High School Sweethearts (wlw)

~ Chapter 20 ~

(Rose POV)

The day ended with Donna and me sitting in the train on our way to Provo.

Donna had dragged me into clothing stores, so she could tell me what a beautiful figure I had.

I refused to let her buy me anything, but in the end I still had five shopping bags.

And now we sat in the train, on our way to Provo, eating strawberry shortcake from a small bakery we had found.

"This. This is why I left." Donna said with her mouth entirely full and continued to stuff more cake into herself.

I smiled and took a small bite.

"Nah, for real, I'm happy to be out of that place. Texas was not it."

I nodded. "I missed Utah so much."

Donna grinned. "Seems like we both did."

I smiled at her. And this time it was a true smile.

"I'm just gonna turn my phone on quickly." I informed Donna.

She just nodded.

As soon as my phone was on, thousands of notifications started appearing.

Mostly missed calls or people asking where I was.

The only one I cared about was Emily right now though.

I called her.

—[•~]—

(Emily POV)

I stared at my phone in disbelief.

Rose was calling.

I think I never accepted a call that fast.

"Rose! Where are you?"

She ignored the question. "Emily, how are you?"

"I'm fine, I guess..." "That's good." I could practically hear her smile through the screen.

"Rose, where are you?" I repeated the question.

"At the moment? On a train somewhere."

"Ok, and where are you going?"

"Wherever it takes me." She laughed.

"Rose, this is important. We need to know where you're going. Everyone has been going crazy."

"I can imagine." Rose just said briefly. I heard her eating.

I sighed to myself. "Are you at least safe?"

"Very." Rose instantly said, which didn't convince me.

"When will you be back?" I asked instead, trying not to sound too desperate.

"I don't know. We'll see. Bye. I love you." She said and hung up.

I stared at my phone screen. What had just happened.

—[•~]—

(Rose POV)

"Who was that?" Donna asked quietly.

"My girlfriend." I responded and took a bigger bite of my cake.

"Wow. Congratulations." Donna said, clearly impressed. "I mean, it's no wonder you have a girlfriend. And honestly, after Marissa, good riddance."

I sighed at the mention of my ex-girlfriend. I had forgotten that Donna had known about her.

"You still aren't over her, huh?" Donna smiled to herself. "I mean I get it. God knows I've been through enough toxic people."

"Was your husband one of them?" I asked.

Donna looked at me surprised. "No. I always loved him, and I always will. Sam was never toxic towards me."

A/N: Little paragraph for everyone who understood what I did there

"Why did you leave him then?"

"I guess I just had enough of all the arguing. Sam changed, and our opinions parted. But I guess nothing lasts forever, doesn't it?" Donna smiled.

"Looks like this is our stop." She said shortly afterwards.

We gathered up all of our belongings and got out of the train.

"So what do we do now?" Donna said and looked around.

We were standing at a small-ish train station. I had never been here before.

"I guess we walk around until we find a place I know or until we find Lakeford Lane." I suggested.

Donna did not look convinced. "It's pretty late. And who says your dad is even gonna have room for us?"

I looked around and saw an older man waiting a few yards back.

"Excuse me, sir? Do you know where Lakeford Lane is?" I asked him.

"Sure, it's just down that street, turn right and walk on for three streets. Then turn left and that's it."

I thanked him, even though I had already forgotten half of what he had said.

And so Donna and I were wandering through my hometown. Well, the parts I didn't know. How convenient of dad to choose that side.

"This is getting too much. It's already really late, so I suggest we call it a night and find a hotel." Donna said and got out her phone.

"Wait, we're so dumb! We could have just used our phones all along!" I laughed.

Donna didn't laugh, she just steered us into a direction.

And after a while we were standing in front of a big, renovated house.

I pressed the doorbell, and after a while the door opened.

A man, who looked really familiar, walked out the door.

He stopped when he saw me and Donna.

"If you're looking for a place to stay, this is the wrong place. I only have one room besides my own, and that one is always reserved."

"Dad." I just said.

My father's eyes widened. "Rose." he managed to say.

He opened the gate and pulled me into a tight hug. "You look like you just escaped a winter dance party." He said as he looked at my outfit, which was still the dress from two days ago.

"I kinda did..." I laughed.

"Yeah, I heard. Your mother and girlfriend came by because they thought you might be here." My father said critically.

I felt a bit bad. "But I called my girlfriend and told her we're safe." I said instead.

My father sighed. "I guess at least that's something."

He looked at Donna. "And who is this beautiful woman before my very eyes?" He grinned.

"Dad!" I shoved him. "That's Donna, Alex's mum. I wouldn't be here without her, so she needs to stay here for the night."

Dad shrugged. "Fine with me. But let me give you a tour of the house..."

—[•~]—