Disclaimer: I do not own any characters referenced

Rowan didn't know why he had done it. Call it reflex or intuition, it had simply felt right in the moment. And now, with Aelin safely curled up in his arms, he smiled. She had stopped shaking.

Noticing the clock on the wall, he sighed in defeat. It was three am. "Hey~" He whispered to her, "Aelin?" And with a low chuckle, he realized that she had dozed off in his embrace.

There was only one bedroom on the fourth floor, and Rowan didn't want to leave her alone in an apartment, so he decided to let her have the bed while he slept on the couch. Carefully, he scooped her limp body up into her arms and made his way to the bedroom.

Never before had the bedside lamp seemed so blinding. With much caution he laid Aelin down on the bed which he had been sleeping in, prior to her unannounced visit. He pulled the silken sheets over her body, before brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face and whispering; "Sleep well, Fireheart."

When Rowan turned to leave the room, he felt a hand grab his wrist. He tilted his head back to see Aelin staring at him through half-lidded eyes. "Please..." Her voice was no more than a murmur, "Please, don't go." She begged drowsily, and Rowan wasn't sure if it was the fear or the pure plea in her glazed orbs that made him do it, but he nodded and lay down in the king-sized bed beside her.

When he had flipped off the switch for the lights and the entire room went dark, he heard her yelp in fear. Without the shadow of a doubt in mind, Rowan wrapped his arms around her once more and pulled her close.

Her hands felt like fire against his bare chest and a shiver snaked down his spine as she nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck, obviously drunk on drowsiness. She was no longer afraid.

He shifted his head to face her brow and breathed in the scent of her hair. Lavender. And he smiled as a light giggle escaped her lips before she drifted off into a land of dreams.

For one second, Rowan allowed himself to reflect on all that had happened that night, and with a breathy chuckle, he sighed, "What the hell am I going to do with you?" And then slumber overcame him, too.

The first thing she heard was the alarm clock, the first thing she felt the mattress shifting and warmth residing as he sat up, and the first thing she saw was his back facing away as the alarm dimmed. Slowly, she too sat up in bed.

"Aelin?" Rowan turned his head to look at her, loose strands of that silken silver hair falling out of his ponytail and over his brow. Aelin attempted to stand up, but found her arms giving out.

"You still have a cold and I have to go to school. I would suggest you stay here." She was about to start throwing a fit, saying she had no need of being pampered, but refrained from doing so as she saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"Whatever." She muttered and spun to face away from him, lying down once more in the process and tugging one of the large pillows to cover her head. She heard Rowan sigh and loose a chuckle as he proceeded to get ready for school. And a quarter hour later, when she heard the door of the apartment fall into lock as Rowan left, she removed the pillow from her head.

Aelin took a deep breath, savoring the fresh air that entered her lungs. She looked to where the window stood hanging open by its hinges. On shaky feet, she stood and went to close it. "Buzzard. He wants me to recover, but leaves the window open."

Not knowing what to do with herself, Aelin walked to the living room to retrieve the woolen blanket from the couch and draped it over her shoulders to suppress the coldness. Then she sat onto the couch.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her phone laying on the coffee table, where she must've left it the night before. Ren and Aedion must've been scared shitless when they found that she wasn't in her room that morning, although her cousin might not have even come home, considering he hadn't been when she left.

She switched on the device to prove her suspicions. One new message. Ren Allsbrook. She opened it without much hesitation:

I'm not going to tell Aedion that you left. I saw the security camera footage and I'm assuming you went to Rowan. I'm being considerate here. Don't blow it.

There was no playfulness in the message. He had blatantly stated the truth, and Aelin was grateful for that. She would have to apologize to him later on. He hadn't deserved the shitty way she had treated him.

It wasn't his fault after all, she had been unstable and on edge and had snapped at him and Aedion for the smallest reason. Leaning back on the couch, she thoughtfully typed her response:

Thank you for that. Yes, I'm at Rowan's place, and I don't know how long I'll stay. Maybe another day or two, maybe I'll be home by tonight. Btw, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to be such a bitch.

She pressed the send button. Honestly, it was probably good for her to take a part-time leave from the Ashryver mansion. There was too much there that reminded her of Sam. Too much emptiness and unused space. She would ask Rowan if she could stay the weekend when he arrived back home, it was Friday, after all.

It was incredible how fast their relationship had evolved. They had met less than two weeks ago and now she was crashing at his place at two am because of a lousy nightmare. It was laughable.

Bzzz. The phone in her hand buzzed. Ren had replied.

Don't sweat it. You weren't being a bitch. It really was none of my business. Should I tell Aedion, or..?

Aelin sighed in relief at his apathy.

I'll text him. But aren't you supposed to be in class rn? How are you texting me?

It took a minute for his response:

Arobynn's completely hungover and half passed out across his desk.

She laughed aloud.

