Our Safeguard

Chapter 26

i accidentally made last chapter in jerome's pov when it should have been nolan's, so i'm going to write this one and the next in nolan's to get back to the regular pattern

Chapter 26

~Nolan~

       While I was painting in the studio today, Jerome was in our office-slash-lounge area. I didn't know if he was relaxing, studying, decorating it, or whatever. Either way, he had been there the entire time so he didn't see my painting progress.

       Which was probably why he seemed shocked to see the mess I made, even though he should be used to me getting paint everywhere.

       Jerome walked into the main studio where I was. "Hey, I'm about to order food. Anything you..." He stopped himself when he took a look at where I was. He sighed. "It's a good thing you put the painter's cloth on the ground. You got paint everywhere. Did you roll around on the canvas or something?"

       I looked down at the painter's cloth before looking at my clothes. While you could still see some spots where the paint didn't cover, a lot of it was covered my paint. A bit too much, in fact. No matter how many times I got paint on my clothes, I just didn't learn my lesson to pay more attention when I paint.

       I looked back at Jerome. "I can explain."

       "So...?"

       I hesitated, trying to find a good reason why I got pain all over the place. I couldn't think of anything, though. You know, other than the fact that I stay too focused on the canvas to pay attention to anything else around me. That, and I threw paint at the canvas. Of course I was going to miss it.

       "This isn't what it looks like," I said.

       Jerome walked over to me. "Yeah, it looks like you don't pay attention to where the paint goes. Also, why are you acting as if you've been caught doing something illegal?" He looked at the canvas. "Wow. That's... That's so beautiful, Nolan."

       I smiled at Jerome, looking at my painting before looking back at him. "Thanks. I'm glad I'm able to use bigger canvases now that I have the room. There's no way I would be able to make this painting back home without making a mess everywhere."

       "I mean, you technically can," Jerome said. "You know, if you pay attention to where you paint."

       "I do," I said. "I just... I don't exactly use brush strokes the entire time."

       "Meaning...?"

       "I threw paint at the canvas to start off my painting."

       Jerome chuckled. "Of course you did. Well, I'm glad that I was able to get this studio for us if it's able to get you to paint more. And if you do decide to go take art classes in university, this would look great on your portfolio."

       "Mhm."

       "Still deciding if you want to go or not?"

       I nodded. "Of course, I want to go but at the same time, I'm tired of going to school. Too much stress."

       "That's true," Jerome said. "On the bright side, there's barely any of that petty high school drama in university. People just mind their own business to focus on their schooling. I haven't gotten involved in any drama since I started university. Oh, anyway, I came out here because--"

       "You're gay?"

       "Oh, ha ha. Funny joke. No. I came out here because I wanted to know what I should order for dinner. Pizza? Sushi? Anything."

       I thought for a bit, but I could rarely decide what I wanted to eat for dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch. I always found it easier for someone to make the decision for me. Unless I was really craving something, but I wasn't right now.

       Except to have fun with Jerome, but he would probably turn me down. Or just tell me I was cute before ignoring me.

       "Anything's good," I said. "Especially you."

       "Somehow, I both expected that and also didn't expect that. I just can't tell whenever you're going to be horny."

       "Here's a hint. I'm always horny."

       "I can see that. How does pizza sound."

       I smiled at Jerome. "Pizza sounds great."

       "Then I will get some ordered. Just continue doing what you do, getting the paint anywhere but on the canvas."

       Yeah, that probably wasn't going to happen. Besides, why would I want to just constraint myself to getting paint only on the canvas? I didn't like being a perfectionist kind of painter. It made things too boring for me. I just liked seeing where the paint led me, adding any mistakes I made into the painting instead of trying to erase it.

       We always ordered from a pizza place that was close to the studio, so it never took long for the pizza to get here. However, we might have to start ordering from a different pizza place because sure enough, Joel was the delivery guy.

       Once Jerome opened the door to deliver the pizza, Joel said, "Oh. You're here again."

       "Of course I'm here again," Jerome said. "This is my studio."

       "Oh, it's your studio?" Joel asked. "And how on earth did you pull that off?"

       I didn't know if Joel was giving Jerome attitude because he didn't know I was here of because he just didn't care anymore. I hoped it was the latter, but something was telling me that Joel was going to try playing the innocent card and pretend that Jerome was rude to him for no reason.

       "Money," Jerome said. "You know what that is, right? You work for it, then can buy stuff with it?"

       "Or you could rob a bank for it," Joel said. "Seems like something a criminal like you would do."

       "He's not a criminal," I spoke up, closing all my paint bottles so it didn't dry out. "You can stop treating him like one."

       "Oh, Nolan," Joel said. "You're here too." Ah, so it was the former. He thought he could just say whatever he wanted to Jerome and thought that I wouldn't find out about it. If this was the case, I could only imagine how Joel actually treated Jerome when Jerome was trying to convince me he wasn't the nicest person.

       "Uh huh," was all I said, wanting him to just give us the pizza, accept the money, then leave.

       "Is that your painting?" Joel asked.

       "Obviously."

       "It's really good."

       "Cool."

       Jerome handed Joel the money for the pizza, plus a tip because even though we didn't like Joel, he still delivered the pizza fast and efficient. At least Jerome knew how to put his feelings aside unlike a certain someone.

       "You can leave now," Jerome said once Joel handed him the pizza.

       "No need to be rude," Joel muttered.

       "Right, coming from the person who called me a criminal," Jerome said. He then sighed. "Forget it. Thanks for the pizza." He closed the door before turning around to face me. "Pizza's here."

       "I think we need to find a new place to order food," I said.

       "Yeah, me too," Jerome said.

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i've been in an angsty mood lately so i need to add more angst into this book >:) will it be relationship angst? maybe. maybe not. idk we'll see.