Backlog: It's You That I Hold On To
Who: Mike and Rowan
When: Saturday, February 26, 2019
Where: Mike’s Apartment
What: A Birthday Visit
Mike shrugged his jacket off, threw it on the couch, and walked into the kitchen. He had just gotten back from his birthday dinner at his parent’s house. He really loved his family, but something was missing from his celebration and he wasn’t as happy as he should be. Okay, he knew that it was more that someone was missing. He looked at the clock on the microwave. It was half past nine. Not much time left in this birthday. With how things were going between him and Rowan he had thought his birthday would have at least garnered a text message. But nothing.
He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Jones’ soda. Sure they weren’t where they were before, and maybe they weren’t quite friends but they were friendly.
Maybe he was expecting too much.
Rowan paced the portion of asphalt next to her car. Like she had been doing for the past minute. She had just arrived in the parking lot of Mike’s apartment complex, trying not to feel like a complete and utter crazy person. She had known his birthday was coming up and basically spent the day convincing and unconvincing herself that coming here was a bad idea. She considered sending a text or even leaving an awkward voice mail, but none of those scenarios seemed to fit. Not that this one did.
She wasn’t exactly sure what had broken her resolve. It’s not like the book drive had been filled with awkward-free encounters, to say the least. But he said he wanted to simply be there for her and despite her better judgement, she couldn’t help the part of her that believed him. And with the way he kept coming around, it’s like she couldn’t help that she wanted to see him now. And it frustrated and scared her that she didn’t know how to make that feeling go away.
Taking a deep breathe and watching her exhalation against the cold night air, she thought, Fuck it and walked towards Mike’s apartment. Quickly reaching it and knocking, she bit her lip as she heard the door unlock and watched it open. “Hey.”
Mike wondered who could be at the door. He set down his soda and made the short distance to answer the door. On the other side, he found Rowan standing there. He was surprised, so that moments after her greeting he had failed to act. Neither greeting her in return or letting her inside. “Uh... Hey. Did you want to come inside or...”
Stupid. Why would she want to come inside? He wanted her to come inside, but he knew it would just be awkward for the both of them.
“Oh, um...thanks, but this’ll just take a second.” Rowan pushed back thoughts of the last time she had been here as she reached into her bag and pulled out a birthday card hand-drawn by the group of little girls they had read to. A genuine smile stretched across her face as she presented it to him. “You have quite a few fans from the community center. They wanted to make sure you got this today.”
Taking the card, Mike smiled softly. It was adorable, done up in crayon and glitter. There was a drawing of a cake and a figure with a crown and a cape. The greeting on the front was in neat hand writing but it was misspelled. “To Prinz Charming.” Someone else had drawn an arrow pointing at the figure letting the world know that “Prinz Charming” was Mike. He opened the card up and there was more glitter and hearts. “Happy Burfday!” it read.
“So I’m Prince Charming? Good to know.” He chuckled. “I guess I have to go back and read for my adoring public. We’ll have to give them another knock out performance.”
“Well we have to give the people what they want, right? Especially if the people are insistent five year-olds.” Rowan wore a tender but warm grin as she watched him beam at the card. She had missed seeing the way his smile lit up his face.
Trying to prevent her thoughts from straying there, she quickly searched for something else to say. “So, did you celebrate at all?” She cast a furtive glance into the apartment behind him. He seemingly had only one light turned on. She truly hoped he hadn’t been dwelling alone in the dark all day.
“Yeah. I just got back from my parents’ place. A family birthday dinner. Lily gave me a big birthday hug. And Tina called gave me the traditional midnight birthday call. Finn dropped by too.” Mike leaned casually against the door jam. Tommy had told him that Quinn wanted to do something with him for his birthday and that Abby had a present for him, so he was probably going to see the two of them tomorrow.
“Sounds like a good way to celebrate.” Rowan shifted a little on her feet and slipped her gloved hands into her coat pockets. At the mention of his family and Finn, she remembered something. “Oh, yeah. I waited on Tommy and Finn at Paddy’s the other week. They were hanging with someone from your class. A pretty girl with an awesome name...” Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it for a second. “Santana? I think that’s right...”
