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Sloane's brush glid across the page, the blue hue fading as her brush strayed further from the starting point on the paper.

Each stroke brought the picture to life, with oceanic colours and textures.

The girl hummed along to the soft music playing, completely entranced by the water colours on her page.

That was until her phone began to buzz.

She took her phone quickly upon realising who it was, a feint blush tinting her cheeks.

"Hey babe"

"Hi" Sloane smiled, her heart beating slightly faster at the sound of Parker's voice "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Curiosity"

"Curiosity?"

"Yes"

"Babe, you're going to have to be a lot more specific than that"

"Well,we have - first and foremost - the frustrating fact that I don't know your name"

Sloane bit her lip as she smiled "And secondly?"

"The reason why you won't tell me"

"Maybe the reason as to why I won't tell you is because I so adore you calling me babe"

"It's a habit now, I don't think I'd be able to stop"

The girl's heart melted at the sound of his words, her whole world stopping.

'Pull yourself together, Sloane' she scolded herself. 'You don't even know him'

"Are you finally falling for me, Parker?"

"Not without your name"

Sloane laughed, nibbling her lip as she thought it over.

Her name was given to her by her mother, a woman she'd only known for six years of her life.

For those six years, she had loved her name. She believed it was beautiful, and was always told it was.

Then, her name because the last thing she ever heard her mother say, and the word became a key part of her nightmares.

Now a days, it wasn't as bad, but she most definitely did not love her name.

"I think I might be going crazy not knowing"

"I'm sure, love"

"I am"

"If you are, then you're definitely in love with me"

Parker would never admit it, but he was slowly falling in love with a voice of a girl who's name he didn't even know.

"You know, curiosity killed the cat"

"But satisfaction brought it back"

"You're so cute"

"Will you ever stop calling me cute?"

"I don't think so"

"Good, I'd hope not"

Parker smiled, her laugh like music to him.

Her imagined her laughing, running a hand through her hair and biting her lip in an attempt to hide her smile.

"My name's Sloane"

Parker's heart stopped for a second as he registered the quiet words she just spoke.

"Babe, did you just tell me your name?"

"Yes, I did"

"Sloane..." He tested the name on his lips, a smile on his face "I never would have guessed"

She bit her nail out of nervousness, a small ounce of wonder whether he actually liked her name or just found it odd.

"You have a beautiful name, babe"

Her cheeks heat up, a light dusting of pink arising across her face.

"Now you're just flirting with me"

"What was your first clue?"

At his confident confession, Sloane fell silent.

Meanwhile, on the other side line, Parker was nervously bouncing his foot, the silence almost unbearable.

"You still haven't taught me how to flirt"

The quiet words of Sloane made his heart beat once again, after having stopped during the lull.

"Well, there are many different ways that you can flirt, depending on what kind of a person you are and who you are trying to flirt with"

"Right"

"So, say if I was trying to flirt with-"

"Vincent"

Parker laughed whole-heartedly at her fast interjection, shaking his head "If I were to flirt with Vincent, then I would have to understand that Vincent is really cocky and up himself. Now, there are two approaches to this-"

"Should I be writing this down?"

"Are you planning on flirting with Vincent?"

"No?"

"Then just take some notes"

"Alright, I'll just get a pen and some paper"

There was some shuffling on Sloane's line, while on Parker's, he flopped back onto his bed, his mind only focusing on the voice of the mysterious girl.

"I'm back"

He smiled, almost forgetting that he was meant to continue his impromptu lesson on how to flirt.

"Okay, so what I could do is compliment him like crazy. Say, 'oh my god, Vincent, your hair is so great!'"

"Someone's fanfiction somewhere just came true"

"Shh, I'm giving a lesson"

Sloane giggled girlishly, brushing some hair behind her ear as if Parker could actually see her "Right, right, sorry"

"Or, I could use a method called, I'm gonna sound like a dumbass saying this, 'Negging'"

"Ooh, intriguing"

"This technique is used by saying something negative to someone, much like a backhanded compliment, to make them want to win your approval"

"And this would be best used on someone like Vince?"

"Absolutely. Any time you compliment him he's in debt to you, but when you don't..."

"He wants you to"

"Exactly"

"Huh. Remarkable"

"Indeed"

Sloane bit her lip, finding herself smiling so much that her cheeks were beginning to hurt "As interesting as that may be, I want to know how someone would flirt with Parker... Last name"

Parker smiled up at the chipping paint of his ceiling, a sight that couldn't bother him with Sloane on the other line.

"Why would anyone ever want to flirt with me?" He thought aloud, all his insecurities flooding his mind.

