A/N: Kay, I really have no excuse as to why it's taken me so long other than being out of town for a VERY long time and I BEG you will all forgive me for the wait, so here's chapter 12. In this chapter we see Artemis and Rose grow closer and we see a bit of Rose's home and family. ENJOY AND REVIEW!

Italic is writing/engraving

Disclaimer: Me no own…you no sue. Kay? Kay.

Chapter 12: A snowball fight, Departures and Pictures

Saturday, December 18th 12:04 pm, St. Bartleby's School for Young Adults

As Artemis walked down a very familiar path he took the time to observe his surroundings. A fresh layer of snow had come down the night before, so the light from the sun made everything look far brighter than it was. Every so often a few students could be seen either: building snowmen, making snow angels or hurling snowballs at one another. It was truly picturesque. Artemis had reached Rose's door when something powdery collided with his back. He whipped around and was instantly met by another snowball, this one to the face. After brushing off the offending particles he looked up and saw Rose leaning against a tree in the middle of the quad, tossing a snowball between her gloved hands with a lopsided grin.

Two can play at that game. He thought scooping up a handful of snow as he walked to meet her.

"Hello Rose." He greeted as approached, holding his hands-and his weapon-behind his back.

"Hey Arty." She said, the snowball coming to rest in her right hand.

"Why don't you put that down?" He offered.

"Alright, but first I want you to drop the snowball behind your back." She replied.

"Well you did get me twice." He pointed out. "Don't I get to return the favor?"

"Nope." She said. "Because that would make us even, which is in essence a tie. And I like there to always be a clear victor, even more so if I'm that victor."

"That's understandable." Artemis nodded. Suddenly he launched his snowball and was rewarded with a thud as it hit the target. He bent down to gather more ammunition when Rose's snowball slammed into his chest with force, knocking him back a step. He looked up to see Rose standing behind the tree in an attempt to hide. He quickly ran at her and bombarded her with an armful of snow down the back of her jacket.

"AH! COLD!" She shouted trying to dislodge the frozen substance. Artemis laughed at the dance she was doing and was taken off guard when a heap of snow hit him in the face and chest. As Rose tried to escape he grabbed her around the waist with one hand and smashed a snowball into her hair with the other. She tried to struggle out of his grasp but her efforts resulted with them both landing on the ground laughing. When their breathing steadied Artemis rolled on his side to see Rose who was watching the snowfall around them with a slight smile. She then glanced over at Artemis and her slight smile became her signature lopsided grin.

"Truce?" She asked extending a gloved hand.

"Truce." Artemis said taking the hand. He stood and pulled her to her feet, but instead of releasing his hold he kept his hand clasped around hers. She didn't seem to mind as they walked the short distance to her dorm.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just need to get my bags." She said walking inside and appearing a moment later with two duffle bags and a small backpack.

"Traveling heavy are we?"Artemis said with a smirk and raised eyebrow.

"Actually this bag is my clothes," Rose shook the bag in her right hand. "The other is presents for everyone, and the backpack is stuff to keep me entertained during the flight."

"Let me help you with that." Artemis said taking the duffle bag in her left hand as the two headed to his car and then the airport. The two arrived at the airport and checked Rose's bags before going to her gate. As they were going through security Artemis was very careful that Rose didn't see the box he pulled out while emptying his pockets. When at the gate Artemis decided to wait with Rose until she boarded.

"Are you excited for Christmas?" Artemis asked sitting down. Rose nodded taking the seat next to him.

"It's my favorite holiday. Everyone goes to my house, we're glad to have time off from school or work so we can all spend time together." She let out a laugh. "I remember a few years ago my grandpa Elijah and my grandma Bohn got together with my dad and bought my mom a car. They even managed to get it in the living room next to the tree!"

"How did they do that?"

"They put a ramp up to the back part of the wrap-around porch, removed the railing and the back sliding glass doors. Backed it right into the house."

"You know," Artemis began. "You've met my family, but I've never even seen a picture of anyone in yours. It seems unfair."

"Well, I've bought a few digital cameras so I'll take some pictures and send them to you." Rose said checking something in her backpack.

"I would like that." Artemis said nodding. "You know, things are going to be different with you gone."

"Oh really?" Rose questioned.

"Yes," Artemis leaned back folding his hands behind his head. "Much less…entertaining."

'Ah, so you only keep me around to entertain you. Well then I suppose I'll have to find someone else to spend my time with, someone who values my friendship." Rose said dead serious. Artemis gave her a look. She held up her hands, fighting back a grin. "Kidding. I'm guessing that's your way of saying you'll miss me?"

Artemis didn't say a word and Rose's grin won out.

"I'll miss you too." She said just before a voice came over the loud speaker; "Flight 8457 Dublin to Bakersfield, your flight is now boarding." Rose glanced at the gate.

"That's me." She sighed and turned back to Artemis.

