/dɪˈmjʊə/

●●●

I'm scared because I care.

●●●

Aaron couldn't quite ponder on what happened.

It was hard thinking straight when he could still feel his heart in his throat and his brain frenzying to find answers on why his father wanted to have a word by tomorrow morning.

Rose was quiet too; her eyes drowsily focused on the necklace that hung down Aaron's neck. He knew it intrigued her when he first slept without his shirt – It's hot, do you mind? – and it was the first thing her eyes snapped to.

It has been a while since he'd worn the silver chain, but he remembered to before they left for Ontario.

Her brown eyes were so soft. "What does this mean?" Her fingers were softly tracing the pendant that hung on the silver chain; a capital J, along with a capital R that were just beside each other.

He remembered getting the R right after he realized he loved Rose. "Initials," He told her simply, a small smile on his lips.

"Initials?" Rose's eyebrows were furrowed, but Aaron could make out the specks of amusement in her eyes. "J for James," Aaron nodded, and she was smiling now, and there was just something about her voice that made Aaron's chest heave in delight. "And R..."

"Who do you think?"

A cheeky smile bloomed on her lips, but the tinge of pink brushed across her cheeks. "Ron Weasley?"

Aaron grinned, shaking his head. "Try again."

"Fictional or real?"

"For fuck's sake Rose, fictional characters will always be real to me."

She laughed. "Point taken." Rose went into thought again. "Is it Regulus Black?"

"Rose," Aaron was laughing now, amused. "It's a real person."

"Really?" Her eyes were still in thought, but they were drowsy. "I can't think straight. My feet hurt and I am tired."

"She is an obvious choice," Aaron told her, a small smile gracing his lips. "You know her very well actually."

"Let me think," Rose's eyes were indeed getting drowsy. Aaron could almost see Hogwarts hiding in the specks of her iris. "Me?"

Aaron laughed. "Of course it would be you," He could feel her trace the pendant; a soft hue of brown settling in her eyes. Aaron almost thought he was looking at something that only existed in dreams. "It could only ever be you." He murmured, smiling when Rose's eyes started to droop.

"You always find a way to make my heart smile, Aaron," Rose sleepily mumbled, already nuzzling her head in the crook of his neck. "It scares me sometimes."

Aaron kissed the top of her head. "Just like how you make mine's smile."

She smiled one last time before her eyelids veiled her shimmering irises, and Aaron could've sworn he saw the glimmer of unshed tears. And he was right when he noticed a lonely tear drop down her cheek.

He rubbed it away with his thumb before kissing her forehead, a small prayer whispering itself against his lips before he tried to fall asleep for the third time that night.

●●●

He woke up alone.

And Aaron was curious at first; Rose was a heavy sleeper, and it confused him on how in the world was she able to get only two and a half hours of sleep and got up without grumbling first.

He got up too; trying to ignore the slight panic that squeezed his chest, and instead, walked right out of his room. Aaron checked the bathroom, and when he saw that there was no sign of Rose there, he hurriedly walked to the kitchen.

And there she was.

Still in his shirt and her blonde locks in an unruly bun; Rose was washing the dishes like it was the last thing she was going to do. Aaron could make out the jitters of her elbows and the clatters of her knees as she stood, and he could almost feel a weight stab itself in his chest.

He walked to her, almost smiling when he saw the ring he gave her safely tucked away on a napkin just away from any moisture. "Hey," He told her quietly, almost grinning when he saw Rose jump.

Her eyes instantly relaxed when she met Aaron's own, a tired smile tingling her lips. "Hey," Her voice was quiet, almost drained. "I didn't think you'd be up this early."

One of his hands went to her shoulder. "I could say the same to you." Aaron tried not to look at the blue shadows under Rose's eyes too much. "What's wrong?" He murmured, taking her face in his hands. "You're never up this early."

"Just nervous I guess," Rose's laugh came out more like a choked sob. "I needed to distract my mind."

"So you wash the dishes?"

"Cold water soothes troubled nerves."

"There's a maid to do that you know? Just letting you know."

"I know," Rose smiled slightly. "I told her to get an hour more of sleep."

Aaron smiled, proud. "How chivalrous of you."

