Love On Top

Once 'Gladiator' was over, Chase and Griff began 'sword fighting' with a pillow and an inflatable bat. Eventually, they gave up that game and began to wrestle on the living room floor until Coby and Andrew had pull them apart.

After that episode, everyone fell into silence because they were not really sure of what to say or do because of Rowan's presence. Thankfully, David DeCastro decided to poke his head through the door with an offer,

"Anybody feel like going out for a couple beers?"

Most of the guys got up except for Andrew, who looked at Rowan unsure of what he should do. David, then, noticed her and said,

"You can come, too. If you want."

Rowan smiled and declined his offer, graciously, "Thanks, but no thanks, I don't drink beer."

There was a collective gasp in response to her statement. They had bought into her trap with ease. Why wouldn't she drink some sort of alcohol?

"I only drink the good stuff. Vodka, Whisky, bourbon, rum. Mostly, vodka cause it's the easiest to hide." She saw them begin to smile at her statement and continued, 

"But I don't really feel like going out and getting wasted."

David nodded and then looked at Andrew, "So I'm guessing you're gonna stay with her?"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like going out anyway," Andrew agreed, hoping that David would help keep the guys away for most of the night. 

"Aw, come on, you guys are such fun suckers!" Chase wined, he had wanted Andrew to come and bring Rowan with them. It would've been a fun sight to see once she had a couple rounds of Patron Silver in her.

Griff didn't want to hear it so he pulled Chase out the door by the collar of his shirt, "Quit complaining! See you guys later!"

Once the guys had departed, Rowan fell back onto the couch. Not that she didn't like them or anything. It was just weird that her and Andrew were supposed to be 'hanging out' and they showed up. She heard Andrew laugh from somewhere above her. She almost felt obligated to flip him off but decided against it.

"You hungry?" Andrew inquired.

Rowan nodded and sat up, opening her eyes to see Andrew's merely inches away from hers. She gasped, almost silently, and looked down as she realized if she were to move any closer that they would be kissing. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at that thought. When she looked back up, Andrew's eyes weren't on hers they were on her lips. Was he thinking the same thing she was? Should they kiss? Should she kiss him? Or should she wait for him to kiss her?

Andrew didn't do either, instead he pulled back, clearing his throat before asking her, 

"Do you still want Pasta?"

Rowan blushed embarrassed by her prior thoughts, but was able to speak up, 

"Yeah, pasta is still great. Can I help?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. Did I mention that I suck at cooking?" Andrew admitted, sheepishly as Rowan rose from the couch and followed him into the kitchen.

"Do you have a hard time boiling water?" Rowan teased as she sat up on the counter top. Andrew shrugged, pulling out a pot to boil the water in and cook the pasta in.

"No, but I can never tell when the pasta is done." He informed her filling the pot up with water, placing it on the stove, and turning on the burner.

Rowan could only laugh before pointing out something he missed,

 "You need to put in some salt."

"Thank you for reminding me." Andrew replied, sarcastically, but grabbed the salt shaker none the less, "How much?"

Looking back, he saw Rowan only shrug, "Just a few shakes and get a wooden spoon so the wait doesn't boil over.

"The spoons are in the drawers underneath you." Andrew pointed out, not really wanting to put his hand between her legs to get into the drawer. Even though it was highly tempting to make her squirm.

She blushed and hopped down to pull open the drawer and get the only wooden spoon out of it. She walked over to the shove and placed the  spoon into the boiling water. She went to move away but strong arms prevented her from moving.

"Sparky..." Rowan muttered, conflicted as to whether she should lean back into him or just stay where she was. Why was it so hard to decide?

"What?" Andrew inquired, smiling down at her. It made her melt. Why did she have to like him so much? When all this could be was a fling? She should've kept a tighter reign on her heart. She didn't want to have her heart broken.

"Nothing... I just... Where's the bathroom?" She asked, shyly. Andrew looked taken back for a second, but let her go,

"It's down the hall right before the stairs."

She gave him a small smile and walked out of the kitchen. Andrew sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Had he just screwed things up? He hoped not. He really wanted this to last. She was different from all the other girls.

Rowan didn't know why but she had to get out of the kitchen. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, right? She probably would've said something she would regret.

She pushed herself off the locked bathroom door and turned on the faucet. She cupped her hands to collect the cool water and splashed it on her face. It immediately relieved some of the heat she had felt from being so close to Andrew in the kitchen.

A knock on the door brought her back from her reprieve and back into the real world.

