50 Shades of Booker (Alex)

[Rowan Booker]

How long could this go on? She'd been ignoring him for what, a month and a half? He couldn't keep handling this, the constant worrying was driving him nuts. He didn't like worrying, not about anyone. Worrying and caring weren't things he really liked feeling openly because he never knew how to handle it. Granted this was his cousin and not someone else so that made it a little easier, but still. Beatrice always came back around after a week, at most two. But it had been about six and he was really freaking out. He missed his family a lot more now that he thought about it. Even as close as they were to Boston, he still felt that same home sickness constantly. Vermont wasn't Boston. It never would be and he would never see this as his home.

Rowan's eyes snapped to his phone on the table beside his bed again and debated on trying to call Maryna for the third time today. His aunt was oblivious to what was going on in her daughter's mind. She didn't see what Rowan did and he couldn't just tell her without losing all of Beat's trust. He had taken on the role of her brother after Ben died, it was his job to protect her, to be the one person in this world that she could always depend on. If he told Maryna what was going on, she probably wouldn't even believe him because it was just so out of character for the thirteen year old girl. Just like it was unnatural for her to go so long without answering the phone. This whole thing was just frustrating.

When there was a tap on the door, he about jumped out of his bed. Whoever was knocking either didn't read the sign on his door, or knew that he wasn't busy. Either way, he wasn't sure he was up to his usual flirty self and he didn't really feel like showing everyone just how screwed up he could get. The only person he felt comfortable with knowing anything like that was Lucy and she wouldn't have knocked, she'd have just walked in.

Rowan stood up and rubbed his eyes before running a hand through his messy hair. He opened the door and leaned against the doorframe to find someone he hadn't been expecting at all. With a faint smile he looked at his best friend's roommate and could tell that Lucy had been having some fun with the younger boy. "That's a nice look for you," He said in a softer voice than was usual for him. Oh yeah, it wouldn't take much to see that Rowan was not himself.

[Alexander Rothwell]

What had gotten into him? Was he really that stupid, to grab a pair of binoculars Lucy had given him, and put them to his eyes to see if they worked. He was surprised how gullible he could be on a migraine day, and it drove him crazy to no ends. Nah, not stupid. Lucy is just clever. Alex argued, as he watched his reflection in the bathroom mirror. The truth is that a lot of the girls pranks could be very crude, and not far enough planned out, he was just slipping, too many memories in one day. 

Lucy's laughter from outside pierced into his moment of thought, and Alex grimaced. "Jesus, I hope this crap comes off.." He murmured, touching the thick black rings around his eyes with his finger tips, rubbing at them as if only that could solve the problem. Of course, it did not. This sent the teen into a spree of rummaging through every cabinet in the bathroom, trying to find something to help him scrub the gunk away from his eyes and face. Towels, sponges, vigorous scrubbing, his nails, did little to the make-up that Lucy had tricked onto his face. "What the hell was in that make-up!?" Alex called from the safety of the bathroom, only getting more shrieks of glee from his roommate. 

Alex couldn't get the make-up off. That was a fact he would soon have to accept if he wanted to find a different way out of this mess. Lucy was too busy enjoying her moment to assist him, and Alex literally had no idea what to do. His foster was blind, removal that way would just be far to difficult to deal with and the rest of his friends would probably have no clue what to do. He knew no actors, but he did know a few dancers. The first person to pop into his mind was Rowan, simply because he was the most obnoxious out of that small list. "He might know something about stage make-up.." Alex mused, quickly escaping the confines of his bathroom and his own dorm. 

Alex was in a hurry not to be seen by a lot of people, so when one of Rowan's roommates let him into their dorm. Alex brushed past him and moved directly to the room Rowan's roommate had pointed out. A quick knock revealed Rowan at the other side of the door. The dancer made a comment about his looks, something not unusual, but the way he said it was. "Mmph. Yeah, Lucy gave me a makeover I do not plan on keeping. Help me get it off, please?" As much as his head was starting to hurt now, he left Rowan's tone alone. 

