3 GUYS, A GIRL, AND A ROSE
Chapter Forty-Eight

The sun shone brightly the next morning and the birds chirped. Tommy opened his eyes and smiled. Christina slept there next to him, silently, as the sun shone down upon her. It was like a scene captured in a picture, the most beautiful sight Tommy had ever seen. He lifted up her hand from his chest and kissed it.

He got up from his bed, slowly, so as not to wake her. As he stood up, he reached over to his night table and grabbed his cell phone. He flipped it open and snapped a picture of her with its built-in camera. When the image appeared on the screen, Tommy blushed. Perfect! he told himself.

His phone rang, and so he ran into his living room to pick it up. Tommy picked up the cordless phone off its receiver and answered.

"Hello." He spoke into the phone.

"Hey, Tommy. It's me, Jack."

"Oh, hi. What's up?"

"Same shit. Going crazy thinking about Christina."

"Yeah. I know the feeling," Tommy said uneasily. He couldn't let a soul know that he had Christina there with him.

"You wanna go search for Christina soon?" Jack asked him.

"Maybe later. I'm sure she'll show up when she is ready," Tommy lied, passing a hand through his hair.

"All right. Anyway, I'm gonna go. Speak to you later, Tommy. Bye."

"Bye," Tommy said, and waited for Jack to hang up first.

Tommy had no idea what the next move for Christina was going to be. He felt guilty for lying to Jack, but he would do whatever it would take to protect her. Never would he deny what she had asked him to do. If it meant lying to everyone, then that was what he would do--anything to protect her, especially from her mother.

She was the first person on the list that Christina was hiding from. There was no way to convince Isabella to not have Christina admitted into a nuthouse. Her running away was the tip of the iceberg for Isabella. As far as she knew, Christina was a mental case.

Tommy pulled his shirt over his head, disgustingly overheated by the weather. He went back into the bedroom, throwing the shirt in a corner with his other dirty clothes. Christina was still sleeping silently when he looked at her. He could watch this sight forever and never get tired of it. However, all things need to come to an end.

He lifted himself out of his gaze on her and went to his closet. There, he picked out a pair of jeans and threw them onto his bed, carefully, so they wouldn't be thrown on her. He sighed, taking another glimpse of her again, and went over to his dresser, opening the drawer. Tommy took out a plain black shirt.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped. There Christina stood, smiling at him. Tommy calmed down and passed a hand through his hair.

"You okay, Tommy?" she asked him.

"Yeah. You just caught me by surprise there. So, what are you planning on doing today?"

"I think I should go home. I haven't been there in two days already."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's time to go home."

*****

Christina was nervous, but she had to go home. There was a little panic in her, afraid that her mother was going to find her, afraid that one of the boys was going to show up. She loved them all dearly, but she simply could not face them, especially Jack and her mother. Jack for kissing her. Her mother for thinking she belonged in a loony bin.

Mostly, she was afraid of going back to her apartment. It would only remind her of the pain she had felt, the idiotic thought of suicide being the only way out. But what else was she going to do? Christina would have to go back there sooner or later. She preferred sooner.

Thankfully, she had Tommy by her side, the one person she could trust at a time like this. He never seemed to let her down. He always came to her rescue. It struck her as odd that both times she had to be rushed to the hospital, he had always been there to save her. It was like he had a sixth sense when it came to her. Just what was it that had him ready to catch her when she fell? She was the only one, besides Jack, who did not know the answer.

As Tommy drove closer, Christina grew more nervous. She grabbed Tommy's hand and held it with both of hers. She felt immediate comfort from the touch of his soft palms. All of her anxiety went away. That always happened when she was with him. She always felt better with him. Christina looked at him as he drove, singing the tune on the CD player. She smiled and looked out the window.

He turned his head to look at her, captivated. Holding her hand made him feel good inside. It showed him that she could and always would confide in him. Everything just felt right when he was with her. Why couldn't he just tell her how he felt? Why was he being held back?

Tommy turned around and tapped his free hand on the steering wheel when he came to a red light. "This time all I want is you. There is no one else who can take your place. This time you burn me with your eyes. You see past all the lies. You take it all away. I've seen it all, and it's never enough. It keeps leaving me needing you," Tommy quietly sang along.

Christina held a tighter grip on his hand, but it was still gentle. She enjoyed it when Tommy sang. It was a comforting release for her. He always knew just what to sing to her, and of course it was always Lifehouse. It was like he was the only one who got her, and she loved that about him. Too bad she couldn't tell he was in love with her.

