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highqueenofelfhame · 1 year

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this is one of my favorite silly things i’ve written in awhile. i hope it makes you smile a lil bit. excuse the unedited mishaps if there are any, i have covid, bronchitis, and a double ear infection and my editor is asleep and i like to post on a whim because if i don’t i’ll keep working on it until it becomes a monster. enjoy <3

Aelin Galathynius was one hundred percent positive that the universe was out to get her, and she was listing all the possible reasons in her head amidst the ambient sound of smooth jazz and silverware clanking against plates in the background. Soft voices hummed around her, most so quiet she couldn’t decipher their words no matter how hard she tried. And gods above, she had tried. Anything would be better than what was currently being word vomited at her at break neck speed.

So far, her list of wrong-doings went as follows:

That time she had stuffed two handfuls of chocolate bars into her jacket pockets at the corner store by her cousin’s house… and then proceeded to blame it all on Aedion, who was two years older and “should have stopped her if it was wrong.”

When she had broken Aedion’s nose while playing kickball at the park, age 13, and laughed about it.

There may have been a tendency of being fashionably late to everything, and that miffed just about everyone she knew. But she always looked criminally good when she finally arrived, so it couldn’t be that big of a deal, right?

Backing her high school/college boyfriend’s forest green truck straight into a violently red concrete barrier when he was teaching her how to drive.

Wearing white after labor day. Gods, she knew better, and this is why it was all coming back to haunt her, she was sure.

Running over her neighbors escaped pet rabbit at three in the morning when she was supposed to be up in her bed asleep, aged 17. And then she never told anyone but her boyfriend that she did it. That poor little girl. But how had the rabbit ended up outside anyway? It seemed like irresponsible pet ownership, and–

“Are you ready to order?”

The pretty waitress with dark brown hair and deep brown skin popped her out of her train of thought. With a shiny gold star marking her place on the mental list of crimes, Aelin rested her elbows on the table and put her full attention on the waitress. It was a young woman with tawny skin and the most stunning golden brown set of curls she’d ever been privileged to witness. Maybe if she started talking to the young woman about skin care, the other attendee at the table would leave.

She could only hope.

As though being asked about her meal choice had awoken her from sleep, her belly grumbled in a quiet riot. She nodded, resting her chin on top of her interlocked fists as she opened her mouth to order the juicy medium-rare steak that would make this night at least kind-of worth it–

“A grilled salmon salad,” a voice said that was certainly not her own. “She’ll have the grilled salmon salad with a side of asparagus. And I’ll have–”

Aelin had no earthly idea what followed his words after that, because she momentarily stopped hearing. Never had she ever been on a date where the man felt so entitled as to order for her. Maybe because through high school and college, she’d dated the same person that knew her like the back of his hand, and knew if he pulled that he would lose the kickstand between his legs. It also probably had to do with her being out of the dating game for the last two years since they had broken up, dates weren’t even a blip on Aelin’s radar.

There had been no curiosity about what other people were like, there was no desire to explore sides of herself she didn’t know existed with someone else. Aelin knew exactly who she was. She sure as hell didn’t need to date a man to figure it out.

But she did miss sex. And at the very least she was hoping to get that at the end of the night, but the odds weren’t in her favor, it seemed. Chaol Westfall had just ordered so off the mark that she just knew he wouldn’t be able to find her clit.

Aelin didn’t settle for bad sex. Even if it meant continuing on her accidental path to abstinence, she was not going to have bad sex.

“– is really great, you’re going to love it.” Her ears tuned back in just in time to catch the tail end of his sentence, and with great disappointment Aelin realized the waitress was already gone. The dinner fate was sealed. She was going to be eating a salmon salad for dinner, and the gods were laughing about it, she just knew it.

It was definitely the fucking rabbit.

To make it all worse, she was being watched. It wasn’t a solid fact because she hadn’t started to look around the room just yet, but the hairs on the back of her neck were reaching for the ceiling. Goosebumps had started to pimple over her arms, something that had her on high alert.

Looking up into the dimly lit room, her eyes barely paused on her date. Of course he was staring at her intently while he spoke, his extreme eye contact enough to make the most neurotypical of people uncomfortable. But it wasn’t him she was sensing. It was someone else.

