american dream || pulisic

thirty-one

"I'm thinking about getting a nose ring, too."

Ellie looked at Christian in horror. Him? With a nose ring? "Hell no. No offense, you'd look pretty ugly with one."

"Good," he nodded. "Michy told me I'd look cute with a nose ring but I didn't know whether or not he was serious."

"I'd rather you get another wack ass haircut than to get a nose ring, to be honest," she said, her fingers playing with the short strands of his hair. He had got a new haircut—something he liked but when Ellie saw it...let's just say she was lost for words in a bad way.

The sides were practically nonexistent, the top was too short, and she thought Chris' head looked a little rounder today. But whatever, she had her boyfriend in Paris for the time being before the end of both of their seasons, and she was going to spend it loving him, sending him send this to your crush videos even though he's right next to her. Christian's also found the time to cherish it, loving every moment he had with Ellie whether it be icing the huge purple bruise on her foot from being stepped on or having his head in between her legs (not in a sexual way) like he was right now.

It was quite strange—his head was in between her legs, kind of in like a head lock position while Ellie was on her phone scrolling through Twitter. I mean, just as long as he doesn't choke, Chris is fine with this. He actually likes it.

"So what's on the agenda today?" he asked, hand on her thigh just before she placed her own over his.

It was a Friday, no upcoming matches, no training, just a day of relaxation and fun. He thought of going out, eating lunch, and just walking around the city. Or maybe they'd take the metro to the 2nd arrondissement and be stupid Americans in Paris. Or maybe they could just stay in and snuggle.

He'd like that.

He'd like that very much.

Ellie locked her phone and placed it flat on the couch. "I don't know, but it's such a nice day outside. I feel bad if we were just cooped up in here."

For once, it wasn't cold or raining or shit weather, it was nice. And Chris knew how much that could make Ellie's day.

"I wish we could go to the beach," she continued, "or one of the port cities, or some other city that's not Paris. I mean, it's such a nice day to go outside and...live."

He smiled at her, untangling himself from her legs and crawling up her body for their noses to meet, pressing his chapped lips against her forehead. "We could go and run around the city like idiots." He checked the time. "It's only one o'clock. We have all the time in the world—you don't even have to worry about it."

Give Christian two months, and he'll finally understand Ellie like she's apart of him. He can read the ocean waves in her eyes, the curve of her lips, and the slowness of her walk. He's grown to truly love a person for the first time in his life. And he's glad it's Ellie.

It's been a tough time for her. She has bad days, she has good days. She has days where she has to drag herself out of bed, and then there are days were she can't even sit up in bed.  She has days where she forgets to eat or wash her face or stretch, and that's where Christian comes into play.

He calls her. Good morning bub, did you sleep well last night?

He texts her. Good morning! Did you eat yet?

He facetimes her quite too often. Hey, beautiful. Lookin' hot today—mhm.

He does everything he can, he does genuinely care about her. And thanks to Felix's somehow great relationship advice, he's never been happier.

Especially when his girlfriend is happy, he becomes the happiest person on Earth. Of course, just after he makes sure Ellie is okay.

"I have a surprise," he said, tucking his body next to hers before digging into the pocket of his sweatpants.

"It's not another one of my bras, is it?"

"Oh haha, funny. No, it's a—" He pulled out hand sanitizers. Two hand sanitizers. "I got us matching hand sanitizers. I got us the one that you always have in your room—you know the thousand wishes one. Isn't this cute?"

She looked at him with a stupid grin on her lips. God, she was grateful she took him back. No matter how unbelievable he is. "You're ridiculous." She shook her head, pecking the corner of his mouth and burying her head in the crook of his neck. "And I love it."

Hands on the back of her neck, he smiled. It's moments like these he'd want over anything else. Fame and money? Throw that out the window. He wants Ellie Mishaxhi.

"I also have a surprise," she lifted her head up. "I got us tickets to the first showing of Infinity War tonight."

His eyes went wide. His girl really did that.

"You—what?"

"You heard me."

You know what, Christian's grateful for flying over to Paris and coming clean to Ellie because otherwise, he probably would have still been lying down on the couch with his limbs sprawled out like a sloth with no life. Thank God he's only half of that, because the better half is with Ellie.

"I love you," he said, quickly kissing Ellie on the cheek, lips, nose, hair, everywhere. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

And God knows that's wasn't the only time he said that.

Quite frankly he says it more often now, but it's true. He loves Ellie—she was his rock, his motivation, his sunshine on a rainy day, his love, his girl.

She was his everything and as cheesy as it seemed, Christian was also a sucker for those ocean eyes.

fin.

final a/n: thank you all for reading! and thank you for putting up with my horrible updating but you guys were the best! ❤️ nadezhda OUT