I Must Be Dreaming

Sunday morning came without any issues for Rowan. She had actually gotten a full night's rest, seeing as she passed out the moment her head touched her pillow. Her exhaustion had caught up with her to the point, she wasn't even awake to see her article published on the school website. Oh well, she knew that she would see it in the morning when they went for breakfast after church.

"Oh my god, guys! It's my article!" Rowan squeaked as she help up the Daily paper. Dallas and Quinn just laughed at her and walked into the gas station. They had gotten a chance to read it the night before. Rowan was so happy to see her work published; she was fit to be tied. She grabbed a cream custard Long Jon donut and a Yoo Hoo. She went to the cashier to pay for her breakfast and noticed the time, but luckily Dallas and Quinn had already bought their food.

"Let's go, Quinn. I need to get ready for my 'plans' this afternoon." Rowan declared, linking arms between her friends. Dallas then spoke up,

"And what do these 'plans' of yours entail?" His smugness was really starting to bother her. She should've never let him in on her secret.

"No clue, actually." Rowan shrugged, her eyes shinning with even more excitement than before. She was glad that she had gotten up to go to church already, all she would have to do is to change into something comfortable. There was no pressure to be on time which meant that she could have some time to relax before it was time go meet Andrew.

The weather was nice for a late summer Sunday. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was shinning with a slight breeze in the air. It was nice to have such uplifting weather. It made Rowan feel more alive inside and the feeling just made her day thus far just that much better. Everything just seemed to have that extra spark of life in them. Quinn and Rowan left Dallas when they arrived at the Lantana/ Castaño Commons. Dallas lived in Castaño Hall; which is why they were able to hang out so much. Once they got to their room on the second floor, Rowan pulled out her 'I <3 Boston' Tank Top and a green pair of cotton shorts. She pulled back her hair into a high ponytail and put her Aviators on top of her head. She looked herself over in the mirror, deciding that she looked good before grabbing her lanyard that had everything she needed on it and her iPhone.

"See you later, Quinn!" Rowan told Quinn, who was too busy reading 'Chasing Fire' by Nora Roberts to even respond to her, "I'm going to tell Dallas that you want to have hot and wild sex with him in one of the custodian closets in the Gilbert Biological Sciences building."

Quinn heard this and blushed, so she threw one of her pillows at her perverted friend, who deflected it with the door.

"Get outta here. I need to read this for my book club." Quinn ordered, opening her book back up to where she had left off.

Rowan rolled her eyes and left to go meet Andrew. She got to the staircase and slid down the handrail. Rowan had never done that before, it was semi scary, but at the same time really exciting! There were quite a few people in the Commons just because it was a Sunday and no one had anything to do except watch whatever was on TV. Speaking of Tv's, all of them were turned onto some sort of sporting event. Not that she was complaining, she had grown up in a household centered around sports. As she walked by one of them, she saw that the Red Soxs were losing to the Rangers. Even if Red Soxs were her favorite MLB team, there was nothing could make her frown on a day like today.

Rowan walked out of the doors that opened to Manzanita Park, which resembled a ghost town in the wild west because it so desolate at the moment. Normally, there would quite a few people passing by or students hanging out and studying, but not today everybody was somewhere else. She looked at her clock to check the time and it was 11:30. But then someone covered her eyes and she almost screamed because she was a little paranoid about being raped. But she didn’t because figured only someone who knew her would do something as stupid and childish as covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" The only voice that could make her truly smile from ear to ear whispered and in turn, Rowan covered his hands with her own.

"Umm... I don't know... Is it Tim Tebow??" Rowan pretended to guess, wondering how he would react to that. Unfortunately, he only laughed. She was then turned around to face him. When the hands removed themselves from over her eyes, she closed her eyes.

"Rowan, open your eyes." She opened her eyes to revile Andrew. No surprise there.

"Congrats on the win yesterday. I didn't get the chance to tell you when we were texting or talking. So I thought I'd say it now." Rowan remembered, folding her arms behind her back and kicking at a stray piece of chipped concert.

"Ah, it was nothing." Andrew shrugged, but then asked, "What was up with the change in plans?"

Rowan just shook her head and shrugged as she ran her hand through her hair,

"Honestly, I got no idea. I will find out tomorrow and let you know. Apparently, I am doing something completely different now."