It only took five seconds to find the culprit of the feeling, and the roof may as well have collapsed while the universe took a massive shit on the top of her head. There was no fucking way–

Except that apparently there was, because there was no mistaking that silvery head of hair (shorter than she had last seen it) or those piercing green eyes (locked on her and tinged with amusement, laughter, and something else she didn’t care to name at the moment.) Leaning against the bar with an old fashioned in his hand, because what else would that bastard drink at a place like this, was Rowan fucking Whitethorn. The boyfriend from number four on her list and, also, the man that would never try to order for her unless it was in the form of a sweet surprise.

Across the table, Chaol continued to ramble on about himself. She wasn’t quite sure which topic they were on now, and staring into Rowan’s eyes while an sly smirk tugged at the corner of his lips wasn’t making it any easier to pay attention to him.

“I’m going to get a drink,” she said abruptly, finally looking back at the dim brown eyes across from her. A deep crease settled between his brows as he looked at her, glancing over to the bar then back to her face.

“I can grab the waitress—“

“No, no. She has her hands plenty full.” Aelin forced herself to smile before saying she would be back soon and pushed out of her chair before he could further object.

Her eyes remained on her ex-boyfriend who, if she was admitting it, and she was, looked devastatingly handsome as he flagged down the bartender and muttered something just as she came to a stop beside him. The smirk shifted to a grin and she wanted to press her fingertip into the deep dimple that appeared— something she had done time and time again when they were younger.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he drawled, his lilting accent curling over and around every syllable. Rowan licked his bottom lip and ran his teeth over it as he gazed down at her. She didn’t miss how his eyes dipped down her body before landing back on her eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing in Orynth? And why this restaurant of all places?” The smack she landed on his shoulder wasn’t exactly voluntary. She tended to hit things when she got excited.

“I got a call about a damsel in distress,” Rowan teased, clearly having easily picked up on her bored and suffering disposition when she was at the table. Aelin couldn’t help it, she laughed, reaching for the glass the bartender slid in front of Rowan.

Okay, maybe he would order for her, but he would nail it every fucking time.

Aelin brought the tumbler to her lips, taking a long sip through the tiny straw that was nestled beside a lemon wedge on the side of the glass. The heat of the Wendlyn Mai Tai was welcome as it coating her tongue and slipped down the back of her throat. Gods, she really needed that drink. The wine Chaol had ordered at the table just wasn’t cutting it.

“Really, though. What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were in town.”

“I wasn’t until a few hours ago. I have a meeting about a job.”

“You have an interview somewhere in Orynth?” Her voice went up an octave, surprise coating every word. Maybe it wasn’t only surprise, though. It would be a lie to say that she wouldn’t get excited about Rowan moving back to Terrasen. Not even on the dating front, despite being fully cemented in the fact that he had always been it for her. Everyone was kind of under the assumption that they would find their way back to one another, Aelin included. But just the thought of being able to see him more often, even if only as her friend… it would be really nice.

“Less of an interview, more of a formality. I should be getting an offer before dinner is even served.” By the end of his sentence, the two wore wide, matching grins. Aelin forced herself to bite down on her bottom lip to keep it contained, but there was no hiding it. He seemed just as happy about it as she did.

It was why they had broken up in the first place. Right after college, Rowan received an incredible job offer in Wendlyn, while Aelin received one in Orynth. It was a decision that both of them had spent hours crying about. There were nights where they would lay in bed together in silence, holding and soothing each other and whispering sweet nothings until their lips found each other in the dark. The day they finally agreed they had to go their separate ways was the day that Rowan moved his things out of their apartment downtown and he set off for his new job two weeks after graduation. Neither of them had wanted it, but they both knew that with their respective schedules, seeing each other would be few and far between. Long distance is hard as it is, but throw an entire ocean between two people that will have very limited visits… it just wasn’t something they wanted to put the other through.

“I think your date is getting suspicious.” Aelin blinked, then frowned, taking a moment to look over her shoulder at Chaol.

“If you didn’t have a prior obligation, I would beg you to get me out of here,” she grumbled, taking another swig of her drink before sighing heavily. “I’ll see you before you leave?”

“Even if you don’t, I should be making the move by the end of next week.”

“So, I’ll see you before you leave,” she repeated, getting another grin out of him.

“Yes, Aelin. I’ll call you in the morning.” Rowan brushed her hair off her shoulder, following it up with a little knock to the underside of her chin and a boop to her nose with a bent finger as he nodded his head toward the table she had been so eager to escape moments ago. And was not at all looking forward to returning to.

Sticking her tongue out at him, she turned on her (very high) heel and marched back to the table, dropping down into the seat unceremoniously. Chaol’s brows were knit together while he frowned at his phone. His brown eyes flicked up to meet her blank stare and she arched a brow.

