A Portrait Of Love

Chapter 7 - The order of sober friends

"Jeez Mark, you scared the bejesus out of me!" I exclaimed.

He laughed at my comment and his voice sounded scratchy yet soft at the same time. He took off the sheet as he sat down next to me, running his hand through his light brown hair. When he put down his arm, a few slightly curled strands fell back on his face making him look a lot younger and childlike.

"So how come you're out here all alone after the big battle? Shouldn't you be helping your wounded soldiers?" he asked sarcastically with a confident smirk on his face.

"I needed to get some air and Ben is helping Oliver clean up" I answered and pulled my legs to my chest, kinda regretting giving my jacket to Ben.

"Here take this, I'm done haunting for tonight," he said and offered me his sheet, putting down the beer he was holding. I chuckled at his joke and gladly excepted the sheet. I wrapped myself in it and leaned back on the lounger, looking up at the stars again. We sat quietly for a while and I was enjoying gazing at the night sky.

"And the stars blinked as they watched her carefully, jealous of her shine" Mark muttered quietly.

I turned to him, surprised by his words. He was staring at me with his arcane eyes and a smile that was no longer an arrogant smirk, and his deep look that sent shivers down my spine.

"Huh?" I exhaled as the atmosphere around us shifted.

He leaned in closer over me, our noses almost touching: "Atticus" he whispered softly, and I could feel his breath on my face. I was so overwhelmed by the situation, I didn't pay attention to his words, I just enjoyed his presence.

"Oh, okay," I said quietly holding my breath and not having a clue what he was talking about. My eyes glued away from his and wondered around his face. From his dark eyebrows to his slightly wrinkled forehead down by the side of his face and over his strong jaw, my look traveled to his lips. As soon as I realized that, I quickly glanced back to his eyes, only to notice, he was looking at mine as well. He was still just inches away from my face and was slowly moving closer when the patio door opened and his smile suddenly turned back into a smirk.

"You know him right?" he said louder than I expected and moved away, sitting back down on the chair.

"W-what?" I stuttered trying to catch my breath, as the passionate tension faded away.

"The poet? Atticus? He wrote that quote" he explained as he picked up his beer and took a long sip.

I was baffled by what just happened and didn't notice the girl who came out until she stopped right in front of us.

"There you are Mark, I was looking all over for you. For a minute I thought you turned into a real ghost" said the short girl, dressed as a ghostbuster. Despite the fact she was now wearing a brown jumpsuit instead of the red skirt, I still recognized her by the curly hair, she still had up in a small bun.

"Well, you found me, still very much alive I think," he replied jokingly measuring his pulse on his wrist. I wondered if it was as high as mine right now.

"I see that you also managed to lose your costume" she giggled and sat down next to him.

"I lent it to a stray cat, who looked like she needed it more than me," he said sarcastically, gesturing to me.

"Oh, hi there, how rude of me to just ignore you, I'm Heather" the girl introduced herself with a genuine smile and shook my hand.

"Hello, I'm Abby" I replied, glad that my voice sounded normally.

"So you're Mark's new neighbor," she said excitedly, as she finally figured out who I was.

I gave her a small nod and prepared to leave the awkward situation.