Chartreuse (12 page)

      The
younger male could feel the pressure being applied to his mouth as Rowan
deepened the kiss a bit more, and though his lungs were screaming for air,
Kasen’s mind pleaded for just a few more seconds of this sweet kiss.

     
When they finally pulled apart, Kasen was breathing heavily.  His chest rose
and fell with quick pants as he licked tingling lips, and he felt Rowan’s
forehead rest against his own.  His blue eyes opened and found those warm brown
ones staring at him.

     
Kasen smiled somewhat shyly before he let out a nervous chuckle.  Rowan echoed
that chuckle, and they were both pleased to find that their arms had somehow
ended up wrapped around one another.

     It
was the sweetest embrace Kasen had ever experienced.  It wasn’t just a friendly
hug, it was passionate and promising.  Rowan’s arms felt so strong around him,
and dare he say he felt
safe.

      Then
Rowan was tilting his head until he could press his soft lips against Kasen’s
forehead, and Kasen’s eyes closed again.  Never before had he experienced
anything so genuine.  Kasen’s lips spread into another smile as he held onto
him, and he wondered in that very moment what Rowan was thinking about.

----------------------

     It
was dangerous to do that.  Rowan knew that.  But he couldn’t seem to stop
himself.  Kasen was a highly attractive creature and when he looked at Rowan
with those eyes, a part of Rowan became vulnerable.  It was scary to think that
someone could affect him so easily.

    
After months of building up walls to keep from being hurt again, he was
discovering that the short time he’d spent with Kasen was chiseling away at
those walls.  He wasn’t even sure how anything like that could happen so soon.

    
Perhaps it was because he’d been so lonely for so long.  Or maybe it was just a
vibe he got from Kasen.  But the boy, in his eyes, was so beautiful.  As he
pulled his lips back from Kasen’s forehead, his eyes fell to those cerulean
hues again and he noticed how that when Kasen smiled, his eyes smiled, too.

     “Thank
you,” Kasen whispered.  Rowan’s brows immediately lifted on his forehead as he
tilted his head slightly. 

    
“What on earth for?”  Rowan asked.

    
“For that,” Kasen nodded.

    
“For kissing you?”  Rowan questioned, before he chuckled. 

     He
watched as the heat rose on Kasen’s cheeks and he decided that was probably the
cutest thing he’d ever seen.  As Kasen nodded in response, Rowan simply leaned
in to press another light kiss against his mouth.

    
“You don’t have to thank me for kissing you,” Rowan murmured against his lips
before pulling back.  “I should be thanking you for allowing me to do so.”

     He
watched the smile that spread across Kasen’s lips as the younger male moved in
to hug him, and Rowan couldn’t help but to hold him a little more tightly.  His
eyes closed and a sigh left his lips.

     “Ya
don’t have to thank me,” Kasen whispered.  “Ya can kiss me anytime ya want to.”

    
Rowan was amused with how thick Kasen’s accent had suddenly become.  He wondered
if that had anything to do with the fact Kasen was nervous.  In all truth,
Rowan was nervous, too.  It had been years since anyone had made his heart
race.  He could not remember the last time he’d felt so many butterflies in his
stomach.  He was also certain his palms were a bit sweaty.

     He
hadn’t had a make out session like that since his early twenties.  Maybe it had
been in college.  He couldn’t even recall that he and Elliott had ever shared a
make out session.  It was mostly sex and the good night kisses that Rowan
remembered.  If he thought about it long enough, could he even remember any
passion?

    
Maybe they had been passionate with one another at one time, but Rowan could
not find those memories in his mind.  Instead, he was noticing most of his
memories were very recent and they all included the boy in his arms at this
exact moment.  Kasen had done something to him.  Kasen was beginning to
mean
something
to him.

     “Good,”
Rowan finally stated as another smile began to grace his kiss swollen lips. 
“Because I just may do that more often.”

