"Right, of course," he mocks me, seeing through my excuse, "I hope you found only good things."

"I think so," I tell him, enjoying this lighthearted conversation taking place between us as we forget everything else that has happened and that is still going on in our worlds, "Why? Is there some scandalous secret I should be keeping an eye out for?" I tease.

"Well, it wouldn't be very smart of me to tell a journalist any of my secrets if I did have any, would it?" he jokingly comments, being quite right if any other individual in the media was in question.

As we continue to laugh between ourselves, I find myself involuntarily shivering whether it be from these sudden movement I had been making after being quite physically drained moments before or from the cool temperature. The throw which had been placed over me in my sleep was still spread out across my lower half as I sat on the lounge and I was still in my outfit from my workday featuring a thick coat. But it was the middle of a late autumn night and I was sitting in a room with a whole way of windows which did little to warm the it at this time. It made me yearn for the cosy space of my bedroom with the heater and my fluffy pyjamas on.

Theodore seems to notice my slight response to the temperature and was ever the knight-in-shining-armour once again as before I knew it he was up  to grab his jacket from where he had been sleeping and using it as a blanket himself. Returning back to his seat, he takes the jacket delicately in his grip as he moves to wrap it around my shoulders, letting it embrace me with its warmth. I instantly curve into its shape as it is let out of his grip to rest on me and welcomingly accept the additional layer. As I adjust to its shape, he attempts to aid me further- moving the navy jacket so its silk interior rests perfectly on me.

However, it is when I find his hands delicately brushing the hairs that cascades down the sides of my face away so that they might rest on top the jacket, rather than under where they were making the jacket sit strangely, that I find myself involuntarily shivering once again for a whole new reason. The way the skin of his fingers touches my face as it accidentally brushes against  my cheek and moves the fine hairs away tickles my skin, providing an odd feeling which rushes through me, a sensation that I know has the hairs on my arms all standing up.

As he so tortuously moves my waves away, moving his hand away from me slowly, his eyes don't break contact with mine- making me caught up within the stormy shade of his observing stare. I find myself with my lips parted once again as I attempt to breathe in the air to cool me and calm myself, now finding myself rapidly heated by his close presence. 

I notice the movement of his Adam's apple as he seems to take a hard swallow, his hands now safely back in his lap where I know they surely can't do any more damage to my mind and emotions. Yet, despite these reassurances which I tell myself, I am still unable to break myself out of the instantaneous reverie that he has me trapped within repeatedly. And it seems that he is no more successful than me, the wizard pulling off his spell but finding himself falling under helplessly as well.

I'm not sure what i'm supposed to do next and I don't think he does either, the two of us sitting there in silence once again. I don't know what i'm supposed to do with this knowledge of how I respond to him, my mind unable to cope with any thought other than the thought of sleep at this moment, yet still finding itself in dire need to continue whatever contact I have with Theodore at this moment.

However, I find myself no longer having to deal with this inner conflict or having to will myself against his penetrating gaze with a sudden sound breaking the both of us out of this spell instantaneously. Both of our heads immediately turn to our sides, looking around for the cause of the sound like a child caught in the act of doing a bad thing. There was no reason for it, I told myself. Nothing to be ashamed of or to hide.

When I take a good look out to the walls that rested behind the doors of Theodore's office, I finally notice the lights which had only recently turned on out there which I hadn't moments ago. It appeared we had company for some reason. It was only when I went to turn back to Theodore to see if he had noticed the same thing that I got a good look at something which had escaped my sight, the sight of light as it slowly creeped into the night sky to bring us the morning.

I look to Theodore only to find him with the same look of wonder which had overcome his features as he stared at the beautiful sight which rested outside the windows and dealt with the confronting fact of how time had so effortlessly creeped up on us. I had completely disregarded any thought of daylight, automatically assuming that we were deep in the depths of the night and that the day would not begin so soon. Maybe we were when I had first woken up. Maybe the time had just gone by ever so quickly without either of us noticing.

Time did seem to go past ever so strangely when I was around Theodore. I hadn't even thought to check the time, not even when he had passed me back my phone and when I had checked my calls and messages. I wasn't sure if he had either, presumably not seeing how he seemed to possess the same sense of surprise in his features that I felt at this moment.

I can now hear the clatter of footsteps and movements as someone walks down the halls of the office, beginning their incredibly early workday and cruelly returning us to the reality of the world from the serenity of our mid-night haven. I know that this is my cue to leave not only this haven that we had created but this place as a whole to return back to the normal structure of my life at home, where Theodore wasn't there to send things into disarray.

Finding myself in dire need to leave before more workers arrive to the office and are able to find me alone with Theodore, I quickly rise to my feet; shifting the jacket off of my shoulders and taking the throw off of my lap. Theodore instantly stands up with me, moving away from me to create some much needed space between us as we break ourselves out of the little bubble we had been trapped within.

"I didn't realise what the time was. I better get going." I explain as I first fix my appearance to be more presentable so that no suggestions might be made about my presence in Theodore's office, with him nodding timidly in response.

"Right." 

I attempt to retrieve all of my belongings, him helping me to get my bag and shoes when he notices that I'm unable to track them down.

Once all of my belongings are back in my possession and I'm sure that I've made my best attempt at looking somewhat presentable for the rest of the world which rested outside these walls, I make my way to his door with him following me there.

"Well then, I guess I'll see you around." he says, as he leans against the door frame.

"I guess so." I say, taking one last look at him before he opens his door and moves aside to let me through.

As I take the first few steps away from Theodore and his office I find myself instantly filled with regret as my intense overthinking had me completely forgetting to say one last thing to him.

Turning around to look at him over my shoulder, where he still stood resting against the frame of his office door, I say "Thank you...." before I bashfully add one more thing, "Theo."

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Finally, here's the second part which was what I particularly made a big change with from my initial plans. I felt like there was a really great opportunity with Theo and Ella here that I couldn't miss and which I was going a lot into so that's why it got its own chapter. This was a really long one (over 5000 words!) because I just couldn't cut off this moment between the two of them and there were so many little things I wanted to do. Hope the length of this chapter is worth the wait. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed.

And can I just say... WOOOOOO! SHE FINALLY CALLED HIM THEO! Do I sense some change on the horizon?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading :)

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TheFictionDreamer

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