"Did they hurt you? Your parents, I mean?" Rowan asked as Faith entered the guest room.
"No," Faith assured him. "They just...still need time to understand things for what they currently are. That's all."
Rowan was silent for a moment as he sat on the edge of his bed, then asked, "Could you just stay beside me for a while? It's just when people yell like that, like you and your parents were, it makes me think of..." He took a pillow from behind him and clutched it in his lap, looking away.
"Of course I'll sit with you," she said softly. Seating herself next to him and placing a comforting hand on his back, she added, "You know, it wasn't supposed to be like this. I genuinely thought my family would be more welcoming, especially after I told them what Chance is really like. But believe me when I say that this isn't right either, the way my parents were acting a few minutes ago. And...I still really want to show you what 'normal' looks and feels like."
"I don't think I'll ever know what that's like, as much as I wish I could," Rowan sighed. "Being cooped up with Spencer for most of our lives has broken both me and my brother. Maybe ruined us for good. I'll never have a home like you're talking about, at this rate."
Faith felt as frightened and dispirited as Rowan appeared, but she wasn't going to show it in front of him. If she let him see her act weak, he would never truly take her seriously. "Listen, while we're technically adults now, you might have to go back to Chance and Aaron's for a while, since Chance is your caretaker in writing and I'm still living under my parents' roof, but...I'll make a way out for you eventually. I just need you to wait for me."
Rowan hesitated, as if studying her, before nodding his head. "I probably will end up having to go back, since your parents don't really seem to like me anymore... But okay. I'll wait for you, no matter what happens."
"I'll keep trying to talk some sense into my parents, because I know it's there. They're just stressed out right now because we got--" Faith stopped herself, but it was too late. A look of dread had already spread across Rowan's face.
"Another letter? From my grandfather?"
"Yeah... But the police are still looking for him and his cronies, so it's only a matter of time." She paused. "Rowan, can I...ask you something?"
Rowan buried his face into his pillow, likely finding her comment about the police hard to believe given how powerful Spencer probably was. "What?" he asked, his voice muffled.
"That company... Even after all this time, I still don't know that much about them, except that they're dangerous and they're after you."
"They're killers, Faith. What more do you need to know?" Rowan asked impatiently, jerking his head up.
Faith held up her hands. "Yes, you're right. I know it's hard to talk about, but it's easier to defeat an enemy if you know more about them, right? And if you know, then I should too. It's just, I don't even know what the name of their company is, or what they claim to sell, or how they avoid being caught by the police, or--or why they're all trying to kill you in the first place."
Suddenly grabbing Faith by her shirt, he screamed, "I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY ALL WANT ME DEAD!"
"Rowan, stop! I didn't mean to--!"
Shaking her, he continued, "YOU THINK I DON'T WONDER MYSELF EVERY DAY?! IF I KNEW, I WOULD TELL YOU!" He then crumpled into tears, shaking his head as he slowly let her go. "I'm sorry, Faith. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this... I--I didn't mean to scare you..."
Faith had never seen him act this way towards her before. Her first thought was to push him away from her and get some distance between the two of them, but deep down she knew it wasn't her he was truly angry with. He'd likely been through traumas that she couldn't even begin to imagine, and thus wasn't going to try to. "N--no, Rowan... I'm sorry. It's obvious you went through some terrible things because of these people, and I overstepped my boundaries just now."
Rowan was giving her the thousand-yard stare, breathing too fast and too hard, but eventually registered what she told him and nodded his head.
"So for right now, instead of thinking about Spencer or whatever his unjust motives are, I want you to remember something for me when you go to sleep tonight."
"What's that?" His rapid breathing was beginning to slow back down to normal.
"I want you to never forget that there's someone just a few feet away from this room that cares, and wants to see you live as good a life as you possibly can."
Some of the worry lines on Rowan's face were finally starting to disappear now. "You're so patient with me, Faith. I really don't deserve everything you've been doing for me, but...thank you. I wish I could make it up to you, somehow, but..."
"Seeing you safe and happy will be reward enough," Faith replied. "No matter where the road takes us, I hope we can always keep in touch with one another."
Rowan was quiet for a moment, as if thinking something over. "Faith...can I ask you something now? And I hope you don't think I'm weird for it. Promise you won't laugh?"
Faith raised her eyebrows. "Of course I promise. I'm not your brother, you know."
Rowan inhaled, a bit overdramatically. "It's uh, probably bad timing after that huge outburst I just had, but Faith...I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend? I don't know much about being a boyfriend, and I'm still kind of uncomfortable getting too close to people in general, but I do know that you're the most caring and trustworthy person I've ever met. And pretty, too." He looked as if he'd recited some lines that had been difficult to memorize, and was now hoping they'd come out the right way. His face was extremely red now, and aside from his eyes which were still swollen from crying, he looked like an adorable freckled strawberry.
Faith inwardly agreed that it really was sort of awkward timing given what just happened a few minutes ago, and she also wasn't sure that she felt that kind of attraction towards him, but at the same time, she couldn't really see herself spending her life with anyone else after what the two of them had been through together. He was the reason that she was sitting safely back inside her home with her parents, and had lived to go on another family trip with her other relatives--she owed him her life, so saving his was the least she could do. Not only that, but he seemed to genuinely care about her as much as she cared about him. Whenever one of them was upset, the other never rested until some form of closure was reached, and he always seemed to show true interest in her and the things she cared about. "Well honestly, I don't know much about love myself, because I've never dated. But in a way, that's okay. We can learn together, you and me."