"Rose, I have something for you." Artemis said reaching into his pocket and pulled out a long, thin box wrapped in gold paper with a silver ribbon. At the same time rose pulled a blue box with a white bow on top from her backpack.

"Great minds think alike." Rose said with a grin. Artemis returned the smile and extended the box to her.

"Promise you won't open it until Christmas?" Rose asked handing him his gift.

"Only if you promise the same." He replied.

"Promise." She said stepping forward to hug Artemis resting her head on his shoulder, him wrapping his arms around her in return and leaning his head on hers. Over the past few months Artemis had given up on denying how he felt about Rose. Artemis now accepted that since meeting Rose in September he had developed a very slight crush on his best friend, though he would never say it out loud and would vehemently deny it if anyone ever brought the subject up.

"I have to go." Rose sighed letting go but keeping his hand as the flight attendants called for boarding again. Though she tried to hide it Artemis saw fear and worry flash across her face before she could mask it.

"What's wrong?" He asked looking her in the eyes.

"Nothing, why would you think something's wrong?" She questioned in return.

"Rose," He said in a warning tone. "You may be able to fool everyone else, but not me; I know you too well. Now please, tell me what's bothering you."

"I'm just a bit worried about a few things, but it's nothing."She assured.

"I would still like to know." He pressed.

"It's just, I'm going home; which I'm excited about but that also means I'll end up seeing…him." Artemis immediately understood. Jeremy Hawthorn had continued to write letters to Rose over the past months and Rose had continued to give them to Artemis to read. It had gotten to a point where the letters were coming every other day and after reading a particularly vulgar and insulting letter directed at Rose Artemis decided to respond on Rose's behalf. He had written his own letter to Hawthorn outlining that Rose was not interested in anything he had to offer and never would be. Also that the letters he was sending were not only unwanted but unacceptable and if they continued Artemis would take matters into his own hands and what that meant was explained in great detail. And exactly one week later the letters had stopped completely.

"Well, it's been almost been a month and he hasn't contacted you in anyway. Perhaps he's given up." Artemis offered. He also hadn't told Rose about the letter he sent, as she had told him she didn't want Hawthorn to bother Artemis on the manny ocasions he offered to deal with the neanderthal fo a stalker. but; what Rose didn't know wouldn't hurt her, or so he thought.

'I doubt it." Rose scoffed. "He's too hard headed to get the message that I'm not interested on his own. I just hope he isn't waiting for me to come home then talk to me."

"I'm sure he won't do that." He better not. "And even if he's stupid enough to confront you, you'll have your family and friends thereand I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help if you can't handle him on your own."

"You're right, I'm worrying about nothing. Thank you Arty, you've made me feel a lot better." The relief was clear on Rose's face as she spoke.

"Of course Rose, it's my pleasure to help you feel better." Artemis smiled when the final boarding call was announced.

"Have a Merry Christmas and I'll see you when I get back." Rose said looking up at him.

"Happy Christmas and I'll be here when your plane touches down." Artemis smiled as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and let go. She smiled back and walked away to board the plane. Artemis stayed and waited for the plane to take off before heading back to his car and driving to the manor. As he drove he thought about three things; the box in his pocket and its contents, how January 7th couldn't come fast enough and how he hoped Rose never found out about his letter.

Monday, January 3rd 4:03. Fowl Manor

Artemis sat in his study at the manor tapping away at the keyboard before him. He was working on the design for a device that could dehydrate both animate and inanimate objects; everything from a notebook to a full sized human could be wrapped in a small cube the size of his pinkie. A simple drop of water would return the dehydrated object to their previous state completely unharmed. He had gotten the idea after watching Megamind with Rose last month. It was an excellent idea but the gun aspect of it made it dangerous to carry around on the off chance that he would happen across a police officer, so he was making it an app for his phone. He would occasionally pause in his work to look at the Christmas present Rose had given him. At this moment he reached down and pulled out a pocket watch.

It was made of silver and the top of the casing had AFII engraved on it with a small jewel set in the middle. The jewel was a brown almost hazel color and at first he had wondered at its meaning but then he clicked the button at the top reveling the watch's face. The inside-like the outside-was made of silver and had a message engraved on the inside of the casing. Merry Christmas Arty! Love, Rose. But the most interesting feature was on the clock face. In the center where the hands met sat a small blue jewel. At first glance he thought of Rose's eyes, but then he realized Rose's eyes were a darker blue than this. A millisecond later it clicked; the two gems were the exact colors of his miss-matched eyes. He was touched that Rose had gone to such trouble to find him the perfect gift. He loved it immediately and had rarely taken it off his person since receiving it.

He was absently mindedly running his thumb over the engraved message when someone knocked on the study door.

"Enter." Artemis called snapping the watch closed and placing it back in his pocket as Butler walked in carrying a small parcel.

"Sorry to interrupt Artemis," the manservant said approaching his ward. "This arrived for you a short while ago. I've already checked it and it's clean."

