Treat You Better

Chapter Twenty-seven: Solar Eclipse

"I'd say you don't have to do this, but I'm honestly too curious." He admitted, humorously.

I smiled and covered my eyes. "Just get on with it."

"Fine."

After a beat of silence, I realized I wanted to see his reaction as he read what I really thought about him.
I peeked between my fingers and watched his eyes dart between the words.

"No wait! Read it out." I said and he sighed. "From the top please."

"Angelo Sullivan, by Violet Z. Adams" He began softly.
"How could you look at a being and first of all notice their eyes? Pools of grey, sometimes like steel, hard and cold.
But other times, when even carefully seen, like rain clouds, full of something, anything.
Who could tell what it would be? Could it be lightening that could send shivers through one's spine? What about a storm?

"Not only do his eyes speak wonders, but so do his soul. The whole of him, yet nothing in particular, his being, reflecting the beauty of nature itself.
Hair like sunlight, falling onto a brow..." Angelo paused and looked up at his golden hair, "You think it's like sunlight?"

I chuckled and shrugged, anxious for him to keep going.

He turned back to the book, "Um... Watching such an artform simply exist could be a trap, one where you sit and wonder if he could be real while the rest of the world passes away.
Then one sees the crack of a smile, hears a soulful sigh, notices an absent twirl of hair and is forced to remember that he is but a normal person too. Not a  special, unsmiling, dark angel sent to linger amongst us..." He raised a brow. "Not special?"

"Hey!" I pouted, feeling my face heat up, "You know what I mean!"

"Sorry," Angelo bit on his lower lip before he continued and my eyes lingered on that small detail. "Who would blame one to forget,
That, he is also kind and surprising, caring and smart. A beam of light- no- the sun itself if the he wasn't shrouded in black, hiding in a shadow.

"How glorious it would be to witness the day he shines, but for now, I'll stand back and appreciate the solar eclipse that is Angelo Sullivan."

I pulled my hands down from my eyes and watched him stare out the open window. This was probably the last warm day we would have this year.

I folded my legs and waited, but after a few more beats of silence, I had to say something. "Is it that terrible?"

"It's the way you ended it," he said and turned to look at me. "You think I'm a solar eclipse?"

I shook my head, and looked down at my hands. "You're the sun. Something's blocking you out, I don't know what it is but it can't stop you from being beautiful." I brushed a curl behind my ear and shrugged. "Everyone stops to stare at an eclipse."

"Damn." Angelo whispered, hooking a finger under my chin and gently urging me to look at him. I got that electric feeling simply from how he was looking at me right then.
"You've had me under your spell for a while now, Violet, but you've just made sure I'd never escape."

"I didn't mean to." I replied, quietly. My eyes darted down to his lips for a second and a shiver went down my spine when his hand came to caress my face.

"I can tell," he whispered and I breathed a slight laugh.
"Is this too much?" He asked, leaning in close enough for me to feel the mint on his breath.

"No," I whispered. I doubted it could ever be too much, even the way he traced his thumb against my skin suddenly wasn't enough, I don't think it ever was.

"I-" Angelo sighed and closed his eyes before opening them again. "Look, I could barely sleep last night, when you ran away like that. I thought..."

Oh crap, "It wasn't your fault, I just started to overthink."