#and i definitely think rowan and lorcan have fucked
Note
Hi! Following up to say that i didn’t mean anything by the war captive comment! It just sounded like you wanted to finish the series before jumping into something like that so I was trying to support that idea. I 100% want you to write that and every other idea that has been thrown out.
You don’t have to respond to this, just wanted you to know I wasn’t trying to send negative vibes, sorry if it came across that way!!
You gave me bisexual cadre. I could never be upset with you
#ive met gavriel lorcan and rowan#and i definitely think rowan and lorcan have fucked#lorcan is giving jealous spurned lover all through queen of shadows#and idk aedion gives me slutty bi vibes so why not his papa too??
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The Courtship Deception - Part 5: Hope
Fic masterlist
Written for @throneofglassmicrofics
I’m posting the next chapter tonight because it depends a lot on this one to make sense lol I need everyone’s memories fresh
Warnings: none
Words: 695
Rowan’s POV
“YOU SAID WHAT?” Fenrys screeched in Rowan’s kitchen, a bruschetta halfway into his mouth.
He shrugged. “I said no. I’ve known her for a week, Fen.”
His friend put his food back on the plate, eyebrows raised at him. “You don’t think she’s marriageable?”
“She’s very marriageable,” Rowan defended himself, two hands up in surrender. It was curious how protective Fenrys was of Aelin, so he asked, “Do you think she’s marriageable?”
“Very much, yes.”
Interesting. “Do you wish you were one of her suitors, Fen?”
He snorted. “Fuck, no. I mean, she’s great, but I’m not in love with her or anything like that.”
“My point exactly.”
Yes, Rowan would love to get to know her better and see where it goes, but he’s not marrying Aelin after knowing her for a week. Especially not after finally fleeing from his royal duties.
“Bullshit.” Fenrys had a shit-eating grin on. “You’re half in love with her already.”
Lies. Rowan was approximately one-fourth in love with her. Half in love was too much for a week. Aelin was incredible, and she definitely fucked him like he expected his future wife to do, but it was too much too soon.
He wanted to get to know her better, wait until the thought of not having her by his side was absolutely unbearable; then, he could see himself popping the question. Not in a storage closet, and out of a sweeter sort of desperation.
Rowan liked her—way too much. It was even safe to say that he was smitten, as much as he hated this word. But apart from a title he barely had, Rhoe also wanted an amount of money invested in Gala Airlines that Rowan definitely didn’t have.
He wasn’t a proper suitor, he didn’t feel ready to marry her so soon, but if he let this go, he’d lose her—it’d be torture to fall in love with someone else’s wife.
After objectively explaining his thoughts on the matter to Fenrys, the man sighed as if he carried the world on his shoulders.
“Fucking Mala, do I have to do everything around here?!”
Rowan tilted his head, trying to understand his friend’s distress. “What—“
Fenrys held up a hand to shut him up, halfway out the kitchen already. “Just leave it with me.”
˜˜
Fenrys’ POV
The next day, Fenrys got to work to a full desk of poorly-wrapped gifts.
He called his co-worker instantly. “Seriously, Lor?”
Lorcan grunted, already knowing what this is about. “Not my job, Pup.”
He groaned, getting to work before work even started. Every single one of Aelin’s packages were to be checked before sent to her, but would it kill Lorcan to re-wrap the gifts nicely? You don’t send a half-closed Louboutin shoebox because you won’t bother to fit the shoes back in nicely, for Mala’s sake.
Fenrys works like a dog day and night, and does everyone ever recognize it? Absolutely not. His coworkers thought he had it easy because he let Aelin do things she wasn’t supposed to. As if. Guarding her regularly was hard, but imagine trying to protect a heiress gone rogue.
While he worked on the gifts, Fenrys did a little inspection to check which ones she’d like, and which ones would give her the ick. He removed the cards from the few ones that would certainly be her favorites.
Brimmed with designer bags, he managed the stairs to Aelin’s room, but had to knock on the door with his feet. “A package awaits your reception, Your Highness!”
When Aelin opened the door, her smile faltered as she notices the gifts—or who they were from. She opened one by one before asking, “The ones without the name tag?”
He grinned. “You’ll have to guess, Princess.”
From the way her eyes lit up, Fenrys made a mental note to slap Rowan later. He was penniless, yes, but he needed to up his game asap.
Fenrys cleared his throat. “I won’t be available for brunch today, but I’m sure Lorcan will love to gossip over macarons with you,” he joked.
“Oh.” Aelin frowned. “What’re you up to?”
“Just something I need to fix.”
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Detours to You - 18
Hello all,
I have a surprise for you with chapter 18. It has some fluff and Maya has a really great day.
MASTERLIST
The following morning Aelin went to work with the biggest smile on her face. The previous night with Rowan had felt like a massive milestone in their evolving relationship. Nothing had happened yet, although her body screamed for him. The constant ache for him was driving her insane but she knew Rowan was not fully ready yet and even if their kisses had definitely passed the PG stage, Aelin was going to wait for him. They had been apart five years, surely she could tell her hormones to wait a bit longer.
When she walked into the shop Aelin found a cheery Lysandra preparing the bookstore for opening.
“Look at you all happy, miss engaged woman.”
Lysandra walked towards her waving a book “and look at your big smile, were you naughty with Rowan last night? Did you have hot steamy sex with him?”
Aelin paused “No, we had our date in his office. He had to stay behind to deal with the aftermath of the fire at the waterfront.”
Silence.
“I read the news.”
“Yeah, he lost three firefighters and there is a whole massive investigation because the captain messed up.”
Lysandra gave her a hug “How is he?”
“He has Maya for the day and he is taking her to his old firehouse. I think he needs it.”
“Elide said that Lorcan was in a bad mood too.”
As if summoned, Elide arrived a few minutes later and she had the same strained expression that Aelin had.
“Good morning to you too, El.”
The woman dumped the bag on the floor “Good shitty morning to all of you.”
“I know the feeling.”
“Can we have a nice day in the shop and have fun?”
Lysandra hugged them both “we need an event.”
Aelin nodded “I agree, it’s after the holidays and we all need cheering up.”
“Good then, let’s open up and start planning.”
*
Rowan was in his pickup truck with Maya happily chatting at the back.
She had asked him to see a firehouse and on her last day of winter school holidays he had promised to take her with him. He had to visit station 15 anyway for reports from the day before and it was also a good excuse to have Maya with him for the morning.
“Dad can I sit on the truck?”
Rowan chuckled “we can ask the guys at the station to let you climb on.”
“Yes!”
They arrived ten minutes later and Rowan parked against the wall just outside the apron in a place not in the way of the vehicles. He freed Maya and hand in hand they walked in.
As they walked in the apparatus floor he watched her expression morph in amazement when she noticed engine and truck parked up.
“Dada they are big.” Her voice dreamy.
“Morning chief.” Asterin’s voice, the resident paramedic, reached them “Hi Maya, remember me?” asked the woman as she kneeled.
“Yes you helped me and mama after the fire.”
Rowan chuckled. Ach well, at least it wasn’t a total negative memory.
As if alerted by the voices, the rest of the firehouse filed in and Rowan turned towards the group of people and lifted Maya in his arms while the girl waved happily.
“Station 15, this morning we will have a guest of honour. My daughter Maya goes back to school tomorrow but she asked to visit a real firehouse so she is tagging along.”
Brullo stepped up and went to him “Good morning muffin, do you remember me?”
“Yes.” Rowan happily passed his daughter to the man while he took it as an opportunity to talk to Lorcan“How are you holding up?”
“Besides the fact that I am pissed? That Perrington’s irresponsibility lead to three of us dying? And the man still thinks he was right.” The dark-haired man growled “He punched me when I told him he had fucked up. He benched Borte when she challenged him. I tried to take over before you arrived on the scene but he claimed that his unit had arrived before us so it was his scene.” His hand carded in his long hair “he sent people in without a plan, without knowing where the active fire was, how many people. He just sent them in randomly.”
“I know, Lorcan. I have a pile of reports on my desk and I will have the investigation launched as soon as I can. He will likely be fired from the TFD.”
Lorcan exhaled “The bastard should not have been a firefighter in the first place, you remember him at the academy, right?”
Rowan growled “He was a joke. And the old chief promoting him to captain was a bigger joke.”
The two men remained in silence and Rowan took the opportunity to watch his daughter being passed on from firefighter to the other and having the time of her life.
He looked at his daughter having fun with Fenrys “She is having fun.”
“Elide and I are trying.” Confessed Lorcan almost embarrassed.
Rowan turned at his friend “look at you. Elide really did a job on you.”
Fenrys had taken Maya for her official tour with Brullo and Ansel and Maya had been fascinated at seeing a woman firefighter.
“Do you want to see the truck?”
“Yes!”
Fenrys placed her on his shoulder and they walked around the vehicle, opened all the compartment and showed her all the tools. Brullo then opened the driver’s doors “wanna sit on it?”
The girl smiled and he climbed on the vehicle while Fenrys passed her to him.
She sat happily behind the wheel and pretended to drive “Dada look, I am driving.”
Rowan joined them and took a picture of his daughter, then grabbed a bunker jacket that was hanging on the door and placed on her shoulders, looking gigantic on her.
Soon after Ansel stole the little girl and carried her to the engine “Engine is more fun.” Added the woman while climbing with the little girl on top of the vehicle and sitting on all the hoses.
Ansel placed a plastic helmet on the girl’s head and then passed her the nozzle of a hose and together they pretended to fight a fire “Dad look, I am a firefighter!”
Rowan looked up and saw Maya on top of the engine laughing happily with Ansel. He had no doubts that the two would get along well.
Rowan filled his phone with his daughter’s pictures until Asterin came to claim the girl “My turn,” said Asterin, taking the girl’s hand “want to see the ambulance?”
“Yes!”
Asterin took Maya to her vehicle and opened the back “I am a paramedic, and in the ambulance we treat people.”
“Like you did with mama and me at the fire.”
“Yes, we look after people.”
“I want to be a pamamedic.”
Asterin laughed “I am sure your dad will be happy to hear it.”
However the morning fun got cut short when dispatch alarm went off and they all had to scramble.
Rowan quickly ran to Asterin and picked up Maya and as they stepped aside he explained her what was happening and Maya waved them goodbye.
“Dada that was so cool.”
“It was.”
“I want to be a pamamedic, dad.”
Rowan smiled “Do you?”
“Yes, I want to help people.”
He lifted Maya high up and then kissed her on her cheeks “That is a beautiful idea, my love.”
Rowan collected the reports from Lorcan’s office and then took Maya back to Aelin.
At the shop he found Aelin and the other two ladies busy with customers “Looks like mum is really busy today.”
Maya wiggled free from her dad and ran to the children’s section. Lysandra intercepted the girl and Elide walked to him.
“Having a busy day?”
“Yes, it’s good and we are planning an event too.”
“That is brilliant.”
Elide smiled “Did she have fun at the firehouse?”
“She had a blast and now she wants to be a paramedic.”
“That is great.”
He nodded “yes, I was terrified that she might want to be a firefighter,” he paused “not that I would stop her from doing something she loves but I am relieved. Being a paramedic is at least safer.”
Elide brushed her hand on his arm “I know. Lorcan’s job terrifies me. Yesterday I was watching the news and…” a ragged breath left her lungs “until he answered his phone I felt as if I was suffocating.”
Rowan pulled the woman to his side to offer comfort “Lorcan was amazing last night. He got punched to stop a man who almost risked his entire company.”
“I am proud of him.”
Aelin reached them a moment later “Morning,” Rowan stooped and gave her a gentle kiss “Maya had a great morning.”
“I heard, she was telling Lys that she wants to be a paramedic now.”
Rowan smiled “Yes, Asterin gave her a tour of the ambulance and she loved it.”
In that instant Rowan’s radio became alive “I need to go.”
Aelin kissed him “stay safe, please.”
He waved at Maya and Lysandra and rushed out of the shop.
“So nothing happened last night, eh?”
She smiled “I think we are getting there.”
“You might be the next couple who gets married.”
Aelin smiled “Not yet, El. For now I am taking him not being mad at me anymore. For now I am happy that he allows me in his life and lets me love him back.” A sigh “we are being given a second chance and I am not rushing him.”
“You seem so much happier, though. And Maya…” they both turned to the little girl “she is thriving.”
Aelin nodded. She had been right to fear how Maya would react at having a dad. It could have gone either way and apart from a moment during which she suffered because her and Rowan kept fighting, now she was happy again.
“So? How’s the baby making business going?” She changed the subject quickly.
Elide laughed “Oh it has its perks.”
“Oh I can totally imagine how cumbersome must be to have nightly sex with your hot husband.”
“I had no idea how hard it actually was to try and have a kid. The tracking and planning and all.”
Aelin chuckled “Sometimes all you need to do is to forget the condom and just go for it.”
She remembered the night that lead to Maya’s conception. She and Rowan had gone out to dinner and then a classical concert. She had worn a dress that had been driving Rowan insane the whole night. They had barely kept their cool in the car, and as soon they had crossed the threshold of their flat it had been crazy passion.
“Is that the Whitethorn-Galathynius way?”
“All I am saying, less planning and just have fun?”
Elide nodded “we can surely try.”
“Good.”
They joined Lysandra and Maya and Aelin and her daughter decided to revamp the fantasy section.
*
Rowan drove back to his work and prepared himself for another day of reports and to work on the investigation. On his floor he entered his office hall and saw Lyria sitting at her desk.
“Morning, Chief.” Her tone cold. She passed him a few folders “you had a few phone calls, I noted down the names.”
“Thank you.”
“So, is the wife coming to disrupt your work today?”
Rowan’s head turned abruptly “excuse me?”
“Chief, she bursts in your office unannounced and never with an appointment. This is a workplace and she has no respect.”
“Aelin can come and visit whenever she wants unless I am in a meeting. She is…” he paused “She is allowed in and I do not want to hear any other complaints.”
“Fine, chief.” His secretary almost growled and slammed some documents on the desk “fine. Be happy with your perfect wife and perfect daughter.”
He stepped closer “Lyria, my personal life is none of your business. We are colleagues. If I ever gave you any indication of anything else, I am sorry, but I am in love with another woman.” He took another step closer “You are a great secretary and I am grateful for all your help, but colleagues is all we are.”
The woman nodded “It’s okay, chief,” a pause “I am sorry how I reacted, I had no place for being jealous.”
“It’s fine, as long as we are clear on this.”
“Copy that, chief.”
He nodded and disappeared in his office where a pile of reports was awaiting him. He dumped the other one he got from Lorcan and started to work on the fire of the previous day. He had also organise the funeral for the three firefighters. It was one of the worst aspects of his job. In his long career he had seen far too many firefighters die in the line of duty but nothing hurt as much as seeing three of them be killed because of incompetence. It was not fair. Any of them knew of the risks when signed up for the job. But not for this. Not that meaningless waste of life. He knew station three was a problem, he had been working on it since day two on the job. The previous chief had ignored all the complaints that had come from the lieutenant because she was a woman. One who had proved herself to be a fantastic firefighter. Perrington had so many complaints against him that he should have been dismissed a very long time ago and not put in a position of harming people. Appointing Borte as captain was one of the first things he was going to do as soon as he had filed all of his reports. Borte was a respected firefighter and had the support of the team.
The TFD needed change and it was his job to push for it.
To make sure that no one else would die because of negligence.
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Ok so this really weird but I was listening to Uptown funk and I imagined Aelin, Dorian, Lys, Cassian, Mor and Fenrys just dancing wildly to it at a party while everyone else was watching so uh... that?
why do i love this so much? thank you thank you thank you
word count: 1,387
warnings: language, alcohol, general chaos
enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Velaris University Illyrians were one hell of a party crowd.
Every time the Illyrians played the University of Orynth Staghorns, the two teams and the students who came to Orynth for the game always, without fail, ended up at one or more parties together, laughing and drinking and just generally having a whole lot of fun. The Illyrians brought cases of their city’s finest cheap beer, stuff that somehow was completely different from Orynth’s finest cheap beer and yet completely the same, the slightly sour taste lingering long enough that people tended to wash it away with a few sips (or gulps) of whatever jungle juice was available.
And everyone, Illyrian or Staghorn, knew that Lorcan Salvaterre made the best jungle juice.
Aelin had absolutely no idea what the hell Lorcan put into his concoction, just that even a single cup of the stuff had her giggly and giddy. And extra handsy. Which Rowan never seemed to mind, gripe though he would about the hangover she’d undoubtedly have. Never stopped him from taking the best care of her when she very much was hungover, though.
“Cass!” she squealed excitedly, the buzz of the three Jello shots she, Lys, Dorian, and Fenrys had already taken zipping through her veins. “You’re late!”
“Am I?” Cassian Ilnair smirked, wrapping her into a big hug. He’d always been affectionate, it had only gotten worse as he grew up, smothering Aelin in big man hugs and ruffling her hair like she was a child. She smacked him. “Yes, Cass, you’re late. And three Jello shots behind.”
“Shit,” he laughed. “Catch me the hell up, then.”
“Gladly,” Fenrys grinned, pushing three Jello shots at him.
Cass downed the shots in rapid succession, wiping off his mouth on the back of his hand and slinging one arm around Aelin. “Where’s Lorcan’s punch?”
“Christ,” she snorted. “You trying to get blacked out tonight?”
“He doesn’t have to try,” Nesta Archeron cut in, appearing on Cass’s other side and rolling her eyes at Aelin. “And he knows he’ll be sleeping wherever he collapses if and when he passes out.” She dropped a little kiss on her boyfriend’s cheek. “Right, Cass?”
“Wicked woman,” he grumbled, squeezing her waist nonetheless. “All right, sweetheart, I’ll stay awake.”
“Sure,” Nesta laughed, peeling off to grab herself a drink.
“Jungle juice!” crowed a triumphant voice from a few yards away.
Cassian barreled towards the voice, whooping. “Morrigan, you are a savior,” he declared, taking a healthy gulp of Lorcan’s concoction.
“Yeah, the savior of the not-yet-hammered,” Aelin snorted, accepting a red Solo cup from the other blonde. “Thank god you’re here, Mor, these idiots are starting to get boring.”
Mor tapped her cup against Aelin’s. “How much d’you think it’ll take them to start karaoke?” she asked, winking broadly.
“Hardly anything,” Aelin cackled. “The second Fen hears a song he likes, he’ll be up there grabbing the mic, not giving a shit that he can’t sing.”
A new song came over the speakers just then, the pounding bass thrumming through the whole house. Lys squealed, dragging Fen and Cassian towards the dancefloor.
“C’mon, bitches!” she yelled.
Aelin drained her drink, tossed her empty cup, and followed, Dorian and Mor close beside her, already yell-singing along at the top of their lungs.
Rowan, meanwhile, sipped from his beer and shook his head as he watched his girlfriend almost trip as she wove through the dancing crowd, definitely tipsy though she’d never admit it.
Fenrys grabbed Aelin as soon as she’d made her way to her friends, shouting the lyrics with great tone-deaf gusto, his eyes already glazed.
“Fuck, Fen, how many drinks have you had?” she yelled over the thumping bass, laughing at him.
“Don’t fuckin’ know!” he yelled back, grinning broadly. “Does it matter?”
She could only howl with half-drunk laughter, sharing an eye roll with Lys and Cass, both of whom had definitely been giving Fen more alcohol.
The thumping electronic music switched to the familiar, pounding intro to “Uptown Funk,” and Lys’s squeal echoed in Aelin’s ears.
“Fuck yeah!” she shrieked, clapping along. “I love this song!”
“Me too!” Mor squealed, yanking Cass with one hand and Lys with the other, dragging them all into some sort of circle as they all danced to the beat, screaming the lyrics.
Dorian produced a flask from gods knew where, passing it around as he slurred his way through the song, the words becoming incoherent as the flask returned to him. He hiccupped, his movements becoming wilder. “UPTOWN FUNK IT UP!” he howled, his hips gyrating.
“UPTOWN FUNK IT UP!!” the others bellowed back, their voices joining everyone else’s on the dancefloor as all the tipsy, half-drunk, and drunk students in the place screamed along to the Bruno Mars song, alcohol and high spirits overflowing in the space.
Aelin was hardly aware of how she was moving, just that she was enjoying the fucking hell out of this party, dancing with her friends and drinking shitty Jello shots and Lorcan’s punch, singing along to that damn song like it was the best thing she’d ever heard. Her hands waved wildly in the air as she shouted the lyrics, jumping and swaying and generally having a hell of a time.
Rowan finished his beer, fondly shaking his head at Aelin’s wild dancing, at the way her head tipped back in laughter as she and the others danced wildly, drunkenly, singing and yelling and laughing at Dorian and Fen’s increasingly sexual drunken dancing.
