Hanahaki Disease

7. Forgive me, Brielle

WARNING: cussing

Chapter 7: Forgive me, Brielle

Rosemary's focus

Rosemary felt like a terrible person.

She'd left Brielle all alone, dealing with her Hanahaki, and basically acted like she didn't care. It had been a whole week since she ran away from Brielle- She could barely stand the dirty looks that Connor and Matthias, her new sort of friends, had been giving her. It took all of her willpower not to burst into tears and run off to the bathroom.

If Brielle knew what Rosemary knew...

Rosemary, of course, blamed herself. It was her fault, after all. Hanahaki wasn't some joke- she'd been taught that for years. Her camp friends never believed her, but she was being truthful when she said that people who fell in love with her would die from hanahaki. Flower petals.

If she was completely honest, Rosemary would admit that flowers and flower petals were a common occurrence in her nightmares. Embarrassing, yes, but the truth. The thought of Brielle dying all because of me... It makes me sick.

Rosemary couldn't stand it anymore. She stomped over to Matthias and Connor's table, ignoring their glares, and sat down. She leaned forward and pushed her tray to the side. "Could I please come over and talk to Brielle? I wanted to... apologize. For everything. Since, y'know, it is my fault."

Connor continued glaring, but Matthias spoke. "Sure, you can come see her. She may not be happy to see you, though."

"Yeah, I get it. I just... I can't stop feeling guilty. I know it's my fault and I deserve my guilt, but this is the first time where I've genuinely felt... heartbroken?" Rosemary paused. "After someone got hanahaki because of me. It still made me sad, but Brielle..." She trailed off. "She was more special than the rest of them. The first one I genuinely hoped I would be able to love back."

    Connor's expression softened a little, and he nodded. "Come to Brielle's house after school. I'm sure she'll be okay with talking to you." He sounded a little bit doubtful, but Rosemary didn't care. I have to talk to her again. She can't die without knowing my true feelings.

"Thank you." Rosemary smiled faintly before turning away and sitting with her other friends.

As soon as she sat down, her friend Grace turned to her, in the middle of her sentence. "I hear Brielle Bhanks got Hanahaki because of you. Is it true?" Grace smirked.

    "Yeah, it's true." Rosemary was very ashamed about it. Grace's smirk dropped and she put her arm around Rosemary's shoulders.

    "It's okay, Rosie. You didn't know it would happen."

    "But I always know it's going to happen." Rosemary whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "I know that whoever loves me romantically will die. It's hard to accept, but I have to. I'm going to make sure that nobody talks badly about Brielle after this."

    Grace smiled at her. "Rosie, you are too sweet. Don't blame yourself. Ever. Okay?" Now all the girls at the table were watching them, smiling.

    "Rosemary, we care about you. It's not your fault." Emma said, from the other side of the table.

    A chorus of yeah's was heard from the table, all sounding sympathetic. Rosemary wished she could believe them.

-💗~🌷~💗-

    After school, Connor and Matthias were waiting at the front door for Rosemary. They drove to Brielle's house together.

    "You nervous?" Matthias caught on to Rosemary's nervous foot tapping.

    "Yeah, of course I am. A girl who's in love with me who knows I don't love her back"—Because I can't—"Is going to be there. You expect me to not be nervous?"

    Matthias rolled his eyes. "It's gonna be fine. I know Brielle very well, and she's going to be mad for a few minutes, then cool down. Be prepared for the yelling." Rosemary shivered. She was not prepared for yelling, although she should've been.

    "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

    "Try not to break her heart." Connor said before he unlocked Brielle's front door for her.

    "Too late for that." She shut the door on his face, even though he was gonna come inside. She ran away to where she remembered Brielle's room was.

    She stood there, her hand outstretched in a knocking position, for about a minute. She would've stayed there for longer, but Connor stormed up the stairs and grabbed her fist. He rammed it into the door a few times.

    "Jesus, Connor! Chill out bitch." Brielle said. Rosemary's heart sped up. She was happy to hear Brielle's voice again- even if it was Brielle calling her best friend a bitch.

    She heard a coughing fit from the other side of the door, and opened the door immediately. "Brielle? Are you..." Her voice stopped working. All around the room were several bowls, all but one completely filled to the brim with colourful petals. "Not just pink anymore, huh?"

    Brielle glared at her and talked coldly. "I guess not. Although, you would've realized if you'd visited."

    "Yeah. I'm really sorry Brielle. I got very freaked out, and I ran, which is what I do when I freak out. Brielle..." She paused. "Please forgive me."

A/n a little shorter than the other ones but i hope you still enjoyed it!

912 words (not including a/n)

i felt a little weird writing rosemary's pov- it just felt so fake for me to write bc i was so recently writing about how brielle was so mad at rosemary and bitter about it.

Anyways, bye! love you guys!

~erin