Apartment 209
(Reminiscent of the Love-Love Competition, I know)

"Hey, Rowen!"

Rowen groaned. He'd left his front door unlocked and one of his neighbors had walked right in. It wasn't exactly uncommon. Rowen lived in the Nari Apartment Complex, which was largely student housing and made for a lot of relaxed, open-door rules. Nonetheless, it annoyed Rowen to no end when someone assumed he was as relaxed as all the college students around him.

"Hey, Akito."

Akito dropped into one of Rowen's dining room chairs.

"Good news, my man."

Rowen, fishing leftovers out of his fridge, straightened so that he could he could raise an eyebrow at the younger boy. Akito was, in a loose sense of the word, a friend. Really the only friend he'd had since leaving Toyama.

"Some just moved into that empty apartment down the hall. Number 209."

Akito looked at Rowen, as if he should have found this particularly significant. Rowen shrugged and chose to not respond.

"So… She's definitely a looker. A little feisty maybe, but I'm sure you can handle it."

Akito's cocky grin made Rowen want to shove his chopsticks up his nose. Rowen settled for a brief sigh. After all, this wasn't the first time Akito had tried to set him up. The young man was three years younger physically, and about 10 years younger mentally. Akito just couldn't understand why the handsome and intelligent researcher didn't have a steady girl.

"I'm not interested."

Akito looked at him, confused. Then he shrugged and stood up.

"That's a shame. She's expecting you Friday at seven."

Akito stood and let himself out before Rowen could protest.

Rowen dropped into the chair Akito had just vacated, setting leftover Chinese food containers on the table. He sighed. Twenty-four years old, assistant researcher in downtown Tokyo, tiny, grungy apartment, and one fresh-out-of-college would-be actor as a friend. It was really no surprise that he hadn't had a girlfriend in a couple of years, Rowen thought as he dug chopsticks into his lo mien. Who would want to be a part of this sad existence?

Still, 6:30 pm Friday afternoon found Rowen standing at his closet, freshly showered and clean-shaven, debating what he should wear. The day before he had laid out a simply pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Now he was sure that that was just a little too casual. But then, how formal could an apartment meeting be?

For awhile he considered a pair of black slacks and a sapphire blue dress shirt. The rich blue made his own eyes seem darker, which was something girls seemed to like. Rowen almost laughed to himself. Since when did he have any idea what girls might like?

In the end he compromised and paired the sapphire dress shirt with a pair of black jeans.

Enter his next problem. Akito hadn't said whether or not he should bring anything. Flowers? Chocolates? Wine? Beer? A movie? Again he weighed the pros and cons of appearing casual (too friendly, not interested) and formal (too romantic, over interested), and settled on a bottle of Champaign. He could always present it as a housewarming gift and let her decide whether or not to open it while he was there.

6:59 exactly. Rowen stood outside the door to number 209 and asked himself what he was doing here. Well, nothing for it now. He knocked, almost reluctantly, and the door opened promptly.

For a moment Rowen just stared. The women on the other side of the door was both familiar and yet not. Rowen blinked. She was wearing a flouncy green skirt and a semi-revealing black top. And both pieces looked very nice on her. Rowen blinked again and tried to not swallow too obviously. Her green eyes, faintly outlined with makeup, stared back at him.

That was disconcerting enough, but it was the hair that really got him. He'd know that hair anywhere. He would never ever forget that red hair. The faintly confused/surprised expression was pretty familiar too.

Rowen recovered first and managed to bow with a certain amount of suavity.

"Robyn."

"Rowen!" Robyn all but squealed and practically tackled her tall visitor.

Rowen embraced her, knowing he was grinning ear to ear. He'd missed this. He'd missed her. They all did. Robyn worked for a company that moved her around a lot; the boys never knew quite where she was or where she might be next. Rowen made a mental note to call Cye and gloat because, for the moment at least, she was here, in the same apartment complex as himself. He squeezed her gently, quietly ecstatic at the thought.

Robyn pulled back, then tugged him inside the apartment. After closing the door she noticed that Rowen was carrying something. She looked at him curiously.

"Champaign, Rowen?"

"Apartment-warming." He replied with a grin.

She shook her head at him, "Have you had dinner yet, you silly?"

