"Ready?"

I looked up from my phone to find Rowan stepping out of his dorm room, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and beanie tugged over his head. I couldn't help it. My eyes dropped down, glancing over his outfit. He'd forgone his usual slacks and fitted shirts for a much more casual look – sweatpants and a hoodie.

I swallowed and Rowan lifted a brow at me.

"Something wrong with my outfit?"

"No," I said quickly, shaking my head. "No. It's – uh – perfect road trip attire."

His lips twitched and I scowled, turning and leading the way to my car, my eyes glued on my phone. Rowan chuckled, jogging to catch up.

"Who are you texting?" he asked.

"Friends," I replied. I shoved the glass doors open, stepping out into the cold wind of the parking lot.

"See you in a few hours?" Rowan read over my shoulder. I twisted, realising how close our faces were, and staggering back.

"Jesus, dude! Have you ever heard of privacy?"

"I didn't realise I'd signed up for a party," he said, ignoring the glare I was sending him.

"Are you going to annoy me the entire car ride?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm still thinking about it."

"Don't forget who's in charge here," I said, swinging my car keys around a finger.

Rowan snorted. "Are you suggesting that it's you?"

"Not suggesting. Telling," I replied. We reached my car and I unlocked it, throwing my bags into the backseat. Rowan followed suit, pausing before getting into the passenger's side and throwing me a smug look over the roof of the car.

"Well then," he said, lifting a brow. "Tell me all about it."

He slid into the car and I rolled my eyes. He had a penchant for getting on my nerves. By the time I was seated in the driver's seat with my seatbelt strapped over my chest, his smirk had faded into his usual deadpan and he'd pulled a book out of nowhere.

I raised a brow at him. "You couldn't go a day without reading?"

"Hey, I'm stuck with you for company for the next three hours. I need something to keep me entertained."

"And that just had to be –" I glanced at the book cover and snorted – "Great Expectations?"

"Ironic, isn't it? Considering how I expect the rest of the day to go."

"Feel free to change your mind," I replied, tapping the steering wheel. "I'll wait."

He ignored me, continuing to read, and I smirked, turning my keys in the ignition.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

The car ride was uneventful.

Rowan, the absolute nerd he was, decided to spend the entire three hours reading. He wouldn't even let me play music because it distracted him from the literary genius of whatever the hell he was reading.

I scowled the whole time, wondering why I decided to invite such a joy kill to Thanksgiving.

It wasn't until we arrived that I remembered.

"Sebastian!" my father exclaimed as the door was pulled open. Over his shoulder, heads snapped towards us and my heart instantly sank.

Almost all of my siblings, had made it. Clara, Tanner and Mike sat on the couch, their partners beside them. My mom sat with them, doing a double take as Rowan emerged beside me. I didn't miss the strange looks they were all sending each other.

"Hey everyone," I muttered, waving a hand.

"Seb!" my mom sputtered after a minute. "How was the drive?"

"Good," I said, glancing at Rowan in the corner of my eye. He shuffled awkwardly, lagging slightly behind, and playing with the strap of his duffle bag, slung over his shoulder. "Um, this is Rowan. He's a friend. From college."

"Rowan," my mother repeated. She stepped forward, pulling him into a hug. Rowan staggered, not expecting the embrace. "It's so nice to meet you."

"You too, Mrs Georges," he muttered.

I stared at him, a smirk tugging at my lips. Was Rowan Baines flustered? He glanced at me, quickly looking away as another family member shook his hand, then another hugged him. It seemed the entire room floated towards him and I sighed in relief, glad the attention was away from me for now.

It was inevitable – the questions, the conversations that would eventually drift towards soccer – but if I could avoid it for the time being, I was going to. Compared to the rest of my siblings, I was a royal failure. A mark upon the Georges family name. The worst of the best.

Not only would my bad news already be a million times worse when compared to my siblings' achievements tonight, I'd have to face their disappointed smiles. Their pity that the youngest Georges boy had been born without any talent to speak of.

