go get your ribbon box, go get your wounded heart

[forthsofar]

In the end, Rosie doesn't ask Anne about particularly slow and vengeful ways of killing someone, or go to Sabrina for a hex involving boils or scrofula or something equally vile, or any of the other gruesomely creative things she'd thought about in the space between finding out about Neil and Caleb's breakup--and the reasons therein--and now. She hadn't replied to any of his messages beyond that first one, and even that was a starkly ominous we will talk about this later; in the last day or so, he'd moved on to leaving voicemails, and she hadn't listened to any of them either. There was a kind of glee in letting him stew, in ignoring him in favor of making sure Neil got back on his feet and recovered as much as possible from the blow he'd been dealt.

Eventually, she decides to take him off of whatever agonizing hook he'd placed himself on--not that he hadn't deserved it--and sends him another message, just as short as the last. If you're not home, get there. I'm coming over.

She doesn't wait for a reply, just heads out the door and towards Caleb's building.

Comments

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Caleb hates leaving things unresolved. Sometimes, like now, he thinks that's more of a character flaw than anything else. He hadn't wanted this to ruin his friendship with Rosie. He'd said so in... almost every single one of his voicemails.

The flowers that Neil had brought are still in the glasses he's using for vases, but they're wilted, petals littering the counter top along with whatever pollen they're dropping. He's kept them watered, but their appearance matches his state of mind pretty well, of late. (Yes, that's pathetic, and yes, he knows.) He debates clearing them out plenty of times, but it seems somehow rude or disrespectful. They're a gift from Neil.

When he gets the text from Rosie, he sits bolt upright on the couch. He'd called off work to pitifully wallow on the couch, thinking and overthinking about all of this, and he's pretty sure he's been crying, because his face feels tight and a little itchy. There's a cowardly part of him that wants to tell her no, that if she wants to talk, they can do it over the phone. He's honestly not sure if he can handle the full brunt of Rosie's emotions. But he's just going to have to.

He doubts she'd oblige him, anyway. Right now, she's Neil's friend, and he's Neil's ex boyfriend. If Rosie is still his friend, it's not today, so she's not going to be pulling any punches. He responds to her text with I'm home and debates for way longer than he should on whether he should thank her for finally saying something to him. He opts not to, leaving the message feeling short and unfinished to him.

But he changes into somewhat presentable clothes, and wipes his hands over his face. The apartment doesn't look too bad, at least. It doesn't look like he's been wallowing in his own stupid misery this whole time... even though he has been.