"Creak..."

The sound of my window creeping slowly open caused the breath in my lungs to turn to ice. I clutched the blankets tighter to my chest, my eyes wide open as they stared at the bedroom wall in the darkness. I refused to turn and look at the window.

It was just a dream, just a bad dream. There was no one there. There was no one-

"Rose? You awake?"

I shot straight up in bed, and my head snapped over to the beautiful boy climbing carefully over the bench beneath the window. Guess he didn't want a repeat of last time.

"Rex?" I whisper-hissed towards his shadowy figure. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"I... couldn't sleep." He spoke softly, his voice no louder than a whisper as he slowly closed the window to keep out the chilly night air.

"Are you spending the night at Trey's?" I asked just as softly as my still wide eyes watched him walk over to my bedroom door, test the lock, then walk slowly back over.

"Not anymore." He grumbled as he pulled his hoodie over his head and kicked his shoes off. Heat quickly started to flame up the back of my neck. "Scoot over, Roza." He ordered softly and wasted no time in pulling the covers back to slip into the bed beside me when I did.

My heart was pounding so viciously in my chest I could hear the blood pulse through my ears. This was—definitely new. Not that I would ever in a million years complain. Rex was in my bed, under my covers, with me. Maybe this really was a dream.

"Why can't you sleep?" I asked into the quiet of the room as he pulled the blankets up to his chest and propped those deliciously stony arms behind his head.

He had switched out of his jeans from earlier for a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. It was the most relaxed I had ever seen him, and it only made the urge to wrap my heart up in a bunch of bows and hand it directly to him grow.

"I can never sleep. Don't know why." His voice was all wobbly from a yawn, and those chestnut eyes closed as his arms flexed behind his head. I laid quietly beside him, the covers clutched to my chest as I tried to blink up at his beautiful face through the darkness as best I could.

Rex Turner was falling asleep in my bed.

My bed.

"Hey Rex?"

"Hm?"

"Where were you at lunch today?"

There was silence for one brief moment before he let out a ragged sigh. "I just had... something to take care of. I'm sorry I wasn't there." His tone was soft, but I could tell the unease he was trying to hide. I wasn't going to push him though. If he didn't want to tell me, I wasn't going to make him.

"It's okay. Goodnight T'." I murmured quietly up at him as I let go of the covers to cup the pillow beneath my cheek.

"Goodnight, Roza."

There was a warmth beneath my cheek that chased away the chill in the air. My fingers clutched at the soft material between them as something gentle brushed through my hair. I snuggled further into the comforting warmth, it kept that always jumbling mass of emotional horrors away.

I didn't want to move from that spot, not ever.

A sharp ringing ripped through the most blissful, deep sleep I had ever had, and I wanted to scream. The soft warmth I was clutching at desperately snatched the ringing thing up faster than I could blink my eyes open. But the damage was already done.

"Sh, go back to sleep." That soft gentleness brushing through my hair eased my head back down to the warmth from before, and I almost let it lull me back into that mindless stupor. Almost.

I blinked at the dim light streaming through the window, my vision cut off by the body I was practically sprawled on top of. What in the world...? I raised my head, but that gentle pressure only tried to ease me back down. "It's early, Roza. Go back to sleep."

Roza.

Rex was here.

I can't believe I forgot! And—and he was the warm soft thing I was clutching at like a desperate koala bear. I almost shot away from him like a rocket. "Rex?" My voice was groggy from sleep and I forced myself to lean off him as I rubbed a fist into my tired eyes. "What time is it?"

He let out a long, tired sigh and the hard arm, that I hadn't realized was wrapped around my waist, kept my body pinned tightly against his. "Doesn't matter." His free hand reached up and tugged lightly at the end of my hair. "Now will you come back down here? I was enjoying myself." He grumbled and tried to ease my sluggish body back down once again.

My mind was still all kinds of foggy, and I let Rex pull me back into him without a fight. Later on, when I was more awake and replaying that moment over and over again in my head, I would realize how close we were. Or how he was practically cradling me on top of him. Right then I just wanted to snuggle back into his hard warmth and go back to sleep.

"Knock, knock!" The awfully loud banging suddenly sounding from my bedroom door disrupted the blissful ignorance Rex had lulled my mind into so easily. "Rose? You up? You're going to be late for school." Despite the muffled sound of Tate's voice from the hall, his words were like a sharp bell ringing in my ear.

"Why the hell is your door locked?"

I jerked straight up in the bed, Rex's strong arms falling uselessly away from me. Oh God. If Tate found out Rex had slept here, it would be World War III.

"I-I'm getting dressed!" I called towards the locked door, heart pounding in my ears. "I'll be down in a little bit!" Rex had grown completely stiff besides me, dark eyes narrowed in the direction of his half-brother's voice. His strong jaw line ticked shut.

"Alright... Your sister made breakfast."

Rex, thankfully, stayed silent until the shadow beneath the door faded away and he sat up slowly beside me. I held my breath, completely aware of the anger straining his strong shoulders.

"I don't like him being so close to you."

