Paint by Numbers

I took a deep breath, setting down at my piano. My fingers were seriously itching to play, and since I’ve already painted for today, I figured why not. I haven’t played in what seemed like forever. I have a job, and I do have things to do other than the things I love the most. Tragic, I know, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. My hand started to glide effortlessly over the keys, feeling as if no time has passed since the last time I actually got to play. I hummed softly to my own song, one that I wrote a while ago. I’m not the best singer in the world, but I know that I don’t suck. I’m no Mariah Carey, but I do have a voice. I do love to sing from time to time, a task that I rarely do around others. I sighed and stopped playing. My thoughts were sometimes just too much to handle. Others. These ‘others’ are more commonly known as my friends. I can’t do anything in front of them without feeling like they’re going to judge me, or not take me seriously. I’m always cracking jokes, and having a smart ass remark. I’m not this Sevie when I’m with them. I’m not entirely me. I’m just their Sevie. I’m the Sevie that everyone thinks that they know. I’m not always that Sevie.
At home, I feel free. I feel like I can be myself when it’s just me and my piano, blank canvas or my stupid hairbrush that I love singing into. I’m way too shy for my own damn good. I can’t even tell my best friends that I love doing these things. I feel like such a joke. Why can’t I share them, may you ask. The answer is simple my friends. Here it is; I’m a fucking coward. I know, I know, but it’s totally true. I can’t stand the thought of them knowing. But I do wish I could just tell someone, tell anyone whom is worth telling. I can’t just tell any random stranger, obviously, but rather someone I trust dearly. The problem is with choosing who. There are a lot of trust-worthy people in my life. I just have to be extra picky about who I tell, if I even tell them.
“What do you think, Winston?” I asked my rather large white bull dog sitting beside my piano, watching me play. Winston cocked his head to the side slightly, showing off his cuteness. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too, buddy.” I huffed and shut up my piano. I just didn’t have the drive to play today. It’s rainy, and I’m over-thinking. Two terrible combinations if you ask me. I needed some hot cocoa and maybe a movie or two. The Last Song sounds great right about now. I have no one expecting to come over, so why not? My big puppy waddled after me into the kitchen, begging for attention. I laughed at him before I bent down to pet his large head. He grunted, sounding like a pig. I giggled, and shook my head. Lord knows that I would be completely lost without this animal. He’s the perfect companion. Why need boys if I have my sweet Winston?
Before I could even finish making my hot cocoa, my door bell rang. Winston ran off toward it. He was barking like no tomorrow, and I shook my head at the animal. I approached, smoothing out my ever so fashionable sweat pants and Glamour Kills hoodie. I checked the peephole, and a huge smile graced my face. I yanked my door back and threw myself at the awaiting man on the other side. His strong arms wrapped themselves around my middle, hugging me tightly into his body.
“I missed you so much,”
“I missed you too, Sev,” He whispered back, placing a chaste kiss on my shoulder, but not moving away from me for another moment. When the moment has passed, I let him go from my bone-crushing hug. I stepped aside, letting the brunette boy inside of my warm, Texas home. “Hey, Winston,” He called, bending down to pet my puppy.
“Someone missed you more than I did,” I laughed, pointing out my dog’s mouth hanging open and his tongue flopping out. “What do you do to him?”
Zack finally looked up at him, his green eyes meeting my brown ones.
“I just pet him is all,” He replied. “I did buy him for you,”
“I’m sure,” I rolled my eyes lightly. “I’m glad you’re here. I thought that you were coming back later?”
“Tour got cut a few days early due to weather, so here I am,” He stated proudly, standing up. “Are you surprised?”
“Sure am,” I replied. “I was just making hot cocoa when you interrupted. Do you want some?”
“I would love some. It’s kind of cold and I’m soaked,”
“I noticed that,” I laughed before heading toward my kitchen. Zack slipped off his leather jacket and shoes before following me with Winston in tow. My dog loves Zack more than he loves me. Friggin bass player. “So, how was tour?”
“Great, per usual,” He replied with a sigh. “I can’t believe that you didn’t come with us this time,”
“I’m sorry, but I had a new house to move into,” I motioned all around me. “But I’m finally moved in so maybe next tour, yeah?”
