Song for Broken Hearts (malexmale)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"So, you guys are dating now or what?"

Alright, so the bits after that day weren't all that important. Allen, Harnold, and Sebastian camped out in my place while I tended to Rowan. He didn't take his or my confession very well, and shut down after I had asked if he had loved me. I had to move him to the bathroom to tend to his hand, some shotty stitches and some bandages later I had to take him to his room where he buried himself under the covers. I had to text the others to let them know I was okay and that Rowan and I talked. The only thing I could do to keep him from completely shutting down after that was to lay by him and sing some old lullabies that my mother sang for me when I was younger.

For next couple days, Rowan got sick from the stress I had put him under, but he continued to go through his normal routine. Sebastian had told me it was his first time seeing Rowan have such a meltdown like it and go through it like a robot. I couldn't stay during the night, since I requested for evening to grave shifts in order to try and stay with him during the day. Sebastian couldn't stay because of school to keep an eye on him when I get evening shifts and had to go in the morning. I tried to keep Rowan home from work, but he forced himself to go to work, so I just worked whatever shifts I could and spent whatever time I had with Rowan. He did give me a letter to give to Harnold to apologize for roughing him up. He even got Sebastian a new car as an apology for putting him through so much. I was glad Harnold didn't have hard feelings, but I forced him to take my tips for the next week because I had never intended for him to get hurt.

He stayed quiet past Thanksgiving and Christmas, but wanted me with him whenever we came back. I easily got over the fact he refused to celebrate it, it literally wasn't a big deal as long as he wasn't avoiding me anymore. I got to talk to my family about it, as well as trying to get them to embrace the holidays, but I had to take my time with them, too. I still sent them gifts with letters explaining the Christmas spirit.

"Willy-butt? Hello?" I blinked at Amber, who waved her latte cup in front of my face. "You gonna answer me?"

"Agh, what... what was your question again?" I asked, sipping my sugary, sweet tea.

"Are you and that h— er, Rowan dating now?" she repeated and I blushed.

"Ah, well... I'd have to ask him about that. He's still very shy about it and still won't talk about it."

"Jesus, how far in the closet is he? You done did chose a stubborn man." she laughed before sighing heavily to lean back in her chair.

"Well, that's a part of him I found alluring, thank you very much. Besides, he's not like some of the pigs at work or that we pass on the street when we go shopping. I'm just too pretty not to hit on." I sighed as Amber rolled her eyes. "Rowan's the only guy who hasn't tried to bend over backwards and takes time to actually listen to me. You know he hardly looked at me the first couple times we actually had a conversation?"

"Ugh, don't you want a guy to look at you when you talk?"

"I like to paid attention to. Besides, he slowly started to look at me, and didn't he ogle or make me uncomfortable. He listens to everything I say, even if it's silly, but he still knows how to take me seriously. He's a real gentleman once you get to know him and peel back his layers. Speaking of which, I plan to peel back more later."

"Oh, you hopeless boy." she laughed.

"Well, you don't find a real guy like his very often. All I need to do is get him to open up to me completely. I'm curious about his closeted nature and his roots, you know?" I hummed and she grinned.

"Is that a New Years resolution?"

I smiled and tapped my nose knowingly. Today was New Year's Eve. I'd arranged for Sebastian and Allen to go on a date, since it was my turn to be a wingman, so Rowan and I could finally have our long, overdue chat. Don't be mistaken, I had asked him way ahead of time for this and he had finally agreed. Truth be told, though, it didn't mean he would actually talk.