My back rests against the chair as I stare right back at the man in front of me. That beautiful, insanely kind man. Half a smile is on my flushed face, ensuring me that his simple words does impact me.
Both of our eyes are focused on each other, not even blinking for once. The heart of mine is beating in adoration and complete love for that man, and I don't want it beating for any other reason.
"Thank you." I barely whisper as my smile stretches a bit, and my eyes stay focusing on his beautiful ones.
The smiles widens on his face as he releases a deep sigh and leans in towards me, before resting his elbow on the table and placing his chin on his palm. All the stress from earlier is gone by now, making me forget about the note and about Master Bradan.
There is nothing new about Louis making me forget everything; it is nothing new about feeling safe and at comfort with him, or whenever I see him. But that is what he did, he managed to capture my heart at ease, he managed to make me smile and happy without doing anything.
He suddenly speaks, a smile still crowning his face, "Are you free to have a little chat?"
I shrug slightly with a smile, and nod, "Sure."
"Okay," he nods, a grin spreading across his face now. "Tell me about you."
I take a deep breath and release a small laugh. I have never imagined that one day this might happen, that I might be sitting so close to the human man that I love, laughing and talking about myself. I have never imagined that he would show any interest in me, but I am more than happy and grateful that he is.
"What do you want to know?" Instead, I ask back.
"Everything?" He says, though it comes out as a question and I guess that is why he laughs and says, "Whatever comes to your mind."
"Well, I'm nineteen years old –" I begin but he cuts me off.
"No, I want to know what do you like, what you don't, things you do. These kind of stuff." He speaks kindly, his words laced with gentleness and curiosity.
"Ah, okay," I let out a breathy laugh before speaking again. "Well, I like reading books for starters."
"What kind of books?" He asks, actually interested.
"All type of books," I reply honestly. "As long as the book is interesting, and somehow realistic."
"So, you don't like fiction?" He raises his eyebrows is surprise.
"I don't mind fiction as long as it's basic. Like, not exaggerating fiction." I try to explain and he nods.
"Good. I actually don't like fiction at all. I hate it." He scrunches his nose up in disgust.
"How could you?" I laugh a little. "Everyone needs a little bit of fiction in their life."
He smiles softly at me, looking like he is somehow lost as he says, "I had my fair share of fiction."
I furrow my eyebrows a little, though the smile on my face keeps its place. Deciding that I should turn the tables, I ask, "What about you? What do you like?"
"Drawing," He answers instantly.
"I should have known." I laugh. Of course he likes to draw; he is a tattoo artist for Lyara's sake!
"What else do you like?" He continues asking.
I think for a little before answering, "I really love walking, and I really hate closed places."
"I will not agree with the walking thing because honestly, I can't walk two miles," he rolls his eyes and I laugh. "However, I absolutely loathe closed places, too."
"Is that why you kind of made the parlour's wall out of glass?" I ask in curiosity. I'm grateful that he did. I wouldn't have laid my eyes on him if it weren't for those transparent walls.
"Exactly, so I can feel like I'm not in a really closed place." He nods with a smile.
"I applaud you for doing so," I take a bow with my head. "Great job."
"Why thank you, Tallulah." He laughs and I join him a little.
"How long have you been a tattoo artist?" I ask, genuinely interested in knowing this information.
"Uh, since I was fifteen." He tells me and I raise my eyebrows in shock.
"Wow, you started young." I say and he nods with a smile. "Is that your first tattoo parlour or..?"
"No, I had my first one back in California." He informs me. I heard about California before, though I have never been to it. I have never been to any place out of the village, except the city.
"Oh, that's nice." I smile widely.
"Yeah, I loved it back there." He grins.
"So, what brought you here?" I want to know everything, literally everything.
"Nothing specific, I just wanted to go to a new place." He shrugs casually and I nod.
"Do you like it here better than in California?" I ask him, crossing my arms as I relax my back on the chair.
