How'd You Know!? (Rowan)

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

There was nothing quite as good as hanging out with Rowan. He always had good stories to tell; the means to put a smile on her face when she didn't feel like laughing. Not that this was one of those times. That particular night, she felt okay. Good, even.

Not good enough to be a ball of optimism. Jesus, no. Things were still awful and messy, but there was clarity.

And the ability to say; IDGAF.

"Bay-bee." Lucy called, waving the bottle of water (read; Vodka) in her hand with a grin as she made her way over towards him. How Rowan managed to kick everyone out of here, she didn't know. She also didn't want to know. But ever since she'd walked in, he'd been staring at her. Like, really staring. She didn't even reach the couch he was at before she just stopped.

"Oh god. What." Lucy said, her voice dropping to a deadly serious tone as she rested free her hand on her hip. "What happened?"

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan and Lucy hangouts were the best things ever. There wasn't many other people, if there was any at all, that he'd rather spend time with. The fact that it always managed to end in laughs and obnoxiousness. Most of the time Rowan had something good to tell her because he was a jerk and constantly made people either really mad or really sexually frustrated. It was a gift of his, one that scored him a lot of points with people or got him 'told off.'

Add alcohol to the mix, and boy did it get ten times better.

With all of the people in the student lounge, he simply couldn't appreciate his Lucy time, so long story short, he got them all to leave. He'd never say how because it was a mystery and he liked to be mysterious. If anyone asked, he'd simply say that he just asked them all to give a little space. Which meant get their asses up and out unless he wanted to experience some hot sex right in the middle of the lounge. Funny that they actually took him serious.

His eyes, after she walked in, hadn't left her. Even through the haze of the alcohol, he could see something. Something different. Something he remembered seeing that night with him. Oh but it wasn't the same. You couldn't have your first time over again. Not unless.... His eyes widened a bit as it clicked and her serious tone snapped him back into the now.

"You had sex. With a girl," Because that was the only way she'd have that same glowing look.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was almost uncomfortable, being stared at like that. Lucy's eyes narrowed on his. Something was going on, and what that was, she didn't understand. Yet. When Rowan finally answered her, Lucy instinctively scoffed. It wasn't that he was wrong, and he knew that.

She knew he knew that.

"What-?" She started, faltered, and stopped.

She laughed, her free hand running across her jaw instinctively. "How-"

Because she wasn't going to deny it. She wouldn't lie to him.

"Is that written on my bloody forehead or something?" She asked, finally stepping off again and closing the distance between them. The Australian reached out towards her Rowan, holding his chin between her fingers as she scrutinised his face; "How'd I forget that sex detection is your secondary power?"

[Rowan Booker]

She seemed shocked by the fact that he knew. Silly Lucy, she should have known by now that he was a sexpert on more levels than what anyone would ever imagine. He knew sex very well, and he knew Lucy fairly well too. She was the main reason he had become a sexpert in the first place, so of course he was going to know everything about her sex life. Well, when the big stuff happened at least.

"It really might as well be," He smirked and lifted his chin a bit arrogantly. He knew he was right about it all and he wasn't really sure how he felt about it.

The way she grasped his chin made him smile, "My thoughts exactly. I'm hurt Lucky, that's the coolest ability I have and you forgot all about it." He shook his head feigning disappointment before smirking again.

Rowan took her hand from his face and kept it in his own, looking down at their hands as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. What was there to say? He could say that it was good for her, or he could joke about it. "Who is she?" Part of him half expected it to have been Sawyer, but then, that'd be a bit weird. Maybe he didn't even know the girl.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Great." Lucy replied, almost too sarcastically.

She smiled down at the boy sitting on his own, opting not to squeeze his face despite how easy it would have been to do. "I know. I'm such a shit friend to you." She crinkled her nose at the thought. That wasn't true. To Rowan, she was awesome.

Lucy let him take hold of her hand and stare at it. She moved within range to sit on the back of the couch, placing the bottle between her knees and twisting the lid off with her free hand. It was a normality. They didn't physically connect much, but he held her hand. And she held his. And she didn't care about that.

"Not the blue haired one." She raised the bottle in her hand and pointed over to him. He should he happy about that. "Who, by the way, now has purple hair."

Just so he knew. Y'know, if he was still looking for her.

"You don't know her." Lucy finally replied, taking a well deserved drink and crinkling her face at the taste. At least it'd mask the other face she wanted to instinctively pull.

[Rowan Booker]

"Maybe if you weren't shit at hiding things from me, it wouldn't be so obvious," He smiled at her, unabashed by the sarcasm. He'd have been the same if things were reversed.

Rowan placed a hand over his heart, "You are, Lucky. And it hurts, it's like a sword to the heart. Right here," He pointed to his chest and broke into a smirk once more. What could he say, he liked messing with his girl. They both knew that no matter what he joked about, she was the best friend he could even ask for. She was the girl in his life that he needed to keep him from reverting back to being that uber nerd thing he'd been when they first met. Okay, not nerd because he'd been shit in school, but all awkward and shit.

