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...
A few weeks after the sleepover, Rowan asked me to go over to his house for dinner.
I was excited because Rowan hardly ever invites people over to his house. Him doing so to me was like a sign of trust.
This time I texted Rowan that I arrived, but he didn't reply after a couple of minutes so I reluctantly buzzed in at the gate.
"Hi. Who is this?" A female voice sounded over the intercom. My heart leaped into my throat. Did I somehow mess up the address? The landscape looks the same, so maybe it's a family member.
"Um, I'm Liam. I'm here to see Rowan." I say, my voice coming out a little shaky.
"Oh, hi Liam. Yeah I'll buzz you in, one second." A moment later the gates clicked and opened, allowing me entrance. I breathed a small sigh of relief and walked over to the front door where a woman was standing with the door open.
"Hi. Liam?" She asks. I nod. "I'm Kaylee, Rowan's sister. Nice to meet you." She holds out a hand to shake, and I take it.
"Rowan's in the kitchen. He's a little occupied but I'll bring you to him." Kaylee explains, walking over to the kitchen. I hesitantly follow.
In the kitchen, Rowan stands at the counter, an apron over his clothes, caked with... dough, sauce, and an assortment of... I don't even know what.
"Liam!" He says, surprised when he sees me. He glances quickly at the clock before swearing softly under his breath.
"I uh, thought this would take less time... I'm sorry. Uh, why don't you have a seat, I'll get cleaned up and join you in a moment." Rowan gestures to the dining table before hastily walking away.
The dining table is set nicely. A red table cloth on dark wood. Plates, forks, and napkins have been set up already. I notice that there are only 2 plates set up and take a fleeting glance at Kaylee.
She seems to have noticed my glance.
"I'm heading out soon to meet my boyfriend, so it'll just be you two for the evening." She gives me a friendly smile, and I nod in return.
Rowan comes back, dressed nicely in what looks to be a denim shirt and black slacks.
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"Hey Li, sorry 'bout that. I'm not very experienced at... this kind of thing." He says sheepishly, gesturing vaguely to the mess that is the kitchen.
"Alright you two, I really gotta go now, so bye! Nice meeting you Liam!" Kaylee smiles, waving before briskly walking towards the door. Once Kaylee has left, Rowan speaks.
"So... for appetizers, I just bought these, since I had zero time and zero skill." Rowan pulls out a plate of mini quiches.
"They look good," I smile at him. I can tell by his stance that he's nervous. Honestly I've never had a friend prepare a full on meal like this for me. Maybe it's a thing he grew up with.
We start eating and talking. A while later the oven timer beeps, and Rowan excuses himself. He comes back with a giant plate of pizza that he places on the table.
"I uh, didn't know what toppings you usually get, so I just went with pepperoni and mushrooms. I've seen you eat mushrooms before and I don't think you hated them so... yeah. I put them on." By the end of his speech, his cheeks have tinted slightly pink.
How cute. I think. It's always riveting to see different sides of Rowan, and not just this all confident and perfect guy he seems to be at first glance.
"That's great, Rowan. Mushrooms and pepperoni is more than welcome." I say, unable to keep a massive smile off my face. He slices up the pizza and we eat happily.
The crust is uneven and a little burnt, but for Rowan's cooking standards this pizza is actually pretty good.
"This is great. Did you make this from scratch?" I say after swallowing a mouthful.
"Yeah. It took me almost four hours. I thought I'd have it ready before you came over, but clearly that didn't hold up."
"Assuming you've never made pizza before," He nods in confirmation, "this is actually pretty amazing."
"Thanks." He sends a smile, but I can tell that he's secretly preening inside.
Before long, the pizza is gone. Rowan and I both have pretty substantial appetites apparently.
"Um, I hope the dessert is enough. I wasn't sure how much you would be able to eat." He says, heading into the kitchen and coming back with a full on cheesecake.
"Wow. Did you make that too?"
"Uh yeah. This one wasn't too bad to make, because most of it is just chilling in the fridge." He cuts up a slice and gives it to me. Once again, not perfect, but pretty good for a first try!
I had a wonderful time chatting and eating with Rowan. It's a nice surprise, him cooking a meal for tonight. Usually we cook together, get takeout, or go out to eat.
"Can you believe we've only known each other for a few months?" Rowan asks, and suddenly it dawns on me that yeah, I haven't actually known Rowan for a very long time in comparison to my other friends.
"I- wow. I didn't realize that."
"It's just... I have a lot of fun spending time with you. Um, do-" he clears his throat, "do you like spending time with me?" His hands fidget with the napkin on the table.
I'm taken back by the question. Of course I love spending time with Rowan. Have I not been properly conveying that? Is he questioning our friendship because of me? Have I been a bad friend?
"Yeah, of course."
"Great, great. So um, would you maybe want to do that more?"
"Sure. Just let me know when you're available to hang out."
"I- I mean," Rowan licks his lips, looking away for a moment before taking a deep breath.
