Like A Thief

0: Struggling to Breathe

"The evil it spread like fever ahead, it was night when you died, my firefly"

Rosalie was no stranger to death. Her grandparents had all died, and while she had never been particularly close to any of them, she had seen the immense grief it had caused her parents. Sure, she felt sad and missed them as much as the next grandkid, but none of their deaths had affected her all that much, she had realized.

But death comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. And just because Rosalie was no stranger to death did not mean she was ready for the one that smacked her right in the face two days after she had turned sixteen.

And smack her in the face it did; or really rather punch her, kick her and leave her sprawled in agony on the ground.

So no, the death of Rosalie's grandparents had not in any way prepared her for the suicide of her best friend, Liam Ross. Because you can never really be ready for death, no matter how much you try to prepare yourself for it. There's no protecting yourself, no shielding out the pain that comes with it. We can put on a lot of masks, layer on lots of armor to keep ourselves safe, but death is one thing that knocks it all off.

And Rosalie learned that all too well.

To this day Rosalie debated whether it would've been better or worse if she hadn't been the one to find her best friend's lifeless body hanging from the basement ceiling. And to this day she almost always leant towards the former.

It started out as an innocent enough visit. Rosalie had always been an early riser and Liam a late one, so she was usually the one who woke him up on weekend mornings. They hung out debatably every weekend so it had become a usual routine. This particularly Saturday morning was no different.

Liam and Rosalie were close enough that she had known where the spare key was for some time and always used it to let herself in. They had been friends since they were learning to walk, after all, and his parents were never surprised or taken aback to see her appearing in their doorway at various times throughout the day.

She reached under the pillow attached to the deck chair next to the door and pulled the silver key out. After quietly letting herself in so as not to wake anyone up who could possibly still be sleeping, she placed it back under the pillow and closed the door behind her.

Rosalie knew the Ross household like the back of her hand, every twist and turn, nook and cranny. So the multiple winding hallways that confused the hell out of most newcomers didn't phase her as she made her way towards the stairs that led up to her best friend's bedroom. The house was quiet, seemingly empty. Rosalie knew that Liam's mother, a nurse at the nearby hospital, was always out the door at what seemed like the crack of dawn every morning-even on weekends, so it was no surprise that she wasn't home. And Liam's father was probably out getting the usual Saturday morning bagels which had become something of a tradition in the Ross house, while Liam's sister was undoubtedly still dead to the world.

Rosalie didn't bother knocking, only gingerly opening the door and flicking up the light switch that illuminated the dark room. Liam found it dreadfully annoying when she would just turn on the light full blast, but it never stopped her. The lump from under the blankets tossed over his bed didn't even let out a grunt, didn't even stir.

Rosalie rolled her eyes, used to her best friend's heavy sleeping tendencies, and stripped the blankets off in one sweeping motion. But there was nothing of human form there. Only various pillows that now revealed to be the result of Liam's bad habit of never making his bed.

Confused, as Liam was never up before one, at least, when left to his own devices, Rosalie abandoned the empty bedroom and looked in the bathroom next door, but was once again met with nothing. A wave of fear swept through her, but she shrugged it off as irrational. There could be any explanation for her best friend's disappearance, he could be anywhere in the house. There was no need to jump to conclusions.