Against Fate

Chapter Eight

Poppy's gait was slower than usual; she was beginning to realise how much she wanted to put off saying goodbye to him. She couldn't explain how it felt; to have only met someone mere hours ago and to be able to talk to them like you've known them for years. She stole a glance up at Colson who was staring straight ahead, his brows were knitted together as he began to trace little circles on the back of her hand.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him quietly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze to bring him out of his thoughts.

"You," Colson admitted to her after a few moments of silence, it made her turn her head to look up at him, his blue eyes waiting to greet her. She could get lost in them, she was sure.

"What about me?" she questioned, not taking her eyes away from his. She felt like her whole approach had taken a whole U-turn. Before she had been closed off with him because she knew there was no point in getting close to someone she was only to get to know for a few hours. Now, when she realised she was getting attached regardless, she was content to just go with the flow... lean into his touch when he gave her it... even if it was just holding hands.

"About how I met you five hours ago and I still want to stay longer... just to get to know you for a while." Despite what her thought process had been just a moment ago, his confession caught her off-guard; all she could do was stare at him for a few seconds.

"You've got a show tonight though," Poppy managed to stutter out as their pace slowed even further. What she really wanted to tell him was she wished he could too.

"I do," he confirmed with a slow nod, like he didn't want to admit it to either of them.

"So we need to say goodbye very soon." Her voice was soft as she spoke, the words fading from her mouth as she finished the sentence.

"Yeah... we do."

She sighed defeatedly as she sped up again, wanting to get them in position for the sunset. There was no view like this one in the whole of Paris, and she wanted to share one of her favourite places with him.

They turned the corner and realised that the usual groups of people who gathered were largely absent from the area; the cold snap of air that day must have kept most of them at bay. In turn, it meant they had a lot more privacy for the two of them. She wasn't sure when she started caring about the two of them having time to talk, but now she did. Time was running out for their chance meeting. Soon, Colson would have to go set up for his show and Poppy... well she'd have to return to her normal life. The life that didn't involve meeting tall, handsome, tattooed American men who also happened to be famous. She didn't realise until the last half hour, just how much she was going to miss the blip in her life.

"It's almost time, let's sit on the stairs," she moved quickly over sit down while the sun had begun to disappear behind the buildings below them, "this is the best view in all of Paris and it's the perfect time to see it."

Colson remained quiet for a while as they say there, taking in the skies beautiful orange and pink hues. Poppy glanced at him, wondering what was going on in his mind.

"This is amazing," he told her softly his eyes still on the sky ahead of them.

"Yeah, it's one of my favourite places to come," she agreed, the postcard long forgotten and his gift for her far from his mind too.

"I don't just mean this..."

"No?" she asked, a curious eyebrow quirking upwards.

"No," he confirmed, shaking his head before continuing, "I mean everything... meeting you outside that café because I lost my damned lighter, you showing me this amazing city... but more importantly; I got to know you and I got to show you who I really am without you having some opinion of me beforehand. You have no idea how refreshing that is for me Poppy. I don't feel so heavy anymore."