~A sunset is the sun's fiery kiss to the night.~
-Crystal Woods-

Libraries are an interesting place to live in because they can never be equated with boredom. Living in a library entertains all the five senses of an individual. From feeling the soft texture of old pages shuffling in your hands to inhaling the nostalgic scent of millions of books spread around, from taking in the sight of an infinity enclosed in a little place to listening to the melody of silence around you and absorbing in the taste of a thousand sensations and flavors, a library is a complete package of life.

All the day, I roamed around the building, helping people choose books, maintaining catalogues and painting genres on new cardboards. Usually, all of the stuff around library was handled and taken care of by Rob but there were these occasions when I didn't feel like painting so I helped him with his chores all day along. He always appreciated help so I made myself as useful as I could be on these days. The town seemed quite nerdish by the amount of readers I observed around these days so one couldn't expect to relax as much as a person would imagine by the mere name of a library. Yet, I managed to sneak out of the building as soon as fortune found me and walked over to the big store.

Cara hadn't shown up the whole day and I was intrigued to know what mess she had created in there. As soon as she had discovered that I was a painter, she had squealed with delight and asked me to show her my paintings but I had told her that I'd show my art room to her later when we'd find time and ease as the day was about to start and we already had our first reader at the door. Her face had dropped visibly and I had regretted my decision but then suddenly, she had lit up and said, "I can always wait, Aaron Troy!" and had ran off to the big store after warning us not to follow her. I knew better than to take her warning lightly and had stayed in the library all day but now I couldn't wait to see..her.

Stepping into the study, I heard the melodious tinkling of the three silver bells as light sea breeze hit them now and then through the window. I stopped mid steps and looked around. She had changed and removed nothing but I could see the addition of a few things here and there. I immediately felt guilty of prying into her things so like a gentleman, I averted my gaze from her possessions and stepped out of the back door onto the soft path of sand that led to the big store as named by her. The devil inside me had stolen one thing from the room before exiting though; her sweet soft scent lingering and dissolving silently into the fragrance of books encasing the walls around.

Evening dawned upon the sky as the day prepared to drown itself into the horizon beyond the sea. The tides were gradually picking up the wildness and I knew that the moon would hang itself soon on the canvas above my head. Sea breeze rushed towards me, shoving my brown hair back and giving them the rough look that always reminded me of my childhood. Gently, I covered my distance between the study and the big store while idling over the soft sand and enjoying the evening air playing with my hair. My hands were dug in the pockets of my jeans as my eyes explored the horizon for the orange hue of the sunset.

Averting my gaze from the water, I tapped on the door twice. The door opened instantly and she appeared at the doorstep, beeming childishly at me. Her silver hair which were all the more messy after work ruffled around her face as evening air enveloped her. The blue in her eyes melted slightly from the excitement that reflected off her soul. Her white top flew around her frail frame as she hugged herself to keep off the light cold in the atmosphere. My eyes explored the wild spirit standing in front of me and for a moment, I felt like the whole world had contracted and it was just the two of us.

Her eyes wavered towards the horizon for a slight moment and a small gasp escaped her lips.

"It's time!" She whispered as if lost in a trance and bent down to take my hand in hers. I felt her smooth little fingers mold around my warm hand as she looked into my eyes for a reaction. I smiled at her for encouragement and that was it. She took off running and I ran after her, our arms linked together as her laugh ringed into the sea air around us. After a moment of shock, a small laugh escaped my lips and it only took me a few seconds to free myself of all the hesitation compressed inside me. Both of us laughed joyfully as she pulled me towards the shore. Standing at the edge of the sea, she turned around and chuckled lightly, her eyes watering up from all the air rushing towards us.

