𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 | 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬

82| Us.

82 | Us.

| 3rd POV |

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"Hey, you," Sage looked to the side, her blue eyes meeting dark brown ones. She smiled slightly, placing a book back on the shelf. "Hi, Jess."

His gaze traveled to the books in her hands, skimming over the titles, half he'd read, half he wanted to. Every time he thought she had ran out of things to read, he always saw her with a new book in her hands.

It seemed her current fixation was gothic literature, which Jess admittedly had a guilty pleasure for every now and then. He blamed The Picture of Dorian Gray for subconsciously becoming too heavy of a comfort to him at a young age. Books had always been something he relied on, mentally and emotionally.

He'd gotten alarmingly good at burying his feelings into whatever book he was reading, closing the pages, and never revisiting that particular emotion again. He didn't like that he did that. He didn't want to keep everything shoved down, it was just natural to him that way. But he was, slowly, trying to change that.

"You okay?" Sage asked, her head tilting softly. She always looked so gentle when she did that. "You got your nose pierced," he observed, smiling faintly. It was a small silver stud on the right side of her nose. It fit her quite well actually, not that Jess was very surprised. He was convinced almost anything could find a way to suite her.

She was wearing gray, baggy jeans which hung loosely on her hips even with a belt on. Her black and gray striped tank top was covered by an oversized hoodie that was half unzipped, showing off her necklaces, which Jess counted five of. She looked less formal than she usually did, yet he seemed he actually liked her style more this way. She just seemed more comfortable, and when she was comfortable, she was more herself. Jess liked her a lot when she was herself.

Sage's smile brought his attention back to her face. "You didn't answer my question," she said, her voice as soft as cotton.

Jess went to make a joke or change the subject like he usually did whenever someone asked that question, but he stopped himself. Just try, he remembered. "My mom called," he said.

There was no physical evidence of any shock on Sage's face nor her body, yet internally, emotions struck through her like someone plucking the strings of a guitar, each movement sending a ripple of vibrations through her spine and up her neck.

A dozen questions flashed through her mind, but she bit her tongue. She didn't need to know if he answered the call. She didn't need to know if his mom left a message. She didn't need to know if she said anything. The only thing she needed to know was whatever Jess was comfortable with telling her.

"Are you okay?" She asked instead, the words sending a cloud of palpable relief through Jess. Not only did his features soften, but his shoulders relaxed, his spine fell into its natural place, and one of his feet crossed over the other while he leaned against an opposing bookshelf.

Sage's shoes, black converse, with a silly monkey charm on the laces, one that he recalled hearing a story about—something revolving the zoo, a dancing monkey, and feeding it a banana —or whatever, she told some interesting stories when she was too energized on coffee or when she deemed that silence was growing too claustrophobic for her, drummed softly on the floor of the bookstore.

They tapped to the beat of a Jeff Buckley's song playing in the background. Jess vaguely remembered her making him listen to the entire album once. It wasn't as unbearable as he'd assumed it would be. He figured that was likely mostly due to Sage's soft humming to every song.

"Yeah," he responded, honestly. "Yeah, I'm okay right now. A little confused, but nothing too bad."

Sage's eyes bore into his with an intensity he had to fight the urge to look away from. Sage typically shied away from eye contact, especially if it was anything flirty or sarcastic, but when it came to something serious, she could place the entirety of her attention on someone in a way Jess didn't know was possible.

Whenever she did meet someone's eyes, she made it feel like they were the only person in the world. Sometimes, Jess loved that trait of hers, sometimes it intimidated him. And for once, it was a faint mix of both. Unnerving and utterly alluring. As soon as he felt it, Jess knew he liked that feeling best.

"I'm happy you're okay," she said, a glimmer of something soft and gentle in her eyes. He hated glitter, but her eyes had a shimmer he wouldn't mind being stuck all over him.

Jess cleared his throat, not out of discomfort, but shock at whatever his mind was rambling on about. For how much he disliked poetry, he often found his thoughts blurting out an alarming amount of things he couldn't fully understand. "Are you okay?" He asked, noting just how relaxed she really seemed. Not even just in the moment, but even the way she carried herself recently had been something he'd picked up on.

"I'm really good, actually," she nodded, her smile confirming her words. She faked a lot of smiles, but you could always tell if they were real if her eyes crinkled and her nose scrunched the slightest bit.

It was something so minute it was nearly impossible to really notice it, but Jess had. Why, he wasn't even really sure. But he noticed it then, and he saw it now. She really was doing good.

Sage looked down at the floor as flush creeped into her cheeks. Jess often watched her blush, but she wasn't embarrassed or flustered now, she was just comfortable. "I think things with my dad are finally done, at least for a while. I think he was really messing some things up for me."

"I think you're right," Jess said in return, his eyes searching her face for any evidence of her not being as okay with that as she seemed. He came up with nothing though. He felt a boulder lift off his shoulders at the idea of her being free of one more burden in her life. She was good, and honestly? So was he.

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