Rose laughed nervously. "It was nothing."

His thumb brushed against her lips. Only then did Aaron notice her chipped nail polish was almost gone. "I'm nervous too." He gave her a small smile. "How about I help you with this big mess?"

Rose shook her head dismissively. "You don't have to do this with me. I can manage on my own."

Aaron smiled. "I want to,"

She smiled back. "Then let me get some more dish washer."

For the next half an hour, Aaron and Rose managed to clean all the dishes; Rose quietly rinsing the dishes while Aaron dried them with a clean wash cloth they found. It was mostly quiet at first, and Aaron understood. Half way through, Aaron took the rinsing and Rose was the one drying. They worked quietly and quickly, and when the dishes were done, Rose didn't look any better.

The circles under her eyes were now pronounced, and the slouch in her shoulders made Aaron feel a pain from the base of his throat to the back of his lungs.

He huddled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "Let's do something to make you relax." Rose only closed her eyes. "How about an at home manicure?"

Rose cracked a small smile. "You can't even hold a paint brush right."

"But painting a wall and painting a nail are completely different things aren't they?"

The sparkle that Aaron missed so much was slowly gleaming itself back into Rose's eyes. "I don't want to get messy." She told him.

"And you won't," He reassured her, grinning. "How bad can it be?"

●●●

"Wait, it says here that we need to use a base coat and – oh, God."

Aaron looked up at her sheepishly. "Too much?"

Rose's finger was basically dripping in base coat – Rose was even more horrified when she found out it was actually top coat – and all Aaron could do was look at the shock he managed to put in her eyes. "I didn't think it would go this bad."

"I told you I didn't know how to do it."

"So you can take AP Calculus, braid hair, pass Chemistry, and you don't know how to put nail polish on?"

"It's harder than it looks okay," Aaron grumbled in protest. "Being enclosed to only the perimeter of your cuticle sounds revolting and scary."

Rose actually let out a laugh as Aaron started painting her nails a pastel pink – her personal choice – "You even find conditioner revolting."

"Don't talk to me about conditioner, Christ."

Rose was grinning. Aaron could see the stars settle back in her eyes and the light glow from her face. He never knew a manicure could ever make this much of a difference. "It helps," She told him. "It makes my hair all smooth."

"Well it makes my hair feel like grease," Aaron said, squinting down at her fingers as he applied the varnish. "For fuck's sake, I can't even stay in the lines."

He could feel Rose rest her head on the pillow. "It's never easy the first time," She said, casting him a glance. "Takes practice."

Aaron just grumbled at yet another smear of nail polish he let get at the corner of her finger. "Why do girls even do this?" He muttered. "Some nail polishes look like nail mutations and cuticle decay."

Rose snorted. "It feels nice, and it makes our hands look pretty." She reasoned, and Aaron could see the grimace she was trying to hold in. "If done correctly of course," She added.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That every girl should get her nails done by you."

"That's my girl."

It took longer than anticipated; Aaron's eyes solemnly focused on Rose's cuticles as she hummed a song to herself, glancing at her nails every now and then as Aaron's own hands shook.

He has never applied nail polish on a girl, or anyone for that matter, but there was just something so intimate about brushing on a coat of nail polish on Rose's fingers; knowing that whenever she would look at her fingers, she would remember him.

The thought made his hands even shakier.

"You're concentration on such a simple task is quite impressive," Rose told him, giving him a smile. "You look like you're going to pass out."

"I don't want to mess this up," Aaron told her, wincing yet again as the brush accidently smeared to the edges of her nail. "I need to concentrate."

Aaron glared at her when she purposely swung her finger around, but it was hard to, seeing how the grin on Rose's face was so playful.

"You're being aggravating again," Aaron told her.

"Who even uses aggravating in conversation anymore?"

"Are we really going to go through this again?"

And while she laughed, she let Aaron smear another splotch of the baby pink across her finger.

"You're messing my nails up," Rose told him, and Aaron could hear the slightest octave of amusement swirled in her tone of annoyance. "I'm sure your parents would love this."

"My parents," Aaron said, concentrating on the nail he was polishing. "Absolutely detest messes."