I frowned, turning away from my family to take a final breath of air before I'd be thrown into the chaos. Before I had to talk about it.

I threw a look over my shoulder, watching as my brothers threw their arms around Rowan, as if he were part of the family. Hell, he got along with them better than I did.

At least when I did have to talk about it, Rowan would be there as a constant reminder – fuck 'em all.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, glancing at the screen to find Chloe calling. I frowned, drifting further into the background to answer it.

"Chloe?" I said, holding the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Seb," she muttered. "Good to see you're not ghosting me anymore."

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Chlo. What's up?"

"I – um – I'm in town for Thanksgiving," she said.

I blinked. "Oh! No shit, I am too!"

"I know," she replied. She sniffled and I frowned. Was she crying? "I saw your car pull up. I'm outside."

I whipped my head back to the door, peeking out the window beside to find Chloe standing timidly at the end of my driveway. She smiled, one hand clutching the phone and the other hugging her jacket closer to her body.

"Wait right there," I muttered before hanging up and stepping outside. The cold breeze hit me immediately and I walked directly to Chloe. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged as I paused in front of her, and I realised that her eyes were red. "I came home for Thanksgiving."

"Right, and why are you standing outside my place in the cold?" I asked.

She let out a dry laugh. "What? I can't just want to see my old friend?"

"You can see me anytime, Chlo. There's a doorbell for a reason."

"I didn't want to intrude," she said slowly. She paused, glaring at the ground for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I – uh – I have nowhere to stay, and my bus back is the day after tomorrow."

I frowned at her. "Nowhere to stay?"

"Yeah, uh, my family's not really... They don't... understand me, I guess, and..." she released a self-conscious chuckle and wipe aggressively at her eyes, shaking her head. "You know what? This is silly. I'll just – I'll, um, ask to reschedule the tickets, or get a motel, or –"

"Chloe!" I interrupted. She looked at me, her stare hard as always, but beneath those sharp eyes, I could see the sadness she tried desperately to hide. My voice softened. "You're always welcome to stay here, you know? I grew up with four siblings. We have plenty of space."

"Really?"

I laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders in a half-hug and beginning to guide her towards the front door. "Chloe, no matter what happens, you know I'll be there for my friends. Besides, my family loves having a million guests over for Thanksgiving."

She leaned into my side and I could feel the relief through her body. "Thank you, Seb. You're... honestly the best."

"I know."

Inside, my family was still fawning over Rowan.

He had found a spot on the couch, squished between my oldest brother Mike and my sister Clara as they grilled him with every question imaginable. As I entered with Chloe right behind me, Rowan's eyes drifted up, meeting mine in a clear plea for help.

I chuckled, sweeping forward and pulling him off the couch.

"Alright, that's enough grilling of Rowan," I said, silencing the room.

Clara pouted at me, her curly blonde hair sticking up like a halo around her head. "Come on, Seb. We were just getting some juicy gossip about you at college."

"Alright, well, you all remember Chloe, right?" I said. Eyes drifted behind me where Chloe stayed tucked right in the back of the room. "I was wondering if she could stay here for a few nights."

"Sure! She can take Monica's old room," my dad chimed in. "Seb, do you mind if Rowan shares a room with you?"

My eyes shot to his. Rowan was already staring at me, waiting for a response. I swallowed thickly, nodding, and turning back to my dad.

"Yeah – uh – yeah, of course. I'll uh – when's lunch?"

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

"Seb, pass the potatoes, wouldya?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes, instead grabbing the bowl as told and passing it to my brother Mike – the family's pride and joy.

Around the table, conversation flowed, conveniently leaving me out. Even Chloe and Rowan had been dragged into conversations, my siblings grilling them about their college lives whilst simultaneously bragging about their millions of achievements.

I picked at my food, silently listening to the conversations around me. Tanner, my married brother, sat beside Chloe, telling a long story about how he met his wife while giving her boy advice. We met eyes across the table, and she pulled a face, sticking her tongue out.

