I PUT YOUR PICTURE AWAY [Alecis]

Rowan and Ria had had a HUGE argument just a few hours ago. It was over something stupid, as usual, yet the end result was basically Rowan being kicked out of the house for the night. He swore, sometimes it seemed like Ria treated the family dog better than him. The only good side was that their kids had been spared the experience, all of them off at friends' houses, sans Dayton who was too young to comprehend what was going on, as well as had slept through the whole ideal.

Rowan planned on just renting out a hotel room in Dahlin for the night to give Ria a chance to cool down. To be perfectly honest Rowan needed some cooling down himself, so on his way to Dahlin he stopped by the Tavern, which was his usual area for stress management.

"The usual," he said to the bartender, whom he saw often enough to have a "usual" drink.

The bartender had known Rowan long enough to be able to read him pretty well. "Trouble with the missus?" he asked, sliding the drink towards Rowan.

Rowan made a noncommittal noise and took a drink. This was going to be a terrible night.

Alecis had just put Sophie to bed, Lily was spending the night at Lumi's, and Keiran was out with Roburt on some father-son bonding thing. Because she hadn't been out in awhile, Leci had decided to come to the Tavern. She had earned a drink or two, she reasoned, though she wouldn't drink too much. She had a family at home to think about.

She landed softly on the ground right outside the Tavern then checked behind her to make sure no one was coming down Theodore Lane. The Tavern wasn't the safest place to be at night because of it's close proximity to the dangerous road leading to the mountains. Seeing that the coast was clear she turned back round and walked into the small bar.

She didn't glance around, no one she knew hung out here much, but instead headed over to the bar and took a seat on one of the tall stools. The bartender came over and she ordered a small appletini. He filled a glass and handed it to her a few seconds later.

As he walked away, Alecis took a sip. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting all the stress of the day slip off her shoulders. She was eager to forget the tantrum that Sophie had had earlier, and tipped the glass back for another drink.

Rowan turned to look as he heard the sound of bells jingling on the door, indicating that someone had just entered the Tavern. To his immediate surprise he saw Alecis, who was not the first person he expected to be coming in for a late night drink. Strange.

He finished his first drink and as he ordered a second he realized Alecis hadn't even noticed he was there. It wouldn't hurt to exchange a few words with her, he reasoned. Things weren't as awkward as they had been many years ago, and right now would be a good time for a friendly conversation to help get his mind off things.

He cleared his throat. "Hello Alecis," he greeted, scooting over a few seats so he was sitting next to her. "I didn't think I'd be running into you here."

Alecis was a little surprised when someone said her name; she hadn't been expecting anyone she knew. As she turned to look at the source of the familiar voice she smiled a little before faltering momentarily. She didn't mind talking to Rowan anymore, but if his wife was with him, that was a different story.

She quickly looked around the room with her eyes, but didn't see Ria, so her face turned back to a smile. "Long time no see," she said, taking another sip.

Rowan nodded. "Too long," he replied, taking a drink. He saw her glance around and figured she might have been looking for any sign of Ria. It would make sense, the two women still couldn't stand each other. "So what brings you to the Tavern this late? You're not here very often, are you?"

He knew this because he was here often and had very rarely ever seen Alecis here before.

Alecis gave one of those sighing laughs as she answered with a no.
"I've just been stressed lately, having kids'll do that to you, you
know?"

Of course, he did know, Alecis knew. He had a house full of kids, plus another that masqueraded around as a grown woman by the name of Ria.

She took another drink before saying, "But they're growing up so fast! It's
unbelievable, Keiran and Lily will be seventeen next week..."

"Oh, I know what you mean," Rowan said. (At the moment if Alecis had said that thing about Ria masquerading around as a grown woman he probably would have agreed.) "My daughter Addisyn is going to settle as an Overloridian any day now. I just can't believe that she's going to be out there on her own so soon..."

He sighed and finished his drink, starting to get that warm, comfortable feeling that alcohol brings. Unlike the past, right now he felt very at ease with Alecis, completely natural to talk to her. It was strange, but nice.

Alecis looked a little shocked, "Which Eilemaiden?" she asked, quickly thinking to everyone. None of the Overloridians were very old and it was unsettling to think that one was going to die soon. Her mind fell on Rylan, the Adhbhar Overloridian. She had known he was battling cancer, but she hadn't thought it was extremely serious. She felt bad, he hadn't had a very long time in his career...

"Adhbhar, ironically enough," Rowan replied, ordering drink numero threeo. "She's scared out of her mind to take the job. I wish I could tell her she didn't have to..." He was going to miss his little girl so much (lol, if Rowan had a favorite child, it would totally be Addisyn.)

