Maps

If she told me she wanted my heart in her hands, I'd laugh as I'd cut a knife across my chest.

[wydandi]

With the usual poised expression adorning her soft features, Andi’s glassy-brown eyes fluttered through the grand ballroom that was decorated with catty women in Balenciaga and Versace and dapperly-dressed men with swaggering stances. One of them being the man on her arm, charming everyone in sight and eating every bit of their attention up. And usually, she would have been just as taken aback as everyone else – except she wasn’t tonight. Instead, she sought solace elsewhere. Her eyes, suddenly unblinking, stopped when they landed on a boy with tired eyes and unusually tidy blond hair making his way out through a door. Tuning out the static sounds around her, Andi’s eyes narrowed slightly when she watched his eyes dart around the room in alarm. Since the day she’d met him, her relationship Tyler wasn’t quite like the rest. Whenever she was around him, excitement and recklessness would pour out of her like sunshine through white linen. He was a person whose existence she thoroughly enjoyed and marvelled at, making him one of her very best friends. However, after Brazil, things quickly turned cold between them. She wanted to blame him for the distance between them, but she couldn’t. Not when the memory of him tangled up with her stopped her from pressing the ‘call’ button every time. Her renegade heart was aching for the comfort she once found in him, as opposed to how awkward and complicated things were right now. 

Turning to her boyfriend, Andi leaned in “Darling,” she started, placing her hand over his “I’ll be right back. I’m going to say hi to Anna”. She leaned in further to place a quick kiss on his lips, unable to explain herself why she’d just lied to him again. Standing up, Andi made her way through the crowded room in a white silk gown that hugged her figure. Stepping out into the crisp autumn air, Andi glanced right and left before she spotted him – his slouched back facing her and cigarette smoke lingering around him. She moved towards him and stopped when she was at an arm’s length, her raven black hair obscuring her eyes from clear view as the wind blew it in wayward directions “No camera in my hand this time, Bates” she started, head tilting slightly as her eyes fell to the cigarette in his hands. “That must do wonders to your vocal chords”. She couldn’t help the cautious tone in her voice, opposite to the assertive confidence that usually coloured her words “Can I bum one?” she asked, nodding her chin up. 

[fcktylxr]

Fine champagne and suited guest. It was becoming a scene Tyler tried to part from desperately, yet failed miserably. The guy who usually wore ripped jeans and black tees was now standing outside the foyer in a suit that made his tie uncomfortable for him to bare. As the stars twinkled into the abyss of the night, Tyler recounted the faces he had seen tonight, many new to him but only one couldn't get off his mind. Bambi eyes that he wandered in, soft lips that he had kissed too many times and yet,not enough. Raven hair that carved around her sculptured face, the quick thought of Andi Knox had him wearing a shy smile on his lips that curled around his cigarette. The thought of Andi always made him smile, a quick thought he selfishly cheated on whenever he had to smile for a photo he wished not be taken. 'Think of funny things, or people you care about' his manager always advised him when cameras were around, but his thoughts were always narrowed down to one; Brazil.  

The steps behind him made him want to groan, his eyes rolling heavy as a personal reminder   to collect his thoughts in order to box them like unwanted toys. He wanted to walk out of the event to find some peace of mind, to find something that could occupy his whole mind. She was always scratching on the back of it, no doubt laughing over her control. Taking a drag, a familiar voice made him look over his shoulder, eyes narrow to see if he was going crazy, but he wasn't. "Andromeda" his voice was rather husky, each letter getting whirled up in the smoke and Autumn air. With his body slightly angled towards her, Ty ran his free hand through his tamed hair, a grunt quietly leaving his lips as he felt the gel. The comment made him smirk,  he couldn't deny that, nor answer her right away. Like a whipped school boy, Tyler pulled the box from his waist coat before resting the lit cigarette between his thin lips. It had been three months and all that was between them now was the tension. Their reunions that consisted of hugs, pecks on the cheek and cheeky banter was now replaced with unspoken words, and unclear intentions. As he pulled the cigarette from the lightly crushed box, his index finger rolled over the filter with hesitation, unsure what to say to her. Instead of pondering whether his best friend, her boyfriend, was inside, Tyler placed his thumb on her lower plumped lip,dragging it down before it met his index finger that cupped her cheek before he brought the cigarette to her lips, his own still ablaze with the breeze. "Must do wonders to your million dollar smile."

[fcktylxr]

His heart rung through his ears as if they were invaded by the sound of a thousand elephants storming across the Plains, a heard of bongo drummers followed up, with the sound of rattled snakes shaking a beat as his eyes scanned the room. He hadn’t felt so nervous in so long, but tonight had its reason. Palm sweaty, knees weak; Tyler was now able to understand why some stuttered and lost their breathe at ill-prepared moments. An unease laugh would roll off his lips every five minutes or so as he tucked his hands before him in a protective manner, the feeling that lined his stomach was one he hadn’t experienced since high school. ‘Anxiety, my old’ was all he could think, his accent thick with sarcasm. The blond stood tall, hair combed neatly as he listened the the women in the pink puffed dress talk about her granddaughter, an admire of his who was half his age. With a dry mouth that lightly tasted of bourbon, The Aussie curled his lips while listening to those around him talk of the great charity that brought them together tonight, them and the other hundred that filled the room. Was he nervous because he came alone? Absolutely not. Was he anxious by the fact he was among the handful of young adults that were invited? Hardly, he felt it was a blessing. Was he worries he’d say something stupid in front of others?No. He was nervous to see her. 

Little did the world know, cool collective Tyler Bates was dying inside. His blue gaze scanned from table to table as the talks began, not a word registering while his mind drifted from face to face but she was not insight. Was this a blessing? Was she carried away to another duty or was she out with her beau? He hadn’t seen Andi in three weeks, three long weeks he spent the otherside of the world away from her. Their shared moments at the festival resulted in a guilt-like-parasite he could not outrun, so he sought to time to cool down. That was until he saw her tweet ‘bout the event. As the talks continued, he rose from his chair and made his exit for the nearest door to clench on the freshest wave of air he could get, while his fingers fumbled with the cigarette box and lighter. He was a light smoker but in recent days he fell into his nasty habit of stress smoking from the pressure of the media and his job. As he took a drag, a shadowing figure under the dim lights made its way towards him, resulting a grunt from his peached lips. “Please, no photos” he stated, knowing photographers crawled the event to satisfy their gossip-driven hunger.