'Til Sun Beams Find You [COMPLETE]

Seven (Part 2)

A knock on the door made Nico stop what she was in the middle of doing, which was blending her concealer, and turn her attention towards the door.

"Alexa, turn off the music."

"Turning off music," the automated voice responded as she made her way towards the door.

She pulled it open to see Carter standing there, all dressed and ready to go. Black, black, black. Black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and he looked really great in it too. He flicked a brow at her attire, which consisted of a cropped white shirt, sweatpants she'd thrown on once she got out of the shower and a bonnet covering her head.

"Hey," she said, sidestepping him to allow him to enter her cozy apartment. "Welcome."

It was an extremely different story to his very own, sleek and minimalistic apartment that shared one neutral gray tone. Her apartment was full, not in a cluttered way, but more so in a way that felt lived in for several years. There was a blanket on the couch, warm lighting to light the room and not a speck of dust anywhere on her extra white rug.

Carter hesitated even stepping on it on his way to the couch.

"You got a haircut," she finally noticed, though she really liked the cropped curly hair on him.

The words sent Carter's hand running over his head.

"It looks good," she continued, "And you're early."

"I said I'd come at 9.. it's 9:01."

"Didn't know you were punctual like that," she responded as she made her way back to her bathroom.

He sent a funny look her way, except she hadn't seen it as she'd already disappeared behind the wall of what he guessed was her bedroom.

"I'm almost done getting ready... if this damn concealer would blend," she muttered, having let it dry down a bit too long.

Carter didn't offer any words, instead he just looked around the apartment once more. His eyes danced over the slew of beige and light pinks and browns that set a very cool tone to the room.

Everything looked like it had a home. Every item of furniture, table, lamp, rug, pillow or blanket had placement that felt very planned.

"I have wine, tequila, vodka and rum... what are you having?" Nico asked as she popped her head out from behind the wall when he didn't answer. "Or water? Juice? Milk...?"

Carter ran his hands down his pants and smirked. "I'm good."

Nico returned to blending out her makeup, and once she was satisfied, began applying her contour to carve out her cheekbones. She always went for a natural makeup look versus a full beat, opting for shades that matched her skin tone more and only varied by a shade or two. She was blessed with naturally high cheekbones that gave her face enough shape.

After a minute or two, Nico peeked out into the living room again. "You're so quiet," she pointed out, not used to this Carter at all.

Usually he had something witty at the forefront of his mind to say, but he didn't have a single comment out of turn yet.

"I'm just sitting here," he teased her with that same small smile.

Truthfully, he was taken aback by the fact that Nico had lived in this building of all buildings. His ex-girlfriend Violet used to live here, albeit the second floor, but he wondered how he had never in his life seen her before and he used to spend a lot of time here. Sure he always took the stairs, but never running into Nico not once? What kind of coincidence was it that she happened to live in the same exact building?