"Hey, Ro, are you ok?" Andrew's concerned voice inquired from the other side.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rowan told him after turning off the water and opened the door. She smiled up at him like nothing was wrong and she hoped that her confusion didn't show.

Andrew smiled back and offered her his hand when he asked, "Wanna help finish supper?"

Rowan took his hand and nodded, "Yeah, I'd love, too. What do you need done?"

Andrew thought for a minute before replying with a smile, "Nothing."

Rowan raises an eyebrow at him in question, confused why he would ask for help if he didn't need it.

"I need help eating it." He explained as they walked back into the kitchen where a large plate of spaghetti on the island, two forks, and two glasses of red wine. Rowan blushed at the implication.

"A Lady and the Tramp tribute?" She joked as she took a seat. Andrew sat down next to her, but shook his head,

"Not really, I would've had cheesy Italian music playing in the background. Plus all the normal dishes are in the dishwasher because we forgot to run it earlier."

Rowan was suspicious of this answer but said a quick prayer of thanks and then began to dig in. After about her third bite, she realized how hungry she was. Looking back at her day she hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch because of Quinn. She would have to get back at her room mate for the lack of sleep. 

Pausing to take a swig of wine, Rowan looked over to Andrew rather sheepishly. He had a stunned expression on his face, probably due to how quickly she had been eating.

"Sorry, I didn't get breakfast or lunch today because Quinn kept me up all night." Rowan explained, twirling the pasta around her fork into a neat little ball.

"Why?" Andrew questioned, taking a bite himself. Rowan laughed,

"Not why, but how." Rowan corrected him and then continued, "She spent the entire night talking to Dallas. They didn't say goodnight until like four!"

Andrew had wondered why she hadn't gotten up until 3. What bothered him was that her friends were being rather inconsiderate.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked after digesting his thoughts. Rowan shrugged and looked at the rim of her wine glass,

"I think she's still mad at me... They both are."

Andrew was surprised that Dallas was mad her. What had she done to him? He was going to asked about the ginger but chose against it,

"What did you do to her?" 

Rowan sent him a weak smile and listed off her offenses, "I lied the morning I ran into you that I had ran into a tree again. I had forgotten that Quinn, Dallas, and I had made plans to go out to breakfast. I lied again when I ran into you the second time and then again when we hung out at the library."

Andrew laughed as he remembered the first time he had met the woman now sitting next to him. He never expected it, but it had happened. He was hurt that she hadn't told her room mate, but did he blame her? No, not at all.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Rowan shrugged, again, "Cause I didn't know if I'd actually ever see you or talk to you again. I thought it was just a one time thing to being with but I guess not."

Andrew smiled at her in response and noticed that she hadn't touched the pasta since they had started talking about her friends.

"Are you gonna eat anything else?"

 His question surprised her, but she shook her head. Talking about the situation with her friends had caused her to lose her apatite.

"No, but I will later. Can we watch another movie?" She asked him back almost like a child. Rowan slid out of the tall bar stood, feet landing on the tile floor.

"Sure." Andrew shrugged, "Go pick a movie and I will get this cleaned up."

Rowan wasn't about to be dismissed that easily.

"I already have 3 movies in mind." She informed him, picking up the plate and dumping what was left of their meal in the trash can. She then put it in the sink to be cleaned later on.

Andrew shook his head at her and picked up the forms and wine glasses, "And those would be?"

"'Tangled,' 'How to Train a Dragon,' or 'Rio.'" She listed off, taking the glasses and silver ware from him and placed them in the sink as week.

Andrew gave her a confused look, he had never seen any of them before, but he remembered from the trailers that they were for kids. So  he wasn't sure which one to pick...

"Which one is your favorite?"

"I like all of them." Rowan shrugged, "So it doesn't matter to me. You pick one."

Andrew pondered for a moment. He was glad that he did have to choose between the three Twilight movies. But still... He was choosing between 3 Disney movies. He didn't really know anything about them so he just picked,

"Tangled?" He saw Rowan's eyes light up at his words. 

Andrew hoped he had made the right choice and apparently, he had because Rowan skipped back into the living room to put the movie in. He didn't follow her, though, instead he snuck up to his room and retrieved a blanket from his bed. He didn't want to have to get up during the movie just in case she got cold.

Making his way downstairs, he realized how quiet the house was without all the guys in it. It was a nice change, especially since he would get to spend some uninterrupted time with Rowan. As he entered the living room, he didn't see Rowan until he walked around to the front of the couch. She was resting her head against its arm, her eyes held a drowsy cast to them, but he decided not comment.