---------------------

    
Kasen’s face lit up with pure happiness from the prospect of receiving more
kisses from the older male.  He liked Rowan.  A lot.  He hoped that whatever
was happening between them would only grow stronger.

     It
was then that Rowan’s phone began to ring.  Kasen was amused that the ringtone
was, in fact
Who Let the Dogs Out
.  He should have expected something
like that from a man who loved working with animals. 

    
Rowan sighed, tugging the phone from his pocket as he glanced at the screen, “This
is work related,” He said softly, gazing at Kasen with an apologetic
expression.  “I’ll be right back, okay?”

    
Kasen nodded, smiling. “Yeah, sure. Take your time,” He watched as Rowan got up
and disappeared down the hallway.  He understood why Rowan did that.  He didn’t
like to talk on the phone in front of people either.  It was a weird thing
about privacy.  He didn’t like people to hear his conversations.

    
Within about three minutes, Rowan was returning, but he didn’t seem too happy. 
Kasen frowned and wondered what was going on.

    
“I’m really sorry about this, Kasey,” He started, “But there’s a medical
emergency with a dog that was struck by a car near Pine Street.  The owner is
freaking out and begged me to help,” He met Kasen’s eyes.  “I’ve got to see if
I can help.”

    
There were worse reasons for a movie day to end, but Kasen honestly didn’t see
it as a bad thing-at all.  Rowan loved animals and if he was willing to take
the time out of his day off to try to save one’s life, who was Kasen to try and
prevent that?  It was actually really admirable.

    “No
way. Go on,” Kasen said as he stood up from the couch and moved over to open
the door.  Rowan was putting his jacket back on as he walked to the door and
stopped, gazing down at Kasen.

    
“Thanks for understanding,” He said, leaning in to press a quick kiss to
Kasen’s lips.  It still made his heart leap from his chest, despite the current
circumstances.

     “Of
course,” Kasen nodded, grinning up at him.  “Go save the dog.”

    
Rowan simply smiled at him.  Then he was gone.

    
Kasen closed the door and stood there for a moment, another smile gracing his
lips as he thought about what a fun time they had had during the duration of
one film.  It was incredible.  But those thoughts disappeared when he entered
the kitchen and saw that Rowan had forgotten something extremely important.

     “Oh
crap,” Kasen frowned.  “Napoleon.”

Chapter
Thirteen

     “Please
save her,” The woman sobbed as she tried to carry the large German Shepard into
the clinic.  “I can’t lose her.” 

    
Rowan frowned as he glanced at the woman.  The tears rolling down her cheeks
were more than enough to show how much she loved the dog in her arms.  The dark
blood on her shirt didn’t seem to distract her from her determination to save
its life.

    
“I’ve had her since she was a puppy.  She’s a good dog,” She continued as she
stepped inside of the clinic, still clinging to the canine as it whimpered
occasionally.  It was probably in a lot of pain, and that pained Rowan.  “Damn
teenagers drive too fast here.  They don’t look out for children, let alone
dogs.”

    
“Let me have her,” Rowan said gently as he took a step forward.  “I need to
examine her and see how bad it is, Mrs…”  He didn’t know what her name was.

     “Jessica,”
The woman stated, wiping at her eyes with her shirt sleeve as he took her dog. 
“Jessica Fields.  That’s Diana.”

    
Rowan glanced at her briefly.  “Like the Princess?”

    “No,”
She sobbed, more tears falling as her shoulders shook.  She was attempting to
calm herself down as she swallowed deep gulps of air between speaking.  “Like
Wonder Woman.”

    
Rowan offered a comforting smile as he began to move down the hallway, entering
the operating room as he gently placed Diana on the table and then he moved to
the drawers and began to pull them open.

    
“I’m going to do my best for Diana, Jessica, but I really need you to wait in
the waiting room.  Please.”

     The
woman nodded, gazing at her dog again before she stepped forward and leaned
down.  Rowan watched as she kissed the dog’s snout, “I love you, Diana,” She
whispered.  “You’re going to be okay, Baby.”

