"Open up next to you and my secrets become your truth. And the distance between that was sheltering me comes in full view." —Sara Bareilles.

••

Beguiling.

That's the only word staining Harmony's thoughts as she delicately sketches the portrait of the impeccable boy sitting in front of her. He must have been one of God's most cherished art pieces, his most laudable design that left even him in awe after he had finished molding him.

Before Blaze, she has never had the prospect to admire the masculine sexuality. Of course, she was sometimes forced to interact with them during her years of primary and secondary education, but none of them has ever evoked such favorable feelings.

The emotions that Blaze sparks within her are vastly different than those Collum brings forth. Whereas he gives off a refreshing, friendly vibe, Blaze is almost intimidating yet has the power to engrave himself into one's mind without much effort. A day will pass wherein she never thinks of Collum, but since she has met Blaze Xander, a minute has never drifted by without his spellbinding eyes flashing across her mind. And it scares her.

She gazes at the finished product and her lips break into a self-satisfied smile. She outlined him perfectly, from his black curly hair to his long lashes, to his red full lips. They all are depicted beautifully. This is how God must have felt when he was through with such a reputable formation. He had to have been working on him for years on end to achieve this flawless human.

"I'm finished, you should see it." She raises her grin with excitement only to find that her model is fast asleep.

His breathing is steady while his muscular arms are still coiled loosely across his chest. Harmony watches him silently and for a fraction of a second, she feels sorry for him. She's not sure where that tinge of sympathy came from but perhaps it must have been because his mother had committed suicide— and in the most gruesome way at that. He always tends to portray a composed persona, but she has lived with a broken mother for six years to know what brokenness looks like. And she too has been wounded after the death of her father, hence locating a shattered person isn't a hard task for her; she has become too familiar with the issue. Blaze must be feeling some form of pain deep down somewhere, and no one can tell her otherwise.

She quietly gets up from her seat and motions toward him with her sketchpad tucked to her chest. She lowers herself onto the mattress, her emerald eyes observing the perfect layer of his unblemished face. Up close, he resembles a Roman god with the amount of beauty his features possess. It felt great admiring his attributes while forming his image on paper, but now she's more fascinated with the real-life invention. She smiles softly at how long his eyelashes are, forming a thick shadow over his closed eyelids. And then the most outlandish thought crosses her mind. What do they feel like?

Before she can question the unusualness of her behavior, she reaches out to trail a finger over one of his refined lashes. The perfect line of hair shifts beneath her touch and her heart picks up at how soft they are under the pad of her finger. He could never be human; he's way too perfect. As if one touch doesn't satisfy her, she steers her attention to the opposite eyelash, wanting to grant it an equal inspection.

But as soon as her small finger hovers over the streaks of hair, Blaze's hand suddenly comes up to grasp her tiny wrist.

Sparkling, blue windows to where a soul should be, slowly open to meet her stupefied gaze. His eyes are hazily squinted, serving as enough of proof that he was in fact, asleep. Harmony's cheeks become the shade of his lips as she stares at him in both speechlessness and humiliation. And as if her self-loathing isn't enough, Blaze parts his lips to speak the obvious.

"You are very touchy, green eyes."

His silvery tone sends a shiver down her body and her heart begins to pump heavily as she tries to pry her hand free. "Sorry. I was just—"

A yelp escapes her as Blaze speedily flips her over onto her back. His strong upper body lightly pins her against the mattress and her eyes tear open at the compromising position. "Blaze."

"Yes?" A smirk lifts his lips as he presses a palm beside her head to bar her in. His lower body is still in its seated position, one of his feet on the ground while the other is perched onto his bed; bent at the knees.

Harmony gazes up at the handsome guy above her, dumb-stricken and timorous.

"Wha-what are you—"

"You touched me first." His eyes are hooded and overwhelming, and she's certain she'll stop breathing soon. "Do you know what happens when you touch a boy that way, Harmony?"

She peers up at him, not sure if he's looking for an answer. And perhaps he wasn't because he decides to respond to the question himself.