Rowan saw something move out of the corner of her eyes and her body tensed, automatically. Making herself look, she felt silly because she should've known that it was Andrew. Seeing that he had brought a blanket with him made her smile. How thoughtful could this man be? Sitting up she reached for the blanket and he gave it to her. 

Andrew sat down next to the arm rest and Rowan, after wrapping herself in the blanket, nuzzled into him. The combination of being close to him and the warmth of the blanket made her feel safe. She was in heaven as she pressed play to start the movie.

'This is the story of how I die...' Flynn Rider's voice begins his narration and then continues on to explain the background to the movie.

Looking up, Rowan saw that Andrew was intently watching the movie. It was something she hadn't expected but was glad that he was paying attention. Rowan, however, was beginning to feel the full effect of her exhaustion as the movie went on. It didn't hurt that Andrew's hand was tracing soothing designs up and down her arm.

Rapunzel and Flynn had just made it to the castle when Andrew felt Rowan's breathing slow. Looking down, he saw that her eyes were barely staying open. Even when the festival music began to play, a part she usually enjoyed. It appeared that she was more exhausted than she ha originally thought.

The mood shifted when they were out on the lake in the gondola, waiting for the lamps to be lit. As the little lamps began to float around them, Rapunzel leaped to grab the front of the boat, watching with wide eyes. Another song began, this time it was one more of romance as  the scene unraveled. It was slower paced and it began to lull Rowan to sleep. Her eyes closing the rest of the way and darkness consuming her conscious. 

Andrew would've stopped the movie then but he wanted to know how it ended. He had a feeling that it was close to it at least, but with Rowan's slow, even breathing and the warmth her body was producing he, too, was beginning to fall into sleep's trap. He shifted them so that they were laying on the couch, with him in-between the back of the couch and Rowan. He was unconsciously wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him in almost a protective way. Breathing in her hair's sweet smell, he finally drifted off.

******

Sometime after midnight, the guys stumbled in. Whispering and giggling like school girls. No, most of them weren't drunk. Coach Shaw would kill them for it and no one would want extra suicides or worse the rope. Not a good way to start any day. They had enjoyed themselves but not in that manner.

What they hadn't expected to find their starting quarterback and his 'friend' sleeping together on the couch, the TV screen showed the main menu of some Disney princess movie. Chase made a move to steal the blanket that was draped over top of them, but Dave and Chris pulled him away and ushered the others toward their respective rooms. They knew that the girl must be special for Andrew to have A) brought her to the house and B) to let her stay the night. Neither things he has ever done before. So they weren't going to let the goober ruin it. But once she had gone back to where she lived, they were going to let him have for watching a little girl movie.

******

The next morning, Rowan woke up feeling much warmer than she was normally used to feeling. It made her sigh, happily and nuzzle closer to it's source. She also felt slightly cramped like she had been sleeping on a couch...

That's when it hit her. She had fallen asleep on the couch watching 'Tangled' with Andrew. Blinking, she found that she hadn't even taken her contacts out. Groaning, she buried her face into her pillow because she knew she'd be dawning her glasses for the next couple days. 

Curse her sensitive eyes!

A chuckle rumbled against from her 'pillow' and caused her to pull away only to end up being trapped by what she presumed to be the back of the couch. Peaking from underneath her eyelashes, Rowan saw a familiar face. A face that she was becoming more and more fond of.

"Good morning." Andrew greeted her, warmly. His smile told her that he had either been awake before her waking up process or had been woken up by it. Of course, Rowan buried her face in his shoulder (which had ended up becoming her pillow at some point during the night) to hide the blush that had arisen on her face because he was seeing her at one of her more vulnerable states.

"Morning." Her voice muffled by the material of his T-Shirt greeted back. Andrew only laughed more at this but not in a mean way. He laughed because he thought her morning behavior was rather cute. Cute was the word he wanted to use? Yeah, cute works.

He moved his head to tilt her face up so that she would look at him but she buried it back into the crook between his neck and shoulder.

"Boston, you know you don't have to be afraid of me." Andrew teased her.

She mumbled something in response, but the words were again distorted by his shirt. He rolled his eyes at her childish behavior and then asked her,

"What was that I didn't quite catch what you said?"

Glaring up at him, she pulled away from his shoulder. The smile she was fighting to hide was the only thing that betrayed her faux anger.

"I am not afraid of YOU. I am just a slow riser." She informed him, evenly. He nodded, accepting her reply,

"I see..." He trailed off, trying to think of something they could do this morning and then he remembered, "I believe you invited me to join you on a morning run at some point."

