Chasing Sunsets

48

AN: This is a triple update, please read 46 and 47 first

one week later

"Are you ready?" Chase asked from beside me. I looked up at him as he spoke, the smile that was plastered on his face and the excitement that was practically sparking through his skin.

He was about to show me the finished product of our photography project, it was due today. I still hadn't seen it, as he had done the bulk of the work load by himself. I tried to help, of course I had, but he said he wanted it to be a surprise.

"I'm ready," I giggled out, the way he was so genuinely passionate about this was the reason for my smiles today.

Sometimes I was jealous of the way he had found something he loved so much. And, he even had two things to be passionate about. His singing, and his photography.

I didn't have anything that spoke to me like that. I didn't love anything the way Chase loved singing, or taking pictures. My love only resided in people, but maybe that would be enough.

I could love the people around me in a way that made my life worth living, right?

"Okay, close your eyes," Chase instructed me, his dimples showing though his cheeks.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I didn't. I did as he says, closing my eyes and turning my world dark on itself.

I listened to his movements, hearing the thump of the leather binder he had been carrying all day land on the table. Next, I heard Chase take a deep breath, as if we was nervous to show me the project.

I wanted to shake my head at him. Didn't he understand? He had no reason to be nervous around me, not anymore. All the secrets were let out, and we were only left with the solid understanding that we were equally and unmistakably, crazy about each other.

"Okay," Chase said softly, and I felt his fingers graze my face, just beside my right eye. The feeling was like feathers, tickling me in the best way.

I opened my eyes slowly, pointing them down at the table in front of us. I blinked, allowing my eyes to focus in their newly lightened surroundings.

The leather book lay open in front of me, and I was stunned as I took in the single picture displayed on the first page. My fingers dropped down on it, tracing the outline of my body as I devoured every detail.

It was the first picture we had taken. On the beach, in the secluded cove that Chase had led me to. I was sitting in the water, my red dress swirling around me. I looked into the distance, there were tears running down my face that mixed with the black makeup on my skin. I could practically feel the emotion coming off the picture, and it wasn't just because I had lived it.

My face was about to crumble, the simple pain radiating off me. Heartbreak. It was the day I found out Evan had been cheating on me. It seemed like years ago, instead of only months.

I titled my head as I flipped to the next page, the change of emotions almost startling me.

I laid in bed, my hair wild around me and my face free of makeup. The orange glow of the sun was behind me, the beautiful sunrise clear through my window. It was the first time Chase and I slept in the same bed, the day he called me beautiful. A small smile was on my lips, my cheeks faintly pink. But the real emotion was in my eyes- and I don't have a word for it. I could only describe it as the embodiment of butterflies.