I stifled a laugh, as Tanner continued with his story, not even noticing Chloe's mischief.

Rowan sat across from me, sandwiched between Tanner and Mike's fiancée who was awkwardly making small talk with him. While I'd expected Rowan to be his usual cold self, he smiled at every sentence, laughing at every terrible joke, and complimenting every humble brag.

It was weird to see this side of him.

I didn't like it.

Suddenly, his eyes met mine, and I found myself looking away, quickly tuning back into the nearest conversation as if my heart wasn't pounding against my ribcage.

"Mikey, how are the wedding plans going?" my mother asked and I glanced at him, trying my best to pay attention to his answer.

He laughed his stupid, charming laugh and turned to his fiancé, sharing a stupid, charming smile. "They're coming along. We were thinking a spring wedding, but we only have a budget of thirty thousand."

"Oh! That's lovely!" my sister, Clara, grinned. She waved her fingers, her own engagement ring glittering in the light. "Jonathon and I were thinking a summer wedding for us, but then again, our budget is seventy."

Tension simmered between the two and I stabbed a piece of lettuce, shoving it into my mouth as I wondered what they would say next to one-up each other.

What I didn't expect was for my mother to turn to me.

"Sebastian," she said, grinning sweetly. "How's college going, sweetheart? I feel like we haven't seen you in forever."

I suddenly regretted ever tuning back into this conversation.

"Oh, right, you started college this year, didn't you?" Clara asked.

"I thought you started last year?" Mike added.

Suddenly, all eyes were on me, all conversations paused to wait for Sebastian's destined fuck up to be revealed.

I narrowed my eyes, trying my best to ignore them. "College is going good."

"That's good. And soccer?"

Ah. Great. The one topic I had been dreading all week. The only topic my family had ever been interested in concerning me.

"Soccer is good," I replied vaguely, shoving my food around my plate.

"Right." My parents exchanged a look, and the table was awkwardly silent. "When are you going to invite us to a game?"

"Season hasn't started," I said quickly – too quickly. I tightened my fist around my fork, sucking in a slow breath and forcing a smile onto my face. "It's all practice matches right now. Super boring."

"Oh," my mom muttered. "Well... invite us when it does start."

I nodded wordlessly and the table erupted back into conversation, easily forgetting I had ever been there.

I sighed. Maybe it should have hurt me. Maybe I should have been upset about it. But I was glad. I was used to it. With four older siblings, all somehow lacking any possible flaws, I was used to fading into the background around them. And with everything that had been changing around me the past few months, I was happy to have something I was used to.

I was halfway through my bottle of beer when the doorbell sounded, and all my apathy dissipated from my body. I bolted from my seat, shouting an "I'll get it!" over my shoulder before storming out of the dining room and through the lounge room.

As soon as I opened the front door, I was jumped by a fluffy winter coat and a mouthful of brown hair.

I laughed, staggering back, and squeezing back.

"Sebastian!" Aspen cried, hugging me tighter.

"Aspen!" I mimicked.

She reached up, ruffling my hair. "Still too short!"

I shrugged, my face warming as I rubbed my scalp. "I like it that way."

She pulled back to grin at me before her eyes were drifting over my shoulder. I followed her gaze to find Rowan standing there, Chloe just behind him. Both of them stared, their shoulders tense and backs ramrod straight.

Rowan's eyes seemed to drift over Aspen, flickering from her face, to her arms, wrapped tightly around my waist. His mouth tightened in a frown.

"Chloe's here?" Aspen whispered, pulling my attention back to her.

I nodded, whispering back, "Just for a few days. Her family..."

Aspen nodded knowingly. Before she could reply, Isaac was entering, pulling us apart.

"Alright, alright, no stealing my girl," he joked. Then, he turned to me, his arms wide open and a massive grin on his face. "Seb!"

"Isaac!"

He pulled me into a hug, and I patted his back.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Good, good. We got here yesterday," he replied. His eyes drifted over my shoulder. "Hey, Chlo."

