Work Text:
Rose exhaled through her nose at the reflection in the mirror. She was hoping the damage wasn't too bad, but her hopes had been in vain. A black eye and a split lip on top of a nosebleed that had stained the collar of her uniform greeted her in the dim light of the girls' bathroom. What an awful way to end a school day.
It's not like Rose was a weak kid or anything. She actually had a pretty good track record when it came to the rougher sort of kids at school, but the issue was that she had been outnumbered, and there was only so much she could do with her fists when there were three of them.
She didn't even really know why they had jumped her like that. One of the girls had been glaring at her all day, but Rose didn't even know her name. When they had cornered her in the locker room after gym class, Rose had tried to talk to them, but the girl had cut her off with a punch to the face before she could even get a word out.
Not wanting to make things worse for herself, Rose had remained quiet, taking the hits and waiting until they left before picking herself up and making her way to the bathroom. She couldn't go home like this. Her dad would freak out. He would probably even go to the principal and Rose didn't want that. She was pretty sure she could take care of this on her own, thank you very much.
With a sigh, she rinsed the worst of the blood out of her collar before wetting a paper towel and wiping the blood from her face. The split on her lip stung like hell, but she didn't mind as much. She had been hurt far worse before. The black eye and the swollen nose were more problematic though. Those would be harder to explain away.
Maybe she could get away with a lie, saying she tripped in the hallway or something. Her dad would probably believe that. He believed most of the stuff she told him, but she didn't want to lie to him. She didn't like lying to her dad, even if it was for a good reason.
Sighing again, she gathered her things and left the bathroom.
The walk home was uneventful and when Rose unlocked the door, she was relieved to find that the house was empty. Ethan was still at work, so Rose had some time to clean up and maybe even find a way to explain what happened without causing too much of a fuss. Hopefully she would be able to come up with something before he got home.
In the meantime, she put her bag away and made her way up to her room where she changed out of her uniform and put on something more comfortable. Then she simply lay down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to figure out what to do.
Her dad would be home in a couple of hours. Surely she would be able to come up with something by then.
It wasn't like she could hide this forever though. Ethan would know something was wrong the second he saw her. Her dad was a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid.
Maybe it would be better to just tell him the truth. It was obvious that the girls had a problem with her, so it would probably happen again and Rose wouldn't always be lucky enough to get away with just a black eye and a split lip.
She didn't want her dad to worry though. He already worried about her enough as it was and Rose didn't want to add to that. She could handle a few bullies, no problem. She was a Winters after all.
So yeah, she would tell him. She just had to figure out how.
Ethan was in a pretty good mood when he got home that day. Work had been productive and he was actually looking forward to the weekend. He and Rose were supposed to go see a movie on Saturday and Ethan had been looking forward to it all week.
"Hey, Rose! I'm home!" he called out as he entered the house, putting his keys on the little table by the door and toeing off his shoes. "How was school?"
There was no answer.
It wasn't uncommon, sometimes she napped after school, or was in a very Teenager Mood.
He put his coat away and made his way into the kitchen to start dinner. They had leftovers from the day before, so all he had to do was heat them up. Easy. Once the food was warming up, he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, staring out the window at the garden. The weather was nice, the sun was shining, and everything was peaceful.
The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs pulled him from his thoughts and he turned around with a smile. "Hey, kiddo. How was—" The smile fell right off his face as he caught sight of his daughter.
Rose looked like she had been in a fight. A nasty one at that. Her left eye was black and blue, there was a split in her bottom lip, and her nose was swollen.
"Rosemary, what the hell happened to you?" he demanded, pushing away from the counter and closing the distance between them in three long strides. He gently took her face in his hands, tilting her head this way and that to get a better look at the damage.
She hissed in pain when his fingers brushed over the bruise on her cheek and he immediately let go, instead hovering his hands close by like he wasn't sure what to do with them.
"I'm fine, Dad. It's not that bad," she muttered, looking anywhere but at him.
"Not that bad? Rose, you have a black eye and a split lip! What the hell happened?" Ethan asked, his voice rising with every word. He was trying to stay calm, for her sake, but he was failing miserably. Someone had hurt his daughter and he wanted to know who so he could rip them a new one.
"It's nothing, okay? I just got into a fight with some kids at school. It's not a big deal," she said while still not meeting his eyes.
Ethan scoffed. "Not a big deal? Rose, you're hurt! Who did this to you? Was it more than one person?"
She sighed, finally looking up at him. "It was three girls. They cornered me after gym and just started hitting me. I don't even know why. I've never even talked to them before."
Ethan felt his blood boil at her words. Three girls? They had ganged up on his daughter and beat her up for no reason? Oh, hell no.
"Did you tell a teacher? The principal?" he asked, already planning on how he was going to make those girls regret ever laying a hand on his daughter.
Rose shook her head. "No, I didn't. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."
"Not make a big deal out of it? Rose, they hurt you! This is a big deal! I'm calling the school tomorrow and we're going to have a talk with the principal," Ethan said, already reaching for his phone.
"No, Dad, wait!" Rose grabbed his arm, stopping him from unlocking his phone. "Please don't. I don't want you to make a scene."