He went drinking on a Thursday? Typical XD

Aelin was grinning like an idiot, awaiting Ren's response.

XD Oh shitt. The dude woke. He's glaring at me, Celaena. It's scaring me. HE'S STANDING UP. I gotta go now! Later!

She didn't respond. She was to busy laughing her ass of imagining the scenario Ren had described. "So... What now?" She stared around the living room in search of something to do.

Her cold hadn't let up yet, and she was desperate for something to distract her from the headache and runny nose. She would text Aedion when Rowan came back safely, her only reasoning being that she didn't want her cousin to assault the poor guy.

Only then did she notice the absence of weight on her chest. The amulet of Orynth. It was gone. Of course she hadn't put it on before leaving her mansion. She had been in a rush to get out, but it felt weird having nothing hanging around her slender neck.

With an aggravated sigh she continued scanning the area and spotted her schoolbag lying beneath the coat hangers by the entrance. With nothing better to do, Aelin quickly retrieved it and pulled out the block she had been designing Nehemia and her halloween party costumes on. She was almost done.

Nehemia chose to go as Cleopatra and Aelin as a warrior queen, which meant comfort and badass tribal hunting gear. What more could she ask for? Smirking to herself triumphantly, she set the designs down onto the coffee table and pulled out her pencil case.

Casually, she wandered to the radio on the opposite side of the room and found the cable to plug her phone in. While scrolling through her countless songs, she blew a loose strand of hair out of her face and tugged the blanket tighter.

Finally settling on the song 'Dark Star' by Jaymes Young, Aelin hopped back to the couch, humming the melody of the song. Allowing herself to tale her time, she spun around to the melody in the open area and sang along:

"If I told you where I've been, would you still call me baby? And if I told you everything, would you call me crazy? Cause baby I'm a dark star, dark star~ ohh~" She slumped onto the couch, bobbing her head to the beat and leaned forward to continue her work, completely disappearing into a world of her own making.

'I'm weak, and what's wrong with that? Boy, oh boy, I love it when I fa-' bzzz '-ll for that~' Aelin lifted her head when the song was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone.

She looked at the clock on the wall and raised her eyebrows. Already 12:07? Well that went by quickly. She was completely distracted by designing and doodling to her heart's content, she hadn't noticed the hours ticking by.

She stood to check who the text was from. On her phone screen she read 'one new message from Rowan', right above the words 'Weak - by AJR' - the song that was currently blasting through the sound system. She opened the message and grinned smugly.

Hey, it's lunch, so if you're hungry, feel free to eat anything you find in the kitchen (as long as it's edible). Also, Aedion seems unusually happy today. What's up with the dude?

She tapped her foot to the music as she typed her response, imagining Aedion hopping down the school hallways, radiating bliss.

Lysandra happened. And I'm not that hungry, but I'll have a look. Thanks. Bye!

Rowan didn't reply after that, so Aelin dropped the phone and made her way to the kitchen, singing along to the new song blasting throughout the apartment.

"Steel to my trembling lips, how did the night ever get like this? One shot and the whiskey goes down, down, down." She flung open the fridge door, swaying her hips to the tune of 'Runnin'' by Adam Lambert.

"Bottom of the bottle hits, waking up my mind as I throw a fit. The brakin' is taking me down, down, down." Completely lost in the rhythm, she grabbed a tube of mayonnaise from the fridge and used it as a make-shift microphone, "My heart's beating faster, I know what I'm after!"

If anyone where to witness this, she would want to die of embarrassment. But right now she was rocking out, dancing and whipping her hair to the beat.

"I've been standing here my whole life, everything I've seen twice, now it's time I realize, it's spinning back around now! On this road I'm crawling! Save me, cause I'm falling! Now I can't seem to breathe right! Cause I keep runnin', runnin', runnin', runnin', Runnin'! Runnin'! Runnin'! Runnin'! Runnin' from my heart!~"

She slammed the tube onto the counter and stemmed her arms up against it, panting hard from her little rock-out session. "I don't have a cold at all! Take that, Rowan!" She exclaimed as she proceeded to return to the fridge, looking for her lunch.

The melody of the song was tempting, but Aelin prevented herself from having another crazy dance break and soon enough the song ended and 'Thnks Fr Th Mmrs' by Fall out Boy started playing.

She finally found some worthwhile food (a slice of chocolate cake) and made her way back to the couch to eat, not bothering to take any silverware. She could eat with her hands. It wasn't as though anyone would see her, so who cared? But before she could sit down, her head started spinning.

"By the wyrd." She stumbled, sending the cake sprawling across the floor. A sneeze tickled her nose as she made for the sofa, collapsing on it the minute she arrived. "The irony of jinxing yourself." And Aelin passed out.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Sorry for another late upload, but I already know what's gonna happen next and am super psyched to write it XD Let's just say, a new character shows up. Why don't you guys try to guess who? Hint: It's my favourite character. Well then, please review! Ja ne!