Can't Afford To Lose Another Second With You (Scömìche)

Paint Me

"Scott, Mitch, you're late." Ms Anderson shot us an angry glare. "Again. For the third time this week."

"We're sorry Ms Anderson," Mitch thankfully said before I could've made her even more mad with my awkwardness. "We lost track of time."

"Alright, I'm not gonna question it, take your seats and take out your brushes. Then I'll explain what we're gonna do today."

I was thankful that Ms Anderson didn't ask further because there was no way either me or Mitch could explain that we'd indeed lost track of time, but it happened because we... might have been stuck in the restrooms. And we might have made out a bit. Just a bit though. I watched as Mitch blushed next to me while taking out his brushes, probably remembering the heated kisses we'd shared only minutes ago. I had to admit it'd been a challenge to stop and actually go to class, but Mitch loved art and I didn't want him to miss his classes.

"Our topic for today is lighting," Ms Anderson said, catching us all off-guard. Mitch smiled, but he was pretty much the only one in the whole class. Well, besides me, but I just liked to see him smiling. I loved his smile. "I'd like you to get small canvases and go around the school, trying to find a spot with extreme lighting or shading, preferably both. I want you to show the contrast, and I want you to paint it onto the canvases. It's a good practice for your color perception, we'll see which ones of you will pick the right colors for shading or lighting and which ones of you won't. Keep in mind that your brain might be tricking you, especially when it comes to the simultaneous contrast! Oh, and take reference photos in case you don't finish it this lesson."

Everyone stood up from their seats, groaning, but Mitch immediately pulled my hand to go get the canvases. Apparently he was super excited, and that couldn't have made me more happy. Seeing him like this, as unconcerned and as relaxed as he could be, with a genuine smile on his face made my heart skip a beat.

"I know exactly where to go!" He exclaimed happily and quickly grabbed two canvases and paints and pulled me out of the classroom. I chuckled.

"Slow down, Mitchy!" I said, muffling my laugh with my hand. "Where are we going?"

"We're going down to the basement," he explained, still tugging me along but slower. "There's a small window that provides just enough light to keep the background dark while the object will be brightly illuminated. It'll give it a gloomy but mysterious vibe. That's how baroque art works!"

I didn't question how or why he knew this, I was used to him just knowing pretty much everything about art so this little burst of knowledge didn't even surprise me. I could just marvel at how passionate he was about this, even if I had literally no idea what he was talking about.

We stumbled into the basement - the door had surprisingly been open - and Mitch soon found the perfect spot for his painting, all while I still had no idea what Ms Anderson had even talked about earlier. Mitch had been too distracting with the soft blush on his cheeks that was now faint but I could still see it. It was quite dark though, but apparently that was exactly what Mitch had been looking for. He was gazing out of the window, deep in thoughts from what it looked like.

"Scott?" He said eventually, turning his head to look at me. 

"Huh?"

"Could you, uh- could you stand here?"

"Sure."

I stood where he asked me to, right in front of the window. The light blinded me on one side of my face while the other was in the dark shadows.

"Stay right there." He took out his camera, taking a picture of me.

"Y-you wanna paint me?"

Mitch grinned. "Sure! You're handsome."

"Can I paint you in return?"

"Of course, sweetheart." He put his phone back into his back pocket and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "Same pose?"

I nodded, watching him as he posed, and took a picture of him. I checked it immediately and holy shit - he looked like a model. Not that that was surprising, it just stunned me every time I looked at him. 

"Are you already done?" Mitch asked curiously as he realized I wasn't about to take more photos. 

"Yeah, it's perfect, Mitchy. You look beautiful."

I saw his cheeks blush again as he smiled shyly. 

"Thank you."

"So, what now?" I asked, still distracted by Mitch's beautiful smile but desperately trying to say something to not let my thoughts show. It was out of habit, it wouldn't matter anymore but I still sometimes forgot that things were actually working out perfectly for us.

"I'll paint you and you paint me, silly. You seeing something you like?" His smile, goddamn- I swear every time he smiles a unicorn is born.

I smiled back, kissing his cheek softly. "Literally every time I look at you."