Rose Blossom - By Renee Travis Page 0,8

breath mingling with my own.

He pulled back, "Ah Rose, I can hear your heart so loudly in my own ears, now tell me what is wrong with you."

I blinked dreamily up at him, he was still so close and the feel of him next to me, knowing he actually wanted me, made the euphoria already filling my weak system even stronger. I hadn't been this happy since, well since I was eight and we had gone to Disneyland; it had been before the doctors had diagnosed my condition.

"I'll tell you if you answer my question first," I said, slowly. There was something weird about Julian and I needed to know what it was.

"Granted," he whispered, brushing his lips quickly against mine again, I inhaled, totally smitten.

"What's wrong with you? No one should be able to hear every beat, missed or not, of my heart," I said. Was it my imagination again or had he seemed to pull back a little bit when I asked?

"I am...different," Julian began; I could tell he was really considering what to tell me. "There are things I can't tell you right now, but know that I would never harm you and that I will protect you and care for you, always." The words were awfully formal and he seemed to have difficulty telling me.

"Will you ever be able to tell me?" I asked.

"Yes, just not yet. There are things I do that are not normal, like hearing your heart beat; can you just...accept them for right now?" He leaned in a little closer, staring into my eyes.

"Of course," I sighed, "now my turn...when I was 10 I was diagnosed with arrhythmia of the tachycardia type. It's a heart disease where excitement of any kind makes my heart race or skip and sputter. It makes my breathing difficult and sometimes I pass out." I watched as his face froze, like he was trying to contain his emotion before responding.

"Will it kill you?" He asked, quietly in a dangerous tone.

"It can if I don’t take my medicine and don’t follow my doctor's orders." I told him.

"So the dancing..." he trailed off.

"Yes, or anything that could naturally cause my heart to race." I smiled, sadly.

"What about this?" Julian captured my lips again, fiercely, like he had something to prove, my lips were so hot against his the clash between us made me shiver and respond to him more than I should have.

Breaking the kiss Julian placed his hands on my shoulders, "I can hear your heart race," he whispered, "is a kiss on the list of things you can't have?"

"It's on my mother's list," I licked my lips and watched as his eyes widened in response, "but I think if we are very careful it's OK."

"Then we shall be very, very careful. I wish you had told me before about your heart. I would never do anything that might hurt you, my Rose blossom." Julian stood up, holding me at the same time and gently placing me on the ground in front of him.

"I should get you home, you've given me and Mel a fright tonight and I think you should go to bed," Julian drew his finger down the side of my cheek, "you're still a little pale and I'd feel better if tomorrow when I come to call you looked rosy again."

"You're...you're coming over tomorrow?" I squeaked, tomorrow was Saturday and I was almost never allowed out of the house.

"Yes, I think you can expect to see...a lot of me from now on," Julian grinned.

"My parents will freak, they'll never allow me out," I told him.

"Then I'll just have to come inside." Julian looked over to where Mel and Killian were, they had stopped making out and Mel was watching me with a peculiar expression on her face. "Quickly, go say goodnight. I feel she's worried about you, especially with me."

I nodded and backed away from him, and turning as quickly as I safely could, walked over to Mel. She met me halfway, leaving Killian to stand and stare after her.

"Hey, thanks for reacting so fast Mel." I hugged her.

"I hate it when you do that, you should have told him; you know your own limits." Mel scolded me; hands on her hips as I ended the hug.

"Sometimes I just want to be like you."

"Well you can't and if I didn't hate your mother I'd totally tell on you. Just be careful with Julian, he seems so...intense. OK?" Mel glanced over my shoulder at Julian and