“Yes your prime, remember when you first came to us asking for a job”

A memory plays in jacobs mind, it's a younger version of him begging Rose and her family for a job, he was covered in mud as he stood at their doorsteps, he looked weak and tired, and her father was hesitant towards him as a stranger, but Rose’s mother gave him a chance, she had kindness in her heart no matter the individual, something Jacob would never forgot

“You had tears in your eyes and your clothes were a mess, you were a damsel in distress”

Jacob said nothing

“Honestly I thought you were a crybaby at that time, just another delinquent teenager who ran away from home but…”

Rose leaned in closer, her eyes locked with his, both of them staring at each other for a solid minute until Rose spoke again

“You changed my point of view, as time went on you were honest, hardworking, charismatic but most importantly, for me at least, you were real, you allowed me to be vulnerable around you”

“So I was the subject of your admiration”

Rose put her hand on his cheek, and Jacob could swear that there was a hint of purple in her eyes

“Yes, Even after all this time you still haven’t changed, and that's why I want you, 12 years passed by, and not another man made my heart yearn for them like you do”

“Quite the sudden confession don’t you think”

“I don’t believe 12 years of dropping hints is a sudden confession”

“Yea I guess it isn’t”

To say that they were childhood friends wasn’t exactly correct, but for the past 12 years since he met Rose she has always been dropping hints of affection towards Jacob, he wasn’t entirely dense, he understood how she felt given the time they spent together, yet he always wondered to himself why, why such a beautiful woman like her was attracted to someone like him, that was the one thing couldn’t understand why, but the fact that she did was there

“I don’t want to get close to you”

Rose stuttered a bit, and her expression turned from flirtatious to sadness, but still she persisted, 

“I knew you were gonna say that…At this point you say that every time I try, but…it really does sting every time I hear it you know”

Jacob stuttered, he wanted to respond properly but the words weren’t coming out of his mouth, yet he still tried

“ Rose, your perfect, I could sit here and say a thousand things that make you the best woman out there, but it wouldn’t be enough to describe you, you are the perfect woman of every guy’s dream in every aspect, All the time we spent together, our memories of the past there beautiful ones and I don’t want to forget about them…but I-”

Jacob felt a snap in his mind like a gear that wasn’t supposed to be moved has began to

 “You know what happened to me, you know better than anybody else that something is broken when it comes to my feelings, I don’t want to talk about the past, I just want to live in peace”

A drop of water fell upon jacobs face

“But you rather live with the current memories of Marry”

Rose began to tear up, no it was more accurate to say she was frustrated or maybe even jealous of her sister, Despite being more understanding and caring to Jacob she could never get him to treat her the same way as he does with marry

“You claim to be broken, but the truth of the matter is that you don’t want anybody to get too close to you, you rather stay in your safe zone than make bonds with people”

The tearing up has progressed to sobbing,  Rose on the outside with other individuals was dignified and strong, while the rose in front of him was the real one that Jacob knew, she allowed herself to be weak in front of him, and he knew that of course, but still, he didn’t let his guard down

“Even my sister who you are just using as a substitute, When are you gonna break the news to Marry that she is just a substitute for your dead sister”

“That's enough Rose!!”

A mix of anger and despair flooded Jacob’s mind as he yelled at Rose, While the majority of Jacob's life is shrouded in mystery at this point in time, there clearly is some sort of trauma or an event that he tried/wished to get rid of in his mind entirely 

“I don’t want to remember that, I just want a clean slate, why don’t you just let me forget about it!”

