Picture Us

Chapter 10: Tam

Over the next few weeks Tam had stuck with Keefe almost every moment that he was free, always within a 15-metre radius of him. They spent their time working on their photography project, and somehow, through all the time spent together, the tension between them had lessened. Tam's photography skills were an art of itself, he beautifully captured an emotion behind his works. Keefe, being his new assigned muse, was awful at posing. Tam took it upon himself to both take photos with, and without him noticing.

Each time Keefe had spotted Tam sneakily taking out his camera, he stiffened up and laughed, which Tam thought was cute and strange as Keefe was definitely not the type of person to be camera-shy. Every photo taken tam refused to delete, no matter how natural or unnatural it appeared, despite constant begging from Keefe.

Tam had finally finished collecting a portfolio of photographs, opening his laptop to begin editing the photos. He brushed his bangs off his forehead and began editing; lights, background, capturing all the 'Keefe' essence without taking away from...Keefe.

His main photo was one which he took as Keefe painted a stunning landscape on a large canvas, paint speared along his rolled-up sleeves, a smidge of paint on his face. Keefe's face was lit with golden rays of sunlight, and Tam did all he could to keep all the beauty in the

"Sooo...Tammy, can I see the photo's now?" Keefe nagged; he peered over Tam's shoulder as he was fiddling with the lighting.

"You're looking at it, smartie." Tam scoffed light-heartedly, angling the laptop towards Keefe so he could get a better view.

Keefe took a moment to realise what he was looking at, Tam saw a look of shock, embarrassment and happiness flicker into his eyes over a matter of seconds. It took a whole minute of Tam waving his hands around Keefe's face before he finally looked up and just sighed "Tam...when did you take this photo?"

"You- um weren't looking and the lighting was just perfect- I just had to" Tam stammered, his face flushed with embarrassment. Wow, when did he get this hopeless?

Keefe blinked, Tam noticed the corners of his lips curling into a smile "well, you did a great job... thanks Tammy" his face flushed a light shade of red. "Also, do you know what I was painting? In the photo I hadn't got to it yet, but it was uh... my part of the project"

"What do you- Oh yeah, your part of the project was to paint something, right?" Tam stood up, his heart was beating rapidly, whether it was from the situation or the embarrassment, he didn't know. "Can I see it now?" Tam asked.

"Nope Tammy, you cannot," he teased, Tam was slightly disappointed, but Keefe was too his sleeves, brushed his bangs off his face, and opened his laptop. A text message stole his focus, and he picked up his phone.

Linh 2:37PM

I heard you've been doing better with everything lately

Linh 2:37PM

do u want to hang out sometime today?

Tam hadn't talked to his sister in a while, they'd been closer once when they cut their parents off, but he'd become involved with the wrong people and Linh didn't know what to do with him, so she stopped talking to him in the middle of last year to try to convince him to stop.

Not wanting to waste the chance to reconnect with his sister, he agreed. He quickly said bye to Keefe and left to meet her at a cafe.

"Tam!" Linh called, standing up as he ran towards her table. He hugged her for the first time in a year, and they sat down.

"How's your year been?" Tam asked.

Linh smiled and remarked "It's been alright, I got a partner, and I've been doing pretty well, how about you?"

"Well, I'd say I've been doing a lot better than I was before. You know, all that stuff" He replied light heartedly. "So, who is the lucky guy... or girl?" he added.

"Oh! She's a girl, and I'll tell you about her later! And I'm sorry I kind of... stopped talking to you." she mumbled

"It's fine, I needed it so thank you for doing that for me. I missed you" he replied.

Their meetup continued, and they talked, laughed and caught up on the missed time, hours passed.

"Will you tell me who you're dating now?" he nagged.

"So, Tam are you dating anyone anymore?" Linh questioned.

Tam stiffened; cheeks warm. He cursed himself for the sudden shift in his mood. He did not have a boyfriend, but the question brought forth some very persistent butterflies. Linh picked up on the beat of silence, much to Tam's misfortune.

"Oh my god, you do!" Linh squealed, earning a few raised eyebrows and annoyed eyerolls from around the cafe.

"I do not!" Tam shushed her, gesturing around to the kids in the cafe that were currently quieter than Linh was.

"A crush?" Linh asked hopefully.

"A kiss," Tam relented, turning away to hide the blush on his cheeks. Linh's eyes stretched as wide as they could go, and Tam couldn't help but notice the similarities in them. The same silvery-blue irises that held too much emotion. Linh bit her lip.

"Are there any feelings?" Linh said, narrowing her eyes at Tam.

Tam opened his mouth to say no. In no universe did he have feelings for Keefe Sencen. But the words died in his throat, because he couldn't say them and be fully honest. But he couldn't deny how light he felt around Keefe. He couldn't deny that in the middle of the night, when he laid awake, Keefe made it into his mind.

"No...?" Tam said, raising it in a question that Linh couldn't answer. She scoffed.

"We both know you're lying." She said, tilting her head forward knowingly. "Come on, who is it? Classmate?"

"Roommate," Tam confirmed. Linh smirked.

"Plenty of time alone together... with a bed... and privacy..." Linh said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Tam nearly choked on his.

"Linh!"

"It's purely hypothetical," she said, raising her hands above her head. But she quietened for a moment. "Do I get to meet him?"

Tam cracked a smile. "Soon."