Rowan blushed, she also remembered this, "I believe you were the one who invited yourself and my reply was 'in your dreams.'"

Andrew laughed, knowing that this was true. He  had invited himself to join her.

"I wanted to see if you really do day dream when you run." He admitted, scratching the back of his. Rowan was embarrassed by this and blushed, even though that incident had led them to this point. So why not let him in a little more? It couldn't hurt, right? There were no strings attached at the moment.

"Fine, let me go change." 

She finally agreed and moved to get up, but as she moved she discovered that their legs had tangled over the course of the night. Both blushing, they disentangled themselves and at the same time trying to avoid any more embarrassment.

Once they had achieved that, Rowan stood and went to Andrew's room to change. A new rush of excitement filled her as she did so. This was the first time she'd have a running partner capable of keeping up with her pace, if not able to surpass it.

She found an upstairs bathroom to freshen up in. She was surprised that it was actually clean, almost sparkling. She had expected it to be all grimy and nasty with dirt and man sweat. She wondered if they had a cleaning person come clean for them. Pushing that thought aside as she made her way back down stairs to find Andrew waiting for her by the front door in a different set of clothes.

"You change fast." Rowan pointed out as she looked him up and down, his board shoulders, well muscled arms and pecks. His shorts hid his thigh but the rest of his legs showed how conditioned his body was, and then there were his massive feet... You know what that means ;)

Gosh, she needed to quit hanging out with Dallas so much. He was perverting her mind!

Andrew did the same thing, noting how proportional she was from her tiny feet and well toned calves to her hip, taunt torso, lean arms, her chest was prefect in proportion to her size, her shoulders were graceful, swan-like neck, and her heart shaped faced.

Rowan felt her body heat up as she felt his eyes travel over her body. It didn't make her uncomfortable, but she was nervous about what he thought of her. She would never ask him though, he could lie if he wanted to. She didn't think he was that kind of guy. You never know sometimes...

"You're beautiful, you know that right?" He surprised her by saying.

"Thanks." Rowan blushed, rubbing her forearm and crossing her ankles, "No one besides my family has ever told me that."

When was she going to stop excepting the worse of people? She still had a hard time with those kinds of this. Andrew hadn't given her any reason to doubt or think lowly of him. In fact, he had been nothing but kind to her. Shouldn't she stop putting space between them whenever they got close.

"Not even Quinn or Dallas?" Andrew asked with confusion written all over his face. Rowan laughed before telling him,

"They are family." She informed him then went on to ask, "You ready to go, Sparky?"

Andrew nodded and smiled at her, "Yeah, Boston, I'm ready to go. Are you?"

"More than you know!" She smirked and walked out the door that he had opened for her.

The sun was just as it had been the previous day, bright. It was yet another brilliant day to enjoy outside. At 8 am on a Saturday, there were very few people up, so that would be something for Rowan and Andrew to appreciate. Well, more Andrew's sake than Rowan's, she didn't care if people were watching or talking about her.

After they had both stretched out they planned on taking her normal route down toward Stanford Stadium, which would take them past her dorm but there wasn't any need to stop by at this point. Rowan didn't want her virgin eyes to be scared. Rowan maintained a comfortable pace so that they could talk while they ran/jogged.

"Hey, I hate to admit this, but I can't keep a conversation while I'm running." Andrew told her after about 7 blocks. He was surprised that Rowan was able to, "How can you do it?"

Rowan shrugged, "I always have. It helps that I lettered in Cross Country and Track in High School. I was good enough that I could've ran here."

"Why didn't you?" 

Rowan sighed and shrugged again, "Honestly? I hate running competitively. I hate running, too. So why continue doing something I don't like. Plus it brings up some bad memories..."

"Oh ok. I get it." Andrew agreed, wondering if those 'bad memories' had anything to do with the issues she had with… guys other than Dallas. He knew he'd be crossing the line if he asked more about it so he didn't,  

"So... When's your Birthday?"

Rowan laughed, "Random, but ok, December 12th. What about you?"

"September 12th." He informed her. Rowan then stopped and grabbed his arm so that he would turn around when she heard this,

"That was two weeks ago! Why didn't you tell me?"

Her pout made him feel guilty. Sighing, he ran one of his giant hands over his face,

"It slipped my mind. I just had a small get together with the guys and my family. They sprung it on me so I didn't really have a choice. I don't really like celebrating my birthday."

Rowan rolled her eyes and laughed, "God, you can't even be an attention whore on your birthday. It's like you're the anti-attention whore!"

