"I almost forgot how beautiful you are," Vincent muttered into August's full head of curly hair as they cuddled under the covers in bed. August hummed at Vincent's words, adjusting his position so that the leg Vincent had thrown over his thigh was riding on his leg instead. The feeling of the small hairs on Vincent's both tickled and amused him.
"I think we should talk now," August muttered, making Vincent chuckle as he ran a hand through his boyfriend's hair. They'd held each other through the evening and now it was late at night. August wondered how Lisa had managed things. He'd put his phone on silent and hadn't paid attention to anything but Vincent since they had gotten into his room. He didn't have a clue about how the exhibition went after he left, and it was a bit bothersome.
"Yes, we should," Vincent muttered, a sigh following right after as he moved away a little, so August was looking right at him instead of having his head buried in Vincent's shoulder.
"So..." August started, placing his loosely balled hand against Vincent's mildly hair covered chest. "You can go first."
August watched as Vincent sighed before he closed his eyes, opening them up again after a while.
"It's just... Where do I start?" Vincent asked no one in particular as a small pained laugh escaped his lips.
"Your mother promised that she wouldn't ruin the exhibition and that you'd get a chance at what you want if I just left..." Vincent trailed, earning a low grunt from August.
"Sure, save the exhibition and ruin the rest of my life."
"I was confused—"
"Instead of trying to do what you think is good for me, maybe listen to me to know what's good for me first?" August said, cutting Vincent mid-sentence. "I don't care about the fame or the recognition, I just want to be with you."
"Then why did you leave?" Vincent asked staring down at August's brown eyes under the dim light of the night bulb. "You told me during one of our calls that it's because you wanted to support me financially, but I remember telling you time and time again that I was happy supporting you, but you still went ahead and left."
Vincent paused, looking straight at August who was now looking at nothing in particular. His lips were now in a thin stubborn line as a small frown played on his forehead. "I just wanted to help."
"I know," Vincent sighed, moving to give August a hug. The closeness made August's curly hair brush against Vincent's neck as it served as a pillow for Vincent's head. Vincent smiled into the curly head of hair as he closed his eyes. "I wanted to help too. I agree that I wasn't being reasonable at the moment. I was paranoid, and I just wanted—"
"To help," August laughed, finishing Vincent's sentence. It made Vincent laugh as well, as he tightened his hold on August.
"Should we go to bed?" Vincent asked after a short period of silence. August raised his head a bit to look towards the digital clock on the bedside table. It was eleven in the evening give or take. He wondered if Lisa would be awake so he could talk to her and ask her how the exhibition went, or he could wait for Russell to come barging in and complaining, but Russell had booked a room closer to the exhibit because he had to help sort things out the morning before, and he was probably still there.
"I think I should call Lisa," August muttered, making up his mind. He pulled away from Vincent, sitting up before looking down at Vincent's worried face. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."
"I mean, you just left..."
"It'll be fine. I trust Lisa," August said sharply, cutting Vincent short. Vincent's parted lips closed shut as he let out a sigh. August smiled at him, bending over to give his forehead a peck before making to leave the bed.
He bent down, picking up his trousers from the floor before taking the phone out of the back pocket. He got into some clean shorts and heading out of the room to his art studio. Getting there, he headed to the wide paneled window to take a look at the perfect street scenery below. It looked surreal — as if captured by a painting.
August looked out into the street, holding onto the edge of the window sill with his free hand as he closes his eyes to feel the cool night breeze against his skin. He then opened his eyes again after a while, leaning away from the window before bringing the phone he had in his hand up to his line of sight to dail Lisa's number. It rung for a while until Lisa's soft voice filled the empty room through the other end of the line.
"Jesus, you finally called. I wasn't sure if I should call you myself since you were probably sorting things out with him... I'm guessing you found him? Since you didn't call me bawling that you couldn't," she said at a go as August blushed, pushing stray strands of hair behind his ear as he listened to her.
"Yes, everything's okay," he said as his eyes moved to look out into the street again. Someone was outside with a bag of leftovers. He watched as the middle-aged man poured the contents onto the sidewalk before walking away from the pile a little. The local street dog soon wandered from the other side of the road, wagging its tail as it approached the food.
"What about you? Russell hasn't called me," August said, noting his lack of missed calls from the blonde haired man.
"It's okay. I spoke to him already... Well, I've spoken to everyone. I've told them what you said about your parents being involved with the critics. We're trying to get a confession from the critics. Hard, seeing as we're offering money and someone could lie even though they weren't the ones approached," Lisa said, making August nod slowly. He wasn't sure if they could make anyone come forward. His parent could always offer a higher amount to keep them quiet.
"So, what about the rest of the exhibition?" he asked since he missed the whole second half. He heard a sigh from the other end of the line before Lisa started talking.
"People weren't pleased that you weren't there in person, but we offered them a reschedule for the Q and A session," she informed, making August nod his head, his eyes wandering about the scenery outside the window.
"Oh, okay," August mumbled in a low tone as he pushed back stray strands of curly hair from his face. Tumbling on the bed with Vincent meant that certain parts of his hair had shrunk in from the pressure of being pressed against the sheets. His whole hair was frizzy in general, and void of any packing restraint.
"Just calm down... Do something to calm yourself down. You know, maybe catch up or make out with Vincent? Heck, I don't know, just let us handle this from our end," Lisa said from the other end, making August mutter an agreement as he rubbed his tired eyes with a loosely balled fist.
"I understand, just let me know if anything happens," he said. Lisa agreed from the other end and August hung up right after. He took one last look at the street below. The person who had brought the leftovers had left, leaving the dog to eat.
He left the studio soon after, heading back to the bedroom. A smile made its way to his lips when he saw Vincent'ss now sleeping body. He walked over to the empty side of the bed, slipping under the cream covers before scooting over to Vincent. August closed his eyes, cuddling into his boyfriend's chest. He watched as Vincent frowned a bit, probably a little confused at the feeling of August wiggling under his grip. August's smile widened when Vincent's handmade to run through his hair as his features relaxed.
August closed his eyes in contentment soon after, drifting off to sleep.
Finally, actual rest for the first time in months.
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