forum Under The Painted Sky (O/O CLOSED)

Started March 18, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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“Sounds good,” Sterling said as he pulled away, keeping an arm around her waist as they walked. “How often do you go there?”

“At least once every two weeks?” Eden responded, leaning further into his side. “If you’ve noticed the amount of books in my apartment, you know I shop a lot.”

Sterling chuckled and squeezed her gently. “Glad to know that I can count on being able to get you books for every birthday and Christmas, then. Speaking of birthdays… When is yours, again?”

“I know you won’t listen, but I’ll say it, anyway. You don’t have to get me presents. I don’t exactly care for them,” Eden cleared her throat, looking up at her boyfriend. “But my birthday’s on July 15th. I’m a summer girl, despite the irony in that. What about you?”

“I like how you know that about me already,” Sterling laughed, sweeping a kiss to her temple again. “Mine is in the fall. September twentieth.”

Eden looked at him, eyes wide. “And you choose to mention it right now? Sterling, it’s November!”

“Yeah? And? We literally just started dating, Eden,” Sterling reminded her with a chuckle. “You didn’t even like me on my birthday.”

Eden winced at the truth in his words. It was true. She hadn’t liked him. And like she admitted during her confession, the only reason she didn’t like him was because he was so easily breaking down her walls and making her feel. Eden had hated it.

“In my defense, I thought you wanted something else,” Eden muttered. “So you can’t blame me.”

It just meant she’d be getting him something anyway.

Sterling hummed quietly, nodding. “Yeah… I know. And I’m sorry for making you think that. I’m sorry you’re not the first girl I’ve been with,” he murmured.

Eden stopped walking, turning to face her boyfriend. She furrowed her eyebrows.

“First of all, it was my judgement. I’d been desperately trying to keep myself from being controlled again that I failed to see you for you,” she started, poking him in the chest. “And I don’t care if I’m not your first. You’re not mine, either. No matter how much I wish I hadn’t, I did have a boyfriend. So really, Sterling, I don’t care if I’m not your first girlfriend. As long as you care for me and treat me right, I won’t care about anything else.”

In the midst of her speech, Eden failed to realize one thing. She slipped up.

Sterling faced Eden, capturing the hand that poked him in the chest. He pressed it flat against his heart, but not before lifting it to kiss her knuckles.

The part about her having a boyfriend before him didn’t really upset him. She was a pretty girl, he was surprised she hadn’t had more. What he didn’t like about her statement was that it sounded like it hadn’t been a good relationship… And he hated the guy that did hat to her. Was he the reason she was sensitive about certain topics? He must have been… Whatever he did to her, Sterling would be sure to repay him for it later.

“Thank you, Eden,” he said softly. “And I promise to do just that. I will never treat you wrongly, not on purpose.”

“You’d better not,” Eden started softly, though there was a slight warning to her tone. “Because I swear, Sterling, I will not stick around if it gets worse. The second you treat me wrongly, I’ll walk away. No matter how much it’ll break me, I’ll walk away.”

Even as she said those words, Eden knew how false they were. She was already becoming too addicted to Sterling. He was her calming effect. She could never leave him. She knew that better than anything.

“Okay. I promise you that I will do my best to make you safe and happy,” Sterling whispered, leaning down to tenderly kiss her forehead. “And I will always be here for you.”

Eden broke her serious expression, a smile taking over. “I know,” she whispered, the spot he kissed burning up. “I know you will be. I know you’re not like… yeah. But I just wanted to let you know.”

Sterling nuzzled her head before pulling away. “Good. I’m glad. Now we should keep walking. We keep getting distracted,” he chuckled softly.

“We should,” Eden’s chuckle mixed with his own. “It’s right there next to that clothing store.”

“M’kay,” Sterling hummed, taking her arm with his and tugging her in the direction she pointed.

When Eden entered the bookstore, the first thing she did was stop, close her eyes and take a deep breath. The scent of books, both old and new, filled her nostrils. She opened her eyes again as she slowly exhaled, eyes flickering to the cashier, who nodded and smiled at her. Eden merely nodded back before turning to Sterling. Would he dislike it if she reverted back to the persona she had created to keep herself from hurting?

“The fantasy section is at the back,” she said to him. “Come on.”

“Sure. Lead the way, beautiful,” Sterling said with a smile as he followed her back. “Anything you would recommend? Besides the books you’re getting.”

Eden’s fingers trailed the books on the left side as she walked, eyes skimming through each title. “The one I’m getting is part of a long series. If you want to read that, you’ll need to read the very first book for it. Percy Jackson and The Olympians and its sequels; Heroes of Olympus and its sequels; and finally, Trials of Apollo. But I think you’ll like this book, too,” Eden pulled one out labeled The Iron Fey. “I have a copy of it at home, so you can borrow from me.”

“I’ll take a look at it,” Sterling hummed, taming he book from her and reading the back cover. “Let me know when you’re finished up. I might end up looking around for myself, too.”

“I just need one book,” Eden said, quickly finding the section for Rick Riordan’s books from how often she visited the place. “But all right.”

“You might only need one, but with the library you have growing in that apartment of yours, I would guess you want more than the one,” Sterling chuckled, half-teasing her as he wandered away toward the mystery books.

Eden glared at his back, shaking her head before she continued searching for the book she wanted to read. She made sure not to look for anything else. Just The Burning Maze. Sterling wanted to pay for her. She needed to keep the cost as low as possible.

When she found the book she was searching for, she kept her eyes off the selves and instead began searching for Sterling.

Sterling has found the mystery section and was browsing the titles when he felt someone’s gaze on him. He turned to smile at Eden, who held just the single book in her hand. He himself had a few already, and he raised and eyebrow at her.

“That’s it? Hats truly he only one you want?” he asked gently. “Go pick out another one that you want. I’ll buy you two books. Please?”