Clearly

A content sigh escaped my lips as I brought my camera back up to my face, hearing the satisfying snap of the shutter as it etched a new print onto my roll of film. I was taking simple shots of the sunrise, but how much a top of the line can change ones perspective on things truly astounds me. Looking through this camera lens, I see things that the untrained eye wouldn’t notice. Hell, even a talented eye would miss the unique little rays of the rising sun flashing across the abnormally tall oak trees that line parts of the perimeter of the Gordon Estate. To put it simply, a camera lens makes everything clearer for me, allows me to see things I would not have noticed before in both objects and human beings. It highlights the beauty in everything.

And trust me, there is some form of beauty in absolutely everything.

Things with Pierce have been exceptionally good. We’re closer than ever and he’s even spent the night at my house a few times. The secretive aspects of our relationship seem to heighten the levels of intimacy in it, at least to me it does. We haven’t really gotten intimate in the literal sense, but the fact that we’re always so close, never taking our stolen time for granted makes everything seem a bit different from any other relationship I have had the fortune to experience. I can’t stress to you how different Pierce truly is. He’s quickly starting to become my world, but the realization that Marcie’s sweet sixteen is drawing nearer and nearer is worrying me. Does this mean that we’ll no longer see each other since we met through my business or does this mean that it’ll be easier for us to sneak around? Only time will tell, and that is what worries me the most. I don’t want something that makes me so happy and feels so good to come to such an abrupt end.

I turned around quickly as I heard a female voice call my name. Marcie was walking towards me, her body draped in a cliché yellow sundress, no type of footwear adorning her feet, as her hair was clipped back on the side of her head with a simple bobby pin that allowed you to see the simple diamond earrings that she had in her ears. For once, she wasn’t dressed to impress. She seemed comfortable, happy, nothing like the spoiled brat that I met months ago.

Many people have changed throughout the time that I have spent working on this lovely piece of land.

She looked at me simply and I smiled up at her almost apologetically. “I actually have a great idea for today’s shoot if you would like me to run it by you,” I murmured, knowing full well that I was overstepping my boundaries by offering my guidance instead of just following behind her as if I was her puppy and she was my master.

She smiled at me and nodded her head, something that I was grateful for since the newfound boldness that I’ve been exhibiting recently has started to give my confidence and self-esteem a slight boost. One of these days I will hold myself with as much confidence and poise as Pierce does.

“Alright,” I murmured. “How about we just do something simple today? Like… a silhouette against the sunrise since I’m here so early for once. I know it’s cliché, but you’re still just a teenager and the cliché pictures are always the ones friends love,” I said absentmindedly while scratching the back of my head.

“Cliché, but good,” she commented.

“Cliché, but good,” I repeated after her, allowing her to stay put while I backed up a bit so that I could get the same scenery shots that I snapped for my personal roll of film in her professional roll of film. Nothing but the best for my clients.

The next hour is hard to explain in words, but I feel like there’s finally an unspoken comradeship between Marcie and myself. She’s no longer bratty and I no longer fight with her or deny her of every request. We work together and we listen to each other, trying to improve on things. Maybe Pierce is finally getting to her just like he’s been getting to me.

And when the shoot was finally over and we walked back to her monstrosity of a house, we ate lunch together, laughing over stupid little jokes and reminiscing about our past shoots. She expressed great interest in keeping photos of this shoot for herself, something I had no problem with since I would bring in a bit of extra money by printing duplicates. You can simply see her face light up at the thought of a picture of her jumping freely, running through meadows, and dancing like nobody was watching while her body was nothing but a black silhouette against the multicolored sunrise. Hell, I myself had to admit that the cliché pictures such as that are beyond adorable.

I waved goodbye to her, smiling as she walked upstairs, pinning her blonde hair up in a bun with one of those oversized scented plastic clips. She’s not all that bad when she’s not surrounded by her friends and she has gotten over her creepy crushes.

I walked over to the front door, thinking that today was over, only to have an embarrassing fit of giggles escape my lips the second two strong arms wound around my waist once the front door had swung shut.

