I glared at him as he walked through the dimly lit and open train station, our tickets in his hand. "You are out of your mind if you think I'm going to Paris with you."
He briefly turned his head towards me but continued in his stride, the poor lighting above making his features look darker, more tired. I tried my best to keep his pace and ignore the occasional person walking past and looking at us curiously.
"You're walking next to me aren't you?", I didn't have to look at him to know he was smirking. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance but kept my gaze focused on the train coming closer and closer to our stop. The rest of the city just visible behind it though it was slowly becoming too dark to see much of anything clearly. Paris with Descamps this late at night, how I let him talk me into this I don't know.
One second I was working, wiping down the glass and the next Descamps was sitting there waiting for my shift to end. Then he was dragging me to the train station, buying the tickets without bothering to mention what his plan was.
"It's an hour train ride and it's already eight, you do know I can't be out all night right?" I huffed out in annoyance before sitting down next to him on the cheap plastic seats of the train. No one bothered to look at us, each one of the passengers too busy getting on or off the train to care.
Descamps slouched back in the seat and shook his head, "Break the rules for tonight."
The night air bit at my exposed legs as soon as the train doors opened, the people inside that had mostly stuck to their newspapers flooded out. Descamps stood and lightly pushed me out in front of him until we finally made our way out of the crowded train station.
I glanced around the clean and beautifully constructed train station,"What could all these people be doing so late?"
People bustled along the sidewalks right past us like we didn't even exist, their footsteps echoing against the stone as they hurried about their evening errands. The whir of a passing bicycle and the distant strains of jazz music drifted through the air, emanating from nearby cafes and nightclubs.
"You'll see, Paris is so different. Everything is open until morning and no one cares what you do as long as you're quiet about it"
I felt his hand grab onto him and tried my best to ignore the pleasant and familiar warmth it brought with it, "So what are we doing here?"
He shrugged, "Whatever we want. No one here knows us, you don't have to pretend to hate me" Descamps finished with a teasing lilt to his tone. A small smile tugged at my lips much to my dismay and instead of meeting his gaze, I looked away and the tall buildings around us.
I turned my head back to him, "I'm not pretending."
"Come on, don't lie" He smirked, he saw right through my teasing. As much as I hated him at times, I knew deep down how much I liked him. He just understood me, everything about me he knew without me having to express it.
Orange light from the street lamps above us shone down, making his brown hair seem reddish. I stared, he never wanted me to be anyone else. He saw me be rude, selfish, cheat, lie and he didn't care. The eyelashes above his brown eye fluttered lightly, he always somehow knew I never meant any of it.
I swallowed the nervous lump forming in my throat, "Take me somewhere exciting, I didn't ride a train next to sweaty you just so we could stand on a street."
"You're so impatient, the city is alive around us" He replied, a slight chuckle leaving his mouth afterwards, he pulled my arm and suddenly we were joined in with the scattered crowd of people walking.
The buildings here were all several stories high, windows accompanied with iron balconies. Bakeries advertised their bread every few blocks, a few clubs had music drifting out of the open doors, some school children ran passed people laughing and shouting profanities.
Despite all the excitement going on around us, I was focused on the boy next to me. He was still holding onto my hand, his grip tight but not too tight, his stare focused on the streets around us as he led us to an unknown location. A few passerby's glanced over at his eye patch but it never once deterred him, he just kept looking ahead.
"You have so many beauty marks" I said without any thought, he glanced back at me and laughed, his stride never falling.
"I guess I am just so beautiful."
I rolled my eyes and I knew he saw by his laugh and his shoulder bumping into mine. I just hoped he didn't see the uncontrollable smile afterwards.
After more talking, we finally reached a destination. An old building just on the corner of a street, light jazz music trailed out of the cracks. He pushed through the doors, subsequently dragging me a long with him until we reached another door, this time when we went through my eyes widened.
It was a dimly lit room, the light came from old chandeliers above our heads. There was a stage, for now empty though the spotlights on it implied it wouldn't remain that way for very long and tables littered across the large space.
Each one nearly full.
"Don't get lost" Descamps whispered, leaning down to meet my ear before he shot his head back up and began walking through the crowded space. Waiters stepped out of the way with a polite nod before we reached what must have been the last empty table.
Descamps pulled out the red satin chair and I sat, looking at him skeptically as he took his seat right next to mine. The soft sound of jazz echoed off the walls in the background, Descamps smirked and stretched his arm out to rest on the back of my chair.
I made a show of rolling my eyes though I leaned closer in to his warm jacket.
"What is this place?"
Descamps took the two glasses from the waiter, some kind of wine lay in them, "Jazz club, they have these dancers dressed from the 20's preforming tonight. I knew I had to take you when I heard, you know everything about history."
I gave him a sarcastic smile, taking my glass from his outstretched hand, "Just because I know more than you doesn't mean I know everything."
"It must, I'm already so close to being all knowing."
"You're such a liar" I retorted, sitting a little closer to him. It must have looked a little funny for anyone who really knew us if they saw, me halfway off my seat just to be closer to his extended arm and him looking down at me with that fond look in his eye.
His smirk widened, "You must like liars then."
"Paris made you a playboy."
"No no no, I was always like this. I just had to be careful not to scare you off" As he spoke, he looked back up to the stage before returning his eyes to mine, that annoying smirk there.
