𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐗

𝟐𝟗 | 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄

    I kinda feel... relieved.

    Shaking the feeling off, Cassius stepped out of the room and walked back towards his painting studio to wait for (Y/N) whilst she changed, absentmindedly gathering any supplies he needed until turning around to find her standing behind him. The dress hugged at her curves and angles perfectly, the fabric swaying around her feet while the slit showed her smooth legs. In all honesty, he was stunned by how pleasant she was to look at, having to physically shake himself out of his stupor to concentrate.

    After fixing her hair with a crown of thorny branches that he made sure wouldn't get tangled, he set to work.

    "If you could sit there, please, that would be good," he commanded as he observed the lighting. "Now, would you mind crossing your legs and tilting your head slightly downwards? Yes. Perfect. And then... try a passive or bored expression." Placing a knuckle to his lips, Cassius could feel a smile upturning his lips as he nodded and continued, "Perfect. Hold still just like that."

    Cracking his neck, the boy first sketched a rough outline of her visage and body before turning to his paints and watercolors.

    In all honesty, he was stunned.

    He hadn't expected this.

    Not ever.

    For his artwork that had grown so bland now suddenly sprang to life whenever it was (Y/N) in front of him. Painting her in broad brushstrokes before filling in the tiny details, for the first time in so long, he felt as if this piece was priceless.

    (Y/N) was what he had been missing.

    She was his muse.

    Not just for this particular art piece, but for everything he would be making in the future.

    "How long have you been painting, Cassius?" (Y/N) suddenly derailed his train of thought, his eyes blinking as he was suddenly brought back to the present, so lost in his own world that he almost couldn't comprehend the question for a few moments. "From what I've seen, you're quite amazing. So, probably a while, right?"

    "Since I was adopted here, yes," he mumbled out, his eyes narrowing.

    "When was that?"

    "When Jay and I were six."

"You two are blood-related?"

"Yes?"

"So if you're eighteen now... then that was twelve years ago!" (Y/N) summed up as she hummed in thought. "And you've been painting ever since then? That's quite impressive."

"Not really."

Silence descended between them.

But then she said, "By the way, this has been on my mind for a while, but if you and Jay are seniors, why do you have classes with juniors?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, Jay's in my English and APUSH class while you're in my Chem class."

"It's because we didn't take those courses last year—can you look down, please?" Cassius frowned as he tried to work around the shadows cast by (Y/N)'s sitting form and the way her arms were angled. "You're in AP Lit and APUSH, right? Jay probably didn't take neither of the two last year and wants more AP credit. And as for me, I didn't take Chem last year since I was busy with other things, but three years of science is a graduation requirement."

"Oh..."

"Why the sudden question?"

"Well, I was just reminded about your age and that you're actually older than me," (Y/N) rolled her eyes with a small smirk.

Cassius glanced up.

Their eyes met.

She was the first to look away.

"Well... isn't your birthday soon?" He asked, slightly interested.

"Yeah... sort of."

"Only sort of? Why is that?"

"It just means college... and more responsibilities... and no longer seeing my mom all the time like I'm used to," (Y/N) stated softly as her once joy faded away into something else Cassius couldn't quite describe. "While I am looking forward to other things... it's change. And I don't know if I'm ready for such a major change. Again."

"I see..." he trailed off, immediately getting her hint that the first major change was her moving there to live with them.

"What about you? Are you scared?"

Cassius didn't say anything for a moment as he stared at the picture he had halfway finished. Before that night, he hadn't been since he knew there would be nothing he'd miss.

But now he wasn't so sure.

For wherever he went, he knew that his muse would not follow.

And the mere thought scared him.

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