Author's Note: Whoops, forgot to add as a comment on release that I'll be taking a break from posting until January 9th. Hope y'all have a good festive season :)
(PAST)
Cameron walked back home, a skip in his step. He had just met up with Mateo. They hung out after school, talking and messing around. It was fun. Time spent with Mateo always was. He never wanted it to end.
When he approached his flat building, he noticed someone coming out. Instinctively, he hid behind a wall.
“Why am I hiding?” he muttered to himself, peeking around the corner. A woman stepped out, someone he recognised. "Wait… that's Yaz, isn't it?"
Shortly after, Rosa followed her out. Cameron watched them, saw how close they were. Rosa's smile. How long had it been since she smiled like that? Carefree. Before their father died, that was for sure. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, too far away. Just when he thought about leaving his hiding spot, Rosa cupped Yaz’s face and kissed her.
“I knew it.” Cameron smiled, glancing away. “You are real bad at hiding things, sis.”
He waited for Yaz to leave, not wanting to make things too awkward, then stepped out.
Rosa’s smile immediately disappeared when she saw him, eyes wide with shock. "Cam, didn't see you there!"
"I figured."
“Where did you even come from? Did you…?” Rosa paused, crossing her arms and hunching slightly. Her question remained unfinished.
Cameron nodded, anticipating what she was trying to ask. “Yeah, I saw.”
Rosa sighed. "You probably have questions, right?"
"Depends. Am I going to get any answers?" If Rosa wasn’t ready to talk about it, he wasn’t going to push her.
She shrugged. "Depends on the questions."
They walked back into the flat. Rosa made them both a cup of tea, sitting in the small lounge area. She tapped her fingers against the steaming mug.
Neither of them knew what to say.
“So...” Cameron began hesitantly.
“Come on, Detective Cameron,” Rosa managed a weak smile, “hit me with it.”
“You don’t have to tell me, you know.”
“No reason I shouldn’t.” Rosa glanced out of the nearest window, sighing. “So long as you want to listen.”
“I always do,” Cameron reassured, lightly punching her shoulder. “Especially when you’ve been acting kind of weird lately. I’m guessing Yaz had something to do with that.”
“Yeah, kind of…” Rosa nudged him back. “I’ve never really talked about how I met her, did I?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I was on my way back from work. Late shift. I cut through a park and there she was, sat on a bench.” Rosa frowned, recalling the memory. “She was crying. I couldn’t walk past without asking if she was okay.”
“My sister, the good samaritan.”
“Oh, be quiet.”
Cameron chuckled when she pouted. “I’m only half teasing.”
“Uh-huh.” Rosa shook her head, then took another sip of tea. “Anyway, turned out she’d recently split up with her long-term boyfriend. Mutual split but…”
“...probably still sucked,” Cameron finished for her.
“Yeah. We talked for a while. I tried to cheer her up. It worked pretty well. I offered to call a cab for her, but she said her place was close by. So, I walked her home. She… invited me inside, and I accepted.”
“So much for stranger danger.”
“She wasn’t a total stranger,” Rosa reassured. “I’d seen her in the diner a few times. Mostly alone. We talked a little.”
“Okay so, you went inside her place and then…”
Rosa bit her lip, stalling for time. “She kissed me.”
“What, just out of nowhere?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” Rosa cleared her throat. “Then, you called to ask me when I was getting home.”
“I think I remember that.” Cameron nodded. “You didn’t come home until the morning.”
“Yeah. I, uh,” Rosa cleared her throat, “might’ve stayed over.”
Cameron didn’t know whether to feel surprised or impressed. Maybe both. “Well, shit.”
“After that, we hung out more. Kept it casual, you know.” Rosa’s brow furrowed. “Until her boyfriend wanted her back. Yaz needed some time and space to think. It’s been… hard not seeing her.”
That would explain Rosa’s unnerving lack of energy.
“Seems like it’s had a happy conclusion, though,” Cameron said.
“You could say that. She said she wanted to come see me today. I was nervous. Worried.” Rosa smiled, a faint blush on her cheeks. “Didn’t need to be.”
Cameron was glad to finally see Rosa like this. Happy. “About time you focused on what you wanted. You’ve worked hard to keep a roof over our head, but it never left much time for yourself.”
“I’d do it all again.” Rosa’s serious expression faltered. “I’ll admit, though, it is... good to have something else to focus on.”
Cameron knew all about that by now. “Rosa.”
“Yeah?”
“I…” he swallowed hard, “me and Teo…"
Rosa’s eyes sparked with knowing joy. "Oh, you finally worked up the courage."
"You didn't even hear what I had to say yet."
"Don't have to. I've seen you guys. You aren’t exactly subtle.” Rosa sighed, staring into her mug. "You could've told me about it before. You were probably freaking out, right?"
"You could've told me about Yaz,” Cameron countered, feeling a little embarrassed.
Rosa opened her mouth to argue, abandoning her hypocritical protest. "Touche. So, what happened?”
"I planned to tell him but…” Cameron grinned, “...he beat me to the punch."
"Classic Mateo." Rosa shook her head with a smile. “Oh, it’s going to be so fun teasing you now.”
“And this was also another reason I didn’t tell you sooner.” Cameron rolled his eyes, earning a chuckle. “I guess I just… don't want any more secrets, you know."
Rosa put her cup down, giving him a big hug. "Yeah... me neither, Cam."
Comments (0)
See all