It was my turn to look away, I crossed my arms definitely and stared off at the other people sitting around waiting, "It didn't work, you had to kidnap me from work to come here with you."
There were quite a few older people here, grey and white hair popping up above the nice glass circular tables. Of course, young people had also entered and I couldn't help but wish we could join in with one of the various groups of friends all laughing and waiting.
After a swig of his wine, Descamps replied with his usual arrogance,"In the morning you'll be glad you did."
"Shut up."
"You know I'm right." I bit my tongue, hesitating for a moment. I was beginning to feel so disingenuous, like an actor that should be up on that stage. I bit back with playful and rude remarks but we both knew they were fruitless attempts to ignore the ever growing tension between us.
I clicked my tongue and looked back at him, "This is the one time I'll ever admit that."
The music had gotten louder and with a noisy shift in the tempo, a long row of line dancers broke out across the stage. Silver and gold Fringe dresses made the light reflect off of them, shining instead on various members in the audience. The women's arms sway gracefully in the air, highlighting the multiple instruments playing together. Their bodies swayed with infectious enthusiasm, I couldn't help but be entranced.
I didn't notice Descamps staring at me instead of the dance routine.
After about ten minutes of dancing, they took a bow and everyone applauded and to my shock, they were quickly replaced with the next act. An older gentleman with a large mustache came on next, a comedian.
Descamps leaned in to me and whispered teasingly, "Let me know when you want to go, I know you're probably not used to staying up so late."
I moved my head back to whisper in his own ear, "I'll stay up just so I can be distracted from you."
He laughed, eyes crinkling slightly at the edges with his smile. To my secret delight, he didn't move away, instead we sat much closer together. I was fully tucked in under his arm, pressed up on the side of his ribs with my legs against his.
The old man's voice completely failed to reach my ears, my eyes remained trained instead on Descamps and I's legs curled into one another. Laughter from the audience didn't mean anything to me, instead my ears only seemed to pick up on the light chuckles coming from the mouth mere inches away from my head.
I smiled a little at the vibrating feeling coming from his chest as a result, he was almost like a cat. A very mean, grumpy, aloof cat.
Loud applause from the audience finally had me looking up and I instinctively began clapping along with Descamps, his grin wide as he whooped loudly.
"What a man!" Descamps laughed, taking his outstretched arm and quickly rubbing my shoulder with his hand. I rolled my eyes as a result but smiled too, nodding. With my eyes on him, the thought passed through my mind, "What a man indeed."
It was when a Mime stepped out onto the stage that I tugged Descamps closer, "Let's go."
He laughed softly and tilted his head slightly before softly muttering, "Afraid?"
"No but can you honestly tell me Mimes are entertaining?" I said firmly, taking one last drink of the wine before setting the glass back down and looking at him cheekily.
He licked his lips in an amused fashion as he stood, "You are very irritable lately."
I stood too, ignoring his hand holding onto my elbow to help me stand,"It's because I'm forced to be around you all the time."
Descamps shook his head and together we made our way back out for the crowded club, the audience still focused on the mime.
We pushed through the doors and finally felt the cold night air instead of the somewhat stuffy warm air from inside the club. The night had progressed significantly since we had entered the club, now the sun had long since set and the warm weather from the day was now a slight chill.
"It's late" I said, as we walked away, Descamps quietly hummed along with the sound of piano and trumpet and instruments I couldn't decipher if I tried.
He nodded and hummed in amusement at his own sarcasm, "It is, you always amaze me with your observation skills."
"You are so bothersome" I retorted.
A small group of teenagers passed us and Descamps waited a moment before replying, "You sound so nerdy."
"I'm going to find the catacombs and lock you inside." I said it a little smugly though the smile on my face was too strong for me to hide. Lately when around him I couldn't pretend to hate him like I used to, it made my head hurt with confusion.
He snickered, "I'll pull you in after me, then we'll both be stuck together."
"So romantic, maybe if I'm lucky the rats will eat me" I said sarcastically. Descamps shook his head in amusement and pulled me along with him.
We walked more and more, my feet ached slightly at the feeling of the hard pavement under my shoes. Descamps and I talked about school, his friends, food, homework and everything we could think of just to kill the time.
Finally we reached the destination and I smiled a little at the sight. It was an overpoweringly large statue of a man on top of a horse, a green metal causing the light around it to illuminate its features.
"Marshal Joseph Joffre."
We both remained silent as we stared at in. In the day time, the large empty space around it must have been overflowing with tourists but here at night, it was just us. A peaceful statue in a quiet part of the city. After a while there, Descamps led me once again through the city.
Hours passed as did the multiple parks we visited and the cafe Descamps burned his tongue at on black coffee. Now though we were back to where we had started, the train station.
It was far more empty than before, we sat close together on the stone bench waiting for the train to arrive so we could finally return. One last glance at his side profile and I bravely rested my head on his shoulder, the smell of his familiar cologne easing all of the turmoil I had been feeling. I smiled a little at the feeling of his shoulder dropping slightly to make it easier for me.
In this city, we were free. We were just two young students together having a night out. No one knew the horrible things we'd said or thought, no one knew our slowly crumbling reputations. I think we were beginning to forget them too.
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AHHH! A late update!! So very hectic with vacations but hopefully I have more time now that we're back <3 <3 <3 thank you for all your sweet comments and votes