Hearing that it wasn't the blue-haired bitch (pardon his language), he was relieved. That had been the last person he wanted her to sleep with. "Ew, thank gawd. And purple hair? The fuck is she trying to do, convince people she's fucking Barnie?" Purple, he'd have to remember that.

Rowan nodded at the information and pursed his lips before snatching the bottle from her and tilting it back. The vodka bit him back and he made an equally scrunched up face. "Well...I mean as happy as I am that it's not the blue-haired chick...I wish I knew who it was. Because you know, I'm your best friend and knowing these things is important so that I can be sure they're good enough for that kind of thing." He shook his head to keep from getting in too heavy and smirked, "Not that it'll even compare to your first first time." He winked at her and took another swig.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"I don't give a fuck if you know, dumbass." Lucy shot back, playfully pushing his face away. She was bound to tell him sooner or later anyway.

Lucy slapped her hand to the exact spot on his chest he was pointing to. "I'll never make it up to you. We should break up now." They wouldn't. In any sense of the word. Of all her friends, Lucy never wondered how long Rowan would stick around. She genuinely believed he was hers for life, and vise versa.

"I dunno, man. Just keeping you up to date." But this far she hadn't heard he'd done or said anything. She didn't know if she should be relieved or proud of his restraint.

She released her hold of the bottle, watching guy put it away as he did. Of course he wanted to know who it was, but Lucy highly doubted it was for the reason he offered. This was Rowan. He liked to know what was going on, not because he liked to meddle, but because he wanted to scope them out and meet them. Without telling them who he was.

"Good enough for what? Sex?" Lucy asked him, throwing her head back in a laugh. "Half you seen half the people who do the walk of shame outta your room? If I had to scope 'em all out, It'd take all bloody day." She leaned in for the bottle as her hand gently moved to pry it out of his. "You tell me something you're keeping from me and you might get a name."

[Rowan Booker]

"No shit, Sherlock. I'd have found out anyway, even if I didn't have the sexpertise of a Sex GOD," He nudged her back and winked.

Rowan let out an 'oof' as she hit his chest and he gave her the big puppy dog eyes as she 'broke up' with him. And then, he broke out into song, "Baby come back! Don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more." He didn't even care if they were the right lyrics, it was funny because he knew she'd never leave him. Just as he'd never leave her, no matter what happened between them.

He nodded and let the topic of the newly purple-haired girl drop. He didn't like talking about her in the slightest. Not after what she put his Lucky through.

Rowan was totally bull shitting her with the reason, but he knew she knew the real reason why. It was Rowan, he was jealous of anyone that came into Lucy's life and he wanted to make damn well sure that they deserved to be there. To make any kind of impact on Lucy's life even if it was just for sex.

Sticking his tongue out at her, he rolled his eyes. "See, but that's just it Lucky. I can remember every single person I've had sex with. They've all somehow impacted my life, now whether they were good enough in bed or not is something that I'd have liked to know beforehand, but whatever ya know. With you...I mean c'mon, Luck. I was the first person you had sex with and look at how close we are now." What he was trying to say was...he didn't want to be replaced by a girl.

Rowan snorted, "Me keeping something from you? Puh-leeze. You know I'm an open book."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As soon as he started singing, Lucy pushed herself forward and tried her best to muffle the sound out of his mouth with a hand. He was so overly dramatic about the overly dramatic sometimes.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, her eyes narrowing on him. "Why bother remembering them all?" She asked, temporarily giving the jokes a rest. She just didn't see the point in that. "You're not gonna get this close with everyone who fucks you, Ro. It's subjective." Subjective. It was a key word. "You pick and choose. Like, if they're shit, you definitely boot them." He didn't need bad sex in his life. What friend would want that for another?

Raising her eyebrows a touch, Lucy took a swig from the plastic bottle. This time her face remained relatively in tact. "Alex."

[Rowan Booker]

Her hand clamped on his mouth and he finally stopped singing. Yes, he was over dramatic, but in the most comical way.

When she got all serious on him, he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "It's just habit." He left it at that because he much rather not get into the real reason when they were supposed to be having a fun date night. "Of course if they're shit you boot them, but what if they're not Luck? You keep them around, right? I guess the question of the matter then would be was she shit?" If she wasn't, then he was right and his point was being proven. He was going to get replaced one way or another, he knew because relationships did that, but he didn't like the idea of it happening so soon.

He watched her as she took a drink, waiting for her to give him something that he'd kept from her. And all it took was a name. Rowan grimaced and turned his attention away from her, focusing on one of the televisions that was on, but must have been muted. "What about him? I mean, you probably know more about him than I do, he's your roommate."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Had she thought it was worthy, Lucy would have told him that he'd picked a really weird habit to keep. She tried to keep her mind on track. If people weren't good, Rowan kicked them out and never saw them again. But he always remembered them out of habit. Why someone would want to keep hold of a bad experience was beyond her.

