Five
But Dean had no intention of leaving Roman alone.
The first thing he did after Roman had stalked off was to chase after him; something he had never done for anyone before.
The Samoan man was in the hallway when Dean grabbed him by his arm and pulled inside a vacant tutorial room. To say Roman looked angry was an understatement. But Dean refused to be intimidated. "Roman, you didn't give me a chance to explain myself," Dean started. "Just please hear me out."
Roman crossed his arms. "Explain."
"That article wasn't mine. It belonged to my best friend, Kevin… that huge guy you saw. I kinda told him about you and he was convinced about the stalking thing." Roman looked annoyed but Dean pressed on. "But I don't think of you that way, Roman. You have to believe me. I mean I told you before that I'm flattered that you did all those stuff… especially for someone like me." He took a step forward. "I meant what I said: I'd like to give it a try with you. Surely you're not giving up on me so fast."
Roman stared at him before he sighed softly. "You mean it?"
"Absolutely. I'd like to cook for you this time. I mean if you still want to go on a date with me. Take a chance on me?"
Roman was still staring at him. Dean found himself being nervous; what was going through his head? Was it possible that he had lost him before they barely started? A warm smile pushed his fears away however. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah."
His body sagged in relief. Licking his lips, he decided it was better to ask for Roman's permission before he kissed him. "Can I-"
Roman beat him to it then, cutting off his words with a gentle kiss, smiling against his lips. He reciprocated the kiss passionately, thankful that Roman still cared about him in some way.
He promised himself he wouldn't mess things up again; he couldn't afford to lose Roman once more.
They made plans to meet up later that night so that Dean could make dinner.
On the way to the grocers, Dean called Dolph. His cousin, however, started ranting away. "What did I tell you about breaking his heart, Dean?"
"Look, Dolph! It's not what you think-"
"Oh? Because I had a broken-hearted man on the phone with me last night. He was freaking distraught and it took me a while to comfort him. Seriously, Dean! You-"
"Dolph, you're supposed to know me better than that! Look, I don't think of him that way. This whole thing was a huge misunderstanding! That's not why I called you; I need your help."
"What do you need me to do?" Dolph grumbled.
"We have a date tonight, alright? I'm going to cook him dinner and-"
"I don't know, Dean."
"Dolph, I really like him, okay? Please."
His cousin reluctantly agreed. "You guys are okay?"
"We are. I explained everything to him. Look, you know him better. Is he allergic to anything?"
"Nope. He loves seafood though. Well sushi first."
"Urgh. I don't know how to make sushi."
"So buy some. Roman's a very easy going guy."
That was true. Dean hardly saw him fussing about. But still he wanted to make it special for him…
Roman was beyond thrilled to have Dean come over but the look on his crush's face made him think otherwise.
"Roman, I heard you liked sushi but I don't know how to make it so I bought some instead," Dean confessed, holding up a transparent plastic bag with a logo of a frog with the words "Tokyo Sushi" on it.
"It's okay," Roman grinned as he pulled Dean into his room and shut the door behind. "It's the thought that counts."
"I really wanted to make our date special."
"But it is special. You bought me my favorite food and most importantly, you're here."
Dean set the plastic on the table before he met Roman's lips halfway. "Fuck, Roman. Stop giving me credit; I'm not special."
"You are to me. Isn't there a saying? You may feel like you're nothing but to someone, you're everything."
He could see Dean struggling with his compliment. "Thank you," the blue eyed man replied quietly. "Why don't you sit down?"
Roman did as he was told at the small dining table, watching Dean placed the plastic container of over thirty different sushis in the middle. He stood up to take two plates but Dean protested. "No, Roman. It's my turn-"
He gave him a quick peck. "Stop it, Dean. It's our date. I want to make it special for you too."
They enjoyed the simple fare with a side dish of miso soup and prawn rolls. Roman was relieved to see Dean enjoy himself, even going so far as to feed the Samoan man.
When dinner was finished, Dean took out an ice cream pint he had placed in the freezer. "I figured we could enjoy this and watch Netflix on your laptop."
Roman chuckled then as the thought entered his head. "This gives a whole new meaning to the saying Netflix and chill."
Dean looked horrified. "No. That wasn't my intention."
"So you don't want to have sex with me anymore?" Roman teased.
"No! I do! It's just that I know you love old movies so I guess we can share this pint and watch a movie."
"Okay."
They sat on his bed and shared the chocolate fudge ice cream while watching A Single Man of all things. It certainly wasn't the kind of movie Dean watched because he had dozed off half an hour into the film, his head on Roman's shoulder.
Gently removing the pint from his hand, Roman put it aside before laying him down on the bed. He cleared the room and locked the door; Seth would be sleeping over at the room of some girl he had been seeing.
Slowly, he climbed into the bed, careful not to stir Dean awake. Roman dozed off shortly after.
In the middle of the night, he found Dean's arm around his waist, his face tucked near the crook of his neck; the mass communication major also had a gentle smile on his face.