    
Rowan’s heart really went out to her.  He knew what it felt like to lose a pet.
They became family.  A lot of people didn’t understand that, but it was true. 
Pets were better at being friends than most humans were, and he would try to
save this one’s life, for this woman.

    
“She will be,” Rowan promised as he put on some gloves. 

    
After Jessica left the room, Rowan glanced at Diana on the table again and then
he nodded, “You’re going to be okay, Wonder Woman.”  With that, he began to
inject her with some medication that would put her under for a while.

---------------------

     Kasen
entered the clinic nearly an hour later with Napoleon and Houston in tow.  He
glanced around, seeing the woman sitting there with a box of Kleenex on her
lap.  He could only presume she was the owner of the dog who had gotten hit. 
He frowned a little, moving over to sit down with only a seat between them as
the two dogs lounged nearby.

    
“Are you okay?” He asked.  That was a stupid question.  Of course she wasn’t
okay.  She was upset and it was so clearly written all over her features.  Her
dog had been hit, and Kasen couldn’t imagine that happening to Houston.  It was
one of his biggest fears.

    
“I’m worried,” She admitted, wiping at her eyes again.  She hiccupped from time
to time.  Kasen could relate to that.  He often did the same thing when he
became so upset from crying.  “I don’t know what happened.  I opened the door
to let her out and I guess my husband left the gate open when he went to work. 
She was running towards the road and I couldn’t stop her.”

     Her
voice broke with emotion and she was crying again.  Kasen reached a hand out to
pat her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

    
“I’m sure she’s going to be okay.  Rowan is really good with animals.  She’s at
the best place she could be right now,” He spoke in a calm voice, a comforting
one-or at least he thought so.

    She
wiped at her eyes and then she glanced up at him.  She blinked a few times
before tilting her head a bit, her brows rising on her forehead.  “I know you,”
She said softly.

    Kasen
blinked in surprise, staring at her for a moment, “O-oh?” He asked. “Where
would you know me from?”

    
“High school,” She nodded.  “Class of two thousand and twelve, right?”

   
Kasen nodded in return, “Yeah.  I’m sorry, I just don’t remember you,” He
laughed nervously.

     “Jessica
Fields,” She replied.  “My maiden name was Perkins.”

   
“Oh!”  He said with sudden realization.  She didn’t look the same as she had
during their high school days.  She was thinner than he remembered.  Not that
she had been fat, nor did he have anything against fat people, but she was
nearly unrecognizable.

    “I’m
sorry, Jessica,” He smiled then, reaching his hand up to rub the back of his
neck nervously.  He hadn’t bumped into many old classmates since graduation. 
Most of them had moved away to college and he had thought he was the only one
left behind.  He also didn’t make it a habit to run into people from his past. 
High school had painful memories.

    
“It’s okay,” She shrugged.  “Not a lot of people remember me.  It doesn’t make
sense, huh?”  She asked.  “It’s not like we graduated twenty years ago.”

     “It
seems like yesterday,” Kasen admitted, glancing towards the dogs to make sure
they were behaving.  Both were lazily lounging on the floor, their eyes
closed.  They behaved better than kids.

     “It
does at times,” Jessica replied.  “Time flies when you least expect it.  How
are you? What are you into these days?”

     “Oh
um, well, I’m okay,” He nodded.  That was true. He was more than okay.  “I work
at the radio station.  I’m a DJ.”

    
“Oh, that makes sense,” Jessica smiled at him, tears still glistening in her
eyes.  “So you’re Cool Kasey?”

    
“Yeah, that’s me,” He grinned, watching as she nervously toyed with the tissue
in her hand.  It was weird to confess that.  He felt like Bruce Wayne
confirming his identity to the world.

     “So
are you married?”  Jessica asked after a brief pause.

    
“M-me?”  Kasen asked.  “N-no.  No, I’m not married,” He laughed nervously,
lowering his gaze to his own hands.  They were suddenly interesting again.

    “Oh,”
Jessica stated.  “Well I guess you wouldn’t be though.”

