Never Say Never - 04 - An Artist
Elena sighed as she stepped out of the shower, refreshed after the earlier outburst and breakdown. I'm glad he wasn't an ass about it; he really was being a gentleman. I mean, he took me here last night when I got hammered, took care of me, gave me his bed while he slept in a chair, made me breakfast and on top of all that he was comforting me when I broke down. I'm going to have to find a way to thank him for this later.
She dried herself off and ran a hand through her locks of wet golden hair, shaking them slightly. She wrapped the towel around herself, finding it stopped at her mid-thigh, just below her butt at the back and held snug around her chest.
She took a deep breath of the warm air in the bathroom and looked at the ground near the sink, expecting there to be closed there like at her own place. The only problem was – there were none. There was just the dress she'd taken off and her undergarments from earlier. 'I'll put the clothes on the bed for when you're done yo' Reno's words echoed in her mind from earlier.
"Oh the son of a bitch! He knew I wouldn't think of this because I was distracted! Now I'm gonna have to walk out of here to his room wearing nothing but this damned towel!" Elena whispered angrily and she could already see the smirk that was gonna be plastered on his face when she did.
She sighed, clenched her fists around the towel at the top and held it to her tightly before opening the bathroom door.
Sure enough, Reno sat on the couch; glancing away from the TV he had probably just turned on to see Elena. The only thing Elena didn't expect however, was the look of shock on Reno's face when he saw her. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened seeing the towel fitting her so short.
"Oh don't give me that look you fucking pervert, I know you planned this," Elena spat and he regained his trademark smirk.
"Maybe…," he chuckled slightly, making Elena glare even more and yet she flushed completely at the look his eyes gave her.
"Um…are the clothes in your room like you said?" she asked a little more nervously than she had wanted.
"Yup," Reno nodded, still smirking.
"Alright then, I'm going to get changed," Elena announced, walking off towards his bedroom.
"You sure you wanna?" he added playfully and she emitted a high-pitched shriek of annoyance and embarrassment, grabbing the seat cushion of bedroom chair and chucking it at him. He thankfully ducked just in time to save himself as Elena slammed the bedroom door shut.
"Too bad…," Reno commented to himself before going back to watching TV. He froze, realizing what he had just thought and shook his head, getting the thoughts to leave, only for them to be replaced by the little event between himself and Elena the previous night. The event which he knew happened, but he wasn't sure if she knew
God, sometimes he can be so goddamn infuriating! Elena ranted mentally as she slammed the door behind her. She spotted the neat pile of clothes sitting on the bed and walked over to it, chuckling slightly. He folded them…badly…but he folded them…that's pretty funny.
She dropped the towel and pulled on a pair of loose fitting jeans. She sighed, seeing how long the pant legs were because of the difference in height of about a head between herself and Reno. I'll just roll them up later, she thought as she grabbed the dark red t-shirt.
She pulled it over her head and poked her arms through only to glance sideways at a mirror and sighed angrily, seeing the obscene design on the shirt. "Reno!" she shouted through the door in anger and she distinctly heard laughing on the other end.
"Yeah 'Lena?" he asked with an innocent tone, coming over to the door.
"Did you have to?" she asked heatedly, seeing the words "Fuck Me" reflect in the mirror every time she faced it.
"Sorry 'Lena, couldn't resist," he laughed. "The good shirt is on the chair by the bed, you know, the chair from where you chucked a pillow at me earlier."
Elena snorted slightly and walked over to the chair as she discarded the dark red shirt. She picked up the blue t-shirt instead and pulled it on. As she did, it caught one of her earrings and it fell off, onto the ground.
"Oops," Elena whispered as she bent down to pick it up. It was then that a black notebook caught her attention. She looked around the room (not like anyone was watching) and cautiously reached for the book, picking it up as she stood to her feet.
The cover was entirely black, and had a red phoenix and fox that circled each other etched into its surface. At the bottom in thin golden engraving were the words: "To Reno, from Haley."
"Who's she? And what is this?" Elena asked, keeping her voice low as sat down in the chair, notebook in hand. Knowing that Reno could get fed up of waiting and come in at any minute, she told herself she'd merely skim through it to see what it was.
She flipped it open and did just that, flipping through the pages swiftly. Every page contained a different drawing of a person, place or thing, all of which were crafted with such detail and apparent care. A few things Elena paused to see such as the Shinra Building, Meteor, an image of the Lifestream, a woman's shadow sitting on a Mustang and a beautiful sunset against waves and sand. It's…a sketchbook…a sketchbook addressed to Reno…Reno's sketchbook…but that means…he drew these? They're…
Her thoughts were interrupted when an array of red sheets and golden hair was found on the last page. The young woman lay in a beautifully detailed wooden bed with wine red sheets. She was asleep, and some of her blonde hair fell in her face. A black dress was barely visible beneath the sheets as she lay curled up, slightly hugging a pillow. She had a peaceful and angelic look on her face as she slept.
Elena's eyes widened as she looked at the young woman in the picture and gasped, looking up to the bed in front of her, recognizing every detail in the wine red sheets, the Cedar wood bed and even the white walls and ceiling. It's me…last night…Reno…that's why he was sitting there this morning…he drew this…he drew me…, Elena realized.
She jumped and squealed slightly when a banging was heard at the door.
"'Lena will you hurry the hell up? God, why the fuck do women take so long to get dressed all the time?" he asked aloud, sounding slightly annoyed. "Hurry up before my offer to take ya out and brighten your mood dries up, yo!"
"Alright, alright I'm coming!" Elena snapped, closing the book and hesitating before putting it back where she'd found it. I'll try and take a look at it later…wait did I just subliminally say I'll be here later…of course I need to come get my clothes…right…I didn't mean anything else!
She got to the door and opened it swiftly, only to have Reno fall on her. He had still been leaning on the door expecting her to take longer than this and had been caught off guard, resulting in him falling backwards at the loss of his support.
"Nice going Reno," Elena groaned as she lay beneath him on the ground and he muttered to himself.
"Keep groaning and moaning like that and maybe I won't be getting up babe," he laughed and she narrowed her eyes at him.
After their glanced locked for a few seconds, they both simultaneously remembered the little incident the previous night, then their awkward position and then why they were like this before both burst out laughing.
Reno got up and offered a hand to help the blonde up, which she accepted.
"You're sick, you know that? Elena asked, laughing.
"That's what ya love about me right?" he smiled cheekily and she sighed, shaking her head all while smiling and pushing him towards the door.
"Oh be quiet, Mr. Over-Cocky," Elena told him. "Now, where are we going to, per-say, brighten my mood?"
"That's an easy one babe," Reno smirked as he twirled his car keys in hand after locking his door. "The beach."
Lannie: Ok I am so sorry this chapter is so short! I intended to make it longer, but I just can't find anything else to add to it's main subject, so on to writing the next chapter. Things will no loner be delayed, because i finished my exams yesterday!! WHOO SCHOOL"S OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!!!! Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter at the beach (why's Reno bringing her there?) as well as many questions and secrets...:) Oh, and a song-chapter.
P.S. The whole Reno's sketchbook, he's an awesome artist thing was inspired by this fanfiction I read where he was good at drawing but for the life of me, I can't remember who wrote it or where I read it. Anyway R&R!!!!