[Rowan Booker]

Living with Lucy for any length of time wasn't exactly an easy thing to handle. Some people couldn't deal with her incessant pranking and cruelty and it wasn't like her roommates really chose to be in the same room as her. Rowan hung around her enough to know better than to fall for her evil ways. He wished he had her as a roommate though because his were all girls and all very...very boring. Sure they all kind of kept to themselves which was nice, but he liked socializing and when he didn't get to socialize in his dorm, he found somewhere else that he could socialize. It was surprising that he was even here. Typically when he was stressed out he went wandering because he was restless.

If he wasn't so off in his own world, Rowan probably would have made a smart ass comment about how Lucy had done a beautiful piece of work on Alex's face and how it would be rude to take it off. He didn't have it in him to tease as much as he usually did though. It just wasn't there for him. He opened the door further and allowed for Alex to pass by him into his room. After following, he shut the door behind him and rubbed the back of his neck. This was really weird. He wasn't used to people being in his room unless they were there for a..uhm...reason. And for that reason he never cared much what they thought of his room and what was in it, but now he was very much aware of the fact that Alex was in his room for something that gave him a chance to look around.

He cleared his throat and bit the inside of his cheek, "So how exactly did she manage to trick that onto you?" Because maybe if he was focused on the conversation, he wouldn't feel the need to peer around the room and see all of the pictures of different dancers, some a little less clothed than others. He also had a few posters of bands and a playboy calendar above his desk. Mostly because some of his friends thought it was funny. For the most part, his room was very orderly and everything had a strict place because he liked knowing where everything was. Everyone always just assumed that he was a messy, slobby teenage boy. No one would expect something like this.

Rowan went over to his desk and grabbed the makeup remover that he always had on hand after work because that shit was difficult to get off, along with that he grabbed a few tissues and a towel.

[Alexander Rothwell]

Rowan remained silent, which was pretty odd for him, but Alex payed no attention, tugging at the corners of his eyes as if this time around the make-up would come off. Soon enough, Rowan opened his door enough to let him into his room. He moved in quickly and quietly, just glad that he could get away from the staring faces of Rowan's roommates. The room he found himself inside of was orderly, and pretty crisp for someone who seemed to care free and loose. The teen quirked an eyebrow upward as he glanced back toward Rowan, but before he could make a remark he Rowan asked a question. 

Alex's face felt hot, and he found himself gazing around the room once more. "Well, it involved me stupidly using a pair of binoculars she handed me to see if they worked...." There was a lot of posters on his walls, women of certain body types and in various stages of undress dotted his walls, along with posters of male dancers in certain states of undress as well. His eyes lingered on the males that decorated his walls, eventually he pulled them away and sat on the end of his bed. Soon enough, his gaze found another target, Rowan, as he moved toward his desk to get the necessary ingredients to help the problem of make-up on his face. Above his desk, hung a playboy calender, and once again Alex found himself blushing, more from embarrassment. 

This room screamed sex, and it probably wasn't the best idea he had to sit on his bed. His hands gripped at the sheets, moving memories away the best he could. His own defenses had slowly waned over the day, fire ants otherwise known as foreign memories crawled along his brain now. Specific scenes that sent the teenage boy into a tizzy. Abruptly, he forced himself to stand back up, trying his best to wipe the shocked look from his face. Holy crap. "So.. you get visitors often?" He gulped out before he could stop himself, hoping that Rowan would just get the make-up on his face so he could leave. 

[Rowan Booker]

He used binoculars to see if they worked...not one of the most clever Lucy scams, yet clearly it was enough to get Alex to fall for it. The poor boy probably didn't suspect a thing from his roommate. Oh well, Rowan would just have to help him get back at her. He was pretty good at messing with his best friend when he found it necessary and in this case, he figured he'd lend a helping hand if Alex was interested in getting her back. Rowan knew he'd want to if something like this happened to him because the raccoon look didn't suit him very well. Not that Alex looked bad, he really didn't, but he could only imagine the looks that the young brunette would get walking around like this.

"Sounds like Lucy," He answered with a faint smile. His best friend was pretty crazy like that, but he loved her and everything she did. Rowan typically didn't prank people unless he felt it was absolutely necessary. But he did enjoy watching others get pranked because most of the time it was priceless. This was one of those times, seeing Alex all flustered about it. He was cute when he was flustered. Rowan turned back to face Alex with the necessary supplies in his hands and was about to sit down beside Alex, but the younger boy shot up in some weird panicky reaction. Rowan had no idea why he had jumped up like that, but he looked pretty freaked.