I tried to keep my frown to myself as Rex tossed the covers away and turned to place his feet on the floor. "We're not really that close. I mean, we hang out when Luce can't and he's like an older brother to me but-"

Rex let out a short, irritated sigh before bending down to grab his shoes off the ground. "Look," He grumbled as he pulled his shoes on with more force than was necessary. "Him and our... father," the word sounded foreign as it past his beautiful lips, "are pretty close. And anyone close to that sorry excuse of a human being is not someone I want you around—ever."

Rex never talked about his father before, and by the intense, furious, look straining his dark eyes I could see why. There was a bad history there, and if anyone understood about bad histories it was me.

Tate never really mentioned his father either. He made some joke about somewhere they went when he was a kid, or something, but other than that he didn't talk much about his family. Rex being the perfect example of that. If they were so close, he would have mentioned him more—right?

I stayed quiet as Rex stood and let out one long drool bringing stretch. His stone-like tummy peaked out beneath the edge of his t-shirt and it took all I had in me not to stare wide eyed at him. There was just something about the hard planes of his defined—everything—that did funny things to my head.

"I just don't want him around you, Roza." His voice was soft, despite that tinge of anger that never seemed to genuinely leave.

I watched as he picked his hoodie up off the window bench and pulled it rather sluggishly over his head. I bit my bottom lip and resisted the urge to hug my knees to my chest and beg him to stay. I didn't like watching him leave.

But then he turned back towards me, a small smile pulling on his lips as he ran his hand through his dark hair. "I'll be back in an hour to come get you for school, kay?"

"Okay..." I watched as he pushed the window open, strong arms pausing in that position before he glanced back over at me. That small, tummy turning smirk of his pulled at his beautiful lips.

"You know you do these cute little snores when you sleep, right?"

The heat that flamed my neck and face could have fried an egg—and he noticed. Rex laughed as he stepped out onto the roof area beneath my window. "See you in an hour, tomato girl."

I was waiting like an excited puppy behind my front door an hour later. My eyes glued through the side window to the spot Rex usually parked in whenever he came to pick me up.

"Rose?! Did you grab your lunch!" Luce called from the kitchen where her and Tate were still cleaning up breakfast.

"Yes! Thank you!" I yelled back to her, eyes unwavering from the street.

Rex had spent the night... in my bed. Rex slept in my bed—with me in it! He even held me against him! Though, I did feel kind of bad about that. He was too nice to push me away, even though I was clinging to his shirt too hard for him to try.

"Do you need a ride to school?!" She shouted again, which was normal for us. We usually shouted at each other from across the house. It was a bad habit.

"No, Rex is taking me!"

The loud crash of a plate breaking reverberated from the kitchen and into the hallway, but my excitement at the sleek, black, motorcycle pulling up to the front of the house completely overrode my worry.

"Bye! Love you guys!" I shouted and raced through the front door without checking what the crash was. Eh, there was two of them. They can pick up whatever broke just fine enough.

I bounced down the driveway like a giddy little girl and stopped beside the roaring engine with a beaming smile on my face. Rex took off his helmet, one dark eyebrow raised as he ran that hand of his through his dark hair.

"You look a little too excited for your own good." He chuckled as he handed me the helmet and kicked the kickstand out to the ground.

I nodded my head viciously and clutched at the racing helmet. "I am! I love this thing!" I practically squealed as he turned to pick up the padded jacket off the seat behind him.

He gave me that smirk of his that turned my heart to goo, before taking the helmet back into his own hands. "Head down." He ordered, but that only made my smile slip away.

"You're not going to wear it?"

"I only have this one."

I shook my head and stepped away from him and the bike as he tried to get me to lower my head again. "Nuh uh, you wear it."

He rolled his eyes. "Just let me put the damn helmet on you-"

"No. It's dangerous without a helmet and you could get hurt." The first time he took me out on the bike I didn't put up a fight about the one-helmet-thingy just because I was so shocked at the ride itself. Now I was prepared.

"Exactly, and there's no fucking way I'm letting you get on without wearing one. Lower your head."

"Nuh uh."

I should have been worried when he cut the engine and climbed off the bike, especially with that dark, serious look in his eyes—but all I really wanted to do was jump him. There was something very wrong with me.

"You're putting this on, Rosalyn. Or we're not going anywhere."

"But- Ah!" His arm had slipped around my waist and yanked me smack against him—something I would have loved in any other situation. He grabbed the helmet off the seat where he placed it and started trying to push the thing down onto my head all within two seconds.

"Rex! My hair!" I squealed as he held my body immobilized against his and succeeded in easing the helmet over my head. He wasn't hurting me or anything, but my hair was definitely taking the brunt of the trauma.

"Only care about your safety, Roza." His voice was light, and honestly kind of teasing. For the first time ever, it made me want to scream in frustration.

"There." Rex said with a triumphant smile when he was finally able to pull the helmet completely onto my head. He couldn't see, but I was glaring viciously up at him.

"I can feel those big angry eyes. Relax." He chuckled as I stood arms crossed over my chest, my lips pouting against the thick foam of the helmet. "Arms out." He instructed and bent over to grab the patted jacket off the seat before holding it out towards me. I didn't budge, and those dark chestnut eyes narrowed.

