La Rose Noire (The Black Rose)
This fanfiction is a birthday gift, dedicated to Claire, one of my best friends that I met right here on Tumblr. Happy birthday, girl, I love you!!!! 😘😘😘 @7-wonders
Summary: Moving from her family home in Boston and having to settle into a new territory in Los Angeles wasn't what Rose Harmon had in mind when she wanted a fresh start, but with the death of her unborn baby sibling and the revelation of her father's affair, she understood why it was necessary. When things begin to go awry in their new home, Rose will find that the lines between good and evil become blurred and must answer the age old question: can true love really conquer all?
Prologue: The Move
The shouting was muffled, but it could still be heard through the thin walls. Raised, angry voices floated from their parents' room to the room Rose Harmon shared with her younger twin sister, Violet.
"They're fighting again," Violet said sullenly, sitting on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, her chin resting on them and her arms wrapped around herself for support.
Rose glanced over at her sister, sympathy washing over her at the latter's position. Violet always had trouble adjusting to life as a moody teenager, but the constant arguments between their parents and the tension in the house only made it worse.
"Yeah. I know," she sighed and moved away from the door before sitting on Violet's bed, the mattress dipping with the redhead's weight.
"Do you think they'll get divorced?" Violet asked softly, staring into her sister's eyes.
Rose contemplated that. On one hand, she hoped that their parents didn't end up divorced; it just complicated things, like holidays, custody battles, the news spreading around town, etc. Not to mention the emotional strain it would put on them all…
But on the other…if their mother left their father, it wouldn't be undeserved on his end.
"I hope not," she eventually answered. "But I'd understand if they did."
Violet nodded. After a few minutes of silence, another inquiry left her lips: "If you had to choose…if they wanted us to choose…who would you live with? Mainly?"
That question made Rose pause. "Who would you live with?" She countered calmly, though she already knew the answer.
"Dad."
'I knew it,' Rose thought. Her sister had always been closer to their father. She never understood why, but they'd always had such a strong bond while Violet's relationship with their mother was strained, especially when the younger Harmon started puberty.
"I'd choose Mom," she watched Violet's nose crinkle slightly. It wasn't disgust she saw on her face, but her twin obviously wasn't pleased with her response.
"Why?" Violet asked. She realized that her tone could be considered rude or judgmental, but she didn't backtrack and change it.
Rose gave her a look that was both reprimanding and incredulous. "He cheated on her," she said.
"He was grieving. They lost our brother," the defense sounded weak to even Violet's ears, but it was the truth. Ben Harmon didn't just decide to go out and cheat on his wife, Vivien, because he didn't love her; it was brought on by tragedy and the emotional distance between them afterwards.
"That doesn't make it okay," Rose replied, protectiveness over her mother rearing its head again at the younger girl's words. She always had a stronger bond with Vivien than with Ben. Maybe it was because she was her first daughter or she just had more in common with her than Violet, but the older twin never had the same connection with her father that she had with her mother. "He slept with another woman—one of his students, no less—and Mom caught them in her bed. Yes, Mom pushed him away, and Dad lost him, too, but Mom was the one who carried our brother for seven months only to discover that he died inside of her and then had to deliver his body two months after because her own didn't naturally flush him out. I don't blame her for coping with losing her baby the way she knew how at the time. Being depressed and not wanting to be with her husband for awhile is not the same as fucking someone else in your marital bed and you know that, Vi."
Rose's heated lecture silenced Violet, the fight draining out of her. She sniffled a bit and said, in a small voice, "I just don't want our family to be ripped apart. I don't want to be ripped from you."
Rose's eyes softened. She completely understood what Violet was saying. It wasn't so much that she condoned their father's affair or blamed their mother for it, she just didn't want to experience such a drastic change. They liked their life in Boston: their house, their friends, their school…if their parents divorced, they'd be taken from all of that, especially if both of them wanted to relocate to different areas further away from one another.
The fact that they each wanted to live with the other parent made the situation absolutely hellish. Despite their differing opinions and arguments they'd had throughout the years, Rose and Violet had always been close. They shared a womb together, they were born together, they did everything together…losing each other would be like tearing out a part of themselves that they could never get back. They would never feel whole again.
Rose leaned forward, bringing Violet into a comforting embrace. Despite not being the most social person, her sister was the exception, and Violet leaned into her warmth, closing her eyes and taking in the scent of her—the vanilla skin care products and lavender shampoo she ritualistically used—and the sound of her heartbeat as the dirty blonde placed her ear against the redhead's chest. Violet allowed Rose to hold her, to support her as she slumped into her, as if she could physically join them so it made separation impossible, basking in the serenity that only her sister could provide.
Ever the caretaker, Rose kissed the top of Violet's head before gently running her fingers through her hair, stroking between the strands and repeating the motion to further relax the distressed teen in her arms.
"I don't want to lose you, either," Rose murmured. Even the thought was agonizing to her. "But I promise you that no matter what happens, you and I will always be together."
"How?" Violet asked.
"In our hearts. You're in mine all the time and I know I'm in yours. As long as we have that, it won't matter how far the distance is between us."
Suddenly the arguing ceased and Rose heard quiet footsteps approach their door before a light knock resounded through the now still house. "Rose? Violet?" Their mother's voice rang out. "Can we come in? Your father and I have something to tell you two."
Rose looked down at Violet, the latter having opened her eyes and was gazing up at her. She could see the apprehension in the blonde's eyes, the fear that this something will be that they're getting a divorce. It was a fear that Rose knew reflected on her own face.
"Come in," Rose called, and the doorknob turned, the squeaking of the hinges as the door swung open deafening in the silence. Ben and Vivien stood in the doorway, their expressions completely unreadable as they regarded their children.
The sisters reluctantly separated from their embrace, but still sat together on the bed, their hands tightly clasped in preparation for the bombshell that was about to come down.
"What's going on?" Rose asked.
Before either of their parents could open their mouths, Violet quickly followed up her twin's question with one of her own: "Are you getting a divorce?"
Ben and Vivien exchanged tired looks as they walked deeper into their daughters' room. "No," Vivien began, sitting beside Rose. "We're not getting divorced."
"But we do want to start fresh," Ben finished, taking a seat on Violet's side.
"What does that mean?"
Ben and Vivien sighed, a long, drawn out noise that was obvious to anyone who heard it that they were completely finished with the topic.
"After much consideration," Ben began this time while his wife remained mute, content to watch for the time being. "Your mother and I decided that the four of us are going to pack our things and leave Boston to go to California. We didn't want to give up on our marriage or separate you two, so moving was the best option."
Well, it wasn't the bombshell they expected, but it dropped anyway.
