Vintage Love

Chapter 17

[edit] A/N: Please don't comment spoilers! I'll delete them if I spot any but I may not be able to get to all of them, so please think about the other readers!

❝JUST DO.❞

I walked into my lecture theatre with haste in my steps, barely glancing at Archer as I made my way to my seat. I slid onto my seat, placing my laptop and notebooks on the desk before me as I attempted to prepare myself for class but something red catches my attention.

On my desk laid a red rose, a note attached to it. I pick it up, staring at the note as a warmth curls through my body.

o my luve is like a Red, Red rose

The red's capitalised, almost like he means it to be me. Almost like he means I'm passion, his passion.

I place it down. I think I'm reading too much into it, his annotations getting the better of me but then I finally meet his gaze and his eyes are bright and watching me with an endearment that makes me believe he meant it.

"So class, today we'll be talking about the seesaw theory." He started as he drew a slanted line on the board.

"Has anyone heard of this theory?" Archer turned to the class as everyone stared back blankly, including me. 

"It's okay." He chuckled. "It's not a surprise that none of you have heard of this." He wrote Ark's names in capital letters on both ends of the slanted line.

"As we know, Ark's two versions of himself in this book, something I see everyone has a hard time comprehending." He chuckled once more, shaking his head. "I'll go in depth soon, but as of now it isn't important."

He dusts his hands together, trying to get the chalk dust off as he leaned against his desk. "Basically, it is shown that he is someone outside of time. A manipulator of sorts." Archer nodded slowly.

"Now the seesaw theory comes into play when you have two different time zones, dimensions, some may call it." He chewed onto his bottom lip as he thought about how to continue his sentence.

"Let's say, for example, dimension A; where Ark builds the house in the woods for his lover but she rejects him after he told her about it, that's bad so it goes on the downside." He pointed at the lower end of the slant.

"The author vaguely shows the upside in the story." He then rushes to his book as he flipped through the pages.

It was cute how involved he was in Literature. Just by the way he would speak, you could see how passionate he was.

"But he does show it, in this instance," He tapped onto the page as he walked over to the board. "Where his lover gets together with him after her friend's memorial." My head was already throbbing at this point. I couldn't get what he was saying.

"If you read closely, during the period of her friend's memorial, the house is described as old and Ark describes waiting for his lover was like waiting through a lifetime. Even though the memorial supposedly took place right after his lover had rejected him and right after he had built the cabin. It's like there's a gap from the time when he built the cabin to the memorial." He said as he circled the higher point of the slant.

Archer pauses, a flicker of doubt crossing his face as he turns to the class. The entire lecture theatre was silent, the confusion almost audible. Archer looked at all of us as his eyes studied our blank faces. Finally, another voice peeped.

"So, Ark was a time traveller?" A male student asked and Archer shook his head in response.

"Time is always portrayed as a tyrant. We play by its rules and it drags us along, never stopping to help even when we so desperately need a pause. In this book, Time is portrayed as a helper of sorts. To emphasise on just how desperately in love Ark is with his lover that even something as inanimate and cruel as Time comes to his aid." He explains.

"With the seesaw theory, the author tries to show how even in bad times," he points at the lower end of the slant, "love still prevails. And at the good times," he taps the higher end of the line. "The love is still as strong as ever." His gaze drifts over to mine.

I think he catches the look of confusion on my face because he chuckles lightly, running a hand through his hair.

"To put it in layman's terms, the seesaw theory basically means balance. When Ark experiences something good in one timeline, you'd see bad news in the other. It balances out, like a seesaw." He finished and I think I finally understood.

"I won't go further into detail since I see many lost faces." He shook his head, the doubtful look still masking his features. "Carry on with your reading for the rest of the lesson."

And so I did. It got even more confusing with the seesaw theory brought in, yet it somehow made sense. But I often found holes in the story, missing pieces and that confused me.

Finally, the class ends. I packed my things quickly and then hold onto the rose with a smile on my face. I assumed Archer wouldn't speak to me now, considering he wanted to keep us a secret but apparently, having some students still in class wasn't deterrence enough.

"Red." He called out in a sweet and melodic tone which sent tingles to my stomach. I came to an abrupt halt as I spun around on my heel, facing him.

He looked at me, wearing a wide smile. I walked over to him and instantly started rambling.

"I don't think it's wise to talk about us on school compound."

I heard him click his tongue. "I was going to tell you something about the seesaw theory since you seemed lost." He said wryly, watching my flustered form.

"Oh." I looked to my feet, embarrassment burning through me. The last few students make their way out and now we were alone in the huge lecture room.

"But now that you brought it up," His hands reached for my waist pulling me closer and I drop everything in my hands.

"Shit." I cussed as he laughed. I bent over, scrambling to get my stuff together. "I'm glad you find this funny." I let out sarcastically.

"Like I said, I think you're cute." He bent, helping me gather my stuff.

As he passed me my books, his hand brushes by mine and I flinched. I had no idea why having him touch me in school made me so jumpy. Okay, I did have an idea. I didn't want to risk anyone seeing us, consequently, risking his job. I was pretty sure professors were not allowed to date their students.

"Is that how it's going to be whenever I touch you?" He asked as he got up, a cocky smile playing on his lips.

I felt my breath hitch, body paralysed for a second. "If that's the case, then fine. But I need time to get used to it." He folded his arms over his chest.

I felt my cheeks heating up the more I stared at him. "Mr Kane," I finally start.

"I don't think-" And with that I felt his lips on mine.

He pulled away for a second, forehead resting on mine as he whispered, "don't think. Just do."