❝As the world fades away,
I still believe what you eyes say,
I still see you illuminate.❞ 
   

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SIXTEEN | ANCHOR

"Two tickets," I heard Nicholas talking on the phone later that night, "yes, Lake District . . . yes, one way tickets," I heard him say on the phone as I put a pillow on the couch and wondered if he'd be comfortable sleeping there, "thank you so much." I heard him finally say to the person on the other end. I, still, was worried that he'd go to Allerdale Hall, but I tried to keep myself busy, thinking about other stuff.

Nicholas emerged from the kitchen, where he had been on the phone. I was fluffing the pillow and looked up at him. A smile crossed his face, making one creep up on mine.

"It's alright, I'll do it. Don't worry," He said as he approached when I began to put the blanket on the couch, "if you are letting me stay here tonight, at least let me do this." He smiled again and I let go of the blanket. I observed him. Sir Thomas was handsome and so was Nicholas, they were almost identical, physically and sometimes in their behaviour. However, there was something I couldn't quite tell about Nicholas, he was different - apart from being alive, of course - and, I don't know, it intrigued me somehow.

"Are you sure Josh will be okay if I stay with you? I mean, if I stay here." He simpered.

"He won't mind." I gave him a coy smile and crossed my arms over my chest, "What did they say?" I asked, referring to the phone call.

"The train's leaving tomorrow at ten in the morning, we'll be there around two or three in the afternoon," he said, "I should've rented a car . . . now I realise." He laughed under his breath, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets and gazing at the floor. A soft chuckle left my lips at the sight of such thing, I couldn't help but think it sounded innocent and sweet yet it sounded extremely seductive at the same time.

"You must be tired, you should go to sleep now," I said and he inhaled deeply, "we have to get up early and get ready."

"Yeah," Nicholas scratched the back of his neck, "thanks for letting me stay, Adeline."

"It's quite right," I shrugged and slowly turned round, "Good night."

"Good night."

I walked into my bedroom and crawled into bed determined to sleep. Instead, my mind began to run, it didn't take long for me to realise I would stay up that night. I couldn't stop thinking about pretty much everything. I had nearly forgotten I had a book to finish, the book that had started it all. Now, I wasn't even sure if I was going to actually finish it. I wondered what would mister Miller think of me; I knew myself that my career as a writer was fucked up. I only got to write two books, people liked them and I felt like nothing would stop me. I was living the moment where you think nothing bad can happen, I had planned to write two books, everything was perfect, but reality knocked at my door one night, dressed as a policeman, telling me that some idiot collided head-on with my dad's car. Reality isn't nice.

With a shake of my head and a sigh, I crawled out of the bed and just walked out of my room with Edith's book in hand. It was almost one in the morning, I wanted to stop the time so Nicholas wouldn't board that train to Cumbria. I walked past Josh's bedroom and the living room. I saw Nicholas' silhouette on the couch and kept walking to the room in the flat that Josh and I use as a studio. It actually is a small room with a desk, a chair and a large window from floor to ceiling, that's the so-called 'studio'. I sat on the floor and put Edith's book on my legs and paged through until I found the page I had been reading the other night.

I had only read one or two pages when I noticed the snow falling down out of the window. I put the book down and crossed my legs, then, propped myself on my elbow.

"Everything okay?" I was startled by Nicholas' voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, you alright?" Damn, his voice was so smooth. I only nodded, feeling my heart pound against my chest, "Can't sleep?" I wrapped my arms around myself as he sat next to me.

"Can't sleep." I stated and he sighed.

"Neither can I." He said, staring at the falling snow, "How's your finger doing?" He asked and I looked down at my hand.

"Doing well, I think . . ." I stretched my hand, so he could take a look, his fingers brushed the back of my hand and he furrowed his brow as he examined it. I wondered if he could actually see it with the dim light coming through the window. A soft bluish hue illuminated the room and it flattered his features even more.

"It looks much better than the day you fainted at my door," he said, smirking and I tried to hold back a smile.

"I see you're not going to forget it that easily. That's only one of the many embarrassing moments in my life."

"Many?"

"You would be surprised if I told you more." He chuckled under his breath. We kept silence for a while. Nicholas took the book in his hands and began to page through it, not really reading a word, but trying to fix the few winkled edges of one or two pages.

"So, what do you write?" Nicholas spoke out of the blue and I realised I was very nervous, jumping at the slightest of, basically, everything.

"I write romance, tragedies, stupid things like those, you wouldn't like them." I waved my hand. I honestly didn't understand why people read my books.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, "I was thinking of taking a break from medicine books for a while and read some of these 'stupid things', as you call them."

"A doctor reading cheesy romance books, sitting on a deck chair on a Sunday morning . . . that's almost impossible to imagine." He chuckled and riffled through the pages and inhaled deeply before speaking.

"Do you know a place where we can rent a car once we get to Cumbria? If you say people are terrified of Allerdale Hall, I don't think we can get there by taxi. And, since we'll arrive late, maybe we can find a place to stay in, a bed and breakfast perhaps?"

