The Hurt Game

❧ twenty-one

Acoustic and whimsical music echoed through my room, from my speaker which was connected to my phone. It created an atmosphere, one where I could dream in, dreaming about worlds beyond this one. My imagination ran wild, ideas popped up easier and somehow I could find more inspiration and motivation to create my own worlds. It also added to creating the perfect setting whenever I was reading. It became easier to picture some scenes. It became easier to get lost in the world.

My room was a scattered mess though. Magazines, post-its with quotes and papers with sketches and ideas were on the floor. A notebook was placed beside a canvas, where I created a new mood-board on. A scissor and glue lay beside it. Sometimes I would scribble down another important trait to the character's mood-board.

A soft knock was placed against the door and I mumbled a 'come in'. It must be Daniela; my father was still at work. And even if it was someone important, I didn't have anything to hide that was displayed in my room. It was nerdy, artistic maybe, but nothing that directed to a possible crime I wouldn't have committed.

"That's... a mess." The voice was familiar and deep, so definitely not Daniela who came walking in.

My head snapped up to the person and my eyes were slightly widened. They landed on Royden, who entered my room and closed the door behind him. As usual he was clad in his leather jacket and dark jeans. This time he wore a turtle neck sweater though, catching me slightly by surprise. I had never seen him wear one, but he definitely made it work. He looked great, healthy and less intimidating.

A smile spread on my lips and I hopped onto my feet, walking up to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, having to stand on my tiptoes. His arms circled around my waist and lifted me gently. The top of my toes were left to touch the floor. His embrace was warm despite the dropped temperature outside.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned him as he lowered me back on my feet, letting go of me. I pushed my hair from my face, tugging the strands behind my ears.

"Didn't feel like going back to the apartment," he answered with a shrug. Then he nodded towards the floor scattered with stuff. "What's all this?"

I walked away from him, stepping over the papers carefully, and picked up my mood-board. I handed it to him. "I'm creating a mood-board. I do that all the time, so I can dive into the characters more. Normally the enthusiasm ends whenever I finished making the mood-boards. Let's pray it doesn't end this time."

I turned back around and gathered the magazines, piling them onto my bed. My eyes flickered up to Royden as he took a seat in my desk chair. He was inspecting my mood-board. A small smile spread across his lips when his fingers trailed over the top side of the board.

He looked at me, our eyes met and he was grinning slightly. "It's pretty cool. Very creative," he mused. I raised an eyebrow and plopped on my butt, crossing my ankles and leaning back on my hands. He let out a little laugh. "I mean it! It is quite impressive, very passionate."

My cheeks reddened slightly and I shook my head a little. "It isn't so much impressive when there cannot come any good story from it."

"This time you will." He stood up from the chair, placed the mood-board on my bed and walked over to me. He stopped above me, standing at my ankles as he looked down at me.

"How are you so sure?" I asked him quietly. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around it. Swiftly he sat down in front of me. His knees were up, his elbows rested on them and his feet were planted beside my butt. He was close.

"Because you're you." The statement was so simple and so easily said, for a moment I thought I had misheard it, or imagined it. My eyes didn't break our eye contact, kept looking into his dark gaze as if I was waiting for him to speak. Yet my mind knew what my heart couldn't grasp.