TW: panicking a little

Pov y/n

Scarlett's film shooting started, so it is only Rose and me.

Since we're in London for about a week now, I can navigate through the streets without Scarlett's help most of the time.

We did a lot of sightseeing over the last week and even though Rose was always good and barely complained, enjoying it as well, it is obvious that she's sick of it and wants to do something more fun.

I get that though because when I was on vacations with my parents back in the days, I always got bored when they wanted to look at a city, so I have a lot of respect for Rose being so patiently about it.

Yesterday, Rose and I went to a playground where she could get some energy out and I enjoyed watching her run around and play with other kids. She never got tired of mentioning the different accent they have.

First, she found it funny but now she thinks it's fancy and tries to copy it, which makes me laugh a little because it's adorable.

I tried the accent as well but failed miserably and when we showed our 'skills' to Scarlett that night, she couldn't stop laughing, more because of me though than Rose.

Of course, Scar nailed the British accent and I huffed but she wrapped her arms around me and kissed my shoulder, assuring me that I'll get there if I only tried hard enough.

Today, Rose and I actually wanted to walk along the Thames and look at the ships because Rose finds them fascinating but it started raining pretty much when we woke up and we weren't in the mood to get soaked.

So, I used Google and found an arcade that's not that far away from our hotel.

We are on our way and Rose has a chat with the driver, asking him about driving on the wrong side of the street. He chuckles and explains to her that it is normal for them. Rose listens and shakes her head a little, not understanding how someone could do that.

We arrive and get out of the cab. I quickly pay and we hurry under the little roof over the entrance.

I take Rose's hand, not quite sure what will expect us on the inside and not wanting to lose her.

We step into a lobby kind of room with a counter in the center, a woman smiling at us.

To our right there are lockers where people can put their bags or jackets in and I already know, that we will put our stuff in there because it's warmer in here than outside.

"Welcome to the Fun Zone." The woman smiles kindly and I lead Rose to the counter.

She can barely look over it and tries to stand on her tippy toes but still can't see a lot. I carefully pick her up and she smiles at the lady.

"Hello." Rose greets happily and the woman smiles a little wider.

"Is it your first time visiting?" She asks and I nod.

"Alright, then about rules. You can buy coins here or at the coin counter inside. You can put a coin into a machine or game to start it, money doesn't work and won't be accepted. If you decide you have enough but still have coins, you can switch them back into money.

We have three main rooms. The biggest one contains all the arcade games and machines. Then we have a small restaurant, in case you get hungry. There you can pay with money.

And the last room is a small indoor playground with slides and a big ball pit." The woman explains and Rose's eyes light up at each word, especially at the ball pit.

"There also is a bowling center in this building but you have to pay extra there. When playing games, you can win tickets and cash them in for a prize when you're done. The prizes are over there."

She points to our left where a big glass window gives us a perfect view over a bunch of toys or smaller items.

Rose's eyes are glued to the window while the woman tells me about some safety rules and where the bathrooms are.

"I think you know everything now. Do you want to buy some coins here or in the arcade room?" She asks and I decide to buy them here.

I put Rose down for that and hand the woman some money in return for a cup with silver coins in them. I thank her and lead Rose to the lockers, so we can put our jackets and my backpack in there. The only thing I take with me, is my phone, so I can take pictures or message Scarlett.

We enter the room and Rose's eyes go wide, as do mine.

I've never been to an arcade but this literally looks like it's out of a child's dream.

The room is darker, neon and black light lightening it up and Rose excitedly points at her white shoe laces that seem to glow in this light.

There are quite a lot of people, mainly children, running around but it's not too full. Everywhere are games or other machines and some parts of the room I can't even see. There are signs, pointing out where the restaurant and the indoor playground is.

Rose's attention is pulled away by a bunch of old school arcade games like pac-man in the middle of the room. She takes my hand and pulls me with her, looking at everything. When we reach one, that she can play because there's a little platform for her to stand on, she looks at me.

