Thorns of Roses

A promise to keep

Song for this Chapter:

Everything I Own-Bread

CHAPTER 19

BLAZE

I haven't seen Corinne since I saw her in the hallway this morning. And it infuriates me that she seems to be hiding from me so I won’t be able to see her and press her about the details of those marks. Sometimes I don't know if my feelings for her are obvious, because I'm sure it's obvious. Sometimes I wonder if she is really numb or blind or if she just prefers not to entertain my feelings for her. Do I have to spell it out loud just so she can hear and see? After seeing those marks, I couldn't rest anymore, and given Diesel's reaction I knew there's something I am missing, something that won't fit the puzzle piece. And I will not stop until I know what she is hiding.

Or at least, trying to hide.

I kept calling on her number but it seems she blocked my number, this girl will be the death of me, I swear. She’s like my girl version. And I am unlucky to be in loved with someone as stubborn as me.

I lean on my car and smoke, trying to calm my nerves. If I wanted to unlock this mystery, I have to be calm.

But how could I do that if I saw Corinne leaving the campus with Diesel and he was holding the hands of a woman he shouldn't be touching.

My nerves suddenly go stiff as I look how comfortable he is holding her.

“f**k me.”

I whistle that seems to get both of their attention, and I can see how pissed off Diesel is.

I start to walk towards them, and I am glad Diesel didn’t move or starts to walk away from me, because my patience with him is like a f*****g strand of a hair right now I might kill him.

“Been looking for you.” I threw my cigarette on the floor and stepped on it and put my hands inside my front slacks pocket, keeping my fist at bay.

“Why would you look for me?” This numb woman, I swear I am going to kiss the life out of her for her to see how I feel.

I sighed and looked at her marks again. I pay no attention to the cousin who is still holding her hands. “We need to talk.”

Her face held confusion “I don’t think there’s something we need to talk about, Blaze. And we’re kind of in a hurry right now.”

“Where you going?” This time I looked at my cousin and he know this looks, this look is for him to f*****g back off.

“Hospital. Her Mom needs—”

“You don’t need to answer him, Die. We need to go.” She rolls her eyes at me and this time I hold her arm, stopping het and makes her look at me.

“Coach needs you.” That’s all I need to say, and I am sure diesel gets the message.

His muscle tightened and I am sure this fucker wanted to kill me right here, right now for cockblocking him.

I smirk, I feed through his madness and I love him being so f*****g mad, it makes him shred his dog fur.

“Die, you can go. Can I just borrow your car, I’ll just—”

“No, I’ll drive you.” I told her.

“What?”

“You heard me, Corinne. Do I have to say it again?”

Diesel sighs “Call me, C.”

Corinne nods as Diesel starts to walk off but still looking at me, looking at us as I guide Corinne towards my car, and I f*****g smirk at him one last time.

Th drive towards the hospital from campus will take an hour and thirty minutes, and Corinne was far from being relaxed.

She keeps fidgeting with her nails as her legs keep on shaking, she seems nervous and scared.

“Are you okay?”

Her head snaps at me, as if she didn’t hear me “What?”

“I am asking if you’re okay.”

She nods “Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened with those marks?”

She looks at me straight in the eyes, and she shakes her head “You don’t need to.”

“Maybe I f*****g need to.” I snap.

She sighs in exhaustion and suddenly I feel guilty as I see how tired and sad, she is, what is happening with this girl?

“Blaze, please. Not now.”

I nod “Yep. Sure.”

As I stopped my car in front of the hospital entrance she instantly hops off and did too, she looks at me curiously “You’re coming?”

“Yeah, where will I go if not here?” I said.

She closed her eyes as if she’s tired of arguing with me “Yeah, sure. Be my guest.”

We head towards a private wing of the hospital. She didn’t turn around to look at me, I just followed her, at the end of the hall a woman in her forties approached her, she looks like she’s crying as she hugs Corinne “Oh, Mags. Thank you for not leaving Mom.”

“I won’t go anywhere, Corinne. I promised you.”

“What did my Father say?”

I just lean on the wall while listening to her and the nurse talking both of them not paying me much attention except for the nurse that side eyeing me from time to time.

