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+------ Thread: Arundel Castle - The Heist of the Century || Rossian (/showthread.php?tid=276)
Arundel Castle - The Heist of the Century || Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-19-2025
Saturday, July 19, 1920
After the silence of these letters
Arundel Castle,
Around 2 AM
After the silence of these letters
Arundel Castle,
Around 2 AM
"Mate, you never told me your girlfriend lives in the middle of nowhere."
"It's a castle, Freddie. You can't very bloody well stick them in the middle of a town," Cass retorted, his breath coming out in huffs. They'd been walking for over an hour already, but even at their brisk pace, they hadn't arrived at what he could see was a castle on a hill--the castle on a hill that he was looking for.
If Rosalie Laurence wouldn't answer his letter, there was only one thing for it. Dangerous as it could be, and despite the metric ton of trouble he'd be in if his father woke up and found them gone, Cassian Thomas was determined to talk, one way or another.
There was no 'wait until school starts'. Rosie was a bottler. She hoarded negative emotions like they were chocolate frog cards, and seldom did she let them go on her own. He wouldn't let either of them spend the rest of their already restricted summer in misery, nor was he keen to carry on this silent war for much longer.
And Freddie was along for the ride. His right-wing man, who wouldn't let him die alone, once he caught him trying to sneak down the hall back at his house.
Cass had noted a curious thing one night, purely by coincidence and not the curiosity of a Ravenclaw kicking in. His father's window wasn't under heavy locking charms. The pair of boys crept their way through the room, his father's muffled snores the only solace that they may make it. Outside, they took the secret back alley over to Diagon Alley and from there floo-ed into the sleepy little village that had long since called it a night.
That had been the easy part.
"I wanna be both the best man and the fucking maid of honour when you marry her after all this."
"You can be the pastor, too, if you'd like."
Freddie reached out to shove him, causing Cassian to stumble a few steps with just how gelatinous his legs had begun to feel.
"Piss off."
Where his heart wanted to leap when they finally drew close to their destination, it was suddenly pounding. The gates were under guard. There would be no waltzing through as a reward for all the efforts they'd already made. Freddie's eyes sought his at the same time his searched for his friend's. He could see the unspoken words brimming behind familiar green orbs, but held his hands out, silently insisting the boy remain calm. They would simply find another way.
That way.....................turned out to be over a wall, through an orchard, into a massive home library--the things he could learn in here--before spitting the boys out into a corridor. Freddie whistled as quietly as he could.
"Merlin, Cass. You forgot to mention she's loaded. Look at this place."
At any other time, Cassian, like his friend, would have been in awe, but his nerves were too busy firing from all cylinders. Each step they took brought them closer to potential discovery. At any turn, they could suddenly run into someone who knew they shouldn't be there and...uh...given all he'd heard...he didn't think they'd hesitate to start casting. His mind was already split between what he'd say to the girl who'd had him come all this way and the fear of discovery. There was simply no time to take in the splendour the way his far-too-relaxed friend was capable of doing.
A flight of stairs later, Cassian was ready to admit...that they were lost.
"Ummm..."
He should've thought this through.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-19-2025
"Voices are calling over Moonlight Bay..."
Rosalie's hushed and soft breathy alto led her through the ballroom, her feet carrying her slowly around the darkened room as she wandered, twirling here and there to her own song. "Tendrils are moving while the moonbeams play..."
It was another night of little sleep, though her mind was quiet and calm. It was strange, she found, how little stimulation led to even fewer real thoughts, making the girl feel like an empty shell of herself. It had been a month and a half now of isolation in the her family's ancestral home that was feeling more and more like a prison with every hour that passed.
"All alone, alone they find me, memories like these remind me..."
Her hand skimmed the air as though gliding through water, her dress that she hadn't changed out of, swirling lightly at her thighs. Fingertips caught the faintest glimmer of moonlight spilling through the high, paned windows, drifting through her own loneliness as blue eyes stared up at the magnificent chandelier that hung over the enormous room.
For a fleeting moment, she imagined herself not in her prison of a home but in some grand theatre, spotlight fixed upon her, an orchestra swelling with every pivot of her heel. For a moment, she wasn't the shy girl that shirked away from attention, instead showering her audience with the desperation that gripped her chest tighter and more unrelenting each day.
