I Don't Wanna Live Forever - Zayn, Taylor Swift
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Rowan
My morning started out as usual, with Elsa trying to get my ear off. She wouldn't stop barking until I took her out for a morning walk. It was a Saturday and I was feeling lazy as usual because Minnie had no school and that meant I didn't have to wake up early to make lunches and drop her to school. One more hour of sleep.
I tried to ignore Elsa's barks when I heard the doorbell. I opened an eyes and sneaked a glance at the clock. It was nine am. The doorbell continued to torture my ears. I reminded myself to tell the idiot of a security guard to not allow anyone upstairs without informing me beforehand.
I pulled myself out of the bed reluctantly and made my way towards the door. When I checked the screen, I saw Alana. I quickly opened the door, didn't want to hear my girlfriend whine about making her wait.
Alana stood in the doorway, she was wearing a blue top over black skinny jeans. Her hair pulled back in a messy bun, a few loose tendrils of hair grazing her face. I rubbed my eyes and looked closely. I had to be hallucinating in broad daylight to see her carrying two handbags.
I began racking my brain. Had I possibly promised her a trip last night that I somehow forgot about? That wasn't possible. It could only happen in the Hangover movies.
"Hey babe." I mumbled, still half asleep.
"Good Morning, baby." She said, her voice cheerful than usual.
As usual she bulldozed her way inside the house, followed by Chez who was carrying a large cartoon of...I had no idea what the hell that was.
"Where do you want me to keep this, Rowan?" Chez asked me.
I pointed at the open space near the couch. "What's in it?"
"Alana's stuff."
I looked at Alana. "I don't understand."
Elsa was barking in the background. Two men in uniforms who I assumed were movers brought in two more cartoons. "That's it." the thin guy declared.
"Alana what about your furniture?" Chez asked her as she began ripping the tape off the box.
"There's just the bed and the dresser left, someone contacted me from Craigslist. They will pick it up this afternoon. Can you handle it?" She asked, removing a silver box of what I assumed was her makeup.
The two were carrying on the conversation like I wasn't even in the room, like this wasn't even my house.
What was happening? Had I walked into another dimension? Why was Alana unpacking her stuff in my house?
"Can someone please tell me what is going on here?" I asked.
"Rowan, you asked me if I could move in with you..." Alana said.
"Yeah. I remember asking you that and getting turned down."
"I hope that offer still stands because I changed my mind." Her smile broke into a mischievous grin.
Alana was telling me she was moving in with me. That meant more time together, movie marathons on the couch, waking up next to her in bed and of course regular sex. I was definitely dreaming.
I turned to Chez. "Punch me. I don't believe this."
Chez laughed. "Think again, Mr. Masters. Maybe you want to change your mind. I don't think anyone would be able to handle living with her under one roof. For starters, Alana's cooking sucks."
A pillow came flying at Chez. "I can hear you, asshole." Alana shot back.
"I'm going to the bathroom to splash a bucket of cold water on my face and when I come back, I expect this beautiful dream to vanish."
I heard Alana laugh when I ran into my bathroom to complete my morning rituals. When I walked out of the steaming bathroom, Alana was standing in my bedroom, arranging her things on my dresser. Now, I realized it wasn't just mine. It was ours. I liked the sound of it.
I walked towards her. "Is Chez still here?"
Alana giggled. "He left a minute ago, but he'll be back in the evening with a few more of my things. Why?"
I closed the door, locked it and slid my arms around her middle, her back was facing me. She fit so perfectly in my arms. I kissed the delicate crook of her neck. She smelled so good. "Are you sure about this baby?"
She placed her hands on mine. "Of course I'm sure. You still want me here, don't you?"
"More than anything." I confessed. "But I should warn you, maybe I would get difficult sometimes, maybe I'll say something to you that I don't mean but baby if you walk away from me....I don't think I can..."
She turned to face me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She threaded her fingers through mine. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not going anywhere."
I nodded. "So what changed your mind? I remember you telling me that you didn't want to move in with me so soon."
She shrugged, averting her eyes and turning her attention towards the clothes she had pulled out of her suitcase. "Um, nothing. I just wanted to be with you."
Then like a missing puzzle piece, it clicked into place. "Is this because you saw Lauren the other day walking out of my apartment?"
Alana didn't answer and that meant I was right. I sighed. "What exactly do I need to do to prove that I love you and there's no way that I'm going to let Lauren come between us?"
"It's not you I don't trust, it's her." She said through gritted teeth, and I wondered if she would murder Lauren if she got a chance.
"If you trust me, that's all I need." I said.
Her eyes softened. "I just want you to know that my living with you doesn't mean I'm going to mooch off your savings."
I laughed. "You don't need to worry about that."
Alana bore her eyes into mine. "I'm serious."
"Let's not fight over things, baby, okay? We will discuss about that later." I said. "What would you like for lunch? How about pizza?"
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Alana
It's been a week since I moved in with Rowan, everything was so blissful so far. We were like a married couple, who weren't married. Rowan made the lunch in the morning so Minnie and I had packed lunches in our bag. I wanted to contribute to the house too, but Rowan wouldn't hear the end of it so I slipped in groceries and cooked when I could. He also helped me with my homework. Now that he had bagged a professors job in a neighboring university, he was busier than usual. Nina met me at college, but I was missing on the girls' time together so we promised each other that we would hang out this weekend.
"Alana, wait." Troy called out to me in the hallway pulling me out of my thoughts. I was headed towards my sociology class, a late submission was due and now it had to wait.
Troy was panting like he had done twenty laps around campus. His usual brown hair streaked with blonde. Every time, he looked at me, I was just reminded of a younger version of Rowan.