It wasn't the sort of date Dean had pictured giving Roman but if the smile he had been greeted with the next morning was anything to go by with, then he probably did something good last night. Roman insisted Dean showered before he head to class so the auburn haired man did just that.
As the two men waited for the elevator, Dean cleared his throat. "Do you want to meet up later?"
"Sure. I'm only good for lunch though. My cousin Jimmy is dragging me to a party tonight."
"Oh."
For a moment, Dean panicked. He knew what usually happened at parties… well at least the ones he went to.
Then he remembered buying tickets to a show that was headlined by a cover band playing 70's music that Roman loved. The show was tonight and Dean - in his haste to make sure Roman could see his sincerity - had bought the tickets without checking the Samoan man's schedule.
"Have a great time," he said instead.
"What will you be doing?" Roman asked. "If you have nothing on, you can join us."
"I have a paper due soon," he lied. "I'll be cooped up in my room."
"Have fun?"
"Ha ha."
Dean had cancelled on their lunch appointment to Roman's disappointment but he had no choice; he had a class assignment to write about myths and legend that was due on Friday.
One of the guys from his Biochemistry class, Marcellus Black asked Roman to join him and a bunch of guys for lunch and he had agreed. He learnt that some of the guys were going to be at that party later; they were frat boys who just wanted to have a good time.
There was no reply from Dean when he sent a text except for one in which he replied about calling him later. He was busy researching in the library about myths.
Driven guy his crush was.
It felt weird to Roman to call Dean that after what sleeping together. Despite the short time, Roman knew he liked him… like him way before they officially met.
Liked him enough to want to go steady with him.
But would Dean want to?
He got a positive sign when he was cleaning up his room before getting ready for the party and found two cardboard slips on the floor by his bed. Roman picked it up and discovered that it was a pair of tickets to watch the Diner Boys at the Boots Lounge, a small club about forty minutes away from campus.
He smiled; he loved the Diner Boys. But how-
Dean must have dropped these while he was changing earlier.
The auburn haired man cared enough to give up this tickets and let Roman have a good time with his cousins.
He texted Jimmy then informing him of his change of plans. After all, he had a date to get ready for.
Dean groaned when he searched his pocket and wallet; where were those darn tickets? He was pretty sure he had left them in his left pocket. He gave up and sat down on his bed, picking up his borrowed copy of The Book of Myths and Legends.
This was fascinating stuff, Dean thought as he continued reading where he had left off at the library about the Loch Ness monster. His eyes squinted at the photo of what appeared to be a dinosaur like figure sticking out of the lake; the description below it stated the surgeon's photograph, 1934.
Interesting.
Dean was about to scribble notes in his notebook when there was a knock on the door. Sighing, he swung his legs over the bed and headed to open the door.
The sight of Roman in a tight black t-shirt and jeans greeted him. Damn, did he look good.
"Hey," Roman said before giving him a quick kiss. "How's that paper coming along?"
"I was actually reading up on the Loch Ness monster."
"So I can't tempt you to go out with me?"
"Nah. You have a good time with your cousin though."
Roman dug into his pockets and took out two pieces of paper. Dean gasped; the tickets! "I found these on my floor and I guessed these are ours?"
"Well, yeah. But it's not big deal-"
"No big deal? Dean, you got us tickets to see my favorite cover band. It is a big deal to me! Why didn't you tell me?"
Dean shrugged. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
"I've seen them live only once but the mere fact that you thought about me when you got them… Dean, this is the sweetest thing ever."
"S nothing," he mumbled.
Roman looked at him, hopeful. "Would you like to go watch them? We still have time."
"But what about the party?"
"I can go to a party anytime. But it'd probably be a while before I get to watch the Diner Boys with my favorite boy."
The words warmed his heart. "You have other boys?" Dean teased him.
"No. Just you."
"I'll go get changed. Why don't you make yourself comfortable for a bit?"
Roman grinned and entered inside the room.
Dean quickly grabbed his favorite t-shirt and a pair of jeans before heading into the bathroom to change. This was a nice turn of events, he decided. Another thought hit him as he combed his hair with his fingers: how drawn he was to the gorgeous Samoan man sitting on his bed right now.
He should be scared though, right?
But he wasn't.
Dean found Roman flipping through his book when he came out from the bathroom. "Cool stuff," the grey eyed man said when Dean came near him. "This Loch Ness thing is fascinating."
"Isn't it?" Dean agreed. "I have no idea why my professor wants us to write it but for once, I'm excited about writing a paper for class."
Roman giggled.
Dean pressed his lips against his upon hearing the sound of that. He was pleased to find Roman practically glowing.
Grabbing his car keys, he smiled at the raven haired beauty. "Ready?"
"Well almost…" Roman hesitated. "Dean, there's something I gotta tell you."
A/N And I'll leave it here lol… till the next chapter! :-) Thank you for the favorites, follows and comments! Also a huge thank you for your responses! One more chapter of Sweet Amber (it's not finished yet don't worry) before I upload others; Bleeding Me will be up by Saturday! Yay