Ravan's POV
I walked up to my favourite little cafe where Rowan and I had agreed to meet at 1 o'clock. This has been my favourite cafe since I was a young kid. My mother first introduced it to me when she learnt I was interested in lego. The cafe was very special, because despite lego being extremely expensive, as long as you ordered an item off their menu they provided you with a brand new lego set that had to be completed there but could be taken home afterwards. Probably 25% of my total collection was made at this restaurant, mostly with my Mum or Gael.
I thought it would be a good ice-breaker for Rowan and I, especially as it was our first date, hopefully with many more to come. I was really hoping that Rowan didn't feel that lego was too childish, because if he did then that would make a very horrible first date and leave no chance for a second.
As I arrived at the cafe, Luciana the owner and one of my closest friends greeted me with a cheesy grin. Looking around, I can figure out why. I booked my favourite table for Rowan and under my name, he was sitting at that very table. She won't let me live this down and I know it. Snatching the two menus she held out to me from her hand with an embarrassed look, I made my way towards my table.
I gave Rowan a slight smile as I handed him his menu. I had my menu but it's not necessary; I buy the same thing every time I come in. Surprisingly, Rowan stood up and gave me a brief hug to welcome me in before sitting back down to look at the menu.
"Hi Rowan," I said shyly. He looked a little bit awkward but still enthusiastic.
"G'day Ravan, how are you on this fine day?" He replied cheerfully. I smiled at him in return.
"I'm doing very well thank youuu! Do you have any idea of what you would like to eat?" I asked, "I always recommend their cheese and tomato toastie, it is absolutely to die for. You can have ham in it too if that's more your jam," I continued, aware that I was rambling.
"I love toasties but I was thinking more Bacon and egg sanga." He said, "Now what was this I heard about free lego sets?"
"OOOOOHHH yeahhh, so we only get one set per table, so I'll leave the choice of which set we build up to you!!!" I said excitedly.
He presented me with a big smile from across the table as he recognized my animated reaction. Despite the reassuring action from this big and brooding boy, I still knew that there was a lot more time for this date to be derailed and I was worried.
Soon, Luciana came over to our table to take our order. Well, actually, she knew my order by heart now: 1 cheese and tomato toastie with a hot chocolate and 3 marshmallows. I was interested to hear which drink Rowan would choose, as I personally believed that the beverage a person chooses shows a lot about their personality. Rowan ordered the Bacon and Egg sandwich with a side of Feta cheese? Along with an iced-chocolate.
Rowan decides that for the lego set we complete today we should do set 10276, the Colosseum, which luckily I have not yet got at home in my lego collection room. The lego set arrived a couple minutes before the food. Greedily, I grabbed the scissors out of the drawer on the side of the table. It held anything you could possibly need for lego: Scissors to open the packets, the classic orange brick separator and a bunch of random extra pieces from previous packs.
Unfortunately, as I went to open the first pack of bricks, I managed to drop the scissors due to my clumsiness, sharp side down. I watched it clearly before it happened; the scissors dropped directly onto Rowan. I could see the beads of blood slowly forming around the wound on his thigh. Instantly, I felt a flash of panic and insecurity. I shouldn't have decided on where our first date would be. I'm too clumsy to ever date anyone long term, I'll stuff it up, whether it's by injury or them starting to hate me.
Quickly, I tried to ramble out an apology. "Oh my God Rowan I am so sorry! Please forgive me! I never meant to hurt you, please don't hate me!"
Somehow, although there was crimson blood dripping down his shorts, he wasn't crying. Instead he was looking at me worriedly. I wasn't sure as to why, until I felt a liquid hit the area of my chest exposed by the v-line shirt I had picked out. I hadn't realised it but I had started crying. I felt guilty. My mind reeled with questions. Why wasn't he moving? He needed to clean the wound or it might get infected. Who knows who used those scissors and dropped them? Why was he still staring at me? I wasn't sure what to do now. I was going to start hyperventilating soon if he didn't say something or go look after himself. I've never been good at dealing with injuries.
Instead of panicking, or yelling, or walking away, Rowan just gave me a calm smile.
"Hey it's alright Ravan, honestly. Wouldn't be an acceptable first date with you unless there was some sort of clumsy behaviour involved. I'm just going to go to the bathroom to clean myself up quickly, alright? I'll be back, you can start the lego without me,"
I stared at his retreating form as he made his way across the building towards the bathroom, hand on thigh, putting pressure on it to delay the bleeding. My stomach twisted with guilt.
Rowan's POV
As I limped my way towards the men's restroom I couldn't help but hear Ravan's quiet crying over the bustle of customers in the cafe. I could feel the sticky texture under my hands and making its way under my nails. I tried not to think about it too much, otherwise I would be sick. I knew that Rylan had felt the pain in my thigh. I would've bet anyone 10 bucks he was on the way to the cafe right now to check on me.
He had only allowed me to come on this date as long as he knew everything about it: Who? Obviously Ravan. What? First date after knowing she was my mate for a couple years. When? 1pm on the 22nd of January 2025. Where? At a local small cafe that supplied you with free lego stores as long as you bought food or a drink. He had wanted to know all the information in case something happened and he needed to come save or help me, which at this point in time apparently he did.