She was telling the truth. She, honestly, had no idea what was going on or what the professor had in store for her. She just hoped whatever it was turned out to be worth not doing post game press.

Andrew nodded, "Ah, I see. Do you wanna get going then?"

Rowan bit her lip and bobbed her head side to side, "Depends, what did you have in mind for our agenda today."

"That is something for me to know and for you to find out." Andrew informed her with a wry smile and began to walk toward the center of campus. He was about a quarter of a block away when he turned back and asked,

"Are you coming or not?"

Rowan blinked a few times, but jogged to catch up to him. This time not really paying that much attention to how close they were until his hand brushed against hers. Or did her hand brush his first? She couldn't tell. Maybe they moved at the same time. Her head wanted her to create a barrier by moving away, but her heart wanted her closer. It was confusing.

"So where are we going?" She questioned, smiling up at him. Andrew smiled back but shook his head at her as if to say he wasn't going to tell her. Unsatisfied by this she stopped in her tracks because she didn't like surprises. Andrew continued on not noticing that she had stopped walking with him until his hand moved a little bit away from his side to where hers hand once been.

'That sneak!' Rowan thought to herself with a smirk as he turned around to her.

"Really?" He asked, trying not to smile. Rowan walked up to him so that the tips of their shoes were touching.

"What do you think?" She dared him and moved to stand on his toes. He winced a bit but managed not to show that he was in too much pain because for some strange reason her tiny feet really hurt! She began to lose her balance and fell back, but was stopped when Andrew's strong arms wrapped themselves around her back. Rowan blushed and thanked him.

"You're kind of a klutz, aren't you?" Andrew teased with a lopsided grin. She pulled her sun glasses down over her eyes and smiled up at him,

"I might be... Is there a problem with that?" Rowan
inquired; her breathing was shallow due to his close proximity. She couldn’t believe that he had that kind of effect on her and they hardly knew each other.

Every time she inhaled her sense of smell was stimulated by his smell. Old Spice, clean cut grass, and that distinctly musky man scent were all playing Beethoven's 5 in her nose. Rowan had never realized he smelled this good before but when had they ever been this close to each other since she had knocked him done last Tuesday. At that point in time, she had much more worried about neither of them not being hurt to care about what he smelled like. But for her point of view, Rowan noticed that she was having that same effect on him as well.

Right now, all Andrew wanted to do was to pull her into a tight hug and burry his face in her hair. She smelled of vanilla and cinnamon with a slightly floral scent weaved through the two. He had been looking forward to getting to spend time with her since they had met. He didn’t think that it would actually happen though. He thought it might take months to get her to agree to hang out with him, one on one.

"No, it's not a problem at all." Andrew whispered into Rowan's ear making her shiver, "I think I can handle anything you throw at me."

"Are you talking from experience?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow, straining her neck to look him in the eye. She was curious as to just what kind of experience he’d had to make him not even wince at some of the things she would do or say.

Andrew pulled back a little and nodded, "Actually, I am." This made Rowan's face fall and that didn't go unnoticed by Andrew,

"I have 2 younger sisters." He clarified for her, which made her smile again, "Now, come on!"

To make sure she was coming with him this time he grabbed her hand. Rowan hadn't seen it coming and was freaking out on the inside as she looked at him from peripheral vision. She wasn’t what he meant by taking her hand in his. Maybe he was just making sure that she was coming with him or maybe he just wanted to hold her hand.

'Oh my god! Breathe, Ro, breathe. Do not let yourself become mush! His hands are so warm though...Gawd!! I can't think straight!'

She audibly sighed, but it was a happy sigh, Andrew noticed. She had really been confusing him... And he liked it! Normally, it would've just been a turn off for him but there was something about her. Maybe after today he would figure out what that something was.

Andrew led Rowan down the street. She enjoyed just being outside and walking with him. Her skin needed the extra Vitamin D. It was nice to go on a walk with someone and be able to enjoy it in silence, but she had a feeling that they weren’t just going to be going on a walk today. Upon further inspection of their general direction, she amused they were going to go somewhere where they wouldn’t be bothered.