“Just get a fucking room,” Lorcan grumbled, draining his cup.
Rowan snorted. “You know they won’t.”
“Fuckin’ idiots,” Lorcan scoffed. “They both know nobody gives a shit if they go upstairs.”
“They’re just too stupid to act on it,” Nesta added knowingly.
“So get them drunker,” Lorcan smirked. “That should do the trick.”
“Nah, they should do the trick,” Nesta snickered.
Rowan coughed, laughing despite himself at the terrible joke. “That was awful, Archeron.”
“And funny, ‘cause you’re tipsy,” she grinned triumphantly. “C’mon, Whitethorn, a little laughing won’t hurt you.”
“Shut up,” he grumbled.
“Checkmate, Whitethorn,” Nesta crooned. “Now if you two hulking statues will excuse me, my hammered boyfriend is about to fall the fuck over and I’m gonna yell at him.”
A moment later, she was at Cassian’s side, yelling something into his ear over the blaring music. Aelin couldn’t catch what she said, but it made Cassian, who’d indeed been about to collapse, stand up and wrap an arm around Nesta, slurring something into her ear. Probably profane, judging from the way her ears flared red.
“Don’let Fen pash out again!” Cass hollered as Nesta all but dragged him away, stumbling over his own feet.
“Too late for that!” Aelin giggled, still dancing the night away with her friends.
Who were gradually starting to disappear, either to get more drinks or to slip towards the stairs, as she saw Mor do, hand in hand with...Lys? With someone else following them?
Well, Lys would certainly have a few things to share when she got home.
Aelin danced along with Fen and Dorian for another couple of songs, their dancing getting more and more wild, turning into stumbling and swaying and yelling along to the songs. She knew Rowan was watching her from the side, his ever-alert gaze tracking the way she moved.
Hence why she put extra sway into her hips.
It only took the overbearing buzzard a minute or two to slide his strong arms around her waist, molding his hips against hers. One of her arms reached back, sliding behind his head, her fingers tangling in his hair.
“Took you long enough,” she slurred, rotating her hips in a slow circle against his, feeling the way he...reacted press into her ass.
“I like to draw it out,” he purred into her ear, the hand on her waist possessive, burning through the thin fabric of her top.
“Fuck,” she mumbled, eyes fluttering shut as she let him guide her movements, grinding her against him.
He chuckled, low and smoky, into her hair. “Ready to get out of here, baby?” Punctuating his words with a brazen squeeze of her breast.
“Yes,” she panted, arousal rushing to her core. “Gods, yes.” And gods yes would she be enjoying the afterparty she and Rowan were no doubt going to have.
~~~
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The 50-yard Line
Masterlist
written for day 7 of @elorcanweek2022
a/n: not edited, sorry if it sucks- i’m trying to get back into the groove of writing. i had this sitting in my drafts for months and elorcan week finally pushed me to finish. also side note cause i just wanted to tell someone: i actually wrote this on paper to get the ideas flowing and it kinda worked!! but it was a pain in the ass to type so i don’t know how i feel about the method. anyways, hope you enjoy :)
wordcount: 2.8k
~ ~ ~
“Salvaterre! Whitethorn! Get your asses on the line!”
Lorcan Salvaterre rolled his eyes at the senior screaming instructions: Erawan Valg. The guy had it all: the ladies, the popularity, the money, not to mention he was the captain of the football team (but did it count if it was because his dad was the coach? Lorcan didn’t think so). But, Lorcan mused to himself, he’d rather be a broke virgin loser than be stuck with a personality as vile as that.
Lorcan wobbled as he stood up from where he was taking his water break between sprints, feeling like a newborn fawn on a ship caught in a storm. Fuck, he would definitely need an ice bath when he got home. Erawan was not taking it easy on the rest of the team today. Maybe he had some issues with his daddy dearest, the coach. Seeing how hard it was considering it was only week two of the season, Lorcan couldn’t say he was particularly excited for the rest of the season, no matter how much he loved playing.
Football was his way out of this small town. Rowan may have had the brains but for Lorcan, he honestly couldn’t give a shit about academics. That was definitely not his calling, as made evident by his grades. People would always say he couldn’t amount to anything, a foster kid bouncing around in the system, house to house. At least Rowan had a future, they said. Well, he was determined to prove them wrong.
Rowan and Lorcan had been adopted together at 10 after staying together in the system since they were 6, both boys facing traumatic childhoods with Lorcan and his substance-addicted mother and Rowan with his emotionally and physically abusive aunt. Gavriel had adopted them. They would mock him, asking how much of a family could they be, a real family anyway, but Lorcan didn’t give a shit what people thought. He was happy, Rowan was happy, and his little family of three was happy, the third being Gavriel, their adoptive father. Apparently, the man had grown up in foster care as well and after the death of his wife and son, he decided to comply with his late wife’s wishes for him to adopt a child to give them a loving home and family, things both she and her husband didn’t have growing up. Gavriel saw Lorcan and Rowan and had seen himself in them, at least, that’s what it said in his journal. Lorcan hadn’t meant to snoop one day, he was just looking for a spare notebook he could use, but the juicy tidbit of gossip was just too good not to share with Rowan. Though Rowan pretended to be dismayed as to how Lorcan got the information, he knew that on the inside, the little gossiper would be having a field day at the minefield of information. They knew they could talk to Gavriel about anything, it was just more exciting this way.
That had been 6 years ago when little Lorcan’s biggest concern was if Gavriel would return them to the foster home like an ill-fitting pair of jeans. Now, his concerns were football and college. Bemoaning the hour of ‘optional’ practice they surely had left, Lorcan turned towards the bleachers, suddenly distracted by the recognizably familiar pair of blood-red converse. There was only one person at this school with those shoes. Shaky legs and exhaustion forgotten, Lorcan jogged up to Erawan and his right-hand man Duke Perrington to ask for a break to use the bathroom. Sent off with a careless wave and some crude joke Lorcan didn’t care to hear, he turned with a huge grin that was an accurate representation of how his heart felt at seeing Elide Lochan.
They had met at one of Aelin Galathynius’ birthday ragers, Lorcan only tagging along for his brother Rowan, the hopeless idiot crushing on Aelin. Lorcan had been in the corner, ignoring the piss-poor beer he was handed and lamenting his decision in letting Rowan drag him along when that bastard had left him for Aelin after she batted her lashes at him. Elide had been looking for a way to avoid Erawan, landing herself on his lap with a hurriedly whispered ‘Please play along’ before pressing her lips to his. They kissed awkwardly for a while, Lorcan only putting his hands on her thighs when she placed them there before Elide was sure Erawan had gotten the message. They escaped to one of the spare bedrooms upstairs to further cement their lie for Erawan with an explanation from Elide and they’d spent the rest of the night talking to each other. They had had more in common than Lorcan had originally thought when passing her in the halls. She was sharp, funny, and so unbelievably gorgeous. Elide had asked that they take it slow and casually after Lorcan accidentally blurted out a rushed ‘Willyoubemygirlfriend?” but Hellas damn him if it wasn’t the hardest thing in the world for him. He should’ve known then that he was falling hard, and fast.
Lorcan ran behind the bleachers as fast as he could when he left the captain’s vision and was rewarded by a short but sweet kiss from Elide. They were quickly cut off by Lorcan’s breathless pants, something he swore was from the running, not from seeing his crush. Elide took one last hit of her joint before putting it out, all too aware of Lorcan’s aversion to all drugs and substances after both of his parents died of accidental overdoses. Granted, it had been crack, not marijuana prescribed for her bad ankle, that Lorcan’s parents had taken, but Elide never wanted to do anything that made Lorcan uncomfortable. She was developing a soft spot for her fuck-buddy, actually.
“Hey sport,” Elide muttered in a husky voice that made Lorcan lose his mind every time.
“Hi, El-” Lorcan started to greet her before being cut off by the taste of her cherry lip gloss on her lips as she pressed them to his. A scent of cinnamon and elderberries that was so uniquely Elide enveloped him. The hour that had felt so long when he was conditioning now was over with a blink of an eye as Elide and Lorcan lost themselves in each other. Hot and sweaty from their make-out session and the late August heat, they were startled back to reality with the clattering of cleated feet plodding up the bleachers. Lorcan raised his head in alarm before cursing as he clonked his head on the bleachers. Elide let out a small giggle at the comical sight of a 6’5 (and growing) Lorcan squished under the bleachers with her 5’1 self.
Lorcan stepped out from their secret make-out spot and offered his hand to Elide to help her up when he was met with the leering grins of Erawan and Duke. Those fuckers. Elide led Lorcan away with a scoff towards the two seniors when Erawan’s voice echoed after them.
“Wow. That’s real slutty of you ‘lide. First that cheerleader witch, now the junior loser? What’s next, the trash? Seems that you’re getting pretty damn close to getting there.”
Elide growled, the sound intimidating yet sexy to Lorcan. “Fuck off, Valg. I don’t want to have to tell you again.”
“You could find yourself a real man here, Elide,” Erawan ignored her, digging deeper into his little stupidity pit. “I’ll be waiting for the day you regain your senses. We could rule the school.”
She rolled her eyes in response before continuing to drag Lorcan away with her, a storm cloud gathering above the both of them. Elide didn’t deserve the shit she got for not wanting to hook up with the biggest douchebag at their school, Lorcan thought. Unfortunately, Elide ran in similar circles with Erawan because of her friends, the icy head cheerleader Manon Blackbeak, the aforementioned ‘cheerleader bitch’ as well as Aelin Galathynius, her cousin and the rising freshman star of the soccer team from what he had heard. Combined with her status as a senior and a reputation for being one of the hottest yet hardest to get with girls at their school, according to a poll taken by the newspaper club at least, that meant she frequently ran into Erawan often at parties and therefore came face to face with his horrid attempts to woo her by talking down to her. Like Lorcan said earlier, he’d rather have nothing in the eyes of Erawan than have a personality like his.
Elide pulled Lorcan off to the side into an alcove between buildings where no one could see them. As a habit, she frantically pulled out a pre-rolled joint to weed before taking a long puff. Lost in his detailed imagining of revenge against Erawan (beating the shit out of him) on Elide’s behalf, not that she needed him to, Lorcan was startled back to reality with the smell of weed. With a groan, he pulled the joint out of an unsuspecting Elide’s hand before smashing it under his foot. Already braced for the harsh feedback, he was not surprised when the verbal lashing started.
“What the fuck was that for, asshole?”
Lorcan narrowed his eyes. “I asked you not to smoke that shit around me, El, and you agreed. Besides, you’re welcome for helping you not drop dead.”
“Oh my gods. We’re not doing this again. I’m not going to fucking die. It’s prescribed you big gargantuan moran. Mind your own business,” Elide muttered in a tone akin to the growl from before as she balled her fists up.
“Hell, I’m sorry for caring about your well-being. I thought we were friends. Or a thing. Or whatever?” Lorcan was met with Elide’s dick shriveling glare, as he liked to call it. Oh shit.
“Well then don’t fucking care about me. We’re not friends, we’re fuck-buddies. That’s all it is,” Elide spat out, the escalation of their argument surprising both of them. “I’ve had enough of this toxic male bullshit for today. Leave. Me. Alone.”
Lorcan scoffed bitterly, hurt by her sudden outburst. He hadn’t been trying to fight her, he genuinely was concerned for her but maybe this wasn’t the best way to show that. Whatever, he wasn’t about to cave now. “Well if that’s what you want, I’ll see you around.” Lorcan turned and walked out of the school towards where Gavriel’s car was waiting, forcing himself not to look back at the girl he had fallen in love with as he took each step.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*:☆ﾟ. ───
It had been about three weeks since ‘the incident’, as Lorcan liked to call it, and Elide still hadn’t called or texted. Or even looked in his general direction. Lorcan was more ashamed of himself than anything, trailing her like a lost puppy and taking long detours from class to class just to get a glimpse of her. He suspected the silence on her end had something to do with him labeling their relationship rather than their argument, especially with her known aversion to relationships. But then again, he could be wrong. Fuck, he just wasn’t sure anymore.
Miraculously, as if summoned by his tortured thoughts, Lorcan’s phone lit up with a text from a number he knows all too well.
my uncle left last night- come over and talk?
Lorcan typed, deleted, and re-typed different responses too many times as he tries to formulate a response that says ‘I wasn’t obsessing over you or chasing you like a lost puppy but I did think of you a little” while still being cool and suave. He gave up eventually and just settled on a simple ‘k’ before sending it off. Lorcan sighed. The things you do when you’re whipped for people.
Jolting out of bed to put on a pair of sweats, Lorcan jogged through their one-story house to the key rack. He cursed when he found the keys to the Range Rover he and Rowan shared missing. As Lorcan heard the unmistakable sound of an engine starting, Lorcan cursed again, letting out a few choice words. Today was Whitethorn’s date with Galathynius. Lorcan normally loved Aelin, Rowan’s girlfriend of 4 months after he finally brought up the courage and balls to ask her on a date. The ‘bitch queen’, as he nicknamed her affectionately, could give insults as good as she got and the two quickly became as thick and thieves after a short period of mutual antagonizing. Aelin made his brother happy and she was like a sister to him but Hellas be damned if she didn’t have the worst timing. This was his chance to finally confess to Elide how he felt after three weeks of agony and he was stuck with no ride to Elide’s place after an invitation there.
There would be no other choice than to run. Gavriel took his own car to work and he refused to ask Rowan to come back and drop him off. Now that he remembered, the bastard had been so excited for the date today, fucking humming some love song that had pushed Lorcan deep into his wallowing in misery. No matter how desperately he wanted to see Elide quickly, he couldn’t do that to his brother.
Half an hour, 2 bottles of water, and a lot of breaks later, Lorcan was finally at Elide’s grandiose house (or was it called a mansion?). Lorcan shot a text out to let Elide know he’s here so she doesn’t attack him thinking he’s an intruder before lifting the potted plant next to the door to find her spare key. As he walked up the familiar stairs where he had fucked Elide when her parents were away, he grinned at the memory before refocusing to find Elide and talk about whatever she wanted to talk about. He peered through the rooms he thought she would be in, before poking his head through Elide’s bedroom door last. Bingo.
Elide is furiously texting someone with lightning-fast thumbs as she’s hunched over her phone when Lorcan found her. He knocked on her door to let her know he was there and her head snaps up so quickly that he heard her neck crack. Lorcan winced. That had to hurt. Elide ignored the painful feeling of her back protesting her strained position to tell Lorcan the three words weighing on her since the day he walked away from their argument. Granted it had been because she told him to, but Elide knew it would kill her if he walked away from her like that again. Her heart was too involved for her to not care.
Lorcan began to speak, the words coming out too quickly to be actually considered words when Elide interrupts him.
“Lorcan, just please let me get this out. I know you care for me, and I care for you too, but I want more. I- I love you. A lot. I couldn’t stop thinking about you after our argument. I’m sorry for what I said that day, I didn’t mean a single thing I said. We are more than fuck buddies. You’re my best friend, and I love you. I felt so bad about how I lashed out but you were really pissing me off, but all I could think about as you left was the fact that I don’t care if you piss me off every single day for the rest of our lives. I just want to spend it with you.”
“Lochan. I don’t know what to say..” Lorcan trailed off, pouting before he grinned. “You stole my dramatic love confession. I’ve only loved you since the day we first met. I realized it that day during practice when I saw your converse from the 50-yard line. I’d never been so excited to see someone as I’m excited to see you every single day and all I could think was ‘Damn, I could do this for the rest of my life’. I’m sorry for the shit I said too, and for walking away. I promise you that I will never walk away from you again. We’ll always solve shit before leaving from now on, okay?”
Elide’s face went from worried to euphoric in a second. She threw her arms around him and hugged him with more strength than Lorcan thought she had. As Lorcan let out a booming laugh, Elide shrieked in surprise as he spun her around like she was his queen. Lorcan had never been so fucking happy in his entire life. The moment she told him that she loved him, it was like a missing puzzle piece in his heart finally clicked into place.
Maybe that 50-yard line when Lorcan had realized he loved Elide had something to do with all the magic he was feeling. He’d have to plan something there to commemorate it. Maybe a promposal? That was hilarious, Lorcan thought to himself. If you had told him a year ago, hell even a month ago, that he would be excited to go to prom, he would have laughed at you. But now? Now, he’d be ready for anything with Elide by his side.
~ ~ ~
tags
@perseusannabeth
@backtobl4ck
@autumnbabylon
@swankii-art-teacher
@cretaceous-therapod
@themoonthestarsthesuriel
@vinylcryes
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ToG Read-A-Long, Empire of Storms, day 5
Ch 29
Lysandra x Aedion is kind of interesting. She could probably have anyone she wants, with the ability to make herself look like anyone or anything, but I get the feeling that her ability would still take a tole on her, mentally. Like if Aedion is attracted to her, is it just because of the way her body looks? And what do looks matter, anyway, when she can change it with the blink of an eye?
I don’t really think she’s attracted to him, but maybe there is something between them. If they’re going to be together, it will just have to be based on love, instead of looks. And just based on this chapter I wouldn’t say I get the impression they have feelings of love for each other… but… they were purposefully trying to draw Rolfe out to a spooky abandoned alleyway, so maybe it wasn’t the most flattering depiction of what a Lysandra x Aedion relationship would be like.
Idk, I don’t really ship it, but maybe I can be convinced.
Ch 30
Elide and Lorcan are so perfect for my headspace right now. They have all the tropes. It’s fake dating, it’s only one bed. It’s “oops, my clothes are all at the laundry”
“You better wash your clothes, too, why should I be the only one who is naked”
If these two aren’t fucking by the end of this, I’ll be so shocked
GET A MOVE ON YOU TWO!
what are we waiting for!
I’ve been going through hell for the last five books!
Need!
Romance!
Ch 31
"It would have gotten me out of Doranelle. And we likely would have had far more fun, anyway. I know what a bastard Whitethorn can be when it comes to training."
Well I’m certain she would still have fallen for Rowan, but this guy’s pretty cute too. Maybe he’ll volunteer to help Dorian learn about his magic.
If they’re still worried that Maeve can lay claim on Aedion they really should get him to take the blood oath. Either to Aelin or to Rowan. But he should oath himself to somebody, so that he has a reason to deny her claim on him.
“What about a chimney?” Har har, you know Rowan would never lower himself to do such a thing. Why even bother teasing me?
Lol
You need to get to a bed or he won’t go past first base, baby.
(We’re definitely going to get a scene change next chapter)
(SJM… I’ve been so good…. Where’s my treat….)
Ch32
Alright, I think it’s valid for Aedion to feel conflicted about meeting daddy for the first time. It really isn’t easy, with everything he’s been through. A lot of emotions in this one.
How did I know Rowan would still hold out on going further with Aelin…. Lmao
Someday.
Someday, perhaps. It’s kind of hard to make time for love and sex and being happy when all this big scary stuff is on the horizon. They need to kill all the bad guys and save the world. I GET IT. I’m just sick of it, lol.
Ch33
”Despite herself, despite what she'd done, she decided she wanted Rowan to call her milady at least once every day.”
You’re his QUEEN, not his lady. Also gross, lol, anyone remember when nerdy guys started using the word “milady” like it was a flattering thing to call somebody. I have an immediate averse reaction to this term, lol. EW. Please don’t, Rowan.
“This war would not be won on smiles and manners.
It would be won by a woman willing to gamble with an entire island full of people to get what she needed to save them all.”
Good for you, Aelin!!!!
You killed it at the bluffing game! Rooting for you!
Ch34
Good for you, Lysandra!!!!
I feel like she’s stronger than ALL of them, right now. What would they do without her, and her amazing abilities to turn legend into lifelike depiction with her own body!
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Empire of Storms: Spoilers ahead…
- I have a lot of feelings when this book is concerned. There was so much but also heartbreak. So mich heartbreak!
- My feelings toward Aedion didn‘t change they just got bigger. I love him. He has sometimes a weird sense of honor and can ger frustrated very easily. He has so many redeeming qualities. I was definitely a goner after his speech to Lysandra on the beach in Skull‘s Bay. Come on that was just amazing! His rage was ao justified in the end when Aelin was taken and Rowan and Lysandra explained their plan with her shifting into Aelin. He deserves better. I really am rooting for Aedion and Lysandra but they have a lot of work to do.