"I waited for you. I knew you'd come. We cannot, in this entire world of God, miss this sunset behind us!" She spoke over the roar of the waves and turned around to look out towards the horizon, now painted with the shades of orange and red as the sun planned to set down deeper into the water. I felt my joggers soak into the sea waves and looked down to take in the sight of her delicate bare feet, the tattooed rose on her right foot all the more darker with the contact of water. I didn't mind my soaked joggers as long as she was with me. I knew she had waited and prepared to view this sunset with me. Her bare feet said it all.

I looked up to see the sun sinking down and disappearing slowly into the world under the sea, her hand in my hand as she breathed heavily after all the running. We stood there silently as the day traveled into the night and the light faded away slowly. Our hair flew with the sea breeze as darkness began to spread its way out into our world. I squeezed her hand gently making her turn around towards me. I noticed that she was biting her lower lip as she looked up into my eyes. I raised my eyebrows slightly.

"I want to see it everyday before I die." She whispered and my heart sunk into the pits of oblivion somewhere inside me. I pressed her hand gently and held her gaze.

"You will. I promise." I whispered back.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." She smiled softly before turning around and walking back towards the big store, her hand drifting away from my hold. I followed her silently, my hand feeling all the more empty by my side.

Reaching the doorstep, she turned around suddenly and I saw a hint of childhood reflecting back from the depth of her ocean blue eyes once again. Beeming at me, she held up her chin and crossed her arms in front of her before saying, "Wait till you see what I've done to this big store!" With that she turned around and opened the door to meet darkness inside. I took off my wet shoes and left them by the door as I entered behind her, my gaze darting curiously from left to right.

Suddenly, a bright light made its way to all the corners of the room and I gasped audibly as I took in the sight in front me. The room had been magically turned into a comfortable lounge with an old couch adorned with multiple cushions resting in the middle of the room. An empty table was placed in front of it. I looked towards her quizzically.

"T.V" She mouthed. My thoughts instantly drifted off to the T.V in Rob's cabin. I nodded and smiled at her before turning back to the big store which was more of a lounge by now.

The whole room had been thoroughly dusted and cleaned. To the far corner of the room, two bicycles stood by the wall that had been used by Rob and me before we dumped them here a few months back. To the other side of the place, a stove along with an old empty book case was placed neatly.

"It's for the spices and other stuff." She pointed towards the book case. I smiled appreciatively. The last corner was filled with some junk stuff which had been sweeped away adroitly from the main room. I guessed it couldn't be used anywhere.

"I've stored it for later use." She chuckled.

"I'm sure you'd bring it to use soon enough." I beemed at her, clearly impressed by the effort she had put into converting the room for our ease. "You've done a great job, Cara. I think we can finally call our big store a lounge now." I raised both of my thumbs.

She stuck her short silver hair behind her ear shyly and nodded back. Then she turned around to walk towards the couch. Suddenly, she dumped herself on it and looked back towards me.

"You know what, I think I've done enough work for the whole month and I needn't work anymore." She raised an eyebrow mischievously. My mouth dropped open as I thought of what to say when she started laughing.

"Hold on! I'm kidding, Aaron!" She continued to laugh in that melodious way of hers and I joined her laughter.

"You know, you shouldn't joke about work at all or else, Rob will kick both of us out of the place." I walked over and sat by her side on the couch. Her chuckle slowed down into a small smile as she took in my attire.

"You really love him, don't you?" She spoke softly.

"Yeah. I do. He's a brother to me." A content sigh escaped my lips.

"You have a beautiful heart, Aaron." She extended her hand to press mine lightly.

"It's a million dollar compliment, my lady." I winked at her.

"Come on. You'll realise it someday." She shook her head and stood up. Looking around at the bare walls of the lounge, she put her hands on her hips and mused.

"I'd really love to hang some paintings around. It looks so empty. I don't have more bells, unfortunately." She looked towards me with a cute expression on her face.

"You don't have to hang bells when we have paintings, Cara." I held her hand and smiled. She looked down at them and then slided her hand from under mine very casually.

"Then let me choose." She stuck out a tongue at me and rolled her eyes.

"Very mature." I chuckled.