"Can I play this, Mama?" She asks and I smile and nod.

"Of course, sweetie." I reply and she grins widely before stepping onto the platform and looking at the screen.

I put a coin into it and help Rose select the tutorial at first, so she knows how to play.

Once it's done, she starts a game and I watch her with a smile.

Her brows are a little furrowed in concentration and her tongue pokes out. I can't help it but to take a picture of it because it looks too cute. It also reminds me of another blonde, who does the exact same thing when she concentrates.

Rose makes it to level 3 before her character dies and she hums in disapproval.

The machine makes some noises and three tickets appear in the slot for tickets. Rose takes them and hands them to me, giving me puppy dog eyes.

"Can I have one more try? Please?" She asks and I chuckle a little and hand her another coin.

I know, as a parent you should be able to say 'no' to your children but it's really hard when she looks at me like that.

This time, Rose doesn't need the tutorial and dives right in. She makes it past the third level and I feel weirdly proud of her for that achievement. I watch as she makes it to level five before her character dies. When Rose turns around to give me the five tickets, she has a proud smile on her face and jumps off the platform.

She looks around the room, trying to find something she wants to do. Since this is for the both of us, I look around as well and when I see a dance game, I point to it.

"How about we try that one?" I ask and Rose looks towards the game before her eyes grow and she nods excitedly.

It's one of those games where you have multiple squares and you have to step onto the one that's lighting up. Rose can reach all of the squares but of course, for her it's a little harder since her legs are shorter.

The screen in front of us also tells us which square to step on and Rose gets really excited.

I put my phone and our coins down and take two, since this game requires two coins if you want to play in multiplayer.

"Okay, so this is a little competition between us, okay?" I ask and Rose grins up at me.

"I am good at dancing, you can't win." She says and I playfully narrow my eyes at her.

"We will see." I reply and she grins. She definitely gets this from her mother because Scarlett can look at me the same way when there is something to be competitive about.

I put the coins into the machine and select the easy mode for now.

The music starts and so does the light. It starts off slow and at first Rose watches the lights under her feet but soon enough, she looks at the screen and giggles while jumping around and stepping onto the squares.

It's a lot of fun and I laugh when it gets faster.

Rose has no problem keeping up with me, which I am really impressed by. But eventually, I have the advantage with my longer legs and Rose can't keep up, a little too exhausted from all the jumping.

She catches her breath and her eyes grow big when she sees how many tickets we get.

Looks like the pac-man game is more for fun than for tickets. She proudly shows me them and I nod, also catching my breath.

"You did really good, little dolphin." I say and she grins proudly.

"Thank you. I am one of the fastest kids in my class when we play catch." She tells me and I ruffle her hair a little, feeling kinda proud of that, even though I did nothing for it.

Rose looks around and grins before pointing to two smaller motorcycles in front of monitors, clearly feeling competitive right now.

I gesture for her to go on and follow her with our coins.

We get onto the motorcycles and I make sure she sits safely before climbing onto mine. This is a race and basically just requires us to hold a button and steer the handles of the bike into the right direction.

I put coins into it and start the race. Rose laughs the whole time because the bikes move a tiny bit. Hearing her laugh fills my heart with happiness and I smile widely.

This time, she beats me in the game and I let her have this win, watching her do a little victory dance that is more than adorable.

I collect the tickets before we move further to a claw machine.

Rose tries a few times to get a squishy but it doesn't work and she gives up. We move further to a hoot shooting game and I watch Rose throw the smaller basketballs towards the hoot.

She plays the children's version of this game because the other balls would have been a little too big for her hands. My phone vibrates and I pull it out, seeing Scarlett calling me. I smile and take it.

"Hey, how's the walk going?" She asks and I remember I forgot to tell her we went to the arcade.

"It was raining too much to go for a walk." I say and she laughs a little.

"Alright, where did you bring our daughter, y/l/n?" She asks playfully and I snicker, my heart warming up at the word 'our'.