Awr, poor Rylan. "That's too bad about Rylan," she said before taking a drink. "How old is Addisyn now? She's seems a little young to be settling. Maybe Rylan will hold out a little longer..."

"She's fifteen," Rowan replied at once. As a second thought he added, "You were fifteen too when you settled, weren't you?"

"Mmhm," Alecis mumbled, lost in another drink. "She'll be fine if she's anything like her dad," she added, smiling.

"Haha, I hope she's not anything like me," Rowan replied, laughing. Even though he had cleaned himself up fairly quickly, those few months he spent in an alcohol-induced haze still followed him everywhere (he thought, taking another drink.)

"I'd be happier if she grew up to be like you rather than me, Alecis," he told her honestly. She had gone through so much more and dealt with it so much better. She was a great Overloridian.

Alecis smiled at him. "Still as charming as ever," she noted, laughing a little. "But seriously, I'm sure you're a great father."

It was nice, being able to talk to Rowan like this. All those years ago everything had been so awkward, but now Alecis felt at perfect ease.

Rowan smiled a little and let out a breath. "Yeah...thank you, Alecis," he told her. He looked at her for a moment, then reached up and brushed some of the hair out of her face. "That means a lot, coming from you."

When his fingers brushed her cheek, it was as if shocks of electricity flowed through them, into her. Immediately she blushed, she wasn't used to feeling this way anymore.

She smiled, a little awkwardly but not too much, and the hurried away into her drink. After she drained it, the past minute didn't seem so embarrassing.

Rowan didn't even notice Alecis's embarrassment, he was getting pretty far gone as the minutes went by and the drinks went down. In fact he had completely lost track of time; when he looked at the clock he was shocked to see it was midnight.

"Oh, no," he frowned, "Look how late it is. There aren't any hotels that give out rooms this late, are there?"

He looked to Alecis.

Alecis had never stayed at a hotel, and therefore had no idea, but luckily the bartender answered for her.

"Yeah, ther's one down the road a ways, perty cheap 'n and all tha'" he said, pointing out the side window of the Tavern.

Alecis thanked him before turning back to Rowan. "I guess there is," she said, pushing her last glass (8thhhh) away from her. The good thing about being Overloridian meant that you never had to pay for drinks. xD

"But why are you staying at a hotel?" she asked, not thinking if it was right of her to do so.

Rowan wasn't sober enough to have any concept of personal questions so he answered unabashedly, "Ria and I got in a pretty big fight. I thought it might be best to let her cool down for the night."

Plus she had screamed at him to get out, but at the very least he kept that to himself. He sighed. "She drives me insane sometimes. But yeah, that's why I need a place to sleep tonight."

Sometimes Alecis didn't understand what it was that kept Rowan with Ria, they never seemed to get along about anything.

"Well," she said, standing up and wobbling a little, "I'll walk you down that ways, I've got to go through Dahlin anyways." She didn't really think it was safe for her to fly right now, and it would be nice to have some company along the way.

Rowan stood up as well, much more steady on his feet than Alecis. The amount he had drunk was only just enough to get him tipsy, so he had no trouble balancing. Now Alecis on the other hand...

"Careful," he told her, putting and arm around her shoulders in case she tripped or something. It seemed like he'd be the one walking her, rather than the other way around. "Alright, we can walk together."

They left the Tavern together and walked out into the cool midnight air. It felt good. Rowan took a deep breath and subconsciously pulled Alecis a little closer as they walked.

Alecis noticed Rowan pull her closer, but couldn't bring herself to acknowledge it. She instead snuggled a little closer, feeling his warmth. Years ago she would have killed for this feeling.

They walked in silence for a while, listening to the chirping crickets around them. Alecis stared off into the starry sky and then lifted a hand to point to a constellation. "Look, it's the little dipper."

"It's beautiful," Rowan replied. But he wasn't looking at the sky. He was looking at her.

Alecis smiled then looked up at him, noticing the way he was looking at her. It filled her with a feeling she hadn't felt before, not even for Roburt.

A light blush made it's way onto her face and she looked down. A stabbing realization hit her as she stared at her feet, she still loved Rowan. Eighteen years had passed and nothing had changed, only that now she couldn't act on her impulses. She had a family, she had a husband.

So why couldn't she pull away?

Rowan knew he was about to do something stupid. Something crazy, something awful, something just plain wrong. He knew he should stop. Only he didn't stop. He cared, but he didn't stop. He thought about Ria and the beautiful life he had with her, but he didn't stop.

He leaned down to kiss Alecis, and he didn't stop.