Setting the supplies on his bed, he watched Alex sputter out his question. Either he was a telepath or had some kind of object psychometry, not that it mattered. One way or another he had gotten spooked by Rowan's sex life or something, not that it wasn't obvious that he had a reputation for whoring around, but it never made him feel bad until Alex reacted the way that he had. He looked so uncomfortable and so ready to bolt that it had Rowan feeling...what was it...he couldn't even form the feelings into words. It was this sinking feeling, like his stomach was turning in circles. Almost like this impending insecurity over his room just because of one guy's reaction to sitting on his bed.

"I guess, yeah. Look do you want to just go to the common area? I mean if you're uncomfortable, I don't mind it," because he already felt horrible enough. It wasn't his fault that he had an active sex life. Okay, it was, but he didn't have any reason to feel bad about it. So why did he?

[Alexander Rothwell]

Alex's face blazed red as he realized what he had done, it probably wasn't the best idea to touch someone's bed, and then freak out like it was covered in every std in the book. That just might have offended the one guy who was going to help him get the make-up off of his face. It took him a moment to catch his bearings, wash the memories away, and by the time he did he saw the look on Rowan's face, a bit hurt if not guilty. That's new. The wide eye'd freaked out stare of the boy softened, and once again he quirked his eyebrows. 

"Oh, no no no no no. You think I would go out there like this?" He asked, pointy his fingers back toward his paint-on raccoon mask. "We can take it off here." Alex reaffirmed with a nod, sitting back down on the bed with a small sigh, closer to Rowan than before. "And by that, I mean the makeup." Offering a small joke, he hoped to get a smile after the oddly solemn Rowan. 

Now would come the worst part, the removal... and hands. His steel grey eyes looked toward the supplies set out on the bed. "Thanks for doing this." Conversation would help him keep his mind at ease. It always happened though, this time, just like any other, it happened again. As soon as Rowan lifted his hand to the vicinity of his face, Alex immediately jammed his eyes shut and recoiled backwards. His eyes felt hot and heavy with frustration, but he forced himself back into the position he had been, squinting his eyes open to watch Rowan do his work. Edging and jerking back at random intervals. "Sorry, it's the make-up remover. It's stinging my eyes." 

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan smiled when Alex had his little freak out. He really was cute. That's all he found himself thinking about lately and it was annoying him. He wasn't supposed to think of people his age that way. No, cute was meant for younger kids because they were young. And cute. Yeah. Ugh! He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and tried to clear his mind of all things pertaining to cuteness and Alex. Raccoon babies were cute. Alex looked like a raccoon. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

His little mind rant was interrupted however when Alex made his joke and Rowan arched an eyebrow. Ah, so the kid wasn't so innocent. Well that was good. Maybe. No. His mind drifted to Alex again and he looked away to keep from dwelling on it. This was not how he was supposed to think of Alex. He was no different than any other attractive person at Hammel. Rowan's job was to creep on everyone and make them uncomfortable, not cater to them and help them when they could be potentially embarrassed due to a prank that was actually really funny. But this was Alex. And for some stupid reason, it made a difference to him.

"It's no problem, Alex," He said softly after positioning himself so that he was facing Alex on the bed. He went to place his hand on Alex's cheek to keep him steady and the boy jerked back. Rowan pulled away briefly before Alex recovered and placed himself within reaching distance again. This time, Rowan approached a little slower and very gently held Alex's chin with his index and thumb. He gently smoothed the tissue over Alex's eye, giving him breaks in between because clearly he wasn't a fan of anyone touching his face. Not even when he asked for it. When Alex said that the remover was stinging his eyes, Rowan pulled his hands away and sat there for a moment to give Alex some time to recompose himself.

"If it starts burning again, just stop me, alright? It's almost off," He said softly before tilting Alex's chin the other way so he could get to the other eye a little easier. Man he was really up close and personal with Alex right now. It was weird. He didn't know why the softness of Alex's skin and how he smelled was affecting him. Typically those things affected other people when he was around, but it never got him. "There, you're fine now. No more raccoon eyes," Rowan smiled and crumpled up the used tissues, tossing them in the wastebasket before standing again and putting the makeup remover back. When he was done, he leaned against the wall across from Alex and looked down. "So didn't you have anyone else you could have gone to? I mean...I kinda figured I'd be the last person on your help list."