They arrived a few minutes later, parking in front of her apartment. Christina sighed, looking at the home she hadn't seen in two days.

"Are you sure you wanna go in there?" Tommy asked her.

"I have to."

"Want me to go in there with you?"

"Oh, yeah!"

Tommy turned the ignition off and stepped out of the car. Being the perfect gentleman that he was, he opened the passenger side door for Christina. She placed her hand in his and stepped out.

"Just hold my hand, Tommy."

He did as she asked and took her hand in his. They looked at each other, Tommy giving her a reassuring smile that everything was going to be all right. She grinned at him and walked into the building. Her hands were too shaky to open the door so they could get inside the lobby, so Tommy opened it up for her.

The elevator came right away, and as they stood in there, Christina felt Tommy wrap his arms around her--anything to make her feel loved. Tommy always knew how to make her feel that way.

As they walked through the halls on her floor, Christina could barely concentrate on where she was going. Shivers ran down her spine as she and Tommy walked to her door. Once again, she had him open the door for her.

A cool breeze passed by as she stepped in. The room looked so dark to her. It felt like a sad environment to be in.

A quick flashback ran into her head as she looked at her couch. The image of her mixing pills with liquor was refreshed in her mind. Christina shook and broke out in tears. She buried her face in her hands. Tommy quickly came to her side, embracing her with all his might.

"There, there, Sunshine. Everything will be all right," he tried convincing her. He passed his hand through her hair as she cried on his chest.

"I ruined my life. Nothing is ever gonna be all right. Nothing ever gets better!" she cried out. Tommy pulled away from her and cupped her face in his hands.

"No, you didn't! I'm telling you that everything will be all right!" Tommy stroked her face, wiping her tears away. Christina tried smiling and pressing her forehead against his.

"You always say the nicest things to me."

"Well, Christina, I--" Tommy was cut off by a hard pounding on the door. They both stared at it, wondering who the hell it could be.

"Christina, are you in there?" Isabella asked in a very loud voice.

"Shit!" Christina whispered. "She can't come in here. She can't know I'm here. What the fuck am I going to do, Tommy?" She pulled away from him and paced back and forth.

"Christina? I hear footsteps in there! If you do not open this door, I'll get the landlord. You hear, mi hija? Ay Dios mio, abra esta puerta ahora!"

Tommy placed his hands on Christina's shoulders. "Listen, you go hide in your bedroom, under your bed or something! I'll open the door for her!" he quietly said to her.

"She's not stupid, Tommy! She will ask how you got in here!"

"Your mother knows I have your keys! Go!"

"Will you open the fucking door?" Isabella yelled on the other side of the door.

"Go!" Tommy commanded her. Christina quickly dashed into her room and slid under her bed. Tommy uneasily took a deep breath and opened the door. There Isabella stood, tapping her foot on the floor and with her arms folded across her chest.

"About fucking time! Where's my daughter?" She walked right past Tommy, letting herself in.

"She's not here, ma‘am."

"Are you lying to me, boy?"

"No. I haven't seen her since the hospital." Tommy watched her as she inspected the place.

"Why are you here, then?"

"Because I wanted to see if she was here."

"You better not be bullshitting me, or I will murder you!" Tommy gulped and quickly followed Christina’s mother into the bedroom. "Hmm…looks better than the way she kept her bedroom as a little girl!"

Christina, overhearing, rolled her eyes as she kept herself quiet under the bed. Not one peep was to be made if she didn't want to be caught.

"Look, Mrs. Arias, do you love your daughter?" Isabella's eyes popped wide open at the question.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you love Christina?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I do!"

"Then why are you so convinced that she is a maniac?"

"Because she is! Why else would she try killing herself?"

"Maybe it was because she was depressed. Her mind wasn't clear at the time!"

"You think you know my daughter better than I do?"

"From the looks of it, I can say I do!"

"Don't give me that shit! I know my daughter. No fucking guy who can't speak well through his accent is gonna tell me that!" Underneath the bed, Christina's jaw dropped open. Who was she to say such a thing to Tommy? She knew it was just out of anger, though.

"Listen, if you knew your daughter, you would know she wasn't insane! Why would you try to send her to an insane asylum?"

"Because she is ill!"