"Of the girl I left behind me..."
Her voice lingered, low and smoky, curling into the rafters as it tapered off into a soft hum. She crossed the room, lost in her own world, imagining herself in some far off place where no one would ever find her -
She stopped suddenly, a flicker of movement brushing the edges of her peripherals.
A gasp caught in her throat as her eyes snapped forward, wide and questioning, making out the figure of two boys in the darkness - two boys who definitely weren't supposed to be here. Rosalie couldn't make out who they were, and she instinctively took a step back, terror filling every inch of her body, sending goosebumps shooting up over her arms.
How...how did they get in here? Who were they? A flash of that night at the docks raced in front of her vision. Panic seized her body, and she turned suddenly, the beginnings of a scream trembling at the edge of her lips as she bolted for the door.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-19-2025
Someone's coming!" Freddie whispered, drawing close to his friend as the muffled song rang from the adjacent corridor.
"I can hear that!" Cass whispered in return. His mind was racing, and his heart thudding erratically inside his chest. No floor plan, no map, no way of knowing where they were or if bolting into any of these rooms would take them right into her parents' quarters. There were only so many things that could make this night worse and Leo whatever the hell his middle name was Laurence was one of them. The man would hex first, ask questions after--and only if he could be bothered.
He and his friend would be buried out with the roses, secret plaques put up so Rosie would always remember what happened to boys who set foot inside. It'd be a shame, too. Freddie had worked hard for the role of Allistair in their play. It was finally his time to shine.
"Um..quick...uh...in..."
It wasn't fast enough. The figure turned into their corridor, the voice taking its own sweet time to register against the blaring warning sirens that insisted he needed to start praying to every god he knew while thinking up songs for the funeral he wouldn't have. And Freddie? A whole country away from home? Only visiting his dad for the summer? He'd need a good funeral song, too. "Nearer My God To Thee" wasn't a bad pick. A bit cliche--some might even say overdone for such occasions, but his brain was a little too busy short-circuiting for him to be any more unique.
Cassian's muscles tensed, bracing for the spark of green light that would drop him. What greeted him instead was the sudden, jarring realisation...that it was only Rosie.
Only Rosie who only looked ready to scream.
Freddie noticed at the same time that he did, elbowing him hard in the ribs and insisting he do something. The same thought passed through each of their heads, the pair practically sharing the one brain cell they'd left Cassian's house with that night.
Both boys rushed forward, taking advantage of the way Rosie had frozen. Both had a hand clamped at her mouth, flanking her on either side.
"Shhh!" Cassian insisted lowly. "Gorgeous, it's me. Your boyfriend who doesn't wanna get strung up in your basement for being here." So...you know...she could just...not scream and save them all the grief.
He nodded to the other side of her.
"I brought Freddie. He complained half the walk up but likes the drapes you have in the foyer."
"I said they were alright."
"You whistled and said they'd make your room real fancy."
"I don't remember tha--"
"SHHH!"
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-19-2025
Her feet betrayed her, not moving her fast enough to escape before hands clamped over her mouth, a boy on each side of her. Her scream muffled against their palms in protest, heart slamming into her chest. This was it. This was how she died. In her own home, murdered by two unknown assailants. Her mind jolted sideways, yanked back to the docks. The press of strangers’ hands, the crush of bodies, the edge of panic where air got tight and her vision shrank.
She could smell the fishing harbor and taste the iron in her mouth, those disgusting words ringing over and over again in her ears. Not again. Not here. Not now.
"Gorgeous, it's me. Your boyfriend who doesn't wanna get strung up in your basement for being here."
Silence. Terrified eyes widened even further at Cassian's voice, her screams dying against the palm of his hand. Her eyes flicked to the right, trying to make out his face to confirm it was really him and then to the left when he said it was...Freddie?!
A strange...argument ensued over...curtains? As relief took the place of sheer terror, the realization that she wasn't about to be assaulted and murdered horrifically in the middle of her family's ballroom washing over her, she felt an unreal sense of confusion rising up within her.
Cassian?! How...what...no, really, what?!