Because didn't Alex kind of hate him?

[Alexander Rothwell]

The gentleness surprised him, but he was more so glad that his excuse seemed to be working more than anything. Rowan's fingers grasped his chin, and very gently, he wiped the raccoon make-up job off of Alex's face. He was sort of happy that Rowan gave him breaks every once in a while, the make-up remover was actually making his eyes burn, and it also helped to cover up his panicky jerks. Once again, the dancer stopped, urging Alex to tell him if the remover gets to be too much, before tilting his cheek the other was. His fingers are really soft. An odd thought, but he needed something to keep his mind off of the hands in his face. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Rowan was done. He assured him that his little problem was long gone, and Alex allowed himself a small sigh of relief. The soreness of his face was the least he had to worry about, now that the other problem was out of his way. A small smile crept back onto his lips, Lucy sure would be disappointed that he had gotten it off, and with the help of her best friend to boot. She would probably ask him why Rowan helped him. Why did he help me? The question crept into his mind and now that he wasn't so focused on himself, Alex started to think about what had just happened. 

Rowan hadn't joked with him much at all when he had opened the door, he actually helped him besides teasing him, and he seemed a bit down, especially for someone like him. That fact was personified when he left the bed to put make-up removal supplies back on his desk. The space he left behind had a cold void-ish sort of feel, and he didn't return to fill it, instead choosing to lean against a wall with his eyes cast downward. Yeah, something was definitely up. "Oh well, I figured since you were a dancer. You know.. you knew stuff about stage make-up. I mean it was either that or my blind foster..." He began, almost wincing at his words. "I mean, not that you were my last choice, compared to hay-lin. I just.. thought of you first I guess.. because you dance?" Kill me. 

"But, besides that, you seem kind of er... off. Is uhm... anything up?" Not really sure what he was doing, he tried one of his winning smiles and patted the bed again. Maybe he would get a juicy secret, help someone out.. or start something. he hadn't really thought of that possibility. Aghhh.

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan was not trying to draw any attention to himself. He didn't even want Alex to notice how screwed up he was, and honestly he was just hoping the younger boy would leave it alone. He didn't like when people worried about him and he didn't like when they noticed that something was off. Not that he was really subtle about it because the change was quite obvious. It wasn't something he could really help though, when something was wrong, he became thoughtful and a bit more reserved in what he did. The joking ceased and he became a bit more serious about things. It didn't help that he was caught off guard that Alex was even there. He hadn't been expecting anyone and had let his walls down. They weren't very easy to put back up on a moment's notice.

Oh right, he was a dancer. Duh. Still, couldn't he have found another dancer? One that he didn't find quite so creepy? Rowan knew the effect he had on people, especially people that weren't like him. And Alex was most definitely not like him. He wasn't as innocent as Rowan originally thought, but he wasn't open to the idea of sex with anyone who was offering or willing. Rowan was what people would call 'easy' but it wasn't because he had insecurity issues or because he just wanted to feel intimate with someone like everyone always thought when someone was sex-obsessed. Nope, he just really enjoyed being careless and having sex was a way to do that for him. He didn't treasure his virtue the way that others did and he didn't think he ever would have even if Lucy hadn't taken his virginity.

"Right, of course," He answered with a nod. Not the last choice, but not the first either, he expected as much. Rowan still wasn't convinced though, he was pretty sure the younger boy wasn't a fan of him or his antics. Not that it should have mattered...and it didn't. Nope. Not at all.

Alex's question threw him and his response got caught in his throat. What was he supposed to say? He was tired? School was stressing him out? Those were lame excuses and the young brunette would see right through them. But Rowan couldn't tell the truth. It had taken him over a year to open up to Lucy about his home life, what made Alex special enough to get through to him? No, Rowan couldn't tell him about Beatrice. And he wouldn't. "Nah, just home sick I guess. Ya know, missing Boston," And everyone there. Vermont wasn't his home and it never would be, no matter how hard he tried to make it one. Home was where his cousin was, where he could look after her and make sure that everything was okay.

Right now, he wasn't able to do that and it was wrecking him.

