001: our minds are troubled by the emptiness | nicholas + chloe
Despite the fact that Nicholas has never been someone who enjoyed making eye contact longer than a minute, he couldnât seem to take his eyes off Chloe. Donât get him wrong, as beautiful as she is with her light blonde hair that seems to be lighting up the room, Nicholas was in fact scanning her features to read any expression or thoughts he could get off her ever since his encounter with the girl at the park. It shocked him to see her in tears that day, and because of his quiet and very withdrawn nature, he found difficulty in approaching her no matter how much he wanted to help her or comfort her. At times, Nicholas finds his introversive side a hassle and much like a curse; it caused him way too much damage especially when people would often mistake his quietness with arrogance from their first meeting; perhaps thatâs why he never really have much friends.
As expected, Nicholas averted his gaze away to avoid any eye contact before Chloe could notice him catching a glimpse. He swallowed as he exhaled deeply; rubbing his palms together while he rocked his upper body by an inch, his lips simply rolled inwards. âEverythingâs well, I supposeâ he began his soft speech, licking his lips as he stopped the motions of his palms rubbing against one another. Somehow, he could sense the nervousness radiating off the girl, and from how experience he is at observing strangers all the way from a coffee shop, he could tell the young lady was trying her hardest to communicate with him in any possible way. âI have⌠nothing new of course, itâs just a checkup â you know, the usual routineâ he shrugged, as his gaze fell down to his clutched hands only to have his head shot back up from soft whispers coming from Chloeâs direction. His brows twitched inwards before they fully furrowed, and as his eyes narrowed slightly, he tilt his head just an inch looking back at the blonde with confusion.
âDo⌠do youâŚâ he paused, hesitating in finishing his sentence as he didnât think asking his psychiatrist if she wanted coffee would be appropriate; then again, wouldnât the idea of holding their appointment in a coffee shop bring less pressure to the both of them? He swallowed the question down his throat, clearing it as he tries to shrug the temptation off though he was still mentally debating the idea causing his cravings to grow every second. Shit, now he wanted his own cup of coffee. âUhmâŚâ his voice dragged as his lips vibrated from his lips pressed against one another, humming in deep thought. âI wouldnât say Iâve done anything⌠exciting â that word⌠doesnât exist in my vocabulary,â he joked, not able to stop himself from giving out a soft short laugh â almost sounding like a scoff. âAll Iâve done is visit the library.â
Chloe looked up and wasn't sure if she imagined him staring at her, or if he really had been. She opened her mouth for a second, about to say something, before deciding against it and closing it yet again. She knew he probably hadn't been, and it was inappropriate of her to even want him to, but she wasn't so sure if she had indeed imagined it. She shook her head slightly, trying to focus more on the matter at hand, unable to stop herself from smiling slightly to herself as he spoke of just a check up, he brushed away everything especially talk of the treatments or his past illness, Chloe seemed to have forgotten that when she had written her notes.Â
"But the checkup was good?" She asked, slightly more so for her peace of mind then to hear him say the words, which she knew would be frowned upon because she wasn't meant to care. She cleared her throat, wishing she hadn't placed her pen and paper down now, even though it was procedure. "You said 'i suppose' when i asked you how you were." She added, almost as an afterthought, raising a single eyebrow. "So are things really good or are you just saying that because you're used to saying it?" Chloe asked him.
She stared at him hard for a moment as he seemed to stumble over his words, Chloe had obviously made him feel uncomfortable, which had her backtracking because that wasn't what she was meant to do as a psychologist. All because she had just wanted a hot cup of coffee, she sighed inwardly at herself. She laughed, surprised slightly to hear him do the same, at his own comment. "Don't you find anything exciting? Books can be exciting." She offered, because she honestly didn't think she had ever heard him laugh until now. "Really? Read anything worth recommending?" She asked seriously, Chloe's guilty pleasure was holing up for hours in her office and reading after all, but she couldn't say that without seeming like a serial killer either.Â

















