paint it black

rob. 34. director of first impressions

[robertxmatthews-blog]

cassidyxmichealis:

Running a hand through her hair, Cassidy looked at the inventory for the past week since she left to go back home, though she wished she didn’t. “Mother….seriously?” she said as she looked once again at the inventory. She knew she ordered a lot of vodka and whiskey before she left, but good night and day they were empty. “We have no more vodka or whiskey??”

“So this means we are not gonna get drunk tonight? Damn it, I was looking forward to it.” Rob scrunched his nose up, shaking his head. “Shall we go to the store and buy some?”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

reese-hh:

“It’s just a different mood altogether in the cities. Everyone’s much more….they keep to themselves,” she mused, her head tilting to the side a little. “Like, the fact that I’ve been here almost four months and I still don’t know my neighbors? That’s baffling to me.” 

“How about South though? How are people like?” Rob asked curiously. “That’s nothing. I have been here over ten years, yet I still don’t know my neighbours either. Some people don’t wanna socialise. I tried to talk to them few times but they just shunned me.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

haleykillian:

“You think I wouldn’t cry, we can cry together about how unfair life is. Take a moment out of being an adult.” Haley chuckled, “A dog.”

“NOOOOOOOOO!” Rob made a sad face, pouting his lips. “I would probably sob all day long. Sometimes I see dead animals on the street and I start crying. It just breaks my heart.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

noraplatt:

“I don’t – Just stop. Don’t. I don’t know what I want to hear right now and you’re not a coward. You’re not. People make mistakes.” Everyone had their faults, but Nora still sighed as she looked away from Rob, her gaze dropping to the space on her thighs where the fabric of her shorts ended. She didn’t mean to make him feel worse, but she also needed him to know that he’d hurt her. It was scary to have someone disappear from your life for a month like Rob had. Still, he was right – What was he supposed to do next?

Nora was slow as she looked to the brunette again, her gaze considering. “I just want you to talk to me more,” she told him. Both of her hands lifting, Nora tucked her hair behind her ears and finally caved, scooting closer to Rob on the couch. “Not like, you have to text me everyday or whatever, but just tell me if you’re freaking out, okay? I’m not a mindreader and I just – I like you Rob, but I can’t stand people who flake out on me.” She paused, catching her bottom lip between her teeth to bite at the sensitive skin there. Nora shook her head, brows furrowing. “We can do casual, too, I’m fine with that. If you wanna be hanging out for now and that’s all, then that’s cool. Be more honest with me, Rob, and that’s all that matters. You won’t mess this up.”

Rob wanted to argue. He knew he was a coward, he had been told several times. At this point he wasn’t sure if it was his decision or others’, regardless he felt like one. The blonde was right, people make mistakes but what if all you did was making poor decisions? The male sighed deeply and smiled at Nora softly. He searched for the right words, but nothing came out. “You are the nicest person I have ever met.” He murmured, still smiling at the blonde. He was in the wrong, yet Nora didn’t say anything hurtful to him — this was the reason Rob fell for Nora.

“I can do that. I can try.” He was willing to try anything at the moment, he’d missed Nora so much. “I am freaking out right now.” Rob admitted with a nod, pressing her lips together. “I understand, I really do. I didn’t mean to flake out on you. I just didn’t know what to do.” He tried to explain but the explanation itself was weak, and, well — stupid. “I want more than hanging out, I am just scared that I am gonna freak out again.” He combed his hair back, taking a long sigh. He placed her hands on hers again. “I don’t want to freak you out either. But, you are right. Maybe we should get to know each other more. I am willing to give it a try, if you are.” 

[robertxmatthews-blog]

just1n-henderson:

“You know what? I’m totally not afraid to admit that the new Power Rangers movie was badass. I mean… childhood nostalgia anyone?”

“Pal, I wanna watch that one so bad. Is it really that good? One of friends said it’s one of the best movies he’s ever seen.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

christen-daly:

“You know, I’ve done a lot of traveling and and have my own tricks for making it better and all that,” Christen sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, “But, no matter what I do, I’m always going to be exhausted the next day. I could sleep the whole flight and still want to keep sleeping.”

“Were you traveling? That’s awesome. Where were you?” The male asked with a grin. “I heard the more you sleep, the more you get sleepy. If you sleep more than nine hours, you’ll wake up tired.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

haleykillian:

“You know, I thought for my job I would always be around cute little animals and not be putting down a few per week. I think a part of me dies a little each time.” Haley frowned down at her coffee mug before glancing over at the person beside her.

“Shh, Haley don’t talk about that around me. Do you wanna make me cry?” Rob sighed deeply. “What happened this time? Was it a dog or cat?”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

noraplatt:

“God, Rob, don’t do that,” she started with a slow shake of her head, brown eyes focused solely on his face still. “I get it. You didn’t want to make me mad, but I’m not other people and every relationship is about some form of give and take. Even in a friendship, I still need you to tell me about these things. To talk to me if you’re going to vanish.” Nora’s brows knitted together as she tried to stay calm and levelheaded about all of this. There were things that she wanted to say, concerns of her own that she wanted to just blurt aloud, but now she was questioning herself – questioning Rob. If he’d been comfortable enough to be essentially nonexistent in her life for three weeks, then what did that say about later on?