- Dorian‘s behaviour sometimes struck me as weird. Don‘t get me wrong I love him but sometimes he was weird. At least I think he is coping okay with the whole aftermatch of his Valg possession. The whole dynamic between him and Manon *chef‘s kiss* i wanted more! I need more! I am absolutely not okay with the whole either Aelin or Dorian have to sacrifice themselves for the greater good… What I definitely loved sooo much is that he left with the witches. Just saying phantom hands… that‘s hot
- speaking of Manon what a story she had. I mean I disliked her grandmother anyway but now it‘s on sight with that bitch. Come on!! Order Asterin‘s execution?! That really shook me and made me very anxious especially because there were chapters from the others pov. In between! For a hot second there i was very scared that Manon would die. I think I haven‘t been this happy for characters to meet like i was when Abraxos dropped Manon near Aelin, Dorian and the rest. Her heritage was also a shock. It makes so much sense now why her grandmother hated her mom so much and why she treated Manon like she did. Again I need more of Manon and Dorian
- So I was hoping for a lot of happy moments for Elide well… there were some happy and wholesome moments but the whole thing ended in my heart being shattered!!! She is an absolute badass. She knew someone was tracking her, she killed some of those Ilken and then she broke through Lorcan‘s hard shell. Their dynamic is fantastic and I was so happy when they kissed in the stone marshes. The way she begged Maeve, Lorcan and Manon to do anything made me so sad but I was also so proud of her. She really is becoming her own strong person. I really want her and Lorcan to patch everything up. Is that so much to ask for?
- well Lorcan is such goner. He has it bad for Elide and I am soooo here for it. He went through so much character development. It was shitty of him to summon Maeve because then everything went from „we have a great team here“ to „what kind of fucking bullshit is this“ I understand his motive. He did it because he was scared that anything would happen to Elide. It was still shitty as fuck. Now he really needs to patch things up and help Rowan find Aelin. Him being released from the blood oath is great even though it may hurts him right now it is a good thing.
- Lysandra is a badass and I love her. She just needs to patch things up with Aedion and then I can be happy again! That is all I‘m going to say. She is amazing and I love her so much!
- Prince Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius is amazing. He is such a good dude! He is there to protect and help. The way he got his cousins to help against Maeve armada. The way he asked where his wife was fucking chills! He is it and i want one for myself please…
- Aelin is great but to be honest I get a bit sick of her constant scheming. I know it is her thing and she doesn‘t want to burden anyone with it but still maybe she should just tell them of some of her plans. Complete shock when we found out that she has to sacrifice her life to save them all. I am not okay with that. And then she also surrendered to save Elide it got me. It really did. The only thing that gives me hope is that Fenrys is there with her. He can try to help her in some way and get her away. She is so strong.
- All in all I really enjoyed the book. I thought Queen of shadows was great (which it is) but this book is also great! I kind of don‘t want to read Tower of Dawn now with that cliffhanger. I really hope the next on is not as bad as some people say. Chaol is not my favourite person sometimes I really disliked him. Please tell me the book has some good parts…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
#crown of midnight#sarah j mass#throne of glass#celaena sardothien#heir of fire#the assassin’s blade#manon blackbeak#aedion ashryver#aelin fireheart#rowan x aelin#rowan whitethorn#manon x dorian#dorian havilliard#aedion x lysandra#lysandra#aelin galathynius#elide lochan#elide x lorcan#lorcan salvaterre#fenrys#gavriel#asterin blackbeak#queen of shadows#empire of storms
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Kingdom of Ash
Lucy can’t come to the phone right now… why?…. Cause she’s bawling her eyes out
I literally sobbed and ugly cried through bits of this book. The anticipation I had for this book was astounding and definitely lived up to its hype. Some of these notes I wrote as I was reading the book, some of them are from after I finished it
- Just imagining the bit where Rowan comes crashing out the window as if it was a movie/tv show…. Why has this series not been turned into one yet?!?
- “There couplings were brief and savage. Teeth and nails and snarling. And not just from Manon.” So Dorian is into the kinky stuff 😉😉😉
- “I didn’t crawl after maeve” “ I crawled after aelin” Lorcan is so misunderstood I just want my man to catch a break honestly 😭
- I love Sartaq, there’s just something about him that has me swooning
- Lorcan taking the blood oath to Aelin because he wants to be close to Elide 😭😭
- “Aedion is my pride” IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE
- Elide telling Lorcan she wouldn’t care if he died but then
- Elide rides across the field to FIND LORCAN BEFORE THE DAM COLLAPSES AND SAVES HIM
- Aelin using her power to stop the water, yasss that’s MY queen
- I’m honestly simping so hard for elorcan they have me in a chokehold
- Aedion talking to Evangeline before they go into battle, dude the tear ducts just exploded. I love the relationship between these two and like even though the world is falling apart around them he still has the strength to give her courage and hope that they will make it out alive
- “She had never had a brother, or a father. She hasn’t yet decided which one she would like Aedion to be.” My heart
- “Bring our people home Manon.”
- In my last post about empire of storms I said I hope Manon and the thirteen get a happy ending. Update: they did not
- I’m not going into this further at the moment because I will turn into a blubbering mess 😭
- Gavriel and Aedion reuniting only for Gavriel to DIE. I’m shattered
- I’m gonna have to call in sick to work because I honestly am so emotional
- “I think you might be my mate” AHHHHH FUCK
- Lorcan giving up his immortality for Elide omg 😭😭
- Elide coming up with the idea to defeat Erawan was so amazing and cunning I’m so proud of her, her development through these books has been my favourite by far
- So happy Aedion finally got to swear the blood oath to Aelin, and even in death she did the same for Gavriel
- Lord Lorcan Lochan. Has a nice ring to it 😉
- All of these characters went through hell and back, showed that it’s okay not to be okay and that with the right people behind you, you can accomplish anything
- Props to SJM for writing from like 10 different perspectives and making it flow
- I need to know what happens next for Dorian and Manon. Does she visit him? Do they get married? Like I need answers
I will admit it took me a while to get through the first few books but I’m so glad I stuck it out. Overall i enjoyed this book, and I’ll probably reread the series again soon
I love the feelings a good book can make you feel 🥰
#aedion ashryver#lysandra ennar#sjm books#aelin galythinius#lorcan salvaterre#kingdom of ash#elorcan#rowan whitethorn#dorian havilliard#chaol westfall#yrene towers#manon crochan#nesryn x sartaq#gavriel#fenrys moonbeam#throne of glass#elide lochan#terrasen
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Rowaelin Month - Day 3
prompt: a secret relationship
extras: multiple povs
cw: one very brief mention of nsfw topics
word count: 3k
--
Fenrys knows his friends think of him as the joker of the group, and yeah he is hilarious, but there’s more to him than that. He can read the room, can pick up on the subtleties of whichever of his friends might need one of his jokes more than others on any given day. It’s a skill that makes him observant, watchful of people, and he notices things.
He’s not sure if Rowan and Aelin think they’re being subtle, and he’s not sure which of his other friends have picked up on the same things he has, but he’s pretty sure Aelin and Rowan are sleeping together.
He’s not completely sure, he doesn’t have any concrete evidence and they still act normally in the group, but he knows what he saw on the night of Elide’s birthday. He and Rowan have lived together for years and Aelin has crashed at theirs any number of times before but, until that night, she’d never emerged from Rowan’s bedroom the morning after wearing one of his t-shirts.
The material had completely drowned her. The short sleeves had hung to her elbows and the hem had been well down her thighs. She’d seemed somewhat… sneaky as she’d crept into their kitchen in search of coffee.
He knows not to read too much into things, friends share clothes all the time. He’s lost many hoodies to the collective wardrobe owned by their group of friends and he’s still pissed at Lorcan who he knows still has his The Cadre t-shirt from the gig they had attended a few years ago.
What Fenrys also knows is that friends don’t stand at the kitchen counter, holding the neckline of their friend’s shirt to their nose and grinning like an idiot.
He needs to speak to Aedion.
Elide has been friends with Aelin for years and that is more than long enough to know she’s almost always guaranteed to be late to their coffee dates. She’s not bothered, it gives her a few extra minutes to sip away at her own coffee reading her book with the general hum of the coffee shop lulling her into a comfortable rest.
It’s not long before her friend breezes into the coffee shop, the bell above the door ringing and signalling her entrance. It’s very Aelin, her entrance. The wind sweeps in fluffing her golden waves and her steps are full of purpose as she strides towards Elide.
“Sorry I’m late.” Aelin all but throws herself into the seat opposite Elide, smiling a bright smile for the relatively early morning they’re sharing.
“Don’t worry about it,” Elide says, finishing off her final swig of her first coffee. “Want me to go and get our drinks?”
“No, Ellie,” Aelin says, waving her hand. “First one’s on me. I was late, I’ll make it up to you.”
Aelin squeezes her hand before breezing back out of her seat.
She’s back only a couple of minutes later, finally relaxing into the large armchair she occupies. “So, what’s new with you?”
“Nothing much,” Elide shrugs. “Work is tough but nothing I didn’t expect.”
“I’m sure you’re smashing it,” Aelin says with a grin, then places her hand against her chest. “My little Elide, registered nurse taking the world by storm.”
Elide smiles, it feels good to hear those words, after all the sleepless nights and sweat and tears she’s finally where she wants to be.
Aelin continues, “You’re not pushing yourself too hard are you?”
“No,” she says and it’s the truth. “And even if I was, Lorcan is being wonderful.”
Aelin fake gags and Elide shoots her a mostly joking glare. “I find that hard to believe.”
“He is,” she says, thinking of the bath he had drawn her the night before and the massage he’d given her when she complained of her feet aching.
Aelin shifts in her seat as she nods along and the neck of her t-shirt slips down to reveal the ghost of a hickey on her friend’s collarbone. Elide raises an eyebrow.
Aelin looks down before grinning wickedly.
“Anything new with you?”
Aelin’s answer is interrupted by the arrival of their coffees in the hands of a handsome waiter.
“A large mocha,” he says and Elide raises a hand, “and a large cappuccino with cinnamon.”
Aelin raises her own hand. The waiter sets their drinks down, his eyes lingering on Aelin for a minute before he slowly backs away.
“Enjoy,” he says, his eyes still locked on Aelin. “Let me know if you need anything.”
He turns with a wink and Elide raises her other brow at her friend.
“Are you going to get his number?”
Aelin shakes her head. “Not today.”
Elide hums a response before leaning forward in her seat. “Why? You’d usually be all over someone like him, he’s exactly your type. Tall, muscular without being jacked, his curly brown hair, cheeky smile…”
She trails off when Aelin cracks a smile. “I guess I’m just not feeling it today.”
Elide wants to ask why again, she honestly might go over and get the guy’s number for her friend, when Aelin changes the subject rapidly.
“Are you going to Rowan and Fenrys’ later?”
Elide doesn’t process the change of topic until a little later on, once a couple more pieces have slotted into place. Eventually she’s pretty sure she’s worked out why Aelin didn’t want the cute coffee guy’s number.
She needs to speak to Lorcan.
Lorcan Salvaterre doesn’t like Aelin Galathynius.
He tolerates her at best for the sake of the rest of their friends but that said, he still probably wouldn’t want to see her hurt.
When Lysandra puts the message in the group chat-At the hospital with Aelin, dw they think it’s just a sprain-he reads it, absently thinks how he probably hopes she’s okay, and moves on with his day. He’s on his way to meet Rowan at the bar and if anything, Galathynius would want them to raise a toast in her honour.
What Lorcan doesn’t expect is the restless jittering of his best friend’s leg beneath the table, sloshing precious droplets of beer onto the table that his friend doesn’t even seem to notice.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asks as he slides onto his seat opposite the silver haired man.
“Nothing,” Rowan says quickly but his leg keeps up the restless pace.
Lorcan signals to the bartender for his own beer and turns back to Rowan. “Dude, chill out. There’s clearly something up with you and I’m not having you spill my pint.”
Rowan finally notices the state of their table and stills his leg. “Sorry,” Rowan says, using some of the beer mats scattered across their table to mop up the spill.
Now Lorcan really is confused. Usually Whitethorn would cuss him out over apologising. He doesn’t really know what to say.
His phone buzzes in his pocket and he ignores it as Rowan lurches for his own phone. He reads whatever’s on the screen then scowls and locks it again, placing it face up on the table. His knee begins bouncing again.
“You’re being weird,” Lorcan announces.
“Fuck off,” Rowan says and there’s the Whitethorn he knows and loves.
Lorcan opens his mouth to speak again but his phone buzzes and Rowan again lurches for his own. He chews at his lip as he reads whatever’s on the screen and so Lorcan bothers to dig his own phone out of his pocket.
It’s the group chat. He has a couple of unread messages, just Aedion and Elide expressing their concern for Galathynius as expected, nothing exciting. He locks his phone and places it on the table in front of him, watching Rowan for his next move. He’s definitely being weird and Lorcan has no fucking clue why.
His phone buzzes again and the screen lights up with the latest message. It’s Galathynius, he can tell from the stupid crown profile picture she has.
I’m alive, her message reads, just a sprain but I’m gutted bc I wanted a cast so you all could sign it.
Rowan is on his own phone when Lorcan looks back up, he’s tapping away but Lorcan doesn’t see any messages from him in the group chat. His knee has stilled under the table and Lorcan swears there’s something that looks like relief on his face. Relief? As if there was ever any danger of Galathynius not being fine.
Wait.
“Why the fuck are you so worried about Galathynius?”
Rowan’s eyes narrow and he carefully tucks his phone back into his pocket.
“I’m not,” he says but it sounds somewhat like a question and Lorcan isn’t convinced.
Until he decides he doesn’t give a shit enough to ask any more questions, Whitethorn seems back to normal and if Galathynius being fine is the reason for it he can think about it later.
And probably speak to Fenrys.
Aedion is drunk.
Like truly and utterly wasted.
So far a good night.
The rest of the group are somewhere dispersed around the bar but he’s happy here, tucked up in their booth, resting his head against the cushioned velvet while the room spins around him. He’s pretty sure Aelin is still in the booth with him and it might be Rowan with her but he’s too lazy to open his eyes to check.
He can hear the pounding base of a song he doesn’t recognise and he could fall asleep right here, somehow lulled to sleep by the beat and the volume of alcohol he’s consumed.
He doesn’t mean to listen to Aelin and Rowan’s conversation, even though he’s pretty sure it’s not intruding if they know he’s sat right there, but pieces of their conversation spike his attention.
“You don’t want me to stay at yours tonight?” he hears Aelin ask and Aedion is intrigued.
Lysandra is out tonight so Aelin has a safe ride home with her roommate and no need to crash at Rowan and Fenrys’ apartment.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to.” Rowan’s voice is low and hard to hear over the music. “But Fenrys is out with us and if I say I want to leave he’ll join me, then you know he’d ask questions.”
Aedion from tomorrow is screaming at him to pay attention to this conversation and so he keeps his eyes closed to try and listen in. He’s almost holding his breath to try and hear their voices over the noise of the bar.
They’re quiet for a moment and he’s so tempted to crack his eyes open.
“I know,” he finally hears Rowan say. “I’m sorry, Fireheart. We will.”
Hearing the term of endearment drop off Rowan’s lips is too much, it’s weird, he didn’t realise the two of them were close enough for Rowan to know about the nickname his cousin has. He risks opening one of his eyes to just a thin slit.
He’s not ready for what he sees.
Aelin is tucked under Rowan’s arm, resting her cheek on his chest. Rowan’s chin rests on the top of his cousin’s head before he softly presses his lips to her hair.
Aedion has many questions. He immediately closes his eye. He’s drunk, he can’t trust his eyes.
He hears rustling and then definitely his name from his cousin but it doesn’t sound like she’s talking to him.
Then, “Aedion.” Rowan’s voice has him blinking his eyes open and lifting his head from the booth.
They’re separated now, sitting with a couple of inches between them on the seat. Maybe he didn’t see them cuddled up a minute ago, he’s not sure.
“Drink this.” Rowan is holding out a glass of water, his tone leaving no room for protests.
“Hey,” he hears how slurred his voice is and catches Aelin’s laughter. “Thanks bro.”
Aelin puts her face in her hands. Rowan doesn’t crack, just waves the glass of water in front of him. He reaches out to grab it but he can see more than one of his hand reaching for the glass.
“Gods,” Aelin says, looking at Rowan. “Maybe you should take him home.”
“I will,” Rowan agrees quickly, looking at her softly and Aedion has about a million more questions. “I’ll get him to drink this first.”
Aelin nods and he finally manages to take a hold of the water and downs it in about a minute. Rowan slides out of the booth and holds a hand out to Aedion. He lets his friend tug him up and begins his stumble to the exit.
He feels Rowan pause behind him and catches the words, “meet you at yours afterwards.”
He manages to spin and see Aelin smiling as she leaves the booth too. He doesn’t bother to think about it, he probably won’t remember tomorrow.
He’ll ask Lysandra.
Aelin’s hand is clammy where she holds Rowan’s.
It’s the only sign of the nerves she feels, this conversation has been brewing for a while, and regardless of their friends’ reactions she’s happy with Rowan. Honestly, it’s only been about a month in total since that one night for Elide’s birthday that changed everything, but she thinks she might be falling for him.
She can’t believe she thought he was a dick when they first met. Well, she supposes he is a dick. One of the first things he ever said to her was that she was a spoiled brat but, in his defense, she’d just called him a stuck up bastard.
Now though she loves the thrill of his quick mind. Loves the way he can tease and taunt her until she’s trembling beneath him and about a second away from begging. She loves the soft kisses he presses to her hair when he knows she’s had a bad day, she loves when he comes back from work with a slice of chocolate hazelnut cake under his arm because he knows it will make her smile.
What she doesn’t love is keeping this a secret from all of their best friends. It started out as embarrassment, after they slept together on Elide’s birthday she didn’t know what it was, didn’t know if they’d just fucked everything up, didn’t know if their friendships were about to implode.
But then it happened again, and again and again, until it’s four am and she’s pressing her lips to his one last time so she can sneak out without Fenrys noticing and be home before Lysandra wakes up.
The sneaking around was hot at first. His hand over her mouth holding in her whimpers as he fucked her on the couch he shares with Fenrys, when he slid the pillow between her bedframe and the wall when Lysandra had texted asking if she could hear that weird banging noise, all the times they had cut it a little too close. But now, it’s exhausting.
She wants to be able to hold Rowan’s hand and kiss him without the wariness pooling in her stomach and she knows he feels the same.
“Guys,” she says loudly to the room filled with their friends. Rowan squeezes her hand where they’re hidden beneath a couch pillow. “We have something to tell you all.”
Five pairs of eves pivot to her and she swallows.
“Rowan and I are… dating,” she says slowly, as though she’s unsure of how the words will go down.
There’s a beat of silence before their friends erupt.
“I knew it!”
“I fucking told you they were.”
“Pay up you bastard.”
Lorcan scowls, pulling out his wallet and Aelin blinks. She did not expect this.
“Wait.” Lorcan holds up a hand. “Before I hand over any cash we need details. Dating or in a relationship? How long have you been dating? Who asked who? Who started this? Most importantly; when?”
She looks to Rowan who’s green eyes reflect her own bewilderment.
“Um,” he starts unsurely, “we’re in a relationship.” He punctuates this with another squeeze of her hand and she grins. The feeling of his fingers linked through her own spreads warmth up her arm before settling in her chest. “It started a few weeks ago.”
Her friends are all leaning forwards, still waiting.
“When exactly?” Lysandra asks. “Like what was the date?”
“Well, the first time was the night of Elide’s birthday.”
Fenrys launches himself out of his seat. “I fucking told all of you.” He holds his right hand out starkly in front of him. “Pay up all of you, I was right.”
There are complaints and grumbled protests but Fenrys ends up with a handful of twenties and Elide a couple of notes herself.
“Wait,” Aelin says, brushing a hand across her forehead as if this will somehow clear it up. “You guys bet on us?”
That seems to still the commotion coming from the other side of the room.
It’s Aedion who speaks. “Yeah,” he says in a way that sounds like duh. “You didn’t think you were subtle did you?”
“Kind of,” Rowan says eventually, leaning forwards to brace his elbows on his knees. “We weren’t obvious. And none of you ever seemed to let on.”
“Bro, are you serious?” Aedion laughs as Elide and Lysandra snicker.
“You seriously thought we never knew?” Lysandra sounds as baffled as Aelin feels. “All those texts I sent when I knew he was over? All the mysterious unnamed hook-ups on nights you and Rowan both disappeared together? All the times you’d think you were subtle but your lipstick would be on his neck? We have been waiting for this.”
She’s laughing and Aelin feels a bubble of laughter in her own throat. She can’t believe it. It had seemed to reach a point of obviousness but none of them had ever commented.
“I can’t believe you all knew,” she cries burying her face in her hands as Rowan slings an arm around her shoulders and pulls her in close. “Why did none of you say anything?”
“It was against the rules of the bet,” Fenrys says seriously and Rowan uses his other arm to dig his bicep, his laughter rumbling in his chest beneath her.
