Subtle Love ~ C.E. (FIRST BOOK)

So Here's The Plan...

Morning arrives and I feel the warmth of Chris's body against me as he hums against my back. With his arm slung over me he says, "Good morning love." "Good morning." I said turning to his bare chest burying my face into his neck. He had this faint fresh pine smell that crept into my nose which was amazing. I smiled against his skin and took a huge whiff of him. "Oh my god, you smell so good. How do you smell this good?" As he chuckles, I hear it vibrate through his chest. "Just a good shower will do that for you." I laugh at his joke and get out of bed. "Noo, where are you going? Stay in bed with me." He asked reaching out for me lazily, I shake my head and say, "I'm going to Dodger." He sighs and gets up to open the curtains revealing the sun shining. "Let's take a shower first and have breakfast." He said coming from behind and wrapping his arms around me while kissing my cheek. "I have to go somewhere today, only for a little bit." "Oh, where are you going?" I ask facing him, "Uh, just going to buy some stuff for Dodger." I nod my head and he drags me to the bathroom. We took a shower and got ready for the day.

Chris's POV
I made breakfast, quickly ate, and took Dodger on a walk. When I came back, y/n was wearing a navy green turtleneck with black sweatpants watching The Office (for the millionth time) and Dodger ran to her side and sat on the couch. "You know who that is Dodger? That's Michael, that's the boss at Dunder Mifflin. Oh! And there's his girlfriend. He's going to propose!" She said excitedly as Dodger barked then, laid his head on her lap watching the tv. I smile to myself and say, "You know, it seems like you guys are starting to become inseparable." "Oh we will be, especially if Dodger likes this show. We will be glued to the couch all day." "Okay well, you guys enjoy. I'll be back." I said walking to y/n and giving her a kiss. "Okay be safe babe." "I will." I said then I walked out the door. I got in the car and drove off. Where I'm really going is to the a ring jeweler to pick a ring for y/n.

After the accident happened, it just made me realize how short life is. So, I'm not going to waste any time. I'm going to propose but I don't know how, I know I want to do something big though. I asked Scarlett and Seb to meet me at the jeweler to help me pick and come up with ideas. When I got there, I put on a cap. I don't want to have any paparazzi on my tail, it'll be all over the news and I don't need anyone knowing I'm buying a ring for y/n yet. I get out and see through the glass window that Seb and Scarlett are already inside so, I walk in and greet them. "Ready to look at some rings?" Scarlett asked with a smirk on her face, "As ready as I'll ever be." I said with a small grin. "Hi, I'm Hailey! Welcome to Brilliant Earth! What type of ring are you looking for today?" "Hi Hailey. Actually, I'm not really sure. I'm trying to buy something to propose to my girlfriend." "Oh, how exciting! I'll help out, no worries. Do you know what shape she might like?" "Um I'm-" "Can you bring out any rings with a cushion, princess, and pear shape?" Scarlett said before snickering at my lack of knowledge. "Aren't you glad I came along? Otherwise, you two would be completely lost." "Yes Scarlett, I will be forever oh so grateful." I said with sarcasm in my voice. After about two minutes, the woman who was in front came back with three boards with rings inside them. "Ouu." Seb said getting closer to the options, "This one's nice Chris." He said pointing to one of the square shape rings. I look at all of my options and I'm stumped. "There's so many! How do I choose?" "Well, maybe if you pick just one shape it'll be easier." Seb said. I nod my head and decided to just look at the "cushion" shaped ones as Scarlett called them.

She put the other two options of rings away and said, "I'll let you decide, I'm going to talk with some more customers. Just let me know when you're ready or if you guys need some more help okay?" "Alright. Thank you Hailey." Sebastian said before the woman looked at him up and down with a side smirk. "Looks like you got someone's attention Seb." I said elbowing him a bit. "Oh shut it." He said before giving into a smile. I continued to look at the options and I found one that caught my eye. It was perfect. "This one, this is it." I said as I pointed to the ring.

