"Attention, everyone. The Book Nook will be closing in twenty minutes. If you have any final purchases to make or books to checkout, please bring them to the front of the store. Thanks for stopping by, and we hope you have a wonderful evening."
Upon hearing the quiet overhead announcement, Roman took a glance at his phone. "It's almost nine? We've been here for five hours?"
"We were both pretty sucked into our books, so I'm not surprised." Jensen capped an orange marker, joining it with the rest of the bunch. "Good timing. I just finished."
He held up his coloring booklet to reveal a now completed masterpiece.
Line art depicted a flowing waterfall surrounded by grass, flowers, shrubs, and thriving trees. Rather than go with a normal color palette of greens and blues, Jensen brought the image to life by incorporating different shades of purple, pink, orange, yellow, and red. Careful blending made certain spots look like they were glowing. Several areas appeared three dimensional by mixing darks with lights in a specific way. Altogether, the picture gave off a festive, mystical, Halloween vibe.
"Wow. Now I see what you mean by how much color impacts the overall work. That's actually really cool."
"I'm glad you think so-"
Jensen was interrupted by booming thunder.
Both men turned their attention to the nearest window. They were taken aback when seeing how heavily it was raining outside. The shape of the roof made it so harsh droplets couldn't smack against the windows, but they could make out several steady streams falling toward the streets below.
They'd been so engrossed in their hobbies, neither of them paid any mind to how fierce the storm had gotten. It was only regarded as a pleasant addition to further encompass a peaceful environment.
"...Will I be able to catch the trolley back?" Roman asked with genuine concern.
"It would definitely pick you up. You'd just still have to take that walk to Kay's house. Would probably get drenched in no time." Jensen continued looking out the window, rubbing at his chin in thought. "If you want, you're more than welcome to stay at my house. I live, literally, right next door. And I could take you back home tomorrow when the weather's a little more agreeable."
Roman wrung his hands together out of uncertainty. Staying over would be the easier option since he wouldn't have to worry about the weather impacting travel times, or picking up dinner on the way home. The possibility of coming down with a cold from walking in the freezing rain would be less likely too. At the same time, he didn't want to burden Jensen by having him house Roman. Even if it was just for one night.
Roman would love to extend their hangout session. It was just hard for him to ignore the little voice in his head telling him he'd be a bother for occupying someone else's space.
"I wouldn't want to be in the way..."
He was given a soft poke in the cheek. "And I've told you before, you wouldn't be. I'm inviting you because I like spending time with you. It's as simple as that."
No, actually. With how certain things panned out in Roman's life, people having him around wasn't done because they enjoyed his company. Nothing was ever "as simple as that".
He didn't want to get stuck on issues of the past, though.
"If you're sure-"
"I am."
Roman shook his head, chuckling. "Then I guess I wouldn't mind, Jay."
Jensen's eyes lit up in pure delight. "You finally called me by a nickname."
YOU ARE READING
A Step Closer to Me
Romance"You've had people telling you what to do your entire life. I think you should finally do what you've always wanted by taking a chance for yourself. My arms are open. So, leap into them. And I'll hold your hand as we fall together." ~~~ Roman Indigo...