Amidst the strange bickering, Rosalie managed to peel herself out of their grasp, and backed away, absolute disbelief on her features. Cassian had done some crazy things, and she'd been a part of most of them, but this was another level of -
"Are you fucking insane?!" The shrill whisper pierced the room, as she brought her hands to either side of her head, clutching her hair as she tried to bring herself down from the adrenaline rushing through her. Rosalie never cursed, especially not like this, but the circumstance of the moment definitely called for an exception. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two boys, a new terror taking hold of her, knowing if any member of her family found them this wasn't going to end in a simple call home to their fathers.
Her gaze finally settled fully on her boyfriend, her eyes softening, but only for the briefest moment.
It was undeniable at this point. Cassian had lost his mind, and Freddie’s chosen recovery method involved both breaking the law and nearly breaking her nervous system. Ten points for ambition, zero for self-preservation.
"What the hell are you doing here? Do you know what they'll do to you? Both of you?!"
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-20-2025
"Are you fucking insane?!"
He was meant to feel terrible, guilty, still shaking in his boots over the possibility of what might really be his imminent end. They had done a stupid thing, he could admit that. They hadn't made allowances for what might happen if they were caught, proven no clearer than the way he and Freddie had both frozen when Rosie entered. Were it anyone else, they'd have been done for. Hell, there was a chance someone was still coming down the other corridor unheard and unseen. There was nothing that suggested they were out of the woods.
And yet.
A wide, shit-eating grin spread across the fifteen-year-old's face, concealed in part by the lower lighting of the corridor this hour. Rosie was shocked, taken aback, unable to decipher how much of this was real or not, but there were entirely different things on his mind.
Cass stepped closer, reclaiming the space she had created when she pulled away from the pair of them. "Cursing is the calling card of the unintelligent," the boy mimicked, his grin spreading even wider as he began nudging her toward the wall. "And I will not be having Freddie think my girlfriend is a cantaloupe with eyes."
A confidence swelled inside him that he had no business feeling, given the circumstances and the uneven playing field. He couldn't help it. They'd crossed the country, snuck into a massive castle, and of all the things that could've greeted them, it was the girl he hadn't seen since they exited the Hogwarts Express back in the first week of June. His pulse quickened with the excitement of their reunion, his fingertips wanting to trace every inch of her skin to remind himself she was still real and he wasn't in a relationship with the crisp, unending pages of his notebook.
Suffice it to say, it had been a long summer.
"What the hell are you doing here? Do you know what they'll do to you? Both of you?!"
Cassian nodded along to her concerns, preoccupied with the faint and delicate scent of cherry blossoms that wafted off her. The familiarity of it brought him down from all his worries.
"Imprisonment, death..." he drawled, his nose brushing lightly against hers. His lips brushed against hers, his senses lighting up at the hint of cherry to be found there. He lingered for only the briefest moment before pausing abruptly, then pulling away. He looked to his friend again with expectation in his dark gaze.
"Freddie."
"Yeah, yeah, just make it quick." The redhead casually shoved his hands into his pockets and turned his back to the pair, focusing instead on some portraits that were hung on that side of the wall.
With privacy restored, Cassian didn't wait for her to break into another lecture or remember that she was mad at him. The boy nudged her fully up against the wall, then pressed his lips against hers. There would be plenty of time for questions and reprimanding after but if he was going to die, he at least wanted to die happy.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-20-2025
He was grinning, obviously pleased with himself and this entire situation - whatever this situation was. It crossed her mind as he moved closer, and she took another step back, defiance crossing her features, that this could all be because she'd given him the silent treatment. She would have written back eventually, when she was good and ready. She just hadn't realized that somewhere between the Hogwarts Express and now, Cassian Thomas had become completely unhinged.
She ignored the tiny part of her conscious that absolutely swooned and the larger part of her that surged with excitement that he was here. She hadn't forgotten about Jessica, and the image of him consoling the wailing banshee.
"Cursing is the calling card of the unintelligent. And I will not be having Freddie think my girlfriend is a cantaloupe with eyes."
Blue oceans narrowed as she clenched her jaw, watching as his entirely-too-smug grin widened across his lips. He was just so funny, wasn't he? So clever, throwing her own words back at her after he'd nearly given her a stroke. He was crazy, impossible, infuriating...he was...