"Oh, my God! No, she is not! You do not know your daughter at all!" Tommy passed his hands through his hair. "If anyone needs help, it's you!" Christina covered her mouth from shock and to block her laughter.

"You little bastard!" Isabella slapped Tommy hard across his face. "I'll tell you this now! When I find my daughter, she is going straight to Connecticut with me, and you will never see her again!" She stormed out of the room and soon slammed the door behind her. Tommy quickly left the room, made sure she was gone, and locked the door. He rubbed his cheek, which hurt a lot from her slap.

"Is she gone?" Christina asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"I am so sorry about her behavior. She had no right, talking to you that way, and she shouldn't have hit you!"

"It's all right. Maybe I shouldn't have practically called her crazy."

"No, you had every right to! No one has ever defended me like that before, and no one, I mean no one, has ever spoken to her that way!"

"Glad to be the first." Christina smiled at him and embraced him.

"Thank you."

"So, what now, Sunshine?"

"God, Tommy, I don't know. All I know is that I can't stay here."

*****

"Are you sure about this, Sunshine?" Tommy asked her. After the whole scene with her mother, Christina had to come up with a plan, and she did. There was no way she was going to stay in the same state as her mother. Not even the same country. That was why she had called her father and decided on going to the only place where her mother couldn't find her--Spain. She wouldn't tell anybody where she was going. The only people who knew were herself and Tommy.

"I have to go. My father said he would help me. I know I need help, but I'm not gonna get it in a crazy house. He knows a very good therapist."

"How long will you be gone?" Tommy asked, not wanting her to leave.

"I don't know. When I'm ready."

Christina only knew that she couldn't stay here any longer. As much as she hated to leave without telling anyone, except Tommy, who she was grateful to, this was the worst area for her to be. Nothing was going right for her here, and she needed to escape. Her father was the only option, even though it was all the way out on a different continent.

She packed all her clothes up in her suitcase, five suitcases in total for clothes. Her three other pieces of luggage contained all her daily essentials, such as her journals and CD's. Tommy had already taken six of her bags to his car. Some stuff that she didn't need she would leave. Tommy had promised to take care of everything for her here. As much as he didn't want her to leave, he knew it was for the best. It was a better plan than her mother's.

"Would you look at this picture?" Christina asked. Tommy looked over her shoulder. "I was so happy then, when it was only the four of us. The fantastic four." Christina cried, yet they were tears of joy. Tommy kissed her cheek as he looked at the picture. The three guys were holding Christina. Jack had her upper body with her arms wrapped around his neck. Tommy and Fabrizio held her legs as they all smiled. That had been her nineteenth birthday, when everything was going well, when Jack was all hers.

"That was such a beautiful day, despite the fact that it was freezing," Tommy said.

"I have to take this with me. It'll remind me that when I come back here everything will be okay. Everything will be, won't it, Tommy?"

"Yes. Everything will be perfect." Christina hugged him and returned to closing her suitcases. "Well, I'm all done! All we have to do is get to JFK, and I'll be out of here."

"All right. You have your passport?"

"Yes."

"All right, then. Let's go," Tommy said. He took her bags and pulled out the handles to have them roll on the floor. They walked over to her door, Tommy opening the door for her as she held a duffel bag over her shoulder. Before she stepped out, she turned to look at her apartment. "Ready?"

"Yes. I'm ready." They walked out, Christina prepared to walk out on her miserable life.

*****

Tommy and Christina walked into the airport, her bags in a cart. Right away, they bought her tickets and sat down, waiting for her flight to leave. They sat next to each other, holding hands. Christina rested her head on Tommy's shoulder and had soon fallen asleep, taking a quick nap very much needed for her flight across the ocean.

She dreamt of all the good things, wanting to forget the bad. The only thing she needed to remember was when she was happy, when no harm touched her, no horrible memories necessary. Soon she was awakened by Tommy tapping her shoulder.

"Sunshine, it's time to go now." Christina smiled when she opened her eyes and saw Tommy.

"Already?"

"Yeah. They just called for your flight."

"Okay." She stood up and stretched her arms out. They walked over to where she was to depart and stood there to say their farewells.

"I seriously hope everything smoothes out so I can get my Sunshine back."

"It will." Christina reached into her pocket and took a piece of folded paper out, handing it over to Tommy. "Remember what to do with this. Give it a few days. Make sure no one sees you with it."

"I'll remember."

"Oh, God, Tommy! I'm gonna miss you so much!" She threw her arms around him, and tears slowly fell down her cheeks.