Ethan looked at her, his expression softening slightly. "I'm not going to make a scene, Rose. But I'm not going to let this slide either. Those girls need to be held accountable for what they did. I'm not going to just let this slide."
Rose bit her lip. "I know, but... I don't want to make things worse for myself. They'll just bully me more if you get involved."
"Is that what they told you? That they would make things worse for you if you told anyone?" Ethan asked, feeling his anger rise again. Who the hell did those girls think they were? Threatening his daughter like that.
She shook her head. "No, they didn't say anything like that. I just know how these things work. If you get involved, they'll just see it as me running to my daddy for help and they'll come after me even more. I can handle this, Dad. Please, just let me take care of it."
Ethan sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetie. But I can't just sit back and do nothing. I'm your dad. It's my job to protect you."
Rose groaned. "Ugh! You treat me like I'm five!"
"Because you're my baby girl and I will never stop worrying about you! I don't care if you're fifteen or fifty, I'm always going to worry about you." Ethan ran a hand through his hair, trying to get his anger under control. "I'm going to call the school tomorrow. I want to know who those girls are and I want to talk to their parents. This can't go on." Rose opened her mouth to argue, but Ethan cut her off. "No, Rose. This is not up for debate. I'm not going to let those girls get away with hurting you. You deserve better than that."
She groaned and stormed off before Ethan could say anything else. She slammed the door to her room behind her, making the pictures on the walls rattle. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long night.
Dinner was awkward, to say the least. Rose was still mad at him, and Ethan was still mad at the whole situation in general. He tried to make small talk, but Rose wasn't in the mood and he didn't blame her.
After they finished eating, Rose excused herself and went back to her room, leaving Ethan to clean up the kitchen by himself. He didn't mind though. He needed the time to think about how he was going to handle this whole mess.
Rose laid on her back and stared at the ceiling. She was still pissed off at her dad. She knew he was just trying to protect her, but sometimes he could be so overbearing. It was like he thought she was still a baby or something. It was a miracle he let her go to school alone, and even that was a recent development.
She hated that he was going to get involved, but she also knew that there was no way she could stop him. Once her dad had his mind set on something, there was no changing it. She just hoped this wouldn't make things worse for her at school. The last thing she wanted was to be known as the girl whose daddy fought her battles for her.
But she thought of her dad's expression when she told him what happened and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He had looked so angry and worried and she hated being the cause of that. She hated seeing him upset. She just wanted him to be happy. He deserved that more than anyone she knew.
She sighed and rolled over onto her side, curling up into a ball. Maybe she should apologize to him. It wasn't his fault those girls decided to pick a fight with her.
With a groan, she sat up and made her way downstairs. Her dad was in the living room, sitting in his armchair and staring at the TV, though he didn't seem to be actually watching it. He looked lost in thought.
Rose silently walked over to him and plopped down on the couch next to his chair. He glanced at her, but didn't say anything, turning his attention back to the TV. She fidgeted with her hands for a moment and tried to decipher what he was thinking.
He didn't have a good poker face. He looked more sad than angry now, and that made her feel even worse.
Today had been so overwhelming. The fight, the pain, the argument with her dad... All of it was just too much. She tried to hold it in, but a small sob escaped her before she could stop it.
Ethan's head snapped in her direction and he immediately got up from his chair. "Rose? Sweetie, what's wrong?"
She shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just... I'm so tired of this."
"Hey, hey, it's okay. Come here," he said, pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him. "I'm sorry too, baby. I didn't mean to upset you. I just... I don't like seeing you hurt. It makes me so angry and I just want to fix it. It breaks my heart to see you in pain. You're my little girl and I would do anything to protect you, even if that means you're mad at me."
She sniffled, clinging to him. "I know. I'm sorry for being such a brat."
"You're not a brat, Rose. You're just a teenager. I was a teenager once, remember? I know how hard it can be," he said, rubbing her back soothingly. "I just want you to know that I'm always here for you, no matter what. You can tell me anything. I love you more than anything in this world."
"I love you too, Dad," she whispered, finally letting herself relax in his arms.
They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other in comfortable silence. Rose could feel her dad's heart beating steadily under her ear, and she couldn't help but smile. She had the best dad in the world.
"Are you feeling better?" Ethan asked after a while, pulling back slightly to look at her.
She nodded, wiping her eyes. "Yeah. Sorry for getting your shirt all wet."
He chuckled. "It's just a shirt. Don't worry about it. Do you want to watch a movie or something? I think we could both use a distraction."
"Yeah, that sounds nice," she agreed, moving back to the couch while her dad went to grab the remote. He sat down next to her and she immediately cuddled up to his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I'm sorry for being so overbearing. I just worry about you so much," he said softly.
"I know. I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass."
"You're not a pain in the ass, Rose. You're my daughter and I love you, even when you're being a teenager," he said, grinning down at her.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but laugh. "You're such a dork."
"And you're stuck with me," he teased, poking her side.
She squealed and swatted his hand away. "Dad! Stop it!"
He laughed and pulled her closer, pressing another kiss to her hair. "I love you, kiddo."
"I love you too, Dad."