"These things...will happen." He brings a hand up to tuck a lock of her curly hair between his middle and ring finger, and she gulps anxiously as her eyes follow the movement of his hand.

Harmony is shaking like a leaf beneath him and Blaze is undoubtedly aware of this. It fuels his fire even more. He is driven by three main things: Fear, Vulnerability, and Innocence. Putting people into spaces and situations that is massively overwhelming for them but satisfying for him is what he majorly enjoys. This is entertainment for him. This is what gets his lips stretching. Power.

"I...I think...we should just—" Harmony isn't sure what she wants to say. She may be inexperienced in relationships and intimacy, but she can tell what it means to have a boy staring into her eyes with an expression such as this. Lust. She has read numerous books and watched many romance movies to know what follows this position. The look Blaze is giving her at this very moment is the same expression the male lead wears before kissing the heroine.

Kissing. She isn't ready for it. She has been saving her lips for the man whom she will marry in the future. Having a boy who she has only met a few days ago putting his lips against hers on his dorm bed isn't what she pictured her first kiss to be like. She imagined it under the moonlight, or on the beach, or somewhere— but not here.

Lamentably, Blaze doesn't give two rats about first kisses and fairytales. In fact, he doesn't believe in such illusions. He doesn't care if her lips are untouched or if she is saving it for 'the one.' He wants it. And whoever her future husband will be will just have to accept that he won't be the first man to claim her this way.

Her chest rises and falls in breaths as Blaze uses his thumb to lightly brush her pink lower lip. She tries to locate her willpower to tell him to stop but once again, Blaze must have performed some dark magic to have her frozen beneath him.

She should have listened. She should not have come here. Now she's unable to move; unable to escape.

"Your heart is beating so fast Harmony," he whispers, and timidity glistens in her big forest eyes. "I can hear it so clearly..."

He isn't the only one. She can hear the anxious pumping through her own eardrums. She takes in a small breath as Blaze slowly begins to close the space between them. Adrenaline and anxiety spew through her body as she watches his pink, soft lips hover over hers. He is so close that she can smell the body wash he used, melding with the intoxicating scent of his manly deodorant. His silver necklace with a cross as its pendant brushes against her flushed neck as he keeps his eyes on hers, his head moving in closer, and closer, and closer.

Quickly, she squeezes her eyes shut and grabs the sketchpad from next to her, perching it between their lips. Blaze freezes as she holds it between their mouths, only her shut eyelids now visible for him to see.

"T-the drawing..." she says timidly. "I-I think we should look at it..."

Observing her shaking hands that are tightly gripping her escape barrier, he pokes the corner of his mouth with his tongue, battling off an entertained smile. Harmony skeptically opens her eyes, sinless green jewels meeting his steady, immoral gaze.

"Okay." He says, and she sighs in relief, quickly sliding from beneath him as if she's trying to get away from a ghost of some sort. Being close to him has proven to be hazardous, and so she mentally reaches a decision that keeping her distance here on out would be best.

She hands him the sketchpad then subtly glides farther away with a shaking body. He notices this and swallows back a smirk as he fixes his eyes on the polished sketch of him.

"Woah. This is good." He looks at her with a wide beam. "I like it."

"You do?" Her face pipes up, and he nods his head instantly.

"Of course. You are talented, Harmony."

And he means it. Not only does she have an astounding voice but her ability to convert physical existence into animated illustration is quite impressive.

She smiles, the compliment sending her soaring headway through the galaxy. "Thank you."

"Can I have it?" He smiles handsomely.

"Yeah." She grips the edge of the bed to contain her excitement. "Sure, of course."

He rips the page out then hands her back the sketchpad before lifting the image and inspecting it again. "Woah. It looks so much better than even the real thing."

Harmony appreciates the words of affirmation, but now she feels he's taking it a bit too far. She is humbly aware that she has good artistic talents, but she doesn't think her skills are way out of this world. Great men before her have shown such qualities in their art pieces as well. She won't be the first. "It's not that great." She scrunches her face up, swinging her feet with a hanging head, hiding her blushes.