This time it was Jacob who was starting to allow his emotions to stir up, for them this was there tipping point of there 12 year-long history, all those emotions and feeling that was suspended between the 2 were finally let out, it was on this important day, the day of Marry’s birthday and the anniversary of their mother’s death

“Because that's not what you told us is right, you tell everyone it's important to confront our own problems and demons, You help everyone else but when it comes to your own situations you rather bottle them up, you put up your fake smiles with others and you think that doesn’t hurt to see,”

Rose at this point has already begun sobbing onto Jacob’s chest, It's clear enough with all this time and emotions they bonded together that she really cares, no it would be more accurate to say loves Jacob with all her heart, but, Jacob can’t accept it at least not the way she wants him to

“I'm sorry, you're the closest one to me, you always try to help me out but I can’t accept your feeling, I’m just a big scaredy cat after all”

Jacob rubbed roses head, snot, and tears still running down her face, 

“Im Sorry”

Jacob picks up a towel and wipes roses face, and in that very instance when he finishes Rose pulls him in for a kiss, her soft lips met his, Jacob’s eyes widen in shock, he intended to pull away but he couldn't, every neuron receptor in his mind stimulated him to continue, or it would be more accurate to say his instincts as a living being demanded more, and so he did while embracing her slender body, he returned her kiss with more of a passionate one

“Jacob”

Rose tried calling out to him but Jacob just embraced her firmly and kissed deeper, he couldn’t control his desires as a person, Maybe for him, this was more akin to lust, but that was likely not the case, maybe in some part of his mind he wanted to be with her, some part that outweighed his fear, but nevertheless he made out with her, no thoughts or over thinking just simple animal instincts taking over one's thought. It felt hot, his body was heating up as he felt, he would have continued for longer if it wasn’t for the need for air, they parted lips as both of their faces were entranced and flustered 

“I…”

“Yea…”

Neither could complete their sentence, they were at a loss for words, and as a result  the room just fell silent

“You guys okay or what”

A familiar voice called out to them, and at the door was their good friend Tin, in terms of physical description, he was a 5’11” masculine man with dyed white hair and good-looking, European and the type of person who would be featured in a magazine. Rose instantly fluttered face vanished and she looked busy getting the razor ready, while Jacob just turned away trying not to reveal his flustered face

“Tin good to see ya, I made you some Katsu curry”

After he composed himself Jacob turned around to face Tin, his best friend, seeing the new beard shave tin couldn’t help but raise his voice in excitement

“Woahhh, you getting your stuff cut, I never thought you would allow that to happen, so much for your sacred beard, guess you really value Marry over anything, say when are you 2 getting married lol”

With that statement, tin begins to chow down while he teases him, Tin and Jacob have been friends for almost as long as Rose could remember, and in the midst of his reminiscing Rose spoke up

“As soon as you get together with one of your fangirls”

Tin was notoriously popular with both men and women, with men due to his physique and easygoing attitude, as for the women it seemed they were attracted to him a little bit too much as he was like a hunk, eventually jokes arose where he had a fangirl club dedicated just to him

“Thanks but no thanks, I'm already after the most beautiful girl in this town”

Jacob and Marry looked at each other and said the same thing

“Auntie Betty”

“Hey now she is not a auntie, and second of all older women are where it's at, she is the pinnacle of my desires, after all, look at Rose she gets love letters every day from people who are into her”

In response to that Rose snapped the scissors and made a large snap sound that sent shivers down Tins and Jacob’s spine
“Are you calling me old tin”

A creepy sinister glare and aura surrounded rose

“Are you Tin”

Tin looks visually scared and ran behind Jacob

“No No, I swear you look young no older than your 20’s yea”

“Good, now then Jacob time to get your beard cut”

That tension that was in the room previously had faded and Jacob couldn’t help but nervously laugh since Tin had invoked the wrath of Rose, but as he laughed he was reminded of why these 2 individuals were here

‘I need to move forward huh’

Jacob thought this to himself, He wanted peace and quietness yet he has individuals who care about him, even if they brought chaos into his peace, they also brought fulfillment into his life, yet a habit of 12 years does not change with one day,

‘Desires are confusing’

Just as he got lost in thought his chin was turned to the side,

“Turn this way I need to cut this side”

Rose was still cutting his hair while he was having his inner monologue, perhaps that was his problem, he spent too much time trying to make everything bigger than it needs to be, overcomplicating things perhaps,  Maybe it was better to be an ignorant person-

“Keep your chin straight Jacob do you want me to cut you”

