117. Love Charm gone Horribly Wrong

Third Person's POV:

A scream tore through the house. 

Aria's scream. 

Rose's stomach plummeted. 

For a moment, she froze, her brain scrambling to process the sound. A thousand scenarios flashed through her mind, all of them bad, but one stood out above the rest. Him. 

He has arrived.

Aria must have seen him standing by the window. 

It made sense—of course, she would scream like that. It was the kind of sound that only pure, undiluted terror could bring out of someone. 

And honestly? Fair.

Rose had barely managed to keep herself from screaming the first time she saw him. And the second. 

And almost every time she sees him standing there while she hides behind the curtains Rose holds her self from making a sound. Despite the fact that it had become sort of a routine for her to have him visit every night so far, but that didn't make the sight of him any less intimidating. 

Aria, however—this was her first encounter. So yeah, her blood-curdling reaction was justified in Rose's view. 

Rose bolted through the house, her heart hammering so hard it rattled her ribs. She braced herself for what she was about to see—him, standing just beyond the glass, his golden eyes cutting through the night like a predator watching its prey. 

But when she skidded into the living room, nearly crashing into the couch, she was met with— 

Aria. 

Standing there. 

Hands over her mouth. Eyes wide. 

Facing the window. 

Rose's stomach twisted. Damn it! 

I knew I should've closed those damn curtains earlier. 

She had thought it was amusing to cut it dangerously close. To toy with the risk of him seeing her and her seeing him. Of course she wasn't gonna let that happen, she was only after the rush of it.

Apparently, she was  a stupid thrill seeker, after all. 

And now she was paying for it. 

Swallowing hard, Rose followed Aria's gaze, expecting—no, dreading—to see him outside. But… 

Instead, Aria was frantically looking around the house, not outside. 

Rose blinked. What is going on?

This wasn't right. He usually commanded every ounce of attention. He was a black hole, pulling Rose's focus without even trying. He was the kind of presence that consumed you whole. 

Rose has him on his mind even when she is trying *not to think of him standing out there, for her. Even when she takes solace in hiding behind her drapes, she sometimes let the curiosity get the best of her and takes a peek only to find him watching her as if he knows exactly where she is in the house. 

Yet, Aria had given him—what?—a second of her attention before looking away? 

That's weird. 

Did that say more about him, about Aria, or—God help her—about Rose? 

"What—what happened?" Rose finally forced out, before she lost herself in a spiral of unnecessary thoughts. 

Aria turned to face her, eyes still impossibly wide. 

"What the hell did you do to this poor house?" she demanded, voice high with disbelief. "Why does it look like I stepped into a church-inspired witch's lair?" 

Rose exhaled sharply as her nerves were fast unraveling with both relief and mounting irritation of her best friend's over the top antics.

That's why she screamed? 

She had thought the worst had happened. She had thought she was about to find Aria frozen in fear, staring out at him in horror. That she had discovered Rose's secret.

But no. 

Aria had seen the mere crosses and sages and lost her damn mind over that. 

Rose wanted to shake her head. 

"You scared the life out of me for that?" she deadpanned, rubbing her temples. 

Aria ignored her, waving her arms dramatically at the nearest collection of wooden crosses and dangling herbs. 

"Tell me the truth," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Did you find out you were secretly a witch all along? And now that you've turned eighteen, your powers have finally unlocked?" 

She stalked closer, lowering her voice as if unveiling a grand conspiracy. "Were you… casting a spell?" 

Rose stared at her. 

Is she serious?

Before she could say a single word, Aria gasped, eyes widening even more. 

"Oh my God." Her hands flew to her mouth again. "Are the roses—" She turned back to Rose, her expression morphing into sheer delight. "Is your stalker a result of a love charm gone horribly wrong?!"