“Yeah, I’d love that,” He laughed.
“Me too,” I nodded. “I’m also watching The Last Song. I hope you don’t mind tears.”
“You know that I hate when you cry,” Zack pouted.
“I know, but I really want to watch this movie, and you did show up un-announced…”
“Whatever…I’ll deal,” He laughed. “Thank you for the cocoa,” He stated as soon as the cup was in his hands. Zack and I walked toward my living room, and sat down on the couch. It wasn’t long before Winston was up on the couch with us, cuddling to Zack’s feet.
“You have my dog wrapped around your finger,”
“I suppose that’s a good thing?” He looked confused. “Go on, start the film,”
I did as told and snuggled into his side. He was really warm despite the temperature outside mixed with the rain. Someone shouldn’t be this warm after being out in the conditions. I shook off the thought as soon as Zack’s muscular arm winded around my frame. I love when Zack holds me. He knows that, and he likes it to so it’s a win/win for the two of us as long as we stay like this. We rarely are uncomfortable when we’re cuddling. He’s my best friend so he’s not awkward or anything around me. We’re just comfortable.
Zachary Merrick is my best friend in the entire world. He has been for quite some time now. We’ve known each other since we were nine. No we didn’t have one of those classic Hollywood friendships. Ya know the one where the girl falls head over heels in love with her best guy friend before she even hit double digits? Yeah, didn’t happen to us. In fact, that didn’t happen at all. We attended the same high school, and had all the same classes. I never missed an All Time Low show for the world. I support him one thousand percent. Zack and I even tried dating in high school. It’s obviously didn’t really work out. I basically used him to make someone jealous, and when he caught on, ended it with me. I don’t blame him, it was a stupid thing to do, and I regret it still. However, the incident only brought us closer together. He didn’t know about my talents, and he still doesn’t, but he’s the closest person to me.
“You have a pretty voice,” I looked up at him slightly startled. A deep blush formed on my cheeks as he looked down at me. “I didn’t know that you sang,”
“I don’t,”
“But I just heard you…” He trailed off. “You were singing along to Maroon 5 just a second ago,”
“I was?” I questioned him. When he nodded, I turned back to the movie, confirming that the song She Will Be Loved was just played. “Oops, I didn’t mean too.”
“I didn’t mind. Like I said, you have a pretty voice,”
“Stop it,” I laughed, shaking off his compliment.
“Okay…” He agreed.
Zack was never one for arguing, which I’ve always been thankful for. We watched the movie silently, and when the part finally came, I started to bawl my eyes out. Zack was there with tissues ready and a hand on my lower back. He rubbed circles into my muscles, sending shock waves through my body. I loved the feeling it gave me. It calmed me down a whole lot. Damn Nicholas Sparks for pulling on my fragile heart strings! That’s another thing that I totally love about Zack. He’s always there when I need him to be, and he doesn’t freak out when I cry. It’s nice to say the least.
“T-thanks,” I sniffled when the movie ended. “I feel like such a baby.”
“Don’t,” He reassured. “It was a sad movie. I’m pretty sure I teared up just a little bit. Hell, even Winston was crying some,”
I rolled my eyes, but laughed.
“You’re awesome,”
“I know,” He shrugged. “But I really have to pee. Where is your lovely new bathroom at?”
“Down the hall, the second door on the left,” I replied, pointing it out for him.
“Thanks, Sev.” He replied before standing up and heading that way. Winston followed him until Zack shut the door. His whines were soft. I laughed at my puppy again. He just adores Zack, even more than he adores me sometimes. It’s odd. I shook the thought and grabbed the empty pop corn bowl, and our empty mugs. I slipped them in the sink. I’m far too lazy to wash them right now. I just want to fall asleep to the rain, but I’m not sure how Zack would react to that. Especially since he just not got here and I’ve already cried on his shoulder. I didn’t even pay attention that Zack had left the bathroom. I just knew that he did when he let out a loud gasp. “What the hell?”
“Zack?” I called out his name and walked toward the bathroom. Once I got close enough, I saw that my painting room door was open. My heart started to speed up, beating out of my chest. I felt like I was going to pass out when I pushed the door a little further open to see him, and Winston, staring at all of my work
“Sevie…did…did you do all of this?”
