Now that things have been resolved with Jess I immediately feel like a heavy weight has left my shoulders. Although I do have this returned sense of security, it is slightly awkward in the beginning as Jess and I attempt to return to our normal state. So the big guns have to be called in.

Chocolate and alcohol.

A bottle of moscato is popped open and the ingredients for brownies are pulled out. I quickly have a much needed shower to wash off all the makeup and general negativity that had stuck to my skin, refreshing myself under the stream of heated water. Once I am dried off and have changed into my favourite pair of sweats with my freshly washed hair wrapped with a towel atop my head, Jess and I launch into making our brownies.

Over the exchanging of kitchen utensils and ingredients we exchang small talk, delicately tip toeing around the topic of last night.

"So how did the rest of your night go?" I ask her.

"It was good. It was just the few of us having some drinks, playing some games and talking," she answers, staring down at the bowl of brownie mix once she has finished her response.

I can tell she is biting her tongue, clearly hesitant to ask the same to me after this mornings events.

"Jess, you're allowed to bring up last night. It's okay," I reassure her, preparing myself for her bombardment of questions that she truthfully deserved to ask.

"I didn't want to push you. Especially after everything that happened today," she tells me, looking up at me as she shrugs her shoulders.

"It's fine. I was just having a mini mental breakdown about life. No point trying to pretend it didn't happen."

"Okay," she responds timidly, "So how did you end up with Theo again, let alone nearly kissing him?"

As I prepare to answer her, she passes back our mugs of moscato. She always does know what I need- in this moment the cup of alcohol to ease out the words out of my mouth. I take the glass from her hand and put it beside me as I lift myself up onto the kitchen counter to sit atop it while she takes her shift of mixing the brownie mix.

"Well, I went to go meet up with Damon at his office because he was running a bit late and said it'd be easier that way. It was only once I had already arrived there that I found out he was running more than a bit late from his secretary," I explain.

"Well that's just not very nice," Jess comments with an unimpressed expression across her face.

I push down the temptation to laugh at her reaction so I can continue on with my story and maintain my mutual perspective.

"Anyways, Theo happened to still be at the office and he offered to keep me company. At first I turned him down but I eventually gave in and he ended up taking me up to the rooftop with him," I elaborate.

Jess' eyes widen with interest at this new piece of information, as though watching the scenes of a movie unfold before her.

"It was truly magical up there. I was just so mesmerised and that's when it began. From then on I felt like I was in some sort of a trance and all the perfect words and little things that he seemed to be doing just made things harder."

Jess has now stopped stirring the brownie mix, the wooden spoon frozen in her hand as her mouth gapes slightly open and she waits for the words which will next come out of my mouth.

Now she knows how I've felt every time she's come home with a story about the latest charming man in her life.

"He was just saying all these perfect things, telling me intimate things about his life and complimenting me,  and then the countdown for the new year began. We could hear the crowds counting down from below and we somehow just keep moving closer and closer. Our lips were only an inch away from each other, I could feel his breath on my skin. The countdown reached one and I was waiting for the moment our lips would meet, I wasn't thinking about anything else in that moment."

"And?"

"Then Damon arrived."

Jess groans, dropping the bowl of brownie mix and the wooden spoon within in onto the kitchen bench with frustration.

"Seriously? This guy is absolutely horrible with timing," she complains.

I flick my eyebrows up with agreement, not wanting to verbalise my opinion and complicate things further with how Damon fits into everything.

"Did he see anything?" she asks.

"I don't think so. When he came around from the entrance of the rooftop we had already moved apart from each other," I explain to her. My answer was what I was hoping anyways.

"So what happens next, if you don't mind me asking?" she wonders.

"Nothing," I answer.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing at all. I'll go on with my life. He'll go on with his. It won't be spoken of again. If I see him I won't allow myself to give into the temptation again and that'll be the end of it," I tell her.

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"I don't want to be pushy again but I just want to point out that you've said this a few times already and it doesn't seem to working out too well so far," she reminds me.

"Oh, I know."

"Okay then," she simply says, "I guess I'll just wish you good luck then."

She raises her Wonder Woman mug of moscato to my pug adorned mug in a toast to my latest attempt to escape the charms of Theo Harrington.

"Thanks, I think I'll need it."

With the both of us caught up with things we return our attention to baking, wanting to finally perfect the art of making brownies. Our brownies always seemed to lacking something, whether in appearance or taste, and we were desperate to end this streak of imperfection.

A short time later and the brownie mix is in a tray and in the oven, us waiting to see the results of our efforts. We use the time to catch up on all that had been going on our the last few chaotic weeks, holiday stories exchanged over a mug or two more of moscato.

The sound of the oven beeping interrupts our conversation, Jess making her way over to it from where we had been seated at the kitchen bench to check on its condition. As she puts on her over mits to check on our dessert the sound of a knock on our front door can also be heard.

"Can you grab that?" Jess asks me, her hands full at this moment.

"Are you expecting someone?" I ask, knowing for sure that I had no one coming over.

"No. Are you?" she asks back.

I shake my head in response, the both of our eyebrows scrunching up with confusion. Who could it be?