The scent of cinnamon invaded her senses as his nose brushed against hers, sending her already pounding heart into an arrhythmia she couldn't catch up with. Her vision went hazy, her breath hitching in her throat, wanting his lips on hers.
"Imprisonment, death..."
She knew that tone in his voice; he didn't care about the consequences. He was being reckless, not just with himself, but with her, with Freddie. She shoved her hands against his chest, not hard enough to actually push him away, but enough to let him know she was still angry. She tilted her chin away as he spoke, intentionally looking elsewhere and stopping his soft touch as he spoke.
When he said Freddie's name, Rosie moved her gaze back to his face, hating herself for how badly she found herself wanting to give into him. She'd missed him, so much it hurt. The lingering loneliness in her chest ached for him, despite the anger she was determined to nurse. As his heat invaded her space, his heart pounding against hers, she felt her back connect with the wall.
Her eyes fluttered shut as his lips found hers, demolishing any wall she had tried to erect between them. Her hands found their way to his waist, slinking around to his back pulling him closer, relief and warmth flooding her. Rosalie's heart melted as her kiss moved against his, timid at first and then greedier with each second, eager to be reacquainted.
"I'm still not talking to you," she murmured against his lips, her eyes opening momentarily to meet his as the smallest smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-21-2025
For the briefest moment, Cassian worried that she'd resist. He'd oblige, of course. A romantic feat of daring was only as grand as its reception. That didn't mean he wouldn't have been disappointed--maybe even a little gutted. Standing close enough to feel the fine hairs along her arms brushing against his brought about the profoundly aching realisation of the terrible things her absence had done to him. Actually having to turn and head home after everything because she was still too mad to even look at him would have been a tragedy the likes of which even Shakespeare couldn't dream of writing.
In an ironic twist, Cass might actually have been able to survive another month had he never seen her at all. If their parting at King's Cross had been the last of their contact, the boy's heart may have gotten used to the ache, nursing it alongside his summer passions and telling himself everything was alright.
The moment their lips met, he realised his mistake.
How would he leave? What good would pages in an enchanted notebook do? In one reckless night, Cassian McCormick had dismantled nearly two months of oak-like resolve. Was it worth it? Anything was to take in the light hidden in those deep oceans of hers. It was its own already reward. The boy was simply practical enough to realise this would only make things harder in the long run.
September 1 couldn't come soon enough.
"I'm still not talking to you."
"What a relief," he said, smiling into their kiss while his thumb brushed lightly against her cheek. "I think even Freddie would feel cheated if we came all this way for a discussion."
Mind you, that was what he'd come for. On the long walk to the castle, Cassian had played several dialogues in his head; counterarguments, pleas, apologies, negotiations, and the like. He could almost hear Rosie's voice inside his head, and his brain anticipated every response. The boy knew they wouldn't have much time once he got there and wanted to be prepared. No amount of pep-talking could prepare him to see her float into the corridor in a flowy dress, filling the night with her songs.
There wasn't armour thick enough.
He kissed her harder, like a man fresh from war or one who'd been at sea for months, rather than a boy who'd said his goodbyes to her in the month prior. There was almost an urgency in the way his mouth moved against his, an increasing dread encroaching at the thought they wouldn't be able to stay for long.
Talking was no longer on the table.
He'd found his oasis in the desert and would drink his fill before being forced to wander its harsh and barren lands once more.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-22-2025
"I think even Freddie would feel cheated if we came all this way for a discussion."
A buzz of warmth shot down her spine as his thumb brushed her cheek, her smile matching his. Her arms tightened around him as their kiss resumed, more urgent than before, the relief of their unexpected reunion surging between the two of them.
Never, in a million years, did Rosie ever think Cassian would just somehow appear in her family's home - in the middle of the night - unannounced, and with his best friend in tow. His father was already breathing down his neck, and the boy was well-aware of how severe her family could be - evidenced by the fact that she hadn't left the castle in over a month. He had literally everything to lose, and somehow, somehow he had managed to get here.
