Beautiful ➳ Neil Perry.

dix-huit

There was something about the night that Alice loved. There was some kind of calmness to it— the feeling of the cool breeze and sound of rustling leaves were a reminder that a new day was coming soon. It was always so dark. But a special kind of darkness. It held endless patterns of the stars, holding them up until the sun rose in the dawn.

Alice let the breeze play with her hair, a smile forming on her face as she leaned over her balcony. She closed her eyes for a moment, noticing the way it suddenly lifted her mood at the blink of an eye.  It was the perfect time Alice's mind came to rest, her dreams now in control until sunrise. She loved to admire the night more than she liked to admit, but tonight was different. The night brought Neil to her. 

"What are you doing here?" Alice gasped, forcing a whisper as she woke from her trance. She didn't expect to see him here at all. Especially not now, at this hour. 

He must've noticed the panic in her eyes as he motioned towards the wooden gardening grid against the bricks. Chris had risked her life many times by climbing it at least a million time to get to Alice's bedroom, but Alice never imagined she'd find Neil in that situation. Not this soon, at least. 

Her heartbeat was rapid, afraid he'd either fall or make a sound loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood. As soon as Neil managed to climb over the metal of her balcony, Alice repeated her question, helping him settle into her chair. Clearly, he had something important to tell her if he had come this far. 

"I was just so on edge about the play," he explained, catching his breath, "I needed to see you." 

He broke into a nervous smile, worried his whole scheme to sneak out to see her only caused her great distress and inconvenience. But Alice was sure to reassure him by mirroring his smile, nodding her head to give him permission to continue. 

"It's just that," his voice is quiet but clear, "I've been waiting for this day to come for so long now. I just don't want to mess up, you know? After all that hard work . . ." 

"You're going to be fine," Alice frowned, nudging his arm, "And I'm not just saying this to get rid of you."

Neil chuckled, standing from the chair to find his place beside Alice on the balcony.  

"I know I haven't seen you perform before but trust me when I say this. I know you'll do great because I've never seen anyone so passionate and in love with performing. You've worked so hard on this, Neil, and I know when it comes down to it, not a single face in the crowd is gonna stop you." 

The way Neil looked down reminded Alice that despite everything he's worked for, his father would never agree to acting. No matter how good the performance. It was medical school or nothing. 

"Not even your father," she added, cupping his cheek as he smiled. Alice felt a wave of embarrassment rush throughout her body as she pulled her hand away shortly after. 

"Thank you, really. I know it doesn't seem like much, but just hearing it from you does make it feel all the better." 

She grinned, looking out to the dark horizon, "Glad I could help." 

In reality, she wanted to do everything in her power to show Neil's father how talented he really was. Acting was a profession where the skill of performance simply wasn't enough— it needed passion. And passion was exactly one of Neil's strengths. If only he'd listen; but Alice knew from all of Neil's stories that Mr. Perry seemed far more worse than her own father. It was unimaginable. He must've at least heard the tone in Neil's voice; the look in his eye. Neil knew what he wanted; he was old enough to decide that. And that should've been enough.

"I don't know how tomorrow's gonna play out, but don't forget how hard you've worked for this. You've come so far now, Neil. And I'm honestly having trouble sleeping just thinking about how great it'll be."

Alice wasn't a big believer in luck. She didn't believe things just fell into your lap out of the blue. She believed in hard work and dedication— and that's exactly how she believed Neil reached this point.

"You know what," Alice said, her voice now softer, "I just hope he someday sees what I see."

"And what do you see?" Neil smiled, pressing on to hear more.

Alice looked down; afraid her eyes would tell him too much. It was much more about what she felt than what she saw, truthfully.

"I see a dreamy-eyed boy," she started with a stifled giggle, "A boy with so much talent and passion for the stage. I see a boy madly in love with the dead poets, willing to leave everything behind for something he truly loves."

"Do you think that boy is mad?" he asked, a serious tone in his voice, "Mad for not wanting to go to medical school, mad for wanting to pursue acting?"

Alice shook her head, quick to deny him that. A person like him deserved the freedom to pursue whatever he wanted. He was a smart, hardworking, thoughtful young man who always put others first. And despite his father's ways, he still longed for his love and support. 

Neil was inspiring. Alice never thought it was possible to change someone— as hard as you try, a person could only ever change on their own. But he'd somehow changed Alice. He changed her, saved her. It was as if the moment he stepped into her life, she finally learned to breathe.

Before she met him, she had been painting landscapes of places she'd want to see. The beaches in California, the whitest sands in Australia. She knew she'd someday run out of landscapes to paint— there just had to be more to art than the beaches. But it was when she met him that she knew she'd never run out of inspiration. It was the first time she'd ever paint a portrait. And it was a portrait of him.

Alice always felt like she owed so much to him; he'd found a way to bring the art back to her. And she'd felt that supporting him on his acting journey was a good start.

He'd come all this way with the intention of calming his own mind, but he'd somehow taken the calm to Alice too. Taking one step closer to him, Alice slowly pulled him into her arms. In return, he wrapped his arms around her. He'd been so gentle with the gesture, leaning against her as he let took in a deep breath.

It was a silent moment between the two of them, yet it didn't seem so. The love-filled gesture spoke a thousand words in the way neither of the pair wanted to let go. It was like she'd keep him in her arms for the longest time until he was ready to face the next dawn.

"Can I stay longer?" he finally asked, kissing her head.

"Stay forever."