"He called me this morning to say that he is firing me because you did something wrong to him and he said this is his message for you so that you don't repeat what you did."

What the f**k?

So, Marcus Lewis cut of her Mother’s private nurse paycheck just to punish his daughter for something she did wrong?

“What did you do?” I interfere as I walk beside her.

“I didn’t do anything.” Corinne shrugs.

“I am sure you did something that made your father do something like this to your birth mother?” I snap.

She took a deep breath and cross her arms on her chest “You know what Blaze, I appreciate you for driving me here, but what is happening here is none of your business.”

The private nurse looks at us as we banter back and forth.

“Off course this is my f*****g business.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Can you guys please just keep your horns down? Your mother might hear you and your boyfriend bantering just outside her room.” The nurse stops us.

“No, Mags. He isn’t boyfriend.”

I smiled and wink at the nurse because the idea that she just calls me Corinne’s boyfriend is good. And she smiled too.

Corinne sighed “Be careful with his angelic smile, he’s a devil in disguise.”

I put my hands on my chest feigning hurt to what she says.

“So, Mags. You don’t need to stop working. I asked my best friend for a favor and he will lend me some money to pay for your services while you’re here.”

Best friend means Diesel.

That fucker has no problem spending my family’s money.

Mags holds Corinne’s hands "You know if I don't need money right now, I won't charge you for anything." She looks genuinely sad.

Corinne smiled at her as she tightened her grip on Mags “I know, Mags.”

“Maggie, is that my daughter?” I guess it’s her Mother who called out inside her room.

“You need to go and see her.”

Corinne nods and looks at me “You don’t need to come inside.”

“Off course, I need to.”

Corinne looks so pissed off that I wanted to kiss her in front of her Mother.

She rolled her eyes at me again. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Rolling your eyes at me.” I caged her on my arms and she looks up at me.

“Oh, mister I’ll do whatever I want.”

I lean closer that made her gasped in shock and her eyes opened wide, her breathing is fast and I am so close to her lips that I can feel his handful soft breast on my chest, that made my d**k hard.

“My mom is here, and so is Mags.”

I smirk “Nope, Mags just left.”

She shoves me out of her face and I chuckle hard. “Behave, please.”

She composes herself as she opened her Mother’s room door.

“Hello, there my little rose.”

I halt as I see whose sitting on that hospital bed, nothing has changed. She still looks so beautiful and serene but she looks aged and sick.

She looks at me and her smile grew bigger, whilst I am left standing on the door frame unable to move, I really didn’t think that I will see her after all the years she left the mansion.

“Mom—” Corinne kissed her cheeks tenderly and noticed that her Mom is looking straight at me “Mom he’s—”

“Axel Matthew?” Her Mom finished for her.

She still knows me, she still recognized me.

I smiled in relieve “Anne.”

“Come here.” Anne hold out her hands for me, and all I did is to walk closer to her and hugs her like how I used to hug her when I was so young, when my mother wasn’t there to fulfill her job, Anne was there.

“You know him?” Corinne asked.

“Off course, I do. You don’t remember him?”

I hold a confuse look to Anne and back to Corinne.

“No?”

“Oh, silly. He’s the boy I used to take care off in Milwaukee. And I used to bring you there with me, and both of you play endlessly.” Anne chuckles "I always take you to their mansion because Axel doesn't play with other kids but only with you. Both of you used to be so inseparable."

I looked at Corinne and she looks at me with wide eye too “He’s Matty?”

Anne nods “He is.”

“She’s Rose?” That’s what I used to call the child I played with all those years ago because that’s what Anne used to call her.

I don’t know if Corinne knows that I was once asked Anne who is Rose is, and she told me that Rose is the daughter of her twin sister that died while giving birth to her. I don’t know if Corinne knows this truth.

But one that surprise me is how I find that carefree, tear jerker child when we’re young and ended up for falling obsessed with the same person.

Anne nods and smiling at us like the situation is hilarious for her “Yes. Destiny works.”

I chuckle and Corinne looks at me with confusion and doubt.

“You are Rose.”

