That surprised a laugh out of Thomas.“You don’t know how to cook?”
“Not even a little bit.My mom did all the cooking growing up.Now I’m paying for it with my diner bills.”
Thomas felt some of his anxiety ease.There was something comforting about knowing that Rowan wasn’t a perfect adult like he seemed to be.“Okay,” Thomas said before he could second-guess himself.“Okay, yeah.I’d like that.The help, I mean.”
“Yeah?”Rowan’s smile widened.“That’s great.When works for you?”
Thomas thought about his schedule.He’d been trying to study every evening, usually staying late at the sanctuary so that Seth and Ryan wouldn’t catch him.“What about after work today?We could meet at the diner.”
“Perfect.The diner it is.”Rowan pushed off from the doorframe.“Fair warning, though, I’m going to make you explain what you’re struggling with so I can actually help.No suffering in silence allowed.”
Thomas felt his cheeks heat because that was exactly what he’d been doing.“I don’t suffer in silence.”
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine,” Thomas said with a huff.“But I’m not good at asking for help, or at talking about things I’m not good at.”
“That’s okay.We’ll work on that, too.”Rowan’s tone was light, but his expression was understanding.“Come on, let’s go check on that fox.”
They walked down the hallway together, and Thomas tried to process what had just happened.He’d asked for help.He’d admitted he was struggling, and he felt relieved.
The fox was skittish, pressed into the corner of the enclosure.Thomas recognized a fear he’d felt plenty of times himself.The instinct to make yourself small and hide.
“Hey, girl,” he said softly, crouching down.“It’s okay.Nobody’s going to hurt you here.”
Rowan crouched beside him.“How long before she settles in?”
“Depends on what she’s been through,” Thomas said.“Some animals bounce back quickly.Others take time.You can’t rush trust.”
“That’s true for people too, I think.”
Thomas glanced at him.“Yeah.I guess it is.”
They sat there for a while, letting the fox get used to them.Eventually, she uncurled slightly, her nose twitching in their direction.It wasn’t much, but it was progress.
The rest of the day passed in a blur, but Thomas found his anxiety ramping up as his shift ended.It was one thing to accept help in theory, but another thing entirely to sit down with Rowan and reveal how much he was struggling.
The truth was, Thomas wasn’t just worried about passing the GED.He was worried about what it would mean if he failed.Getting his GED felt like reaching for something more, and if he failed, it would feel like proof that wanting more was pointless.
But then he thought about Rowan’s sister.She’d gotten her GED even after having a baby at sixteen.
With Rowan’s help.
* * * *
WHEN HIS SHIFT ENDED, Thomas gathered his things from the breakroom.The walk to the diner took less than ten minutes, but Thomas’s heart raced the entire time.He found Rowan already there, sitting in a booth with two cups of coffee.When Rowan saw him, he waved, his expression so pleased that some of Thomas’s anxiety eased.
“I ordered you coffee,” Rowan said as Thomas slid into the booth.“Hope that’s okay.Alice remembered how you take it, and I’ve seen you drink it at work.”
Thomas wrapped his hands around the warm mug.“Thanks.”
“So,” Rowan said, sounding casual.“Where do you want to start?What’s giving you the most trouble?”
Thomas took a breath, pulled out his notebook, and flipped to the last page.“Math,” he admitted.“Algebra specifically.I can do basic stuff fine, but this...”He gestured at the page.“This might as well be written in another language.”Chinese, maybe, or Russian.
Rowan pulled the notebook closer.“This isn’t as bad as you think.Algebra is just about finding the unknown.It’s like a puzzle.You have all the pieces, you just have to put them in the right order.”
“That doesn’t make it sound any easier,” Thomas said, but he leaned forward anyway.He had to get this.