Blaze narrows his eyes at her lightheartedly. "It looks exactly like me so saying it's not that great means that I am not that great, so what are you trying to get at?"

She laughs at this, and Blaze's lips tug at the soft tone of her voice. Even her laugh is innocent; he fell into a gold mine. "Sorry...I mean you're great, but the drawing is not that great. I feel like anyone could have drawn that."

"Well...I wouldn't be able to," he lifts his shoulders, and the shade in her cheeks darken. His words are doing an awfully good job at melting her heart, and she looks away from him and at the ground.

"You're great too," she says. "I liked your Naruto depiction. I mean, it looked a bit creepy, but it was nice."

He chortles as he nods his head. "Thank you."

She looks at him but doesn't keep the eye contact for long before she diverts her gaze again.

"By the way," he begins, curling his legs beneath him as he sits up straight. "That guy...I saw you talking with today. Who's he?" He bites his lip and puts the sketch on the nightstand before looking back to a pondering Harmony.

"Which guy?" Her face screws up in confusion. She hasn't spoken to many guys here since her arrival, so he must be talking about...

"You mean Mal?"

"Mal," Blaze repeats the name beneath his breath before shaking his head with a soft scoff.

Harmony takes notice of his odd reaction and shifts her body to him, rubbing her arm. "He's in my Literature class. Why'd you ask?"

Blaze leans his head against his room wall, flippantly shrugging his shoulders as he regards her through his long lashes. "No reason. What were you guys talking about?"

She purses her lips as she tries to think back. "Well, um, he wanted me to join the music club."

"Oh, well you should. You'd do great."

She knows, but she's yet to gather the spine to do so. Sinking her gaze, she habitually fools with the hem of her dress. "I don't sing in front of people."

Blaze studies her before asking, "why?"

"Because..." She's not sure she wants to share such confidential information but seeing how she has already told him the sad tale of her father's death she has already crossed the main milestone. "I used to sing in front of my dad and now that he's dead, singing in front of anyone just makes me feel like throwing up."

There is a small silence between them. Harmony isn't expecting any act of comfort from him since Blaze has already exhibited that consolatory is not his thing. And he proves her right for the second time when he just skips right over it.

"I heard you singing the other day...you seemed fine." He half-smiles.

"That's because I had no idea you were there," she says truthfully, and he bobs his head.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

Her mind flows back to that very moment when he had appeared from behind the wall, and her curiosity spurs.

"Why were you there though?" She raises her eyes, removing hair from her face with a finger. "Sitting behind that wall...by yourself."

He shrugs. "Because I wanted to be alone...is that strange?"

"No not at all, I just think it is kind of weird that you, 'the life of the party' wants to be alone sometimes."

"Well," he draws a breath in. "Sometimes there is more than what meets the eye."

She stares at him. His sentence is deeper than he may have intended it to be. The proverb is, without a doubt, befitting for someone like him. First, she had no idea that he is into art, then she is surprised he listens to Kodaline. And the other day, she discovered his mother killed herself, yet he seems unfazed and relaxed about it. He's strange and interesting and she is insanely curious to know who lies behind his facade.

She just hopes her curiosity doesn't kill the cat.

"What is it?" Blaze pulls one of his knees up to his chest, returning her penetrating glare.

She shrugs a little, twisting her lips. "It's just... your eyes."

His eyebrows tightly shirr before they smooth out again. "What about them?"

"They appear...empty sometimes. Are you doing that intentionally?"

Blaze stares at her. He has to be careful around this cute first year. She's a lot more observant and sharp-witted than he thought. He can tell that she's academically brilliant so undoubtedly, she's not one to fool easily. Not everyone can see that void in his orbs, but she just effortlessly pointed it out. Perhaps she isn't the only one who should be afraid of this correlation between them.

He smiles. "Are you trying to read me, green eyes?"

