Moonlight .:Norman Reedus:.

Chapter 1

"Love knows no reasons, love knows no lies. Love defies all reasons, love has no eyes. But love is not blind, love sees but doesn't mind." -Hemant Kumar.

***

I set down the messy brush onto the painting table. I took a step back and admired at what I had created.

A painting of a moon, illumining the forest that was underneath it. The black midnight sky, decorated with a few light specks of white paint, created the shining stars. The moon had light grey craters on its surface making it stand out.

I let out a deep breath and grabbed a rag to clean up my hands. My hands were stained from the oil paint and it would take a few days for the paint to come off. I sighed, already deciding where I was going to eat for the night. I grabbed my phone, no new messages, no new notifications, it was better like that anyway. No distractions from people.

I grabbed a coat from my messy room, brought along my bag and made my way downstairs from my luxurious apartment.

The New York City air bit my face with its cold grasps, its black starless sky engulfing the city. Snow had fallen last night, the evidence left behind on the edges of the sidewalks. I shivered and felt my finger tips begin to freeze from the weather. I quickly rubbed them together in order to warm them and continued to walk towards my favorite restaurant.

When I finally got to the entrance, I noticed it was busy today. I felt uncomfortable when it had busy days, it was rare but it still bothered me. One of the reasons of why I liked the restaurant, there were hardly customers, but enough to keep the business going.

I entered the restaurant, pulling my hood down so the wind wouldn't expose me. I took a seat on the bar, ordering my food silently. The woman, Edna, who was like a mother figure to me, always took my order. She knew what and what I liked, she basically knew everybody's orders without having to ask them. Well, the ones that came often.

"Having a nice night, sweetie?" Edna asked. Her face filled with wrinkles of age, she was only 54, but she looked much older. She had dark auburn hair, that had several occasional grey streaks, reaching her mid back and she was a petite size.

"Whatever you call nice," I said mumbling. I got out my book that I had taken to read for the night.

"C'mon, you're 25, you need to be living your life, " Edna said, pouring some coffee for me. I nodded my head. "What book is it this time?"

"I am living my life," I said quietly. "I live in a good apartment, making some really good money. Better than my family." I sipped the warm coffee. "Oh, and the book is Asylum."

"I guess you can consider that living. I meant, maybe, find yourself some man. Let's see who gets to be the lucky one for you," she said and smiled. "Don't get too carried away with that book." She flashed a small smile and went to attend another customer.

I sighed and continued to wait for my meal. While I waited, I began to read my place in the book. I heard a chair scrapped beside me and turned to find the source of the noise.

I turned around to see a man. He was wearing a dark navy coat, with glossy dark buttons, and was wearing dark jeans. I studied his face, he had dark short hair and a small scruff around his mouth and chin, making it look good on him. He wore dark glasses, which framed his chiseled cheeks perfectly. Weird, I thought, it's nighttime, who would be wearing shades?

"Do you need anything, sweetie?" Edna asked walking over to him. He nodded in a quiet polite manner and got to work.

In all the time I have been coming here, I haven't ever noticed this man. He was silent, kept to himself and seemed a little mysterious. I noticed one of his knuckles were bruised and there was some dried blood on his lip.

I sipped my coffee and felt it burn my tongue. I slightly flinched, and made sure I didn't catch his attention. I was captivated by the man, even though I didn't even know his name. Once I finished my drink, I kindly asked Edna for more.

"Who is that?" I asked, once she got close enough so I could whisper. I looked towards the man's direction, glancing back and forth so she could get the message.

"Oh, just one of our regular customers," she said hinting at something. One of her eyebrows lifted, clearly she knew something I didn't. I stared into her dark grey eyes, not quite understanding what she was trying to hint at.

"Since when?" I asked, trying to get more information out of her and to make her stop looking at me like that.

"For a very long time," she replied vaguely and put down my now filled mug. I looked down and fiddled with the pages in my book. I examined my stained fingers.

"Everything going well?" I heard Edna ask the man. He grunted in response, seeming in a bad mood.

"Here you go, sweetie." Edna set down my plate. I gave her a small smile before looking for some utensils to eat with.

"Thank you," I grabbed a small napkin while staring at the man from the corner of my eyes. I was too busy looking at my book and trying to ignore the people around me when I felt someone's fingers brush up against mine. I turned around to see the man with the dark shades.

"Oh, is that yours?" I asked, feeling my cheeks warm. I didn't know what got in to me to blush at this stranger.

"You can have it," he said with his sexy husky voice. His voice made me want to melt into his arms. Oh boy, I felt myself getting attracted towards him.

"Thank you," I said quietly and gently grabbed it from his light grasp. He grunted and looked around for another napkin to grab.

I ate in silence, sitting up straight and reading my book. From time to time, I would feel someone watching me, I would glance up to see the man with his head turned in another direction. I blushed at my foolishness, how could I think he would notice someone like me?

I noticed that he was done with his meal, and he seemed to be waiting for someone. I finished my food and waited for Edna to bring me a check.

"You leaving so soon?" Edna asked with concern in her grey eyes. She handed me the paper.

"What do you mean?" I asked signing the check. "I usually spend about this much time here."

"Well, to me it felt pretty quick." She smiled and grabbed the check from me. I nodded and began to pack up my stuff.

I bumped into my book onto the chair, making it fall to the ground with a thump and noticed several people turn to look at me. I blushed slightly and was about to bend over to pick it up when the man, with the shades which made his face seemed perfect, beat me to it and I felt myself blush even more.

"You dropped this," he said in his husky voice. I felt myself melt inside.

"Uh, thank you," I replied nervously, and weakly grabbed the book from his hand. My fingers brushed on his rough skin, my fingertips tingled from the contact.

"You're welcome," he said roughly and proceeded to stand there looking over at me. I blushed ferociously and put the book in my small bag.

I gave him a small smile before leaving the restaurant. When the cold air hit my skin, I didn't notice how warm my face was. I sighed, even more embarrassed, I was probably as red as a tomato when I was near him.

What had gotten into me?