The Found One

Chapter 19

Izzy had to force her eyes to stay on his back as he walked to the bathroom, refusing to let them wonder down to his boxer clad bottom and bare thick thighs. Bad Izzy! She scolded herself. You are not supposed to be looking at him like that. She tried to pretend her eyes didn't dip to the his thinly hidden package when he reemerged, pants in hand.

"I saw that."

"You saw nothing!" She argued, face turning scarlet.

"Sure cupcake. Not that I mind. I mean I totally understand." Rowan said smugly, gesturing to himself before pulling on the pair of black cargos he scavenged.

A choked sound caught in her throat, and she was convinced she'd burst into flames from the force of her embarrassment.

"We're paying tribute to their lives and deaths, it doesn't mean we aren't allowed to live. So feel free to look all you want. I am irresistible, after all."

Whipping the blankets of her, she tried to recover a bit of her dignity. "Please! I don't know who've you've been hanging around with lately, but obviously they've been overinflating your big head." Forcing herself to look him up and down, she stamped down any reaction, going for an air of disinterest. "If your done peacocking yourself around like a little boy who just got his first chest hair, I'm going to have a shower."

Without waiting, Izzy all but ran to the bathroom slamming the door, Rowan's laughter erupting behind her. The door didn't block out his words, or her embarrassment. "Aw! You noticed cupcake! That's so sweet."

She felt like punching him, right in his perfect, chiseled, handsome – WHOA! Wait a minute! Perfect? Chiseled? Handsome!? What the hell! No! NO! NO!! I am not attracted to Rowan. Absolutely, 100% not attracted. Okay so he's a bit good-looking. And kind of funny in an annoyingly irritating way. And he's tall and buff, but - I'm not like attracted – ATTRACTED, to him. Right? Oh fuck! - I'm attracted to Rowan! The friggin 'I'm the boss of the Monsters' - Rowan! Fuck me!

Banging her head against the side of the shower, she let the warm water wash wash away the lingering embarrassment and desire on her skin. The thought hit her like a train. Had Rowan smelt THAT on her! Banging her head with a renewed sense of horror, she prayed for the ground to suddenly open up and carry her far far away from Rowan and his stupidly gorgeous grey eyes.

"What!?" She barked as a knock sounded against the door.

"You've been in there for 20 minutes. Just wanted to make sure you were still alive." She heard the laughter in his words.

Growling she glared at the door. "Shut up!"

This time he didn't try to hide his laughter. "Just hurry up cupcake, I promise not to say anything about how much you want my yummy abs."

She groaned, head falling against the wall with a thud. "I hate you!" She shouted, not liking how the words didn't hold the contempt and heat they once would have. Was she softening to him? To them? That thought did what the water couldn't - clearing the fog and all thoughts of Rowan and his body from her head. I refuse to let them make me forget the truth. She swore to herself, ignoring the little nagging voice in the back of her head laughing at her naivety.

Wiping a hand across the foggy mirror, Izzy regarded her reflection critically. Ever since the cells in Vance's basement she had become obsessed with hygiene and cleanliness, the feel of dirt or grime on her skin caused her stomach to heave violently and a cold sweat to break out. Twice a day showers were her new normal, and then even still, every once and a while she would catch a glimpse of the girl the cells had turned her into and her breath would be forced from her lungs. Twisting, she eyed the scars she now sported, the testament to her rather bloody introduction to this new world. And yet, the more time she spent with Rowan and his pushy, infuriating, puzzling presence, the more she felt like her old self. The one she lost, even before the cells.