A month, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t forever. As restless as she’d been, Rosie had managed to compartmentalize the ache, tucking the absence of the people she loved into the far corners of her mind. Writing to Cassian had been her lifeline, keeping her just steady enough, a thin tether between loneliness and numbness.
But now he was here. And his presence cracked her wide open, flooding her with every feeling she’d worked so hard to bury.
Cassian was the part of her heart that beat outside of her chest, and already, she was feeling his absence, knowing he wouldn't be able to stay.
She slapped his cheek softly, playfully when she broke their kiss. "This isn't how we fix things," she teased, mimicking him just as he had her. She glanced past him at Freddie, before returning her blue eyes to his. "You can't just break into my family's castle every time you console another girl."
She raised an eyebrow at him while the smirk on her lips widened slightly.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-23-2025
The slap did hardly anything to refocus the boy, whose vision remained tunneled on the beautiful blonde girl who'd managed to stir him into recklessness through withholding her words. Rosie reprimanded him, her tease softening what he knew she really meant, but all he could think about was how much he'd rather continue kissing her. It wasn't because he wasn't listening, or because he didn't agree, but because somewhere down the corridor, he could hear the faint ticking of a clock, reminding him that parting would soon be such sweet sorrow.
He agreed but...priorities.
"This isn't how we fix things."
He kissed her again. "It's not."
"You can't just break into my family's castle every time you console another girl."
"I can't." Another kiss. Even with this, she was right. Cassian didn't imagine he would be able to keep making grand escapes like the one he'd made tonight or that he'd be able to keep waltzing into a castle like this without getting caught. There was a chance luck would be on his side another time or two, but there was still a long summer ahead of them, and he imagined his luck would turn sour at some point.
Dramatic and attention-grabbing as it was this time, it would keep having a diminished effect while bringing him closer to the threshold of his fortune.
Which brought him to...
"You can't stop talking to me every time you get upset." They weren't in the castle where he could confirm she hadn't been suddenly sold to the highest bidder. With nothing more than paper connecting them, the silences only made him anxious. Unable to read her expressions, unable to have a conversation in real time? It was a different kind of torture for the boy who'd spent much of his life surrounded by people who bottled rather than talking. The thought of it tearing them apart next was enough to take him from his bed and across the country.
Cass pressed his forehead against hers, fixing brown eyes on blue.
"I really am sorry and wasn't trying to make you upset."
By now, he knew better than to give even the vaguest suggestion that he hadn't thought it was a big deal, so Cassian wisely avoided that line of discussion altogether. It hadn't worked the first time; there was no need for a repeat.
"Don't be mad?"
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-23-2025
Cassian McCormick was a menace of the highest order.
Here she was, trying to be the jilted girlfriend, trying to hold onto the hurt that plagued her chest over his carelessness, and he was breaking it all down with kisses and his velvety voice. It was unfair, genuinely, how easily she fell to his charms when all was said and done. How was she ever meant to hold him accountable for anything under these circumstances?
It wasn't sustainable.
The excitement and relief of seeing him aside, the grandiosity of his gesture to toss all care to the wind and cross the country in an effort to win her over, was by far the most romantic thing that Rosalie could ever conceive of. Athletes, dueling champions, valedictorians...all overrated. The girl would never settle for anything less than her dramatic theatre boy who went to great lengths to sweep her off her feet.
"You can't stop talking to me every time you get upset."
Her expression grew more pensive and she nodded slowly, agreeing. He was right, she couldn't. Not when their circumstances were what they were. She was trying to make a point with him, but even she knew as she was doing it, it wasn't the right way. They'd struggled in the past with communication, both of them being better and worse than the other at any given time, but straight silence wasn't doing either of them any favors.
And she certainly couldn't risk him showing up like this again. "I promise," she said genuinely, one of her hands reaching up to brush a wayward curl from his forehead before he pressed it to hers.
"I really am sorry and wasn't trying to make you upset."
She knew that, didn't she? She knew Cassian would never intentionally hurt her. His words had been careless, and she wasn't happy about the Jessica situation, but she knew, deep down, he wasn't trying to be malicious.