I looked down at my shoes.
“Y-yeah…I mean…I know it’s really bad and shi-,”
“The work is gorgeous,”
My head snapped up and looked at him.
“What?”
“It’s gorgeous. You seriously painted all of these? Every single last one on the wall?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“That’s amazing!” He nearly shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me that you paint?”
“I didn’t tell you that I sing or play the piano either, but…” I trailed off. One cat’s already out of the bag, why not bring them all in? They were going to be brought up anyway. “I haven’t told anyone,”
“Not even your mom?”
“Especially not my mom,” I shook my head. “If she knew…”
“But she doesn’t. You said so yourself.”
“I know…” I trailed off. “I’m not…really ready to tell anyone about this, all of this. It’s a bit much.”
Zack studied my face.
“How long have you been keeping this a secret?”
“Since I picked up my first paint brush at six,” I admitted. “I realized how much I loved it.”
“And the rest of your hidden talents?”
“Almost instantly after painting, they came,”
Zack sighed lightly, and stared at my walls again.
“Could you teach me?”
“What?” I asked baffled. “Why do you want me of all people to show you how to paint?”
“Cause you’re damn good, Sevie,” He remarked. “Even better than you give yourself credit for. You should seriously be an artist for a living. I’m pretty sure these painting in here would make big money.
I swallowed the lump started to slowly form in my throat.
“Let’s get painting.” I nearly whispered.
Zack smiled, but it was uneasy. I bet more than anything that he could tell that I was nervous about showing him. It’s…hard to explain to say the least.
“Okay,” He agreed. Zack pulled another chair up beside mine while I poured out paint on a platter. The blank canvas was in front of him, ready for the taking. I walked over at sat down.
“Here’s your brush. Please take care of it,” I ordered playfully.
“How should I hold it?” He asked.
“However you feel comfortable with holding it,”
“O-okay…” He trailed off.
I dipped my bush in the paint and started to do a few weird designs that I just loved to randomly paint. Zack was trying his hardest to even paint, but the boy wasn’t doing well at all. I laughed at him and shook my head.
“What is that supposed to be?”
“Winston,” He pouted.
“I didn’t know my dog was blue…” I trailed off.
Zack brought his arm down.
“I can obviously only with those Paint by Numbers things!” He huffed. “I can barely do that too!” He shook his brush and blue paint landed on my jeans.
“Zack! You just got paint all over me,” I pouted, trying to wipe it off.
“I didn’t mean too!” He stated, again shaking his hands and getting paint on me yet again.
“Okay…seriously stop that,”
He blushed.
“I’m sorry…again,” He apologized. “Maybe I should just put it down….or maybe I should just do this…”
“Zack…” I warned, but nearly too late. His paint brush glided across my face. “Did you really just paint my face?”
“Maybe…” He laughed before dipping more blue on his brush. “You look good in blue.”
“Hmmm…do I? I happen to think you look good in red.” I stated before I made a una-brow on his face with bright red paint. “Work that una-brow.”
“Okay, okay.” He stated, standing up and sticking his hand in blue paint. He flung the paint at me, landing on my sweat pants.
“It’s war!” I called, grabbing some paint to throw at him.
“You’re gonna pay for that!” He nearly yelled, laughing.
I squeaked and ran toward the whiter part of the room. Zack sloshed the green paint that was now in his hand. I jumped back again and it got my top and the wall behind me. I zigzagged around him, which was hard because he’s Zack. But I eventually got back to the cup, and he caught up with me. I smiled and poured the yellow paint over the top of his head.
“Payback’s a bitch!” I smirked.
He rolled his eyes before he hugged me to his chest, mixing our paint colors. I squealed, and he laughed. Zack pulled away and stared at me.
“You look weird,”
“You’re one to talk, Una-brow,” I winked. “We should probably get cleaned up. Sadly, I only have one shower, and not enough hot water for two showers. Strip down, muscle head.”
“We’re going to take a shower together?” He looked at me like I was crazy.
I laughed at him.
“Zack, we’re best friends. It’s not like we’re going to be naked for anything.”
