Her Mysterious Ways

Chapter 30: The Morning After

"We're going on an adventure. Just let it happen." That look of happiness that he always had when there was anything to do with photography was in his eyes, and that was enough reassurance for me.

"When a guy says 'just let it happen' that's usually not a good thing. Especially if you've been in his bed." A smug smile spread across my face. He stopped and gave me a look that could kill, but I knew it was a joke. Lately we hadn't had a serious moment between us in a few days. It had been all jokes and sarcasm. Probably because we were avoiding having the talk that we both knew we needed to have.

"Oh look. We're here." He replied with no expression. I hoped that he was jokingly doing that.

"And?" I looked around to see that we were in front of an old abandoned building. It was lonely, rusted, with a few broken windows that shielded the inside from the cold. Unloved, abused, but it was still standing. The door was a light shade of wood, bleached from years in the sun without the proper care. Tragically beautiful. I kept that in my head to write in my notebook later on.

"Don't you see it? This is perfect." His camera lifted, and I heard a click of a picture.

"Perfect for what?" I asked, trying to put the pieces together, but they weren't quite fitting.

"For everything. I mean look, it's a metaphor of our lives. Of us. It's... it's just perfect." He smiled at me before walking all around the building, stopping to take pictures at all different angles. I followed him aimlessly, seeing what he saw in the building, but failing to see how it connected to any sort of art besides words.

"So we just came here to take pictures and then go home?" People's minds often confused me, especially his.

"Well, yes and no. My photography teacher asked me if I wanted to do extra 'assignments' outside of class, and of course I said yes, so he told me to find something that made me think and to take pictures of it, and well, the thing that makes me think is you. So I was wondering if I could take pictures of you." He rubbed the back of his neck and waited for my response.

"No. I don't get my picture taken. Sorry, but no."

"Rosemary, I know that you don't like getting your picture taken, but I also know that you like having adventures and doing things in a way that no one else does them. That's why you make me think. See, I could stand here and take pictures of this building all day, because it makes me think. But the thing is it makes me think about you. You're the person that keeps me on my toes, always expecting something to happen, and something always does. Weather it's a kiss or traingazing, there's always an adventure with you. So please, let me return the favour. Let me take you on an adventure or my own."

I didn't know what to say. He always sent me mixed messages, and that was so frustrating. I was able to read everything about a person, but when it came to him, I had no clue.

"So this is an adventure?" I asked him, leaning against the wall and biting my lip.

"Well if you stand still for a second, then yes." He pointed his camera towards me, and waited for me to confirm that it was okay. I waved him on with a dismissive yet sarcastic hand, and then I heard a click.

"You good?" I asked, slightly uncomfortable about him taking pictures of me that he was going to show to someone that I didn't know. But then again, we were on an adventure, and every adventure had to have at least some level of anxiety with it.

"I like that one." He smiled. "Just walk around normally and I'll take some pictures."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Was he stupid? I was not a model, and this was anything but normal for me.

"Well you just put one foot in front of the other and-"

"Shut up. Just don't expect this to be normal, and definitely don't expect any good pictures." I snarled and started to walk away from him.

So we spent the rest of the time like that. Me walking aimlessly around the abandoned street and him telling me to stand still every once in a while. After a while I even started to enjoy myself.

No one had ever wanted to make me a memory. He wanted to take pictures of me that could last longer than I did. He wanted to make something that we could remember this day by, that he could remember me by, and that seemed special. It was stupid to think of it as special, but that's what I thought.

After hours of doing that, we ended up sitting on a bench together taking in the day in the cold Maine air.

"It's nice out here, you know? It's like you don't have to worry about anything." Cole breathed as steam came out of his mouth, looking more like smoke than anything.

"Yeah. I don't even know where we are honestly." I looked around, seeing nothing but snow and some buildings here and there. Nothing particularly beautiful or anything, just something to look at. But then again it had a beauty of its own, not being obviously beautiful.

"Me neither. Hey, speaking of not knowing, I have a question." He was watching the sky, something he did often when he was avoiding something. Even when we first officially met he was looking at the sky.

"And that would be?" I hummed, trying to see what he was seeing.

"What's going on with us?" There was no smoky coloured steam coming out if his mouth, so I figured he was holding his breath.

"I don't know." Finally, I was out of words.

"You don't know?"

"I do not."

"Me neither."

"Should we talk about it?"

"Probably."

"Are we going to?"

"Probably not."

And that was that. We didn't know where we stood, but we both didn't want to talk about it.

"But what was said that night... the night you stayed over..." Cole started.

"What about it?"

"I think it was true."

That's when I started smiling.

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Hi sorry I'm not dead and I hate this chapter but I haven't been feeling great so yeah this was short and bad sorry but that giveaway is still on so when we get to 100k I'll be joking a give away and I'll say the details then but thank you love you all.

-Tj