Food Town is about a five minute walk from Rowan's place, and Dew gets there right on time. Upon entering, he walks to the customer service desk. There, he notifies the woman he's here for an interview, and she tells him that Sandra will be up there soon.

Dew just stands at the front and waits, and eventually a woman with blonde hair in a bun comes and meets him.

"Hi, Dewey. My name is Sandra. Are you ready?"

Dew smiles and nods, and the woman turns around and begins walking a random direction. It feels like she's in a good mood, though a bit tired. Dew follows right behind her as she leads him through some double doors that go to the very back. Dew finds several boxes and carts back there, and she leads him into a back room. She takes a seat at the desk behind a computer, and Dew sits across from her.

"Okay, so it says on your resume that you've worked at Bandy's burgers and Scoops Ice Cream, correct?"

Dew nods. "Yes."

"Okay," she nods, marking something on her paper. "What makes you think you'd be a good fit for this job?"

Ugh. Dew really hates interviews. They always ask bullshit like, why should we hire you? Or; Why do you want this job?

Like? Money. That's the only reason. Dew genuinely is a shitty employee. He doesn't give a fuck, and slacks off all the time. Still, he needs to get away from Rowan. He can feel that if he doesn't, his life will go through some drastic changes. No offense, but he'd rather stick with the same old same old.

"Well, I'm very good with lifting heavy objects." Right? That's what stockers do? "I'm a fast learner, and I'm good at working with other people."

Sandra nods, and marks something down. She clicks around on her computer a bit, and it appears as though she's actually looking at his application.

"Okay, and what interested you in this job opportunity?"

The! Money!

"Well, I think that this job would be a good fit for me." Dew replies. "I also come here all the time and the employees seem really happy, so I think it'd be a nice place to work."

Dew is lying through his teeth. He's never been to Food Town once in his life. Still, that's the kind of shit employers like to hear.

"Alright, and it says here that you never graduated high school, is that correct?"

Ugh, and there it is. That's usually the deal breaker.

"That's correct." Dew replies.

The woman nods, then pauses. "Oh wow, and your mother is Stevie Price?"

UGH.

"Yes, Ma'am." Dew replies. There is a glimmer in her eye, one that Dew is all too used to seeing. When people find out that you're part of a famous family, they lose their shit. He's never met one person that didn't think it was the coolest thing in the world.

"Okay," Sandra smiles, and Dew realizes that he has this job in the fucking bag. Who wouldn't hire a celebrity's son? "Well, I'll give you a call. I have to run this by the store manager, but I'll let you know. Would you like to be escorted out?"

"Sure." Dew responds. She smiles, and does so. Before Dew knows it he's leaving the store and walking his way back to Rowan's house. Upon entering, he can already tell that Rowan is home. This is strange, since he's usually at work at this time. It must be his day off.

Dew begins walking around the house, since he can hear some distant clanking of metal, as well as what sounds like rock music. He notices a hallway he'd previously overlooked. It's right by Rowan's room, and he makes his way down that hallway. Sure enough, the sounds get louder.

Dew finally reaches in front of a door, and notes it as the place that all of the noise is coming from. Slowly, he reaches out and cracks the door open. Immediately, the music is louder. Yeah, this is definitely where all the racket is.

Dew peeks his head in the crack, so that basically the upper half of his face is visible to Rowan. Rowan, who is currently... lifting weights.

Dew blinks, watching his muscles strain as Rowan lifts a massive fucking weight with only one arm. There is a sheen of sweat on him, and he's only wearing some loose gym shorts. Dew can't help but to stand there, with his eyes peeking around the door, watching Rowan.

He isn't wearing sunglasses, and his hair is a little ruffled, some of it sticking to his forehead. He seems completely focused on the task at hand, which is good, because that means Dew can watch him.

Finally Rowan stops, putting the weight on a little rack. Then, he makes his way to this little bar that's bolted to the wall. He gets behind it, and grabs it from the other side with his hands. Then, he begins to do pull ups. He's also mumbling to the music.

Dew just watches his muscles strain, the veins in his arms showing themselves. Dew loses track of how many pull ups the man does, though about ten minutes go by, and before he knows it Rowan stops, walking over to a bench and grabbing a water bottle, sipping out of it. As he does so, he glances around the room.

Then, his black eyes land on Dew's own orange.

Uh oh.

Dew goes owl eyed, then squeaks—squeaks—jumping back and slamming the door. He stands in the hallway, staring at the wall, and he realizes that his heart rate has picked up. A lot.

A few minutes go by of Dew standing there, frozen, before he hears more clanking, meaning that Rowan has gone back to his work out.

Dew shakes his head, breathing labored, and walks to the kitchen. He makes himself a bowl of cereal before going to the living room, turning the TV on, and taking a seat, beginning to eat it. The whole time he can't stop thinking about Rowan, all sweaty, doing pull ups. His abs flexing and his jaw clenched. Then, his voice a few days ago when he notified Dew about how he likes sex.