She smiles into the fabric of his shirt as the group erupts again, bickering over who knew first and who knew the most. Aelin doesn’t care, it’s gone better than she could have imagined and she has Rowan and her friends and she loves them.
A secret relationship no longer. It feels good.
#rowaelin#rowaelinmonth#thank you again to morgan for reassuring me this fic isn't a pile of shit lmao#secret relationship#rowaelin au#rowan whitethorn#aelin galathynius
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The One Good Thing
Rowaelin Month, Day Two
A/N: again, I'm gonna fail all my exams because of this stupid app, I'm sure. Also, I miss the off campus boys so much I kinda made Fenrys one of them and I love the idea of the tog men as hockey players so yeah, enjoy;)
Word count: 2,581
Aelin would have killed for a second of silence.
She daydreamed of that almost noisy quiet that makes you feel every deepest thought hidden in your brain that exists only at 3 a.m., when every soul is resting and cars can't drive around the campus. And there are no children screaming at the top of their lungs or parties going on all night long.
That was what she had been promised, the flyers she'd been handed during the open days, when she had come to visit the college.
That was how it was supposed to be.
Aelin had tried so many times to ask her upstairs flatmate to hold his Twitch live streams strictly in the afternoons or mornings when she wouldn't be home, but when Fenrys Moonbeam had first opened the door to his place, the girl had known immediately that she wouldn't be able to change his mind even by paying him.
Especially since his live streams were followed by such a large audience that Aelin couldn't even begin to understand how he had managed to build an empire so big in just under a month. Surely it had something to do with the long blond hair, different from her own but just as beautiful, and the arms covered in tattoos so colourful they blind you. They had their own charm. Add to the pile the fact that he was the goalie on the hockey team, and he was the perfect mix for the guy to marry.
From what their common friends had told her, he was already earning enough to afford an off-campus home, but that he liked the comfort the college dorm gave.
A comfort that Aelin, after three years in those filthy rooms and shared bathrooms, had yet to find.
When yet another howl of celebration at yet another victory that everyone expected pierced through his floor and her ceiling, nearly drilling her eardrums, Aelin gritted her teeth so hard that for a moment she feared they might shatter.
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to whisper, "Shut," failed miserably to keep her tone under control and shrieked the second word, "up!"
A booming laugh rang out upstairs and a millisecond later a message lit up her phone screen.
From Lys: Girl, maybe you should take a chill pill, I heard you on the live stream. Are you still studying?
She tossed the phone to the side, pulling her hair up and pinning it back with a pencil.
"Fuck off." she muttered under her breath.
Lysandra was one of the few in their group of friends who never missed a Fenrys broadcast. Whether it was at eleven at night or five in the morning, she was always one of the first to join in.
Aelin often wondered if she was just doing it because Fenrys was helping her sponsor her YouTube channel, but then she remembered that Lysandra would do the same for all her friends.
She got out of bed, taking all her books and notes in her arms, pen in her mouth and holding her phone between her pinky and ring fingers. She threw open the door to her room and found herself facing a wall of muscle, slamming into her roommate's chest.
Rowan's hands snapped forward and kept her from falling backwards and when Aelin looked up at his face, she almost lost her balance again.
His face was sleepy, only one eye open as he suppressed a yawn. The imprint of the pillowcase on his cheek just another sign that he had already been sleeping.
"Are you okay?" he asked her in a hoarse voice, stepping back and letting her through, "I heard you screaming. I was coming to check on you."
Aelin grimaced, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
He shook his head, moving a hand in mid-air, "Don't worry about it." then his gaze snapped to the ceiling as another laugh from Fenrys cut through the thin material dividing their quarters. He frowned, lowering his gaze back to her, and it was at that moment that he noticed the books in her arms.
If possible, his frown deepened even more.
He closed his eyes, gently grabbing her wrist and leaning against the wall behind him, pulling her towards him.
Aelin let herself be tugged, arranging the books so that they didn't poke at either her or him in that uncomfortable hug, but she positioned her head against his chest, letting his fingers expertly massage the nape of her neck.
"Baby." he sighed into her hair. Her toes curled.
It had only been a few weeks since they had decided to start dating, a few weeks since Rowan had confessed to having feelings for her. They had exchanged a few kisses in secret from their friends, wanting to enjoy that first phase of their very fresh relationship in privacy. They hadn't done anything too steamy yet, and Aelin had more than agreed with his decision to take it slow, but one thing Rowan hadn't held back in the slightest from the first second she'd agreed to go out with him had been the pet names he'd given her whenever they were in the safety of their dorms.
Baby was definitely her favourite.
His hands slid lower, down her back, and she looked up, resting her chin on his chest and fixing her eyes in his. His gaze softened, still clouded with sleep. "You shouldn't be studying at this hour."
Aelin grunted, smacking her forehead against his chest, "But I have a test tomorrow."
Rowan sighed again, pushing her away and taking the books from her arms. "Precisely why you should be sleeping." He walked towards the common room, speaking softly and hoping Lorcan wouldn't hear them. They both knew their roommate suspected something, but he didn't have enough worries in the world for him to actually give a shit about their possible relationship, and they also knew he would never say anything to anyone. Maybe to Elide, but neither of them would bet on it. "I left you alone tonight because you needed to rest, not stay up until morning melting your brain."
She followed him like a lost dog, dragging her feet on the ground, finally feeling that visceral fatigue get the better of her.
"I can't leave the study half done."
Rowan dropped the books on the table, turning around just in time to block her before she bumped into him again and slipped the pencil out of her mass of hair, letting it fall around her shoulders.
"You're not leaving the study half done," he told her as he rubbed her arms to keep her warm, "you've spent the last five weeks studying this stuff and I'm sure you know it like the abc. You need a break." he told her.
Aelin looked up at him from under her lashes, a little annoyed that that was true, but completely distracted by the lines his fingers were drawing on her arms. She took a deep breath through her nose, puffing out her chest and thrusting out her breasts, catching the attentive gaze of her almost-boyfriend for a nanosecond.
He smiled wearily at her, "Are you sleeping in my bed tonight?"
Aelin just nodded and took both of his hands, pulling him down onto her. Rowan squinted his eyes and placed his lips on hers in a quick, chaste kiss. She hummed in satisfaction as his hands slid under her bottom and wrapped around her thighs, pulling her up. She tied her legs around his hips and rested her head on his shoulder as Rowan made his way into their tiny flat.
He lowered her onto the bed, pulling the blankets out from under her body and laying down beside her before covering them both. Aelin moved as close to him as she could, pressing her back against his chest and her butt against his crotch, tangling their legs together.
Rowan's arm wrapped around her waist as the other slipped under her head and his hand found hers under the pillow.
The second they were settled, every bit of their bodies touching, Rowan left a soft kiss on her shoulder, pulling her even tighter against him.
She smiled weakly, in a drawling tone, "Thank you."
He hummed against her skin, "That's what I'm here for."
"Don't let me die around finals time?" she asked in a teasing tone.
Rowan chuckled softly, making her back shake, "Exactly."
Aelin tried to turn towards him, wanting to trace the pale freckles that were starting to sprout on his nose now that the days were getting longer and the sun kissed his cheek every afternoon, but his arms blocked her.
"No, it's not fair for you to be the big spoon every night. I'm fucking sick of it, I want to hold you today." he muttered, the chains of sleep already dragging him towards that blissful unconsciousness.
She huffed, stopping struggling against his grip, relaxing and feeling her muscles scream with pleasure after being tense for hours on end while she studied.
She hadn't realised she'd stayed up so long, but she was terrified of failing this last exam. If she failed it she would have to wait months before she could retake it and the idea of it was getting her down more than perhaps it should have.
She started thinking about the various questions the professors might ask her the next day, repeating the answers in her mind, closing her eyes as she thought.
"Baby," Rowan grumbled, "you're talking out loud."
She hadn't realised she was biting the cuticles around her nails until his hand came to rest on her arm, pulling her hand away from her mouth. He took a deep breath, helping her turn to face him.
When she looked up at him from under her lashes, she saw the way he was fighting sleep. And she felt terribly guilty. If she was having trouble sleeping the day before an exam, that didn't mean he had to stay awake for her too.
She was about to speak, tell him to close his eyes again and let her go into the living room so she could finish going over the last few pages and then return to his room, but he put his hand on her cheek and in a soft voice asked, "What's bothering you?"
She bit the inside of her cheek, shaking her head, "Nothing."
He tried to hold back a yawn again, but couldn't this time and Aelin's guilt grew immensely inside her. "If you tell me right now what's wrong, I could help you fix it sooner. And we could get at least three hours of sleep before we have to go to class." he pointed out in an exhausted tone.
She blinked once, twice, searching for the right words.
"It's Fen. If he'd stop playing so late every night-"
Rowan quickly cut her off, closing his eyes, almost as if he could no longer physically stay awake. "Ace, Fenrys never really bothered you. You've always managed to study and ignore it. What is it that's bothering you?"
Aelin let go of a shaky breath, "It's nothing, really. We'll talk about it tomorrow."
He only opened one eye, watching her carefully as she hid her face against his chest and wrapped her thin arms around his torso.
His hand began to slowly massage her back, "If we don't talk about this now I'll be up all night worrying."
She huffed, knowing full well how true those words were. For the love of the other, she began to ramble on about the real reason she hadn't been able to focus on the textbooks.
"I don't want to tell anyone we're together yet," she confessed under her breath.
Rowan opened both eyes then, fixing them on her and giving a small nod with his chin to keep her going.
"It's not that I don't want to tell the others," she said, referring to their closest friends, "but the second they find out, the news will become public knowledge and there are some people I really don't want to let that information get to."
He nodded, understanding perfectly who she was talking about.
"We don't have to tell anyone," he kissed her forehead, continuing to talk in that position, his lips brushing against her skin with every word he spoke, "it'll be our little secret for some time more, until we figure out how to get all the puck bunnies off our backs."
Aelin smiled, lifting her chin and kissing him.
Being the captain of the hockey team, Rowan didn't exactly go unnoticed on campus. Not many people approached him during the day, especially when Lorcan was at his side, knowing full well that they would receive nothing but a rude invitation to leave, but their friend couldn't spend his life attached to Rowan's hip, and the few times the two of them had gone out alone it had happened that a horde of fans had overwhelmed them. After those afternoons, Aelin had found herself the victim of not so nice threats from unknown numbers, as had happened to Lysandra when she had first started dating Aedion.
With Manon's help they had managed to track down the senders and Rowan had been unpleasantly surprised to discover that it was one of the girls he always partied with after the games. A girl he'd always considered a friend.
Rowan had taken all the blame, feeling responsible for those attacks on Aelin and it had taken months to convince him that he had no part in the insanity of others.
They'd started limiting the dates they went on as a pair, even when they were just friends, to prevent similar things from happening again, but Aelin felt trapped.
And she knew it was the same for Rowan.
She wished she could get a place off campus, where she could retreat with him, away from the prying eyes of the world, but it didn't seem right to bring up the topic of 'let's move in together' after not even three months of dating.
Rowan rested a hand on her cheek, moving a strand of hair behind her ear, "It'll be fine. And if anyone finds out and the threats come back, we'll do something about it."
She nodded, not entirely convinced and not at all reassured.
He knew instantly, "Aelin, whatever happens, I don't care what others think. I've waited years to finally have you. I've been on the sidelines all this time, watching you go on date after date with everyone and never with me-"
"You never asked," she mumbled in annoyance.
Rowan continued as if she hadn't spoken, "I would have preferred not to be the talk of the town all the time, but I'm not going to let public opinion take away the one good thing in my life."
She opened her mouth wide, "What about hockey?"
He shrugged, looking at her, "Hockey is just a sport."
"If Lorcan could hear you right now..." she shook her head.
"But Lorcan's not here. And you won't tell him," he made her silently promise.
They exchanged another brief kiss, before they carried on talking about all the worries she had and every word that came out of his lips acted as a sedative for her fears, killing one at a time, until she fell asleep in his arms, lulled by his soft breathing on her neck.
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@maastrash @ireallyshouldsleeprn @sleeping-and-books @hellasblessed @thegoddessofyou @ghostlyrose2 @claralady @sayosdreams @perseusannabeth @letstakethedawn @terrible-and-proud @post-it-notes33 @booksstorm @nalgenewhore @queen-of-demons-and-hell @lanyjoy-13 @vasudharaghavan @cupcakey00 @bri-loves-sunflowers @queen-of-glass @thewayshedreamed @the-regal-warrior @fangirlprincess09 @januarystears @rowaelinismyotp @starbornsinger @bookstantrash @thegreyj
#rowaelin month#rowaelin#rowan whitethorn#aelin galathynius#rowaelin month day two#tog#throne of glass#rowaelin fic
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It’s the Thought that Counts
Aelin Galathynius x Rowan Whitethorn - Birthday Oneshot
All Rowan wants to do is throw a surprise party for his girlfriend, but that becomes increasingly difficult as every possible thing that could go wrong—goes wrong.
I wrote this for my birthday on the fifth, but I couldn't wait until then to post it, Enjoy!
Masterlist | Read on Ao3
Warnings: Language, Light NSFW
4476 words
*******
“Are you serious?”
If Rowan’s hair wasn’t already silver, it would’ve been by the end of the day from all the stress this was putting him through.
Looking into the open cake box in Fenrys’ hands, he just stared at the inscription atop what was supposed to be a birthday cake for Aelin.
“What? What’s wrong?” Fenrys tried to lean over the lid of the box but it was tall enough to block his view.
“Did you even look at it before you left the store? Before you paid for it?” It took all of Rowan’s self-control not to scream. How many more things could go wrong today?
Fenrys shifted uneasily, noticing Rowan’s slipping control. “Uh, no. I was already running late, and you said to get back here as soon as possible to help finish setting up.”
All Rowan could do was let out a long, slow breath.
“This. Says. Alien.”
The blonde man holding the cake snorted, “what?”
“The cake says ‘Happy Birthday, Alien’”
“Seriously?” Fenrys was quick to put the box down on a nearby table so he could stand next to Rowan and look at it. “Shit. They even put little green Martians on it.”
All Rowan wanted to do was throw a surprise party for his girlfriend.
Was that really too much to ask? Apparently, so.
A couple of months ago Aelin had mentioned how she’d always wanted a surprise party, but of course, you cant ask for a surprise party because then it’s no longer a surprise.
Rowan took the hint and decided to plan something special for her birthday. He even got all their friends to help, and if everything had gone to plan then it would have been a perfect day.
Too bad he couldn’t catch a break.
Rowan had made a list of everything they needed to do, buy, and plan. It was an extensive list because he knew that a party for Aelin had to be perfect. Not because she had impossibly high standards—well, she did, but that wasn’t why it had to be perfect—it was because he loved her and wanted to show her how much he appreciated her on her birthday.
And he thought it would be the icing on the cake—pun intended—to have all their friends involved too. That’s why he was making calls to all of them about what they each needed to do for the party.
First, he got Lorcan and Elide to pick up the golden balloon arch that was going to be at the entrance of the park he’d reserved for the day. By the time he got on the phone with Lorcan, Rowan was already exasperated from having to deal with the city planning office in order to reserve the particular park and gazebo.
“Lorcan, I need you in charge of the—” Rowan broke off, hearing a loud crackling from the other end of the phone.
“You’re cutting off, wha— you say?” Lorcan’s voice was halting as the call cut in-and-out
“I was saying, I need you to cover the balloons.”
“Ba—”
“The balloon canopy.”
“The bo—, ca—”
“Yeah, we need a golden balloon canopy.”
“Okay, fine. I— got the— boun— ca—”
“Shit. Can you hear me?” Rowan pulled his phone away to check his service. It was fine from his end, it must be Lorcan’s phone being spotty.
When Rowan put the phone back to his ear, he could hear rustling and the sound of a car door opening and closing, and then the connection cleared.
“Yeah, man. I heard you. But, are you sure Aelin wants that?” Lorcan sounded skeptical.
“What? Yeah, of course, it’ll be great.” Rowan was already getting impatient, knowing he had a few more errands to run before he could relax.
“Whatever. She’s your girlfriend, and it’s your credit card.”
Rolling his eyes, Rowan muttered, “Thank you for your generous help, Lorcan.” then heard someone scolding Lorcan and grinned before saying loud enough for the other person to hear, “Thank you, Elide!”
Rowan hung up and mentally checked off the balloons. What was next?
***
“Aedion, please, I need you to keep Aelin busy for the day.”
Aedion and Lysandra had come over to Rowan and Aelin’s apartment for dinner, and Rowan had dragged Aedion into the kitchen to talk about that weekend’s plan.
Taking a sip of his beer, Aedion raised an eyebrow at him, “Won’t she wonder why her boyfriend is avoiding her on her birthday?”
Rowan rolled his eyes. “I won’t be avoiding her. You will very adamantly request to take your cousin to lunch for her birthday, and who am I to get in the way of family?”
Aedion snorted but nodded. “Yeah, okay. Lys and I can take her out.”
“No, Lys can’t be there.”
“What?” Aedion looked at him bewildered. “Why not?”
Rowan sighed. “Because if Lysandra is there with you, then Aelin will wonder why I’m not there with her. If it’s just you and Aelin, then she won’t think it’s weird that I’m gone. Besides,” Rowan took another sip of beer, “I’ll need Lys’ help during the day to set up that slideshow.”
“Right.”
The slideshow Rowan had asked Aedion and Lysandra to make using pictures of Aelin that would play during the party. The one that Aedion wasn’t going to tell Rowan hadn’t been started yet. “Yeah, okay. I’ll invite Aelin to come get lunch with me.”
“Perfect.”
One more thing off Rowan’s list.
***
The morning of the party Rowan asked Fenrys to go pick up Aelin’s cake. It was supposed to be a chocolate and hazelnut cake with the top decorated with kingsflame blossoms and say, “Happy Birthday Aelin.”
Rowan was distracted with setting up decorations and directing their friends to put away the things they brought. Dorian and Manon were in charge of getting the alcohol. Chaol and Yrene were bringing deserts because when it came to Aelin there could never be enough sweets. Fenrys helped Rowan bring out the rest of the food, before being sent off to pick up the cake.
Rowan did a quick scan, mentally checking off everyone. Besides the people he could see, he knew Lysandra was in the gazebo finishing up the slideshow, Aedion was out distracting Aelin, and Elide and Lorcan would be here any minute with the balloons.
Letting out a breath, Rowan smiled. Things seemed to be coming together.
Busy showing Dorian where the coolers for the drinks were, he was too distracted to do more than wave a ‘hello’ to Lorcan and Elide as Lorcan’s truck pulled up to the park. Rowan decided they were smart enough to figure out how to set up a balloon arch—or at least Elide could read the directions to a grumbling Lorcan, so Rowan spent the next half hour with other parts of the setup.
After he finished hanging up the screen they were going to use for the picture slideshow, Rowan went to check on the balloons.
He made it two steps out of the large gazebo and stopped in his tracks.
“What the fuck is this?” Rowan exclaimed, gaping at the large monstrosity in front of him.
Instead of looking at a beautiful, arched balloon canopy, he was looking at a massive, inflatable, child’s bouncy castle.
“What do you mean ‘what the fuck is this?’” Lorcan asked, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead and stepping around the side of the castle. “This is what you asked for.”
“This is not what I asked for.” Rowan could feel his mouth still hanging open and quickly shut it.
Elide looked at Rowan in confusion. “Rowan, you did ask for this. I mean, I definitely thought it was weird that Aelin would want a blow-up bounce house for her birthday, but when Lor asked if you were sure, you insisted it was right.”
Rowan tried to remember that particular conversation. He had so many details in his head and too many people in charge of different things.
“Shit.” The phone call was coming back to Rowan to now. “We kept getting cut off. Shit,” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair making it all stand up on end. He swung around towards Lorcan who looked at him with raised brows. “What did you think I was asking you to get?”
Lorcan slowly looked between the bouncy house and Rowan. “You asked me to get a Bounce Castle.”
For fucks sake.
“I asked you to get a Balloon Canopy.”
Elide’s mouth opened in an ‘O’ and Lorcan said nothing until a moment later he was laughing, bent over at the waist.
“You wanted balloons, and now Galathynius has a bounce castle.” He managed between breaths, ignoring Rowan’s fuming look. It took Elide elbowing him in the side to get him to stop laughing.
“I don’t have time for this. Fix this.” Rowan waved his arms around at the massive blow-up castle, and then he turned around to find something he could actually focus on, trying his best to ignore the increasingly greying clouds in the sky.
“You still paying?” Lorcan called after him.
He let out a string of curses. “Yes.”
Rowan just barely heard the sound of air being let out of the castle as he walked away.
***
A shriek drew Rowan’s attention away from the chairs he was unfolding. He turned towards the gazebo to see Lysandra throw a small ice bucket, mostly filled with water at this point, at the screen Rowan had set up earlier.