Insecurity was something Rosalie had grappled with for a long time when it came to her relationship with Cassian. She hid it well for the most part, never wanting to make it his problem. It was hers, she knew that, and never blamed him for how she felt. As their relationship became official and eventually stronger and more solid, her insecurity had lessened, allowing her to feel more confident and sure in what they had.
But every now and then, jealousy reared its ugly head, reminding her of how she felt in the days when she'd had to share him and compete for his attentions. Rosie genuinely had no problem with him having female friends - he was entitled to them, and she encouraged them if they were healthy and good for him.
Jessica wasn't just any friend or any girl. There was a history there, one that made her uncomfortable. Not just for the fact of what the history was, but how it had played out and affected Cassian. Whether he realized it or not, what Jessica had done and made him feel had bled into their relationship here and there. And she didn't like the idea that he still held space for her in any kind of way.
"I know," she said softly, but decided not to say anything further. They had plenty they needed to work out over this and some honest things she'd never realized she'd needed to say. But she didn't want to ruin this and take up the little time she knew she had with him talking about her.
"Don't be mad?"
Her smile returned, and she kissed him softly before nuzzling her nose against his. "How could I?" she meant it, blue oceans meeting earthy shores again. "After all this?" Another kiss, and another. "I missed you," she said quietly, holding him a little tighter, and feeling that lump in her throat growing, knowing his impending departure was coming.
"Don't leave me," she pleaded, a smile playing on her lips, knowing very well he'd have to. But at least she could tug at his heart-strings a little before he did.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-24-2025
She wasn't mad.
The relief that flooded his growing frame was enough to leave the boy dizzy. When he'd struck out from his house earlier, allowing Freddie to tag along, Cassian hadn't had a single guarantee that it would work. It could have been as simple as not running into Rosie in a place this big or as difficult as finding her, then realising just how firm she intended to be about not wanting to talk to him. The risk hadn't been enough to deter him, and he was glad for that now as he watched her smile grow.
If he'd accomplished nothing else, he'd gotten his point across and patched things over with Rosie so that neither of them would have to spend the rest of this long summer worrying. There was a part of him that knew he was in for a world of trouble when he returned home, but that all seemed so inconsequential against the backdrop of what he'd managed to accomplish tonight.
"I always miss you," Cass replied, greedily helping himself to his own kisses. The window was growing smaller, and his urgency was increasing.
If only he could sta--
"Don't leave me."
His chest tightened with her request. How could he leave when she looked like that? When she sounded like that? Rosie didn't want him gone any more than he wanted to be, and already the Ravenclaw gears inside his head were starting to turn. Was there a way for him to stay?--Even just for another few days? They'd have to be careful, but...but maybe it wouldn't be so difficult. The real problem would come with his father. Waking up to empty beds...likely wouldn't go over well with the man.
But just look at that smile.
"Alright, Casanova, wrap it up."
Freddie's voice cut through the enchantment that nearly had him agreeing. At the same time, he felt the boy's hand slap firmly against his shoulder.
"Rosie, I love ya. You two are the beeknees, envy of my non-existent love life--we can't stay."
"Now, hold on, we could probably--"
"Kiss your girl, mate. I'm about to drag you back across that orchard."
Wait, wait, wait, couldn't they talk about this? Surely, there was a compromise. Cassian wasn't ready to surrender his girlfriend. It was like stepping off the Hogwarts Express all over again, knowing how much of a goodbye it was.
Brown eyes fell to blue again, a new desperation rising in them. "Write to me?" Freddie was already beginning to tug.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-24-2025
"Alright, Casanova, wrap it up."
The anxiety that suddenly ripped through her stomach and up through her chest unnerved her, and her smile immediately dropped, her eyes falling into something brittle and unguarded. A few minutes - that's all they'd had and he was having to leave again. It had been a brief reprieve from the loneliness that punctuated her spirit, and all too soon it was over.
"Rosie, I love ya. You two are the beeknees, envy of my non-existent love life--we can't stay."
Her shoulders slumped in defeat, feeling her arms already loosening around her boyfriend. Freddie was right; they really couldn't stay. If any one of her family members - save Julia maybe - stumbled upon them, this would quickly turn disastrous, and she wasn't willing to find out how.
