His Favorite Piece Of Art

Chapter 10 | Late night messages

 Is everything okay? >

He does the same thing as he did just minutes ago. He sees the message but doesn't reply, leaving her on seen. He hopes that she doesn't take it in the wrong way, that she isn't thinking that he doesn't want to talk to her because he wants to, but for some reason, he can't.

Are you okay, Mr. Hart? >

His heart tugs at her next message. She is asking if he's okay. He doesn't know how to answer that question and that only already tells that he isn't okay. He's not okay but he won't tell her that.

< Everything is fine, love. I'm fine.

He lies, even though he didn't want to, but he has to. He likes to believe that she is genuinely asking, that she is actually caring about how he feels, just like the other day at their photoshoot.

He could hear the sincerity in her voice, but he has to be careful because people would always give him false hope, making him believe that they actually care but then it turns out they only wanted something from him and that they only played to be nice so they can get closer to him and all for wrong reasons.

Okay. But if you need someone to talk to, I'll be here. >

His heart doesn't ease up on him as it clenches at her heartwarming message and his fingers twitch to move, to answer her, to tell her all his problems. But he can't. He is scared.

< Why are you so sweet? Caring about a man that has shit load of issues. But I won't bother you with my problems love, and plus it's late, you should sleep.

He may have had a glass filled with alcohol so he didn't hold up from cursing even though it's only in messages. But he never talks to her like that and he hopes she won't mind the slip-up.

You won't bother me, Mr. Hart. If you need to get something off your chest, please do. It will make you feel better and don't worry, I won't judge you about anything in any way if that's what you're concerned about. >

Bella is surprised that she's even saying this to him, that she's actually having this conversation, but she can tell that something is wrong since that phone call and if she can help in some way then she is willing to listen.

< Why do you care?

He is genuinely curious as to why she would waste her time on him, especially this late when she should be sleeping. He knows that she has classes tomorrow and plus they will have another session and all of that can get tiring. The last thing he wants to do is take her sleep away.

I don't know, I just do. I know that we don't know each other that well or for that long, but I can tell that something is wrong and I want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, I'll be here and I'm all ears. >

As he reads her message he can feel himself softening and he is close to telling her everything. His fingers hover over his screen, contemplating if he should really do it, but then another message pops up from the sweet girl he thinks too much about lately, and he reads it.

I care because I know that it means a lot when someone asks you how you feel, that it means a lot when someone cares. And maybe I wish someone would ask me that too sometimes. >

He frowns at her message, reading it over and over again, especially the last sentence. He didn't expect her to open up to him. Even though she didn't tell him anything yet, that last sentence was enough for him to see that she feels exactly like he does.