Sophitz: A Week to Find Love

Chapter 1

Fitz's P.O.V. 

"But that's not fair!" I complained, glancing at my sister for help. 

"Don't look at me," she said with a shrug. "You knew it was coming." I crossed my arms and stared my parents down. 

"You can't do this to me!" I protested. My father raised his eyebrows.

"Fitz, you have to understand," he tried to reason. "It's been 2 years since you graduated college - and you've done very well - but it's time you start thinking of settling down." I stood up from the chair feeling restless and started pacing around the room. 

"But you can't set up my marriage! That would be terrible. I'd marry someone I don't even know! Please don't make me do that," I begged. The thought of settling down with a family wasn't so bad, but doing it with someone I didn't even know? That was one of my worst nightmares. 

My dad pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed frustratedly. "Fitz, you leave us no choice. You need to settle down! If not, who will take over my business?" 

"I can do that even without a family," I told him. "I don't need a family to run a business. In fact, it'll probably be better without a family distracting me." My mother placed a hand on my shoulder and looked at me lovingly. 

"That's not the problem, Fitz," she replied. "We just don't want you to spend the rest of your life regretting not starting a family sooner." 

It's my life! I exclaimed in my head. But I knew I couldn't win this argument. I knew I'd be married no matter what within the next few months... Although, that didn't mean I couldn't try and find someone on my own first.

"What if you give me just a little more time?" I proposed. "And if I don't find someone by then, you're free to do whatever you want with my life." Biana nodded eagerly, finally seeming to take interest in the conversation. 

"Send us to town!" she exclaimed. "I don't like living here in the mountains all alone. I want to finally go see what this town is all about!" My dad frowned at the thought of sending his two kids into town, but I knew he wouldn't refuse. Even though this scene was kind of a bad example, he was an overall fair person. 

"Alright," he sighed. "You have one week to find someone. And if you don't-" 

"I know, I know," I interrupted, "you guys arrange my marriage then. Can I go now?" 

"And can I please come?" Biana pleaded. "I'll help Fitzy and everything!" I didn't particularly like the fact that my sister was coming with me to my love life, but I supposed it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. 

"If your brother allows it," my mom compromised. Biana looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell her she could come with me. I sighed. I would never hear the end of it if I refused.

"Fine, you can come," I told her. Biana jumped up and down and let out an excited squeal, running up to her room to pack. 

"Be safe, son," my father reminded. "You don't know what goes on in those towns..." I shrugged. I mean, how bad could it be? It was just a small, quaint town that may or may not be holding my true love. Although I really hoped it was. If not, I had no choice but to keep up my side of the deal and let my parents pick someone out for me. 

"COME ON, FITZY!" Biana called out from upstairs. "WE NEED TO LEAVE!" I rolled my eyes but made my way to my bedroom. It was only one week, so I figured didn't need to pack much. 10 minutes was all I took, and I carried my small suitcase downstairs where my sister was impatiently waiting. 

"What in the world..." I stared at all of Biana's bags. There were 2 huge suitcases, along with a full duffel bag, three backpacks, and a small purse. 

"Biana, we're leaving for one week, not an entire month!" I exclaimed. "What's even in there?" Biana patted the largest suitcase. 

"That one is just for half my clothes. The duffel bag has the other half, and the 2nd suitcase has my makeup/hair products and some accessories. The purse is because I need at least one purse on every trip, and the backpacks contain... miscellaneous stuff that might prove useful on the trip. You can never be too prepared!" 

"You do realize that we're going to stay in a well-equipped hotel, not in the middle of the woods, right?" I asked.

"Of course!" Biana spotted my small suitcase and laughed. "Is that all you're bringing?" I shrugged.

"It's all I need," I told her. 

"What!" she sputtered. "Impossible!" I rolled my eyes. My sister always overpacked. 

"It really isn't, Biana," I responded. "In fact, you could probably have the same amount of luggage. Just get rid of everything but the important stuff like clothes and some toiletries." 

"Everything I packed is necessary, though!" Biana protested. 

"Fine, then just keep everything!" I gave in. "But don't blame me if you can't carry it all to the hotel." Biana shrugged and placed all her bags on top of the two large suitcases and casually strolled out of the house. Well, I thought. I guess that's not a problem.

I followed Biana out of the house with my one suitcase and took a seat inside the car after placing my suitcase in the trunk. It took Biana significantly longer to fit all of her bags inside the car, but she somehow managed it and sat down next to me, a little out of breath. 

I shook my head and started the car, half-annoyed and half-amused at how long it had taken her to fit everything in the car. 

"FITZY!" Biana shouted suddenly. I slammed the brakes and turned the car off, trying to calm my heart. 

"Biana! You can't just do that!" I exclaimed. "Not unless you want us to get killed!" 

Biana grinned, responding, "Sorry, I just wanted you to be more awake." 

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I'm perfectly awake." Biana raised her eyebrows and sighed disapprovingly.

"Fitzy, you do realize you're about to try and find the love of your life. The person you'll spend the rest of your life with. The person you'll support and who'll support you no matter how tough life gets. They'll always be there! How are you not more excited about this?" I shrugged and restarted the car.

"I don't know... Besides, it's not guaranteed I'm going to find somebody," I sighed. 

"Oh, you're going to find somebody," Biana said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're going to find somebody you love, marry them, and have a family together. And I'll finally have a sister! It'll be amazing, Fitzy. I just know it's going to happen." I shook my head disbelievingly. I mean, what were the odds that would actually happen? Extremely low.

But for some reason, I just had this feeling it was going to happen.