Helping Friend

Rose quickly ran back to the room she had left Joce in. She turned a corner and cried out when she bumped into someone, making them both fall back on the floor. "Ouch," she hissed as she rubbed her forehead. She looked up and watched Jocelyn's angry eyes glaring at her as she rubbed her chin.

"What the fuck, Rose!" Jocelyn cried out furiously. She angrily stood up and reached her hand out to help Rose to her feet.

"Sorry," Rose said, shooting her friend an apologetic smile. "Technically you ran into me too, so it's not all my fault," she said with an awkward chuckle.

Jocelyn's eyes narrowed further as her anger grew. "I have been looking for you for almost half an hour Rose!"

Rose pressed her lips together as she realized what she had done. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Where the hell were you?" she hissed.

"Shh…" Rose pressed a finger to her lips, warning her friend to keep it down. She looked around to make sure no one was watching them. "I'll tell you in the room," she said and grabbed her friend's hand to pull her forward.

Jocelyn sighed and stopped Rose. "It's this way," she said before pulling her the other opposite way. "Seriously Rose, is your sense of direction ever going to get better?"

Rose chuckled dryly as she followed Jocelyn towards the room. They entered and sat down on their chairs.

Jocelyn waited penitently for Rose to start telling her the reason why she had been gone for so long. Her eyes widened as she heard her story.

Rose told her everything that happened, minus the intimate moments she had shared with Jack, that was personal and she was embarrassed to tell her friend.

"Shit Rose!" Jocelyn cursed as she looked worriedly at her friend. "Katherine is outside. What if she saw everything?"

Rose bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "We were hidden behind tall bushes, and pretty far away from the building. I doubt anyone hear or saw us."

"So, you're going to run away with him?" she whispered.

Rose nodded as a big smile crossed her lips. "He's going to plan our escape and then he's going to come for me once everything is planned," she whispered to her friend, excitedly. "God, Joce, can you believe it? I didn't think I'd be able to get out of this situation, but Jack is right. It's not my responsibility to make sure other people are safe. I just want to live a simple life with the man I love," she said as she looked at Jocelyn and paused. "You don't think I should do this?" she asked as she noted the frown on her friend.

"It's not that Rose," Jocelyn shook her head. "I'm just worried that your plan won't work out and you'll end up getting caught. What will happen to the both of you if Caleb finds out?" she asked as she looked into the eyes of her friend.

Rose gulped as she considered her friend's words. "I don't know. He might kill us," she said with a sad chuckle. "How can I know what he would do? He doesn't seem like a bad person, but I'm not sure how he would react if he found out I'm running away."

"I'm sure he'll think of it as a betrayal," Jocelyn said.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, he would see it that way. But, I'm not his Joce. I'm not in love with him! How can I stay with someone I don't love?" She asked, losing all remnants of the happiness she had felt just a few moments ago. Her eyes watered as she felt anger and resentment inside her. "Everyone treats me like an object they can trade and posses. I'm a human Joce, and I deserve to be happy. I just want to be happy. Why is that too much to ask?"

Jocelyn's heart ached as she watched her friend angrily wiping her tears away. "It's not Rose. It's not too much to ask. You deserve it, more than anyone I know. You're the best person I know Rose." Jocelyn sighed. "I will help you."

Rose's eyes widened. "You will?"

Jocelyn nodded. "Yes. As long as you can be happy, I will do whatever it takes to help." Jocelyn smiled as she watched Rose gleam with happiness.

"Thank you Joce," Rose said, smiling widely as her heart beat rapidly, feeling hope once again. If Joce helped them, it would be easier for Jack to get in contact with her.

Both girls finished their meal before they stood up, ready to leave.

Jocelyn frowned and looked over at her. "Do vampires have a good sense of smell?"

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Probably. Why?"

Jocelyn went through her bag and pulled out a small bottle of perfume she had been carrying around before spraying Rose a few times. "You smell like him," she said.

Rose's eyes widened. She had never realized she smelled like Jack. "Really?" she asked Jocelyn, before trying to smell herself.

Jocelyn shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You're not going to be able to smell yourself Rose. You probably got used to it and can't smell it anymore. But, yes, I know what Jack smells like, and you definitely have his scent. Which makes me wonder how you got it?" she asked as the corner of her lips lifted playfully.

Rose chuckled dryly as she watched Jocelyn's teasing smile and looked away as her cheeks burned with shame. "He hugged me," she said. "So of course his scent is going to be on me." Her heart beat fast as she suddenly realized she could have made a big mistake if Joce hadn't been here to help her. She had to be more careful. "Thank you Joce. What would I do without you?" she said as she smiled up at her friend.

