The Final Project

Chapter 117

Ava

Some things aren't meant to be captured. They just don't look as good on camera. The stars, the sun, the moon. Him. I've tried capturing Liam tonight in candid moments when he isn't watching me--- when he's talking to Aaron or casually drinking a glass of wine, but the camera doesn't do him justice.

It doesn't capture that glint in his eyes or how he smiles when he's talking to someone. It doesn't capture how he gazes into anyone's soul without really trying to. I wonder if he knows how beautiful he is, but then again, maybe I should tell him more often.

"What're you doing?" he laughs at some point, catching me in the act of taking a polaroid of him.

"Capturing the moment," I state, panning to a different area of the party. I take a polaroid of Ivy and Penelope as they make a silly face into the camera. I smile, handing them their picture.

"This is so cute!" Penelope exclaims. "Wanna take my pictures all the time?"

"Mine too," Ivy chimes in. I blush at the compliment, but they can't tell, thanks to the flashing party lights.

"I'm not that good..." I say in response. I've always liked photography, but it's not the most practical profession. That's what my parents tell me, at least.

"You're just being modest, Ava." Penelope grabs hold of the other polaroids and sifts through them.

"I see you've taken a liking to a certain subject," Ivy says jokingly, holding out a polaroid of Liam as I think I almost die in embarrassment. She hands that one along with all the others to him, and I watch, grimacing at how he studies them, brows furrowed in concentration and eyes unmoving.

Everyone else slowly starts to scatter throughout the dance floor, and I get all the more nervous. Liam's never seen my "work," if that's what you'd even call it. "I was just messing around, and-"

He looks into my eyes, and I think I forget how to breathe. "They're beautiful, Ava." And just from those three words, everything goes away. The doubt, the worry, the insecurity... I can only smile now and watch how he delicately puts the polaroids into his back pocket, almost like they mean something to him.

"You like them?" I ask. He nods, wrapping me into an embrace.

"I love them." He softly kisses my forehead, the tip of my nose, and finally, my lips. I smile at the euphoric feeling of his mouth on mine---at feeling the warmth of his body and the scent of his skin. I think I wanna stay in this moment forever. I wanna tattoo it into my mind as a reminder that any of this happened--- that I was ever this happy, and I didn't just somehow make it all up.

The polaroids will serve as reminders of this happiness. I'm sure I'll look back at them and think of this very moment when time froze, and everything else fell away. It was just us floating in space, beyond the sky and the stars---beyond the changing people and passing time---beyond the little life we had. The polaroids have frozen this night, and I know that when I look back at them, I'll come back to this. I'll come back to me and Liam, and I'll smile, kinda like I do when I see the polaroids from our very first kiss. Maybe it's our thing--- roadside curbs and polaroids.

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i'm so sorry for not updating sooner! i've been really busy with school, but i have a break now, so more chapters are coming your way <333

P.S. look out for something new soon ;) I'M SO EXCITED