Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[32]

Diffused sunlight filtered through the canopy of the trees covering the grove of Aparo park, illuminating the two figures sitting on a bench away from the central area of the park.

Stephanie's hair seemed to catch the shades of the sunlight within and Luke couldn't help but steal a glance at her every now and then, listening to what she was telling him about the subjects she was considering to take up when she applied for university.

"I'm not boring you with my rant, am I?" She asked, shaking him out of his thoughts and he smiled, tilting his head and encouraged her to continue.

She took his hand in hers, absentmindedly playing with his slender fingers, tracing the veins that stood out prominently underneath his skin. It had been a week since they had been meeting up on their photography trips and by then, the two had gotten much closer.

Even though both of them hadn't voiced out their feelings to one another, there was an attraction they felt towards each other that made them get closer without even trying. Holding hands, laughing together and gentle glances were rather common in between the two.

For Stephanie, Luke was refreshingly different in every possible way. He had a great sense of humor, he always made her laugh and he valued her a lot and probably that was the thing about him she adored most.

Whereas to Luke, Stephanie was the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on, the only one who he would ever want to be his muse because everything else looked dull in comparison to her, the only one who he felt could understand him for who he was.

At first, Luke had been slightly nervous each time Steph reached out to him but by then he found her little caring gestures comforting, the way she would hold his hand made him feel as if he was finally at the right place with the right person.

Such that as her fingers glided over his palm, he let go of all the worries that were clouding him since the past many days. Just for a short time while he was with her, he could forget about Slade and the threat he was going to be in eventually.

He turned to face her, hazel eyes shining as he spoke, "do you know, I developed all the pictures."

"That's great!" She looked back at him in excitement, "I want to see every single one of them."

"Of course, I made the copies even because a promise is a promise."

She laughed, hand linking through his as she stood up from the bench they were both sitting on, "indeed. Given the fact that you're such a brilliant photographer, I might as well get some pictures where I don't look like a canary that has just stepped out of a tornado."

"I disagree with your comparison," he remarked, "I think you look very pretty all the time."

Green eyes flickered slightly in amusement, "really?"

He retrieved his gaze from her but the smile on his face was the answer she needed right then. "Since there were so many of them, I didn't bring them along. Would you perhaps stop by my place for a while and I will show you all the pictures?"

"Sure," she nodded, her hands gently wrapped around his arm as he led the way.

It wasn't far from Aparo park and soon enough they reached the door of an annexe that was located slightly away from the square. He fished out the keys from his pocket, "Dad is usually very busy in his conferences and I think Cami had to go along with him today too."

"That's okay, I guess."

"Yeah, if Cami was around she would have asked you to stay for dinner and later I would have to tell her if you're my girlfriend or not."