Something flashes through his eyes, making them glow like magic and dance in happiness. A wide grin spreads across his facial features. He laughs slightly and shakes his head before saying, "Moving here was the best decision I have ever took."
I give him an amused smile before asking, "And why is that?"
"Because I saw you," he smiles before continuing. "I know I'm probably really forward but... It has been a year, four months, one week, and two days since I first saw you at that tree."
My heart literally stops beating, as the smile on my face vanishes from my face. I keep my eyes focused on his blue one, not being able to move them anywhere else. Everything around me moves so incredibly fast that I feel like there is nothing moving around me. How is that even possible?
It has been a little more than a year since I first saw him, too. I have spent my day and night thinking about him, dying to know his name, to hear his voice, dreaming of being close to him. I never thought that it might happen. My heart would ache from the thought of not being able to do so, but I picked up my strength and power and did it, and that is something that I will forever be proud of.
But having him, the man I love, saying those words is something that I cannot believe. He saw me for the first time almost a year ago, and he has been counting the days, and he saw me more than once. He called me beautiful and he kissed me. Is this too good to be true? I'm afraid that something bad might happen, because there is no way I deserve such a beautiful man or beautiful things like these.
I remember when he told me about seeing me a few months ago, and how he only saw me three or four times. It's confusing, but then I remember how nervous he was when he told me that he is not stalking me, so maybe that's why he chose to keep these detailed informations out, so he wouldn't scare me. How ironic.
"Say something?" His plead brings me back to the real situation in front of me. This unbelievable, beautiful situation.
"Do you always see me?" My voice is barely audible as I speak into the silenced air between us.
"Always," he barely smiles before he licks his lips and looks down. "After every midnight, you would sit there staring at the skies or you would play with something on the ground. The yellow light of the street would make your face a little clearer but I never got a clear vision of you. I would only notice your black hair was crowning your face like a damn princess and..." he lets out a breathy laugh before connecting our eyes. "I hated it when your friends would arrive and you would leave, I just... I thought that I wasn't given much time to look at you."
No words are being able to form themselves inside my mind, because in this moment, I am lacking everything. I lack words, movement, and comprehending. I don't know how to feel, or how to react. Everything that I have been dreaming of is coming true day by day, and that scares me. This is more that I have ever dreamed of, this is way more.
The look on Louis' face is indescribable; it is full of hope, fear, and nervousness, making it hard for me to explain his emotions right now. Who am I kidding? I can't even explain my own emotions right now, let alone explain his. I guess they are mixed up in a fucked up way right now. I'm scared yet I'm happy, I'm really nervous yet I feel at peace right now, I feel the love in my body from Louis' confessions, yet they are the reason why I'm feeling the fear inside of me rising.
"And then, you came here in the morning and I... I was shocked," he runs a hand through his hair before continuing. "I was shocked because I never imagined you to be this beautiful. I mean, I knew you were beautiful when I first saw you under this tree, but seeing you in front of me was a different story," he smiles and looks at me, making my heart beats quicken.
"Lou-" I start in a whisper but he cuts me off with a little laugh.
"Tallulah, you couldn't see how bright your blue eyes were. The sun was nothing next to it," he shakes his head before all of a sudden; he takes a hold of my hand tightly and continues. "It gave such a beautiful reflection with your black hair. I... couldn't keep my eyes off of you."
He is saying those words that I have been dying to tell him. My chest is collapsing because of these words and I don't know what to say, I'm speechless because I wasn't prepared for that. In fact, I never thought I would have to prepare for such a thing, ever.
"And when you left, I wanted to engrave your image in my mind. I didn't know if you would ever come back, and I wanted to see you in front of me. Always," The burning inside my eyes because of the upcoming tears is unbearable, but I force myself and push them away. Louis suddenly gets up and extends his hand out for me, and with a smile, he says, "I want to show you something."
Not having the ability to speak, I take a deep breath and nod before placing my hand in his hand, feeling the beautiful tingling in my skin because of it. I smile slightly as I follow Louis. Then everything comes crashing inside my mind, should I tell Louis about everything? Should I tell him that I have spending the last year and more looking at him? Doing nothing but falling in love with him? Should I?