With a sigh, Nora finally blinked away, her eyes rolling to the ceiling. “I’m…” She stopped sucking her bottom lip between her teeth for a few seconds. “I’m worried, because we don’t really know each other, do we?” Her expression was searching when she looked to Rob again, shifting on the couch. “I mean, I love spending time with you and you make me feel – incredible when we’re together, Rob, but I don’t know… If you’d just talked to me and said what you wanted from, well, being together, then I could’ve told you that I’ve been in several open relationships before.” Nora shrugged, knowing that she was using the term ‘open’ liberally, but for now it would have to do. “I don’t mind something casual, but I hate the idea that I’ll say something or do something to make you uncomfortable and that’ll be it. You’ll be gone again.” She shook her head. “I’ve dealt with too many assholes who weren’t there when I needed them, but expected me to still come running when they called. I can’t do that anymore, with friends or otherwise.”

“I am not good at telling these stuff to people. I am a coward, okay? Is that what you want to hear?” It was easy for Rob to take the blame, he already knew he was in the wrong, he didn’t have a huge ago -- so apologising wasn’t a big deal for him. “I learnt my lesson now.” The male admitted with a murmur, looking down instead of making an eye contact. At this point, Rob just wanted to know how could he fix this, how could he would gain her trust again but he was also afraid to ask. Sometimes not knowing was better than rejection. This has always been his mindset.

Rob pressed her lips together tightly as she listened to her. She was right, she didn’t know him that well -- it was mostly Rob’s fault though, he hasn’t been honest from the start. “Wait, really?” For a second, Rob furrowed his brows -- he was surprised by this news. “That’s not the reason.” His voice trailed off. “Nora, I promise I am not one of those assholes. It’s just.. I am scared, okay? You mean a lot to me and I don’t want to mess this up.” He tried to explain but his explain wasn’t enough, Ron knew that. “I just want to fix this. How can we fix this?” Shrugging his shoulders, he asked with a sigh. “I would do anything.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

keira-marx:

“It can be hell inside my head, but I try to make it not as bad people make it seem. Just depends, I guess.”

“I mean it sure has its cons and pros -- like everything else in the world. Nothing is too good or too bad.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

keira-marx:

“Not even close. I’m a social worker. I just overanalyze everything.”

“Ah that makes sense I guess. I am the opposite. I rarely anaylze stuff, overthinking must be the worst. It has never been my problem.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

camerondawson:

“Oh no, not like better, better. I didn’t mean it like that. I just knew I loved food and cooking and I kept with it. Some of them were preparing for careers they had no interest or passion for so I always felt like even if they were on my case about cooking, it didn’t matter because at least I was doing something I loved. See, I find that hard to believe. You’re probably great. I don’t know you that well, sure, but my intuition tells me you’re a good guy and sometimes your gut feeling tells you a lot about a person.”

“Man, you are lucky that you found your passion at the early age. I have never found mine. It’s a shame but what can you do? Not everybody is destined to greatness. And that’s okay.” Shrugging his shoulders, Rob nodded. He wasn’t special, and he wasn’t good at anything. Rob accepted that. It didn’t bother him. “Ah than you but nah, I am not great. I can be the good gu here and there, but I am not great. Ask my family, they will back me up on this.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

reese-hh:

“See, in the South we’re al about neighborly friendliness. That might be because I didn’t grow up in a city, more outside of one. I’ll give y’all the benefit of the doubt,” she said, teasingly enhancing the subtle Southern accent she had. “Perfect. I’m happy to provide.” 

“So, I’ve heard. I have never been there but I heard stories.” He chuckled softly. “I don’t mind the friendliness, it’s the opposite. I actually admire it.” He nodded, laughing. “I wish city people were more friendly. We could use some peace around here.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

noraplatt:

An apology was a good start. Decent. But unfortunately for Nora (or rather Rob, in this instance), she struggled to tell if he was being entirely honest. She’d never really imagined Rob lying to her, but over and over again, she’d found herself lost in relationships where she got the short end of the stick. It was unfair to project that onto him and she knew that, but throughout all of this, Nora had her own fears. She didn’t want to be lied to or treated like she didn’t know what she was doing – like she was naive enough to believe every last thing told to her. While listening, she stayed silent, schooling her face into the most neutral expression she could manage. When Rob’s hand met her knee, though, she glanced down, allowing a few more seconds of silence to linger while she processed every he’d just said.

