Our Safeguard

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

~Nolan~

       I stared at all the paintings in front of me, trying to decide which one would be the best for my application. But the thing was, I had always been an indecisive person. It didn't help that I would probably end up second guessing my decision. What if they reject the one I chose but would have accepted a different one? What if they didn't think the one I chose was good enough?

       I sighed heavily as I laid down on the floor, rethinking my life's decisions. Every time I couldn't make a decision, I would just contemplate life instead. Probably not the best thing to do since I really needed to make a decision soon, but I felt like my brain was fried.

       The door to the dance studio opened, so I tilted my head back to see Jerome walk in, carrying some takeout. He took one look at me before he asked, "Contemplating life?"

       I sighed. "Yes." Since I was looking at Jerome upside down, I was feeling a bit dizzy. I sat up and rubbed my forehead. "At least some food might help fuel my brain."

       Jerome walked over to me and sat down, setting the takeout bag on the ground. "So what is it that's making you contemplate life?"

       "Everything."

        Jerome started to take the food out of the bags, handing me my order. "You're going to have to be more specific."

       "You know how you told me that the school you go to has a really good art program?" I asked. "Well, applications are due soon so... Yeah, I've been trying to finish the application. I need to show them something I've done, but I can't decide on what painting."

       "Who says it has to be a painting?" Jerome asked.

       I furrow my eyebrows. "Okay, now you're the one that has to be more specific."

       "Think about the one piece of work you did that was over the top," Jerome said. 

       I frowned. "That's the issue, Jerome. I can't think of one that is over the top. Otherwise, I would have already made my decision by now. I think of one and then I think of one that's possibly better and then I go back to the first one and..." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Decisions suck. Now I know why Alan wants people to make decisions for him."

       "Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to make the decision for you," Jerome said. "I do have one in mind that I think is perfect for your application."

       "Which one?" I asked.

       "The one where you painted me naked."

       I glared at Jerome and gently hit his chest. "One, I never painted you naked. And two, I would rather not send in a painting of my naked boyfriend."

       Jerome smiled at me. "I'm kidding. The one I really thing you should show for your application is the mural you painted at city hall."

       I thought for a few moments, wondering why I never even thought about the mural in the first place. It was one of the works that I was the proudest of. One that was definitely put over the top. 

       Thinking about using that for the application, I wasn't even having any doubts about it. No second guessing whatsoever.

       So, of course, I couldn't help but throw my arms around Jerome since he helped me finally come to a decision about my dilemma. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

       Jerome laughed as he hugged me back. "I just told you to use the mural for your application. And, if you do need more than one, there's the mural at the park too. And if you really want to put things over the top even more, feel free to paint me naked."

       My cheeks reddened at the mere thought of painting Jerome naked. I mean, I still blushed whenever I saw him naked and I saw him naked all the time. Daily, in fact. I would have thought that I would have built up the tolerance, but I guess not.

       "I'm not painting you naked," I said. "Stop suggesting that."

       "Fine, fine." Jerome took a small bite out of his food. Once he swallowed the bite, he said, "Hey, about the whole read message thing...?"

       I shook my head. "It's fine. If anything, I should apologize for thinking you would read the message and not reply."

       "No, I get it," Jerome said. "It's just... It's weird. Someone obviously read the message, but I can't figure out who. My password isn't exactly easy to guess."

       "Your password is Nolan. If anyone knows you, it's kind of easy to guess."

       "That's..." Jerome sighed. "That's a fair point. Still, I don't know why someone would read one of my messages. I really am sorry I left my phone out in the open for someone to do that."

       "You don't have to apologize," I said. "You didn't do anything wrong."

       "I'm still sorry."

       "Well, if you insist on being sorry, then I know something you could do to make it up to me."

       "And what would that be?"

       Surprisingly, Jerome didn't guess what the thing he could do was. It was what I suggested all the time. Almost every day. He could just breath, and I would suggest it because he was just so darn attractive.

       To make sure Jerome got the hint, I sat on Jerome's lap, straddling him with my legs. I smiled at him before pressing my lips on his. He kissed me back for a bit before pulling away. "Nolan," he said as I moved my lips to kiss his neck. "As much as I love you and as much as I absolutely love this feeling, we're not going to have sex on the studio floor."

       I pulled away from his neck and pouted. "Why not?"

       "For starters, the floor is hard," Jerome said. "Second, we have food that needs to be eaten. And third, I'm pretty sure you have an application that needs to be filled out now that you know what you want to submit."

       I huffed as I moved off of Jerome's lap. "Fine."

       "You are just a horny little thing, aren't you?" Jerome asked. He ruffled my hair. "I'll make it up to you later, don't worry."

___________________

jerome: *breathes*
nolan: sex please.

love these two so much

(they'll definitely be a fourth book for them btw)(i just can't let go of this au quite yet)