I can't. I can't do any of that, because if I said one part of the truth, I would have to say the other parts of it, and I'm one hundred per cent sure that I'm not ready for those other parts, not even Louis will be. I'm sure. I don't have it in me. I don't have enough strength or courage to tell him who I am and what I am. It will ruin everything, and I don't want that in any way.
Lies ruin, too, Tallulah. My suspicions warn me, but I push that thought far away.
Louis stops in front of a dark brown door with 'Louis' written on it and he looks at me. "This is my private space; this is where I look at you." He says and smiles. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion and follow him inside the room when he opens the door.
When he turns the lights on, I'm greeted by an empty room, literally empty. Except for a wooden desk in the middle, with a small chair next to it and a white chaise lounge. Each wall has countless drawings, drawings that Louis drew, I'm sure. The four walls of the room are covered in every single colour a person can think of. Every damn colour. The floor has a bit of splashes of paint and the desk is a mess. It has a lot of colour pens, water colours, wooden colour pencils and every other type, along with many white empty papers. The room is perfect, I love it.
Louis passes me and walks over to the desk, shuffling between the mess on it before he grabs two papers and turns to look at me, though he keeps the papers behind him as he looks at me and speaks, "I'm sorry if I scared you, I didn't do it on purpose. I just wanted to tell you everything because I don't want to hide anything." His look at me is full of nervousness and fear of him scaring me off because of his confessions.
"You didn't, Louis." I say quietly, with a ghost of a smile on my face.
"Really?" He questions. "You have to tell me if I did, because I'm sorry if I did."
"No, you didn't scare me at all." I let out a breathy laugh as my eyes water.
"Good," he faintly smiles and walks over to me, though he stands behind me, his chest really close to my back though it's not touching it. My breath hitches in my throat and my hands begins to shake slightly as Louis speaks up again, "I drew this after I saw you several times under the tree."
He gives me a drawing and I look more into it. It is a coloured portrait. Alfredo is drawn there to perfection, looking so real because of Louis' skills. I had a sensation that he was good but I never thought he would be that good, he is excellent. Right at the end of the tree, rests a figure in black jeans, a white converse and a dark blue hoodie. My face isn't that clear and by clear I mean, that the face is blurred on purpose, though my hair is drawn beautifully in loose waves that reaches under my breasts a little. This is perfect.
A choked breath finds its way out of my mouth as my eyes, once again, fill up with hot tears. This is beyond imagination. I wish I can explain how it feels like to have something you have always dreamt of coming true, and then you receive even more, way more than what you have asked for that you suddenly start thinking that you don't deserve all of that.
"Louis..."
"Yeah, I know, kind of crazy," he laughs a little before passing me this second paper. "I did this because I couldn't get enough of your eyes."
The other one is also a coloured portrait, though this one only has my face in it. The drawing feels so real because of Louis' skill once again. The strands of my black hair are so visible that it makes it look like it is real, my eyebrow's hair even better. My nose and mouth and rounded face is exactly the same, but what really caught my attention is my eyes, they are wide and blue as a clear ocean, drawn perfectly that I swear I feel like it's looking through my soul and my body.
"This is perfect." I whisper before I place my hand on my mouth that I'm more than sure is hanging open right now.
"Tallulah?" Louis calls before turning me around. "Please tell me that it isn't too much and that I didn't scare you... I just—" He begins talking but I quickly cut him off.
"You didn't scare me," I breathe out as a tear falls on my cheek. "This is beautiful, I... I have never had anyone to do this for me. I... I love it." I assure him before looking at the drawings again.
"Really?" He questions, quietly with a smile on his face.
I sniff and look at him again, laughing slightly. "Really."
"You're so beautiful," he says and I breathlessly laugh. "And I really want to kiss you now."
Hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading and please, don't forget to vote and comment :) x