the book of fluff (that usually isn't)

rosemary pt. 4

i'm sorry this took so long and that it's so short i really didn't want to write this

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A few months passed, and Rosemary absolutely loved living with Scott. Since Scott was already going to school, he took her with him every morning and took her home every afternoon. As for Scott and Mitch, they were officially boyfriends. Secretly, Mitch had begun saving to propose, because he knew it would take a while and by the time it would be socially acceptable to propose he would have enough money.

Rosemary had moved to first grade, so Scott didn't have her anymore, but obviously he still took her home. One day, however, she came into his classroom in tears. Scott frowned and immediately rushed over to her, hugging her gently. "What's wrong, baby?" Rosemary sobbed and buried her face in his neck, holding onto his shirt. "R-Ryan was being m-mean," she whimpered, and Scott's frown depended, knowing who Ryan was — he was a little boy in her first grade class who bullied the other kids, so this wasn't a rare occurrence. However, Rosemary always stood up to him, and her father was very proud of her for that.

"What did he say to you, princess?" Scott asked concernedly, tracing patterns into her back.

"H-He wasn't mean to me."

"What? What do you mean?"

"He was mean to Daddy," Rosemary whimpered, and whatever response Scott had been expecting, it wasn't that. "What?"

"He was mean to Daddy," Rosemary repeated, pulling away to wipe at her tears. Scott frowned and tilted his head, cupping her cheek. "What did he say?" Rosemary sniffled and peered up at him with shining eyes. "H-He called him a slut. Wh-What's a slut, Momma?"

"Don't say that word, baby. It's a very bad word."

"B-But what is it?"

"It's-..." Scott sighed shakily as he tried to think of a way to explain it. "I'll tell you when you're older. But your father is not one, okay?

"O-Okay..."

Scott wiped the rest of her tears and picked her up, gathering his stuff before leaving his classroom and the school. "Why did Ryan say that, anyway?" he asked as he buckled her in to her car seat. Rosemary sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "H-He said my daddy used to go to his house at night and his daddy would take my daddy into his bedroom and make funny noises, and when he tried to see what they were doing, my daddy didn't have any clothes on." Scott's eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about, but he quickly forced himself to act nonchalant. "Don't worry about it, okay? Your father is still the same wonderful father you had before Ryan told you this. Don't listen to him." Rosemary hesitated, but she nodded. "Okay, Mommy."

The topic didn't come up again until that night, when Rosemary had gone to bed. Mitch was cleaning the dishes from their dinner, and Scott went into the kitchen to wrap his arms around him from behind. Mitch smiled slightly and glanced back at him. "Hi." Scott smiled and nuzzled his face into Mitch's neck, pressing soft kisses to his skin. "I missed you today," he murmured, and Mitch instinctively tilted his head to the side to give him better access. "I missed you too, baby," he said quietly, setting the last dish aside and turning around in Scott's arms to kiss him. Scott smiled into the kiss, but he quickly stamped it out so he could kiss back, snaking his arms around Mitch's waist. Mitch looped his arms around Scott's neck and stood on his tiptoes to reach him better.

Eventually, Scott pulled away and pressed their foreheads together. "Rosemary was crying when she came into my classroom this afternoon," he murmured, and Mitch's eyes immediately opened from when they were closed from the kiss. "What?"

"She said Ryan was being mean."

"What did he say to her? I'll make him pay," Mitch growled, but Scott laughed quietly and hugged him gently. "Mitchy, calm down. He's only seven. Besides, she said he wasn't being mean to her." Mitch slowly relaxed and leaned against him. "Oh." Scott smiled and kissed his neck gently, rubbing his back, but his smile quickly faded. "Did you used to go to his house?" he asked quietly, and Mitch froze, looking up at him. "Wh-What?"

"She said he called you a slut, Mitchy. I think you used to go to his house to pleasure his father."

Tears filled Mitch's eyes, but he hurriedly blinked them back and buried his face in Scott's chest. "I'm sorry. You deserve better than me."

"Oh, Mitchy... I don't want anyone else. You're the one I love."

Mitch sniffled and held onto him. "I love you too."