Chapter Twenty #3
“You saved my life, Audrey.” It was his turn to smooth her hair away from her face.
“You made me feel alive again, so if anything, I owe you.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead again.
“You wouldn’t be indebted to me because this is just one part of working to build a life together—I have the means to do it, and I want to.
And besides, you give me so much in return every single day.
You’d never need to pay me back. You already have. ”
Her heart was beating so fast, she was certain it would pound straight through her chest.
“But I understand if that’s a lot to take in right now.”
Something nearby thumped. There was a muffled swear, and when Theo eyed her door warily, she remembered where they were.
Violet was probably listening on the other side.
“Just think about it, sweetheart.” His mouth cracked into a crooked, unsure smile. “Okay?”
“Okay.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed. “Come visit for a while?”
A shadow shifted from beneath the front door and disappeared.
He nodded and picked nervously at the fingernails on his free hand. They’d talked about this before coming back, and it was a big step he was about to take. But Audrey had faith that her best friend wouldn’t let her down, even without prior warning. It had to be authentic.
When she opened the door and ushered an unmasked Theo inside, Violet turned from where she sat innocently on the couch and her mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes immediately landing on the right side of his exposed face.
But it was only for a split second, and she chucked the book she was pretending to read (upside-down) onto the coffee table before bounding over to them eagerly, an irrepressible grin growing rapidly across her face.
“Oh my god, HI THEO!” Violet grabbed his hand and yanked him further inside.
She barely came up to his chest, but her grip was so strong that his eyes widened and he stumbled forward with a grunt, nearly tripping over his own enormous feet.
But he recovered his balance enough to straighten and rub the back of his neck.
Every bit of his face was burning red-hot now, and it did make the scar stand out even more than usual.
“Audrey didn’t tell me you were coming inside this time! Are you gonna hang out?”
“Uh…yeah.” He glanced nervously at Audrey while she hung her coat on its hook by the door. “Yeah, I figured I’d stick around and chat for a bit, if that’s okay by you.”
“Okay by me?! I’ve been dying to talk to you!
So come on then! Come sit down! And give me that damn bag—” Violet wrestled it over his shoulder, and Theo looked vaguely terrified as she dropped it onto the ground and kicked it ruthlessly toward Audrey’s bed.
It skidded across the worn wooden floors and bumped to a stop against their bunks, and he flinched at the force of the impact.
Honestly, his reaction wasn’t off base.
Violet could be…intense.
She dragged him to their tiny loveseat and shoved him onto the cushions before rushing into the kitchen. “Hey, do you want something to drink? We’ve got Coke Zero, water, key lime LaCroix…oh and maybe—”
Audrey slid onto the spot next to him and laced their fingers together while Violet continued to rattle off their options. “You see?” she whispered in his ear. “She couldn’t give less of a shit about your scar. I told you.”
“My face feels naked,” he whispered back. “I hate it. Can I put the mask back on?”
“No.”
“Oh god,” he breathed. “Please?”
“You told me to tell you no when you inevitably asked.” Audrey caressed his right cheek. “You look fine. You’re doing fine.”
“She’s staring at my scar, I know she is.”
“She’s literally not, her back is turned right now.”
“She looked when I first walked in.”
“That’s because she’s never actually seen your whole face before.
It’s not because of the scar, I promise.
She doesn’t care, she’s just excited.” She squeezed his hand.
“Give it some time. It’s just practice.” She leaned over and planted a quick kiss against his cheek.
“You got used to being unmasked around me, didn’t you? ”
“Barely,” he grumbled.
“Theo, what did you think of the new Mila Herrera gallery show?” Violet called over her shoulder. “Have you seen it yet?”
“Oh, uh…y-yeah,” he stammered. “Mila’s a friend of mine, so—”
“OH MY GOD, are you serious?” Violet shrieked, bounding back over clutching an assortment of cans she dumped unceremoniously onto the coffee table. “That’s amazing! Are you into performance art? I heard Lucius Scott is going to be doing something new soon. Do you know him too?”
Theo blinked at her. “Uh…actually, yeah, I do?”
“Holy shit. You’re so cool.” Violet leaned forward with deep interest. “I really want to see your stuff, you know. You’re almost impossible to Google.
I only found, like, one article about you from a while back, and the pictures of your paintings in it weren’t high quality.
Surely you have a portfolio or something? ”
Theo rolled his lips together. And then he raised an eyebrow.
That was an idea if ever she’d seen him have one.
His eyes glittered with deep mischief.
“What was it you do again, Violet?”
It was her turn to recoil and blink in surprise. “I studied fashion design and work at a department store’s corporate offices. Why?”
“Oh. Perfect.” From the way his head tilted, he must have been struggling to hide a smirk. “You know what? I need a favor. Do you think you could help me with something?”
She hummed with wary interest. “Maybe. What is it?”
“Well, I was thinking…” Theo trailed off and chewed on his bottom lip. “Tell you what: give me your phone. I’ll text it to you.”
“OHO!” Violet ripped it out of her pocket and shoved it at him with glee. “Secret favors? Intrigue? You know I’m already in. Give me your number.”
“Sure thing.”
“It’s gonna cost you, though.”
“I expected nothing less.”
“Oh no,” Audrey groaned, burying her face in her hand as Theo typed his number into Violet’s contacts. “Maybe this was a mistake. I never should have introduced you two.”
“Can’t take it back now.”
The smugness dripped from her roommate’s voice.
“But anyway, as I was saying—should I grab us snacks? Are you hungry? And OH, THEO, what did you think of—”
His fingers twitched and tightened in Audrey’s after he passed the phone back to Violet, and he leaned down and buried his face in her shoulder when her roommate darted back over to the kitchen, an endless stream of art-world gossip tumbling from her lips while she gathered chips from the cupboard.
But no matter how many times Audrey saw him reach for his pocket, he still didn’t replace his mask for the entire hour he stayed.