Chapter Twenty-Six-2

Her shoulder shrug told me there were no hard feelings between us and in all honesty, I was glad she didn't elaborate beyond that. She always could sense when to leave things alone and thankfully took that on-board for situations like this. Truth be told, I was shit scared for Rosie because I knew what complications lay ahead. We all did. In fact, Rosie was the only one who didn't. The press were like vultures when it came to the next scandal and would happily pray on the likes of Rosie to get their next big slot in the gossip columns. Of course, that was always going to be an obstacle in our journey together but at least if I had the time to prepare her, she would've been able to handle things. Instead, she was moments away from being exposed to the brutal industry of stardom and there wasn't a damn thing I could so to soften the blow. "Zoe? Zoe, can you hear me?" Rosie's frantic tone cut straight through my racing mind, silencing all incoherent thoughts. It was already working in overdrive and threatened to be my undoing if I wasn't careful. The tension slowly working its way up my neck was proving rather painful and I feared if I didn't gather my composter soon, Rosie would cotton on to my panic. "Is it bad? How angry is he?" she asked, shooting me a wary glance. "Who's she talking about?" asked Matt, lowering his tone to that of a gentle whisper. "The cousin?" "Yeah, Ben," I confirmed, straining to hear the rest of the phone conversation. "Okay, I'm coming home," she stated, puncturing my heart with her sadness. "I'll try and get a flight back this morning." By this point, she could barely formulate sentences, so I stepped up to the mark and took the phone from her vice-like grip, kissing her briefly thereafter. "Zoe? It's Will," I specified, breezing swiftly past formalities. "Hey. Is she okay?" "Bit shaken up. I'll bring her back this afternoon," I promised, hugging the trembling blonde close to my chest. "Is Ben with you?" "He's at work now. Not that it'll do him any good. He's raging Mad, Will. Prepare yourself, kay?" "Will do, cheers for the heads up," I offered, indeed grateful for her insight. "I'll get Rosie to text when we land." "Thanks. See you both soon." With that, we both hung up and the return of my worrying thoughts came hurdling back. Ben was mad and would likely remain that way until- well- until further notice. I knew Rosie enough to know that she couldn't handle rejection from a family member and just hoped Ben had the decency to respect her decision. "We need a flight back today," I informed, watching as Yazmin brought up the Google search engine on her phone. "Is that do-able?" "Yeah. You were supposed to appear at a club opening this afternoon but the guys can do it without you. You're not performing," she expressed, cautiously flicking her gaze to Matt. "I don't want to cause trouble," insisted Rosie, intervening just long enough to voice her concerns. "If it's too much I can fly back on my own." "And have you deal with Ben all by yourself? Not happening, sweetheart," I replied, stern in my saying so. "Besides, you hate flying. I'm not leaving you alone." "It's best that we come with you anyway, chick. There could be press at the other end." "We?" questioned Matt, stepping forward to input his opinion. "You're going with them?" "I'll have to," replied Yazmin, finally making eye contact with the man she regrettably slept with last night. "This mess needs cleaning up before any more damage can be done," she sighed, pressing her phone to her ear. Before anyone could respond, whoever was on the other end answered, rendering all protests dead in the water. Matt offered me a sympathetic glance and proceeded to share his intentions of redressing in the privacy of our seating area, leaving myself and Rosie alone. "How you feeling, sweetheart?" I questioned, briefly kissing her head. "Scared," she admitted, welcoming my kiss with open arms. "Are they saying horrible things about us?" she panicked, squeezing my waist. "It's not too bad," Yeah, right. "The hate is mostly directed at me so it's okay." "That's not okay!" she argued, taking my face in between her hands. "We're in this together, Will. No one has the right to shame us." Hearing such words come from her mouth felt uplifting if nothing else. She believed in us enough to get through this and I only wished I had the same positive attitude. I loved every single bone in her body and would always put her happiness before mine. Always. #### The flight back home was utterly horrendous, not to mention painfully public. Not only were we forced to endure a two hour commercial flight with prying eyes, Rosie's anxiety was through the roof due to having to fly in the first place. Worse yet, what awaited us at the other end was also weighting heavy on both our minds. I held her close the entire time we were airborne and pleaded with her to remain optimistic, though failed to follow my own advice. I was slowly overcoming to the fear of losing her and by the time we landed back in England, I had somehow convinced myself it was all over. "You haven't said much since we landed. Are you okay?" asked Rosie, caressing my upper thigh as we sat alone in the back of a driving car. Yazmin had organised transport from London Heathrow, meaning we were both well on our way to Oxford by the time news of our arrival had reached local news stations. It didn't matter that Yazmin had connections with most of them. They disapproved of us as a couple and wanted the entire nation to hear about it. Fucking vultures! "Hmm." An unenthusiastic head nod was all I offered her, essentially hinting towards my inner turmoil. She trembled against my thigh and before I could talk myself out of it, I pulled her onto my lap and tucked her head nicely under my chin. "Whatever happens, just know that I care about you, Rosie. I care about you deeply." "Why do I get the feeling you're saying goodbye?" she enquired, nervously broaching the topic. I had no answer for that. "Look on the bright side, at least now he knows." "He along with the rest of the country," she sighed, snuggling further into my chest. We both remained in this position until pulling up outside her home with the not-so-welcoming presence of Ben there to greet us. Luckily, Zoe was with him and seemed to be taming the beast, though not for long. The second he laid eyes on me saw the return of his red hot rage and the need to face me head-on. "You have a fucking nerve showing up here!" he snarled, gaining on me like an animal attacking its pray. He'd never allow me the pleasure of loving his cousin. I was going to lose her. I just knew it.