The Trials of Love

Chapter 7

Dedicating this chapter to XxShadowNinjaxX. Thanks for the new cover. It's Awesome!

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Markus and I had been seeing each other for a month or so and it had been one of the best months of my life. He hadn't officially asked me to be his girlfriend but we didn't see other people. He called me every night and we would spend weekends together. Sometimes he would surprise me on my lunch break. Whenever he did, Renee would shriek and go on about the two of us. I haven't seen much of Paul lately. He was always busy painting if we invited him to meet up with us or he was gone when I was over at their house. I thought that day in the diner I had made a good friend. I mean, we seemed to have a lot in common but I guess he didn't like me that much. That thought caused a pang of sadness in my chest. I was pulled out of my thoughts by my phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hey Baby. You still coming over?" Mark's voice sounded over the phone.

"Yea. I'm on my way now."

"Cool. I had to make a quick run to the store so if I'm not there when you get there, Paul will let you in. Is that okay?"

"Yea uh, sure." I replied absent-mindedly as I thought about this. Maybe now I could talk to Paul.

"Great. Thanks Baby. See you soon."

"Yeah. Bye."

I shuddered when he said see you soon and thought about the letters hidden under my bed, There hadn't been any for a while so I had hoped they'd stopped.

I pulled up and knocked on the door. Paul opened it. He didn't look very excited to see me.

"Markus isn't here."

I swallowed and was beginning to feel a little nervous.

"I know. I just spoke to him. He said you'd let me in?" The last part was a question because I wasn't very confident he'd let me in. After a minute of silence he opened the door wider and moved out the way. I walked in and set the bag of chips I was carrying on the kitchen counter. Then I went to the living room. While I was walking, I passed the door that led outside. Figuring that I had time, I went out and found Paul painting. He was doing a landscape of the backyard. It wasn't done but it still looked really good.

"I like your painting." I said. He looked up at me.

"It's not done."

"I know but I like it anyway. I like the shading of the trees and grass and..." I trailed off when his intense stare landed on me. He looked at me for a bit before turning back to his art. I just stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "Do you want to join us for a movie?"

Again, his stare swung back to mine. "What?"

"Well, Markus and I are going to watch 28 Days Later. Do you want to join?" My voice was quiet now and I was blushing slightly. And still, he continued to stare at me.

"No thanks. I have to finish my painting before the light changes."

I looked down feeling rather embarrassed.

"Oh... sorry."

His eyes widened slightly. "For what?"

"I obviously did something to make you dislike me and I'm sorry."

He stared at me some more before sighing.

"I don't dislike you."

"Then what is it?"