“Pierce, Pierce, stop,” I whisper-shrieked, begging him to let go before someone sees us.

“No one can see us,” he shot back, as if he could read my mind, but his grip around my waist disappeared nonetheless.

“Can’t ever be too safe,” I said indignantly as I stood before his hulking form, smoothing down my shirt.

He reached out to me apologetically, an envelope in hand. “I almost forgot to give you today’s payment,” he murmured bashfully.

I rolled my eyes as I took the envelope from him, opening the flap and peeking inside before stuffing it safely in my photography bag. “You would have found a way to get it to me anyway,” I said truthfully.

“Yeah, but I needed to talk to you too,” he admitted, scuffing his foot on the cement underneath our feet as he looked down for a second. This simple action perked my interest since I rarely ever see Pierce act nervous or unsure of anything.

“About what?” I prompted, my curiosity always getting the better of me. There’s nothing wrong with that unless you unrightfully butt into someone else’s business, something that I’m not doing.

“I was thinking that you could hang around today and we could watch the sunset together because our one month is tomorrow and we haven’t seen much of each other this week,” he commented. “I know the perfect place and everything, but I’ll be out of the house for a bit since I need to meet up with a few friends for a small birthday celebration, but I’ll be back by then. You can just hang out in my room until then,” he said in one big rush, almost as if he was scared that I would deny him.

“Sounds fun,” I commented, leaning up to peck him on the lips real quick, before I pulled away, waving at him shyly as I walked back into his house and scurried up to his room.

For once he was leaving me behind for a bit instead of it being the other way around.

~

It seemed as if this smile was permanently etched onto my lips as I curled into Pierce’s body, a smug little smirk etched onto his. Typical Pierce Gordon. He’s full of himself in a classy way. I have no clue how he can pull such an attitude off all the time, but it is part of who he is and it just comes naturally. He truly isn’t full of himself, he’s just got that silent undertow of arrogance that any wealthy person seems to possess these days.

I closed my eyes as I breathed in the scent of their strategically placed wildflowers, the clear sound of the shutter going off echoing around us. Pierce is still like a kid in a candy shop when he gets the chance to even touch my camera. He never gets sick of it and let me tell you, he has most definitely improved from when he used my camera the first time.

A sigh escaped my lips as I leaned up and pressed a firm kiss to his lips, lingering for a second before pulling away.

“I like moments like this,” I said absentmindedly as I went back to watching the setting sun. I have to admit that he was right when he said that he knew the perfect spot to watch the sunset – sitting on his roof. The only problem with his plan is that I didn’t really enjoy the process of getting up here, and I most likely know that I won’t enjoy the process of getting down either. It’s moments like this that I’m thankful that I have a boyfriend who can carry twice my weight because he will most likely be carrying my tiny body down the side of this monstrosity.

Pierce no longer worried about my camera since it was most likely that he finished the last roll that I had on me today. He handled my camera with care as he placed it back in my bag, zipping it shut before he draped his arms around my body, leaning his head into the crook of my neck.

“Moments like what?” He muttered, his hot breath fanning across my pulse point.

“Moments where it’s just us and we can do anything without worrying about other people watching us,” I clarified. “Moments when it’s just the two of us and nothing else matters.”

“I like moments like this too,” he agreed after a second, hugging me closer to him. “It’s nice to get away from the constant threat of the paparazzi. I wish I could just walk down the streets holding your hand, but I can’t, I’m not forcing my lifestyle onto you, even if you were willing to accept it.”

“I’d do it if I had to,” I murmured.

“I’m not letting you,” he stated firmly.

“I know, but you should know that I won’t hate you for it, Pierce. That’s all I wanted to say,” I assured him as I pressed a tiny kiss into his chest and curled my hands into his.

“Really?” he muttered.

“Really,” I confirmed.

“You have no idea how much that means to me, Dalton,” he murmured softly, turning my head to claim my lips with his own.

And the only thought running through my mind as our lips moved in synchronization was that Pierce has no idea how much he means to me.