"She wasn't." Lucy replied after a time, the providential grin on her lips hidden by another periodic swig of the burning alcohol. "It was awesome- Which you definitely won't believe if I tell you who it is."

The way he looked away from her said it all.

"Don't bullshit me, Booker." Lucy replied a little harshly, nudging at him with the bottle so he might take it for himself. "You know what I mean." Was it stagnant? Was it done? Did Rowan scare him off? Did he upset Rowan? At the very least, he could admit there were - and potentially still are - feelings there. Even tough he wasn't looking, she still stared at him with a certain expectancy.

What couldn't he tell her?

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan knew it was kind of stupid, the way he held onto things. Of course it wasn't just out of habit though, it was part of the weird shit that he felt like he had to do because of his secret. Like everyone mattered. He didn't feel like telling Lucy that though because he sounded like a pussy and knew she'd probably pick on him about it because it sounded so queer.

Her response to the question he really knew he shouldn't have asked made him frown instinctively. But as she went on, he knew that he should be happy for her. That both of her firsts had been good and that it had been worth it. Having a bad first was just a terrible thing and the only reason he knew that was because the first time he'd had sex with a guy, it hadn't been the greatest. So he was happy for her, he was just worried. "Why does she act like she's got a fucking stick up her ass?" He snorted, those quiet ones seemed to be the best in bed it seemed.

His mind drifted to Alex again and he sighed. "Don't get your panties in a bunch, Lucy. I'm not bullshitting you," Okay he wasn't exactly being completely honest he knew, but he was scared. "Look, Luce, I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what's going on really, I mean, there are still feelings there, sure. But I mean, you know me, you know I can't do this kind of thing." He shook his head, "It's only a matter of time before something goes wrong and I just, I didn't want to tell you before I knew..."

Besides, who was she to get so irritated with him when she took weeks to tell him about Evony. Granted, he hadn't been on the retreat, but even after she got back. He wasn't being treated fairly, but then, he knew why she was so bent on knowing. She'd seen the toll it took on him after the Halloween Dance.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy wondered why Rowan wore a frown for the brief time he did. His face betrayed him in the simplest of moments, and he tried his best to hide it. When she gave it some thought, she realised she knew why. But she didn't know what to say. Instead, she revelled in the joke he pulled. "Exactly." She said through her laughter. She didn't yet want to tell him she'd literally asked her that question already, however vulgar her additives might have made it sound.

It was her turn to frown when he told her there were still feelings there for Alex. That stupid fucking undeserving little shit of a roommate. She could kill him for mixing Rowan up in this sort of thing.

"How about this," Lucy started, tapping at his shoulder with the bottle. He really needed it after that. "I won't ask you about it. You tell me when you're ready. When you know."

Lucy looked to him for confirmation. With something like that in place, she'd know where to stand. She waved the bottle in front of his face, a light smirk appearing on her mouth. "Her name's Penny, by the way." Lucy added. She figured he deserved it. "Y'know, from class? Sits in the front row, always takes a shit load of notes." She pursed her lips. It wasn't really much to go on. Until she clicked her fingers and pointed at him; "We threw stuff at her once in English class, remember? She turned around and called us mindless idiots, or something."

[Rowan Booker]

Just as his face betrayed him, hers did the same and he ran his hand through his hair. He knew why she didn't like Alex. In fact, he knew exactly what her thoughts were of him as she stated them fairly clearly the night of the Halloween dance when he'd carried her into her room to shut her up. But much like him with her, she didn't know the situation or all of the things he'd shared with Alex.

Rowan took the bottle from her hand and tipped it back, taking a bigger gulp than he probably should have, but he didn't really care. With a nod, he took a deep breath and shook off the serious stuff because drinking and serious conversations didn't mesh well for him. He wasn't about to be one of those bitch ass emotional drunks.

"Penny? God, even her name makes her sound like she's got the biggest stick up her ass ever," And the more she described her, the more Rowan felt the desire to laugh. They both must have had a fetish for the goody goodies because this was just hilarious. He hadn't really been able to put a face to the name until she brought up English and the name-calling. "Oh my god, her? Damn, Lucky! Did you at least remove that stick because it was fucking shoved way far up there. She's so like uptight and shit." He shuddered at the idea with a smirk and shook his head, "You sure can pick 'em, Luck."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy burst out in laughter at the first thing Rowan said. She'd never said anything but the sentiment was definitely shared.

"Jesus, Ro!" Lucy retorted through her laughter, "Enough about sticks up people's asses!" throwing her head back and nearly losing her balance on the back of the couch. Instead, she opted to fall forward and land beside him on the couch. "I didn't fucking laugh at you and your thing with my roommate who - if we're being really honest - is, in fact, an annoyingly whiney undeserving little bitch. Don't laugh at me." She even made a point to reach out and cup his face again, offering the weakest of glares she could muster up.

"I picked you, didn't I?" She replied, raising an eyebrow.