"Anyway, you uh, you wanna hang out or something or do you have to get back?" Back to Lucy terrorizing him again. He was at war with himself, part of his brain wanted Alex to stay so that he could have someone there, someone that didn't know what was going on just to make him feel a little more normal. The other side wanted to push Alex out forcefully so he could build his walls back up and not let anyone else see this side of him.

[Alexander Rothwell]

It seemed like it would take forever for Rowan to respond. Something really was up with the guy, and that automatically had Alex's head craving for more. Rowan was never like this, really, he would always be joking about casual sex, jokes about sex, jokes, and all that other fun stuff you would expect from a care free sexually active teenager. If Alex hadn't found himself in the few good foster homes that he did, he would have probably turned out cruder than Rowan, but luckily that hadn't been the case. He'd actually grown up in some pretty great homes, especially in his last foster families home before he had manifested. 

His cheeks still burned from the make-up remover, and his eyes felt puffy and red from the reaction. When Rowan finally responded, Alex felt a small frown begin to creep onto his face. Rowan was acting really weird, almost too weird for the teen. I swear to god if this is another Lucy Prank... Breath Alex.. Breath. Maybe you can poor salt in her cereal or something equally food ruining later. Thoughts of revenge were something he only had when he was around Lucy, all lighthearted of course. He wasn't into the cruel and unusual punishment of pranks like her.  

The next question kind of threw him through a loop. Rowan wanting to hang out with him? Alex had to do a quick double take inside of his mind, to make sure he didn't miss any sort of hidden sexual innuendo in the invitation. If he did miss something, it must have been pretty buried, or maybe it wasn't there at all. With only a slight amount of hesitation, Alex let a smile creep onto his face once more. "You mean back to my room for round two with Lucy? I don't know if I could handle that." He mused, his mind suddenly freezing to a hault as he caught the innuendo behind that comment a bit too late. His cheeks burned as he spoke again, "Anyway.. yeah I guess we could hang out." Being a bit guarded, especially around Lucy's best friend, was a very natural thing, something that could save him from a really nasty prank in the future. 

"Did you have anything in mind?" 

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan didn't doubt that his behavior was strange to someone that was so used to seeing him in one of those many careless moods. He was a genuine prick a good portion of the time because it beat getting too caught up in someone and getting hurt by it all. That was why he typically refused to open up to people. Lucy he could trust with anything and he knew that because she was so much like him. They both pushed away the very idea of letting someone get close because the idea just didn't appeal to them. Rowan didn't like the idea of depending on anyone other than himself and he didn't like the idea of trusting someone with all of his problems. He was a very independent person, but he never pushed away people that needed someone to depend on, at least, not when they reminded him so much of Beatrice.

He was an honest person when giving his opinion, but most of the time he wasn't quite as honest about himself. One thing he could honestly say was that this wasn't another part of a prank. And he genuinely hated that he was acting this way around Alex. Whether it made Alex like him more or not, no one was supposed to see him so quiet, so reserved. He was acting like a pussy and it irked him to no end. The walls were down though and he knew it usually took a while to build them back up, so for now, he just had to deal. And make up as many excuses as he could if Alex was one of those insistent types.

Rowan smirked at the idea of round-two with Lucy. No doubt Alex would end up here again if he tried that. Lucy was quite the wicked prankster and there was really no beating her. So it was probably for the best that Alex decided to stick around instead of go at it again with his roommate. He nodded when Alex agreed and headed over to one of the cabinets in his room. He opened the door and looked through his wide variety of movies. His parents and Beat both sent him all of the ones that he had said he liked and a few that they thought he would liked based on his taste. He ran his finger of them and it stopped on one of his favorites. Horror flicks were really where it was at.

"You cool with a movie?" He asked, plucking the Conjuring out and putting it into his portable DVD player. Rowan brought it over to the bed and sat back down next to Alex, placing the smaller screen between them as he leaned back against his wall. Rowan definitely didn't have any plans for this whatsoever, nope, he wasn't even thinking about the possibility of cuddling. Never.