The screen that was on fire.
Running in to help, Rowan saw that the candles placed around it had been lit—why the hell would someone already light them? The wind must’ve blown the screen too close causing it to catch fire.
He reached Lysandra just as she threw another bucket of icy water on the screen, dousing the rest of the flames.
“Are you okay?” He looked over Lysandra, but she just seemed shocked and irritated.
“I’m fine.” She gave him a reassuring nod before scowling at the destroyed screen. “This, though, is pretty much dead.” she sighed and closed her laptop she was using to work on the slideshow. “It doesn’t look like we’ll be showing pictures today, Rowan.”
He rubbed at his face. Fine. Okay. He could deal with this. They had a children’s bounce house and no slideshow. That was fine. As long as nothing else went wrong, he could deal with it.
As if in response to his thought, the day began to dim as clouds moved to cover the sun. If Rowan didn’t look at the heavy clouds, they would disappear.
That was when Fenrys came back with the cake.
***
“Alien?! I can’t give my girlfriend a birthday cake that’s calling her an Alien!”
Fenrys almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous Rowan looked with his hair sticking up and face all red, but he knew this was just the latest in a list of ‘things gone wrong’ and was worried that if he laughed then he wouldn’t live to see the birthday girl.
“Maybe she’ll find it funny,” Fenrys suggested.
Rowan slowly turned toward him with an almost crazed look in his eye. “Funny? You think Aelin will find all this,” he waved his hands at the deflating bounce house, charred hanging screen, and the horribly incorrect cake, “Funny?”
“...Maybe?” Honestly, Fenrys thought Aelin would find it all hilarious but decided to keep his mouth shut. He knew how much work and energy Rowan put into this party, and he worried for his friend’s mental state as he counted all the things that had already gone wrong.
Rowan just dropped his head in his hands and groaned.
***
As soon as Rowan unpacked the last of the food, he heard a boom of thunder.
“This is not happening.” He muttered to himself, refusing to look at what was surely the worst thing that could happen that day.
A moment later he heard the unmistakable sound of hard, fast rain. The yelps from his friends broke him out of his haze and he turned to see everyone rush into the covered gazebo, careful to keep close to the center where they could stay dry.
Everyone besides Yrene, who had been helping Rowan with the food, were varying levels of soaked. And all the decorations they’d been holding were either stuck outside taking the worst of the rain or dragged inside to drip water onto the floor.
Rowan didn’t say anything, he just grabbed the beer bottle out of Aedion’s hand and took a long swig.
***
Looking around, Rowan surveyed the damage. Where a nice balloon canopy should’ve been positioned, a large, deflated, child’s bounce castle stood in its place; the screen he was going to use to show a slideshow of Aelin was burnt to a crisp; the rain pouring down was soaking the park and wrecking everything brought in from the cars, and the perfect cake for his girlfriend was ruined by calling her Alien.
But at least all their friends showed up.
That was the one good thing to come out of this disaster of a party. Even if they were all dripping wet and shivering from their walks from their cars to the covered gazebo in the middle of the park.
Dorian walked up to where Rowan and Aedion were talking about the cousin’s lunch. He took a sip of his drink and asked them, “So, what time is Aelin is getting here?”
Rowan and Aedion both turned towards each other.
“What time did you—”
“When did you say—”
They both froze.
Rowan slowly blinked. “Aedion, you did tell Aelin what time to come tonight, right?”
Aedion shook his head, wincing, “No, man. I was taking her out to lunch. You were supposed to find a reason to get her to the park.”
A dull roaring started in Rowan’s head. He thought over everything he had on his list.
Rent out gazebo: Check.
Delegate decorations: unsuccessful, but Check.
Order cake: again, unsuccessful, but Check.
Get friends to show up: Check.
Buy Aelin’s present: Check
Invite Aelin…
“Fuck. Shit. Fuck me. No, no, no, no, no… Gods damn it!”
Before anyone could another word, Rowan pulled his keys from his pocket and sprinted into the rain towards his car.
***
Aelin loved her birthday.
Usually.
She loved celebrating with her friends and laughing about the stupid gag gift they bought her. She loved making a wish on her candles and she even loved the awkward minute of listening to people sing happy birthday.
Last year, Rowan had woken her up to a particularly amazing round of birthday sex. Which turned into another round in the kitchen and then another one in the shower. He had also spent the day last year doing her favorite things and ending the night with a wonderful dinner at her favorite restaurant.
Which was why she had been so excited to see what this birthday would bring.
Her morning began exactly how she hoped: with Rowan’s tongue between her legs. He’d woken her up slowly, lazily, until she was squirming on the sheets with her hand fisted in his hair.
She’d hoped their morning tumble was the start of a very satisfying day, but soon afterward Rowan left saying he had to make a work call and she should get ready for her lunch with Aedion.
As much as she loved her cousin, all Aelin really wanted to do was stay inside with Rowan all day, clothing-optional. Actually, clothing-nonexistent.
But she did want to see Aedion, and apparently, Rowan’s work call was pressing enough that he practically ran out the door.
Lunch was nice. She hadn’t had one-on-one time with Aedion in a while, but she couldn’t help but notice how antsy he seemed.
“What aren’t you telling me?” She asked him after the waiter took their set down their drinks.
Her cousin choked on the sip he’d taken, and she raised an eyebrow at him.
“What?” He sputtered. “I’m not not telling you anything.”
“Uh huh.”
He rolled his eyes. “There’s nothing Ae, don’t sweat it.”
“It looks like you’re the one sweating Aedion.” Leaning back in her chair she smirked and crossed her arms. “Did you get me something you’re worried I won’t like?” she joked.
“Hm? Oh, yeah, exactly! Lysandra picked it out but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
Aelin rolled her eyes at her cousin. “Please, if Lys picked out whatever it is, then I’m sure I’ll love it.” Her smirk turned into a genuine smile. “But, it’s from you so I know I’ll like it.”
He laughed but she thought he still looked a bit anxious. Deciding not to worry about whatever else had him fidgety, she let it go.
When she got back to her and Rowan’s apartment, she expected he would be there. He wasn’t.
Aelin didn’t think a work call would take the two hours she’d been out with Aedion, so she hoped Rowan would be back soon. She hadn’t talked about plans today because last year he had been so eager to take the lead.
So she waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Three hours later she was irate, hurt, and confused. How could he just up and disappear on her birthday? If he was busy—if something came up that he needed to deal with—he should’ve just told her. She still would be upset, but she’d have understood.
But he hadn’t said anything. He hadn’t called or texted. Rowan hadn’t given her any explanation as to why she was alone now on her birthday.
Aelin walked into the kitchen and was about to pour herself a glass of wine when she heard loud noises from the hall outside her apartment door. It sounded like heavy, stampeding footsteps.
And then Rowan was bursting into their apartment.
He was breathing heavily, soaking wet, and looking at her with such an apologetic expression that she momentarily forgot why she was angry.
“Aelin,” he panted, trying to get a breath, “I am so sorry.”
Right. That was why she was angry.
She crossed her arms over her chest and took in his disheveled appearance, trying desperately to understand why he was so out of sorts.
“What happened to you?”
Rowan loosed a long, heavy breath and stepped closer to her. “Aelin, gods, I’m an idiot.”
“Yes, you are.” She agreed. “But, explain to me why.”
Rowan took another step towards her and she let him.
“I had a whole thing planned— I still do, kind of, but it’s basically ruined at this point—” Rowan started talking faster and Aelin struggled to keep up. “I planned an amazing surprise party for you, I spent weeks getting things organized. I had all our friends come out to help, they’re all still out at the park—I rented out the park—they’d better all still be there, anyway.”
He took a breath and Aelin’s anger slowly started to fade, but then she remembered sitting alone in her apartment for three hours and stared at him until he continued his explanation.
“There were supposed to be balloons, golden ones! And photos of you, and a cake, but all of it got ruined.” Rowan ran an angry hand through his hair. “Lorcan thought I asked him for a bounce castle— a bounce castle! Then the screen caught on fire, and then there was a mess up with the cake that you don’t even want to know about.”
He finally looked back at her, pleadingly, hoping she could understand how sorry he was. “But the worst part, which was one-hundred-percent my fault, was that I forgot to invite you to your own party.”
Aelin was wide-eyed by the end of his speech. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Rowan grabbed her hand and looked down at her with sorry eyes. “Please, forgive me.”
“Forgive you?”
His face crumpled and he leaned to press it into her shoulder. She heard him grumble, “Fuck. I ruined your birthday, I’m so sorry.”
Aelin pulled away to hold his face between her hands. She waited until his eyes opened to say, “Rowan, you planned that whole thing? For me?”
His brow furrowed as if he couldn’t understand why she would ask that. “Of course, I did. I know how much you wanted a surprise party, but—”
“But nothing.” She cut him off pressing her mouth firmly against his. Rowan was too surprised at her reaction to reciprocate, but she pulled back just as fast.
“Okay, yes, not inviting me to my own party was a bad move,” He winced. “But, everything else you did was amazing.” When he still looked skeptically at her she continued, “the rest of that stuff; the weather, the cake, the fire, Lorcan’s bad judgment—none of that was your fault.”
Rowan finally cracked a smile at the last bit.
“So,” he searched her face for any clues, “you’re not upset?”
Aelin laughed at pulled Rowan down for another kiss. This time, he eagerly returned it and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other moved so his hand could hold the back of her head. They stood wrapped up in each other for a minute, deepening the kiss before they both pulled back for air.
“I’m not mad. I was, before when I thought you’d ditched me on my birthday. But I’m not anymore now that I know you spent the day trying to make me happy."
Aelin pulled back further to give him a stern look. “But I will be angry if you don’t bring me to this party right now.”
He pulled her back into him and let out a relieved laugh.
“Let’s get the birthday girl to her party.”
***
The drive from their apartment to the park was filled with Rowan telling Aelin about everything that had gone wrong. His fingers intertwined with her over the middle console and she listened as he told her about the crazy day.
“Why someone would light the candles so early in the day is beyond me.” He grumbled and Aelin chuckled at the bitterness in his tone.
“I’m sure the slideshow would’ve been great.” She perked up. “Oh my gods, that was why Aedion was so weird at lunch.”
Rowan glanced side longed at her. “He was weird?”
“Yeah, real fidgety, wouldn’t always look me in the eye. He said it was because he was worried I wouldn’t like my present, but I knew that was a load of bullshit.” She laughed, remembering how relived his face had been when she offered that excuse.
Rowan rolled his eyes but watched as the sky began to clear.
“Good, the rains finally stopping. I told the others to finish putting up decorations if the weather cleared.”
“There’s more?” Aelin questioned, thinking of everything he’d already told her about.
“A bit. I gave Fen a list of stuff to buy, but knowing him, he picked up some things that I didn’t tell him to. So, who knows what we’ll see when we get there.” He groaned thinking about it, but Aelin just laughed.
“It’s a couple of decorations, Ro. I’m sure they’ve got it handled.”
When they finally pulled into the parking lot nearest the gazebo, Aelin and Rowan didn’t get out of the cart immediately. They watched the scene in front of them in bewilderment
Lorcan was throwing a rope over a tree branch—Aelin assumed it was because he was the tallest—tying one end to the trunk and the other end was attached to a large pinata.
“Is that…?” She was so confused about what was happening.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Fen?” Rowan seethed.
“Fen did that? Why would Fenrys buy an Alien pinata?” Aelin suddenly had more questions than answers.
Rowan rubbed his hands down his face, muffling his curses.
“Don’t ask.”
Aelin watched as Aedion picked up the stick and took a couple of practice swings.
“What? They’re gonna start without us?” Aelin pulled Rowan’s hand off his face and made him look at her. “Hey. I know this didn’t go like you’d planned, but it's still pretty great, and everyone is here and having a good time. And there’s cake, right?”
“There’s cake.”
Rowan refrained from reminding her that all the guests had trekked in and out of the rain that afternoon setting up and half the supplies were ruined or nonexistent. Apparently, she could see all that in his face though so Aelin leaned over and kissed him.
“Let’s go, come on.”
At some point during their conversation, Lysandra had found the blindfold and tied it around Aedion’s head. The rest of the group, minus Manon and Dorian who had snuck off somewhere she didn’t want to think about too much, stood around as Fenrys cheered and Aedion swung.
He missed the first time, but as he prepped himself to swing again, Aelin and Rowan climbed out of the car and walked toward the group.
“Aelin!” Fenrys called, eyes going wide as he called her name.
Everyone else whipped around to face her and Rowan and yell “Surprise!”
Unfortunately, Aedion still had a stick in his hands; and he quickly turned, it nailed Fenrys in the head.
Rowan stood there gaping as Fenrys let out a loud sound between a yelp and a groan, before falling to the ground, knocked out.
“Shit! Who’d I hit?” Aedion asked as he ripped off the blindfold, and tuned to see what—or, who—exactly he had swung at.
Mostly in shock, a little bit in amusement, everyone watched as Fenrys slowly groaned, lifted his head only to wince and bring his hand up to hold it, and opened his eyes.
“…Surprise”
***
“You know, this may be my most memorable birthday.” Aelin was perched on Rowan’s lap, eating a piece of the outer space-themed cake.
Her boyfriend groaned and pressed his face into her shoulder.
“I’ll take it. Memorable is better than disastrous.”
She threw her head back and laughed.
After Fenrys woke up, Yrene came over to check on him and make sure he was going to be alright. She didn’t think he had a concussion, but she put Aedion in charge of watching him. His punishment, apparently. They were currently at another table with Lysandra, Lorcan, and Elide.
Aelin looked over to the other end of the gazebo and watched as Chaol and Yrene sat with Dorian and Manon, the latter was trying her best to pretend she was interested in the conversation. By the heated looks she and Dorian were giving each other, Aelin didn’t think those two would be sticking around too long.
Turning back to Rowan, Aelin smiled.
“Thank you, Buzzard. I love it.” She grinned as he rolled his eyes, but he tightened his grip on her and pulled her face down to his.
“Happy Birthday, Fireheart.”
*****
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Golden Tattoo — Part 2
Rowaelin Month 2022 — Day 2: Pregnancy/Babies
Part 1 (yesterday’s songfic)
I’d say Aelin’s giving off if I bleed you’ll be the last to know energy but she’s definitely not bleeding in this lol
Warnings: mentions of sex, language,
Word count: 2,4k
⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹
Aelin’s whole body was shaking as her arms tried to reach her lifted feet.
“Buzzard... you’ll never... choose... our Sunday activity... again,” she panted.
The effortless bastard just chuckled at her misery. “The next one is our last. Just lay down with your feet apart and close your eyes.”
“That’s it?” she asked when he didn’t correct her position.
“Yep, just close your eyes. It’s the Corpse Pose. Now we meditate.”
Aelin hummed. She might hate yoga less than she thought. It was like her body was melting into Rowan’s mat. As her muscles loosened, she finally started feeling comfortable and clear-headed. Aelin Galathynius, kicking meditation’s ass.
~~~~
She woke up with the sound of the front door closing. When did she get in her bed? Looking for the source of the sound, Aelin found Rowan in the kitchen, filled with bags.
“You went to the supermarket without me?”
Rowan kissed her. “I didn’t want to wake you up. Can we talk later?”
Aelin swallowed, nodded and started putting the vegetables in the fridge, but stopped as soon as she felt nauseous again. Deep breaths. It’d be fine. Rowan was quick to notice something was wrong, and told her to rest while he organized the kitchen and made lunch for them.
She decided to sit on the couch and look at Rowan’s progress in Animal Crossing. Ever since they won this video game—and have been fucking around the house, she briefly thought—, Aelin only played with it twice, but her roommate seemed to love managing his little island. Running from one place to the other, she just needed something to distract her from the churning stomach she had. Aelin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew her body like the back of her hand, and this queasy feeling was definitely anxiety.
In the three and a half months since Aelin had sex with Rowan and then suggested they shouldn’t rush into defining their relationship, she spent her days either lost in his touch or worrying about what would happen next. Her stomachaches became full nausea on the last two weeks because of course her body couldn’t stand her mind anymore. Should she tell him how she felt? If she did, what are the chances he’d reciprocate it? If he didn’t, would things be so awkward she’d have to move out of the house? Aelin really loved her house, but leaving it wouldn’t be near as hurtful as losing Rowan and their friend group. Would Elide, Lorcan and Fenrys be mad if she broke the gang? Of course they would. It was so selfish of her to risk monthly wine tasting because she had stupid feelings. Oh God, what would Rowan tell his parents when she stopped showing up at the Whitethorn barbecues? Would his mom—
“Hey, Fireheart. Lunch’s ready.” Rowan kissed the top of her head and sat at the other end of the couch, holding her feet on his lap. “You’re looking a bit pale, is everything okay?”
Aelin sent him the most convincing smile she could and looked at their already set table, that today had two special guests: beans and dark green vegetables. With a frown, she asked, “Are we changing our diet?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk about.” Rowan started massaging her foot, but she recognized his fiddling tendencies when nervous. “I noticed how tired you’ve been lately, and it got me wondering if you’re having iron deficiency again.”
“Maybe you’re the one wearing me out,” she teased, and he had the gall to blush.
“I’m being serious.”
Aelin’s posture slumped. The worrywart Buzzard. “I know. It actually makes sense.” She sent him a small smile. “I’ll ask Elide if I’m anemic if you stop fussing, what do you think?” With the nausea subsided, she climbed on Rowan’s lap and kissed his cheek. The grip on her waist made her bold enough to start kissing his neck. “Can I thank you for lunch now?” With that, Aelin rolled her hips against his, making him grip her ass and claim her mouth.
Well, lunch could wait.
~~~~
On the next day, Aelin called Lorcan and found out Elide was at the ER. Perfect. She knew she should go to Ellie’s office for this, but she didn’t like it because it was too busy and the assistant, Manon, clearly disliked her. After asking for an uber because it would be cheaper than paying the hospital’s parking fee, the wait wasn’t long and it was pretty easy to persuade the intern into asking for Dr. Lochan.
“Hey, Ace. What does my favorite scary blonde lady need?”
Aelin gaped. “Is that how that dweeb described me?”
“Be nice to my intern.” Elide pointed a finger at her with clamped lips that did nothing to hide her amusement. After the mood sobered, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m anxious and anemic,” Aelin blurted before explaining her symptoms. Grabbing her old psychiatrist’s prescription, she continued, “I just need you to renew this and recommend iron tablets and I’ll be gone.”
Elide gripped the paper, frowning. “It’s ripped in two.”
“And taped back together.”
“I’m not a psychiatrist, Ace, you know I can’t give you these meds.” Elide sighed and handed Aelin the old prescription back. “Do you want me to run a blood test? It’ll be the iron levels and a few other possible things.”
Aelin laid on the cot and extended her arm. “Go on.”
After Elide asked someone to take the blood sample, Aelin was completely bored while waiting for the results. She read a thing or two online, posted a hospital story, had to explain to Rowan’s mom and Aedion that she was fine and it was probably just anemia again. The usual stuff.
Elide soon came back and closed the privacy curtain. “You’re anemic.”
“I told you—”
“And pregnant.” Elide’s voice was so soft Aelin could’ve missed her friend’s joke.
She laughed. “No, I’m not.”
“Do you want to see the blood tests?” Elide arched an eyebrow in that authoritative way of hers.
“But I used condoms like 90 percent of the time,” Aelin whined.
“First, those 10 percent count. Second, please tell me you’re not using those lousy condoms you used to buy on sale.”
“Do not insult Perrington Protection.”
“Who buys condoms from a company who also sells diapers?”
Nope. They would not have the same argument they used to have back in college. Aelin groaned. “You’re missing the point. My parents had bad, really traumatizing fertility issues. Me suddenly being pregnant doesn’t make any sense.”
Elide sat on the cot next to Aelin. “Does baby daddy have a history like that too?”
She froze, her heartbeat picking up now that she realized the depth of what was going on. Oh God. Rowan. His baby. On her belly. A tiny baby with his eyes and her nose or her eyes and his nose or even his eyes and nose because the Whitethorns all looked the same. The Whitethorns, who reproduced themselves like rabbits. Apart from Rowan being a single child, that was the rule, wasn’t it? She started feeling dizzy as the reality settled in, and she was definitely going to—
Sensing what was going on, Ellie grabbed a bucket in record time, giving Aelin something to throw up in. Giving her gentle pats on the back, she prompted, “I’m not mad you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone, by the way.”
Aelin sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk,” she whispered while pulling Aelin into a hug.
After seeing her results and going over a few things, Elide recommended a trusted OB friend and soon discharged her, so Aelin walked for a few blocks until she found one of the many piers Doranelle had. Just the smell of her favorite ice cream shop nearly made her gag, but she settled on some street fries and sat on a bench.
