Elio's hand in hers was as natural as green grass. There was nothing in her mind that would ever cause her to want to be away from Elio in any capacity, unless for some reason she thought she would hurt him in some way. She held his hand close to her chest as he spoke, more comfortable with him than she ever was with herself, which was strange as she'd always been a very confident person. Apparently just not so much where her best friend was concerned. She watched him as he tried to struggle through what he was saying, hoping her presence was enough support to get him through what he was really struggling with. It was hard, hard to grasp the complete depths of feeling he had for her and hard to grasp how this could be hard for him, though she knew it was. After all, she was under no illusions of who he was, nor was he, and yet this had come as a surprise to both of them, which wasn't so strange for her, but for him? It was difficult to explain, she knew. She watched him pull his hood down, hiding his face, but she kept a steadfast hold on his hand, not willing to let him slip away. She always wanted to support Elio as much as she could and whilst it was hard to listen to him talking about someone else, it was also... kind of nice to know that she was on his mind all the time. She didn't want that to hinder him, but she couldn't deny the thrill that went through her at the knowledge. So maybe she was a bit jealous of Marco and whoever else Elio would spend time with, but that was a natural reaction when you loved someone. It wasn't like she was going to stop him, though she thought she probably could if she really wanted to, there was a reason she didn't do photography anymore. He looked back at her and she gave him a light smile, because really, it hurt to know he was so confused about them, about Marco and about their wider relationship in general. They knew they both had boundaries, though Rowan wasn't actually sure if she did have any where Elio was concerned, but she certainly didn't want him agonising over things. She wanted him to be happy as he rightly deserved and seeing him like this hurt her a little bit. She didn't want him to think that he couldn't have a relationship, a proper one, because of her and though she had already resigned herself to the likely role of single-until-dead (not that she'd said anything to him about it) that didn't mean he had to follow the same fate. He let go of her hand, and she missed him until he laid down beside her and looked her in the eye. She chuckled lightly when he mentioned Marco being hot before the smile faded again at the mention of being in love with her.
Whenever he said it, something in Rowan soared, like they were the only words she would ever need to hear in her life. Their relationship was probably the most complicated thing in existence, and, being together was impossible and despite knowing that they were so deeply connected to each other, for Elio, it was wholly emotional. And whilst Rowan's connection to Elio was slightly different, it was no less emotional and all the things he said about her, she could just as easily reverse and he would be describing her feelings for him. She never bothered taking the time to just be in the moment with people, usually too preoccupied to plan ahead, but with Elio, she always wanted there to be something better, she wanted him to be happy and to believe in and trust her implicitly. She wanted him to always be able to come to her for anything no matter what, no matter if it was trivial or huge. She reached out with one of her hands and ran her thumb across his cheek for a moment as she thought about what the best words were, the right words. She couldn't allow him to be second guessing himself for her benefit and she didn't want him to worry about her getting hurt, that was a non-factor, because it was always going to happen no matter what. That was okay, because it would be the kind of pain that he could sooth just as easily by talking to her and that was enough for her. "Elio," she started, smiling at him. "My brave lion," she hoped he didn't mind her calling him hers, because it just felt right, even if he would be someone else's too. Just as she would always be Elio's girl for however long he wanted her. "You just have to go with the flow, and... even if someone gets hurt, you need to do what feels best for you." She said, moving her hand from his face and looking up at the sun a little. "You shouldn't worry about other people's feelings when it comes to what you want and need in a relationship and... even with the us factor," she looked at him pointedly. "And there absolutely is an us, so excuse you," she looked back up at the sun. "You can't let my feelings or anyone else's get in the way... don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled for you if this is what you want, one hundred percent, but, there's always going to be a selfish jealousy in me I think, but... I'd never compete for you or force you in any direction..." she trailed off, really was going to have to work hard on that one. "Think of me as a built in ideas board, anything you ever need to bounce things off, thoughts, feelings, emotions, I'll be that for you, whatever you want, because I love you and I just want you to do what makes you happy," she looked back over at him and turned on her side slightly with her arm rested under her head and a hand between them on the grass. "If that's Marco, then it's Marco and no one else should get a say... except Marco... probably." She would beat him up if he hurt her boy though.