"Alana, I just want you to know that I'm sorry for all those misunderstandings. I hope we are cool, y' know after whatever happened." He said.
"Yeah, I guess we are cool. Even though you toyed around with me, blackmailed me into becoming your friend and dragged me around for your band practices. We are cool." I said sarcastically.
He dug his hands in his pockets. "I was lonely as fuck and I..."
"Needed someone to entertain you. I get it."
"No. Will you let me finish?" I'd ticked him off again. Boy, these Masters' had some serious anger issues. "When I met you at the club, I didn't know you were Rowan's girlfriend. That kiss was a douche move, and now, it's pretty complicated with Rowan. He is family. Whenever he sees me, he imagines you and me kissing or something because he is a raging bull the next minute which is stupid because that kiss was nothing. It was like kissing your older sister yo, not that I mean it was gross...god, you get what I mean, right?"
I sighed. "I know. I'll talk to him, don't worry about it."
"It's getting kinda cold. You game for coffee?" He asked. "It's just around the corner."
"I have to submit my sociology assignment." I said.
"I'll wait in the parking lot." He said.
I realized he wasn't going to take no as an answer. "Okay." I agreed.
Twenty minutes later, I was seated at a coffee shop that was a usual hangout for the university students. Troy had ordered two large cappuccinos, it was his treat and I was a sucker for coffee so when he batted his eyes and made the puppy face, I agreed for a little chat.
"So what's it like living with him?" Troy asked.
"It's nice." I said and left it at that.
Troy chucked. "You can lie to me, Alana, but you don't have to lie to yourself."
"I don't want to talk about this, Troy. It feels wrong. I feel like I'm talking behind Rowan's back and we promised to be honest with each other."
I picked up my coffee and slid out of the booth when Troy seized my hand. "I think if you weren't in his life, he would still have been locked up in that mental facility feeling sorry for himself. I know you love him a lot, and I'm not going to judge you for that, but Dwight told me to tell you that if you need anything, if you find yourself in a situation where you feel unsafe around him, do not hesitate to call us."
I smiled. "Thanks Troy."
Troy wasn't looking at me, his gaze was trailed behind me. I followed his face and my eyes locked with the a pair of furious mocha colored eyes. Rowan was at the door making his way towards us. He gave me his signature death glare and turned to Troy.
"What the fuck are you doing here and why is Alana with you?" He asked, scratch that, he demanded the answer from Troy pulling off his best serial killer look that would have had any person running for the hills. Troy surprisingly did not seem fazed by it.
"Chillax bro, I wasn't bitchin' about you if that's what you think we were doing."
"Whatever it is Troy, I want you to stop involving Alana into this. And you can tell Dwight to mind his own fucking business. Is that understood?"
"Sure." Troy said and locked his sleepy gaze with mine.
He didn't even acknowledge me as he stormed out of the cafeteria.
"You better hurry before you get schooled too." Troy chuckled.
I went back home in the afternoon; home that was now mine and Rowan's. It was during this time that I wondered if my decision of moving in with Rowan was wrong. I walked into the living area and found him seated in front of the flat screen playing his PS4
"Hey." I said.
"Hey." He smiled, his eyes glued on the screen. Something told me that the smile was forced.
I slipped beside him on the couch and watched him play for a few minutes until I was bored. He wasn't going to initiate a conversation. I decided to break the awkward silence. "How was your day?"
"It was alright."
"Are you mad at me?" I asked.
"Why the fuck would I be mad at you?" he asked and the tone he used told me I was right.
"I want to talk to you, switch off that goddamn game." I said.
He continued to play, slashing through some zombies. I walked towards the screen and unplugged the game console. His jaw tightened as he threw the controller which bounced off the soft carpet and landed on the floor. He then stormed towards the kitchen and I knew what he was going to do next. He threw open the top cabinets and searched the drawers.
Rowan's hands were trembling and I realized he was about to have one of those episodes if he didn't get the meds inside his system.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" He screamed, stalking into the bedroom and opening the drawers. Elsa who had been sleeping on her bed began whimpering.
It was just a day after I'd moved in that I realized Rowan was still on medication and it broke my heart knowing that all that controlled behavior, his polite demeanor was all due to the medication he took on a regular basis. His therapist Sofia had told me that I needed to at least try to convince him to control his mood-swings without the help of the meds. So far, it wasn't going as planned.
"ALANA!" He was bordering to hysteria. "WHERE IS IT? I need...I need my medication, baby, please."
"Deep breaths." I said. "Why are you so angry?"
"Alana don't fucking do this. Please." He raised his hand towards me, palm open. "Hand it over."
I didn't move from the spot.
A photo frame on his dress went shattering down followed by a bottle of his expensive perfume. I flinched and backed away and before I could step out of the room, I noticed a small velvet box playing peek-a-boo from under a bunch of his ties scattered on the floor. I quickly picked the box and pushed it in my pocket.
The bedroom door closed with a bang. I eventually planned on giving Rowan his meds. I'd kept it hidden under his pillow, the most obvious place where he never thought of looking into.
I knocked on the door. "Rowan, please open the door."
After a few minutes of waiting, I walked into the kitchen and retrieved the velvet box. I felt nervous somehow as I opened it and stared at huge fucking glimmering diamond studded ring. I couldn't believe it. I felt giddy thinking about the ring.
Did Rowan plan on proposing me for marriage?
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A.N: Hey guys! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me your thoughts. I don't want the story to seem like it's dragging. Since it is ending, I need everything to fall into place so it is very important to show Rowan's transition :) When I complete this book, I plan on editing a lot of things and probably a few scenes or chapters in the initial part of the story will change.
Please don't forget to Vote and Comment telling me what you think. Any suggestions or ideas are always welcome.