"I don't know. You might be cute, and that's just your looks. You have an adorable personality, I know that much "

"Well, if someone were to try and flirt with me, they would need to understand that I am an asshole who cares for no one but himself"

"We already know that"

"And they'd need to flirt in a way that didn't even seem like flirting"

"Oh?"

"Sarcasm is the only way to the hollow space that my heart should be"

"I'm sure it's a very nice hollow space"

Parker laughed again, a very common thing for anyone to do in the company of Sloane.

She was smiling on the other line, her heart beat wild and her cheeks flushed. Hearing this boy's laugh was something she swore she could listen to all day, and if being an idiot was what it would take to hear it, she would do whatever it takes.

She was in love with his laugh, just as much as he was in love with hers.

"It's quite a lonely space, really" He admitted, his hand subconsciously falling to his chest, where he could feel his heartbeat against his fingertips.

"Have you tried to add some colour?" Sloane asked, fiddling with the brushes on the desk infront of her.

The line was silent as the two breathed.

Yet another reminder they were alive even though ones they loved weren't.

"What if it fades?" He asked her softly, his voice so quiet Sloane could hardly hear him.

She thought of her mother, the woman who taught her how to bare a smile even when things got tough. The woman had taught her many things, but the most important to her was the lesson on never giving in, never giving up.

Sloane used to think that was weird, when she was younger. If she couldn't do it the first time, how would she be able to do it any other time.

Then she was given a sketch book for Christmas, among with a few other presents.

She tried again and again to draw the things she wanted, and it taught her of patience and practice.

It taught her that giving up shouldn't be an option.

"You try again" She whispered.

"Sloane! Dinner's ready!" The girl almost jumped at the voice, nearly falling out of her chair.

After getting a steady heartbeat again, Sloane smiled sadly, even though he couldn't see her "I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

Parker was disappointed that she was leaving, but hid it as well as he could "Sure"

"Bye"

"Bye"

Even though he had hung up, Sloane continued to listen to the tone, her heart feeling dull in her chest compared to the rate it had previously been beating.

She took a deep breath, resetting herself before she went to dinner.

As she ate, the only thing on her mind was the boy on the other line.

Parker left his phone on the bed, sighing deeply as he grabbed a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from his bedside table.

He walked outside onto the small balcony of their apartment, holding the cigarette between his teeth as he lit it.

Parker first started smoking when he was seventeen, the same day he left his family.

He was leaving an underground fight, when he saw his opponent from that night - one whom he had beat - smoking.

It seemed pointless to him, a boy who was being thrown though an endless void of emotions, but he stared long enough that the man had saw him.

'you put up quite a fight, kid' he had said, a malicious seeming grin on his lips 'i went in thinking I was gonna beat ya, but then I fucked it all up'

Parker stayed silent during the man's monologue, after having decided that quiet was better off for him.

His words never seemed to mean anything, afterall.

'wan' a smoke? I've got a dozen of these packets and not a single use for any of 'em' he laughed, much like a menacing villain would in a movie 'spent so much on these bastards. Tried winning it back so many times. Eh, it was worth it for the buzz, or the lack of one'

Without waiting for Parker's answer, the man tossed him the packet, taking one last drag of his own smoke.

'you'll need them 'til you meet her, kid' he said, the words sounding much like gibberish to Parker at the time.

He shook his head, inhaling the smoke until it filled his lungs.

When he exhaled, and the haze of smoke left his lungs, he found himself releasing the tension he built in his shoulders.

He had loved talking with Sloane, normally, but today was different.

Things were so serious as they spoke, and it made him all the more curious as to who she was, and the stories she had to tell.

To stop his thoughts from running wild, he took another drag of the cigarette, breathing in until he couldn't breathe in any more.

The numbness pushed him into a state of relaxation, much like how he felt whenever he was talking to Sloane.

Numbness wasn't a bad thing.

Numbness meant that he didn't feel any pain anymore, he didn't think of hurt.

Numbness was the bridge that lead him to relax, and look at the world with less of a greyscale wash over it.

He saw colour when he spoke with her.

He saw the blues in the sky, the reds of his blood, the greens of the grass.

He saw the world the way he should, they way he had stopped when Sam died.

The girl who pulled the light from his eyes when she left, when she destroyed herself without a word of warning.

Now when he spoke with Sloane, he didn't think of the times he should have noticed that Sam wasn't as okay as she should have been, but remembered the times she was.

He thought about good memories when he spoke with her.

Sloane didn't know it, but she was saving him.

And he was saving her too.

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