Dinner was a simple, semi-romantic spaghetti affair. There were two tall candles on the table, but they left them unlit. They didn't need them. Robyn dolled them out portions of spaghetti, added meat sauce and a breadstick to each plate and set them on the table. She also handed Rowen a fork with a knowing smile.

"Heathen-ware." Rowen muttered.

And even though Robyn had been expecting the comment, or something like it, she still laughed.

Dinner conversation was held to small talk. They talked about the apartment complex, their jobs, amusing coworkers, Akito.

"Where did you dig him up, anyway?" Robyn asked, shaking her head in wonder at the strange people Rowen seemed to attract.

"He's… like a stray puppy dog. He turned up on my doorstep one day and I haven't been able to get rid of him since then."

Robyn giggled, she could here the frustration in his voice. But she also knew him well enough to know that he was glad for some minor human interaction. Even if he didn't want to admit it.

Finally they got around to the elephant sitting in the corner.

"So… do you hear much from the guys?"

Robyn paused in the middle of twirling some spaghetti around her fork, expression turning sad.

"No. Not much. They keep busy, I suppose. Careers and families have that effect on people, I think."

Rowen kicked himself, mentally. Maybe they didn't need to talk about the other guys after all. But now that the subject had been broached, how did they get out of it?

Robyn brightened suddenly.

"Oh! I did hear from Cye a couple of days ago. Did you know Cye and Hana are expecting? He asked if I would be the godmother."

Rowen raised eyebrows at that. No, he certainly hadn't known that Cye's wife Hana (he couldn't even remember the woman's face at the moment) was pregnant.

"Congratulations." Rowen offered, though by the look on her face he wasn't quite sure that was the word for it. He thought about asking ‘Which one is Hana?', but didn't think that would be very appropriate.

Robyn hmphed, "Do you know what else he did? He asked me to pick the godfather."

Rowen neglected some truly amusing movie references in order to get some more information, "We can't all be godfathers?"

"Oh, no. Hana insists. One godmother, one godfather, three uncles."

"Oh…"

Rowen thought for a moment; torn between his fear of small children and the desire to want to be picked for something this special. Robyn, paying no attention to his internal debate, pushed her now empty plate out of the way so that she could drop her head onto the table. Rowen had to chuckle. It was so… high school.

"You should pick Ryo. Our fearless leader would wet himself if he ever had to baby-sit."

Robyn laughed, but didn't raise her head.

"I've missed hearing you laugh, you know."

That got her attention. She raised her head slowly and stared at him. Rowen shifted, starting to get uncomfortable. After a long moment, she smiled slightly.

"You know, Rowen, I think that… out of all of you guys… you're the one I always miss the most. Next to Cye, of course."

"Second to fish-boy? You're awful, Robyn."

She giggled, and then continued to stun him by elaborating.

"I'll be eating lunch or something and hear someone say something stupid and your voice will just pop into my head and make some snide comment. Actually, yours is usually the first reaction I imagine whenever I see or hear anything. I don't know why, though, I thought I had enough aggravation in my life."

"Hey!"

Robyn flashed an impish grin at him, as if she hadn't just shook his entire world, and flounced off to the kitchen.

"How ‘bout that Champaign, Ro'?"

Rowen poured them both a glass of Champaign, debating whether or not he should ask Robyn why she had a pair of flutes that looked strangely familiar. Robyn accepted her flute, still smirking slightly and took a sip. She waited until Rowen had Champaign in his mouth before clearing up the mystery.

"Aren't these goblets lovely? I picked them up at Cye and Hana's wedding."

Rowen choked and sputtered.

"Stole them from the fancy reception hall, you mean."

"'Stole' is an extreme word, I think."

She smiled and headed for the living room. Rowen shook his head and followed her. "Do you know, Robyn, I don't think you've changed much since high school."

Robyn sat down on one end of the couch and took another sip of Champaign. She thought for a moment, then pouted at him.

"Is that a bad thing?"

Rowen chuckled, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

"Not at all, Robyn. I think it's the best thing ever."

She smiled.

"A couple of years ago I bought something. Just in case a situation like this ever arose."

Rowen raised an eyebrow at her. Situation? Robyn dug around in a basket beside the couch that he couldn't see. Finally she straightened up and produced… Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. Rowen's slightly uneasy expression melted into a grin.

"Excellent. I haven't told Cye what a nancy he is in a really long time."

Robyn snickered, "Believe me, the reaction is a great as it ever was."

