Moonlight Kisses

through his eyes

Once the check came along, Beau insisted to cover the bill, even if I was more than capable of doing so. I put up a good fight, but ultimately he won, go figure.

The time went by quicker than I could've ever thought possible. By the time we were all cleaned up and back in his car, it was half past noon.

When he pulled his BMW out of the parking lot, the first thing we did was connect his phone to the speaker. I kept pestering him about playing me more of his favorite songs and he finally gave in after I told him I'd play the High School Musical 2 soundtrack if he didn't drop the act.

As I scrolled through his playlist in search of different songs to play, I came across a lot of Fleetwood Mac, The Neighbourhood, and Cigarettes After Sex with an occassional dosage of The Weeknd. I could only pinpoint a few songs, but it was amusing to watch him hum along and explain the lyrics of the songs I didn't know.

Beau knows I haven't been to very many places in L.A.. I've walked down Hollywood Blvd a fair amount of times. Sophie and I drove up to Griffith Park after a long day's worth of trying to summon spirits at the Roosevelt Hotel. Santa Monica Pier will forever be tainted by the blind faith I handed over to Jake without knowing his ulterior motives. Other than that, my summer days had been spent unpacking and settling into the new move and the fall brought way too much homework to even consider doing anything else other than a few parties and sporadic shopping trips in between. With that being said, Beau has many options when it comes to taking me somewhere.

As we approach the center of Downtown L.A. I start to notice the old brick buildings covered in beautifully painted murals. Every little cafe we pass has some form of painting on the glass panes. We pull into a parking lot between two tall buildings, both covered top to bottom with chaotic-looking murals, but once I get a closer look at the two of them, it tells the story of a little girl growing up.

"You brought me to an art walk?" I inquire with an excited squeal.

He tries to act all nonchalant about it, but I see the relief washing over him as clear as day. He made it sound like he was so sure of himself when he told me I'd love wherever he was taking me, but it's even clearer to me now that deep down he carried his doubts. There's no question in my mind that he's ever done this for someone before, explored art and culture with them as a fun past-time. The new things are making him nervous which is a good sign because it means he put a lot of thought into this and didn't want to blow it. He put a lot of thought into me.

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go, let's go, let's go!" With a sudden burst of energy, I practically jump out of the car and run over to his side. He's lighthearted but a little more apprehensive with smiling so much. I know this isn't his type of scene, but I'm grateful he's willing to just walk here beside me and listen to me gawk over all the live art being done in the streets.

Our hands swing back and forth between us as I point out the murals we pass by. It's fairly crowded because it's a weekend, but I almost like it better this way. We don't have the pressure of being alone together and turns out, we're both active people watchers. This one man in particular catches our eyes. The man with the top hat, we've decided to call him. He's walking this big horse-like Dalmation down the street like it's a normal stroll in the park. His odd attire paired with the dog as tall as the man's hip makes for a sight right out of a children's book.

After about 45 minutes of straight walking and sightseeing, we found a good place to rest near a young woman no older than 25 playing an acoustic cover.

"Let's fall in love for the night and forget in the morning."

"Thank you for this," I murmur apprehensively. The last time I tried to point out the sliver of kindness he showed to me, I ended up scaring him off with such an observation. I know we're in a slightly different place now so that may not be the case, but I really don't want to take that risk. All I want to do is let him know how much it means to me that he set his guard aside for this long, not just now, but at our spot as well. He's been so sweet these past 2 days and I know it's not just because he's trying to get in my pants or else he wouldn't be trying to conquer his inner voice that won't allow the real parts of him to shine through. He wouldn't be trying so hard for me. He's had more than a few times to have sex with me, I can say without a doubt I would've allowed it every single time, but that's just my hormones talking. He knows that and turns me down every time because he cares how I feel about my first time and he doesn't want to be the one to ruin it for me.