“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” Maybe it was a little rude, but Rowan was back, and not even the high of him being in the same room could make her chipper enough to fake niceties with such a bland and beige date.

Gods above, beige was the perfect word to describe him. A boring and safe option when you didn’t know what other color to paint your walls. Or the stand-in you chose while you waited to make up your mind. Maybe the hue that the real estate agent convinced you to paint over the emerald accent wall in your bedroom to appeal to more potential buyers. Just… beige.

“Work,” he replied, not at all apologetically. His shoulders stiffened and his posture straightened as he looked over his shoulder toward the bar. Aelin’s eyes followed, but Rowan wasn’t there anymore. A quick glance around the room and she found him sitting a few tables deeper into the establishment with none other than her father. Sneaky bastard hadn’t mentioned he was giving Rowan Whitethorn a job offer, nor had her mother secretly told her behind his back. She had the inklings of a scheme going on, and it started with grand and ended with kids. “Who was that you were talking to?”

“Oh, Rowan? He’s my ex-boyfriend. We broke up a few years ago, I haven’t seen him in a few months.”

“Months?” Again, that crease between his brows. Did this man ever stop frowning?

“Mm,” she grunted, taking another drink. “He comes back for major life events, birthdays, and holidays.”

“Which of the three is it this time?” Gods, the insecurity was seeping from the dude’s pores. And after tonight, she wasn’t going to go out with him again. Instead of being polite and brushing it off with a shrug, she smiled a bit.

“He’s moving back actually. Finalizing a job offer tonight.”

Chaol merely grunted a reply, lacing his fingers and tapping one thumb against the tangle of his appendages. Aelin kept her sweet smile on her face as the waitress placed their food in front of them, Chaol immediately digging in as she stared at her own plate.

It didn’t take long for him to start rambling about himself again– his job, his family woes, his friends. There were a few tame stories from college thrown in that made Aelin truly laugh, if only because he thought he sounded cool and impressive when it just nailed the coffin into his beige diagnosis. Any single one of her college stories would have him running for the hills and utterly scandalized, she just knew.

He was halfway through another one, about a hazing-gone-almost-wrong that made him seem like more of a jackass than anything else, when he stopped mid-sentence and cocked his head to the side and said, “You’ve barely touched your food.”

“I don’t like salmon,” she said back, punctuating the statement by placing her fork on the table and leaning back in her chair with a tight smile on her lips. The man looked visibly frustrated, his fingers tightening around his knife as though it were her fault he had ordered her a meal she didn’t like. Aelin would have gone for the steak. It cut like butter here at the Staghorn, always a perfect medium rare. Her mouth watered just thinking about it. “You were saying?”

And then he just. Kept. Talking. For so long that she began to check her phone for the time. It had been an hour and a half and she had only mentioned a handful of things about herself, all of them things she offered up on her own. Not once had he asked, nor really commented on anything she said. He just kept talking about himself. If he didn’t stop soon, she really might–

“Do you want to get out of here?” Aelin nearly broke her neck for how quickly she snapped her head up. It wasn’t Chaol that was asking. His mouth was still open as though he’d been in the middle of another story when interrupted. No, It was Rowan that asked, standing by the table holding a to-go box in his hand. He shook it a little, the contents barely making any noise. “Medium rare, mashed potatoes and asparagus.”

Okay, okay. Rowan could order for her anytime he wanted.

Aelin was nodding and downing the rest of her (third) drink before he had even finished detailing the meal he had packed up for her. Chaol was stunned into silence as she dug around in her purse and threw two twenties on the table. It would barely cover her drinks, but she figured he should have to pay for her half-eaten salad that she didn’t ask for, anyway.

“You’re leaving?” Chaol finally sputtered, that godsdamn wrinkle back between his eyebrows. Aelin looked back up at Rowan, mirth twinkling in his eyes as he held his hand out for her.

“Yeah. I sure fucking am.”

She was still side-eyeing the fucking rabbit, but maybe it wasn’t a night about bad karma after all.

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#rowaelin #writing #fanfiction #tog fanfic #throne of glass fanfic #throne of glass fanfiction #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #chaol westfall #aedion ashryver #aelin ashryver galathynius #aelin x rowan #rowan x aelin #tog #my writing #bad karma #aelin's no horrible terrible no good very bad date #it's the fucking rabbit #(it was definitely the fucking rabbit no cap)

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