I look over to Rose and see her game ended. She looks up at me and then to the coins and I nod, allowing her to play a second round.

"Can't you guess from the sounds?" I ask playfully and look around.

"I hear a lot of noise, some music and children's voices." Scarlett observes. "A kid's disco?"

I laugh at her guess, that would have been a nice idea as well.

"Not quite, we went to an arcade." I tell her.

"Aww, that sounds like so much fun. I wish I could be there with you but I'm afraid my break isn't long enough. Did she beat you at that racing game?" Scar asks and I chuckle a bit, wondering how she knows we played it.

"She did in fact, yes." I say and Scar laughs.

"She loves that game and the few times I was with her at an arcade, or she was there for a friend's birthday, she always won. This girl really has a natural talent for racing games." Scarlett laughs and I grin.

"Indeed. Maybe you should introduce her to Mario Cart." I suggest and Scar chuckles.

"So you two can play it together and you have an excuse to teach her new swear words?" She asks teasingly and I huff playfully offended.

"I don't swear when playing that." I defend myself.

"Sure, love. Wanna play it with me some time?" She asks and for a moment I wonder if she owns a game console.

"Well, I would love to but I'm worried you'll see a side of me then that makes you want to leave me." I joke and she laughs, making my heart flutter a little at that sound.

"I would never leave you, angel." She assures me.

"What game are you at right now?"

"At the basketball ones and Rose-" I turn to look at her but there is no Rose anymore.

"Shit!"

"What happened?" Scarlett asked, suddenly concerned.

My heart drops to my stomach as I frantically look around to find Rose but I can't see her.

Shit, shit, shit!

I lost her.

Adrenaline shoots through my body, together with worry and fear that something happened to her.

"Y/n, what's going on?" Scarlett asks and I almost have to hold back a sob at the thought of a lost Rose.

"Ehm, I have to call you back, I'll tell you then." I say and to my surprise, Scarlett agrees and doesn't push.

I hang up and look around, still not seeing Rose. I run my hand through my hair, feeling like crying that I just lost the daughter of the love of my life.

But I have to keep a clear mind now.

Okay, the last time I saw her, she was right next to me, playing the basketball game.

I look at the game and then the cup with the coins and tickets, there are for sure more tickets than before, so she finished the game.

God, I feel like the most horrible person right now for not paying attention to her.

Where could she have gone after this?

I look around again, feeling kinda lost. I pick up the cup and look at the game again. She's clearly not here anymore, so I can walk around and search for her, right?

Or should I stay, in case she will return? But where would she have gone?

Panic rises inside me and my fingers start to fiddle quickly, not sure what to do now.

I slowly walk through the huge room that seems to have gotten bigger since Rose got lost.

It also seems like there are more children running around here now but none of them looks like the girl I came here with earlier.

I run around the whole room multiple times and check all the games we already played but Rose is nowhere to be found.

Maybe she went to the bathroom?

I check there but she isn't there either. Some of the parents look at me a little weird when I reenter the room again. It feels like they know exactly that I lost my child and can't find her anymore and judge me for it now.

Oh God, what will I tell Scarlett?

I'm sorry, I lost your child in an arcade because I didn't pay enough attention to her?

Scarlett would kill me and I wouldn't even be mad about it, it's well deserved. Shit!

My breathing is fast and my sight becomes a little blurry, so I take some deep breathes, trying to calm myself down again.

Panicking won't help me now, I need to keep a clear mind.

Let's be practical: Rose won't have left this building, she wouldn't do that.

So, she most definitely isn't running around London all by herself. She has to be somewhere here.

That thought helps me to calm down a little bit but I still feel panic coursing through my body. She is fine, she's somewhere here.

But, what if someone took her?

A cold shudder washes over me and I feel the color draining from my face. She's Scarlett's daughter, there for sure is quite some money to make.

My stomach twists at that thought and I almost feel sick.

