Chapter 10
A/N: Back at it again with another chapter…Enjoy! Also, just a shout out at the hair stylist. Steffy's hair recently has been killing it. Am I right or am I right?
If there was a place I would go when I needed to escape the drama, the conflict, and just the stress that had become my life, it would be here.
Not just Paris, but Paris painted over by Peter Shay.
There was something indescribable about the gentle brush strokes against the grit and brick of the buildings that was so easy to get lost in. Amongst the skulls, huge dynamic graffiti writing, and sharp contrast, there was a single standout.
An elegant woman clouded in light with a familiar curve of her nose and bottomless brown eyes that you couldn't help but fall into. It felt safe and sheltered under her gaze.
I understood why he'd saved this one for last.
It was easy to see why this one was his favourite.
"Earth to Steffy." He tapped my temple.
"Yeah. Sorry." I blinked my way back to reality. "What were you saying?"
He grinned. "Nothing just thought I'd wake you up. You've been dreaming a long time."
"Yeah." I smiled. "She's really beautiful. You look a lot like her, same nose, same ears."
He glanced at the her, before touching his ears and frowned.
"Are you saying I have tiny ears?" He covered them.
"No." I laughed, pulling his hands down. "Your ears are fine. The perfect size, and if you're still worried, better small than big right?"
He laughed.
"I guess." He chuckled.
"It's a pretty cool place to be." I said.
"Yeah, it is. I didn't used to, but now I come here all the time." He murmured.
"Why didn't you?" I asked. "Used to come here?"
Because as it is right now, it was a beautiful place to be. Serene, but also kind of edgy.
"At first, I'd go everywhere else, to all his other sites except this one. I didn't really want to see her and as time passed, I started to move on with my life. I used to always wake up and my first thought would be about my mom and dad, and eventually and only for a second, I'd forget that it wasn't always just me and Raven, and I felt so guilty that I came here. I've been coming here since."
I wrapped my arm around his elbow, he smiled down at me.
"Last stop on the tour." I said. "We should stick around for a bit."
I pulled him down to sit against the opposite building.
"You know I'm going to miss it here. It's all just so…refreshing." I sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I love LA, but there's just so much less drama here."
He stared down at me. I could feel it even as I played with the dandelion growing from the crack in the base of the building.
"Why do I get the feeling this is more than your letting on?" He frowned. "It can't just be about Liam."
I shrugged.
"You want to know how I know?"
"Sure."
"When you talk about Liam, it's a little sad, nostalgic almost. But you don't get anywhere as tense as you do when you talk about going home. Your shoulders are so high, they're almost up to your ears."
"Yeah, there's just a little more to the whole situation than you know. But hey," I snorted. "You'll get to see it first hand and believe me. There's no better way to see it than front row."
"Okay." He said hesitantly, dragging out the word. "When I'm there I'll definitely take you up on the offer to go surfing."
"Even if Liam has to go with you instead of me? I haven't been surfing in a while."
He shrugged.
"I know it wasn't the best first meeting, but—" He trailed off before shaking his head. "Actually, no but, that's it."
"Yeah." I cringed. "He really doesn't like you."
"Wonder why?" The sarcasm rolled off him. "Could it be that you broke up with him, flew away to Paris and introduced him to your new friend, who just happens to be and look like… well, me?"
He expected the punch that hit his shoulder, a cheeky grin a permanent fixture on his face.
"Ego."
"He still has feelings for you, so I'll let the jealous bravado go." He shrugged.
"Well, I didn't. He'll be nice to you. I promise. "
He shrugged. It didn't seem to matter to him whether Liam was nice or not.
"I wouldn't be nice if I were him. But I am intrigued by all this drama you speak of. I want to see what your like in your environment. Plus, with me, and Raven, hanging around Forrester, it should made for an interesting work day, don't you think?"
Yeah, I bet.
A/N: Anyway, just wanted to post something. It's incredibly short, don't hate me. It's more of a transitioning chapter than anything else, before everybody heads back to LA, and there's everybody else to deal with. Hopefully the show finds a way to really piss me off and light a fire under my butt, because this kind of droll, happy go lucky family trio with Steffy, Liam and Hope, and all that custody stuff with Thorne and Bill has been a major snooze fest, for me at least. Well, besides Steffy being hair goals and just her general being the bigger person, everything else is pretty dull. Hopefully, it switches up soon.
Anyway, until next time… ;-)