Pregnant.
Aelin Galathynius, knocked up by her best friend. The situation wasn’t ideal, but if she had to choose someone to knock her up, it would be Rowan. Maybe because she was in love with him. Maybe because if everything between them went to shit, at least their kids would be good-looking. Staring into the river, Aelin sighed. Her head was a mess today.
From Ellie’s count, she was about 9 weeks pregnant. Aelin held her belly protectively as she remembered the baby was as big as a grape now. She was happy, even if the situation wasn’t ideal. And then she mentally chastised herself. Aelin had a stable job that allowed her to support Grapy alone. She was emotionally capable of nurturing a child. Her family would certainly spoil the baby rotten. Even if Rowan didn’t want them, his parents were always complaining about their lack of grandkids. But would he feel comfortable with Grapy maintaining contact with his family if he distanced himself? Dear Mala, she would have to move out of the apartment. If Rowan didn’t want them, that is. Which was a possibility. Aelin could move to Varese with her parents, perhaps. It’d be easy since she worked from home, but she needed to speak with Rowan first.
Aelin took a deep breath. Every possible scenario started with telling him she was having his baby. And she couldn’t expect Rowan to give Grapy his last name and become a family if he didn’t know how she felt. Which led her to the same dilemma of the last years. In plural. Fate was such a bitch, cornering her this way, she mused while sighing.
Leaning back in her seat, Aelin just let the wind blow her hair as she tried to process everything. The smell of food from the streets vendors made her remind of her mom, and she felt a sudden urge to talk with her parents.
Calling the person with the most predictable reaction to the news, Aelin grinned when she saw her mother’s gold and blue eyes smiling back at her.
Fireheart! Why am I the last person to find out you’re anemic again?
She heard his dad’s voice mumbling something, and he soon appeared on the screen by the side of her mom.
Aelin grimaced. “About the hospital, I might’ve discovered I have another thing.”
What?
“Pregnancy.”
Aelin! Being pregnant isn’t a disease, Evalin chastised. She started going on about how children are a blessing, until her dad tapped her shoulder.
Ev, she’s pregnant. Were Rhoe’s eyes glossy?
Fireheart, was the only thing her mom said, with a breathy voice and clear tears running down her cheeks.
Rhoe yanked the phone from Evalin’s hand, and she could see the huge frown between her dad’s eyebrows. Who’s the father? Where is he?
Evalin snatched her phone back, but her face was turned to her husband. You can interrogate the father later, we have more important things to discuss.
Will he take over his responsibilities? Rhoe shouted into the microphone, like Aelin wouldn’t hear him just because she can’t see his face.
When her dad put it like that, Rowan would. He was the most responsible person she knew, and this only made it hurt more because she didn’t want to be a mere responsibility to him. It was a bit selfish, but Aelin’s true desire was for Rowan to love her and the baby, and she had a feeling a part of her would break if he just asked about expenses and custody arrangements, letting her go.
Don’t worry, Fireheart, we can move to Doranelle if you need an extra set of hands. Evalin’s words snapped Aelin back to reality, quickly warming her heart.
And after we move, I’m gonna have a word with whoever knocked you up, her dad threatened. Or promised, she’d never know.
Rhoe! What if he ends up being a good father?
“Mom. Dad.” They were still bickering. “Mom! Dad!” Aelin screamed into the microphone, earning a few glares from the people near her, even if she was alone on the bench. “I’m nine weeks, and I haven’t told the father yet. Can you please not tell anyone until I figure out what I’m going to do?”
After having them agree with this and assuring neither she or the baby would die from being pregnant and anemic at the same time, she ended the call and sighed.
Aelin kept thinking, planning, running different scenarios on her mind until the sun began to set and she started feeling drowsy.
Rowan texted her asking if she was still at the hospital, and found her less than 20 minutes after getting the location.
There was no need to look at Rowan to recognize his deep scent and the strong arm that sneaked its way across her shoulder. She leaned in.
“How was work?” He groaned in response, making Aelin chuckle. “Maeve again?”
“I need a new job,” he grumbled.
“You do,” Aelin softly whispered before pecking his jaw. Rowan leaned back a little, tilted her face towards his and kissed her. It was soft, idle, and Aelin knew he was tired just by the way he was holding her.
After leaning back, Rowan gave her a silly smile and hid a strand of hair behind her ear. “How was the hospital?”
Just like that, Aelin froze. Her heartbeat was beating a mile a minute, and she hoped Rowan wouldn’t notice the sudden tightness on her shoulders. She couldn’t tell him. He wasn’t having a good day, and Aelin haven’t even coped with the pregnancy herself, she wasn’t near ready to deal with Rowan’s reaction too.
“Is it anemia again?” he insisted.
“Yep.” Aelin nodded. “Elide sent a complaint to the Doranellian Mineral Organization asking why does Iron avoid me so much.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. She was anemic. But also pregnant.
Rowan chuckled. “Did she prescribe you a supplement?”
“Sure.” She did. Along with prenatal vitamins.
Rowan eyed the greasy paper cone she was still holding, from the food truck nearby. Tangling his hands in her hair, he whispered, “Is there any way I can convince you to eat an iron-rich meal?”
He left kiss behind her ear. A chaste one, because they were in a public place, but it still made her whole body shiver. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
He chuckled. “Can I take you home, then?” He paused. “We can also stay a bit longer of you feel like it.”
Resting her head on him, Aelin sighed. “I’m so tired. I just want to go to bed and sleep until my body can’t stand it anymore.”
Rowan hummed. “Sounds temping.” With a kiss on the crown of her head, he asked, “Cuddles?”
“Always.” That was promise enough to make her get up from the bench. Following her lead, Rowan held Aelin’s hand and took her home.
They’d spend one last night as best friends in a fragile sex bubble, and she’d tell him about the baby the following morning. First thing. No excuses or delays.
Part 3 is out!
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Tempting the Fates {Chapter 3}
Summary: It’s the final semester of Aelin Galathynius’ collegiate career and she is so beyond ready to be done. Her schedule is packed full of nursing classes and labs designed to test her knowledge and hone her skills for the real world and her “big girl” job. However, she needs one last elective to graduate, so she decides to study a subject she’s always been fascinated by: Mythology. Who would have thought that a class about gods and goddesses living complicated lives would end up complicating her own in such an unexpected way?
Word Count: 2807
Chapters will be posted every Wednesday.
Tempting the Fates Masterlist
Shelby’s Masterlist
Tara’s Masterlist
Poseidon
– God of the seas, earthquakes, horses and tidal waves
Aelin had moved past hurt.
Now, she was just pissed.
It was nearly ten o'clock after her second day of classes and she sat cross legged on the couch with Lysandra in her apartment.
Her roommate had been a worthy rant partner thus far. She’d kicked Aedion out and supplied Aelin with an endless supply of alcohol.
“It’s official. I’m sitting in your Thursday class.”
Aelin groaned, taking a long drink from her wine glass. “Don't remind me that I have to go back there, please. The thought of sitting through an entire semester with him as my teacher… Oh, gods.”
Lysandra refilled Aelin’s glass.
“You’ve done the hookup thing before,” Lysandra said, shrugging as she took a drink from her own glass. “Just pretend this is one of those situations and he meant absolutely nothing.”
“That’s impossible, for two reasons,” Aelin said, adjusting the pillow she had squished between her legs. She held up a finger. “One, it’s not like the regular hookup situation where I might see him across campus or in a bar and we can pretend we don’t know each other. This is my professor we’re talking about.” She took a very large drink of her wine and held up another finger. “Secondly, it was supposed to be a hookup, but then he turned out to be perfect and I just…” She let her head fall back against the cushions. “Do you think I just want him because I can’t have him?”
“Maybe,” Lysandra admitted, but she hadn’t ever been in a situation like this. She and Aedion had been inseparable since high school. “What does your gut say?”
“I don’t know, they’re still in knots from where he rearranged them with his huge dick,” Aelin replied, draining her wine glass.
Lysandra nearly sprayed her wine across the couch, but she knew Aelin was well and truly drunk if she was talking like that.
“So, he still means something to you, then?” Lysandra asked. “Even after you found out he’s your professor, and also a little bit of a dick, apparently.”
Aelin shot her a look. “No, I’m drunk off my ass because he means nothing to me. Have you not been listening?”
Lysandra rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’ve been listening. But, after two hours things just start to blur together and not make sense.”
Aelin hit her roommate with her pillow.
Lysandra only laughed. “Maybe sit and think on it for a few days, yeah? Maybe it’s new and exciting and he’s hot as hell, but all that will fade if it meant nothing.”
Aelin nodded, slowly, fiddling with the stem of her wine glass. “And if it doesn’t fade? If it actually meant something?”
“If it actually meant something, then he won’t be forgetting about you any time soon, either,” Lysandra said, sipping from her glass.
She was still on glass #1.
Aelin had lost count of how many glasses she had drained so far.
“Doesn’t make it any easier now,” Aelin said, that hurt creeping its way back in. “You should’ve seen him, Lys. This morning, at his apartment, it was just…perfect. Then when he saw me in class, he was a completely different person.”
“Have you tried to see this from his perspective, Ace?” Lysandra asked, standing and heading into the kitchen. She handed Aelin a cold water bottle when she returned, falling back onto the couch next to her.
“Of course,” she snapped, opening the lid. “And I get it, it’s a big deal, but it’s not like I’m underage. I’m twenty-one, not sixteen. It’s not like he broke the law.”
“No, but I’m sure there’s a bylaw somewhere in his contract that says Don’t fuck your students,” Lysandra drawled, tucking her legs between her.
Aelin mumbled, “I bet it doesn’t say exactly that.”
“No, I’m sure it’s more along the line of inappropriate misconduct, but if we’re getting specific, it wouldn’t be hard for me to find an example,” she replied, leveling Aelin with a stare.
“Calm your pre-law ass down, I get it,” Aelin sighed, drinking from the water bottle. “His aunt is the president of the university. I wouldn’t want him to get into any trouble with her.”
Lysandra’s eyes softened. “He probably just got scared. I hear he’s a new professor. This must be his first year here. Hell, if he’s as young as you say, this must be his first year anywhere.”
Luck. He’d gotten the job purely out of luck, out of his connections to the university, and here Aelin was, jeopardizing his career as soon as it began.
“I’m being a bitch, aren’t I?” She asked, quietly, before draining her glass.
“You have the right to be hurt,” Lysandra said. “I’m not saying you don’t have that right, because I’d be hurt, too. But, I definitely think that this is complicated as hell.”
Aelin nodded, and took a drink of water before pouring the last of the wine into her glass. “We’re going to need another bottle of this, Lys.”
“I would just take you to the bar,” Lysandra said, “but I wouldn’t want to risk you fucking any of the other faculty.”
Aelin’s eyes snapped to hers.
Lysandra sucked in her lips to stop her grin. “Too soon?”
Aelin nudged her best friend, unable to stop her sputtering laughter. “Bitch.”
Lysandra caught her before she leaned back across the couch and held onto her shoulders, hugging her tightly. “I know this sucks, Ace, and I know you liked him. But just give it time. Either you’ll move on, which I can always help with, or something will happen. It’s not like you won’t be seeing him every other day.”
She sighed, resting her head on Lysandra's shoulder. “I know… I know.”
Lysandra reached for the remote, turning the television on. “What would make you feel better? Sappy love story, trashy reality tv, or a horror flick?”
“Trashy tv,” she decided, if for no other reason than it would be easy for her to block out while she still wallowed in her own misery.
Lysandra did as she was told, refilling Aelin’s glass again, and she thanked her best friend.
All the while, Aelin wondered how pissed Rowan was, or if he was feeling the same way she was.
*
A knock on Rowan’s door around nine-thirty had him closing his laptop and throwing it open. He groaned when he found Lorcan on the other side, walking back inside and leaving his best friend to let himself in.
“Alright, fill me in on Little Miss Perfect you took out last night. She was all you could talk about this morning, and then boom.” He sat down on the couch next to Rowan, noticing the half empty bottle of bourbon and looked at him. “Radio silence for the rest of the day.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he muttered. “Shouldn’t you be going home to your girlfriend?”
“She’s out with Manon,” Lorcan said, blowing off the question. “I’m bored, so talk.”
Rowan sighed, pushing himself up to go into his kitchen. He came back a moment later, two glasses in hand. He supposed he couldn’t continue to drink out of the bottle with company.
After handing Lorcan a half-filled glass, Rowan said, “It’s just not going to work.”
“You decided that quickly,” Lorcan muttered, his eyes remaining locked on Rowan. “Did you google her after she left? Find something cringeworthy?”
Rowan sipped from his glass. “She’s just not who I thought she was, that’s all.”
Lorcan scoffed. “You’re being vague.”
Rowan shrugged. That seemed to be the only answer he was going to give him.
“So what?” Lorcan asked, crossing an ankle over his knee and swirling the contents of his glass. “She lied and you caught her?”
“No, she didn’t lie,” Rowan said, dragging a hand down his face. “But it can’t happen. So it won’t.”
Lorcan raised one dark eyebrow. “First you say won’t, now you say can’t.”
Rowan emptied his glass. “What about it?”
“Well, which one is it?” He asked, leaning back. “Those two have very different meanings.”
“It can’t and it won’t,” he replied, giving Lorcan a pointed look.
Lorcan snorted, but took a drink from his own glass. “You act like she’s one of your students.”
Rowan didn’t say a word. He only stared at his closed laptop.
It took Lorcan a few seconds to understand Rowan’s silence. And a few more before he figured out how to make his mouth work.
And when he did, he started laughing.
“Are you kidding me, Whitethorn?” He asked, clutching his stomach. “You fucked your student?”
“Fuck off,” Rowan muttered, refilling his glass.
Lorcan was hardly able to breathe. “It was your first day at your first big boy job, and you already found yourself in bed-.” His words faded away as his laughter consumed him.
“It’s not like she’s some freshman,” Rowan snapped. “She’s about to graduate. Twenty-one. I just…” Rowan groaned as his face fell into his hands. “Someone had recommended the bar to me and told me the faculty hung out there a lot. I just assumed she was one of them, since she was the one to suggest the place.”
“Hate to break it to you,” Lorcan continued, still laughing. “But, people in their twenties don’t often land jobs at renowned universities. You’re the exception.”
Rowan continued to drink.
“Alright, alright,” Lorcan continued, taking a deep breath. “You’re five years older than her, so what? I’m four years older than Elide. Once you both hit twenty, age is just a number.”
Rowan shot him a look. “She’s a student, Lor. Maeve will fire me in a heartbeat over any sort of misconduct. This…” He just shook his head. “This position is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I probably shouldn’t even have. I can’t ruin it.”
Lorcan knew full well how harsh Rowan’s aunt could be. Before she’d become president of a prestigious university, she’d been the dean at the boarding school he and Rowan had spent their adolescence at. “So either move on or be careful and don’t let her find out.”
Rowan blinked at his friend. He was being so casual about this, when Rowan was freaking out both inside and out, which had required a two hour gym session earlier to calm his nerves.
Lorcan sighed and set his glass down. “Look, I really don’t see the issue here. She isn’t using you to pass the class, right?”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to Rowan, but he remembered the look of pure and utter shock on her face when they’d seen each other in the classroom. “No, it’s a basic gen ed. Plus I really don’t think she’d ever do that.”
Lorcan nodded. “Right. There are much tougher classes she could try and sleep her way through.” At Rowan’s simmering look at his choice of words, Lorcan held up his hands in placation. “I’m just saying, make sure she’s actually doing her homework and studying for her and don’t let Maeve find out.”
Rowan hesitated, but when his lips opened, nothing came out.
He liked Aelin. He really, really liked Aelin. And, yeah, it had been much more than a hookup. When he’d woken up that morning next to her in bed, he felt a sense of peace and satisfaction that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
Then again, the way he’d snapped at her that morning, knowing that she had only said what she had out of anger - even if she had been correct - would be difficult to come back from.
Rowan had completely shattered her. He saw it in her eyes before she left.
“I don’t know,” Rowan said, at last.
Lorcan groaned before pounding back his drink and pouring himself another. “You’re always going to be the one to stand in the way of your own happiness, Whitethorn.”
He refrained from saying anything. Lorcan had always been the one to hop from girl to girl, while he had always been the one in a committed relationship. After his last relationship had…ended, he hadn’t wanted anyone for a while.
Aelin was the first spark he’d felt since.
“You’re into her,” Lorcan said, staring up at the ceiling to avoid any sort of eye contact while he said something nice. “I can tell. And, if you don’t go for it, you’re going to regret it.”
Rowan knew he was right.
Of course, he was right.
And yet, this job was the first job he had been granted in his field since graduating three years prior with his degree in mythology. Yeah, he may have gotten it because of Maeve, but that didn’t make it any less important to him.
He had the chance to get students excited about something he loved, something he was passionate about.
“Go home to your woman or shut up and turn on the TV,” Rowan muttered, downing the contents in his glass.
Lorcan only snorted and grabbed the remote, fulfilling Rowan’s wishes.
*
Aelin awoke the next morning with a slight headache and the same dull ache in her chest.
Knowing she needed to move, workout the bad vibes, she tossed up her hair and put on her workout wear before jogging to the gym.
She was still regretting signing up for even one eight am classes, and was thankful her Friday’s were free. She was looking forward to some much needed sleep, which was a lost cause right now.
When she was packing her gym bag, she decided to go straight to class after a quick shower, so she tossed it into a locker after she arrived, locked it up, and put her ear buds in.
The gym was still pretty empty this early, since it wasn’t even eight yet, and most people were too focused on their own workouts to pay attention to those surrounding them. Aelin was grateful for the distraction the gym would provide, and for the physical outlet, as well.
She was just finishing up a mile run on the treadmills when she felt eyes on her. She could tell she was being watched, but didn’t want to look around. Whether it was someone ogling her from across the room or someone from one of her classes, she wasn’t in the mood to make small talk and made her way over to the machines, starting on her legs first. She cranked her music up and kept an eye on the time on her watch.
When there was about forty-five minutes before her first class, she put the free weights she’d been using back in their home and turned to head to the locker room for a much needed shower.
And found who had been watching her during her workout.
Green eyes bored into her own and Aelin felt a blush rising in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the amount of energy she’d exerted this early in the morning.
Ignoring the voice inside of her head, Aelin stopped in front of Rowan, and nodded. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. His t-shirt clung to him, and it was a fact that Aelin could not ignore.
“I was just going to get ready for class,” she said. “Excuse me.”
She swept past him, but his voice pulled her up short. “Aelin.”
She stilled, and slowly turned around to meet his gaze.
“About yesterday,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck. Aelin found the gesture somewhat charming, although she wouldn’t admit it. “I’m sorry. I…didn’t handle the situation right. It all took me by surprise and I reacted poorly. I’m sorry.”
“S’okay,” she said, looking away from him, down at her feet. “I said some things I didn’t mean. I’m…not proud of it.”
He shook his head. “Let’s just…pretend all of it didn’t happen, yeah?”
She swallowed roughly. “All of it?”
Rowan sighed. “Just because we apologized doesn’t change anything, Aelin. You’re still my student.”
She nodded, not looking at him. “Right. No. I get it. I have to get ready for class.”
Making to slip around him, she got two steps away before his hand wrapped around her wrist. “Aelin, I’m… I’m sorry. I wish it wasn’t— I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
Daring to take a chance by looking back at him, it nearly destroyed what was left of her when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. “But wishing doesn’t change anything, does it?” Aelin pulled her wrist free. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”
Rowan said nothing, but she saw that her shot landed in his eyes.
She shook it off, though, hurrying away, toward the showers.
Aelin knew one thing was for certain: no matter how much she cared for Rowan Whitethorn, there would never be anything between them.
Even if she wanted there to be.
#snacmc ttf#tempting the fates#rowaelin ttf#snacmc collab#throne of glass#rowan whitethorn#aelin galythinius
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Heels {Rowaelin}
The prompt: walks in front of their crush in stripper heals and a short skirt because they want their attention
Rowan x Aelin os
Written with @snelbz
There was no way this could be a good idea.
Aelin was sitting on her bed, watching as Lysandra flicked through her closet. She had told her that tonight was the night and had recruited her to help her do what she considered nearly impossible.
She was going to get the attention of Rowan Whitethorn.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know she existed, it was quite the opposite. He was one of her friends, having met during orientation week their freshman year, and as their group grew, so did their friendship. But after three and a half years, she had very solidly gotten her stuck as just that: his friend.
“You’re wasting your time,” Aelin crooned, flipping through the timeline on her phone.
“Bullshit,” Lysandra muttered, flipping through the clothes in her closet. “You need to feel confident, Aelin. Rowan is obsessed with you, and you’re obsessed with him. This whole thing is ridiculous.”
