Time After Time

After they finished eating, Ben proposed that the best thing to do then was start drinking. Everyone seemed to love that idea, including Gabriella, but Rose raised her hand in order to draw everyone's attention and said, “Can we drink inside? I don't really want to spend my morning dragging your bodies onto bed or something. At least if you pass out on inside, you can just sleep there.”

“Alright, let's get inside, then,” Gustav was the one who stood up first, before the other follow his lead.

In Gilbert's living room, they had drinking game where everyone except Rose joined. She was in in the first place, but then as everyone watched her expression when she needed to drink the beer, they just told her that it's perfectly fine if she doesn't like to drink beer.

So Rose sat a bit far from everyone, watching Si drank his beer in a pretty impressive way while Lestat was lying next to John, who sat between Fraser and Gustav. The thing that surprised Rose was Lestat lied his tail down. It means he was relaxed and she couldn't remember when he could be relax this fast among strangers. A familiar sound of laugh took Rose's eyes from Lestat; Gabriella was on the other side and Rose could tell she was already drunk.

They kept drinking and drinking and drinking until the only one who stayed awake with open eyes were only Fraser and Gustav. Rose, who was perfectly sober, looked at them as she was trying to decide what was the best thing to do.

“Are you guys still... conscious?” she asked.

Fraser looked at her and he looked confused. Gustav shook his head. No one could tell whether he was drunk or simply tired and sleepy.

Rose chuckled, “You can sleep in bed if you want. I'll just get some blanket for John, Si, Ben and Gab, since they don't look like they can move somewhere else...”

Gustav and Fraser nodded before they walked drunkly into the bedrooms. After Rose took a pile of blankets, Gustav came to her and patted her head.

“Yes, Gustav?” Rose turned around to look at him.

He chuckled. He smelled like he just bathed himself in a bath tub full of beer.

“I hate sharing you together with them,” Gustav said. There was a very high probability of him being not knowing what he was saying because he was drunk since he literally smelled like beer. He bended his back to hug Rose in the neck, with gesture that felt more like he was trying to strangle her playfully. “But they came. Those bastards. All the way from London. For me. Those bastards,” he mumbled on her neck, his breath tickling her neck.

Rose smiled, “I know they love you too.”

Gustav pulled back. There was something in his expression that let Rose knew that he was surprised she could interprets what he originally wanted to say and replied correctly.

“Do you love me too?” he asked, demanded, rather childishly. He was staring down at her and he was frowning.

“Of course I do, Gustav,” Rose answered and she immediately wanted to laugh because his expression was just really cute—as he was just asked her to tell him that dinosaur are real.

“Okay. That's good,” Gustav mumbled in satisfaction, before he walked back to the bedroom. Rose laughed before she shouted at him, “Make sure you land on the bed before you close your eyes, Gustav!”

“Alright, Mum,” he answered sleepily and Rose laughed again.

She stared at his back. He was moving farther and farther before he disappeared into an open door at the end of corridor. She sighed and smiled. She loves him and he better knows that—the guys loves him and he better knows that. She walked back to living room to helped Gabriella walk to her house, because it would be more convenient for her to sleep in real bed.

Rose didn't sleep until almost an hour after, with Gabriella mumbling next to her (“No, Dan, I like the other lyric better!”). She felt that she changed, little by little, and then as a whole. Gabriella changed as well. So did Gustav. So did Fraser, Ben, Si and John.

And it was a privilege to have her life changed by Young Guns.


In the morning after, everyone had terrible hangover. Everyone—except Rose. The first people who woke up because someone called her phone. Rose sticked her hand out from her cocoon made from her body and her blanket to reach the phone. “Hello?” she mumbled sleepily into the phone.

“Uh... hey,” it was Ben.

“Good morning, Ben,” Rose tried to sound as awake as possible. “What is it?”

“Si said he's hungry,” Ben answered.

Rose laughed while she could hear Si moaned on the background, “Heeey. That's not true. You're the one who was hungry.”

“We... we're all hungry,” there was John yawning somewhere near Ben.

“So—yeah...” Ben chuckled. It was pretty easy to hear that he was amused.

Rose smiled on the phone, “Don't worry, Ben, I'm going there now. How does bacon, egg and salad sounds?”

“How does bacon, egg and salad sounds, Guys?” he asked everyone there.

Fraser shouted, “Good!”

“Alright!” Si exclaimed.

John said, “I'm just—hungry. Oh, and I have your dog here...”

“Gus is still asleep, by the way,” Ben added.

“Alright, I'm going there now,” Rose chuckled before she hang up.

Gilbert's living room needed serious cleaning when Rose walked in there. There were cans and bottles of beer all over the place and that place smelled just like a bar after a crowded Friday night. Ben came from the corridor that leads to bedrooms and looked a little too happy to see Rose.

