The Way We Were

October Fifteenth

The next morning I woke up and Caleb was still asleep, so I quietly got out of bed and took a shower, he was still fast asleep when I finished. I put on one of his shirts and went into the living room; I took the pillows and the jersey couch cover off, wrapping them together. I took them downstairs and did a load of laundry.

I figured since it was early in the morning, I'd be the only one up, so I didn't care to wear any pants, so I wore only Caleb's shirt and my panty. I leaned against the washer, trying to stuff the pillows into it when I heard the laundry room door open. I gasped and quickly turned around, pulling down my shirt to cover my Victoria's Secret underwear.

"Jack!" I laughed, "You weren't supposed to be here."

He chuckled to himself, carrying a laundry basket and looking me up and down. "I wasn't?"

I chuckled and continued to put my laundry in the washer, "I was hoping no one would come in, as you can see I'm only in my pajamas."

He smiled and began loading his laundry, "Well if you're ever up for a sleepover, let me know." He chuckled.

I smirked at him and shut the washer lid. I held some quarters in my hand and began counting them out but accidentally dropped a couple and they rolled toward Jack's feet. "Woops." I laughed, about to get them.

"I got 'em." He smiled, kneeling down and picking them up. He slowly looked up and checked out my legs until my shirt cut him off from seeing anymore. I smirked and held out my hand to him. He gently placed the quarters in my palm.

"Do you wanna come upstairs?" I smiled.

"I don't know, is your fiancé there? Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea." He chuckled, saying fiancé in a mocking tone.

I laughed, "That really bothers you doesn't it? Why?"

"Because a girl so young and beautiful, should be with a British man so young and handsome." He laughed, leaning against the dryer crossing his arms.

"Well if you find such a being, send him my way." I joked around, knowing he meant himself.

"Ouch." He laughed.

"I'm kidding, but do you wanna come up?" I smiled.

"Sure, just let me finish up here." He dumped his laundry into the washer as I loaded the quarters in mine. When we were both done, we went back up to my place. We raced up the stairs and tried to trip each other along the way; he managed to trip me but I managed to jump onto his back, he carried me the rest of the way up.

"Okay, you gotta be quiet, Caleb is still sleeping. But I wanted to do some painting today, did you wanna?" I whispered, letting us into my place.

"Yeah that sounds good." He smiled, whispering back.

"Good." I smiled, I led him up to my studio, through the secret door in the second library and quietly shut the door behind us.

"This place is amazing." He smiled, looking around, seeing my paintings and drawing that hung on the walls or leaned against the walls.

"Thanks. What's your poison?" I asked, picking up my can of paint brushes.

"Got any charcoal?" He smirked.

"Do I have any charcoal, what kind of question is that?" I laughed, picking up a case of coal and passing it to him. "You can pick out a canvas, as you can see I've stocked up on every size." I smiled.

"Thanks." He chuckled, picking one up and setting it on the easel. "So have you always been an artist?" He asked me, watching me as I set out paints for myself.

"Thanks for calling me an artist." I grinned, I lightly laughed to myself, "Yes, I've always drawn and painted. It's a talent I inherited from my dad I guess, he was a genius when it came to art. That's his right there." I pointed with my brush to a grotesque images of a naked figure starting a fire with a stick.

"Wow, you're serious? That's his original?" He grinned, walking over and taking a closer look.

"Yup, I have all of his paintings and drawings. They're sort of all over the place, here, in the living room, bedroom. Everywhere." I replied.

He walked back to his easel, "That's amazing. Now I can see where your talent comes from."

I smiled and began painting. Whenever I paint, I never have a definite idea or goal of what I want to do, it just comes naturally.

Jack and I laughed and talked the whole time, I really like hanging out with him, probably because we have so much in common, but he's just a really great guy. At one point while I was focussing deeply on my painting, I was really quiet and so was he, I then realized that he was watching me and studying me so he could draw a portrait of me.

I laughed and flicked the brush at him, getting a spot of paint on his face.

He laughed, "Hey, can't you see I'm working here?"

"Why are you painting me anyway?" I chuckled, continuing with my painting.

"Because you're perfect. And perfection deserves to be captured on canvas." He smiled. I just blushed and looked back at my canvas.

I dabbed my brush in black paint and walked up to his drawing and then drew a moustache on my portrait. He started laughing as he stumbled backward, I grinned and walked up to him. "You need one too." I chuckled, painting a skinny moustache on his face.

"Your turn!" He laughed, grabbing the brush from me and trying to paint my face. I giggled as I tried to get away from him, he managed to get a spot on my cheek but I hit the brush out of his hand. He then began tickling me and caused me to drop to the floor in surrender. He smiled as he crawled over me and had an arm on either side of me, looking straight down at me. I lightly laughed as I caught my breath and my heart raced. His eyes softened as he slowly lowered his head down and brought his lips closer to mine but I placed my hand against his shoulder and pushed him back.

"I'm engaged." I smirked. He smiled and shook his head.

"Audrey?" Caleb called from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm here." I pushed Jack off me and walked to the door, opening it. "Hi, I'm up here, with Jack."

Caleb came upstairs and joined us in the studio; he gave Jack a strange look and laughed. "So what're you two doing up here?" He asked.

"Expressing our artistic talents and conveying them on canvas." I chuckled.

"Oh, that's cool." He nodded, looking around. "I didn't realize your studio looked like this. Good job."

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled, "Thanks."

"Well, I should get going. Don't forget, filming starts tomorrow." Jack spoke in his cute British accent, pushing his black hair back.

"Hey, we should go to the location together, we'll take my car." I smiled.

"Sounds good, I'll talk to you later." He smiled. He nodded Caleb's way and left.

"So, who is he again?" Caleb asked.

"Jack, Jack Huston. We're in the same movie, and he's my neighbour. I really like him, he's cool." I smiled, I picked up the paintbrush and used a cloth to wipe the paint off.

"Well he left a couple marks on your face and legs." He smirked looking down at my legs, turning around and going downstairs.

I sighed and began scrubbing the paint off my face and legs. I took a last look at the pictures and walked out, also going downstairs. Caleb was in the kitchen making coffee, so I went and sat on the couch. I picked up my phone and turned it on, it beeped from a missed text. I glanced at the kitchen and then proceeded to check who it was.

"Hi Audrey. I'm good. How are you? I miss you a lot, we should go for lunch sometime, it's been a long time. Let me know when you have time. -Ryan"

I smiled and closed my eyes. I whispered quietly, "I miss you too."