Bold Love

Chapter 25 - Late night

Y/N's POV

With a quiet click she opens the front door, switching the lights on and shutting the door behind me.

I turn to her, fumbling with my fingers, waiting for her to say something. Being in her house makes my heart pound with uneasiness, the walls shielding us from prying eyes, the quietness around the room telling me that we are alone.

Of course, we are, she lives alone but the fact that no one is here to interrupt us is a different kind of feeling.

Ms Hathaway seems to be likewise affected by the new situation, eyes drifting over me, stopping at the coat that is still hanging over my shoulders.

Our gaze meets again, the room slowly filling with tension. She nears herself, hands raising up to my shoulders, my breath catching in my throat, confused eyes staring into hers.

"It's warm enough here. You don't need the coat inside." She explains, pushing the coat over my shoulders and hanging it in the closet beside the door.

I nod. "Alright."

God, get a hold of yourself. She only wanted to help you out of your coat - her coat - and not kiss you.

With a deep breath I turn around, slowly walking to the open room, noticing a fireplace in the corner, a white couch in front of it. Bookshelves with hundreds of books roaming the whole side of the opposite wall, a dark oak desk placed in the middle of the room.

I gulp, the books seeming to grow to the ceiling. "You seriously... You seriously like to read, don't you?"

"A little." She chuckles, finger sliding over the bookshelf. "You don't?"

"As a child but not anymore." I shrug my shoulders. "I think I just lost interest over time, the books in school making me lose the passion in reading."

She hums. "That's too bad. I'll lend you one of my favorites, maybe you'll change your mind."

In response, I smile, nodding in agreement. "I would like that."

Her eyes light up. "Good."

"You can sleep in my bed, no need for you to sleep on the hard couch." She points to the couch in front of the fireplace. "You don't need to wake up with a hangover and back pain."

My heart skips a beat. Her bed.

"I can... can really sleep on-"

Her hard stare makes me shut my mouth, knowing that arguing with her wouldn't bring me anything.

She leads me to her bedroom, following her through the open hallway and up the stairs, mustering the paintings on the wall that catch my attention. She really has taste.

Ms Hathaway stops, looking back at me. "Come with me."

Breaking my gaze on the paintings, I quickly walk up the stairs to her. She opens the door to her room, holding it open for me to step in first.

I step inside, switching the light on. The room is colored in a warm beige, floor-to-ceiling windows giving the appearance of a glass wall, the garden barely visible behind it. The city lights glinting in the night, the lively town still awake even though it's the middle of the night.

"You don't only have an obsession with books, but also with plants. What else do I need to know bout'u?" I point out, eyes gliding over the green plants that are placed on the floor, walls and a few even hanging from the ceiling.

I hear her chuckle behind me. "What can I say? I just like nurturing them, it makes me relax after a stressful day."

"I have other methods to relax, maybe you should try them."