Rowen laughed, imagining.

"So… uh… do you want me to put it in? I mean, maybe you have something else to do… or… would rather go home or something…"

It was a swift change from grinning and snickering to nervous and unsure. Rowen, skipping the normal verbal reassurances, plucked the DVD from her fingers and set about putting it in the DVD player.

"Or you could just steal my stuff out from under my nose."

Rowen smirked, "'Steal' is an extreme word I think."

Robyn snorted. "Rowen, are you some sort of DVD stalker? You just sneak into other girls apartments and figure out how to use their DVD players? That's creepy, you know. In fact-"

Rowen was laughing, as he finished manipulating the buttons on the front of her DVD player.

"You have no idea how to use this thing, do you?"

"It's new. I haven't figured it all out yet."

"You put the DVD in. You press play. They all work pretty much the same." He sat himself back on the couch.

"You don't understand. That one's different. It's possessed. It's-"

Rowen slung him arm over her shoulders and placed his hand over her mouth. "Hush. The movie is starting."

"Nancy."

Rowen chuckled and didn't remove his arm. Robyn didn't seem to notice, and actually snuggled closer into a more comfortable position. They sat the entire movie, next to each other on the couch with Rowen's arm around her shoulders. When the credits began to roll, Robyn sighed happily.

"I love this movie."

Rowen's response was a noncommittal ‘mmhmm' and Robyn looked at him in surprise. Rowen blushed and jerked his gaze upwards.

Robyn elbowed him, "Gosh, Rowen, stop trying to look down my shirt." It was an old game and Robyn was smiling playfully.

Rowen wasn't smiling; his look was distinctly deer-caught-in-headlights.

Robyn gaped at him.

"Rowen, were you actually trying to look down my shirt?"

Rowen's blush deepened. "Uh… no, of course not… I mean, not that there's…"

Robyn looked down in confusion, "Why?"

"What?"

"Why would you want to? There's nothing there."

"Robyn-"

"Are you toying with me, Rowen? Because I don't appreciate it, it's just mean."

"Robyn, I would never-"

"Never what? Never what, Rowen?"

"Robyn, please." Rowen caught her gaze, alarmed by her reaction. He grabbed her hands, his expression serious. "Robyn, I'm sorry. You know that I would never do anything to intentionally offend you."

"Offend me?" Robyn's voice jumped an octave. "I don't know what I expected from tonight anyway…"

Rowen tugged her slowly across the couch. He pulled into a comforting hug, not knowing what else to do. They just sat for a long moment.

"Robyn, what happened?"

She sighed. "Do you know, Rowen, that I've never been in a real or normal relationship? I've tried. It just doesn't work. Every time I meet someone I like… it takes about two weeks before everything falls apart. I finally figured out why. It's your fault. The poor guy just can't live up to you five."

She paused and took a deep breath before plunging back in.

"And then, all of a sudden, you're here and I'm here and I'm so excited and I'm… I'm thinking totally inappropriately and-"

"Anytime you want to think inappropriately about me, you are more than welcome."

A couple of years ago the smug comment would have earned him a sharp elbow in the ribs from Robyn and a chilling glare from Cye. Now, Robyn just sighed softly.

"Don't tease, Rowen."

"I'm not teasing, not much anyway."

"You're not?"

"I think I can live up to at least one of us five."

Robyn frowned at him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rowen smiled his most infuriating, ‘I'm-smarter-than-you' smile. Then he leaned in and kissed her briefly.

Robyn stared him for what felt like forever. "It's not nice to tease, Rowen."

"I'm not teasing."

"Then it's the Champaign."

"I only had one glass."

"What is it, then?"

Rowen only chuckled and kissed her again.

Much later, Rowen found himself unable to sleep and staring at the ceiling. He also found himself unable to shake the grin that felt permanently stuck on his face.

"This could work." he said softly. It would be a miracle, of course. Akito had been trying and failing to set him up with some one for ages. But then… no one could attribute this particular relationship to Akito. Rowen would just thank fate for this one. Actually, he would mostly thank fate for the second chance.

Because, if he'd known that all it would take was one night and a couple of glasses of Champaign to get him everything he wanted out of life, he would have tried it years ago.

Rowen had no way of knowing that Robyn, snuggled against him, was thinking the exact same thing.

And they both knew the Champaign had nothing to do with it.