The New Boy- Completed

Thirty Six

He helped me down the last few stairs, watching me almost in awe as I counted my breathes. Trying to keep calm about this whole thing. Who thought this up? Who thought this was a good idea? I'll kill them.

"I've got you." He whispered, pulling me to the dance floor without dropping my hand for even a second. As soon as we were in place he held he tight, giving me the support I needed to look up. "Smile baby, you're okay. I'm not going anywhere." 

"I'm so confused." He nodded, smiling softly. 

"I know. But you're okay." The music started and he started our movements, taking the lead more confidently than he had last time. "So, 4 months is a long time." 

"It is." I nodded, he pulled me closer, pushing his fingers into my back so I could feel him. Giving me something to focus on. 

"I'd ask you how you've been but I know you'd just lie to me." 

"I could say the same about you." He chuckled, showing his teeth as he smiled down at me. 

"You dropped out of uni." I nodded. "You've gone through a whole midlife crisis before you even hit midlife." I laughed at him. 

"A quarter life crisis." He smiled, pulling me into him as I laughed, shaking my head slightly. 

"A quarter life crisis. I hope it's better now?" I laughed again as the steps sped up. 

"I mean, I guess?" 

"So no?" 

"No."  He looked down at me, not smiling anymore. "You're making it look easy." 

"What?" 

"Dancing with me like I didn't hurt you that bad." 

"Because you didn't. I got it. I understood why you did what you did. You had to, yeah it hurt but just at the thought that there was someone out there that was so jealous they'd hurt you. You didn't hurt me. Watching you hurting hurt me more than you leaving did." I looked down and he squeezed my hand. "Head up princess. Focus on me." I lifted my head back up. "Don't look away okay? Just focus on me. Finish this dance and we can vanish for a little bit. Just you and me."  

I nodded and stared into his eyes for the rest of the dance. Something about him calmed me. All the nerves and everything from before. They were still there. It's not like he came in and they were gone. They were all still in my head but it's like him being here and me looking into his eyes was telling me that none of it mattered. None of the past 6 months mattered to him. Not when it came to us. 

When the song stopped, he kept a tight grip on my hand, pulling me through the crowd silently and smoothly. He'd thought out wherever he was taking me. He had this planned. It didn't surprise me. Not now, after watching all their looks between each other in the hallway. 

I think they hated seeing me so upset they thought me having Evan back would magically put me back on the right track. Restore my faith in life and make me realise I'd been stupid for ever straying from the path and leaving him in the first place. I knew I was stupid for leaving him. I didn't need them making that internal pressure worse. 

He pulled me out into the garden, past where we'd spent the night at the masquerade ball, picking up a glass of champagne as he did. The glasses were sat in the same place he was sat. Just waiting for us. He handed me one, picking up the other before he continued walking. Slowly now, beside me and still holding my hand tight. Our fingers intertwined like we were still just walking around in Paris. 

"So." He huffed slightly. 

"So." 

"Bash is a prick." I laughed, taking a sip of the champagne as he stopped under the gazebo. 

"I told you we broke up for multiple reasons." He smirked, sipping from his glass. "I didn't think he'd stoop that low though."

"Me neither. He seemed like a pretty stand up guy. I mean, bit weird he liked my girlfriend but whatever." I rolled my eyes and he laughed at me, kissing my forehead as he dropped my hand, wrapping it around my waist instead and pulling me close to him. "How was Greece?" 

"You know how Greece was, you might as well have been there with all the phone calls to your new boyfriend." I giggled watching him roll his eyes at me. 

"Steel wishes he was my boyfriend but that spot's taken currently." 

"Oh it is?" I raised an eyebrow. 

"Well yeah. We never broke up so I hope you didn't sleep with anyone else whilst you were locked in that studio." I scoffed at him, watching him chuckle. "You're still mine Fay. I'm still yours. Nothing is going to change that. No matter how much he wanted it to, or how little you believe it right now." I tried to push myself out of his arms but he kept me there. 

"Evan-" 

"You're all I want Fay. I don't want anyone else. I don't want someone from the business world like me, I don't want some Harvard law graduate. I don't want to sit around discussing business with someone who knows more about it than me. I want to eat cookies in front of the Eifel tower. I want to hold you whilst your sick and remind you that I'm right there. I want to watch you paint and rant at me about how you can't get the colour right, watch you tell me about the history of countries we visit, teach me Latin, and French and German. I want you to teach me everything that goes around your perfect little brain. You keep telling him you're not enough for me Fay. And I know you've convinced yourself that you aren't. But I'm going to stand here every single day and remind you that you are everything I want. I don't want a single thing more or less than you. I want you and everything that means." He stepped back slowly, putting his glass on the side before taking mine from me too and putting it beside his. "Dance with me." 

"There's no mus-" 

"I know. Just dance with me. Focus on me like before. Don't take your eyes off mine." He put his hand around me again, pulling me up onto the tips of my feet so we were pressed together as close as possible. "I don't blame you Fay. For any of it. Assuming it was me, running, not talking to me, running away at the ball, locking yourself away from everything and not speaking to anyone. I don't blame you for what happened or how you handled it. You handled it how you thought was best in the moment. And if it made you feel even a tiny bit better than that's all that matters to me. I just wish I could have been there to hold your hand through it but I knew I'd only make it worse." 

"So you sent Sterling."

"Well. I tried to send Sterling. You don't make it easy though do you?" I shook my head smiling at him. "God I've missed your smile." He rested his forehead on mine for a few seconds, closing his eyes and just breathing before he lifted back up. "Sterling told me you asked him to marry you?" I laughed, throwing my head back as I did. 

It was the loudest, most defined laugh I'd done in months. 

"I did do that yeah." I nodded. "Did he tell you why?" 

"He said you said something about not being able to replace me." 

"Precisely." I smiled. "We were talking about it and it had literally been 2 weeks of my parents telling me about the available bachelors and I was already sick of it. I didn't want to do it. It felt wrong. Talking about other people when I didn't want them. I mean I didn't want Sterling either but you know, what other choice did I have?" 

"Me." 

"I was mad at you. Beyond mad." 

"I'd still have said yes if you asked me." I rolled my eyes, grinning brightly. "I mean I was literally across the room, you could have walked over-" 

"I didn't know you were there!" I stropped, raising my voice defensively but it was high pitched so he knew I wasn't being serious. 

"So you would have if you did?" 

"I wouldn't have asked him that's for sure."