Celebrations
Rowan goes out with the Cadre after work one night and has a few too many. // AU/AH // Domestic Fluff //
Please enjoy a cute, little oneshot based on an actual event that happened to me.
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Aelin had probably only been asleep for about an hour when she heard a knocking on her apartment door. Wearing nothing but one of Rowan’s oversized t-shirts, she grabbed a pair of leggings off the floor and jerked them on as she crossed the threshold into the living room. Fleetfoot was snoozing on the couch, oblivious to the unexpected guests they were having at 1:15 in the morning. Some guard dog she was. As she got closer to the door, she could hear muffled voices and even the occasional “shhh”.
Standing on her tiptoes, she peered out of the peephole and suppressed a groan.
When Rowan mentioned that he was going out with the guys, Aelin didn’t think much of it. It was a pretty common occurrence for them to all meet up after work, have a few beers and unwind from the work week. But whatever had happened tonight, it was clear that Rowan had had more than “just a few beers”.
Aelin flung the door open, finding a giggling Fenrys, a scowling Lorcan, and a sheepish Aedion who was supporting a very, very drunk Rowan.
Rowan’s head snapped up when the light from the apartment poured out onto the breezeway. “Fireheart,” he breathed, stepping away from Aedion to press a surprisingly tender kiss to her forehead before stumbling into the apartment around her and flopping onto the couch next to Fleetfoot, who barely moved to cast an annoyed glance his way.
Aelin glanced at Rowan behind her before turning back to glare at her cousin and friends. Aedion was already holding his hands up in surrender.
“Before you get mad, if you think he’s bad, you should see Dorian,” he said, a slight slur to his words, as he jerked his head in the direction of the car, indicating her best friend.
Taking a calming breath, Aelin pinched the bridge of her nose. “Give me the cliffnotes version of the evening.”
Aelin was looking at Aedion, but Lorcan was the one who answered. His voice was clear and his eyes didn’t have the hint of fuzziness everyone else’s had. It was obvious who the designated driver had been tonight. “Gavriel got a promotion, Dorian passed his final in his biochemical engineering class and Westfall is going to propose to Nesryn in the next couple of days. Guess it was a night for celebrating.”
“Well, thank you for getting him home, and tell everyone congratulations,” Aelin said, leaning against the door frame. The three large men said their goodbyes and made their way down the stairs and out of sight.
Aelin sighed, ready to somehow lug Rowan off the couch and into their bed, but when she turned around, only a fluffy tail was visible over the top of the cushions.
Aelin called out “Rowan?” right about the same time she heard a cabinet slam in their bathroom.
She headed into their bedroom and leaned against the bathroom’s door frame, watching as Rowan brushed his teeth, suds and foam pouring out of his mouth. After he rinsed his mouth and spit, he looked up into the mirror, seeing the reflection of his girlfriend behind him in the doorway.
“Not a word,” he said, the sexy timber of his voice lower than normal, thanks to the alcohol, an eyebrow raised.
“Someone’s wasted.”
“No’m not,” he said, turning around to rest his hip on the bathroom counter, folding his arms across his chest. He even pouted.
Aelin had never seen Rowan drunk and after tonight, she was sure she probably never would again. And honestly, she was loving it. A small laugh snorted out before she could stop it and Rowan’s eyes narrowed.
“Come to bed, boozey,” she said, turning around and climbing back onto the mattress.
“Not that drunk,” she heard him mumble as he came back into the bedroom, fumbling with the buttons on his button-up. Rolling her eyes, she just turned the TV on, choosing a movie from Netflix at random. She didn’t expect either of them to be awake much longer to watch it. Setting the remote down on the nightstand, she heard a quiet “Son of a bitch” under Rowan’s breath. Glancing up at him, she saw that he’d successfully unbuttoned the top few buttons, but had given up and was tugging his shoes off instead. He was hopping around on one leg, trying to undo the laces of his other foot at the same time.
Aelin’s entire body was shaking with laughter. She watched as he got his shoes off and was back to working on his shirt.
“Do you want some help?”
“No.”
Rowan was stubborn on a good day, but it seemed being drunk made him even more so. Reaching for her phone, she sent Lysandra a quick text, warning her of Aedion’s inebriation.
“Told you I wasn’t too drunk.”
Aelin looked up to find Rowan standing at the edge of their bed in nothing but his boxer-briefs. His clothes were dropped unceremoniously on the floor. His hands were on his hips and his hair was a mess. He stumbled around to his side of the bed and collapsed next to Aelin, staring up at her with pride on his face.
Aelin couldn’t help but laugh as she took the pillow out from under his head and smacked him in the face with it.
“S’not very nice,” Rowan said, pine green eyes narrowed at her.
“I think you’ll live,” Aelin replied, snuggling down into the covers.
“It’s a good thing you’re hot,” he said, laying down.
Aelin laughed again. “You’re wasted.”
He didn’t respond and Aelin assumed he had fallen asleep. Rolling over on her side, she settled in letting sleep claim her, but not before two warm arms wrapped around her and Rowan nuzzled into the back of her neck.
“Guess what,” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.
“What, Rowan?”
She heard him snicker. “I think I like you a little bit.”
Aelin smiled, scooting back into his warm embrace. “I think I like you too.”
