“I can’t stand the thought of losing sight of you. It’s strange, but right now I want to be with you every single moment. Sweetheart, just be good. Stop giving me a hard time.” Morrison held her tightly, each word punctuated with a kiss that he pressed upon her over and over again.
Rose ducked her head, trying to dodge the constant barrage of kisses that he lavished upon her without warning. Yet her heart fluttered uncontrollably because of the words he whispered so close to her ear.
That pleading tone, mixed with a seductive coaxing, didn't seem like something Morrison would ever utter.
But she was certain that it was definitely him.
Morrison had been acting out of character for the past few days, but considering her past interactions with him, it didn't seem so unusual after all.
After all, she believed that during their school days, he often clashed with her, and considering their many years of conflict, his sudden change in demeanor seemed to reveal his true nature.d2
She thought that she knew a little bit about his subtle and dark quirks. Still, this felt like a complete turnaround.
She never thought that one day he would truly act like a brat, being unreasonable and domineering one moment, only to transform into this clingy person the next. He was like a stubborn child, who wouldn't let her leave when he caught her.
Compared to his handsome and aloof exterior, their situation was completely out of the norm.
Her lips were taken captive by his. He was holding her so tightly she couldn't struggle, and she could only lift her chin, being completely trapped by him.
She was eventually pushed back onto the hospital bed again. Considering the baby in her belly, she placed both hands behind her to support her body, not letting herself sink too deeply into the bed.
"That's enough..." In the end, Rose whimpered and turned her head away, avoiding Morrison's kiss. Her face was flushed and her ears were red.
Morrison did not continue to kiss her either, but chose to hold her firmly in his arms instead. Despite the awkward position, he held on to her, clearly intending not to let her have the slightest chance of leaving. He was acting just like a child on his first day of kindergarten, clinging to his mother's leg, refusing to let her go.
The more she thought about it, the harder she found it to resist laughing at the absurdity of it all. She certainly didn't recall having such a giant baby son.
At the sound of her laughter, Morrison looked up, his dark gazes shimmering with a mix of bewilderment and relief. “What’s so funny?”
Rose glanced down at him, “I’m laughing at how childish you’re being.”
Morrison frowned, tightening his hold on her. “It’s all your fault. Here I am, laid up in the hospital, and you’re still giving me grief.”
Rose fell silent for a few seconds, then said, “Morrison, did I ever tell you just how awful you really are?”
He paused for a moment before replying, “You might have mentioned it. You used to talk smack about me behind my back in school. I've heard those kinds of things about myself too many times.”
Rose was taken aback. Back then, she only complained about him because he was always so confrontational, and it infuriated her.
“And you were just as bad, always scowling at me. You could manage to be warm and kind with everyone else, so why was it that with me, you were either sarcastic or as cold as an ice sculpture?”
Morrison's eyes hardened.
Rose pressed on, “And now, all of a sudden, you are telling me that I’m the one you’ve always loved—how am I supposed to believe that? Is that how you love someone? By flirting with other women while you 'love' me?”
Her voice carried a serious undertone. The memories of their school days were still vivid in her mind. Many years had passed; those were among the few memories she had with Morrison. However, they had always been her memories alone.
Her treasured memories, which always brought her joy and heartache.
“Back then…” Morrison began, the atmosphere turning heavy with his suppressed voice. “You were the defiant rich girl, looking down on everyone, too proud for your own good. Dressed to the nines every single day, drawing the gaze of all the boys. Always ready to pick a fight with me, arguing until we were blue in the face. If I actually admitted to liking you, wouldn’t I have been a madman?”
Rose bit her lip, frustrated by the way his narrative twisted her past. “What do you mean I dressed to the nines? And when did I ever seduce the boys?”
Morrison scoffed, as if the memory of her in those days was vivid in his mind, his expression mirroring the way he used to look at her.
“Then why did you always dress up so flashy? Wasn’t there always a flock of foolish boys trailing you whenever you showed up? You always got the best seat at the basketball games, and half your electives were filled with guys. Every weekend, a crowd waited to ask you out, and—don’t tell me you didn’t accept tampons from a guy during your period.”
Morrison was getting more and more infuriated as he spoke, his face becoming increasingly unpleasant, and his voice growing heavier.
Rose blinked in surprise, lost in the distant memories he was dredging up. And then, the mention of tampons... She did recall such an incident.
Her period had come early once, and a male classmate had offered his jacket with a small pack of tampons and tissues in the pockets. It had certainly saved her from an embarrassing situation.
Looking back, she realized she never properly thanked him. But she was young then, too embarrassed to express her gratitude properly.
As for the rest, she could only recall fragments of those days. Her memories were mostly filled with Morrison—and she certainly didn’t have the capacity to remember all those scattered incidents.
“I got my period early, and I was in a tight spot. I was grateful for any help I could get. Who cared who it was from? How did you even find out about that?”
Morrison didn’t say anything to that.
Rose raised an eyebrow, her beautiful eyes narrowing as she gazed at him.
“If you knew about it then, why didn’t you help me? Someone else did a good deed and I appreciated it. Why are you mad about it?”
Rose propped herself up with her hands behind her, her body leaning sideways as she looked at him. Her protruding belly was right in front of Morrison, and the scene unexpectedly exuded a sense of warmth.
"You sure have a good memory about all these things, Morrison, when exactly did you start taking an interest in me?"
Morrison frowned, his voice slightly gruff, "Heck knows."
Rose smirked, "The more I know now, the more I'm convinced you're not up to snuff. If you've been taking an interest in me from way back when, why on earth did you have to go and pick a fight with me? If you had been straightforward, none of what followed would've ever happened."
He pursed his lips, "Do you think you are straightforward? You clearly love me, but you don't say it."
A scoff escaped Rose, "You expected me to confess to a guy who already had a girlfriend? I may have feelings, but I also have pride and dignity."
She paused, her voice trailing off, "You're quite something, you know. You managed to bend my backbone, made me willing to toss aside my pride. I gambled everything, and yet, in the end, beneath the abyss you offered was only a deeper abyss."
Morrison's face stiffened, a hint of embarrassment clouding his features. "I admit that was my mistake."
He could never quite pinpoint those bizarre, indescribable feelings he had for her. Had it not been for someone else's nudge, he might have spent his whole life unable to acknowledge his true feelings for her.
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