"Well it's a good thing I don't."

Aaron looked up to her and smiled. "That's good to know. I guess that's why you've stayed with me this long."

"Aaron –"

"And why you can live in your bedroom for more than twenty four hours."

"..."

"..."

"How dare you."

The grin on her lips was soft; the gentle crinkles around her eyes made Rose look almost like a fragment of Aaron's imagination come to life. And maybe she was.

Because Aaron always thought someone like Rose only belonged in dreams; bathed in seamless imagination and wrapped in whispered wishes.

"You know it's true," He told her, quirking an eyebrow. It was no secret that Aaron loved Rose's room just as much as he loved Harry Potter. There was always a subtle kind of intimacy whenever he entered it; knowing that Rose spent her time in there.

"Partially," Rose muttered, and Aaron moved onto another finger. "But it is exactly that messy."

He gave her a glance. "Whatever you say." It was hard hiding his smile.

"Hey, at least we can see the floor okay."

"I never said we didn't."

Aaron was almost done with her right hand. "You were thinking it," Rose said, and just as Aaron was on his last stripe of nail polish, Rose moved her pinky finger.

"You little minx," Aaron muttered, sending an annoyed look to Rose – to which she smiled brightly to.

He tried fixing her pinky, but somehow, it ended up looking worse. Sighing, Aaron moved on to Rose's left hand. Her ring glimmered in the right, and Aaron could feel his own elbow tremble.

The ring was somehow like a physical reminder that he and Rose were bound together. The thought made Aaron's face hot all of a sudden.

Rose was watching him curiously; a small grin on her lips whenever Aaron got out of the perimeter of her cuticles, and she was almost amused over his agitated grumbles.

"We're almost done with The Order of the Phoenix," She told him, and it always made his heart twitch whenever they were almost done with one book. "Only a hundred or so pages left."

He looked up to her. "Will you cry?" Aaron was now painting her ring finger, and he could feel his heart go Tick – tick.

"Of course I will," Rose said, and even then, Aaron could've sworn he saw the slightest gleam of tears shine through her eyes. "I think you will too."

Aaron quirked an eyebrow. "Me? Cry? No." He told her, grinning slightly. "Not yet, anyway,"

"So you did cry!" Rose laughed, and Aaron sent her a look when she twitched her finger. "Sorry, just got excited."

He pursed his lips. "In knowing I can feel human emotions?"

"Of course," Rose beamed. "We can cry together now."

Aaron merely shrugged.

Once he was done with Rose's hands – Thank God that's over, how do girls do this all the time – it was already half past four and Rose was showing no signs of going back to sleep.

"You don't need to come if you don't want to," Aaron told her softly, sending her a reassuring smile. "I can have breakfast delivered to you in our room."

Rose shook her head, and she smiled, but Aaron could see the tension in her eyes. "I guess it's just that I wasn't expecting it. I wouldn't want to leave you there all alone anyway,"

Aaron smiled at her. "It's alright if you do. I would understand."

"Well, I wouldn't. I will hate myself for it."

"Just relax," He told her, fondling her cheek with his thumb. "I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable doing Rose, and if it means me going down to breakfast alone in the morning, then so be it." Aaron's voice was soft; almost like a whispered prayer. "You've already done so much for me, and I cannot thank you for the bravery you've done when you first stepped foot here." He smiled again. "I'd understand Rose, I wouldn't get mad. And you shouldn't either."

Rose closed her eyes and let a breath release itself from her chest. Aaron hated the fact that her shoulders were slumped down because of the weight she was carrying in her chest, and he hated the fact that there was nothing he could do about it and he hated hated hated –

"I'm scared," Rose told him, her voice a trembling whisper. "What if they do something to you and I cannot change it and –"

Aaron kissed her.

"You don't need to worry about all that," He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. He could feel her fingers come to his shoulders, and the nail polish was smearing to his hairline, but somehow, it didn't matter. "We'll handle it together. I promise."

She smiled at him, but Rose looked exhausted. "And there goes my nails."

Aaron cracked a grin. "I guess we have to start from scratch."

●●●

They ended up falling asleep.