Aelin rolled her eyes, but remained quiet.
“How about this?” Lysandra asked, pulling out a denim mini skirt and black halter cropped top. As Aelin was about to reply, Lysandra said, “Say nothing. Put it on.”
With a roll of her eyes, yet again, Aelin did as much. Once she had the skirt and top on, she looked in the mirror.
And she looked hot as hell.
“Shoes?” Aelin asked, despite herself.
“Oh, I have the perfect heels,” Lysandra said, fleeing from the room. She came back a moment later with a pair of black stilettos that were Aelin’s size.
Scoffing, Aelin held them up. “I’m going to break my neck.”
Lysandra snorted and flounced back into the bathroom where she continued to straighten her hair. “You’re exaggerating.”
“Fine,” Aelin amended. “I’m going to break my ankle.” She set the shoes on her bed and joined Lysandra in the bathroom to finish getting ready.
She let Lysandra curl her hair, but drew the line when she offered to do her makeup. They had very different styles when it came to that and while Lysandra looked drop dead gorgeous with her cat-eye liner and ruby red lips, Aelin would never be able to pull it off.
“Where is this party even at?” Lysandra asked, pulling her hair back into a stylish ponytail.
“Lorcan’s.” Aelin was trying to keep her hand steady as she applied the thin line of liquid eyeliner to her upper lid. “I think Elide convinced him to throw it.”
Lysandra snorted, applying her mascara. “Sounds right. Lorcan isn’t exactly the host-type.”
Aelin grinned, tossing her eyeliner in her makeup bag. “Alright, hurry up. I want to make my entrance.”
With a roll of her eyes, Lysandra took one last look in the mirror and declared herself ready and they were off.
Lorcan’s apartment was just on the edge of campus, so the two girls walked and earned the eager glances of many as they did so.
Aelin took it as a good sign.
“Will Aedion be here tonight?” Lysandra asked, shooting a glance over at Aelin.
She groaned. “Probably.” She still couldn’t believe that her roommate actually had the hots for her cousin. He was practically her brother and the thought of him in any sort of compromising position made her want to gag. “If you hook up with him tonight, please do it at his place. I can’t afford therapy on my barista’s salary.”
“Trust me,” Lysandra said, adjusting her ponytail as they approached the steps to Lorcan’s. “I plan on giving you complete privacy at the apartment tonight. And you better take advantage of it.”
Butterflies grew in the pit of Aelin’s stomach.
She planned to, hoped to, wanted to…but, she had to catch Rowan’s eye first - something that made her nerves go haywire.
Lysandra must have caught it, because they stopped outside of Lorcan’s door and Lysandra made Aelin face her.
“You look gorgeous,” she said, and brushed Aelin’s hair back. “He’d be an idiot not to come after you.”
That was the goal, after all. Aelin was not going to be the one doing the chasing. She wanted Rowan to see her, want her, not be able to take his eyes off of her. She knew he’d be here, the party was at his best friend’s apartment, knew that everyone from their friend group would show up. Yet she was absolutely fucking terrified he’d see her and have zero reaction.
She played it off with a joke though. Scoffing, she tossed her hair over a shoulder. “He’d better. I didn’t book an emergency appointment with my waxer for nothing.”
If Lysandra noticed the fake bravado — which she absolutely did, she and Aelin had become as close as sisters over the past three years — she didn’t call her out on it. Instead, she smirked, smacked Aelin on the ass, and said, “Then let’s go get your man.”
The music could be heard from a block away, and when they opened the front door, the apartment was already packed.
People definitely noticed them come in, though, including Elide who was running towards them, a drink in hand. “It’s about time you two showed up!”
“The host himself isn’t here to greet us?” Aelin mocked, giving Elide a hug.
Elide chuckled as she rolled her eyes. “He’s been out on the balcony for about a half hour, avoiding all human interaction.”
“Sounds about right,” Lysandra replied, rolling her eyes, but then she began looking around the spacious townhouse Lorcan and Elide shared. “You haven’t seen Aedion tonight, have you?”
Elide gave Aelin a knowing glance, but said, “Last I saw, he was playing beer pong with Fenrys. Don’t know who the poor bastards getting their asses handed to them were, but they’re probably still in the kitchen.”
Lysandra gave Aelin a wink. “Good luck.” And then she was gone, lost in the bodies dancing to the music.
Her part in tonight was done, to help Aelin get Rowan’s attention. It was all up to Aelin now, so Lysandra was free to find someone to occupy her own time. Even if the thought of who she’d be with made Aelin want to shudder.
Alone with Aelin, or as close to it as they could be, Elide let out a low whistle as she finally took in Aelin’s outfit. “I have a feeling that outfit isn’t just to impress me.”
“Does that mean you’re not impressed?” Aelin asked, pretending to pout.
Elide looped her arm through Aelin’s and led her to the bar. “I’m always impressed, but I don’t think you care so much about my opinion, do you?”
Aelin snorted as she began to look around, but Elide saved her the struggle.
“He’s on the patio with Lor,” Elide said, simply. “Don’t worry. I’ll drag his ass back in here soon and Rowan will follow.”
Elide poured them both a shot, which Aelin gladly took and even asked for another. But when Manon and Asterin Blackbeak showed up, she waved Elide off to go greet her friends, and leaned against the bar, debating on a third shot.
She wasn’t trying to get shitty tonight, just a little messy, but her nerves were beginning to grow again.
Just as she decided to say fuck it, and get another shot, and heard a whistle from behind her. She turned and found Dorian Havilliard staring at her legs.
Or maybe he was staring at her ass.
They had messed around her freshman year, when his dorm room was just down the hall from hers, but it had never been anything more than that between them, and they agreed that they were better as friends. It didn’t mean they didn’t have fun though.
She smirked as she tossed the glass back and set it down on the bar top, before turning to him. “See anything you like?”
“I see quite a few things I like,” he said, raising his drink in salute. “Then again, only a fourth of your skin is covered, so there’s a lot to look at.”
Aelin laughed, quietly, and clinked her empty shot glass against his full bottle. “Gotta show off what the gods gave me.”
“As you should,” he agreed with a wink. “Haven’t seen you around in a while.”
“Well, it is school, and I actually study,” Aelin said, turning to refill her shot glass.
Dorian had the audacity to look offended. “Hey, I study, too.”
Aelin laughed as she turned back around. “Reading a bunch of books that have nothing to do with any of your classes doesn’t count as studying, Dor.”
“But they’re so much more interesting,” he replied, chuckling as he thought of the boring curriculum he studied for his pre-law degree.
Aelin rolled her eyes as she tossed back the shot and set it behind the bar. Four shots was enough. She’d be fun, she’d be confident, but she wasn’t tipsy enough to make an ass of herself.
Yet.
“I assume all of this skin isn’t for me, so who are you trying to impress?” Dorian asked, and then added, with a wink, “Chaol?”
Huffing a laugh, Aelin shook her head. “Absolutely not. That ended in a disaster and I’m not inclined to repeat it.”
The sliding glass door opened and Aelin’s eyes snapped to the door, before she quickly turned away before Lorcan and Rowan stepped inside.
“Oh,” Dorian chuckled, softly. “Whitethorn then.”
It wasn’t a question.
He had moved imperceptibly closer and she knew how it would look to Rowan. For whatever reason, she decided she wanted him to be jealous she was talking to another guy.
Even if she had no idea whether or not he’d even noticed her.
“Is this who I am now?” Dorian asked, quietly, leaning into her ear, fully aware that it looked like he was coming onto her. “Your super hot wingman?”
Aelin snorted, and didn’t bother moving away. “My overly cocky wingman, maybe.”
Dorian huffed a laugh. “I still take it as a compliment.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be flirting up Manon instead of fake flirting with me?” Aelin whispered, quietly. She glanced at Rowan, who was filling up a red solo cup.
“I like to make Manon wait,” Dorian said, running a finger up Aelin’s forearm. “She gets jealous, too, and it makes things so much more exciting in the bedroom.”
“Thanks for the image, Dor,” Aelin said, pushing away the need to roll her eyes and flick him in the nose.
He and Manon weren’t exclusively in a relationship, but everyone knew they hooked up with each other, and only each other. But, again, totally not exclusive.
“Besides,” Dorian mused, his finger skimming Aelin’s arm. “She’s busy doing body shots with Asterin. I’ll enjoy her later.”
Aelin snorted, reaching behind the bar and pulling an ice cold beer from the open cooler. She handed it to him and he opened it for her, flicking the cap in the air as if it were a coin.
He let it fall to the bar top as he leaned in to whisper in her ear one last time. “Pretty sure that’s my cue.”
She followed his gaze across the room, and found Rowan looking at her. Watching her and Dorian both.
“Have fun,” he added, before sauntering off towards the kitchen.
Rowan watched Dorian walk away to the other side of the room where he sat to watch Aedion and Fenrys continue to dominate in beer pong.
When Rowan’s eyes trailed back to Aelin, she was already watching him, a slightly-forced mischievous smile on her lips.
On the inside, she felt like she was going to puke.
He made his way across the room, pausing in front of her and slipped his free hand into his pocket. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” she said, and she wasn’t sure why it sounded so breathless.
“I didn’t see you get here,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.
She did the same, fighting the urge to toss her hair over a shoulder. “You were outside.” She realized that told him she was keeping tabs on him and she quickly added. “I mean, Elide told me Lorcan was outside, so I assumed you had to be with him.”
He smirked. “Right. Well, I was. It’s a little crowded in here.” She nodded, but he went on. “However, seems like you didn’t mind when Havilliard was over here with you. Not too crowded for you, then, huh?”
Aelin slowly lifted a golden brow. If Rowan wanted to play, she would play. “Not crowded enough for someone to be blocking your view of me with Dorian, apparently.”
A light lit up Rowan’s green eyes as his jaw twitched, suppressing a grin. “I can always count on you to manipulate my words and their meaning, Galathynius.”
Aelin’s grin was wide. “Someone has to keep you in your place, Whitethorn.”
“And is that you?” He asked, voice low as he took a drink from his cup. “The person that’s going to keep me in my place?”
Aelin’s eyes glittered as she took another drink. It was always easy with Rowan. They could talk for hours, that witty banter, back and forth. But, that’s all that had ever happened between them: simple conversation.
From the way she caught him watching her legs as she took a drink, though, she thought tonight may just end up as she planned.
A hell of a lot more than simple conversation.
“Want to dance?” She asked.
His eyes slowly slid up her body to meet her gaze. “You know I don’t dance, Ace.”
She took a long, slow drink from her bottle. “Not even with me?”
“Not with anyone,” he said, crossing his arms and resting a hip against the bar.
It was a miracle no one had interrupted them, but the bulk of the drinks had been set up in the kitchen.
“That’s a shame,” Aelin sighed, finishing off her beer and tossing the empty bottle in the trash can. “I would love to dance, but I don’t have anyone to dance with.”
Rowan said, “I’m sure you can find someone, especially with how you’re dressed tonight.”
She raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “And how is that?”
“Don’t get me wrong, you look drop dead fucking sexy,” he replied, without missing a beat. “I just don’t get why.”
“What do you mean?” Aelin asked.
“Why try so hard?” He asked, head cocked to the side. “Who are you trying to impress?”
Cocky bastard. She could see it in his eyes, he knew what he was doing and she hated him for it.
Hated that she loved it, anyway.
“What need would I have to impress anyone?” Aelin asked, chin raised. “I think I’m naturally perfect in every way.”
Rowan chuckled. “Then you should’ve come in your sweatpants and a tank top.”
Aelin rose a brow.
Rowan shrugged. “I think that’s when you’re sexiest.”
With that, with his cup pressed to his lips, he turned and walked away.
Aelin blinked after him, not sure she was sure she heard him right. He made his way through the people and headed back to the door leading out onto the balcony, stopping to say something to Lorcan. He waved him off and then Rowan was slipping back outside, while Aelin just started after him.
She pushed her way through the crowd, which was easier said than done when you weren’t a six-foot-four giant who mildly scared the shit out of everyone by scowling at them, but she eventually made it to the door. Sliding it open, she stepped out into the balmy night air.
“You can’t say shit like that and then just disappear,” Aelin said, finding him exactly how she’d expected to.
Rowan was leaned against the wall, the sole of one booted foot pressed against it as well. A lit cigarette dangled from his fingers. She gave him shit about smoking all the time, but knew he only did it when he drank.
Or when he had something on his mind.
He held the cigarette out to her, but she gave him a look. “You know better than to offer me that.”
Rowan just grinned and put it back between his lips. “You’re missing the party.”
“What did you mean?” Aelin asked, standing opposite of him, leaning against the railing.
“When?” he asked, looking up at the sky.
“Don’t bullshit me, Rowan,” she snapped, and it got his attention.
Blowing a puff of smoke into the cool night air, he met her gaze and slowly shook his head. He gestured to her outfit, to the heels that were making her feet ache. “What is this?”
“They’re clothes,” she said. “For a party.”
“They’re Lysandra’s,” he replied, simply.
“I can’t wear my roommate’s clothes?” Aelin scoffed. “What the hell is wrong with you tonight-.”
“Why can’t you just admit that you’re just trying to impress someone?” he interrupted, watching her, that light in his eye fading. “You’ve never been not-confident a day in your life. Whoever it is that you’re trying to impress, he obviously isn’t worth it if it causes you to be someone you’re not.”
Aelin looked down at the cropped halter top, the skirt that hardly reached her thighs, the heels that she was certain would cause blisters. “This is someone I’m not?”
Rowan slowly shook his head. “Last time we went out, you wore that little golden slip dress….” He shook his head, reminiscing on the memory. “That was you. You wore sneakers and you were still barefoot halfway through the night, dancing on the patio. What you’re wearing now - yeah, you look gorgeous - but I can tell you’re not comfortable in it.”
“If I’m trying to get someone’s attention, maybe my usual isn’t best. Especially if it pushes me out of my comfort zone,” she snapped back, her hands on her hips. “And why is it such a problem if I’m trying to impress someone? Dorian was impressed.”
“Dorian doesn’t drool all over you like a dog in heat,” he replied. “He respects you, regardless of what you’re wearing, how much skin you’re showing off. But if you’re trying to impress some D bag who will only notice you if you’re dressed like that, you might want to reconsider.”
“And what if I was trying to impress you?” She asked, getting in his face, cigarette smoke and whiskey breath be damned. “What if I was trying to get your attention, Rowan?”
His jaw locked and his eyes searched hers, as if he was trying to find the underlying meaning in what she was saying, even if there wasn’t one.
“Then you’d be wasting your time,” he said, at last.
It felt like a knife had been shoved into Aelin’s ribs with every word that had come out of his mouth. Begging herself not to cry in front of him, she went to take a step away, but Rowan grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.
Their chests were nearly touching, and his hand trailed from her wrist, into her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers.
He took the cigarette from his lips and said, “You’d be wasting your time because you impress me every time that I’m around you.”
“You never act like it,” she breathed, shaking her head. “You never do anything, and you’ve never tried to make a move. What the hell else was I supposed to do?”
He flicked the cigarette over the rail and let go of her hand, only to frame her face with both of his. “This.”
And then his lips were on hers, and Aelin didn’t care that she could taste residual smoke or stale beer. She knew she didn’t taste much better. All that mattered was that Rowan was kissing her and his hands were on her face and hers were tangled up in his shirt. His tongue slid against hers and she had to fight to stop the moan that threatened to slip out of her.
He pulled back, resting his forehead against hers. “That,” he said, breathlessly. “That is what you should have done to get my attention.”
Aelin swallowed, harshly. “Do it again.”
Rowan didn’t have to be convinced. His hands slid down her back as he brought his mouth to hers, and he pulled her body uptight against his. They stayed out there for a long time, for hours, uninterrupted.
At one point, she saw Dorian come by and lock the balcony door, so everyone else would get the hint to stay the hell away.
Wingman of the year.
They stayed on the balcony, kissing and laughing and kissing some more, until the party wound down. Around two, Lorcan let them inside, and Aelin pulled Rowan out of the apartment and across campus to her own.
True to Lysandra’s word, she was nowhere to be found.
The second Aelin stepped into her apartment, she kicked off her heels and was swept into Rowan’s arms. He carried her into her bedroom, where he stripped her down, out of her roommate’s clothes.
Rowan Whitethorn saw all of her.
She had his full attention.
#rowaelin#rowan#aelin#rowan x aelin#aelin x rowan#sjm#fanfic#fanfiction#oneshot#prompts#collab#snacmc
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You’re a Mystery to Me
Chapter One | Part Three
CW: language
Masterlist//Moodboard//3233 words
A smashing sound filled the air.
Rowan’s head snapped toward the noise, but he wasn’t sure exactly where it had come from. He looked to Lorcan, who only shrugged.
The sound of barking filled the air, and Rowan knew the dog had woken up.
They had spent the last ten minutes searching for their bedrooms, and were now in some sort of foyer, not the one at the front door. Just when they had decided to crash on the first couch they came across and locate their rooms in the morning—and ask somebody for a map—the noise, sounding suspiciously like breaking glass, had broken the silence of the night.
“Should we go investigate?” Lorcan asked, his bored tone making it clear he wanted to do anything but.
Rowan sent him a glare and said, “Yes. We should.”
Lorcan sighed, but followed as Rowan made his way to a staircase. Maybe this one would go in the general direction of the noise? This confusing layout had to be a fire hazard.
Rowan took the staircase by twos, albeit slowly, and came out on a landing. The railing revealed a lower floor. And the front door.
“I think I know where we are,” Rowan said.
“Well lead the way, Sherlock, cause I have no clue.”
Rowan started moving along the landing, then down the stairs. Ignoring Lorcan’s protests that they were supposed to be going up, he walked around a corner and then through the hallway they’d originally entered through. Next he made a few turns and started up the stairs, a different set of stairs than before. They came out exactly where they had upon arriving, and Rowan breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he started looking for the girls.
Lorcan cursed, and Rowan spun around to find him fending off… the dog. He sent Rowan a glower and a muttered, “Shut up.”
Rowan just smirked and rubbed the dog idly as he searched the hallway, his eyes straining in the dark.
“Is there a light switch somewhere?” he asked.
“Do you honestly expect me to know the answer to that?”
Rowan sighed. “Well at least we know where our rooms are now.”
“Guys?” a voice called up ahead, and almost immediately after a light flickered on. Aelin was standing at the opposite end of the hallway, dressed in an oversized Def Leppard t-shirt.
And nothing else.
Forcing his gaze away from the bottom of her shirt and her long, tanned legs, Rowan said, “What was that smashing noise?”
“It was a vase,” Aelin said. “It fell off of its stand back that way.” She nodded behind her. “It must have been a draft or something.”
Lorcan nodded. “Well, now that that mystery’s solved,” he drawled, making it clear he hadn’t been concerned in the first place, “I’m going to bed.”
“Were you guys downstairs?” she asked.
Lorcan snorted. “We were all the hell over.” With that, he slipped in his room and shut the door, none too gently.
Aelin rasied an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
Rowan chuckled lightly. “We got lost.”
Aelin nodded sympathetically. “Some days I lived here I never could find my way to the observatory.”
Rowan wasn’t really sure how to respond to that.
“I’m going to help El finish cleaning up the vase shards.”
“Do you need me to help?” Rowan asked.
Aelin smiled. “No, thank you. We’ve got it covered.” She turned and headed down the hall and around the corner she’d come from.
Rowan definitely wasn’t staring at her ass as she sauntered away, praying the fabric would bunch up just another inch.
—
“Fucking fuck,” Elide muttered as she swept the shards into a pile with the broom she’d snatched out of a random closet nearby. “Just go on the fucking dustpan.”
“Let me get that,” Aelin said, reappearing beside Elide.
“It’s fine,” she said.
Aelin smiled. “Seriously, I got it. You can let Fleetfoot out again before we head back to sleep.”
Elide nodded gratefully. “Fleetfoot, come potty.”
She wagged her tail and sprinted straight to the nearest door. Or rather, she tried to. Aelin had to shoo her away from the pile of glass. Dogs needed to learn some self-care techniques.
Elide let her out through the door to the terrace, then said to Aelin while still watching Fleetfoot patter down the steps, “Was that the guys?”
“Yeah, they came from downstairs. They both went to bed just now, I think.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
Elide glanced at her friend. “I’m wearing polka dot shorts and a tank top with miniature sheep covering it. Do you really need to ask me that question?”
Aelin grinned. “Fair enough. Those sheep do wonders for your boobs, though.”
Elide choked on a laugh. “You’re horrible.”
“You betcha, bestie.”
Elide rolled her eyes. She heard a whine and looked over to see Fleetfoot back at the door. She opened it, then shut it and locked it. Then tried to remember if she had even unlocked it in the first place.
