Life of Love

Four A.M

"I know a little spot not far from here we can go. It has a fountain and a little cafe along with a nice view of the city." The young man seemed kind enough and I honestly wasn't frightened by him at all, which is odd for me.
"How far is it from here?" I was smart enough however to know I wasn't getting in a car with this man. If we couldn't walk there we weren't going.
"Not far. Close enough to walk even." I immediately relaxed when I heard him say this. I hadn't realized I was tensed that whole time. We started walking and for a bit, we just walked in silence. The man was the first to break the quiet. "My name is Conner by the way." My eyes were searching over the trees beside us and his words caught me off guard. "What's your name?" His question surprised me even more.

After asking for her name the two walked in silence for a moment, Conner slowly kicked at stones while they walked, waiting for her to answer. After a moment he started feeling a bit like a fool.  That was until she answered him. "My name." She gently laughed and her laugh was something he had never heard before and somehow was strangely beautiful to him. "I don't think I'll be telling you my name just yet. Maybe one day." She said this with a slight smirk but her voice was gentle. He laughed to himself at her innocence and playful teasing.

We reached the cafe and boy did Conner let this place down with his description. The place was absolutely stunning. The city lights reflected off the water and the lights of the cafe softly lit up the gloom of the city. The stars were even able to shine through onto brick pavements and beautiful lanterns twinkled in the night. I could not believe my eyes when we walked up.
"Wow just wow."

"It is beautiful isn't it." Conner paused a moment as he contemplated whether or not he should put out a line for her. He decided now was as good a time as ever to see if he would get a bite. "But not near as beautiful as you."

My eyes widened at his words and I could feel my heart fluttering. I silently moaned inside. The last thing I wanted was for this beautiful and so far fun night to be ruined by a guy trying to get me in bed. I sat in silence slightly panicking as I thought of something I could do or say. Finally, I just decided to pretend he hadn't said anything and to ask him something else. "So what do you like to do for fun?"

Conner very quickly noticed her get uncomfortable at what he had said. He knew then he probably wasn't going to be having any fun with her this night but still, she seemed like a nice girl to get to know and be friends with. "I'm pretty boring actually. Fun is watching tv or doing art. I like video games too but I don't go crazy."

"Really, what games do you play?" He was surprised that she showed an interest in video games. He hadn't really thought of her as a gamer girl. He expected her to be home sewing or reading. As he thought about it he was filled with even more curiosity and decided he might just become friends with her.

"Well, I'm not that into it. I do grand theft auto a little bit" Conner wasn't expecting a girl like this to know anything about that game. He just didn't know that much about games so that was all he could think of at the moment.

"Oh, I used to play that game with my cousin. I haven't in a while though. I'm more into call of duty and Assassins creed. Fortnite is fun too, but not my fav." Wow, what was I doing talking all gamer to this guy? He's gonna think I'm so weird. What girl knows this much about video games? Ok ok I need to save this, didn't he say he likes art? "What kind of art are you into?"

"Umm well mostly paint pouring. I got into that a couple of months ago. I do things like cups and stuff like that. I made this box doing that. I sell some of them for extra money occasionally. Do you want to see some of it?" I quickly nodded my head yes to this as he pulled out his phone. He went to his photos and showed me some of the things he had made. Turns out he's not only an artist but he also does woodworking. He had this really pretty set of chests he had made and other things he had done that were absolutely amazing. I was really impressed with everything but the entire night he just kept saying it wasn't that good and he could really do better. I was kind of taken aback by his humility with it. It was really well-done work and he acted as though it was nothing or it wasn't very good.

We ended up walking around and talking for hours. We went inside the little coffee shop and talked about life and things. Turns out I was kinda right about him and girls. He told me stories of his exes and crazy girls he had met. But at the same time, he was respectful and treated me kindly. He was a rather confusing fellow.

And somehow in the course of the conversation the fact that I like to draw came up. He was very interested in what I did and I showed him a bit on my phone. He was very curious about the ones dealing with my faith. "Well, I'm a Christian. I drew these when I was going through a hard time and was really looking for God. He's helped me through so much."

"I'm a Christian too believe it or not." As soon as the words came out of his mouth I immediately felt guilty. I had assumed this man didn't have anything to do with God. "I used to be more into it then I am now but some things happened and ... yeah me and God kinda got into it a bit. I'm better now." We sat in silence for a moment after that before Conner started talking about something else. To be honest that's really when my heart opened up to Conner. I had thought of him as the man he put out but just in that little moment where he showed who he really was, I was in the least intrigued with him. I felt for him and wanted to get to know him more.

As the hours went by Conner saw her more and more as a little sister. She was so kind and soft spoken but she sure knew how to laugh. They played a fun game of guess your age and Lilly ended up being shocked that he was 25. And Conner ended up shocked that she was only 18. As the night came to an end and morning drew closer they both realized the lateness of the hour. "Oh my, it's four in the morning!!!! My did time fly."

"Wait...... IT'S WHAT!!!!!!!! I have church in the morning, I have to get up early!!!! Oh man, I really need to get home." I got up in a panic. Conner stood up next to me. I really hoped he wouldn't ask me if I wanted a ride home but at the same time, I needed one. I was just realizing how tired I was and didn't think driving home would be a good idea. That's when I realized just how far we had walked. I recognized the area though and knew Lexi lived close to here.

That's when Conner asked the dreaded question. "Do you want me to take you home?" I stood in silence for a moment as I thought of what to say.

"No actually. Our cars are all the way back at the restaurant and I don't think I can even drive home if I got there. But could you maybe walk me to my friends' house? She lives a couple of blocks away from here. I know that puts you farther from your car but it would mean a lot."

"Sure thing it's not a problem." Conner was actually happy to get to spend a few more moments with her and was glad to be able to keep her safe. He was starting to like her but he still saw her through the eyes of a brother. He didn't think she would want anything to do with someone like him.