Requested by narniasprincess

This is going to be kind of like one long flashback

Italics - the flashback scenes

~~~

I smiled as I laid on my bed with my eyes closed, thinking back on the memories with the one and only Sky Flaherty, now my boyfriend.

Looking back, those memories were the greatest. I had so much fun, you know? I went back into the archives of my memories, going back to our first memory together, our first encounter.

~~~

I sat at the table in the corner of the bookshop, slowly sipping my drink as I read my book. I was absorbed into the pages, not hearing or caring about what happened around me. This happened quite often when I had free time. I would always be here, drinking something and reading a good book. It had happened so often and for so long that A) the shop owner and I became good friends and they would always keep the shop empty for me to do my thing long after closing hours until they left and B) I wasn't used to anybody approaching me and jolting me out of my reading vibe.

"Excuse me?" a small, timid voice said, making me startle. 

I put my book down to see a cute redheaded boy holding a sketch pad and a pencil, a dark green messenger bag with two front pockets at his side, filled with papers and drawing tools. I raised my eyebrow at him expectantly, and he shook his head in apology, blushing furiously.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. But...this is going to sound weird." he said even more shyly than before.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure I've experienced weirder."

The boy smiled back and shrugged. "Well, I see you sitting in this same spot every day, and to be honest, I find your whole look very aesthetically pleasing, so I'm going to model my drawing after you. Is that okay?" he rushed out. He looked sheepish when he finished, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

I almost "awwwed" at his words; this boy was so endearing it was making my heart melt. We need more people like him these days.

"Of course. It might seem a little awkward if we don't know each other's names, though. I'm Winchelle." I added right as he touched the pencil to the paper.

The boy snapped his fingers. "I knew I was forgetting something. I'm such a forgetful person, you know. I always get absorbed in my art and forget to do something." he explained, nervously laughing.

"It happens to everyone." I reassured him.

He nodded in agreement. "You can call me Sky." He paused before adding, "Nice to...draw you...I guess?" He laughed again.

I laughed with him this time. "Yeah. I guess it is, then."

~~~

I laughed at how adorable Sky was at the time. He looked like such a nervous bundle, awkwardly coming up to me and asking if he could draw me. 

We had exchanged numbers and contact info not long after he finished, bidding each other farewell and hoping to run into each other again. I was curious to see how is drawing turned out, but I didn't want to be nosy and ask. And I wanted to respect his work too. If he didn't want to show it to me, then I would respect him and wouldn't pry about it. I wasn't one to ask for anything to begin with.

Turns out, we didn't have to wait long to see each other again.

My brain panned to the next memory. They were coming like storybook pages now, each page a different memory, an invisible reader flipping through the pages.

~~~

Again, I was at the bookshop when Sky approached me a second time. It hadn't even been a week. But he came up to me nonetheless, quietly slipping into the chair across from me like he did the first time we met.

"Hey." he greeted me. "I was wondering if I could draw you again? I want to get different poses, you know?"

I nodded in understanding and let him do his work, glancing at him every so often and seeing him furrow his eyebrows in concentration. I didn't question it; he had his reasons and I had nothing to do, so why not?

When he finished, we went out for a walk through the bustling and crowded streets, taking in sights we've seen already, but just with a friend now. It was like walking through the park with your siblings or family. Just sightseeing and pointing out interesting things like a child would to their older siblings or their parents.

Sky was the one that was usually pausing every so often to get a quick sketch of what he thought was pretty--which was pretty much everything. I had to keep dragging him along when he took too long, sighing exasperatedly with a small smile on my face. It was like he became a child again, seeing everything again for the first time and trying to get every detail of it in the short time span that we had.

"So, do you do this often?" I asked him as he drew a couple sitting on the bench a few feet away in front of us. "Draw while taking walks in the park, I mean."

Sky nodded, sketching out a quick outline of the two people on the bench, the sketch lines looking messy, but still fit in a way. That reminded me of whenever I drew something, I never erased the sketch lines unless necessary. I like seeing the sketch lines there, seeing how the body of the drawing was constructed from just lines and shapes.