While Aaron was sloppily reapplying Rose's nail varnish with sleep rimmed around his eyes, Rose was lying her head on the pillow, and when she turned, Aaron noticed her eyes were already closed.

And somehow, Damien bursting into the room didn't faze either of them. Aaron just groggily nodded, and Rose barely stirred.

"What is that?"

Aaron only then noticed how the nail polish got everywhere. On the bed sheets, the side of his face. Even Rose's forearms were coated in a thin layer of pastel pink, and Aaron didn't even want to think of his pants.

"Isn't it bloody obvious?" Aaron mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his nail polish free hand. "It's nail polish you idiot."

Damien rolled his eyes, a tick moving along his jaw. "I am aware you bloody fool. And do you know what time is it?"

"What?"

"Quarter past seven."

"..."

"..."

"Shit."

A grin bloomed on Damien's mouth. "Finally back to your senses." He adjusted the hem of his shirt. He obviously changed out of his pajamas, while Aaron had baby pink etched on about a quarter of his body.

Damien turned for the door. "See you in fifteen minutes little brother."

The bang of the door made Rose's eyes peel open. She too, rubbed her eyes with her nail polish infested hand. She peered at Aaron, and almost laughed at the pink stained on his shirt. "You look appealing in pink."

The shock hasn't quite settled in Aaron yet, but he smiled nevertheless. "I can say the same thing to you."

Rose's eyes widened as she inspected the cotton candy mess around her, but with a small sigh, she asked. "What time is it?"

Aaron gave her a wry smile. "Quarter past seven."

He could see the surprise plant itself in Rose's eyes, but it eventually subsided to mere boredom. "Is my hair alright?"

"A bit pink, but yes. It really brings out your eyes."

Rose grinned, and just adjusted her shirt before rustling out of bed. She stretched a bit before she shot Aaron a smile. "You're coming for breakfast or what?"

And Aaron could feel his heart sour past Jupiter.

He smiled big at Rose before getting up and running a hand through his hair as an attempt at taming his brown locks. Neither of them bothered to wipe off or scratch away any of the pink nail polish that stuck on their bodies. They even seemed to ignore the lumpy molds of baby pink that were dripping down their arms and fingers.

The breakfast table was as posh as it always was; white plates with multiple golden utensils that Aaron could never get right, with a few candles giving the room a bit more elegance. The food was served precisely on the table; decorating the room with an aroma of comfort food and homemade bread.

Aaron could hear Rose's stomach grumble. He looked at her and grinned. "Someone's hungry."

She shrugged. "Keeping up with you can be tiresome."

There was still roughly ten minutes to spare, and Rose insisted that she and Aaron helped along with setting up the table.

It wasn't a shock to Amanda – the house cook was already so familiar with Rose's heart of gold that Aaron doubted he has ever seen her eyes sparkle since she started working here – but the rest of the maids and butlers insisted that Rose should be off relaxing while they did the work.

"I'm bored," She told them simply. "And an extra pair of hands are never a bad thing."

The servants and butlers gave a bow in acknowledgement to Aaron, to which he returned with a smile as he balanced even more plates on his arms to put on the table. Rose was busy too, tasting the small samples of food Amanda would offer has as she stirred her own pot of sizzling food – Umm Miss Rose, what is that pink stuff on you and Mr. Aaron? – while Aaron rested his elbows on the top of Rose's head when he put the toast in the toaster. She quirked an eyebrow at him – Really Aaron? – as she buttered the toast after they were done.

Rose's eyes looked almost like the syrup she brought out alongside the pancakes, and it was hard for Aaron to slice some apples open, knowing Rose looked ethereal – he got a small cut for looking too long.

Before they knew it, Aaron and Rose were washing their hands as the crew thanked them gratefully, to which Rose replied with one of her stunning smiles.

"Poor things," Rose said, drying her hands with a paper towel. "Working so early in the morning. Amanda told me she's been up since four am prepping things." She was frowning, and Aaron wanted to kiss away all her troubles.

He shrugged. "I barely ate around here, so don't blame me."

Rose grinned. And he smiled back as he took her hand and led them to eat.

"My parents are probably already there," He whispered to her, and her arms tensed around her sides, but he soothed it out with his fingers.