Artemis nodded and took the package checking the return address, which read; 23970 Bear Valley Rd. Tehachapi, CA, U.S.A.

"Rose." Artemis said quietly, not able to help the grin spreading across his face; which caused Butler to raise an eyebrow.

"Thank you, old friend. You can go." Artemis said opening the package. The first thing he saw was a folded piece of paper with read me first! Written on the outside. He unfolded the paper and smiled again as he recognized the slanted scrawl that was Rose's hand writing.

Hey Arty!

So here are the pictures I promised to send you. On the back of most of them are either the names of the people in the picture or a description of what's going on in it. I'm giving you fair warning though, I had some help from a few friends with the descriptions and I wasn't able to filter all of the comments, so I apologize in advance for anything odd. Also some of the pictures are a bit random because I passed the cameras around to everyone and they snapped pictures wherever and whenever. I hope you've had a good break so far and I'll see you in a few days.

Love,

Rose

Setting the letter aside Artemis noticed how she hadn't mentioned his gift to her. What if she doesn't like it? He questioned. Brushing the thought aside he reached into the box and removed a stack of photos. The first was of several of people huddled around one person. Artemis couldn't see who it was but the duffle bags and backpack off to the side tipped him off. He flipped it over and read; I'm not quite sure but I think they missed me. The next picture was a large group of people standing in a row smiling. The back said; the family left to right… Then it listed the names of everyone in the picture. As he flipped through the pictures he noticed they were indeed random, most of the time those in the picture had no idea the camera was there and were looking away or talking. One picture he was intrigued by was a mid motion shot taken outdoors. Snow covered everything in sight, but that wasn't as important as what was going on. He could easily see Rose was the main focus of this shot. It seemed she had been running and had launched a flying tackle at two boys who looked younger than her and he assumed were her brothers; Richard and Andrew. The picture caught her in midair, milliseconds before she collided with the boys. The background showed several others sprinting away from Rose in various directions. On the back written in an unfamiliar hand was; when we play tag, we play hardcore tag!

The next picture was of numerous people covering the outside of an old house with decorations. After closer inspection he spotted Rose on a ladder hanging lights, while her younger brothers supported the ladder's base. The next picture however, made Artemis both slightly worried and amused. He was worried because Rose was using a pair of crutches while wearing knee shorts that made the ACE Bandagse on her right ankle and knee visible. What she was doing though made him smile. One crutch was planted firmly on the ground supporting her while the other was being brandished in a threatening manner at the twins hiding behind a couch. He mouth was open in mid-lecture/threat and the anger on her face was almost cartoonish. He looked at the back and saw two separate sets of handwriting, the first was clumsly as if written in haste. Rose fell off the ladder while hanging Christmas lights and sprained her ankle and hurt her knee. Clutz! Then in Rose's hand; I did not! Those little heathens were screwing around at the bottom of my ladder and knocked it over. I'm going to be on crutches for the next week to week and a half. That's almost the rest of break!

Artemis chuckled and moved on to the next photo, which he found he didn't like. At all. Rose and a blonde haired boy, about her age, were standing in a doorway of what appeared to be a diner. The boy was smiling suggestively at Rose, who had planted a hand on his chest and held him at arm's length while scowling at the camera. Artemis then took notice of the mistletoe hanging above their heads. The back read; Not in this life or any other Harvey, screw tradition. Artemis nodded his head in approval at her actions and the comment and moved to the other photos.

The sight in the next photo made his heart stop for a moment before picking up again. It was of Rose and fairly close up so that only the tops of the crutches could be seen. She was smiling brightly down at something with…were those tears in her eyes? Artemis followed Rose's gaze to her left hand which was raised to her chest, cradling a gold heart shaped locket in her palm with the chain around her neck. He quickly flipped the image over and read; I LOVE IT! It's my favorite gift, thank you so much Arty!. Artemis couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. His gift was her favorite. He continued to flip through the pictures, seeing the town, Rose's home, her friends and multiple images of her family. He arrived at the last photo which was of Rose and her friends standing next to a collection of snowmen, the teens all had one arm around each other's shoulders and were waving at the camera with the other. The back read; I hope you're having a good break so far Arty, I'll see you Friday.

Artemis then put the pictures aside, save his favorite; the one of Rose wearing his necklace. He scanned the picture onto his computer and digitally cut it down, printing out a smaller version. As he placed the picture in his wallet, he reflected on how in every picture taken of Rose after Christmas; she worn the locket he gave her.

A/N: I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the wait! My life's been EXTREAMELY busy to say the least and this is the first chance I've had to type anything at all. I'm also risking getting in trouble with my mom for not being in bed as it's almost three in the morning here. But hey, what's summer for if not to stay up late? Please review! It makes me update faster and provides inspiration!

Next Chapter: We journey to Rose's home where she has an…interesting conversation with her older cousins in: Chapter 13 Not So Casual Q & A.

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