@easytovanish is out of breath, standing in her doorway, every word someone wants to hear tumbling out of his mouth. it's picture perfect, plucked straight out of a scene from any rom-com you could name. the skip of her heartbeat, butterflies fluttering as the words leave nino's lips.
but this is not a movie.
there is no script to follow, no second takes if they get it wrong. they were not written to fit perfectly like the last two puzzle pieces. there were secrets untold, parts of themselves held too deep for too long, ones that would come out when they least expect it. the future holds too much unpredictability. everything in her wants to slam the door and leave the questions unanswered.
- HE'S DIFFERENT.
amelie's never been one for believing in a happy ending, not for herself. no one in any of the multitude of stories told for centuries came with her particular brand of neuroticism and baggage, a unsettling blend of incessant need to go unnoticed contrasted with the quiet desire to be seen.
nino... he sees her. whether she's ready for him to or not.
and so, she does the only thing she can - SHE LEANS IN AND GOES FOR IT ANYWAY.
a response to "I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
nino isn’t sure what he looks like right now — probably disheveled from running here, to her apartment, desperate to see her. to tell amélie he’s solved her paradox. to say what’s been on his mind the last few weeks as he’s followed her on a wild goose chase across paris : he wants her, in whatever capacity she’ll have him. he’s known it since their eyes first met on the subway platform. and yes, it’s kind of insane. it’s more than a little fast. her coworker told him her name all of twenty minutes ago. but he’s never been more certain of something … someone in his life.
so he stands in her doorway. having taken one … two … three steps, amélie acting as his mirror. if you know that you’re always halfway there, i can meet you there halfway. the solution she asked him to find. he’s confident in it. and yet, now that they’re mere inches from one another, it doesn’t feel like enough. ( does anything you do ever feel like enough when you’re in love with someone? )
he wants her to understand why he came. that it isn’t about zeno’s paradox, or his book, or the game of cat and mouse they’ve been playing. it’s about how she makes he feel. how his heart pounds in his chest when he looks at her. how he thinks the rest of his life is starting now. or maybe it did weeks ago at the metro station.
nino’s only gotten through part of his speech when amélie leans in, hands grasping the lapels of his jacket. it’s so easy to let himself be pulled through the door, into her apartment. he hopes she doesn’t mind him stumbling over his feet as they go. ' … hello. ' it comes out quiet as their eyes meet again. ' i was starting to wonder if you’d invite me in. '