She's not sure how to respond to his question, and so she decides to not say anything. That's exactly what she's attempting to do. Read him. She's normally fairly good at perusing people, but when it comes to Blaze Xander, she feels as if she's looking at nothing but a blank slate.

"Don't try to," he softly advises her. "It'll only have you going around in circles. And it'll only destroy you emotionally." His gaze is fiery and piercing, and confusion surfaces her face at the words he just shed. What exactly does he mean? Before she can ask him to disentangle her bemused mind, he speaks again.

"Okay." He breathes. "You can practice singing in front of me. I am all ears." He sits upright willingly, and Harmony shakes her head in disagreement.

"No, I can't. I can't sing in front of anyone, Blaze."

"No, you can, Harmony. Fear is one crippling motherfucker to harbor. You don't want that on your back. Let it go. "

Ignoring his blunt usage of expletives, she frowns at the advice. "It's easy for you to say."

"At least try."

"I can't."

"You can."

"I cannot."

"You can."

She scowls at his stubbornness, and he chuckles. "Just pretend I am hiding behind a wall."

She smiles.

What?

He raises his palms and positions them in front of his face. "The last time you sang comfortably because you thought I wasn't in the room. So just pretend I am behind a wall right now. Technically, no one is in the room with you."

Harmony giggles softly and he peeks at her through the creases of his hands with mock disbelief. "Who are you laughing with? Because I am not in the room, so you must be getting mad laughing with yourself."

She cracks up in loud laughter and Blaze joins in with a soft cackle of his own, but he doesn't remove his hands from his face, so he is still expecting her to sing.

Harmony decides to make a go for it. After all, Blaze has already heard her sing that day in the music room and she could just pretend that he isn't in the room as per his advice.

"Okay, um what do I sing?" She asks, pushing her curly hair back from her face.

"Mm. You choose. I enjoyed your choice last time."

She thinks hard on it for a minute. There are just so many songs to choose from and being a lover of music, picking a song is like picking a safety pin from a billion needless. After long contemplation, she decides to sing 'Breathe Again' by Sara Bareilles.

She clears her throat. "Okay I am going to start, but please don't laugh."

"Laugh? What's a laugh? I have never heard of that word before. Did you make it up?"

She chuckles and shifts against the bed so that she's fully facing his palms. She transfixes her gaze on the cross ring encircling his forefinger, trying to regulate her breathing while gathering some amount of courage. Finally, she closes her eyes and parts her lips, allowing the lyrics to flow through her mouth.

~Car is parked, bags are packed, but what kind of heart doesn't look back at the comfortable glow from the porch, the one I will still call yours? All those words came undone and now I'm not the only one facing the ghosts that decide if the fire inside still burns. All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe. Holds my love in his hands, still, I'm searching for something. Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again~

The tone of her voice is mellow and delicate; her tongue pleasantly stroking each word and making them her own. A thousand archangels probably would never be able to bring forth such a sweet, melodic sound. It fills the space inside the room, stilling the air and shifting the atmosphere to one of warmth and comfort.

Now with all anxiety swept away, she continues to sing with less of the restraints she had before.

~Open up next to you and my secrets become your truth and the distance between that was sheltering me comes in full view. Hang my head, break my heart, built from all I have torn apart, and my burden to bear is a love I can't carry anymore. All I have, all I need, he's the air I would kill to breathe. Holds my love in his hands, still I'm searching for something. Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again~

She ends the song there, slowly opening her eyes to find Blaze intensely looking at her. His hands are no longer in front of his face and are now positioned in his lap. The warm, comforting atmosphere has now transformed into one of lustful tension, and her heart begins to pump wildly once again.

She gulps thickly as Blaze moves his head closer to hers, their breaths fusing as they breathe the same air.

His eyes fall to her lips and her eyelashes flutter nervously at the hypnotic glint they hold. The trembling and unassertiveness return to her body as she watches him stare at her mouth with desire. "I... I thought you were going to stay behind the wall."