Fake Relationship: Aelin begs Rowan to be her fake boyfriend for an event to prove a point to her creepy neighbour, Arobynn.
One thing Aelin hated more than anything was taking out the trash. Maybe it was her laziness, or maybe it was the fact that the last three times she’d gone to take it out she’d had the unfortunate luck of bumping into her creepy neighbour Arobynn. She glanced over at the trash for the sixth or seventh time, and groaned, when she realised she had no other choice but to take it out.
She made it outside and was half way back to her apartment, when footsteps sounded behind her, and the voice she hated so much echoed down the corridor.
“Aelin! Just the girl I was looking for!” Arobynn’s pace quickened, until he was stood in front of her.
“Oh, Arobynn, I didn’t see you there!” Aelin looked past him, calculating all the ways she could get out of this situation and back into her apartment.
“I know you’re a busy person, but I was wondering whether you’d like to join me at an art gallery opening tomorrow night… as my date?” Arobynn smiled widely, stepping closer to Aelin, making her escape impossible.
“I’m honoured you asked me, but I have a boyfriend.” Nothing like a little white lie to get him off her back.
“Oh I see. Well, I have an extra ticket, why don’t you bring him along? I would love to meet him.” Aelin couldn’t help but laugh to herself; she’d love to meet her boyfriend too.
“That’s really kind, but we have plans tomorrow. Maybe another time.”
“I insist Aelin, it would be rude to turn me down.”
Gods, if only she had taken the trash out earlier when she’d walked Fleetfoot. Now she had to come up with an imaginary boyfriend in less than 24 hours, and she’d have to sacrifice her evening of take out and movies for some art gallery opening. Arobynn walked away, a satisfied smile on his face, she slowly started to walk back to her apartment, when a door opened and out stepped her other neighbour, Rowan. He was rarely seen, but she’d bumped into him a couple of times. The first time she’d seen him, she’d been taken aback by his looks, and now looking at him, she got the same warm fuzzy feeling she had the first time.
Rowan stopped a few steps away, making Aelin realise she had been staring.
“You should take a picture… it’ll last longer.”
The idea that had popped into her head was crazy, and she was sure he would say no. But she had to try.
“Rowan, I need to ask you a huge favour…”
“I still don’t know why you couldn’t have asked someone else.” Rowan hadn’t smiled at all since arriving at the art gallery. To be honest, he hadn’t really smiled all evening. He’d knocked on her door at six thirty exactly, and they’d sat in silence the entire car journey.
“I asked you because you were convenient, and you never do anything in the evenings. I don’t know why you’re so grumpy anyway, you’re getting the better end of the deal.”
He didn’t give a reply, instead he slipped his arm through hers and they made their way around the art gallery, acting like the perfect couple; just waiting for Arobynn to see, and then they could leave and never talk again.
It took a solid half an hour before Arobynn found them; he’d walked over with a grim expression on his face and proceeded to ignore Rowan completely, whilst taking Aelin’s hand and kissing it.
“It’s so nice you could make it. I see you bought our lovely neighbour, Ronan.”
“It’s Rowan, and he’s my boyfriend.” Aelin tried not to sound too pissed off, but she was apparently failing miserably, as Rowan nudged her in the side.
“We don’t have to pretend Aelin, it’s nice that you tried though.” He went to speak again when an older women tapped him on the shoulder, his attention shifted to her, and Aelin and Rowan stood awkwardly, tempted to walk away but not quite sure how to do so without drawing his attention again.
Aelin was just about ready to pull Rowan away when Arobynn turned back towards them and focused his attention on Rowan’s arm around Aelin’s waist.
“Sorry about that. Well, where were we? Oh, yes. You’re cute little attempt at convincing me you were together.”
“Look Arobynn, if you’re just going to sta-” Aelin was cut off when Rowan bent down and pressed his lips to hers. Everything in her body went still at that whisper of a kiss, she was pulling away when Rowan’s arms slid around her waist entirely and he continued the kiss, his grip tightening on her. The feel of his body pressed against hers sent tingles down her spine, and it felt like second nature when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back with everything she had.
Aelin couldn’t be sure how long they stayed that way, but soon enough there was a throat being cleared, and Arobynn looked like he was ready to murder Rowan. Instead, he merely gave a small nod of his head towards Aelin and sauntered off into the crowd.
The journey home felt as awkward as it did on the way there, but for completely different reasons. They hadn’t spoken since the kiss, and Aelin was sure that they probably wouldn’t speak again.
Rowan surprised her, however, when before she had stepped inside her apartment he called out and said, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 7. Don’t be late.”
She didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the night.