Andrew sort of growled and went to grab Rowan, but she quickly moved put of his grasp. He tried to catch her again and she evaded him again. This went on for several more minutes as they moved off the side walk and into the grass lawn. Eventually, he made her slip up and he caught her around the waist with his arms. She only struggled trying to get free, playfully smacking him and eventually she did. Rowan made a break for it and almost ended up running into another girl when she did.

"Oh my god!" Rowan gasped, placing a hand on her chest, "I am so sorry."

Andrew then jogged over to join them, "Jesus, Boston, you gotta watch where you're going! You almost- Mel? How did your game go last night?"

The brown haired girl smiled at Andrew and rolled eyes almost like a sister would to her brother. She then gave an indifferent shrug,

"We lost, but we have to stay focused we play SC tonight."

Andrew nodded and then looked back to Rowan, "Oh! I completely forgot! Mel, this is my-" There was an awkward pause, "Rowan Kowalski. Ro, this is my sister Mary Ellen."

Duh, of course she should've known that Mel was his sister. They looked so much alike. Same kind of facial structure (Mary Ellen's was more feminine), same smile and hair color.

"It's nice to meet you, Rowan." Mary Ellen greeted her, "You can call me Mel."

Rowan took her hand and shook it, "It's nice to meet you, too, Mel. Like I said before I am so sorry. I was out for a run the other day and ran into your brother, literally."

Mel laughed at this and gave her brother a shove,

 "Jez, Andrew, why don't you watch where you are going?"

It was Rowan's turn to laugh, "Actually it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going, ran into him, and knocked him down on his back."

"It's true!" Andrew interjected.

"Really?" Mel asked and then whispered in Rowan's ear, "He probably deserved it."

"Probably..." Rowan agreed and winked, "He still owes me dinner."

Andrew raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest, "Since when?"

"Since now." Rowan informed him with a puppy dog pout. After rolling his eyes, Andrew agreed,

"Fine, next Saturday after the UCLA game. Deal?" Holding out his hand for Rowan to shake.

"Deal." Rowan agreed, taking his and shaking it, "I'm good with that."

Mel had been watching the whole interaction and she could tell that her brother saw Rowan as more than a friend. Even though they hadn't talked much she could tell that Rowan would be good for Andrew. She also noticed that they hadn't disconnected their hands yet. Which signaled that it was time for her to leave. Plus she had a game to go prepare for.

"Well, I will let you guys go. I gotta go get ready for the game tonight. See ya tomorrow, Andrew?" Mary Ellen asked, moving to give her big brother a parting hug, which he returned, and then she turned to Rowan,

 "It was nice meeting you, Rowan."

Rowan smiled and then nodded, "It was cool meeting you, too. Good luck tonight!"

"Thanks!" Mary Ellen smiled and then went off towards the Maples Pavilion.

Andrew blushed and looked to Rowan, his hand sneaking to take hers once again. "Siblings"

"I know. I am having a girls day with my sister tomorrow and then my parents are bringing my little brother out for Homecoming this year." Rowan agreed, swinging their hands back and forth.

"How old is your brother again?" Andrew inquired as they began to walk back to Andrew's house.

"He's a 18." Rowan told him, "Totally acts like he's 30 though."

"Really? Where is he going to college?"

Rowan thought for a moment, trying to get her facts straight,

"Kale is extremely mature. I think he said he is planning on going to Michigan on an Academic Scholarship to play hockey. Right now, he is playing in the Ontario Hockey League for the Windsor Spitfires... So he doesn't really have school per say. Just online classes."

Andrew nodded, confused about all the hockey stuff and then asked, "Why is he playing in Canada?"

"Well, for one he was born in Vancouver so he has dual citizenship. Marie and I do as well," Rowan informed him, "And because it makes him more competitive for the 2012 NHL Draft."

"They draft 18-year-olds?" Andrew was surprised by this.

"Um... Yeah, they don't have to go through college. They go to the minor league affiliate or play colligate hockey." Rowan explained,

 "They want their prospects to develop if they aren't first rounders, instead of just letting them sit."

Andrew nodded, he was beginning to understand but he would probably have to have  it explained to him again, "O, I got it.

It was hard to believe that talking about her brother had taken up almost the entire walk back to Andrew's house. So when they were a block away Rowan, sending Andrew a challenging look and then made a break for it and Andrew dashed after her, both of them laughing.

(Thanks to her cross country and track skills, Rowan was able to beat Andrew to the front door. But who's counting, right?)