Probably. Unlocking a door wasn’t something that would be burned into her memory, and there wasn’t any reason for it to have been unlocked.
Dismissing that train of thought, Elide turned to Fleetfoot, who was sniffing something behind a cabinet, then back to Aelin. “Should we just wait until morning to tell Uncle O? This really isn’t of upmost importance.”
Aelin movements dumping the shards in the trash bin slowed. “Do we really need to, though?”
Elide hesitated. “Shouldn’t we?”
Aelin took a deep breath, then looked over at Elide. “He didn’t come to check out the noise, which he would have done if he had heard it. Which makes sense because his room’s on the opposite side of the house and he struggles with his hearing.”
Elide nodded. “Exactly why we should let him know.”
“But remember everything he was talking about earlier. This isn’t the first vase to be knocked over by a draft. If we tell him, couldn’t that just… encourage the… superstition?”
A moment passed, and then Elide nodded. “You’re right, actually. We shouldn’t worry him with this.”
Aelin smiled slightly, a clear attempt at raising the mood—one that didn’t do much—and turned back to her work. She had the mess cleaned up already, but she hovered over it, looking for something to do to distract herself with.
Elide sighed and turned to walk back down the hallway—then noticed Fleetfoot was still investigating behind the cabinet. “Come here, Fleetfoot. Bedtime.”
Fleetfoot didn’t move.
“What did you find, girl?” Elide walked over to the dog and peered around the cabinet.
“What is it?” Aelin asked, coming up behind her.
“I don’t know.” Elide scooted Fleetfoot out of the way. “It looks like… a packet of seeds.”
“Hmm,” Aelin said, quickly losing interest. She started back down the hall. “You coming?”
“Yeah,” Elide said distantly, still studying the packet, appearing to be black Rhododendron seeds. “I’m coming.” She snatched up the packet and slipped it in her shorts pocket, then started after Aelin.
—
A quiet whimpering woke Aelin up.
She rolled over and opened her eyes to see Fleetfoot staring at her pitifully, seated in front of the door.
“I let you out just a few hours ago,” Aelin muttered. “You’re getting old.”
Fleetfoot whined again.
Sighing, Aelin slipped out from between the sheets and shuffled toward the door, glancing back to see Elide still asleep. Aelin smiled at the small form of her friend, then grabbed a pair of sweats and left the room, clicking the latch behind her quietly.
Once Fleetfoot had taken care of her business, Aelin headed downstairs, the dog trailing behind her happily.
Rowan was in the kitchen. There was a bowl of Cheerios on the counter, with a very minimal amount of what was probably skim milk. He was rifling through drawers, muttered curses falling from his lips.
“Silverware’s over there,” Aelin said, startling Rowan. He turned, then looked to the drawer on the far side of the kitchen where Aelin was pointing.
“Thanks,” he said, voice raspy from sleep. Aelin couldn’t help but notice his eyes immediately went down, his lips turning down slightly in disappointment when he realized Aelin was now wearing pants.
She smirked and adjusted her stance so that he would notice that she still wasn’t wearing a bra. From the way his eyes shifted around the room and his ears were tinged with pink, Aelin was pretty sure he saw.
Rowan cleared his throat and opened the drawer, pulling out a spoon. “What are we doing today?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.” Aelin grabbed a box of Chocolate Chex, much to Rowan’s distaste, or so she assumed from the frown on his face. Fucking health nuts. “We’re not really close to town, so maybe just find something to do around to house.”
Rowan nodded, his eyes flicking back to Aelin’s shirt when he thought she didn’t notice. She smiled again.
“Sleep well?” Aelin asked.
Rowan moved to the table, the small bistro-style table they usually ate breakfast at. “Yeah. You?”
Aelin hummed noncommittally. “Suppose so. No more supernatural activity, at least.”
Rowan snorted. “Right. So what d—” He paused. “Are you putting chocolate milk in your chocolate cereal?”
Aelin grinned. “And chocolate sprinkles.”
A disturbed look crossed Rowan’s face. “How do you consume that?”
“Easy.” Aelin grabbed a spoon, joined him, and took a bite.
“Hmm,” Rowan murmured, staring intently at her bowl. “That’s an interesting choice of… dare I call it food?”
“At least I’m not shoving fucking bland-ass Cheerios and skim milk down my throat,” Aelin retorted.
“It’s not skim milk,” Rowan objected. “It’s almond milk.”
Aelin gave Rowan a death stare.
Just then, Lorcan chose that moment to walk through the doorway. He took in the pair scowling at each other and said merrily, “Glad to see everybody’s getting along.”
Aelin glanced at him and smiled, refusing to allow Rowan to damper her sunshine. “Good morning.”
“For you, maybe,” Lorcan grumbled. “It took me ten minutes to find my way here. Almost fell down a dumbwaiter.”
Aelin grinned. “Maybe I should show you guys some basic directions.”
“Please,” Rowan muttered.
Lorcan grabbed a banana and slumped into the seat beside Aelin and across from Rowan. “Where’s Elide?”
Aelin raised a brow. “Still in bed, last I checked. Why do you ask?”
He scowled. “Just curious.”
Aelin cocked her head. Interesting.
Very interesting.
—
Lorcan hadn’t asked for any particular reason. Elide was the only one of the group not present, and it was only natural to wonder where she was. Rowan had probably been thinking the same thing.
Halfway through his banana, someone breezed through the door. It was a middle-aged man with slightly greying hair and warm brown eyes. He was stout and obviously happy, permanent creases around his mouth from smiling so much. As he was now, widely and without restriction.
Lorcan didn’t give a shit who he was or why he was here, he was just glad someone had interrupted Aelin and Rowan’s staring contest.
The man cleared his throat, and Aelin, who was facing away from him, looked over her shoulder, then grinned. She stood quickly and threw her arms around the man. “Emrys!”
Emrys chuckled and hugged her back. “It’s lovely to see you, dear. You’ve gotten so tall.”
Aelin laughed. “I think that’s just you getting shorter.”
Lorcan munched on his banana.
“And with company?”
Aelin pulled back. “This is Lorcan and Rowan.” She glanced at them. “This is Emrys, the chef.”
“Hey,” Rowan said, sounding mildly interested.
Lorcan just grunted.
“Where’s my lovely Elide?” Emrys asked, and Aelin told him the same thing she’d said to Lorcan. Then she hesitated.
“Has Uncle O said anything about…” She trailed off. Lorcan felt a twinge of sadness that she had to worry about her uncle like this.
Emrys’ eyes tightened in understanding. “Ghosts. Yes. I don’t think you have anything to worry about, dear.”
“You don’t?” Aelin asked.
Emrys shook his head. “Even if we never find the kingsflame, Brannon was never said to be aggressive.”
Lorcan choked, accidentally spitting a piece of banana on the floor. Rowan looked at him, his face twitching as if he couldn’t tell what reaction he was supposed to have to that sentence.
Aelin’s back was to them, but she seemed to be taking it the same way, or so Lorcan surmised from her nervous chuckle and twitching fingers. “What did you say?”
Emrys smiled wider. “I said that you don’t need to be concerned about Brannon. I know it’s scary, but he’s harmless.”
“Not to that vase,” Rowan said, certainly not helping matters. Lorcan frowned at him and he shrugged. Just saying, he mouthed.
Aelin sent them a frown, the expression only deepening as Emrys sighed. “Another vase? Which one was it?”
Elide walked through the door at that moment, nearly running into Emrys. “Oh, hi!”
They exchanged hugs as Aelin rubbed her forehead, likely questioning the sanity of everyone around her. Elide seemed especially chipper upon seeing Emrys, entirely unaware of what had just transpired.
She was already dressed for the day, wearing a t-shirt and her signature miniskirt. Not that Lorcan found any of this interesting; he was merely being observant.
“What’s up?” Elide asked.
“You don’t need to be alarmed,” Lorcan couldn’t help but say. “The ghost is a nice ghost.”
Aelin looked like she was about to come pummel him, and Rowan too when he laughed into his hand.
“What Lorcan means to say is that, ah, Emrys has some opinions on the happenings of the house.”
Elide looked to Emrys in confusion. “You don’t think the ghost is real, do you?”
Emrys blinked, seemingly just catching onto the fact that no one here believed him. “You don’t?”
Elide scoffed. “Of course I don’t. There is zero evidence supporting the presence of supernatural phenomena. Zero.”
“Dear, have a little faith.”
Elide frowned. “Why would I have faith when there is no evidence?”
Aelin laughed, probably reaching her limit. “Let’s all sit down.”
She took her seat, Elide went across from her—in between Lorcan and Rowan—and Emrys pulled a chair from the corner to sit between Elide and Rowan. Elide had to scoot closer to Lorcan to make room, and her knee bumped his. She instantly jolted away, sending him a frightened glance as if she had just done some unforgivable deed. Lorcan just smirked, amused at the way she blushed and turned away.
Cute.
Emrys cleared his throat. “There is no other explanation for the things that have been happening here.”
“What, exactly, has been happening?” Aelin asked.
“Wherever you go, the noises follow,” Emrys said, a tired look in his eyes. Maybe the “ghost” wasn’t as harmless as it seemed.
“What kind of noises?” Elide asked. “Be specific.” She pulled something out of a hidden pocket in her skirt. A notepad with a pencil in the spiral. She had to be kidding.
“All sorts. Tapping noises. Banging sounds. Shutters slamming. Creaking noises. None of them are normal.”
Elide, who had been scribbling throughout, holding the notepad close to her chest so it was obstructed from Lorcan’s view, asked, “How aren’t they normal? And where do you hear each noise? Are there certain areas you hear certain things?”
Rowan coughed into his hand, and then winced. From the self-satisfied smirk Aelin wore, Lorcan suspected she had just kicked him under the table.
Emrys hummed thoughtfully. “Creaks in all the upstairs rooms. Loud ones, not just old house noises. Like there’s somebody there, but when you turn around you’re alone.” Elide kept writing. “And the sounds in the kitchens are more metallic,” he said, and Lorcan guessed this kitchen was just a little one for breakfast or something.
“Tapping in the hallways and staircases. Banging noises when we’re sitting down to meals, or sitting down somewhere. Shutters, books, all sorts of things.”
Elide nodded. “Is that all?”
“For the noises, yes,” Emrys said. “But there are other things. Things fall over all the time. Vases, as you found out. Paintings secured to the walls. Books from shelves that are neatly stacked.”
“Perhaps you need a new ventilation system.”
Emrys quieted Elide with a look. “Glasses from cabinets that are closed. And just last week, a whole suit of armor fell over. It took hours to put it back together properly.”
The sound of Elide scribbling was continuous, and Lorcan noticed for the first time she was a leftie.
“And some things aren’t just falling over, they’re being moved. Paintings are switched. Your great-great-great-grandmother Elena was replaced with her mother, Mala. Books are rearranged. Whole pieces of furniture have relocated.”
“I hope you’re not telling them about that gods-awful myth,” a voice said from the doorway. Everyone looked up to find a man, about the same age as Emrys, with a frown instead of a smile. Beside him was a teenage boy, maybe fourteen or fifteen. Elide and Aelin both stood and greeted the man as Malakai and the boy as Luca. Hugs were exchanged once more, and Lorcan held back a yawn. Aelin ruffled Luca’s hair with a grin, and Lorcan noticed Rowan frowning at the action.
As if Aelin would be screwing a kid likely just starting high school. Lorcan kept that thought to himself.
Aelin introduced the pair as Emrys’ husband and their son. Lorcan vaguely recalled something about them, a groundskeeper and some kid who helped out around the house.
Everyone relocated to the living room, since there weren’t enough seats. They spread out among the various sofas and chairs, and the silken couch Lorcan was on had him leaning back in content, wishing more than ever that he was rich. Elide immediately spoke up as soon as everyone was comfortable.
“What are your thoughts on the ghost?”
Malakai sighed. “The wind. Old house things. Someone playing a prank.” He sent Luca a look at that.
“Dad, I told you I didn’t do it,” he hissed.
Malakai shrugged. “It’s not a ghost, that’s all I can say.”
Emrys sighed. He had probably heard this before, and was convinced the ghost was real.
“And you, Luca?” Elide inquired.
He smiled slightly, his dimples making an appearance. Then he glanced at Aelin. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s bullshit,” Aelin said. Both men shot her a glare, and she amended her statement to, “Bullcrap, sorry.”
Luca nodded sagely. “I agree.”
Lorcan was starting to get the feeling he would have agreed no matter what Aelin said. He grinned, only grinning wider when he saw Rowan squinting at Luca.
“Do you have anything to add to noises and broken or relocated objects?” Elide asked.
Luca shook his head, but Malakai frowned. “The nightstand in a guest room was moved and I tripped over it a couple weeks ago. Twisted my ankle.”
“What happened to harmless?” Rowan asked.
“Do the hauntings extend to your cottage, or is it only in the house?” Elide continued, ignoring him.
“Just the house. We haven’t been bothered at home,” Emrys said.
Elide cleared her throat. “If that’s all, I should go.”
Luca perked up. “Go where?”
“I’m going to solve this mystery,” she stated bluntly, standing up.
“I’m coming with you,” Lorcan said impulsively, standing as well.
Elide shot him a frown, but didn’t say anything, just left the room. Lorcan hurried after her, ignoring Rowan’s smirk.
———
Tag List:
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@charlizeed
@evolving-dreamer
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@feysand-loml
@flora-shadowshine
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No Swimsuits After Dark
Rowaelin Month, Day 14: Skinny dipping ;)))
Word count: 1264
Inspired by an actual sign on my relatives’ hot tub that says “No jumping, no diving, no swimsuits after dark.” Enjoy!
Warnings: language, implied sMuT, Fenrys Moonbeam
“Hell. No.”
“Hell yes!” Lysandra smirked. “Girl, you said you were up for anything. I repeat, truth or dare?”
Aelin sighed. “Remind me again why I got drunk enough to agree to this.”
Elide cocked her head at the red Solo cup in Aelin’s hand. “If that’s Lorcan’s punch…”
“Gods, you’re all horrible,” Aelin groaned. She took a long pull from the cup. “Fine, bitches. Dare.”
An evil grin spread across Lysandra’s face. “You know the sign on the hot tub?”
“Yeah.”
“And you know how it’s like 1 am? Meaning it’s definitely dark?”
“No shit, I’m not drunk enough to be confusing night for…shit. NO.”
“YES. Hot tub, ten minutes, and since it’s after dark…no swimsuit.” She and Elide toasted each other and broke into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.
Aelin glared at her two best friends. “I hate both of you.”
“Nah, you loooooooove us,” snickered Elide. “Now strip and dip!”
Lysandra spat out her drink. “Oh my gods, El, I’m stealing that phrase,” she wheezed.
“Go ahead,” Elide grinned. “Ae, you gonna grow a pair and go skinny dipping or will we have to throw you into the hot tub?”
Aelin drained the rest of her drink and stood, pulling off her shirt. “I’m going, I’m going. Jesus, you think I wouldn’t take a dare? I am pretty damn drunk.” She tugged off her shorts when she got to the hot tub on the other side of the patio, leaving her underclothes with them. Quickly, not wanting anyone else to see her nude ass, she clambered into the tub, sighing as the hot water hit her skin. She closed her eyes, deciding to enjoy her impromptu soak in the hot tub rather than spend the whole ten minutes worrying another of her drunk idiot friends would stumble over and goggle at her. After all, the hot tub was gated off from the rest of the patio, and even though she’d left the gate slightly ajar, she didn’t think anyone currently at her house would be sober enough to remember it existed.
Not three minutes later, the gate squeaked open.
And a distinctly male, distinctly slurred voice, choked out a “Fuck.”
~
When Lorcan had asked Rowan if he wanted to go to Aelin’s house that night, he’d accepted like he always did, looking forward to another one of his best friend’s casual “family drinking nights,” as she’d coined them.
Apparently this night was a joint girls’ and boys’ night, though, since Rowan had hardly got to say hello before Lorcan, Aedion, and Fenrys pulled him out to the fire pit for “bro time,” which meant shitloads of whiskey, too many shots, telling the stupidest jokes they knew until someone got hammered enough to laugh, and occasionally hearing drunk Lorcan moon over Elide. And, apparently, drunk dares.
He’d thought none of the wasted guys sitting around the fire pit could come up with anything worse than making Aedion steal the batteries from Aelin’s vibrator (a task that made Rowan blush red enough that he was glad for the cover of midnight darkness) until Fenrys aimed his empty bottle at him and slurred, “Go’shkin’dip.”
“The fuck, Moonbeam?”
“That translates to ‘Go skinny dipping in the hot tub,’ idiot,” Lorcan clarified.
“Oh hell no!”
“Oh hell yes! What, don’t have the balls to do ten minutes alone in the hot tub? Might sober your drunk ass up, Whitethorn,” drawled Aedion. “After all, there is a sign posted on the gate saying that you can’t wear a swimsuit after dark.”
“Fine. I’ll go fucking skinny dipping. And then you, Salvaterre, can shove that bottle up your ass and see how long it takes for Elide to notice.”
Grumbling to himself, Rowan made it to the hot tub gate, barely noticing that it was ajar, dropped his shorts, and shoved the gate open.
“Fuck.”
Already sitting in the hot tub, just as naked as him, was Aelin.
His hands immediately covered himself, lest she see what his…reaction to seeing her nude in her hot tub was.
Before he could back away, Aelin, her arms crossed over her chest, smirked at him.
“You joining the party, Whitethorn?”
He was in the hot tub seconds later.
~
Sitting on the opposite side from her very drunk best friend, Aelin wondered if Rowan knew she’d seen exactly what he was trying to hide from her when he all but jumped into the hot tub.
If she was maybe one shot drunker, she’d be the one jumping. But she had enough sobriety to tell herself that this was her best friend, no matter that she’s been madly in love with him for a long-ass time. Not to mention, she was drunk.
“Well…this is awkward.” Rowan finally broke the tense silence.
Aelin snorted. “Yeah. Part of me wonders if they set this up.”
“But everyone’s too wasted to have planned it.”
“Right.”
They were quiet for another moment, Rowan staring directly at her face, his eyes flickering with something Aelin didn’t want to name.
“Ro, if you’re going to check out my rack, at least don’t try to hide it.”
His eyes jerked back to hers. “Your what?”
“My boobs, Rowan. Or are you too drunk to notice I have them?”
Those dark, green eyes dragged a path down her chest, stopping where the water hit her ribs. “I have never not noticed how hot your rack is. How gorgeous you are.”
Aelin’s breath caught. “You--”
“I’m drunk, Ae. You’re drunk. And drunk people tell the truest truths.”
“Then in the spirit of truth-telling, I am so fucking impossibly in love with you.”
It was his turn to go speechless. That emotion flickered through his eyes again, tinged with a darker flame. “You going to do something about it?”
Her lips were on his before he could smirk.
~
By the time Aelin strolled back over to the cluster of chairs on the patio, Lorcan, Aedion, and Fenrys had joined the girls.
Elide, trying to hide that she was grinding in Lorcan’s lap, smirked at her. “That was a lot more than ten minutes, Ae.”
“Maybe I’m too drunk to tell time,” she grinned. “Much like you’re too drunk to be in public with your man.”
Rowan flopped down in one of the patio chairs. “Fuck, I need water. Ae, you got a water bottle?”
“Kitchen.”
“I can’t fucking remember where your kitchen is, Aelin.”
“And is that because you drank three whole bottles of shitty whiskey?”
“IT’S BECAUSE HE CAN’T REMEMBER ANYTHING EXCEPT YOUR--”
“Fen, if you finish that sentence, I will personally castrate and murder you, in that order,” Rowan growled.
Aelin whacked Fenrys upside the head with a water bottle. “Get out of my house, Moonbeam. You’re not getting hungover on my couch again.”
He opened his mouth, probably to make another raunchy comment, saw everyone’s expression, and stood, weaving on his feet. “Lorky, will you drive me home?”
Lorcan and Elide stood on each side of him and headed for their car, calling out goodbyes. Aelin watched them go, shaking her head.
Lysandra was smirking a smirk of pure evil delight. “Lorky.”
Aedion was wheezing.
Rowan just grinned at Aelin. “Are you kicking them out, or am I?”
“Hey, hey, we’re leaving, no need to get territorial. I wouldn’t stay the night for all the money in the world, knowing that I’d hear you two on the other side of the house.”
She and Aedion were off before Aelin could swat her.
Rowan tugged her into his lap. “Well, we’re alone now.”
“Mhmm.” And she fell asleep on his shoulder.
Rowan chuckled as he walked her inside, telling little Whitethorn to calm down, they’d have plenty of time tomorrow. And the day after that. And the rest of their lives.
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