“So…” She started, drawing in a slow, deep breath before releasing it in a sigh a moment later. “You never meant to hurt me and you didn’t want a serious relationship or to ruin our friendship, but instead of just telling me that to begin with – or at any point, really – you decided to stop talking to me entirely. Effectively fucking up our friendship in the process.” Nora didn’t look amused when she looked up at Rob again, her gaze hard and jaw set. “Is that right?” Starting to shake her head, she pushed his hand from her leg and bit roughly at the inside of her cheek. This was so, so stupid. To a degree that she’d never expected. “Rob, I… I understand being scared of commitment, but why didn’t you just say any of that to me? Why didn’t you tell me? What did you think was going to happen?”

Rob sighed as he waited for Nora’s reaction. He was scared -- he was scared of make things worse. It wouldn’t be the first time if he had. Rob was a nice person, everybody knew but the problem was his avoidant personality. He never liked confrontation, he never liked talking about serious stuff. The male locked his gaze with the blonde and tried to read her from her expression. Well, that made him even more scared than he already was. As he noticed Nora’s face when he put his hand on her knee, he gave her a smile and hoped that would break the tension between them. Nope, it wasn’t working at all.

Pressing his lips together, Rob listened to Nora. “I didn’t know what to say without sounding like an asshole. I am not good at confrontation.” He tried to explain. “People always get mad at me when I say I don’t want a serious relationship.” Rob added with a sigh. He was making the whole thing worse, maybe he should’ve stopped talking. As he pushed his hand away, Rob swallowed hard. This was why he hated confrontation, it always made things worse. “I thought you were going to get mad at me.” He shrugged, his voice trailed off. “I didn’t want you to hate me.” He didn’t even want to think about that possibility, because he liked Nora a lot. 

[robertxmatthews-blog]

keira-marx:

“I analyze movies way too much. Sometimes it prevents me from enjoying them.”

“Are you one of those pretentious film students?”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

cmpbclls:

“Oh, yeah, totally. I’m fine — I didn’t actually get punched. I mean, look at me, is this the face of someone you’d punch for no good reason at all? Even if you’re a weird sex creep.”

“Nope, not at all. You have a cute face. I don’t think anyone would punch you.” He chuckled. “It’s the opposite probably they would want to kiss you or do some other stuff.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

keira-marx:

“I think it’s a lot better than Frozen. But I’m all for the girl doesn’t need a man to make her life complete.”

“Well that makes sense now. I really don’t put any thoughts on movies, I just watch them and enjoy.”

[robertxmatthews-blog]

noraplatt:

As the pitcher filled in the sink, Nora let her fingers slide under the stream, testing the temperature before glancing back at the other when she heard Rob’s sigh. Her brows furrowed, listening to him, but it didn’t seem like there was any answer to her question at all. What he’d wanted to do and what he had done were clearly two different things, but Nora didn’t call him out on that. Instead, she just nodded, turning off the tap and moving the pitched to the counter. “We can talk. That’s why you’re here, I know.” She took a second more to put the daisies in the water, sighing at the sight of them before turning fully back to Rob.

“Let’s go sit down,” she finally agreed, lips pressed together in a tight smile that was far from reaching her eyes. Nora walked towards the other, reaching out to Rob to let her hand brush his arm before leading the way to the living room. She wedged herself into the corner of the couch, leaning against the arm of the seat and folding her legs beneath herself. Nora watched Rob, waiting for him to sit as well while she loosely crossed her arms over her chest. She chose to stay silent, chewing at the inside of her cheek as she stared, expecting him to say what he had planned – if he had anything planned at all. Making up an apology as he went seemed more like a Rob thing to do and Nora didn’t know what would feel better to her; knowing he’d put thought into this beforehand or just went with his gut.

Man, she was still angry. Not that Rob could blame her or anything. What he’s done to her was shitty, he knew that. He just wanted her to know he didn’t mean bad, he never meant bad anyway. Rob stayed silent for a second, instead of talking he just watched her. He liked the girl, he was sure of that, then why did he avoid her? Now, that’s a question he didn’t even answer himself. He was scared of any kind of commitment, not to mention he had baggage. Moving onto something meaningful required courage and Rob didn’t have any. It was pathetic. 

“Okay.” He smiled. Seeing Nora was enough to make him smile, he wished he didn’t fuck things up. His smile widened once she brushed his arms -- that was a good sign, she didn’t want to stab him at least. Could’ve been worse, right? Rob took a seat on the couch, inhaling the air before speak. He didn’t have an excuse. “First of all I am sorry. I really am. I fucked thins up, I know that.” He admitted with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was just scared you know?” He paused for a second, licking his lips. “I like you. And I think you know that, I made it pretty obvious. I just don’t want something serious because I can’t do that. I am bad at relationships, I suck at calling my girlfriends, I suck at making plans. I suck at everything and I knew I was going to ruin our friendship, so I avoided my feelings. You know me, when I am in doubt, I just avoid.” He sighed. Shit, he was making it worse. “Then I have realized that my feelings towards you can not be easily ignored.” He admitted softly, placing his hand on her knee.