“Santana Lopez?” Mike grinned. “Yeah. She’s one crazy... uh chick.” He chuckled, remembering all the crazy things they had gotten up to in the past. “I knew that she’s been back but we haven’t really kicked it yet. They didn’t given you any trouble did they?” He wasn’t too worried about Finn, but Tommy and Santana? Tommy was persistent when he sensed something was wrong, and he got involved when Mike was having trouble. And Santana was a wild card. Mike could never tell what she’d say.
“Oh, no. No trouble. Santana was nice and Tommy was...well, Tommy.” She shrugged, figuring that accurately implied the awkwardness that surrounded any conversation with Mike’s brother. “I got a good tip, though, so I’m not complaining.” The corner of her mouth quirked up in a bantering smile. She held his gaze for a moment before breaking eye contact.
It felt weird standing outside his door like this. Like they were on the outskirts of what they used to have...or something to that effect. She figured now was as good a time as any to leave; she hadn’t meant to stay very long anyway. “Well, it’s getting late. I should probably get going.” After hesitating for a few seconds, Rowan stepped forward to hug him goodbye.
“Oh. Yeah...” Mike returned her hug. He had really missed the feel of her in his arms. “I’m glad you came.” Then he let her go.
“Yeah, I’m...glad you liked the card.” Rowan stepped back, her hand idly lingering on his arm before she withdrew it. She tried not to dwell on how it felt being in his embrace. “Happy Birthday, Michael. I’ll see you later, yeah?” Unsure of what else to say, she gave him a small smile and departed.
“Of course.” Mike said, hoping he didn’t come off as too eager. “Bye. Stay safe.”
As Rowan left, Mike stood in his doorway to watch her walk away. Before rounding the corner of the building, she paused and turned to look back at him. She bit her bottom lip, not entirely sure what had possessed her to do so.
The fact that Rowan had turned around made Mike ecstatic. It gave him hope. There was still a chance for him to be in her life. He gave her a little wave. When she finally did turn the corner, he didn’t close the door right away. He looked down at the card in his hand, and smiled.
When: Saturday, February 26, 2019
Where: Mike’s Apartment
What: A Birthday Visit
Mike shrugged his jacket off, threw it on the couch, and walked into the kitchen. He had just gotten back from his birthday dinner at his parent’s house. He really loved his family, but something was missing from his celebration and he wasn’t as happy as he should be. Okay, he knew that it was more that someone was missing. He looked at the clock on the microwave. It was half past nine. Not much time left in this birthday. With how things were going between him and Rowan he had thought his birthday would have at least garnered a text message. But nothing.
He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Jones’ soda. Sure they weren’t where they were before, and maybe they weren’t quite friends but they were friendly.
Maybe he was expecting too much.
Rowan paced the portion of asphalt next to her car. Like she had been doing for the past minute. She had just arrived in the parking lot of Mike’s apartment complex, trying not to feel like a complete and utter crazy person. She had known his birthday was coming up and basically spent the day convincing and unconvincing herself that coming here was a bad idea. She considered sending a text or even leaving an awkward voice mail, but none of those scenarios seemed to fit. Not that this one did.
She wasn’t exactly sure what had broken her resolve. It’s not like the book drive had been filled with awkward-free encounters, to say the least. But he said he wanted to simply be there for her and despite her better judgement, she couldn’t help the part of her that believed him. And with the way he kept coming around, it’s like she couldn’t help that she wanted to see him now. And it frustrated and scared her that she didn’t know how to make that feeling go away.
Taking a deep breathe and watching her exhalation against the cold night air, she thought, Fuck it and walked towards Mike’s apartment. Quickly reaching it and knocking, she bit her lip as she heard the door unlock and watched it open. “Hey.”
Mike wondered who could be at the door. He set down his soda and made the short distance to answer the door. On the other side, he found Rowan standing there. He was surprised, so that moments after her greeting he had failed to act. Neither greeting her in return or letting her inside. “Uh... Hey. Did you want to come inside or...”
Stupid. Why would she want to come inside? He wanted her to come inside, but he knew it would just be awkward for the both of them.
