Blair Silver

Part 17: Chapters

I walk through the doors to Chapters, breathing in the scent of paper and coffee. It feels like comfort, happiness, sanctuary, home, more than any other place I've been to. Including the house I actually live in. Books have that effect on me.

I notice Blair smiling (with dimples) at me out of the corner of my eye and promptly blush. I can't remember to be shy/embarrassed for long, though, because there are books. Everywhere.

Starting at the display nearest to the doors, I make my way around it, reading the back of every book that looks interesting, before moving on to the closest shelf. I go down it, stopping at a few points, before reaching the end and checking out the books on the end of the shelves, oohing and ahhing at the artistic cover of this book and that author's latest release and oh my goodness THAT BOOK HAS A SEQUEL NOW???

I try to check myself at least a bit, since I don't want Blair to think I'm some kind of book fanatic, but I kind of am so it's kind of hard. Once I realize he's not distancing himself from me, and he's still smiling at me with dimples and a look of adoration in his eyes, I give up on not looking like a crazy person. If he has a problem with my love of books, then it's not like this relationship would work out once I actually buy a book anyways.

"Oh my gosh look at this person's pen name, that's like, the best, funniest, and worst thing I've ever seen someone call themselves before, all in one," I say, stifling giggles as I point the name out to Blair. The corner of his mouth quirks up.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

I grin up at him. "You look like you're closer to laughing."

He smiles down at me, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. "Only because you are."

I blush, averting my gaze. My eyes land on a book at the bottom of the shelf beside me, and I perk up a little, kneeling to get a better look.

I inspect the front cover for a moment or two before gingerly plucking it off the shelf and turning it over, doing my best not to get fingerprints on the hardcover sleeve. Without my permission, my eyes skim over the paragraph, despite my attempts to read the top sentence fully first. That only happens after my initial once-over is complete, at which point I read the whole thing very intently, soaking up every word like it's precious.

With some hesitancy, I return the book to the shelf, before standing back up. Blair is smiling at me, one eyebrow raised. "Is that it?"

I blush a little. "I want to keep looking."

So we do. We spend almost two hours in the bookstore, with me somehow ending back up at that one particular book every twenty minutes, sometimes passing right by, sometimes looking at the books around it, and sometimes (usually) re-reading the back cover and reviews and admiring the cover. When I return to it for the fifth time, carefully picking it up and just staring at the cover, smiling inadvertently, I don't put it back on the shelf. Blair is smiling at me knowingly as I turn back to him, an uncontrollable smile on my face.

"You're getting that one?"

I nod, blushing. He slides an arm around my waist as we start towards the checkout, until I realize that my money is in my backpack, which I left in Blair's car. I stop walking, looking up at him. "Wait, I left my money in my backpack."

He waves a hand. "It's fine. I'll buy it for you."

I give him an imploring look. "No, you don't need to do that..."

He cups my cheek tenderly. "I want to."

"But I feel bad that you keep buying things for me."