Liam has never been a people person.
Having your parents divorce makes it even worse.
Social anxiety has always made it incredibly hard for Liam to talk to people and make friends, so how would he even find a chance at love?
At 21, Liam wasn't even...
We head up the stairs through the long corridor until we reach Rowan's bedroom. All the doors were closed. He opens it and we step inside.
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It's huge, but it doesn't seem very... personable. It seems very detached and... generic.
There's a cute desk space in the corner, which I really like.
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"Is it what you expected?" Rowan asks curiously. I pause before shaking my head.
"It's... a lot less personal that I anticipated." I admit quietly. Oh no, what if he just likes simple things? Did I just offend him? Is he going to kick me out?
"Yeah. I mean I just cleaned it up recently too, but there isn't really a lot of me in here I guess. It's kind of bare, but there's a lot of space, and I have everything I need." Rowan shrugs, "Do you still want a... room tour or something?"
"Sure." I smile. There are two more doors attached to the room apart from the entrance.
"Well, uh. Bed. Desk. TV. That's pretty much all I use in this space." Rowan says bluntly before heading over to one of the doors.
"This is my closet."
He opens the door and wow it's absolutely massive!
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It's an entire other room, filled with drawers and clothes.
"This is amazing, there's so much space in here." I breathe, staring wide-eyed at my surroundings.
After that he shows me that the other door leads to his bathroom (which is also huge). We don't stay long, opting to head back into his room and settle on the bed, facing the TV he has on the opposite wall. Rowan turns it on and browses through some movies.
"Would you mind watching a horror movie?" He asks. Rowan's sat next to me against the headboard of his bed, blanket laid over the both of us. I fidget a bit at his suggestion. Personally I hate horror movies, but if Rowan wants to watch one I guess I can bear with it for the time being...
I send him a hesitant nod and he selects a random horror movie I honestly couldn't be bothered to remember.
"This is one of my favourites- oh we don't have any snacks. Wait here I'll just be a moment. Popcorn's okay?" Rowan asks, already sliding out of the bed covers. I send him another nod and he's out of the room with the TV still going.
I turn my attention to the screen and feel my skin crawl at the dark, creepy setting already. The beginning isn't too bad, the movie mainly sets up the plot and the characters.
Rowan comes back and slides under the covers before placing a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He places a water bottle on the nightstand on his side and hands me the other one.
"You're welcome to take the popcorn anytime." He says nonchalantly as the movie plays.
"Thanks." I manage to croak out, feeling more reassured now that Rowan's back.
Partway through the movie, a jump scare appears and I flinch violently, nearly dropping the bottle of water I'm holding.
Rowan lets out a small chuckle before turning to me, "You okay?"
"Y-yeah." I stammer uncertainly, staring wide-eyed at the screen as someone gets murdered. My grip on the blanket tightens.
We continue to watch the movie in silence, me subconsciously tugging the blanking higher around me in an attempt to calm myself.
Suddenly I feel Rowan's hand on my arm.
"Are you okay? You're shaking." He asks, concern evident in his voice.
"I- I don't know." I admit quietly, flinching when another jump-scare flashes on the screen. Rowan takes the remote and pauses the movie.
"Do you want to stop?"
"I think I'll be okay if you're here." I mutter quietly. I pause before realizing what I just said. Oh no! Why did I say that? Ugh, that's super weird to say isn't it?
"Okay," Rowan chuckles, scooting slightly closer until I can feel his body heat. "you can... hold me or something if that makes you feel better." I search for the mocking in his gaze, but there is none, so I nod gratefully.
The movie is resumed and I resign to half watching it due to its scariness.
At one part of the movie I get so scared I let out the most embarrassing yelp and clutch onto Rowan's hand until my knuckles were white.
"Hey, you're okay, it's okay." He soothes, reaching with his other hand to wrap around my shoulders, gently tugging me to lean against him.
-
When the movie ends, I'm curled up against Rowan's side under the blanket with his arm wrapped around my waist comfortingly, his legs stretched out in front of him with the almost empty bowl on his lap.
"At least we didn't watch that at night. It's around 3:30, is there anything in particular you want to do?" Rowan comments.
"Not particularly. We could do whatever you'd like to do." I murmur quietly, savouring the moment being at Rowan's side even though it likely means nothing to him. Even though it's something as simple as just being here, I'm grateful he let me take comfort in his presence and wasn't all "no homo" about it.
"Well, I'm gonna clean this up and then we can figure out something to do," Rowan says, gesturing to the bowl of popcorn on his lap, "you wanna stay here or are you coming?"
The thought of being alone immediately after watching a terrifying horror movie spooked me, so I quickly took his offer to go with him. I was really tempted to hold his hand as we walked through the long, empty hallways. It made me feel kind of pathetic to be so weak, especially since Rowan said he really liked the horror movie we just watched.
