Rose's Rush Hour.

Chapter Eighteen.

My eyes snapped open and I was made aware of Callum’s body shaking as he giggled into my shoulder. A mixture of embarrassment and anger swirled in my veins at his obnoxious frustrating behaviour.

Why the hell did he do that!

I raised my fist to hit him in the back; back to his senses, but what he mumbled made me stop mid air.

“Bumblebee...”

I looked at his head, which was still shaking with laughter. “What?”

“Bumblebee.” He laughed, lifting his head at last. “You were afraid of a little bumblebee.”

That’s what made him laugh and break our near kiss? I’d thought he was pranking me, but it didn’t change the fact that I was embarrassed and angry.

“Unbelievable,” he went on, grinning. “The formidable and courageous Rose afraid of a bee. Isn’t it ironically funny?”

I gritted out, “Callum, I swear to God-”

“Afraid of bumblebees, and of cats!” He laughed.

That did it. I pushed him off me.

“You need to go home,” I said and his laughter came to a swift halt.

I brushed past him and stomped forth, except he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against him. A gasp escaped my lips as my heart made a flip. I was bound to get a heart attack if this boy went on like this.

“No,” he whined against my skin, nuzzling his face in my neck. “I want to stay with you.”

How the heck was I supposed to stay mad at him when he was making me melt every other second? Even though it was the drugs that were making him this touchy and affectionate, I couldn’t find it in me to reject him – not when I quite liked this touchy and affectionate Callum.

I put my hands over his arms, which were squeezing me like I was his favourite pillow. “You’ll stay with me while I walk you home.” I wasn’t going to leave him in such a vulnerable and unpredictable state. “Besides, your family must be waiting for you back home.”

He was quiet, and I wondered what was going on in his mind.

After a while, he asked, “Will you hold my hand on the way home?”

A smile made its way across my lips. I didn’t know who was more adorable – sensible Callum or senseless Callum.

“I will,” I assured him.

Only then did he untangle himself from me, and I turned around to witness his toothy beam which brought out his dimple. I fought the urge to poke it. I reached for his hand, interlocking my fingers with his. It was the first time I’d seen him blush the entire evening.

So it was the little things, huh?

“Happy now?” I asked, raising our interlocked fingers.

He nodded, not quite meeting my gaze. He switched from forward Callum to timid Callum in a heartbeat.

I picked my torch and the cookies, and we were on our way. He’d rode his bicycle here, but I told him he could pick it the next day and he agreed. He was quiet most of the way to his home, but I felt his eyes on the side of my head almost everytime. That is, if he wasn’t ogling the stars and nearly bumping into people and lamp posts. It was a handful getting him to focus and I felt like a babysitter.

At last, we arrived at the Vaughn household, but Callum wouldn’t let go of my hand.

I sighed. “You really have to go now, Callum,” I said for the fifth time. And he shook his head for the fifth time.

It was funny how for the past week, he had been the one staying away from me and now he didn’t want to spend another minute a part from me. If this is really how he’d felt all this while, then why did he choose to show me something completely different?

I was just about to ask him when a deep voice cut in. “And the prodigal son returns.”

I looked to my left to see Benjamin who’d appeared on the terrace of the house. He had one hand on his waist and the other held up a lantern.

“Benjie!” Callum squealed in childish glee.

Benjamin came down the terrace to meet us and shone the light in Callum’s beaming face.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicious scrutiny. “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“He’s intoxicated,” I pointed out as Callum giggled.

“Intoxicated?” Benjamin’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “My baby brother doesn’t drink.”

“He’s drugged,” I explained. “Somebody offered him cookies for free and he ate some without knowing they had drugs in them.”

Benjamin looked back at his brother. Callum ran his hand down Ben’s face and said, “You’re beautiful too, but not as beautiful as Rose.”

I felt myself blush.

“Cut that horrible boot licking. Didn’t I teach you not to accept gifts from strangers?” Ben retorted, slapping his brother’s hand away.

At that, Callum cowered back and stepped behind me.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a low timid voice.

“Go easy on him,” I pleaded to Ben who was glaring daggers at the man-child hiding behind me. “He’s had a rough week.”

Ben’s green eyes landed on me, “Don’t I know it?” he replied. “But it seems he still couldn’t resist you.”

That statement caused all sorts of questions to pop up in my head. Did Ben know what happened between us?

“You know?” it came out as a whisper, and I hoped he understood what I was trying to ask.

A wry smile crossed Ben’s face. “Who else will this one confide in but his brothers?”

I didn’t know what to say. I must have come off as the bad girl who played his brother to him.

“He tried his best, I’ll give him that. But between yesterday and today, he simply couldn’t mask it anymore,” Ben continued. “Cal just isn’t the type to hold grudges.”

What did that mean?

“Let’s go, big man.” Ben reached for Callum, who effectively dodged him and held onto my hand with both his hands.

Benjamin let out a sigh of frustration. “She isn’t going to disappear. You’ll see her tomorrow.”

“You’re lying. She’s going to disappear for five days again.”

Ben’s green eyes went to me, silently asking for help. I was still trying to get a semblance of what was happening. So far, I mustered that since our falling out, Callum wanted to see me but couldn’t for some reason. And that when I came to him, he pushed me away for some reason. I needed to get that reason and that too from sensible Callum.

I turned to face senseless Callum. He was like a puppy, with that lost yet doting expression on his face.

“Callum, go with your brother,” I urged. “You’ll see me tomorrow, and we’ll talk and be together for as long as you want.”

That seemed to lift his mood, but then he pouted. “Promise?”

I smiled. “I promise.”

A toothy smile crossed his face and without warning, he pulled me to his chest and enveloped me in a hug.

God, would my heart ever get used to this?

“Good night, my Rose,” he whispered and drew back as Ben whisked him away from my arms and away from my embrace.

Wait, had I heard that right?

My Rose?