"No, I don't know . . ." A smile crossed my lips when I remembered Sam, "But, I know someone who can help us."

"Oh, okay. I'm sure I would get lost, the last time I went to Cumbria, was the day my father sold the property to your parents," my eyes widened a bit and my lips parted.

"You, you were there that day?" I uttered, "You didn't mention it."

"I know." He made a pause, "The day you showed up at my door and told me why you were there, I panicked. I didn't know what to tell you, and we've had so little time to talk about all this properly . . . I never put a foot in the house, though. Me and my father went for a walk in the fields as we waited for your parents. He thought you wouldn't go and we were getting into the car, ready to leave, when your parent's car approached, he told me to stay in the car . . ." He said, closing the book and frowning a little, "I think I saw you . . ." I raised my eyebrows.

"You're joking," he shook his head and slightly smiled.

"No, I did saw you. It was spring and you wore a lilac dress . . . I know it because I remember thinking," Nicholas bit his lip, trying to suppress a smile, "you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen." I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" He looked so embarrassed. I was surprised he remembered that, I didn't even remember another car, let alone the face of the man who sold the house to my parents, I met Nicholas' dad and I didn't even know. My laughter decreased, yet some chuckles escaped my mouth, "You know, I think I still have that dress somewhere in my closet, mum had some weird tastes in kids clothing," he smiled, "I was a pretty nice thing when I was a kid," I said with a fake smug smile on my lips. He smiled to himself.

"Well, it hasn't changed," the smug smile was reduced to the shyest smile my face managed to display and I felt my cheeks burning, he cleared his throat and caressed the cover of the book, clearly embarrassed as well and smiled warmly at me in the dim light.

The next morning, I woke up covered in a blanket and resting my read on a pillow, still there on the floor and wondered when did I fall asleep. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw Nicholas, standing next to the window, looking at the street. I remembered we had a train to take later that morning and sat up.

"Good morning," Nicholas said, turning back at me.

"Good morning." I said with soft and hoarse voice.

"I took a shower, I hope you don't mind, I didn't want to wake you." I shook my head and he smiled.

"What time is it?"

"About to strike nine." He said.

"We're gonna miss the train," I got up and gathered the blanket and pillow, "I'll make you some breakfast first, is Josh up?" I walked out of the studio and threw everything on the couch - realising that those were the pillow and blanket I had given to Nicholas - and then headed to the kitchen, meanwhile Nicholas followed me.

"He woke up a couple of hours ago but went back to sleep," I washed my hands and got a pan to cook the tomatoes and the mushrooms, swiftly moving to get the bacon and the sausages out of the fridge and putting the kettle on, "Adeline, don't worry about me, I'll have something in the train," he placed his hands on the counter. I looked at the clock in the wall, it was getting late.

"Okay," I said, "uhm, I'll take a shower. The kettle is on and the teabags are in the cupboard over there," I pointed at it, "help yourself, I'll be right back." With that, I left the kitchen.

The trip on the train was nice and Nicholas and I talked nonstop in the first two hours. He told me about his life in Spain and how much he missed his hometown in London, but, due the circumstances, he decided that being away was the right call. I told him about my attempt to write a play, about the book I was writing and about how difficult it had been.

It was probably the third hour of our trip when I began to feel sleepy. I tried to stay awake, I didn't want to miss the beautiful scenery, but my eyelids felt really heavy. I rested my head against the window and looked at Nicholas, he was scanning the brochures on the table and gazing from time to time at the scenery passing by the window. I observed him lazily. His brow furrowing as he read, his fingers touching his jaw line and eventually making their way down to his neck . . . mesmerising would be an understatement.

Despite my drowsiness, I could see him clearly and this was the very first time I had stopped to study and appreciate his face. He looked tired, there were faint dark circles under his eyes, he had a small scar on his forehead, it was almost invisible, unless you stared. Freckles, he had a few freckles scattered on his face. I wanted to see more, but my eyes gave in. Blue eyes, that's the last thing I remember and the first thing my eyes met when I woke up.

"We're here," I heard him say softly as the train moved slowly through the station. I quickly looked out of the window. Outside, people walked around and carried their luggage. Some of them were welcomed by family or friends, some others made their way through the crowd and disappeared. Nicholas took his backpack and I took mine, to then disembark the train. The cold air welcomed us, the cold filled my nostrils and it cut like a thousand knives. Nicholas and I stood there for a minute, thinking, probably scared of what would happen next. The warmth of his hand wrapped mine and I turned to face him. He nodded his head, like telling me that there was no reason to be afraid, that everything would be alright. I nodded at him and so we made our way through the station. But, deep down I knew that no matter what our plans were, or how careful we were, none of us knew how that would end.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

omg I can't wait to tell you what happens next! by the way, check out the trailer in the prologue of this book, tell me what do you think! thank you so much for reading, voting and commenting!