"I'll pin you down if I have to, Rose. Don't try me."

I knew that hard, deadly serious look sitting on his chiseled face was real, and I didn't doubt his words for one second. I let out a grumble he couldn't hear through the helmet and grumpily held my arms out for him. He shot me a smug smile before pulling the jacket onto my arms.

"I'll get another helmet soon, okay?" That smile of his turned apologetic as he zipped up the jacket and did all the buttons. Who could stay grumpy at those dimples? My heart turned all gooey as soon as he turned those things on me.

He climbed back onto the bike after I nodded and held out that strong hand to me. I eased up behind him carefully, and was happy he couldn't see my beyond thrilled smile as I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and squeezed. His body was so strong and steel-like—I hope it wasn't obvious I was squishing against him as close as possible.

Rex Turner spent the night in my bed, didn't push me away when I rolled on top of him, and was taking me to school in the coolest vehicle of all time. My life was complete.

"I hear you're going with us tomorrow, Princess." Trey said at lunch hours later as I picked at the sandwich Luce had made for me.

"Going where?" I asked with a small frown as those bright green eyes locked on mine. The twins were bickering over some game they were playing tonight, and Rex's attention was focused on the cell phone in his hand.

Trey raised an eyebrow at me, one of his large arms slung across the empty seat beside him. "Rob's Halloween party? Rex said you're gonna go with us."

"Oh yeah! I'm excited I've never been to a party before." And I didn't ask Luce if I could go yet either. With how much I've been skipping school I couldn't imagine her being okay with letting me do anything closely related to fun.

Both of Trey's eyebrows rose at that, and even the twins stopped bickering long enough to glance over wide-eyed. "You've never been to a party before?" Denton asked a little more shocked than how he looked. I felt that all too familiar blush start to creep up the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"Um, y-yeah. No one's ever invited me to one before..."

"So?" Denton laughed, his blue eyes practically gleaming in the light of the cafeteria. "We never get invited to anything, we just show up. People expect us to."

Rex finally put his phone down on the table, and the strong arm that had been loosely hanging off the back of my chair reached up to drape securely across my shoulders. The heat on my neck was suddenly for a whole different reason.

"Rose isn't leaving my side tomorrow. So don't fucking try anything, idiot."

"Hey! I wasn't going to! Meany head." Denton whined and that all-too familiar pout of his pulled at his lips as he crossed his arms all grumpy-like over his chest. "I was just surprised she's never been to one."

Brett rolled his eyes at his twin before tearing into one of the many protein bars he and Denton were eating throughout the entire day. Apparently on game day all they ate were protein bars, energy bars, and chicken. It was a weird combo.

Rex made a gruff noise in the back of his throat but didn't say anything else as Denton continued his five-year-old pouting. He's been oddly quiet ever since we got to school. It wasn't a quiet like when we first became friends, but it was definitely different than the new-touchy Rex. I mean, he was still being touchy and everything, and I loved it, but it was just—quiet.

I wasn't sure if he regretted spending the night, or maybe he didn't like that I must have accidentally rolled on top of him. I had been thinking about it all morning, had been replaying it repeatedly in my head. The way he held me to his side and ran those strong fingers through my hair had been one, if not the only, best experiences of my life.

It had been the deepest, most restful sleep I've had in as long as I could remember. It was even better than sneaking into Jax's bed when I had been scared or upset. But maybe Rex didn't feel the same way.

Ugh! How embarrassing! I swear I didn't mean to cling to him like that! I can't help sleeping me's actions. Rex is probably irritated about the whole thing. I knew how he got with people, even if we were friends now. He couldn't sleep at Trey's and I bet I didn't help that at all.

The bell ringing to signal the end of lunch and the loud sound of chairs scrapping against tile pulled me from my thoughts. Rex stayed quiet even though he helped pull my backpack over my shoulders and let me tell the others bye before ushering us to the cafeteria's entrance.

It wasn't until we reached my locker that I decided to say something. The silence was killing me. "I-I'm sorry." I had to force my voice above a whisper, and I'm sure he could tell as much as I could. He was leaning casually against the locker beside mine, a dark eyebrow raising at my apology.

"For what? And you know how I feel about that apologizing bull shit."

I ignored that last part and tucked my hair behind my ear before shoving my unneeded binders back into the locker. I tried to keep my eyes focused on the metal shelf instead of at him. "For, um upsetting you... if I did. I didn't mean to lie on top of you last night, I swear."

He went silent again, but I still couldn't bring myself to look over. Even when he leaned off the locker to step closer. "Don't be ridiculous, Rose." He finally commented as the warning bell for class rang, and the students in the hall started filing off to class. "You didn't upset me at all."

"Then why are you being so quiet today?" I mumbled into my bag as I zipped it up and threw it over my shoulders. I reached up to close the metal door of the locker before finally turning to glance up at those dark chestnut eyes.

Rex scrubbed his strong hand down his beautiful face before running it through his dark hair. "I just have a lot on my mind today. I promise I'm not upset at you."