you see Bellamy for the first time?"

Rosie pondered his words. She was filled with a silent anger that she was certain she had never felt before. She had spent weeks doing everything for this boy, telling and showing him just how much he meant to her. She found her voice with him, it had felt like her life truly began with him. But, that didn't mean she owed her life to him. She couldn't spend it tip-toeing around his ego.

"If you can't trust me when I say that you're the only guy I want, then there's nothing I can do," Rosie wiped her tears off of her face and stood up straight, her confidence growing. "I love you John Murphy, but I'm not going to stay here with you just because you're too scared to go back to real life. If you won't go with me, I guess I'll have to go alone."

John stared at the girl in front of him in disbelief. In that moment, he wasn't sure he even recognized her. She wasn't the timid girl he had teased at the beginning of their trip. Now, she was someone completely different. Still, he loved her nonetheless, and he was pushing her away.

Rosie stammered for just a moment, waiting to see if he'd grow the confidence to change his mind. When he didn't, she allotted him no more time, turning on her heels towards the kitchen. In silence, she packed all of her necessities in a bag she had found while John was asleep. Once, packed she headed towards the front door.

"Rosie, wait," John finally stopped her, talking a hold of her hand. He couldn't let her leave like this.

Rosie allowed herself to turn and look at the boy. She hoped that he would say that he can't live without her and that he was coming with her, but she prepared herself to be strong if he begged her to stay.

"Please..."

He didn't need to say anymore. With that, Rosie turned and released her hand from his grasp, exiting through the front door. At the beginning of this trip, she would have surprised herself with the strength she was exhibiting. But now, she knew she was stronger than anyone ever believed.

She allowed herself one glance back at the mansion. She knew beyond those walls stood the love of her life, yet she also knew she was making the right decision. Through the glass doors, she squinted her eyes at a flash of bright red. Neither John nor Jaha was wearing such a vibrant color. Once she could no longer see it, she trained her eyes ahead. It didn't really matter anyway.

After that, she never looked back.

A/N: immmmmmm are you kidding me? After MONTHS Rosie is finally done? INSANE.

Do not fret, I know I said I wasn't ending the story with them getting out of the bunker, and I'm not! I just would like to start the next part as a sequel book. So stay tuned! I'll be updating this book one last time to post the link to the sequel.

Rosie's growth throughout this story is amazing to me. She truly is such a wonderful character to bring to life, and god am I thankful to be able to do so.

Thank you all so much for your continued support, even through this super hectic semester. It truthfully means the world to me. I hope you all stay tuned for the rest of Rosie & John's story, which will now include all of the other characters we know and love. But if you don't, sticking through this first book means enough.

I love you all, see you soon!