The Lonely Girl

Chapter 47: packing

Three weeks later

Rose p.o.v

"Rose! Derek is here!" I heard Max shout from downstairs. 

I immediately dropped my clothes and hurried down the hallway to the stairs, the pitter-patter of my feet echoing through the house. Quickly I moved my feet along the stairs and halted to stick my head over the railing to see if Derek was already in the house, which he was. 

"Hey Derek," I chirped. 

Derek smiled at me as he greeted me as well. I hurried myself again down the stairs and made a beeline to him where Derek was waiting for me with his arms wide open, inviting me in a big and warm bear hug. 

"There's my girl." Derek picked me up and twirled me around. Giggles erupted from my mouth, not expecting the sudden movement. He had put me down after some twirles and ended with a kiss on the crown on my head. 

"Are you excited for the trip?" 

I hummed, "Uh-huh." 

"Hmm, it doesn't seem like it, I think someone needs a bit of encouragement." Derek teased me while tickling me. 

I tried to push his hands away. "No, Derek stop. I want to go, I want to go!" I laughed. 

"That looks a bit more convincing. How far are you with packing?" Derek turned a tad serious now in his tone. When I didn't answer him right away, he gently pushed some strands of hair out of my face and cupped his hands around my cheeks. "Rose?" 

His eyes never left mine, which made me squirm in my spot. I knew I had to finish my bags yesterday, but packing was hard. What do you need to take with you and what can stay behind? I had no idea, this was the first time I was going on a trip. 

I cast my eyes downwards, not being able to look at him any longer, knowing I wouldn't give him a satisfying answer. Satisfying, I new word I learned two days ago from Max. Turns out Max is an excellent teacher. I have learned more from him in these past two weeks than I did with Olivia. 

"Rose, Rose, are you still there?" 

I must have zoned out there for a moment. "Yeah, sorry, what was the question?" 

Derek chuckled. "Have you finished packing?" 

I shook my head, feeling guilty. "All right, let me help you before Nathan finds out. He is very particular when it comes to his trip or vacation planning." 

I couldn't help but smile at Derek's comment. It was true though. Nathan was never strict with either Max or me, but when it came to anything related to the upcoming trip he got serious real quick, real fast. 

All week Max and I were drilled to get every single little thing ready for tomorrow, even Ellis, Anna and Derek fell victim to Nathan's drilling and it wasn't even him who planned the vacation. It was Derek. 

Countless nights Nathan was on the phone with Derek asking all these questions: 

What will the weather be like? 

How many bags can we bring on the airplane? 

Which airline are we flying? 

Do you have anything Little appropriate over there or do we need to take those with us? 

What exactly will be doing over there? 

Do we need to bring our hiking shoes? Do I need to get some hiking shoes for Rose as well? 

And when you think that was it, no. Then after he got all the answers from Derek, Nathan called Ellis to let her know all the information he just got from Derek. The top of the iceberg was that it drove Max insane. He couldn't stand the long, endless calls late in the evening when he just wanted to snuggle with his Daddy, which I could totally understand. 

Max's irritation turned into bratty behavior, as Nathan liked to call it, and Max's bratty behavior caused him to be punished which caused Nathan to be even more 'up tight'. Those were Max's words, not mine. 

Yeah, it wasn't such a pleasant week. 

"All right, what do we have here?" Derek mused as he stood in front of my closet. "You haven't packed much yet, I see." 

"I-I didn't really know what to pack because, well, I haven't gone on a vacation before." I hesitantly admitted. 

Derek sighed. The realization had hit him, I guessed. 

"That's fine, we will just do it together so next time you know what to do." 

For the next hour, we packed my bag while Derek explained to me what was important to pack with you. I felt so at peace having this little moment with Derek, I wondered when we would finally be back together. 

This was something I thought about many times these past weeks. Where did Derek and I stand? Was Derek still my Daddy? Or was he just a friend? Was I going to live here forever? 

I didn't want to live here forever. I love Nathan and Max, but I wanted to be with Derek. Only Derek didn't make me feel like he wanted me to live with him. Maybe it was just Nathan being protective and telling Derek to stand down, but I wasn't so sure of that either. 

Max made me also think about something else. He had asked me if I ever felt something for Derek in a romantic way. I didn't fully understand what he had meant by that until he explained about relationships and about his own relationship with Nathan. He had told me that next to Nathan being his caregiver he was also his boyfriend. Max explained they liked to kiss each other and have sex with each other. 

Now, that was some weird topic to discuss. 

I had heard of sex a couple of times before but never fully understood what it exactly meant. To make it more embarrassing, Nathan walked right on us when Max mentioned sex. It was then that not only Max but Nathan too explained how sex worked. My cheeks were fire red the whole way through their talk. 

Nathan tried to ensure me that there was nothing to be embarrassed to be about and that it was only good that I didn't have to find it out on my own and that they were there to help me. I disagreed. 

Their talk made me look differently towards Derek. Did Derek want me in that way? Or was it only platonic? Max had clarified it meant having a loving relationship but without the kissing and sex and sometimes hugs too, but that differed per couple. 

This romantic talk made me question my stand on Derek only more and it frustrated me. I groaned internally. 

"I think that's it. You are all ready to go," Derek announced to me to which I nodded my head. 

Just as I was about to ask Derek something Nathan walked in. He looked first at me and Derek and then at the bag. "I told you to be ready yesterday Rose. What's this?"

"Nathan, you know I love you man, but you need to take a chill-pill." 

"Derek, I gave just some simple instructions that's all," Nathan defended. He opened his mouth to show his disapproval once more, but Derek beat him to it. 

"It's done now, so nothing to be worried about. If you like we can go over the last couple of things later, but first I want to talk to Rose some more, okay." 

Nathan sighed, but acknowledged his defeat and left. 

"So what is it that you wanted to ask me?" Derek asked. 

A/N: Hope you like the new chapter! 

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!