"Seb, get Hailey to come help me buy this." I said without taking my eyes off of it, "Are you sure Chris? You don't want to look at any other options?" "Yeah, I'm sure." I said as Seb went to grab the saleswoman. "Okay, now that you have the ring. How are you gonna do this?" Scarlett asked. I sighed, looked to her, and said, "I have no idea." "How about a nice private dinner somewhere fancy?" "I don't know, I kind of want to do something...big." "Um...how about a flash mob?" My eyes widened at the magnificent idea and hugged her immediately, "Yes! That's perfect!" Seb came back with the woman and asked, "What did I miss?" "He's going to do a flash mob." "Woah, that would be great! But how would you even do that?" I held my finger up signaling him to wait before I paid for the ring. Then, I said "So, here's the plan.."

Y/N's POV
Chris is taking foreverrrrrrrr. I've already restarted the Office to season one. Dodger just had a snack and he's laying down on his bed we have in the living room, bored out of his mind. Not that I'm complaining but, I need to talk to him about the other night. I don't want him to keep having these nightmares without talking to me about it. I know I said I'll let him come to me but, I don't want it to go on for too long until the point where it's an everyday thing. I can't watch him suffer alone. As soon as I finished my thought, Chris came right through the door as Dodger excitedly ran to him. "Hey, you missed me buddy? Were you treating my favorite girl okay?" He said before turning to me with a warm smile.

He kissed my forehead and we both said, "I think we need to talk." We chuckle at the synchronization and I gestured him to go first. "Okay, well let me just tell you now that I'm not breaking up with you." He said with a reassuring look on his face, "I know bug, continue on." "Okay well.....I wanted to tell you about these dreams I've been having. More like nightmares. I know you know but.....I wanted to tell you what they are about." "Okay, I'm all ears love. I'm here for you." I said as I softly caress his hand, "They're about you. And the night of the incident. It keeps playing over and over again. Your hand slips from mine and I watch you scream as you fall on the ice and in the water. I know you were the one who went through it.....I should be more concerned about you instead of me-" "Hey, what you're going through is important too." I said cupping his face, "Yes, I did go through something. But so did you love. You went into the water too. So, tell me the rest." I said as I let go of his face but he quickly placed one of my hands back on his cheek. I brushed his cheek with my thumb and I saw tears rolling from his eyes as he tried to wipe them away sniffing. "You don't have to wipe them, you can let your guard down Chris. It's okay." As soon as I said that, he put his head down on my chest and lets it out a bit. I've never seen him so emotional, I'm actually really glad that he's opening up with me. I feel horrible that he's feeling this way so, I just rub his back. He didn't really sob much but, I could tell he was trying to hold it all together. Soon, he lifted his head up and wiped all his tears away. "I know it was a scary thing bug, but look at us now. We're healed up and I'm here....with you." I said as I grabbed his hands. He kissed mine and let out a small grin. "See this is why I love you, your such a kind hearted person. You've always been so caring and genuine." "Save it for the wedding Evans." I said jokingly. His face became serious and he said, "Wedding?" "Oh, I was just joking bug. I didn't mean to rush anything." I said aware of the mistake I just made.

"No, no. It's fine, I just got a bit nervous for a second." He said before giggling nervously. Well that was awkward, maybe we don't have the same intentions. "Well, I'm gonna go take a nap upstairs for a bit. I'll come back later." I said as my smile faded away. I went upstairs and immediately texted Lizzie and told her bits and pieces of what happened.

Text Message:

Me: Do you think he doesn't feel the same way about marrying me? I thought we were on the same page and now I'm not so sure.

Lizzie: Y/N! He's head over heels for you! He probably just got a little nervous like he said when you asked.

Me: Are you sure?

Lizzie: Yes, I'm very sure. I know Chris. He just gets really nervous when it comes to big topics.

Me: Okay...

Although Liz reassured me, I still feel uneasy about it. I laid down in our bed and tried to sleep off this feeling.

Chris's POV
Well, she left quickly. Did I say something wrong? Swiftly, my phone was buzzing. I opened it and it was a call from Lizzie. "Hey Liz, what's up?" I asked wondering why she would call me when she doesn't do that very often, "What did you say to Y/N?!".