Chapter

CAELUM'S POV:

It had been three days since Rosette visited the hospital.

She kept assuring me that she was all fine but her eyes never lied, they still looked unfocused and distant. I called up my psychiatrist for an appointment the same day and took Rose for therapy sessions.

I parked the car infront of the two-storied building and waited. Her session should've ended till now, I thought glancing at my watch.

I was about to step out of the car when I saw her walking out of the building and coming towards the car.

She wore an olive v-neck cardigan and blue denims. As she got in I saw her eyes were puffy and the flecks of her hair were wet. Now I knew where those extra ten minutes had been used.

Today was the third session. Rose forbade me from asking anything except the raw sketch of the progress. She had got me to agree about not being monitored.

Libelle was still at the hospital after Rowan and Rosette forbade her from stepping into that hell hole of a house. I overheard her whining on the phone to Rosette the first night about how creepy the hospital was at night but before Rose could offer to stay the nights, Rowan had already occupied the sofa with a pillow and blanket.

It was confusing at first because I thought Rowan had a thing for Rosette, but wont lie, my relief was real.

She took off her sling bag and fastened her seat bealt saying, "Sorry I'm late. Did you wait for long?"

"I just pulled in." I replied driving out of the parking lot.

She nodded as she looked through the window at the young night sky. She loved looking at the stars. I had even caught her smiling at the moon sometimes. Only then did I realize, she had befriended the moon.

But today she did not smile. She said nothing at all, but simply stared upwards into the dark sky and watched with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.

I pulled over at the drive-through at dunkin's. She was the type of girl who'd chew her problems away with donuts and chips.

She noticed we had pulled in but did not say anything. "You want anything?" I asked.

She shook her head saying a no.

"A caramel donut and an Americano please." I ordered.

"Since when did you like 'sugary trash'" she mumbled leaning her head on the window pane, her voice tired and sloppy.

"It's for you dummy." I said driving to the receiving window, but then I smirked, "Isn't your memory too good Rosette."

"What memory?" she asked straightening her neck.

"Sugary trash, I wonder when I said this to you. Perhaps when you were drunk enough to climb.." She turned pink,

"Don't say it." She snapped with embarrassment.

I passed her the donut huffing a laugh, "Stop hyperventilating."

She pouted blushing even more. I didn't want to go home anymore. I took the sharp turn to the right valley and drove in the opposite direction.

"We aren't going home?" she asked.

"I don't want to." She gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes and opened the paper bag. Biting the donut, moaning lightly as the warm caramel syrups filled her mouth. I sighed internally and sipped on my coffee, was she just naïve or torturous?

For the next fifteen minutes that I drove, none of us talked. The silence wasn't uncomfortable or heavy, it was just.. right.

I stopped the car at the top of the hill. I used to come here when I was a kid trying to escape the world.

I unbuckled our seat belts, "Come on out." I said, stepping out. It was cold. The wind had the scent and bite of winter in it. It was cold, I was thankful for wearing the warm sweater.

She came out of the other side and stood by me.

"What is it-," she stopped as she took in the scene infront of her.

The sky grew darker the higher one looked, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night. The nightsky was aglow with bright city lights. The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the middle of the gloom. We looked up at the blanket of stars that stretched to infinity.

"wow" she whispered in awe, Her widened eyes twinkled with the light reflected into them as she added, "This looks like your eyes."

"Pardon" I asked, My eyes? People had complimented them quite enough but this was different. She wasn't looking at me.. she didn't say how my eyes looked like the sky, instead she said how the sky looked like them.

She traced a finger across the empty air, surfing it through the wintry wind.

"The deeper it gets, the mysterious it becomes. It is soft yet chilly and dark with a curious emptiness. But the stars fill them, just like when you laugh." She said delicately, trying not to disturb the silence.

Her eyes still on those scattered drops of light.

A sky full of stars and there I was, staring at her.

"Let's play a game Rose." I said leaning onto the car.

"What game?" she asked looking at me.

"Question for a question." I replied.

She opened her mouth to say something.. but then quickly closed it again and nodded.

"I'll go first," I said, "Why do you smile at the moon so much?"

She smiled damply and said,

"My mom..When I was a kid, barely four, she would tell me that the moon loved me. She told me how the moon wanted to be my friend and how lonely he was, so I would go to the backyard every night and confess all my problems and lies to him." Her smile grew wider yet sadder,

"But she would always hide behind and hear everything." She pointed a finger at the ivory boat floating in the deep blue, "I wonder if she's still hiding somewhere, listening to me."

Her eyes were hopeful as she wished upon it.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I was planning to stand there in the silence of the night forever when she said,

"My turn, What about your parents?"

Out of everything she could have asked she chose that, "They're dead." I replied as casually as possible.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't ha-,"

"It's okay." I assured her, "Anyways my turn.." I was afraid to ask this question, afraid of myself for what I might do if she answers it.

"When did Eric start abusing you?" I asked cautiously.

She looked down at the rough squares of the pavement, "On my sixteenth birthday." She said.

I closed my eyes. I was a decade late. A decade late to help her. I kept my anger at bay and took a breath. I wasn't expecting her to keep the conversation going when she whispered,

"My turn.." she lifted her eyes to face mine and asked, "Is there something I should know about you?"I was astonished beyond astonishment... like a form of mortal fear, unable to flee the situation, just absorbing it in its entirety.

"There are many things, I wish I could never tell you, but at some point I'll have to and when I do, something tells me you won't stay around to listen to the whole thing." I whispered, still drowning in the slow, languid gaze of hers.

"Don't be so sure." She said smiling faintly. "Your turn."

I leaned in to her height and squinted my eyes, "Why are you so full of grief?" I asked.

"Because you are full of rage." She whispered back.

Rage she said, but her eyes were not looking at it.. they were gentle as if they understood that some of us weren't brave enough to face grief, so we chose to hide behind walls of fire and rage. It had always been safer to be angry.

I tore my eyes away from her and faced the sky.

"Let's stop with this game." I said coldly.

"I still have a question left." I opened my mouth to say something but she cut me off, "Play fair Mr.White."

I sighed.

"What if I fall in love with you?" she asked. Her voice guilty and sullen.

This couldn't be. She shouldn't ever even think of it. But then why was I happy? Why did I get this jittery feeling in my belly, my palms sweated and a flutter of electricity ran through my body on hearing her words?

"You won't" I said, she had no reason to fall in with me, but a truck load to hate me.

She looked dejected but still flashed me a smile, "Right." She said as she peered into the night sky.

What was she even thinking about? Love? Absurd. I was afraid she was confusing the little comfort for something far bigger.

She was going through a lot. The psychiatrist had told me a little about her condition. Rosette might not show it, but she was on the verge of having a complete breakdown.

She was insecure and pained. She had been having auditory hallucinations, a condition where one can hear voices inside their head in broad daylight.

She had never been used to being comforted or protected. She was mistaking her relief and safety for love.

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