That's the worst thing that could happen. Just at the thought of the little nugget all frightened and alone in a dark van, crying and not knowing what's going on, makes tears spring in my eyes.

I gulp, maybe it's not that bad, maybe I shouldn't jump to the worst conclusion.

I take a few shakier deep breaths to steady myself. I have to search for her some more and I will find her, I just wish I could believe that myself.

Alright, I've been searching the arcade room multiple times, maybe one more time and then I look elsewhere.

So, I make a quick way around the hall, looking for my little blonde but she still is nowhere to be found.

My eyes fall onto the restaurant sign, maybe she got hungry.

I rush in there and let my eyes scan over all the people here but none of them is Rose, so I leave again.

My body switches between growing hot and getting ice cold.

Again, the worst-case scenario runs through my head and I have to push that thought away.

I will search the indoor playground before I will go to the counter at the front and ask for their help.

I could ask them to call out Rose but I'm worried that will scare Rose or might draw attention to her and people will want to talk to her and that would scare her even more.

I navigate my way towards the indoor playground and look around, seeing all the slides and climbing cages the woman at the front told me about.

Then my eyes fall onto the large ball pit and a wave of relief washes over me, almost making me tear up and I rush over.

Rose sees me coming and waves smilingly at me.

I pick her up and hug her tightly.

She squeaks a little in surprise but lets me do so. I press her against me, making sure she is real and not just an imagination.

My heart still races and now that I found her, tears pool in my eyes and one drips down my cheek.

"You're squishing me, Mama." She giggles a little and hearing her giggle, makes my heart feel a little lighter again. I let go a little and place her on my hip, not ready to let her go just yet.

"Why are you crying?" She asks and frowns a little, wiping away the single tear, making my heart swell with love for her.

"I thought you were lost." I answer her question, my voice breaking a little in the middle of the sentence. Rose looks at me with childish innocence.

"But I was here the whole time." She says and I take her over to sit on the edge of the ball pit, placing her on my lap.

"The basketball reminded me of the ball pit the woman at the counter mentioned and I wanted to look at it. It's really large, look." She explains and gestures towards it. I nod, wiping away a tear before it can drop down my face.

"So, you went here after the basketball game?" I ask and she nods.

"You weren't scared you got lost?" I ask again and she shakes her head.

"Why would I be lost? I knew where I was and where you were. You were talking with Mommy on the phone, so I let you and went to the ball pit." She says and smiles at me.

I wave my hand through her slightly messy hair. Hearing she wasn't scared is a huge relief because knowing she was scared would have been the worst thing. At least like this, it was only me who was really scared.

"So, you headed to the ball pit after the basketball game?" I ask again and she nods. I take a deep breath and nod as well.

"Okay. I am sorry I was distracted on the phone, little dolphin, but you can't just run off to somewhere else, you know? I didn't know where you were and it made me worry." I explain softly.

I am aware that it was my fault as well for being distracted but she still needs to know that she can't just run off alone.

"But I knew where you were." She says and I nod, taking another deep breath and feeling my nerves settle down.

"And that is good and I am glad you did. But do you understand that it made me scared to not know where you were?" I ask gently.

There is no reason to scold her now or to yell at her because it doesn't change what happened and will only make her be scared of me.

"You were scared?" She asks and looks up at me, her ocean blue eyes sweet and innocent. I brush over her hair.

"Yeah, because I didn't know where you were and I thought you were lost." I explain further and she nods slowly, processing my words.

"I am sorry, I scared you and didn't tell you." She says genuine and I hug her again, kissing the top of her head.

"It's okay, you didn't know. And I am sorry as well, that I didn't pay enough attention to you." I apologize and she leans back a little.

"It's okay, Mama. You were talking to Mommy and I don't mind that." Rose says in such a sweet tone that it almost makes me want to cry. I kiss her and she smiles a little.

"I love you, sweetheart." I say and her smile widens. She gives me a kiss as well, making my heart almost soar out of my chest.