“But I have nothing else to wear,”
“I have some of my brother’s old clothes. You can wear those until your clothes dry..”
“I…uh…okay.” He finally agreed, and he led the way toward the bathroom. We stripped down, and before we got into the shower, I tossed them in the washing machine. When I got back, Zack had already started the shower and he was standing in nothing but his boxer-briefs. I couldn’t help but let my eyes roam his body and my heart beat increase. It was a new reaction toward Zack, but I was very aware of why it was happening. Is it just me or does Zack look…hotter than he did in high school? “I know you don’t want to wear this…but uh…you’ve got paint on your undergarments too…”
I bit my lip and looked down.
“Oops?” I stated, really unsure about what to do.
“I’ll turn around,” He replied before turning around.
I shook lightly as I removed my clothes. I kicked them out of the way and stepped into the shower.
“I…um…y-you can uh…you can come on in.”
“Are you sure? I can just take a cold shower,”
“Zack, don’t be ridiculous,” I replied, but my voice wasn’t as confident as I would have liked it. Zack stepped in, and took a sharp intake of breath. I bit my lip, and shook a little bit. His hands came up to the waistband of his boxer-briefs. Slowly, he removed them, and I refused to look anywhere. I turned around and turned on the hot water. I grabbed my body wash and put in on my loofah. I washed the front part of my body, but I couldn’t reach my back. “Zack? Can you wash my back for me?”
“Yeah,” He nearly whispered. He grabbed my loofah from my hand. Slowly he started to wash my back, but it slid slowly across my skin. I shivered yet again, and had to close my eyes. I stepped under the water and washed off my body while Zack washed his own body. I washed his back as he did for me, and then I washed it out and put it back in the original spot. I felt a hand turn me around, and I was pressed chest to chest with Zack. “Just go with it,”
He answered my un-asked question by pressing his lips to mine. His soft lips felt like fire against mine, something a bunch of my relationships have clearly lacked. I pressed my lips back tighter to his before they started to move. My hand came back up, and tangled lightly into his brown locks. Zack’s hands tugged on my red-ish hair. As soon as I felt his tongue against my lower lip, I almost pulled away, but his hands now cupped my face. The wet muscle met mine, and an unexpected sound came from the back of my throat.
After a few minutes or so, we finally pulled away panting. Zack rested his head against mine as we caught our breath.
“Wow,”
“I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time.” He whispered. “We should probably get out of here. The water’s getting cold.”
“Yeah,” I replied, still keeping my eyes closed. He turned off the water and slipped out before I had time to recover. When I did, Zack was standing outside of my shower with one of my robes waiting for me. He had on the other one. He grabbed my hand, and we walked out of the foggy bathroom. Winston was waiting for us at the door and as soon as he saw Zack, he perked up. I laughed.
“So you said that you play the piano?”
“I do,” I nodded. “Do you want to hear some of my work?”
“I’d love too.” He smiled widely at me.
I led the way to my piano. Zack and I sat down on the bench. I don’t remember even opening the piano and playing. My mind was going insane. I really didn’t feel that way about him in high school. We were sixteen for goodness sake. I rarely would kiss him. It felt what I would’ve defined as weird, but I realize that it is definitely not weird. My lips still tingle even thinking about the kiss. I just think too much.
“There…” I sighed.
“You’re so talented, yet you hid it from the world. Why?”
“I guess I’m just…shy,”
“Maybe I could help you with your shyness,”
“How?” I nearly snorted from laughing.
Zack rolled his eyes.
“I know, it might take some time, but seriously, Sev. You’re amazing,”
I bit my lip before I leaning over and kissing him softly.
“Thank you.”
“Let’s go to sleep. It’s getting late,” He suggested. I didn’t have to agree before we started toward my room. I stopped to pick up our undergarments and starting the washing machine. Winston followed right behind us. We got comfortable in my bed together with him at our feet. His strong arms wrapped around my body, and held me closely to his.
“Zack?”
“Hmmm?”
“What’s going to happen from here?” I asked him, looking up at him now.
“I don’t know, Sev. I want to call you mine…”
“I think I’d like that.”
“Me too,” Zack agreed before he kissed me.
I really do love rainy days.