She was fading fast; pain blossoming in her head where it had made contact with the sidewalk. The hulking brute that had literally tackled her to the ground was stammering something she could barely hear as she lost consciousness.
Honestly, it had been on a whim that she decided to go out tonight. She could have easily stayed inside and watched Netflix but instead she decided to get a bit of fresh air and possibly meet someone? It was worth a try, anyway. She wanted to go somewhere new tonight, and settled on a pub called The Jackelope. Time seemed to pass in a haze. The Jackelope had a very cozy atmosphere about it. The soothing sound of the other patrons conversing mixed well with her drink and late dinner. She ate quietly, looking around at the people around her and texting with her friends until they turned in for the night. She was tucked away in a corner booth near the heater and must've drifted off without meaning to because all at once she was opening her eyes and the bar was nearly empty! Quickly, Rosie collecting her things and moved over to the front counter to pay her bill. The cashier went into the back after she was done, and she realized once he was gone that her phone was dead and she had no way of telling the time. Dang it. As luck would have it, there was a man sitting around by himself. She was careful to approach him so that he could see her coming, though it didn't seem to stop him from being startled. After he gave her the time she thanked him and made to leave, though the arrival of another young man made her pause.
She learned both of their names ('Lawrence' was the man she'd asked for the time and 'Ren' was the man that had just exited the bathroom) and when Ren looked at her expectantly she gave hers as well.
“It’s nice to meet you, boys. I’m Rosemary.” Since approaching him for the time, Lawrence had been as closed off as possible. His nervous gaze was glued either to Ren or to his own shoes. She got the distinct impression that her mere existence was making him deliriously uncomfortable and she felt bad whenever she spoke and he squirmed a bit in response. It was because of his general discomfort that she was surprised when he looked right at her after hearing her name.
“That'sareallynicename…” He mumbled, and she managed to thank him before he went back to looking away from her again. She couldn't help but feel a bit self conscious at this point. It was even worse when both men looked at each other and went dead silent.
"Is everything alright, Lawrence?" She asked him in particular, because he was the one that looked like he might keel over at any moment. Then again...Both of them looked pretty upset, didn't they? Privately, Rosie tipsily wondered if perhaps she was encroaching on some sort of midnight rendezvous. Oh my. That would certainly explain a few things. She put her things away into her purse and decided to get the heck out of there. Before she could even turn around, however, Ren announced that he was going to buy a quick round of drinks, one for her as well. She would have declined if he hadn't run off to the bar counter on his own. Lawrence practically ran from her and after Ren, leaving her wanting to dash out of the bar before they could return and stop bothering the poor things. She hiccuped lightly, watching the boys as they seemed to argue before Lawrence came back and set down the drinks. She accepted her drink, a rum and coke with a soft smile of apology. As she sipped from it, a car alarm went off outside. She turned to look at the front door, having jumped a little from the sound.
"! Gosh, that startled me." She muttered before turning back to the boys. Neither of them had touched their drinks, which was doubly odd considering Ren had been the one to insist on ordering them in the first place. Even stranger than that, after a few more moments of awkwardly staring up at his boyfriend, Ren suddenly mumbled some weak apologies and practically ran out of the bar. Lawrence, shocked, gave chase, leaving Rosemary alone to finish her drink and return the rest of the glasses to the bar.
Standing outside in the cool night air, Rosie felt awful about ruining their night. She ran her fingers through her hair and let out a long, soft sigh. She should have excused herself sooner but in an attempt to be polite she'd just made things worse. Well, there was nothing to do but go home and hope that things worked out between the two men.
Merely five steps away from The Jackelope, Rosie was brought to a stop by the feeling of someone tapping on her shoulders. Eeep! She turned on her heel and was only slightly surprised to see Lawrence standing there. Oh? Maybe he hadn’t been able to tag along with Ren after all…
“Y-Yes?" Rosie couldn’t help but sound a little nervous. She wasn’t expecting him to say anything particularly nice after all that. She watched him struggle to find his words for a few moments before finally his shoulders dropped and he began to mutter.
”…Ren’s path…Split from mine.“ Huh? Well that was…Not exactly how she’d expected him to phrase that. She offered him her full attention and a sympathetic smile.
”I don’t think it’s that bad. I’m sure he just wanted to head home like he said.“ Despite her gentle tone, Lawrence wasn’t having it.
”Ren was different…“ Different from what? Was he drunk? Surely they could just meet up again. It really wasn’t that serious…Right? He was staring at her rather darkly from under his bangs. He towered over her by about six inches. To say that being alone with him so late at night was uh…Intimidating…Was to say the very least.
”I’m sorry, Lawrence. Don’t you have his number? Just call him in the mornin-“
Lawrence stopped slouching; his glare fully focused on her face as he pulled back his arm and lunged forward for a punch. She moved away in time to miss full contact, but his knuckles still painfully grazed her temple.
She shrieked in shock. What was wrong with this guy?! As quick as she could she turned on her heel and booked it down the sidewalk. She didn’t need to check and see if he was following her, she already assumed he was. She pushed forward, heading straight, since that was the direction of her home. The last thing she expected was for him to fucking lunge at her in order to take her down. She didn't have any time to call for help...
When she woke up, she could tell immediately that something was wrong. She was sitting up straight, and for some reason she was having a hard time moving her arms and legs. She could hear the sounds of someone shuffling around close by. With her eyes still closed she could focus next on the smell. There was something earthy about this place...Like she was in the garden center of Lowe's. There was another smell as well, though she wasn't able to pin that one down before her attention was caught by a familiar muttering.
"It's okay...I'll...I'll fix it..." Opening her eyes, she saw Lawrence standing by a table full of plants. She squirmed a bit, remembering their last encounter outside of the Jackelope. What was she doing here? "It'll be easy..." Oh, Jesus... She kept her mouth shut, her heart filling slowly with dread as her foggy brain began to clear.