   
Kasen lifted his head, eyes falling upon her face.  What did she mean by that?

    
“It’s not a bad thing,” Jessica started quickly in defense.  “I mean, I guess I
always sort of knew.”

    
Kasen’s heart stopped.  What did she mean by that?!  He felt his stomach
twisting into unpleasant knots as he chewed at his inner cheek, brows knitting
together as he kept his eyes on her.

    “You
never had any girlfriends, Kasen.  You weren’t just a shy boy at that school,”
She kept her voice low.  “You were different, and it’s okay,” She offered
another smile.  “Do you…have a boyfriend?”

    
Kasen was suddenly incredibly nervous upon the realization that someone
knew
. 
Someone besides his mother.  Someone besides himself.  Not just Rowan.  But
this girl, who had known him his entire life; she knew.

   
“Uh..” He blinked rapidly, toying with a loose thread on the sleeve of his
jacket as he shook his head. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” He cleared his
throat.  It felt so weird to be open about this with her.  They had spoken a
few times during high school, but he had never considered her to be a close
friend.

    
“I’m not going to say anything to anyone,” Jessica whispered.  “If that’s what
you’re worried about, Kasen.  It’s the twenty first century for Christ’s sake. 
Just because we live in Alabama, it doesn’t mean that I’m like anybody else
here.  I’m not judging you.”

   
Kasen cleared his throat, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, but relieved at the
same time.  “Thanks,” He nodded, unsure of what else he should say.

--------------------

     Rowan’s
timing was perfect as he emerged from the operating room.  He was wiping his
hands with a clean towel and he was surprised to see Kasen there as he stepped
into the lobby.  He gazed at him for a moment before turning his eyes to the
woman.  She stood immediately and gazed at him.  He could see the questions in
her eyes.  The way her bottom lip was beginning to quiver also made him realize
she was expecting the bad news, but still hoping for the good.

     “Is
she…?”   But Jessica couldn’t bring herself to finish that question.

    
Kasen stood as well, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder as he gazed at
Rowan.  He was just as anxious to hear the news.  He knew Rowan was good at
what he did, but he knew the man wasn’t God.  He couldn’t perform miracles in
every case.

    
“She’s fine,” Rowan said, resulting in a sigh of relief from Jessica as she
crumbled.  She placed her hands over her face, the sobs of relief leaving her
lips as her shoulders shook.  Kasen patted her back gently, attempting to
comfort her.  It was probably pretty awkward to Rowan; because he wasn’t aware
they had gone to school together.

    
“She just needed to be stitched up.  There was no internal bleeding,
fortunately.  Whoever hit her, it was just a bump, if that.  She’s got a broken
back leg though, so she’s going to be on a sort of bed rest for a while. 
You’ll have to take extra care of her, Mrs. Fields.”

     The
woman was still crying, and Kasen was gazing at her with obvious concern on his
face, “She’s gonna be fine,” Kasen said gently.  “Did you hear that?”

     “I
did,” She replied, lowering her hands from her face as the tears continued to
fall.  “But…I was so desperate to get her help.  I didn’t even really t-think
about the medical costs,” She gazed from Kasen to Rowan and back to Kasen
again.  “I-I can try to make monthly payments but it won’t be much.”

    
Rowan stepped closer, shaking his head as he gazed at her.  “Don’t worry about
that,” He stated.

     Jessica
looked up at him, shocked.

     “I
don’t believe in placing a price on the life of an animal,” He continued. 
“Trust me. There are plenty of people who more than compensate my profession. 
What matters most is that you get to take Diana home.”

     Jessica
began to sob again as she nodded in understanding.  “God bless you,” She
whispered, wiping at her eyes with the Kleenex she had been grasping for the
last half hour or so.  “Thank you so much.”

    
Kasen’s eyes were on Rowan, and then their gazes connected.  It was possibly,
in that very moment, that Kasen realized how enamored he was with the Bostonian
Veterinarian.