Strangely, his first question was, “Why are you wearing grey pyjama for men that is obviously too big for you?”

“Oh?” she looked at herself. “I was about to give this as present to my ex-boyfriend... and we broke up before I got a chance to give this pyjama to him, so... it's really comfortable, by the way, maybe I should get you guys some.”

Ben snickered, “I agree.”

When Rose walked to kitchen, she found John and Lestat was there. John was giving Lestat water in a big bowl and Rose raised her eyebrows, “I'm surprised you guys get along so well. He never did that to anyone else—not even Gab.”

John looked flattered, but all he said was just, “Yeah.”

Rose chuckled and thought maybe John Taylor just need more time to adjust with her. She started to cook and never in her life she cooked in such hurry because Si and Ben were keep coming back to kitchen with different way, pose and words every single time they came (different words included “Are you finished yet?”, “Why haven't you finished? I'm starving.”, “If you don't finish in five second, I'll eat Lestat.” and “If you don't finish in one second, I'll eat John.”).

When breakfast was finally served, Rose noticed that Gustav was the only one who wasn't present. Rose looked around and Fraser told her with scrambled egg inside his mouth, “Gustav—hill—hweeping.”

John chuckled, “He meant 'Gustav's still sleeping.'”

“Thanks, John,” Rose smiled. When she left the dining room, Lestat, who had finished his breakfast, came to John, asking for his bacon.

Gustav was sleeping on Gilbert's king sized bed when Rose walked in. He was wearing nothing but his black jeans and Rose thought that maybe he took off his shirt while he was drunk—or maybe drunk makes you feel hotter.

“You should consider to sleep with pyjama pants next time,” she said as she walked closer. Rose sat on the edge of the bed and Gustav opened his eyes slowly to stare at her. She winced. Even though she had seen him for a long time, there was always that moment where all she felt was amazed by his pale blue eyes.

“My head hurts,” Gustav mumbled.

“Do you want to have breakfast in your bed? I can get you some aspirin later...”

He smiled, sleepily, “No, no, I can hear everyone is eating on dining room now—as vocalist of Young Guns, I can't let myself by not coming there and eat breakfast at the same table with them.”

“That's the spirit, Gustav,” Rose nodded.

He tried to sit and groaned in pain.

“I shouldn't get drunk last night,” he chuckled while stroking his face with his hands. Rose stared at him and she smiled. Then Gustav stopped stroking his face and stared back at her. Rose was feeling the warm wooden floor under her toes but there was greater warmth that emitted from Gustav's body, his legs were lying somewhere near the place where she sat at the bed. At that moment, they were so close and there was nothing that Rose wanted more than kissing him, even though he still smelled like beer.

She stared down and chuckled.

“Alright, you might wanna wash your face first...”

“Rose?” Gustav called her. He sounded amused—or something. There was simply something in his voice.

“Yeah?” she raised her face to look at him.

Gustav put one of his hand on the side of Rose's head, her ear was between his middle and ring finger and he kissed her. Rose closed her eyes and she felt happy before their lips actually met.

“Oh! Ew... Gustav... ohhh... ew...” she laughed as she pulled back. All she could taste was the beer and it tasted funny and horrible at the same time.

Gustav laughed, “Life lesson number three hundred and twenty seven; don't kiss before you brush your teeth in the morning, especially if you're currently in a hangover state—“

“Ummm...”

There was someone at the door.

Correct; there were four person at the door (and one dog) and Rose jumped to stand up straight away. Her face was so red she thought she was going to faint because she was so ashamed.

“You guys saw the whole thing...?” she asked.

“They did,” Gustav was the one who answered. “Aw, come on, I'm not fifteen or something. It's no big deal.” He made his way to bathroom, walking passed through John, Si, Ben and Fraser (and Lestat) leaving Rose grinning stupidly on the bedroom.

“I think we're actually more surprised if you two don't have that kind of relationship,” Si said, not only for himself but also for his friends.

After all of them ate, including Gabriella, who needed to go straight away because she had job to do by eleven, Rose was almost finished cleaning the kitchen when Gustav walked to the kitchen.

“Rose? Are you finished? They said they wanna talk—but they want you to be there as well.”

She nodded, “Almost. Are you sure they want me there as well?”

Gustav expression was softened.

“I'm still hoping that somehow you will stop underestimating yourself at one point...”

Rose chuckled, “I'm honoured that I'm actually that important...”

He helped her scrubbing the sink before they walked to living room, where the atmosphere made Rose realised that everyone was serious.

“So...” Gustav said after he sat next to Rose. “What do you guys want to talk with me and Rose?”