"I find it relaxes me, ya know?" he added about fifteen minutes later when he finished drawing the couple. He showed me his work, and I marveled at how talented he was at drawing something so well in such a short amount of time. I had stopped trying to drag him along since I knew he would just ignore me to continue his drawing, and frankly, I wasn't bothered by that fact as much as I was in the beginning of the walk.

"All the nature around me to draw, it's kind of relaxing. It's all inviting me to draw it. Draw it, and tell their stories through my art."

I nodded appreciatively. "That was pretty deep."

Sky laughed. "Come on. It's a nice day out, but I just want to go inside and draw until my arm falls off now. Despite the nature around me being relaxing, it can also be a pain."

I saw him gently stuff his sketch pad in his bag, and before he closed the bag, I saw a drawing of a girl curled up in her chair with a book in her hand and a cup of hot tea on the table, the book forgotten as she stared out the window. Her hair laid in a messy bun, and her glasses were perched on top of her head, the arm of the glasses visible.

I widened my eyes as I realized that it was me, on the day before I had a college exam. It was last year, and I was feeling really tired and dead and I didn't want to do much of anything except sleep. I had taken a walk from my work, trying to clear my head by heading to the bookshop and reading there for an hour or so. I was surprised that I remembered that time, despite it being so long ago.

As Sky straightened up, I quickly morphed my face back into my pleasant-neutral look. Apparently, it wasn't fast enough because he saw my expression and he smiled back, shrugging.

"Like I said, you looked very aesthetically pleasing."

~~~

It was a simple walk, just nothing but a time to enjoy nature with a friend. I remembered after the walk I had gotten a call from my best friend who moved to Alabama for her college career, and was just calling in to check on me and see how I was doing with my love life, as usual.

~~~

"So, have you met any cute guys?" she asked curiously. You could practically hear the smile in her voice. "I hope you've been faring well in the love aspect of life, you know. You're so reclusive it's kinda hard fo--"

"Enough." I replied, exasperated. "I met a guy who asked to draw me because 'I looked very aesthetically pleasing.'" I told her.

My friend squealed in delight. "Winchelle, do you know how adorable that is? He basically called you cute!"

"Girl, please. I don--"

"No no no. Could you explain that again?" 

I sighed. "I like boys. And he likes girls--at least, I think he does, I never asked him--and we're just friends." I grimaced. Why did my friend have to be so nosy?

The other side of the line was strangely silent before my friend quietly asked, "So you've never thought of dating him?"

"No! Jesus, this happens every. Time!" I whined. "Why do people automatically assume that two people who hang out and have fun together are dating or together?! Why can't we have best friends and hang out with them and have fun and not be thought of as a couple?"

My friend sighed on the other side. "Alright, I've got some work to finish. And I'll leave you to your ranting. Talk to you later?"

"Of course."

~~~

I laughed out loud as I remembered what happened after Sky and I had met up for that walk in the park. A few days later, I had gone out again for some fresh air and to test out my new camera that I had gotten a few weeks ago but never had the time to set it up since I was busy.

~~~

I headed over to the CVS downtown for some film, then headed back up to the park and got to snapping pictures. Very aesthetically pleasing. I laughed to myself as it reminded me of Sky calling me "very aesthetically pleasing" when we first talked. I panned through the photos as I walked through the park, which might I add, is a very bad idea. 

I ended up bumping into someone, surprise surprise. 

"Whoa!" the person exclaimed.

It was Sky. Just my luck.

Part 2 is coming! I really didn't want to make a part two but it was getting really long and I feel like I couldn't really explain the situation of the relationship that well in one chapter because it would be heckin' long.

Stay tuned for part two!

And, I'm really sorry for turning this out like two weeks late! I've been studying for finals and now that I've gotten them over with, I've got a few days to myself so I can update my stories.