"I don't know. Get caught cheating?" Jocelyn asked, chuckling.

Rose's eyes narrowed. "It's not cheating! I'm not married to Caleb yet!"

"Aha! So you did do something!" Jocelyn said as she pointed at Rose. Her eyes widened when she watched her reaction. She did do something! She thought, surprised.

Rose gasped and covered her mouth in shock. She shook her head. "Stop it!" she hissed as she watched Jocelyn laughing. "Nothing happened!"

Jocelyn laughed, enjoying Rose's reaction. "Oh god you're so easy to read. If Caleb asks you about it, you're going to give yourself away just by your reaction."

Rose swallowed hard. Shit. "I'll just work on lying better," she said.

Jocelyn sighed. "I can't believe you're being bad. Finally," she chuckled. "How long did it take me to try and convince you to join me in the dark side?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Let's go," she said as she pulled her friend out of the room and out of the building to the waiting car.

"Ready?" Katherine asked as she threw the cigarette she had been smoking on the ground, before putting her stiletto over it.

Rose watched the vampire's action and wondered if that would be her one day, getting stomped on and grinded to the floor by Katherine if she ever got caught. She gulped and wrapped her arms around Jocelyn's tightly.

Jocelyn's eyebrow lifted as she noticed Rose's sudden mood. She chuckled as she watched her avoid walking by Katherine as they walked towards the car. "You're so obvious," she whispered against Rose's ear.

Rose stiffened with Jocelyn's words and cleared her throat. She released Jocelyn and stood up straight before getting into the backseat of the car.

Jocelyn followed her in and smiled as she turned to look at Rose's stiff posture. She laughed, unable to hold back any longer. "God you're terrible," she said with a smile.

Rose frowned and glared at her friend. "Instead of laughing, you could be helping."

Jocelyn reached out and forced Rose to sit back against the seat lazily. "Just relax," she said with a smile.

Rose watched Katherine get in the front seat. She bit her bottom lip as she turned to look at her friend. Shit. What if Katherine smelled Jack too?

"What the fuck is that?" Katherine asked as she turned to glare at the humans in the back. "Why are you wearing such a strong perfume?" she asked angrily.

Rose swallowed hard as she met Katherine's gaze. "Um…"

"It's mine," Jocelyn said as she turned to look at the vampire. "I wanted her to try it. I just got it. Don't you think it smells lovely?" she asked with a cheeky smile.

"Yes I think so," Mark, the driver said cheerfully as he watched both girls through the rearview mirror.

Katherine turned to glare at him before sitting back in her seat. "You could have sprayed it once not a hundred! Now that's all we're going to smell the whole drive home," she grumbled.

Jocelyn turned to look at Rose and winked.

Rose sighed and relaxed against the back seat. She really had to be more careful from now on.

They spent the rest of the day going to different shops to grab things for the wedding, and things for Jocelyn before darkness finally took over. Mark offered to unload Jocelyn's many bags as they reached her house to drop her off.

"I'm going to miss you," Rose said as she looked at Jocelyn, standing in the living room of the Barnes.

"Me too," Jocelyn said sadly. She wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her tightly. "Come back and visit me again soon."

Rose nodded as she fought back tears. She released Jocelyn and sighed sadly. "I'll call you as soon as I can."

Cynthia didn't wait for Rose's hug, she pulled the young girl into her arms with tears rolling down her cheeks. "You come here any time you like dear. Any time you hear me?"

Rose chuckled and blinked back her own tears. "Yes, thank you. I will visit as often as I can."

They said their goodbyes and Rose got back into the car. She sighed as they drove silently back to Caleb's home, dreading the moment she would step foot inside her prison again.

"They seem lovely," Katherine said front the passenger's seat.

"They're like my family," Rose said. "They're better than my family actually," she said, chuckling. "I've never been close to my real family. They don't care about me. They only care about what they can get out of me, or how they can use me."

"So you have something in common with brother Caleb," Katherine said. "His family are a bunch of leeches who only come to him when they need something. They don't give a damn about him. I don't know why he helps them."

Rose frowned. So, Caleb was also like her in that sense. She wondered how sad he had been with no family to rely on when he had gone through so much. Maybe that's why he had gotten so attached to the person he said had helped him out of the darkness. She couldn't help but wonder who that person was and how they had been able to make such a big impact on a powerful vampire's life.