"I really do not want you to go. I really don't. But it’s all for the best, right?"

"Yeah, all for the best." An announcement was made for her flight again. "I should go get on that plane." Tommy gave her the carry-on bag. "Thanks. Thank you for everything. Bye, Tommy. I love you!" She hugged him again and kissed his cheek.

"Love you, too, Sunshine. Good-bye." The broke away from each other, and he watched as Christina walked away from him. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching as she showed the attendant her ticket.

Christina looked to Tommy. He looked so broken up. She couldn't just leave him like that. "Excuse me one second." She dropped her bag on the floor and quickly ran over to him, giving him a tight hug. Before Tommy could hold her back, Christina pressed her mouth to his. It wasn't just a simple kiss on the mouth. It turned passionate as they mingled their tongues with each others. His hands soon cupped her face, and he could feel her face getting wet from crying.

"Last calling for Madrid, Spain," the announcer called. With that, they pulled away from each other, both taking a deep breath.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is not good-bye, Tommy! Not yet! Not ever!" she said as she hugged him. She let go of him and walked back to get her bag. She gave him one last smile and waved to him.

Tommy watched as the only woman he ever loved departed. He hoped everything would be all right when she came back. Everything just had to be all right.

*****

Jack went out on a hunt for Christina after he got off the phone with Tommy. However, he turned out empty-handed. All this worrying made him crazy. What was he going to do? Everything was just so fucked in life right now, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He jingled his keys as he took them out of his pocket. He was too busy to notice anything out of the normal, his mind wrapped around the image of Christina.

After his elevator ride, he opened his door and called out Rose's name. There was no answer as he checked his mail. He called out her name again. Still no answer.

Jack threw his mail onto the couch and retreated to his room. There he saw Rose packing her clothes in her Louis Vuitton suitcase. He heard her muffled cries, wondering what was going on.

"Rose!" he yelled to her. She jumped back, startled by his voice.

"Shit!"

"What's going on? Why are you packing? Mostly, why are you crying?"

"Oh, what do you care? I'm going home! Thomas is outside waiting for me with the rest of my bags!"

"Why? You're not suppose to leave until Sunday."

"I know! However, I can't stay here anymore! Especially with everything that's going on with you and Christina!" Jack's eyes popped out at that. He didn't know how she knew about their kiss in the hospital room.

"Oh, my God, Rose. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kiss her!" he quickly said.

"What?" a shocked Rose asked. "Pardon me. You did what?"

"Rose, I'm so sorry. I--" Jack tried to hold her hand, but she quickly pulled away.

"You fucking kissed her? When? Wait! Do not answer that! I don't want to know!" Rose was in a downpour of tears. Her face was almost as red as her hair, and her green eyes were now blurred with her tears. "I can't believe this!" She closed her suitcase, picked it up, and went to the living room as Jack followed her.

"Rose, please listen to me!"

"No! You stay away from me! I should have seen this coming. It was bad enough that you lied to me! Now you cheat on me!"

"It was only a fucking kiss! Besides, when did I ever lie to you?"

"A few days ago in the living room! I asked you if you had ever loved her more than a friend, and you lied to me!"

"I didn’t--"

"Don't try to deny it! It was so obvious. You do not love me at all! You unimaginable bastard! We are over! You want her? Now, here is your chance--if you can ever find her!" Rose flung the door open and walked out of the apartment. Jack pursued, following her as she pounded the buttons of the elevator.

"Please, Rose. I am so sorry. Please, just stay!"

"There is no point. I can't look at you anymore." Jack felt his heart break, but he could only imagine the excruciating pain Rose felt right now. The elevator door opened and she walked in. There was nothing he could do to stop her. She turned around to face him. "Good-bye, Jack," she said, and the doors closed.

Jack stood there, shocked. He felt like crying, but he was all cried out. He had first lost his best friend, and now his girlfriend.

The End.

A/N: This is the completion of my first story ever written. Sorry if I made Jack and Rose sound like assholes, but it fit the mold of my story. Well, anyway, if you think I’m gonna leave the ending like that, you’re wrong. I just had to end it this way, and make a sequel, which I will be calling Somewhere In Between, which I will hope to start working on shortly. The story was getting awfully long. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it, and if any of you actually read this story, please e-mail with comments and what you think the outcome of this whole story should be. Stay tuned for the sequel.

Yesenia

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