"You're taking me to a Library?" She questioned, looking up at him once they had passed the Hoover Tower. Andrew nodded, letting go of her hand to scratch the back of his head,

"Yeah, I know it's lame but I thought it would be nice if we could hang out without any distractions."

His face was slightly flushed when he said this. It was like he was sort of embarrassed about wanting to take her to library. Rowan didn't want him to feel like that so she grabbed his hand to make him look at her,

"No, it's cool." She told him with a smile, "I'm sure there are very some interesting things we could come up with in there..."

Andrew laughed as she caught herself from making a sexual innuendo. He was beginning to love her sense of humor. It spoke volumes of about her. It helped him relax and be himself rather than be what everyone else wanted him to be.

They walked into the Art and Architecture Library noticing that it was relatively empty, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting interrupted. They wandered around for a little bit before finding a couch near a window to sit on. Rowan had taken the opportunity to pick up a couple magazines. They sat down on opposite ends giving each other enough space so that they weren't too uncomfortable. After a few moments Rowan spoke up because she wanted to get some of the football related questions out of the way,

"Why did you come back?"

Her question didn't surprise him. He had kinda figured that would be her first question. It’s probably that reporter side of her coming through or maybe she just wanted to break the ice a little bit to get him to open up. Andrew only shrugged, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the tops of his knees,

"I didn't want to leave. I like school too much to leave. Besides, I think the team has a chance to go all the way this year and I wanted to get my diploma."

Rowan nodded and was about to ask another question, but Andrew cut her off, "Hold on there, Princess. It's my turn to ask a question."

Rowan laughed at him and rested the magazine she had been looking at in her lap, "Oh so that's how it's going to be, eh?"

She blushed when she realized her slight Canadian accent had come through again, but remembered that Andrew had said he thought it was cute and that only made her blush even more.

"Yeah, that's how it's going to be." He agreed, sending her a smirk before asking, "Why did you choose to come all the way out here?"

Rowan caught his eyes with hers and replied,

"You know I could ask you the same question...
But part of it was the weather and the campus, being able to get away from my family, and the opportunity to discover who I really am."

Andrew was surprised at the last part of her statement. He thought she would be the type to have it all figured out. That she had an exact plan for her life, but she was in reality just a free spirit trying to find her path. The possibilities for her life were endless.

"What's you favorite music genre?" Rowan asked him, interrupting his thought process. Andrew stroked his scruffy chin in thought as he considered his choices.

"It depends." He began, "Mostly rock or some other sort of pump up music."

Rowan laughed, "I didn't know that Pump-up was a music genre."

Andrew gave her a shove, "You know what I mean."

Rowan shoved him back before scooting closer and challenging him, "Do I?"

"Hey, now, that's two questions!" Andrew pointed out, making Rowan scoff.

"Hardly fair, but fine... Ask away, Sparky."

Andrew smiled at the new nickname she had dubbed him with. It was certainly more creative than 'Lucky', everyone called him that,

"What's your favorite kinda of music?"

Rowan rolled her eyes at him but answers none the less, "Everything, it depends on my mood."

That's mostly how the most of their conversation went. The basics. As they went on they found that they had a lot in common. They had begun unconsciously been inching closer and closer to each other like they were oppositely polarized magnets drawing the other closer

Eventually, they forgot about the 'twenty questions' game that they had been playing and began telling stories about themselves. Mostly about when they were younger. They both were beginning to feel like they had known each other for most of their lives. They both found it odd how comfortable they were with each other for only having known each other for a few days and having talked fewer times than that.

Occasionally, Rowan would lean her head against Andrew's shoulder and close her eyes so that she could imagine one of the trips his dad would take him and his sisters on when they lived in Europe. In turn, Andrew had begun to wrap his arm around her shoulders when Rowan talked about one of the numerous adventures she'd had on her grandparent's farm during the summers she'd spent in Illinois. It was safe to say that they were finally getting comfortable with each other, but there was still one thing that was bugging Andrew. When he saw an opportunity in their conversation, he took it, much like he would on the field,

"I know this is going to seem kinda bold but uh... Do you and that guy you were with at the game have a thing? I don't want to cause any rift in your relationship."

Rowan's brow furrowed with confusion and sat up to make sure she had heard him right, "What do you mean?"