I figure that I'm not going to find out who our mystery visitor is by standing in the kitchen so I leave Jess to go open the front door. I look through the peep hole and can only see the back of what appears to be a male figure so I'm no closer to figuring out who our mystery visitor is.

Thank god I haven't watched any Criminal Minds lately otherwise I wouldn't have the courage to open the door and find out who is standing before it.

I open the door and am met by a surprising face once the figure turns around, though I already shouldn't be surprised anymore when it comes to him.

"Theo?" I ask to check that I'm not hallucinating his presence. "What are you doing here?"

He seems to be in some state of shock too for some reason, taking a moment to respond to me.

"Uh... you forgot your coat," he says, drawing my eyes to where my coat sits draped over his arm.

"You came all the way here to give me back my coat?" I wonder aloud.

"Uh.. yeah," he says, scratching the back of his head to further tousle the nature of his hair.

My attention is drawn to those long fingers of his and the unruly nature of his hair, a different sight to the usual well kept state of it. It is only when I am staring at his own locks that I realise my own hair is still wrapped up in a rather unglamorous manner in a towel from after I washed it. I also recall that I'm in a pair of sweats that are rather worse for wear and not wearing any makeup at all.

Oh god, I'm not wearing a bra either!

I find myself wanting to crawl within myself with embarrassment, not used to appearing before someone in such a raw state; let alone someone who is consistently composed with their appearance as Theo. My hands instantly move up to the towel in my hair, pulling it out so that my hair falls down and I can attempt to rearrange it into a semi-presentable manner. I let it rest in my hands, held up high against my chest to act as a shield of my unrestricted chest in case my loose jumper wasn't concealing matters. 

I can feel my checks beginning to blush, the small glimpse of a smile on the rather tense face of Theo making it grow.

"Uh... yeah..the only other option was to give it to Damon to return it to you but—"

He stops what he is about to say, the abrupt way he halts his words intriguing me.

"But?" I ask.

"Nothing."

This current state of Theo's has me perplexed to say the least. Since I had meet him I have never seen him so unsure of himself and what he was saying. I couldn't believe that he was actually stuttering. He seemed uncomfortable or actually shy for once.

"How do you even know where I live?" I ask him, only just realising why his presence at the door of my apartment was even more strange.

"Your friend Jess told me," he answers me.

I immediately turn back to look at her, giving a domineering stare to where I can see her head peeking out slowly from behind the kitchen doorway as if to say "really?"

"She gave it to me when you fainted and she had called to see if you were okay. She only gave it to me because I was going to take you home but then you woke up and went home yourself," he explains, definitely getting in Jess' good books further and saving her from some trouble.

"Oh," I utter, not sure what to say next. I couldn't distract myself any more with any irritation with Jess, she had been saved by Theo.

"I guess I should give you back your coat now then," Theo says, taking my coat from where it is still draped over his arm to outstretch it to me. 

I move to take it from his hand but when the exchange takes place our hands meet for the slightest period of time, igniting odd yet thrilling sensations through me. Our hands linger there for a moment before I seem to snap my hand away, as though I had left it on a flame to simmer and needed to take it away from the heat as swiftly as I possibly could.

There would be no more of that lingering, that emotionally simmering in the heat of Theo. He was an uncontrollable fire spreading through the bushes which surrounded me and I had been frozen, shocked by the presence of his flames and the way it made me feel. I needed to distance myself from the flames before they completely engulf me.

I had said I wanted something different in my life, that I wanted to challenge myself. But I had asked for a bonfire and Theo was most certainly more than a few degrees above that.

"Thanks," I say to him, wanting to remain cordial.

He nods in response, limiting the words he has uttered tonight even further. He's looking at me but it doesn't feel like he's completely there behind those oceanic eyes of his. I can just sense his mind running at a million miles a second behind that look of his, halting him from maintaining his usual charismatic self.

It's silent for those short few seconds as we seem to observe one another. That is, until he asks a question I had wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Ella, is everything okay?" he asks me.

I was waiting for something more, some more  words  to follow possibly? Nevertheless, those four words are powerful enough in leaving me perplexed.

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" I respond, completely deflecting the pressure on me in this situation. It was his turn to say something and put the first foot forward regarding where we stood after last night.

"No reason," he replies, his expression remaining blank.

I guess he wasn't planning on taking the first step either. The topic of last night was apparently too deep of a pit for either of us to risk venturing into.

"I guess I better be heading off then," he says, "Goodnight Ella."

"Goodnight Theo."

And just like that he walks off. No "I hope to see you soon" like he tended to say to end things with me. No turning back to look back to me.

He just walked away.

I had opened the door and initiated my plan to bluff my way out of this. I thought maybe I'd get some reaction from him but I'd prove my strength against the way I felt around him by persevering. I didn't expect the typically straightforward Theo to not call it, let alone to apparently bluff as well.

Unless... maybe he wasn't bluffing.

********************************

Finally updated. Hallelujah. Sorry for the lag. I gave myself a bit of a break and went on holiday but I'm back and ready to jump back into things.

What did you guys think of this chapter and what's going on between Ella and Theo? And predictions? Thoughts?

Hoping to edit some things from earlier chapters soon so I'll let you know if there are any major changes.

Vote/comment/share

TheFictionDreamer

********************************