She scoffed, she seems not to please with what we just figured out “Stop calling me that.”

Anne instantly noticed the venom in Corinne’s tune. “Honey?”

“I think I earned that nickname, did I?”

“That was so long ago, Blaze. We used to be so innocent and pure. But now?” She smirks darkly, I know what she means.

I click my tongue and just nods.

“I am happy that both of you find each other. Why didn’t you tell me you’re now dating?” Anne teased her.

“Mom, he’s not my boyfriend.”

I just nod at Anne and smiled at her, the looks she gave me is the look that she knows something is up with me.

“Rosy, I remember how you cried when I stopped working with the Mayhems all those years ago.”

Corinne just smiled sadly and avoids her gaze at me. both of us is now sitting on Anne’s side bed.

"I remember how many nights you were crying because you were telling me that you really miss your Matty." Anne fixed Corinne's hair and tucked it behind her ear so it wouldn't cover her beautiful face.

Corinne chuckled and this time she looks at me and smile at me sadly “Yeah, Mom. I remember that.”

Who would have thought that the girl I considered my best friend then, is the girl I'm crazy about now? I guess Anne was right, Destiny works.

I am a lucky bastard.

“I remember that you two playing on the rose dome every day, and both don’t want to go home.” Anne chuckles relieving the memory.

Corinne kissed Anne’s temple “I do remember the boy, Mom. But I don’t remember the feeling anymore.”

I don’t know if that will make me happy or not.

She said that she did remember me as her Matty, but she can’t quite remember how she used to feel about that boy right now.

Corinne looks at her watch “Mom, we need to go. Dad will call me.”

“Is your father treating you right?” Anne asked worriedly.

Corinne faltered, I saw it before she even masked it with a fake smile “He is, Mom. He’s great.”

Anne nods “That’s—good.” She took a deep breath as I saw hoe tired, she is.

I help her lay on her bed and kissed her forehead too “I’ll be seeing you again, Anne.”

She smiles “I am so glad I see you again, Axel Matthew.”

Corinne closed her Mom’s room door as we head out.

“What happened to her?”

“Bone cancer. She’s been fighting it off since we left the mansion.” She sighed “I didn’t know it was you.”

I smile “So was I.”

“So, my Mom is the one you’re telling me about your Rose tattoo?” she pointed to my tattooed arm.

I smile as I look at the tattoo “She is.”

She nods “That’s great.”

“I am going to pay for Mags’ paycheck.”

“What?”

“Do I have to repeat what I just said?”

“No, Blaze. I got this covered.” Her and her pride.

“When I say I will do it, I will. That’s the least I can do for raising me for years.” That’s true. That’s one of the two reason why I will do this. The number two is I don’t want her getting so stressed out and scared when she figured out that her own father cut Mags’ off.

When we walk towards the entrance of the busy hospital. The rain is pouring hard and the sky is dark.

“I used to kiss your pain away before. Remember that?” I smile at the memory, she scraped her knee on the roses thorns and she cries out loud, I kiss it away for her and she stop crying.

I saw her smile while playing with the rain on the palm of her hands “I remember that. I remember you as that boy, and how I wished I didn’t get to know you here in the present.”

“Why?”

“I am afraid that boy I was once used to love and adore grew up as a monster that you are right now.” she looks at me with sadness in her eyes.

She still believes that I killed Gian Montgomery.

“And here I am, being so glad that I found you in my present.”

“Why? I almost killed you.” She scoffed as she looks at me.

“Because I get to see the woman I want in my future.”

Her face falls in stunned. She genuinely caught off guard to what I just said.

“I need to go.”

“I’ll drive you again.”

She always seems to run away when I am being this vulnerable with her.

She seems scared.

“I will go in the studio.”

“It’s fine, I can drive you.”

“Can you run in the rain?” She asked smiling.

“I’ll try.”

She shrieks as she run towards my car in the pouring rain.

I won’t stop until you remember the feelings you used to have with the boy you used to call yours.

Oh, yes, my love. I remember your last day in the rose dome that you cry and you told me that once I found you, I should marry you.

It’s time to keep that promise.