The Luna's Nerd

~Chapter 18~

"Kill Titus?" Rose questions with a puzzled expression, which is probably the most normal reaction I've gotten from anything I've done or said today.

I nod my head with shame and stare at my feet. "H-He's jealous of Nicki being with him," I admit.

"Oh, great." She frowns now, and I swallow nervously. "I mean..." She stops midway and stops speaking. "I'll be honest. Ty, you're fucked."

I roll my eyes, "Thanks, Rose. I needed that confirmation."

She laughs, "Well, things could be a lot worse right now, am I right?" Her elbow nudges against the side of my arm and she wiggles her eyebrows. "No one died, at least."

My eyes immediately make way to my bed where the blood-covered clothes lie. Rose follows my glance and her eyes bug out of her sockets.

"Ty... you didn't.. did-did you..?"

I shake my head fiercely, "No, I...It wasn't me! I wasn't... I don't know how to explain it, but it wasn't me. I swear!"

She takes a moment, then sighs, "Well, come on." She starts toward my balcony. I don't move and she looks over her shoulder and beckons, "What are you waiting for? Grab your clothes and let's go."

I follow her instructions and snatch the clothes off my bed. "Where are we going?"

She turns back around and leads me to the balcony's edge. "We can't just leave your clothes all bloody and such, Ty- Give me a hand?" She climbs over the edge and dangles over.

I throw my feet over with her and take her hand in mine. "You know how to clean blood from this?" I spent 30 minutes trying to figure it out. She dangles from my grip and drops to the ground unharmed. This girl has mad ninja skills.

I follow after her, and my landing is a bit harsher since my knees buckled, but the recovery lasted a few seconds. "Are you kidding me, Tyler? I'm a girl. I obviously know how to wash blood out of clothes."

~•••~

"Come on, slow poke!" Rose calls ahead of me as she weaves through the trees.

I glance down at the now-cleaned clothes with a frown. Cold water. I should've known. Glancing up, Rose's hair brushes against my cheek as she hangs upside down from a branch. "Agh!" I stumble back and fall on my butt.

"Y-your f-face!" She explodes in laughter as she dangles from the branch.

"How the hell did you move so fast?" I hiss dusting myself off. Rose's laughter continues to the point where she falls to the ground with a thud. That should shut her up.

"Are you alright?" I hurry to her and she pushes me away with a grin.

"Of course I'm okay, loser. Let's go!" She grabs my arm and pulls me into the Target parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" I question as she hops into one of the shopping carts.

"Quit planning this shit and push me, dude." With a sigh, I follow after her and wheel her into the store. She scoots to my end and whispers, "Tyler, I have a gun in my pocket. We're going to rob the fuck out of this store."

I immediately stop wheeling her and almost yell, "What?"

Her laughs brought me to a halt, and I sigh in relief. She's Rose, of course, she's kidding.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood, Ty. It's not every day you come across someone who wants to hit their brother with the next ongoing truck." She begins to rock back in forth in the cart, and I continue to push her with a grin slowly forming on my face.