Andrew rubbed his eyes unsure of how to say what he wanted to say so he didn't offend her. He had seen the way Rowan and her friend had interacted during warm ups and he didn't want to cross into another man's territory.

"The guy who was next to you when you caught the ball I overthrew during warm ups... Are you two seeing each other?"

Rowan laughed when she heard this and fell back against the arm of her original side of the couch, "You're asking me if I am dating Dallas? That is the best!"

She calmed down and then explained,

"No, he's my best friend. He is also sorta dating my roommate." Rowan hadn't realized how much Andrew had been watching them during warm ups. He had watched them enough, apparently, to see that Dallas and her were extremely close. Andrew let out a sigh of relief at this information. She decided to basically ask him the same question,

"So are there any girls that I have to worry about? You know, besides your legions of fans."

Andrew knew that this was one of her subtle ways of teasing him about what he meant to Stanford. She also had every right to think that there could someone in his life. He had to be honest with himself. He knew could have any one of the girls on campus if he wanted, but none of them would catch his attention like Rowan. She was the girl he wanted in his life. He had thought that from the very first time he saw her, but after sitting here talking with her about everything under the sky, he was certain of it.

"Well, besides Mary Ellen... But I think she's going to like you." Andrew informed her. Ah, yes, Mary Ellen, the oldest of his sisters. A Freshman and a volleyball player at Stanford. She was majoring in Human Biology. Andrew described her as a really sweet girl with a fiery, competitive side.

Andrew opened up his arms as if to invite her back over which made Rowan laugh, but she took the invitation and snuggled into his side. It felt so natural to be in his arms. She felt so warm and safe, like she never wanted to leave their strong embrace.

"You know I never thought I'd have this much fun in a library." She admitted, looking up at him, "It definitely isn't a place I thought I would be taken on a date-"

As soon as she said this she looked away afraid to see his reaction.

'Oh shit!' She mentally cursed herself, 'You’ve gone and done it now. Saying the stupid 'd' word. Stupid! Stupid! You don't even know if he thinks of you as anything more than a friend.'

"I am sorry. I swear I have open mouth insert foot syndrome-" She apologized for her careless choice of words. Hoping it wouldn't jeopardize what friendship they had built up.

Andrew then cut her off, "Do you want it to be a date?"

Rowan was surprised by his question and ran one of her hands through her hair, "I dunno... I mean what do you want? We could just be friends..."

"We could be, but maybe I don't want to be friends." He suggested to her, "Maybe I want to take a chance."

"Are you sure?" She asked him, timidly, wanting to be the voice of reason, "I mean, how are you going to be able to focus on football and try to maintain a relationship? Bedside isn’t architecture an extremely demanding major?"

However, Andrew hadn't heard any reason in her words. So he got up from the couch and walked away before coming back and kneeling in front of her. He took her face in his hands,

"Rowan, it's not about me. Is it?"

She shook her head in agreement with him, "No, it's not."

She really hadn't wanted to tell him about it yet, so she didn't say anything to Andrew or even look at him. She didn’t understand why he was so scared, but she hoped she would be able to tell him at some point.

"Okay, that's fair enough." He stated, not wanting to make her feel anymore uncomfortable than she already did and stopped touching her face, "I'm sorry."

Rowan shook her head, "Why? It's not your fault. You don't even know what happened. The only reason you have any investment in it is because of me."

Andrew was about to answer her but she wasn't finished,

"I have never been a brave person, but what happened is in the past and that's where it will stay. I have issues that I want to conquer because I have a reason to try to conquer them now."

Andrew felt the need to wrap his arms around her and this time he didn't stop himself. Rowan returned his hug, which made him smile and ask,

"What do you mean?"

Rowan wanted to punch him but refrained. She wasn't going to try to beat him up all the time like she did with Dallas. She forced herself to look him in the eyes before declaring,

"I want to give 'us' a shot and not waste time with just being friends. It's obvious now we don't think that way about each other."

Andrew hugged her a little tighter and said,

"Rowan, you are wrong about what you said about you not being brave. What you just said makes you brave. 'Just being friends' is a way out of a relationship you are afraid to start."

Rowan smiled and rested her head against his shoulder still holding onto him. They stayed like that for who knows how long, but eventually they did decide to walk back to Lantana Hall.