"Shut up, Aaron!" She threw a cushion at me that hit me on my ribs.

"You wanna fight?" I held it up to warn her.

"You need to act than talk, stupid!" She threw another one at me and ran off. I threw it back to hit her but missed.

"Be swift. You can't catch me with that speed!" Laughing off the words, she jumped over the couch and my eyes widened at her pace. After all the exersion in setting up the lounge, she was still amazingly fast and fresh. Her silver hair bobbed in a smooth way as she dodged my attacks and threw cushions at me that hit me every time!

"Wait!" I raised my hands in defense and shouted as she was about to throw another one.

"Do not chicken out, Aaron." A sly smile spread on her lips, the right corner a bit far extended than the left, as she adroitly swirled the cushion on her fore finger.

"You have to tell me the trick." I gave up.

"Are you forgetting I have a pistol?" She raised an eyebrow, oblivious to the swirling cushion on her finger.

"So?" I passed her a confused look.

"I am an apt shooter, Aaron. Why would I own a pistol in the world if I don't know how to use it?" She held the cushion in her hands now and looked at me like I was a fool.

"Who taught you?" The question was out of my mouth before I knew it.

A shade of an unknown emotion crossed her face before she composed herself and threw the cushion back at me, hitting me right on my chest.

"Never stand unarmed before your enemy, stupid!" She chuckled and ran off as I picked another one to throw it at her. Again, I missed. A hiss of anger escaped my lips as I focused on her. She noticed the sound and the next moment, I hit her right in her stomach.

"Gotcha!" I raised my arms and shouted. She had caught the cushion in her hands and was twirling it on her forefinger again. Deep inside, I had a feeling that she had let me hit her but I ignored it and walked over to her. She looked at me slyly and let out a laugh.

"Too bad. Ten for one!" She whispered excitedly. Her blue eyes sparkled like jewels.

"You counted?" My eyes widened in response.

"I don't have to. It's instict, Aaron. You always count your bullets as you shoot them. You don't want to end up with an empty magazine in front of your enemy, do you?" She tilted her head to the right and smiled at me softly. The cushion was gently pressed between her hands.

"Definitely not." I pursed my lips.

"Exactly." She nodded and looked around to see the mess we had created. Walking over, she picked up all the cushions from the floor and set them on the couch skillfully.

"You have any plans?" She looked at me afterwards. I thought about how we had missed lunch and eaten apples in the afternoon that Rob had brought from the forest. Cara hadn't eaten anything the whole day. She needed to eat something really soon. It was going to be dinner in an hour and I thought she could make it till then.

"Yeah." A slow smile spread on my face. I noticed a scowl making its way to her facial features as her blue eyes squinted at me.

"What plans?" She frowned.

I walked over and took her small hand in mine before leading her to the door and switching off the light. Opening up the door, we stepped outside into the night as cool air surrounded us. I bent down and picked up my joggers in my free hand as both of us walked bare-footed towards the library. Reaching the stairsteps of the study, I turned around to tell her.

"We need to do something really important before dinner." She looked at me confusedly as I ushered her into the study and closed the back door behind us.

"And what's that?" Her voice rippled the darkness around us. Moonlight shaded in from the window and enlightened a small patch on the floor. The somehow familiar sweet scent filled my head as I turned around to see the jewels in her eyes sparkling impossibly in the dark. Now and then, the bells tinkled and created a beautiful symphony in the night air. I put a hand on her shoulder and bent down to whisper lightly in her ear,

"My paintings, Cara Evelyn."

Author's note

I seriously need your feedback about this book or else, I might keep the updates to myself before I get someone to tell me that it needs to be updated. I seriously don't want to waste my hours on a book about which I'm not sure if people are liking it or not. Yes. I am disappointed and I guess it's one of my bad days. Sorrie for it. Take care you all.

If someone needs an update, comment here. Thanks.

Much Love. ♥♡
Hazel *-*