“Oh, um...thanks, but this’ll just take a second.” Rowan pushed back thoughts of the last time she had been here as she reached into her bag and pulled out a birthday card hand-drawn by the group of little girls they had read to. A genuine smile stretched across her face as she presented it to him. “You have quite a few fans from the community center. They wanted to make sure you got this today.”
Taking the card, Mike smiled softly. It was adorable, done up in crayon and glitter. There was a drawing of a cake and a figure with a crown and a cape. The greeting on the front was in neat hand writing but it was misspelled. “To Prinz Charming.” Someone else had drawn an arrow pointing at the figure letting the world know that “Prinz Charming” was Mike. He opened the card up and there was more glitter and hearts. “Happy Burfday!” it read.
“So I’m Prince Charming? Good to know.” He chuckled. “I guess I have to go back and read for my adoring public. We’ll have to give them another knock out performance.”
“Well we have to give the people what they want, right? Especially if the people are insistent five year-olds.” Rowan wore a tender but warm grin as she watched him beam at the card. She had missed seeing the way his smile lit up his face.
Trying to prevent her thoughts from straying there, she quickly searched for something else to say. “So, did you celebrate at all?” She cast a furtive glance into the apartment behind him. He seemingly had only one light turned on. She truly hoped he hadn’t been dwelling alone in the dark all day.
“Yeah. I just got back from my parents’ place. A family birthday dinner. Lily gave me a big birthday hug. And Tina called gave me the traditional midnight birthday call. Finn dropped by too.” Mike leaned casually against the door jam. Tommy had told him that Quinn wanted to do something with him for his birthday and that Abby had a present for him, so he was probably going to see the two of them tomorrow.
“Sounds like a good way to celebrate.” Rowan shifted a little on her feet and slipped her gloved hands into her coat pockets. At the mention of his family and Finn, she remembered something. “Oh, yeah. I waited on Tommy and Finn at Paddy’s the other week. They were hanging with someone from your class. A pretty girl with an awesome name...” Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it for a second. “Santana? I think that’s right...”
“Santana Lopez?” Mike grinned. “Yeah. She’s one crazy... uh chick.” He chuckled, remembering all the crazy things they had gotten up to in the past. “I knew that she’s been back but we haven’t really kicked it yet. They didn’t given you any trouble did they?” He wasn’t too worried about Finn, but Tommy and Santana? Tommy was persistent when he sensed something was wrong, and he got involved when Mike was having trouble. And Santana was a wild card. Mike could never tell what she’d say.
“Oh, no. No trouble. Santana was nice and Tommy was...well, Tommy.” She shrugged, figuring that accurately implied the awkwardness that surrounded any conversation with Mike’s brother. “I got a good tip, though, so I’m not complaining.” The corner of her mouth quirked up in a bantering smile. She held his gaze for a moment before breaking eye contact.
It felt weird standing outside his door like this. Like they were on the outskirts of what they used to have...or something to that effect. She figured now was as good a time as any to leave; she hadn’t meant to stay very long anyway. “Well, it’s getting late. I should probably get going.” After hesitating for a few seconds, Rowan stepped forward to hug him goodbye.
“Oh. Yeah...” Mike returned her hug. He had really missed the feel of her in his arms. “I’m glad you came.” Then he let her go.
“Yeah, I’m...glad you liked the card.” Rowan stepped back, her hand idly lingering on his arm before she withdrew it. She tried not to dwell on how it felt being in his embrace. “Happy Birthday, Michael. I’ll see you later, yeah?” Unsure of what else to say, she gave him a small smile and departed.
“Of course.” Mike said, hoping he didn’t come off as too eager. “Bye. Stay safe.”
As Rowan left, Mike stood in his doorway to watch her walk away. Before rounding the corner of the building, she paused and turned to look back at him. She bit her bottom lip, not entirely sure what had possessed her to do so.
The fact that Rowan had turned around made Mike ecstatic. It gave him hope. There was still a chance for him to be in her life. He gave her a little wave. When she finally did turn the corner, he didn’t close the door right away. He looked down at the card in his hand, and smiled.