She nodded at Cassian, urging him that he should, but when Freddie tugged on him, she couldn't help the anxiety that led her hand. She slapped the redhead's hand away, turning her gaze on him. "Knock it off Freddie," she hissed quietly, "Give us thirty seconds, and I promise, next time I'll have a girl for you." She tilted her head at him a little, jutting her lips pointedly at him for him to buzz off again. She just needed a moment to tell Cassian goodbye.
Without his friend tugging on him.
"Write to me?"
Quickly returning to her boyfriend, her hand cupped the side of his face as she forced another smile. Her eyes glistened with tears, but she held them back, choosing instead to send him off with something sweeter. She brought her lips to his, her fingertips brushing his hairline. "I love you," she smiled as she kissed him, wishing there was some way she could keep him. Her chest burned, missing his warm presence already. "I'll write you as soon as I get back to my room. Promise you'll let me know as soon as you're home?" She kissed him harder, her other hand dropping from around his back, to grasp his hand, squeezing it tightly.
As he pulled back, she quickly wiped at her eyes and gave him another smile. And then, the same thing she said every time they had to say goodbye.
"I'll miss you best friend."
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-25-2025
Cassian was torn between two very real realities. The longer he remained within the castle, the higher the chance of being stumbled upon by the wrong person. Rosie had always said her family was capable of terrible things, and even without further detail or demonstration, the boy understood that he didn't want to know the extent to which they were prepared to go to get their message across. On the other hand...he didn't think he'd be able to turn away from her.
There was real panic laced into those tumultuous blues, a silent storm brewing where she couldn't conceal it. Cass watched the apprehension rise within Rosie in real time, taking note of the way her eyes had already begun to moisten.
It broke his heart.
Cass tensed against Freddie's pull, knowing full and damn well that his friend was right. They DID have to go. Left up to him, they'd be there for a week, hiding in closets, getting whatever food Rosie snuck back to her room, always worrying a house elf would pop in at the wrong time, then scream before running off in a nervous meltdown to tell someone who could do something about it. It would be a nerve-wracking 7 days, and they'd probably leave with a nervous tick after, but...just look...at that face.
Had there ever been a time he could resist the girl? None in his memory, and now was proving no different. The moment Freddie's hand was smacked off of him, Cassian moved forward, pressing Rosie into the wall again.
The summer was, decidedly, too long, and the boy didn't want to go back to not having this. Each kiss she planted weakened his resolve further. It all went against what he knew, but...Merlin.
"Promise you'll let me know as soon as you're home?"
"The moment I get home, before I go to bed," he promised, brushing away a few strands of her hair that had fallen loose. In the final fleeting moments, Cassian held her gaze, dark eyes boring into hers and passing on the intensity of all he felt.
"I love you, too, okay?"
He took it back, this felt even more devastating than their lighthearted parting back at King's Cross. It was too short. There was still so much he wanted to say and so much he wanted to do. None of it was possible, and the reminder of that carved a gaping hole of longing inside him before they'd even properly walked away.
"I'll miss you, best friend."
This was hard. Cassian planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before stepping back, finally giving in to Freddie's incessant tugging (for the hand swat hadn't been enough to deter him). Cass drew for a wide, cheeky grin, even as he felt a lump forming in his throat. The boy knew he had to be strong enough for both of them and that she would be the one to suffer if they gave in to the recklessness of their youth.
He'd rather she be safe.
"Bet I'll miss you more."
Cass pulled away from Freddie again, much to the boy's growing frustration, stealing for himself the very last kiss before surrendering himself fully to be pulled back the way they'd come. His friend gave Rosie a final salute before the pair headed off back through the enormous castle.
It was a long way home, and they already had new worries to contend with.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Rosalie McCormick - 08-25-2025
It all felt rushed and frantic now. His words, Freddie's continuous insistent tugging, the quick push up against the wall. His kiss hurried and reluctant to break away. Had this been one of those muggle silent films, this would have been the part where the orchestra strings picked up from their haunting lullaby into something more urgent and foreboding, warning of impending discovery.
Her hand clung to his until the tips of their fingers brushed a soft goodbye, the lump in her throat growing nearly unbearable. She remained against the wall, eyes widened and lips parted as she tried to catch her breath, watching Cassian and Freddie run down the corridor and finally around a corner to their escape.