She sent him a tiny smile and he laughed, stepping towards her, and pulling her into a hug. She seemed to melt into his arms, the tension and uncertainty fading with the gesture.

Beside her, Rowan had relaxed into the couch. I moved forward, taking a seat next to him.

"Hey," I said.

We'd spent the entire day together and it felt like we'd barely spoken. He turned to me, eyes meeting, knees touching, and said, "Hey."

"So," I began, grinning, "How are you liking the family?"

"They're... nice."

I snorted. "Nice? You can be honest with me, you know."

"Well..." He shrugged, hesitating. "They're a little... braggy, aren't they?"

"That's one way to put it. I'm surprised Mike only brought up his full ride scholarship three times tonight. It's an all-time low."

Rowan's lips twitched in a shadow of a smile and I grinned back. Before I could speak again – tempt that smile out of him – Isaac was shouting my name.

"Chloe's sleeping over?" he sputtered. "Where was my invitation?"

"Cool kids only," Chloe teased.

I laughed, meeting eyes with Rowan. "Not sure about that."

He rolled his eyes, nudging me with his elbow, and I glowed. Rowan turned and I frowned, before realising he was speaking to Isaac now.

"I should've introduced myself earlier," Isaac was saying. "I'm Isaac. This is my girl, Aspirin."

"Aspen," she corrected, blushing.

Isaac laughed, pulling her closer by her waist. "That's what I said. Aspirin."

"I'm Rowan," he introduced himself, clasping hands.

Aspen's eyes widened a fraction, moving to mine, and I pursed my lips, immediately regretting mentioning him at her birthday.

"Rowan," she repeated. His eyes moved to me.

I cursed the world.

"How long are you staying in town?" I asked before she could say anything else.

She blinked. Then blinked again before finally saying, "Until tomorrow. I have a big exam."

"In a month," Isaac chimed in.

She blushed further. "Which is barely enough time to study."

I was barely paying attention. Rowan's leg was still against mine and I could feel his stare on me. I cleared my throat, shifting slightly and rubbing the back of my neck.

"Anyway, we can't stay long. We have to wake up early to make the drive back to college," Isaac said with a sigh. "Just wanted to stop by and say hello."

I nodded. Rowan was still looking at me.

"Seb?"

I blinked. "Huh? Sorry?"

"I was asking how long you're in town."

"Oh. Today."

"Today?"

I shook my head, blinking hard. "Wait. No. I meant two nights."

Isaac shared a funny look with Aspen while Chloe snorted at me from over their shoulders.

"Are you okay, Seb?" Isaac asked.

I nodded quickly, running a hand over my face. "Yep. Yes. Just tired. Drove all day, you know?"

"Right," he said, not looking convinced. "Well, we'll get going then. Give you time to rest. See you on Christmas, yeah? And – invite us to one of your games sometime. We miss you."

Aspen grinned, poking me in the chest. "Yeah, Mr Ronaldo. You still need to teach me some amazing soccer moves."

I nodded again, not trusting myself to speak. I stood, pulling Isaac and Aspen into a hug. They said their goodbyes to Rowan and Chloe, and I saw them to the door.

When I turned back to the lounge room, Chloe had vanished, and Rowan was waiting for me, standing with his hands shoved into his pockets. The yellow light of the room seemed to wash over his skin, making him glow more than usual, and the way his hoodie fell over his shoulders –

"So," he said.

I blinked, snapping out of my daze and swallowing slowly. "So."

"They seemed nice," he said.

I nodded. He glanced over his shoulder, back towards the dining room. "Chloe gets along well with your family."

"She just likes the free food," I said, shrugging. A silence fell over us again and I dug my hands into my pockets, then pulled them back out. I folded my arms over each other, clearing my throat awkwardly.

"Seb?"

I looked up, meeting Rowan's eyes. "Yes?"

"Can you show me to my room?"

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Aspen and Isaac finally make an appearance! I hope you guys liked this chapter! Let me know what you thought!

Thank you so much for reading, voting and commenting as always!

Next time: Seb's room...