Happy 21st

Chapter 4 - ''The spark'' - Him

Ronan gave Beth as much space as he could. After returning from their trip to the mall he let her go to her room to unpack and to settle in, and he continued to keep his distance for a few days as to fully allow her to adjust.

They would eat together at every meal and smoke together in the evenings. He offered her full access to his bar, to his kitchen, and to explore much of the house but was worried about overwhelming her.

He wanted to give her time to feel comfortable here and to get to know the place where she will be spending her time before he tried to form any sort of relationship with her, so he kept as much distance as he could while still allowing her that opportunity to gain comfortability around him too.

Sometimes he felt like allowing her to discover a new life here on her own was a very positive thing; he was giving her as much freedom as he could since he was sure trying to insert himself heavily in her life would only make her feel confined, but giving her space felt no better.

On some days he noticed her zoning out often, sometimes sitting for an hour at a time not doing a single thing besides staring out a window with unfocused eyes. He saw that when she got bored she would pace, and when she would be doing an activity such as reading or watching tv somewhere where he could see her, he noticed her becoming unfocused then too.

Each time that he saw these symptoms of confinement overcome her he wanted nothing more than to share in her company and to get to know each other well enough that they could even be friends, but each time he thought about approaching her he remembered the sparks he had felt upon touching her, being near her, and seeing her in that change room. He knew that if he opened the doors to becoming close with her it would not stop until he had gotten as close as he wanted to, and he knew that was out of the question.

He would not ensnare her any more than he already had, and even fostering the temptation of a relationship between them would endanger her of truly becoming his, but he wanted her to keep as much freedom as possible. So during most of the day, Ronan would focus on his work and let Beth do whatever it was she wanted to do.

Same as usual, Ronan went to find Beth to see if she wanted to eat dinner with him, and he found her sitting on the balcony where they had first smoked together, painting the forest and the sunset that they had such a striking view of behind from his mansion.

"That's beautiful."

Beth turned her head to look back over her shoulder at him and smiled shyly.

"Thank you. I wish I was a better artist, I used to paint all the time before I started working, I just didn't have the time after that and now I'm rusty."

Ronan walked up to look at it closer, standing next to Beth, and he noticed her tense up a bit when he stopped beside her.

The longer he looked at the painting the more beautiful he thought it was. She had captured the sense of awe that you feel when watching a beautiful sunset right on the canvas, not missing any of the details that make the sight so captivating.

Ronan saw Beth out of the corner of his eye, watching him admire the painting. He turned to her.

"Beth, this is amazing. You have real talent and I am very happy that you are rediscovering that. This is truly beautiful, I think it should be displayed."

Beth turned pink and looked away from him, choosing instead to look at the painting once more. After a few moments of silence she turned back towards him.

"Do you... want it?" She asked as her blush deepened.

Ronan was taken slightly aback but agreed immediately.