Pictures flash in Dew's mind, about what Rowan would look like hovering over Dew, sweaty for an entirely different reason. What it would be like to touch those muscles, to see them in action. Dew can feel his mouth salivating off the mental images of what Rowan would look like in the heat of passion. The faces he'd make when he felt pleasure, the expression he'd have when he finally came undone and—

Dew decides that maybe it's time he admits something to himself.

It's not that he has some sort of crush on Rowan. No! Absolutely not! That is not the case. No, Dew's feelings regarding the military captain are purely physical. He doesn't want some sort of relationship! Ha! That's preposterous. No, he doesn't want any emotional attachment. Dew would sooner get ripped apart by piranhas than develop feelings for anybody.

However, Dew feels it's time that he ceases his denial and acknowledges that he'd really, really like to fuck Rowan Lux. There is no point in pretending anymore.

So Dew isn't straight. That's fine. He's not gay, either. He still likes girls, it's just that now he has more options. It's fine.

Dew wants to fuck Rowan, there's no way around it.

Rowan, however, seems content taking random people home. Also, he has a soulmate. So, it's safe to say that he isn't interested or attracted to Dew at all. This is good. This means that Dew will be able to get over these stupid feelings sooner. Also, he's pretty sure he landed the job today, so that means he won't have to deal with sharing a living quarters much longer.

Dew will get over this.

Suddenly, Dew hears moving around. He looks over the back of the sofa and finds Rowan, still all sweaty and hot, rooting through the fridge. Finally, the man pulls out a protein shake, and starts drinking from it. A minute later he finishes, then walks into his room. Dew can hear his shower going. Suddenly, Dew starts imagining what Rowan looks like right now, in the shower... naked.

Dew shakes his head, then smacks himself across the face. Dew! Get ahold of yourself! He's still the same old annoyingly boring and secretive military captain that he was the day you met him! Don't get ahead of yourself! Sure, you've recently come to terms with the fact that you want him to fucking raw you, but you don't need to make it a big deal!

Dew focuses back on the cartoon playing, and watches a turtle swim through some water. He then encounters a fish, and the two begin speaking. Dew has no clue what this show is about, but he's pretty sure it's for kids. Listen, he doesn't want to be judged, but Dew does genuinely enjoy the kids network. The little cartoon life lessons and cutesy characters put him in a good mood. He's not going to feel bad about that.

About ten minutes later, Dew hears more moving around. He glances in the kitchen and finds Rowan—in only sweats, again—getting out bowls and pans to begin cooking dinner.

Dew stands up and takes his bowl with him, walking over and sitting at the counter. He just sits there with his empty dish, and watches Rowan move around the kitchen.

"So you were off today?" Dew breaks the silence. Rowan just nods, not giving him a verbal response. He doesn't even look up. Dew rolls his eyes.

"Why are you so boring?"

Rowan continues with his cooking, and after he finishes dumping some powder in a boiling pot of noodles, he responds, "I'm not trying to be."

Dew scoffs. Bull. Shit.

"Yes you are! You're trying to act all uninteresting and dull. There is no way that someone out there exists as boring as you. No way."

Rowan pauses, glancing over his shoulder at Dew. "What are you trying to say?"

"That you have secrets." Dew replies. "And I want to know all of them."

"You said it yourself, you already figured out my big secret."

Rowan starts putting the mac and cheese into two little bowls. Then, he walks over to Dew and places one in front of him.

"I figured out that you were the Origin," Dew concedes, "but I still don't know who your soulmate is, or why we went to the Easthem, or who these people are that want to take you. I had to lie to Marley over the phone for you! I want answers."

Rowan sighs, taking a seat diagonal from Dew. Dew glares at him, while taking a few bites of the mac and cheese. Rowan seems to think for a moment.

"There are several groups of them, mostly in Osiphia. They blame me for the war and they basically just want to torture me. They also want to torture my soulmate, which is why I'm not telling anyone who it is. It's not personal, Dew."

Dew frowns, as that was not the response he was going for. Crap, so Rowan actually has a reason to be so secretive. It's still annoying.

"What? Do you think I'm with them? Why can't you tell me?"

"You will be safer if I don't."

Dew frowns. Of all the reasons he thought for Rowan's secrecy, his protection wasn't one. "What? Is my life in danger?"

"Not if I can help it," Rowan replies, then stands up, having finished his meal. Dew frowns, wondering what he means by that. Not if he can help it? What does that mean? That basically just affirms that Dew is in danger! What the hell? Should he be worried? No, nevermind, he's already worried.

"That's enough questions." Rowan states, before washing his dish and leaving the room. He goes back into his bedroom and closes the door behind him, and Dew frowns.

If anything, he's just left with more questions.