Her face fell into her hands as she finally released the sob she'd been holding back. None of this had been easy, but she'd been able to survive it, taking it day by day, knowing that eventually summer would end and she'd be free again. Her mind hadn't been in a good place, feeling like a fractured version of itself, but she had done well to at least numb the emotions that came with this 'punishment'.
Now, she didn't know how she would get through the last five or six weeks. She hadn't realized how starved for touch, for real affection and love she had been until just now and -
"Lady Rosalie?"
Rosie gasped, recognizing the voice instantly and she dropped her hands from her face, her cheeks moist with tears. Fidèle, their house elf had come up the opposite corridor, holding a magically-infused lantern, concern written on his small features. "Nearly three in the morning, it is. Why is Lady Rosalie out of bed? Is she ill? Fetch Lady Gretchen, shall Fidèle?"
"N-no," Rosie stammered, trying to catch her breath and gave an insistent shake of her head. Cassian and Freddie had left just in time. Any further lingering would have had them caught, and while Fidèle was always a sweet elf towards Rosie, his loyalties lay with James. He would have told on them immediately. Her eyes glanced back down the corridor where the boys had disappeared, praying they wouldn't double-back.
"Just had a nightmare," she said softly, and held her hand out to the elf. "Will you walk me back to my room, Fidèle? I don't want to be alone." It was true, and even the light touch of her family's elf would be a welcome reprieve against the dark silence that would carry her back to bed.
Fidèle's hand took hers as he gave a soft smile. "Of course, Lady Rosalie. Fidèle is happy to walk with her." Together, they turned and wandered back down the long hallway, towards Rosie's rooms, and away from any direction the house elf could possibly stumble upon the boys.
RE: The Heist of the Century | Rossian - Cassian McCormick - 08-26-2025
"Well, fuck."
Cassian didn't need to ask what had drawn such an utterance from his friend's lips. As the two walked back down the empty Temple Meadow street, it was all too clear that their early morning had taken a decidedly horrid turn. The boy felt the blood inside him run cold, a massive knot beginning to twist away at his insides.
There, at 5 1/2, sat his house with all the lights turned on.
Cass muttered his own curse, already knowing the earful they would both be in for when they got inside. It appeared the boys had used up every last bit of their luck breaking in then out of Arundel Castle. Whatever residuals had remained, they'd burned away, having run into no incidents on the road. Now, all that remained was the consequences of his actions and the fatigue that clung to his bones. Asking to go back to bed for a few hours before having to deal with any of this was evidently asking too much of the universe he'd just taken advantage of.
Neither boy exhibited any particular urgency as they stepped up to the door. It was a lost battle; any need for continued stealth long gone.
As Cassian's hand reached for the door's knob, the large wooden structure suddenly flung itself open as if by some invisible force.
His father stood on the other side, face red and eyes bloodshot as he took them in.
"Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?"
"Dad--"
"I don't want to hear it! Get in the house, both of you."
Without an ounce of protest, the boys shuffled by the man and into the living room. Freddie sank into the couch, understanding without needing to be told that nothing they said would improve their situation. It was a silent understanding shared between them.
Cassian leaned against one arm of that couch, his gaze fixed on the coffee table rather than on his father, who'd just slammed the door shut and marched in behind them. His notebook was thrown down onto the coffee table, landing with a loud thud that jolted both boys.
"You've got to be kidding me."
"We just went for a walk. I couldn't sleep and Freddie said he'd come wit--"
"Cut the bullshit." His father pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut in a bid to regain even a fraction of his composure. "You're unbelievable. After everything that's happened, Cassian? After everything we talked about? Do you know how differently tonight could've ended for you AND Freddie?"
Cassian made no move to respond, knowing this was one time he was going to have to let his father get it all out. Before him, the man trembled, equal parts terrified and enraged by what he'd awoken to.
"I don't know how else to get through to you. What else can I say? How do I make you understand that you can't keep doing this shit?"
Neither said a word.
"Bed, both of you." His gaze held his son's, forcing it in place. "We'll talk more about this at breakfast."
The situation would only escalate at this hour.