youngblood // p. hockstetter // 0.1

//twenty-nine

•••

Rosemary sat comfortably in her room the day after the incident with Henry, a scalpel and pair of tweezers in her hands. Having woken when Nathaniel left that morning, she still had four hours left until she needed to attend school at one and had spent her morning dissecting the fragments of insects within her room. She felt horrid.

"Hey David?" She called out, waiting patiently as she picked up the remains of the butterfly wing and placed it within a glass jar filled with similar fragments.

From downstairs she could hear David moving, "What's up?"

"Are you still picking me up?"

"I can't hear you!" Rolling her eyes, she darted out of her room and jogged down the hallway that was lit by the early morning sun. However already, clouds where starting to dot the sky in an uncharacteristically fast manner. Clad in her ankle socks and one of Jude's jumpers, she hastily made her way down the stairs and stopped when she saw David dressed in long black slacks and a white shirt, packing his bag. "What where you saying?" He asked, grinning as he pulled his hair upwards into a high ponytail.

"Could you please pick me up from school this afternoon?" He smiled, crossing the room.

"Sure thing, remember to lock the door when you leave though" Grabbing his backpack from the table, she smiled as he pat himself down as though he would suddenly recognise the absence of an object he'd left behind.

"You got your wallet?"

"Yes"

"Drink bottle?"

"Yup"

"Cash?"

"Yup"

"What about your keys?"

He stopped from where he'd been pulling out the draws of the coffee table. Snapping his fingers, he grinned at her, kissing her forehead as he walked past. "See, this is why you're the favourite sibling"

She smiled slightly, watching him dart across the room and grab his keys from the dish beside the door. "Hey David. Actually, could I please stay home today?"

Still moving, he looked at her in confusion. Rosemary very rarely missed school, if ever, and the request came as a surprise though he suspected it had something to do with the poorly state of her uniform which he'd spent the previous night sewing back together. "What for? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just not feeling the best" Stopping what he was doing, he walked forward and pressed his large hand against her forehead.

"You are a bit warm..." His hand rest on her cheek and he frowned as she subconsciously lent into his touch. "You want me to stay home?" Rosemary gently shook her head.

"No point in using your days off. I might just take some pills and sleep" As indicated by the slight tick of his eyebrow, he wasn't convinced. "Go, you can't afford to be late in your first few months"

"Are you sure?" Standing straight, he propped his hands on his hips in a manner that made Rosemary shrink away in remembrance. "I can call a doctor or maybe we could see your friends parents? What's her name?"

"Gretta's dad's a pharmacist and they aren't going to be back until later in July" Rosemary grunted slightly, implying her throat may be irritating her. "Mind if I borrow your quilt?"

"Go get comfy on the couch" He sighed, stroking her hair affectionately as he walked down the hallway towards his bedroom. Given it was the only bedroom on the lowest floor it seemed the most logical solution to take his sheets between herself, David and Nathaniel. As he walked back into the lounge room with his dark green duvet, he proceeded to drop the bundle atop Rosemary's curled up form, making her shiver as he spread it over her shoulders and feet. "I'll write the bar's private number here" Pulling a pen from one of the drawers in the coffee table he scribbled the number onto a stack of sticky notes, propping it down in front of her. "If anything happens; you feel worse, your fever spikes, you think you need a doctor, call me"