Rose was grabbing Jacob by the chin like a child who keeps moving every time you want them to stay still, and after 5-10 minutes of shaving Jacob was set and ready to go

“Now then go wash up while I clean up the hairs”

Just as Rose instructed him so he went into the restroom and proceeded to clean himself up and all that was left was tin and rose

“I’m surprised Marry managed to get him out of here”

Rose couldn’t help but chuckle 

“How do you know it wasn’t me”

“Because he doesn’t even listen to me, His best friend, what makes you think he would listen to you about stuff like this”

Rose scoffs at his remark

“You say that like we all haven’t been friends for over 12 years

“I like to think that I have a special place in his heart, after all, he was the one who introduced me to the world of Milfs and older women and molded me into the man I am ”

Tin’s eyes sparkled as he flex his muscles

“Your pretty sick in the head aren’t you”

Rose looked at him with a disgusted face, and Tin just continued flexing 

“You say that but you just hating on my sexy body”

“You say that like anybody would enjoy looking at you with your weird poses”

Out of the front door of the mobile home popped out another individual, she had red dyed hair as well as brown eyes and was around 5’4” in height, and had a physique of a sturdy individual with a bit of bulk mixed into it

“Alexandra” 

Both of them stopped their bickering upon her appearance, Tin immediately rushed towards her side and held her hand

“Alexandra you look as stunning as ever, especially your muscles and sturdy physique, need to lose a bit of weight to realize your true potential and if only you were a milf you would be my dream girl, too bad you-”

With that said Alexandra cracked her fist and punched Tin in the stomach with a considerable amount of force knocking him down, and with that tin was lying on the ground pleading mercy while Alexandra continued to yell slurs and through kicks his way all the while, and  rose was cheering of course

“Go Go Go”

This continued for a minute or 2 until the bathroom door opened u

“If you guys are going to kill each other do it outside won’t you”

Out of the bathroom appeared Jacob with a cut beard and hair looking like a new man, his hair was slicked back like one of those old greasers from the 1980s, and a fresh shave, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him with an open mouth

“Hot”

“Indeed Hot”

“Super Hot”

Everyone nodded at each other while they examined his appearance, and then they looked lower down to his stomach area, Jacob had quite a round stomach, which caused everyone to sigh in disappointment

“Out of shape”

“Fat”

“Gained a few pounds…” 

Alexandra looked at Rose

“Rose you did not just tell me that he gained just a few pounds, Man is overweight”

“I'm gonna have to agree with Alexandra on this one, Jacob did gain a stomach ever since he stopped working out”

Alexandra nodded,

“Thanks for the heartfelt comment guys”

Jacob said sarcastically, as a result of that Alexandra and Tin simultaneously spoke

“We’re just being honest”

Rose and Jacob looked at each other 

“When do you think they’re gonna get together”

“Probably in a month or so”

“Yea there a match made in heaven”

Tin and Alexandra protested intensely at their comments, time passed as their fun conversation as friends continued like that for a bit, for Jacob it had been a while since they chatted all together like this, despite the peace that he so desperately craved, in his heart he did enjoy their company, he found throughout the years that being with the people he cared about and having fun was peaceful as well. Just as they were gonna get lost in time Rose’s alarm started to beep

“Looks like I got to get going 

Rose got her stuff and prepared to leave

“Wait a bit Rose I’ll join ya”

“Your not gonna stay here with them”

Alexandra laughed

“While I do love these 2 idiots, Jacob over here still hasn’t finished dressing”

Jacob looked at himself and realized he still had a towel on, of course, he had boxers on but he had almost forgotten he was changing, Alexandra was quick to point it out

“Told ya, let’s go”

“Yea leave us bros to do bro stuff”

As Tin said those words Jacob just looked at him with the expression of ‘what the fuck did you just say man’ face, tin looked utterly confused
“What, What did I do”

“Just get out”

“What what did I do”

Jacob just continued to stare at him with that facial expression as he pushed Tin out with the rest of them