Rowan beamed. "So...is that a yes? B--because if you don't want to, that's fine too..." He then looked away timidly.
"It's a yes," Faith said, placing her hand on his. "You're sweet, caring and gentle--nothing like the kinds of guys my dad's always warned me about. And whenever I start to feel like life is dull and meaningless, you show up in my mind, and remind me that it's not."
Gently, Rowan leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "I love you."
He was truly too pure and fragile for this world. Despite having lived most if not all of his life around evil, he knew how to be so kind, so innocent. She feared that if she ever so much as hugged him too tightly or spoke too loudly to him, he would shatter like a glass vase that had been dropped. But she knew that he could become so much more, with the right love and guidance. "I love you too."
Just as Faith had guessed would happen, she indeed had some lost time to make up for in her editing, which meant less time to look after Rowan all day Friday. By the time she was finally finished for that evening, she'd gotten more of a first-hand taste of how Rowan likely felt most days. He no longer had to wear a sling on the injured arm, but she still needed to be careful about letting him outside the house, because as she knew, every time she'd given him an inch, he had a way of taking a mile.
Getting up from her computer desk inside her room, she stared back at herself in her mirror, realizing how much she missed having people and places to dress up for, and events to look forward to. She would need to ask Rowan again whether or not he'd decided about going to the art festival with her.
Tonight was payment night, but she still had a bit of time left before she needed to leave, so she decided to put on some of the makeup Sheena had given her to show to Rowan. She began with her foundation, which she already had and had been trying to use sparingly, and skipped the blush altogether as she often did. As she moved on to applying the smoky eye shadow and then lipstick, she actually found herself smiling slightly.
Once she'd finished, she went to give Rowan's bedroom door a couple of taps. It wasn't until now that she'd noticed just how much more time he was spending in his room, despite having been so upset by Faith locking him in the day before yesterday. "Hey Rowan? I want you to come look at something."
At first there was only silence, but eventually she heard him get up from his bed, as if reluctant, and he opened the door just a crack. "What is it?" he asked, annoyed.
"Well...if you decide you wanna go to the art festival, I wanted to show you some makeup I was thinking about wearing there. It'd be a nice excuse for me to actually get to wear some for a change, don't you think?" Of course she didn't need his approval on whether she wore makeup or not, but at this point, she was just trying to distract him from his constant worrying wherever a chance presented itself, even with something trivial like makeup.
Rowan blinked. "You called me out here to show me some stuff you smeared on your face. Great."
"Look, do you wanna go or not? It'll be here all this weekend."
"No. I'm busy then. Ask Aaron if he's up for it," he said, sounding sickeningly nonchalant given the comment he'd just made.
"You're disgusting, Rowan," Faith spat, turning away and heading back to her own room. She was quickly becoming tired of constantly having to entertain his negativity.
He could have just said 'no', she thought, sitting on her bed and watching the clock on the wall for when it was time to go. His suggestion was uncalled for, but...it made her uncomfortable as well, as if some ugly secret from the back of her mind had just been put on a projector and broadcast out into the open. She'd already told him the truth about how she really knew Aaron, so why would he say something like that? And what's more, why did she feel guilty for something she had never actually done?
I know I told Rowan I would protect him, but it's been five years ever since I made that promise and he hasn't made that much progress, and there's only so much that a person like me can do under the circumstances... It must be so nice for Sheena--Aaron is probably going to break her heart any day now, but at least he acts like a boyfriend somewhat for now. And if someone came after them and tried to hurt them for whatever reason, he wouldn't hesitate to do something about that person. If I had somebody like that on my side...
Faith smacked herself in the forehead, trying to collect herself as Rowan's past words persistently haunted her: "All Galanos's enemies know that sticker. He must really value you, huh?" "What's the point of getting me away from my grandfather if you're just gonna keep me prisoner here all over again?"
"Aaron could never value me. Not for what I want to be valued for," Faith whispered to herself, though even she wasn't sure if she'd just given herself a reassurance or a warning. One thing she was sure of was that whatever pain Rowan was capable of causing, Aaron was capable of a hundred times worse.
Steadying herself and deciding that overthinking this anymore would do a lot more harm than good, she gathered the money she would need to bring with her, along with her gun, and placed them both in her purse.
"Alright, listen, I'm not playing your games tonight," Faith said firmly as she walked past Rowan's door. "I'm going to just hand him the money and get out, just like every Friday has been lately. Now you promised me that you wouldn't make any more trouble, so I'm quoting you on that."
"I promised that I wouldn't cause any more trouble for you, Faith," Rowan responded from the other side.
"Okay. Whatever that means, you'd better be somewhere inside this house when I get back. Not for my benefit, but your own."
"As usual, you never listen," Rowan sighed, once again opening the door to face her but not all the way. "What I mean is...I'm leaving here. For real this time. And you can't stop me. By the time you get back I'll be gone, along with most of my things."
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