Nate didn't see Elena approach, but it wasn't because he didn't notice her arrival. It was because he stubbornly refused to pull his eyes up from the page he was staring at; it was because he was afraid of what he might've seen. Just the sound of her voice made his chest tighten with anxiety, and he had to squash the urge to jump out of his seat to run and hide. Those things alone were ridiculous, and there was a part of him that knew it, but there was nothing he could consciously do to change the way he felt.
Before Elena had sat down at his table, he had already formulated a plan to tell her immediately about the lack of information and the blocked off area of the library-- to just jump right into things without giving her a chance to fight him or say no. But those words died on his tongue the second he became aware of presence, and when he finally gathered the courage to lift his head and look at her, the thought was all but forgotten. He wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting, but for some reason, it hadn't been to see Elena looking just as beautiful as she always had, staring at him with an impassive look on her face. He supposed he just hadn't expected this whole thing to seem so normal.
Shifting a bit in his chair to sit up a bit straighter, Nate closed the book he'd been semi-reading and licked his lips. He wasn't sure what his feelings were doing, but he was sure that he didn't like it. All at once, he was torn between the urge to run, the urge to lean in and kiss her, the urge to break down and beg for forgiveness, the urge to pick another fight with her, and the urge to just ignore all of those things and just focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately, that last feeling was the weakest one, even though it was the one he wished he could pull to the forefront.
"I found that I'm having trouble keeping my Olafs straight," he said finally, pushing the closed book away from him with his fingertips. "Other than that, no."
no subject
Before Elena had sat down at his table, he had already formulated a plan to tell her immediately about the lack of information and the blocked off area of the library-- to just jump right into things without giving her a chance to fight him or say no. But those words died on his tongue the second he became aware of presence, and when he finally gathered the courage to lift his head and look at her, the thought was all but forgotten. He wasn't really sure what he'd been expecting, but for some reason, it hadn't been to see Elena looking just as beautiful as she always had, staring at him with an impassive look on her face. He supposed he just hadn't expected this whole thing to seem so normal.
Shifting a bit in his chair to sit up a bit straighter, Nate closed the book he'd been semi-reading and licked his lips. He wasn't sure what his feelings were doing, but he was sure that he didn't like it. All at once, he was torn between the urge to run, the urge to lean in and kiss her, the urge to break down and beg for forgiveness, the urge to pick another fight with her, and the urge to just ignore all of those things and just focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately, that last feeling was the weakest one, even though it was the one he wished he could pull to the forefront.
"I found that I'm having trouble keeping my Olafs straight," he said finally, pushing the closed book away from him with his fingertips. "Other than that, no."