Things we said today (completed)

5

###Lizzie's POV###
     As I started to scan the books in the back section again, scanning for another classic. I heard someone walk up to me, and I turned, hoping it was Paul. Instead, I found the librarian shelving some books, so I moved over. When she left, I heard laughing from behind me. It startled me, and I spun around. Paul was leaning against the bookshelf and chuckling, which made me blush.
    "Paul! Damn you! You scared me!" I scolded, and he just smirked at me. I suddenly found myself lost in his eyes. They were so complex, yet so simple.
    "Would you like to go, M'lady?" He asked, and I nodded. He linked arms with me, and we left the library. We strolled down the street and made our way towards a small coffee shop I had been to many times. Often I would go there to complete my school work when I was in college.
     When we got inside, Paul ordered us drinks and I walked over to the wall. Hanging there were paintings, and I trailed my fingers over each one. They all had their own texture. Some were done quickly, and I could feel the impatient brush strokes, and others weren't. Others were smooth and done carefully to perfection. However, both were equally good, and in my eyes had no more value than the rest.
     Suddenly a hand on my shoulder startled me. I turned to see who it was, and expected to find Paul smirking, but I did not. I saw Paul looking extensively, and truly examining them.
    "Do you like art?" I asked after a while of silence, and it was like he was snapped out of a trance. He turned his attention to me abruptly, and I almost felt bad. He looked so peaceful studying it.
    "Oh, yes," he said simply, as if he was searching for words but couldn't quite reach them.
    "I feel bad," I said, moving my bangs out of my face and behind my ear delicately, "you probably don't get much time to look at art," I said, and he smiled.
   "Yes, art is beautiful, but I look at it all of the time. I see it right now," he said, referring to me and I blushed.
   "I'm hardly art," I said, and he shook his head.
   "That's where you're wrong, love. I think that there is art in everyone and everything. Everything around us is a thing to be looked at, to find the beauty in. You have a lot of beauty that I don't even think you've discovered yet," he said poetically, and I didn't know what to say. I mean, what could I say to that?!
    Luckily, I was saved when the man at the counter called our order. We sat at a small booth and sipped our coffees as we talked the night away. Suddenly, when the conversation died down, I had to say it. I don't know why, but I couldn't stop the words from escaping my lips.
    "Paul, I owe you an apology," I said timidly, and he raised an eyebrow as if to say go on, "I hated you when we met at that library. I've never been the girl to go with the trends, and I hate pop culture. I had actually just gotten into a fight with my best friend because I said I hated you and she loves you. I even hate myself now for liking you. I think it's because I know you'll break my heart in the end, and I'm trying to protect myself. So I'm sorry," I said quickly, and I took a deep breath after saying all of that. He looked at me as if he was studying me for a few moments before answering.
     "I hated you too," he said quietly, and I tilted my head at him, and he continued, "I hated you because you were the one girl that's ever truly caught my eye, and you had no interest. I couldn't impress you. And you're so damn interesting, it's hard to compare to that. Everything you say is insightful," he said dramatically, and I was taken back. I was shocked because in reality, I wanted to sit here and listen to him talk forever, and there would still be more to learn about him. I was just a normal person, there wasn't anything truly special about me.
     "Paul, that's ridiculous. With all of the things you've seen, places you've been, people you've spoken to, I would die to hear about you. What's so appealing about me?" I asked, and he looked at me as id I was oblivious to the most obvious thing in the world.
    "Liz, the way you touched those paintings back there and really felt them instead of seeing them, that's so interesting to me. I've been here dozens of times and never studied them like that. The way you brush your bangs out of your face when your nervous intrigues me. I just want to get to know you. Everyone gets to read about me, and I don't get to decide how they perceive me. Much like how you hated me when you'd never met me before, many are like that. Or people think they know everything about me from reading the tabloids. I'm a lot more than my fame, and I think you can finally see that, you'd be the first," he said, and I thought about this. I truly felt bad for him because his whole life was on display. And I liked that he made me feel special in ways no one had before.
     "Paul, I don't know what to say," I said shyly, and it was true. I was always bad in these situations, and when I spoke I usually ruined the moment.
    Suddenly he got on one knee, and I stared at him as if he was crazy. "Will you, Lizzie, make me the happiest man in the world and commit to a second date with me?" He asked, and I glared at him.
    "Paul! You bastard! You scared me," I said, and he smiled but remained on one knee, "you aren't going to get up until I say yes, are you?" I said, and he shook his head, "fine then. Yes," I said, and he got up.
    "She said yes everyone!" He shouted, but no one was in the shop but the barista, who stared at us as if we were being a nuisance.
    "Come on, you big idiot," I said, and we left hand in hand. That's when I realized that if he wanted to, he could truly break my heart, and that is a very scary thought.
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Well this sets the record for longest chapter I have ever written. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!