CHAPTER 4
"Can I help you?" She asked, ignorant of the underlying malice in his tone.
"Sorry, just... beautiful, just beautiful."
"Oh, thanks! It's been a slow start but-"
"I wasn't talking about the painting," he began, holding out his hand for her to shake, "I'm-"
Before he could speak his name, Steven came rushing around the corner to her side.
"Hey, Y/N, you ready to go, yeah?" He said with false calmness as his eyes darted to the stranger unsubtly.
The man appeared unaffected by Steven's appearance ostensibly but his hand clenched imperceptibly around his cane.
"I was just leaving. I can't wait to see the finished product. You are so talented..." He looked over the lines of the work in progress behind the odd duo.
They stood rigidly.
"Talented indeed." He whispered.
She stared straight ahead.
As he left, all they could hear was the faint jangle of glass.
Neither of them dared to move immediately after the mysterious encounter; the inadmissible foreboding stuck them in place like they were just two additions to the pre-existing museum collection.
It was broken as Steven sneezed.
She patted him on the back as they both tried to resist the giggles bubbling up, partly from the massive sneeze and partly from the absurdity of whatever the fuck that man's problem was.
She picked up her phone and keys, opting to leave her overalls at the museum for the next day of painting.
"Wanna get some takeaway?" Steven asked as they meandered down the steps at the entrance.
The sky was orange as the sun began to set. Golden hour.
Y/N looked over at the man beside her. His curls shone and his skin glowed. He fidgeted with those darn sleeves.
He looked back at her when she didn't answer only to be met with her hooded stare.
Before he even got the chance to turn red, she turned away and mumbled an affirmative.
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The pair ended up sat on a bench overlooking the Thames with some unbranded and extremely greasy pizza between them. Delicious.
It was on the cusp of darkness by that point and as a lull in conversation hit, her thoughts wandered back to the long-haired man and his odd familiarity...
She reached into the box betwixt them to grab the last slice, bumping his hand in the process.
"You can have it." She whispered.
"But-"
"I'm full up... I am! Honestly!" She crossed her legs and looked out at the river.
"I'm supposed to be looking after you, though."
"You have. This is my payment. Pizza." She chuckled.
She didn't see him tear the slice into two, putting the crust on her side of the box.
"Oi."
She noticed his cheeky smirk as he licked remnants from his fingers.
"How did you-" She started, when she saw he'd left her the crust.
"You said about it when we were in your flat before. You love crusts." He squinted playfully as he elongated the word 'love' in mimicry.
Her breath caught in her throat. He remembered another random insignificant detail like that?
She wondered what else he observed when he was around her. God, she was about to start overthinking.
"You're one of a kind, Steven."
"Likewise, madam."
They continued to just sit in the breeze until darkness fully encapsulated them.
"We should head back."
"Yeah, uh, yeah, you're right. Getting a bit chilly brrr." He rubbed his hands up and down his arms to emphasise his point.
"You're so cute." She laughed, walking ahead in the direction of their building.
His eyes widened and he raced to catch up with her.
She was quicker than he thought and he was slightly out of breath when he, once again, reached her side.
"You think I'm cute?" He said more as a statement than a question.
She simply took his hand in hers as an answer. He held onto her tightly like he wanted to make sure it was happening.
To reassure him, she rested her head on his shoulder, indulging herself until inevitably Marc would separate her from Steven.
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Once in their building, the pair opted to take the stairs instead of the lift... if only to prolong this moment of comfort.
Looking down the hall, somehow they both sensed something was wrong. His flat seemed fine. Hers?
The lights flickered as they poked their heads round the somehow even more broken door.
Her belongings were strewn all over the place, though immediately she figured out what was missing. Whoever they were, they'd been looking for something.
She sucked in a breath as she sprinted and leapt over the mess, yanking open the bottom drawer of her bed stand.
Steven watched from the doorway and she frantically rummaged through a disconnected collection of knick-knacks until she bowed her head in resignation.
It was gone.
Sobs involuntarily racked her body as she collapsed into an exhausted heap, her forehead pressed against the lip of the pulled-out drawer.
He was unsure what she had lost but now was not the time to ask. He slipped up behind her and sat down with his legs spread wide.
Slowly leaning forward, he wrapped his arms around her torso and moved her towards him until her back hit his chest, just like on the bus.
She plonked in between his legs and he rested his chin on her shoulder, the cool of his cheek against her own grounded her.
Y/N gripped onto the solid arms coiled around her stomach as he rocked her from side to side and quieted her cries.
Eventually, the painter was dozing in his embrace with nothing but the disarray and the tear tracks as silent reminders of the... yet again... ruined evening,
He managed to manoeuvre himself from under her and lifted her up gently, taking a selfish moment to admire her temporary peace.
Opening his door was a struggle to say the least... but he managed it.
After placing her onto the mattress, he slid off her shoes and wiped her face lightly with a cloth from his bathroom.
He dragged his desk chair over to his three-way mirror.
"What the hell happened?"