[Alexander Rothwell]

He wasn't really sure what he had just agree'd too. Spending more time alone with Rowan, in his bedroom, was sure to spark some talk between his dorm mates, if they even really cared anymore. Besides, it was risky enough to trust him to take the makeup off without doing anything to make it worse or just flat out denying him. Could Rowan really be trusted to not do something else while he and Alex hung out with each other? Why was he even making such a big deal about this anyway, but then again, it wasn't probably every day people were invited over by Rowan to just hang out. 

The idea of a movie sparked some relief inside of Alex, movies didn't really entail much talking at all, and it would be way easier to make sure he wasn't getting pranked in some shape or form. A list of several different romantic comedies filled his head, those were his favorite types of movie, after all. He couldn't even count how many times he and some of his friends would have movie nights focused on that specific genre, sighing at the cute parts, and making jokes. Though, when Rowan pulled out, one of the supposedly scariest movies of the year, a chill ran down his spine. Everyone had something that scared them, but ghost stories sort of hit home with him. Antique furniture was something he was afraid of, because they caused him pain, but the ghosts of former lives, thoughts, and an assortment of scenes were the things that personally haunted him. Memories were sort of his ghost. 

Before he could really protest at the selection, he found himself sitting next to Rowan on the bed, a DVD player between them. A frown traced his lips as the movie started, and he already felt himself growing tense. Yeah, Lucy is waaay better then a terrifying demon thing. He conceded, gulping at the thought of the things to come. 

----

By the time the first scary things started happening, Alex was sort of a mess. Shivers continued to run down his back, and he found himself continuously watching the dark corners of the room, as if waiting for something to grab him by the ankle and pull him off into the shadows. He hadn't really noticed himself inching closer to Rowan, but his arm was already grazing the guys. Well, that was an under-exaggeration, his side was pretty much glued to Rowans. Aghhh! He cried mentally, gasping at certain parts of the story and silently crying on the inside at others. At some point, about ten minutes after Alex became glued to Rowan, a particular jump scare sent the boy jolting up. He almost knocked the screen over as his right hand grabbed onto Rowan's fore arm. 

After the initial shock of him looking stupid was over, the youth sunk back into his place, keeping an iron grip on the forearm of the boy across from him, pressing himself into the space that use to exist between them even more now as shadows danced along the roof. "Stupid lighting.." 

[Rowan Booker]

Rowan was so unaffected by scary movies. Honestly, nothing got to him no matter how dark it was in his room or if he was alone. Nothing. He always found things to laugh about in them, or he just disregarded all thoughts of it being remotely realistic. These movies were only really interesting to him because of the effects. The way they made everything look realistic, even though clearly it wasn't. The makeup jobs, the costumes, all of it was just really interesting to him. He hardly even noticed that it was supposed to freak him out. This was why he rarely attended haunted houses because he'd just look around completely unaffected and then the characters would follow him around and try to get a rise out of him. It just never worked. It was sad really.

Now Alex on the other hand, seemed to be heavily affected by the movie. The way he kept tensing up beside Rowan made the older boy hide a smirk. It just fed into the idea of Alex and his cuteness. The idea that Rowan was trying very hard to shake because he didn't like thinking stuff like that. Still, he seemed so frightened and it was just a movie. The way his eyes darted around the room and he slowly got closer and closer. Rowan cast a sideways glance at him, but he never seemed to notice, he was far too focused on everything else.

Something in the movie caused Alex to freak out even more and he gripped Rowan's arm, causing Rowan to look down. Uhm, what was going on? He definitely was not expecting that kind of feeling from Alex touching him. The desire to comfort him or hide him away from all of the scary monsters on the movie. It was weird and Rowan didn't know what in the hell he was thinking stuff like that for. But looking at Alex's face, he supposed he couldn't really be blamed. The poor kid looked terrified and it tugged at those few feelings that Rowan had. If it was anyone else (besides his cousin) he probably would have laughed outright and pushed them away or never let them live it down, but with Alex, he couldn't find it in him to do that.

Instead, he gently took Alex's hand away from his arm so that he could place it around the boy's shoulders. As a comforting gesture, not a way of getting closer to Alex for those kinds of activities. For once, that kind of thing wasn't even crossing his mind (at least, not the forefront of his mind). He was more worried about Alex being all scared than he was about doing stuff like that with Alex. Not that it would ever happen anyway, even he knew that.

[Alexander Rothwell]

He'd probably have nightmares for days, at least definitely tonight. The teen wasn't exactly sure why he had agreed to watch the movie in the first place, as of right now he was more worried about breaking Rowan's arm than any ghosts that might want to grab him when he wasn't looking. The dancer really did seem out of it that night, but those were the least of his worries at that moment. Another jump scare and he thought he might jump out of his skin. What he didn't expect though was a hand gently grabbing at his, for a moment he almost swung a punch, but then he remembered he was next to Rowan. Huh?

Quickly, he removed Alex's hand fro his arm, and quickly wrapped that same arm around Alex's shoulders. The sensation almost knocked Alex right from his terrified state of mind, but not quite enough to keep him from jumping at the intense frightening moments of the movie. Yet still, warmth seemed to radiate from the guy whose arms he was now in. That fact sort of hit him a little late, yes, Rowan did have an arm wrapped around Alex. Is he.. trying to make a move? Alex wondered, the thought drifting through his mind as warmth flooded to his cheeks. The worst part was, he wouldn't really mind it if that was what was actually happening. Anything to get his mind off of this movie. Shouldn't he have been a bit more put off? 

Alex still remained rigid in Rowan's grasp, the movie was really getting him now, more intense by the moment. It only took one more jump scare for Alex to truly freak out, the youth quickly shot his arm behind Rowan's back and wrapped it around his waist, clinging tightly. The teen dared a shy glance towards Rowans direction, trying to gauge any reactions, as a lot had just happened in the expanse of the thirst forty minutes of the movie. A lull in the movie was reached a few moments later, why Alex kept his arm wrapped around Rowans waist was anyone's guess. 

Crack!

Lightning flashed in the window and thunder boomed overhead, shaking the window pane in Rowan's far wall, scaring the living hell out of Alex. Alex's grip around Rowan's waist only tightened and the teen found himself burying his face into the dancer's shirt. He didn't mean to freak out so bad, but the build up was ridiculous, and the thunder had only freaked him out further. The thunder had stopped, and gently, Alex pulled his face from the warmth of Rowan's chest. He has muscles.. The youth gulped and sat up back in his original position, his arm still wrapped around Rowan's waist.. for some odd reason. 

[Rowan Booker]

If this was anyone besides Alex.

Rowan wouldn't have his arm around them. He'd have pushed them back and laughed because he was a jerk, an absolute prick. He'd have shut them down or made them uncomfortable enough that they would either leave or have sex and then leave. He'd have forcefully built up those walls again and acted like every other day, the careless, emotionless asshole that everyone knew and hated. He would have used them for sex because that's just what he did. He didn't feel. He didn't care. Rowan was just in it for his own pleasure. That's all he ever thought of was himself. Who gave a fuck about anyone else and their feelings?

But it was Alex.

Each time Alex jumped and found himself getting closer to Rowan, Rowan's whole body reacted. It was like electricity sparking him when Alex got closer. And when his arm got wrapped around Rowan's waist, it was a wonder Rowan hadn't jumped himself. He wasn't expecting that. Not at all. But he could tell that it hadn't been anything worth getting all worked up about. He was just scared. That's all. He was scared and seeking comfort from the older boy next to him because that's all that there was to take comfort from. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to be close to Rowan. Definitely not. He dismissed that thought quickly. Alex didn't have those kinds of thoughts about Rowan and he shouldn't have those thoughts about Alex.

When there was a crack of lightning and thunder, Alex was practically in Rowan's lap, his face against Rowan's chest. The aerokinetic was pretty shocked, but his own arm tightened around Alex's shoulders to show him that he was there. That he didn't have to be afraid because Rowan would protect him from anything. But why was he thinking that? It didn't make any sense.

If it was anyone besides Alex....

Alex pulled back and sat up, but his arm remained around Rowan, just as Rowan's arm remained around Alex. He squeezed the younger boy's shoulder and noting that Alex's eyes were glued to the TV, he found himself smirking. Man this kid was really cute when he was scared.... Rowan leaned in and whispered, "You gonna make it through the rest of the movie?" Maybe the whisper was a bit more seductive than intended, but hello, they were alone in a dark bedroom watching a scary movie. What did you expect? Still, Rowan's mind wasn't there, it would be clear if his mind ever did go there.