Subway Cars & Lonely Hearts

thirtysix/irl/

italics ~ elliot

bold ~ carter

normal ~ tv

tuesday september 18th 7:19 pm est

elliot hesitated before sliding her key into the door of her apartment and turned to look at carter, "it's really nothing fancy,  putting it nicely. putting it not so nicely, it's actually a literal shithole apartment in there, and i know you won't judge but i know it's probably not what you're used to, and i-"

"el, just open the door and let me put these down before my arms fall off," he grinned, pretending their two bags of groceries that he had been carrying with ease were bothering him. 

elliot felt her anxiety dissipate and lift off of her shoulders for the millionth time that day. his smile just seemed to do that to her.

the two entered the apartment and got to work on their dinner. 

elliot had pulled her hair into a bun and was chopping up vegetables while carter filled up a pot to boil their pasta. they lip-synced to the radio into the various cooking utensils littered around the small galley kitchen, frequently bumping into eachother as they moved around in the cramped quarters.

when they had finished in the kitchen, they took their plates to the couch, sitting opposite each other, legs tangled together, the conversation not faltering for hours. 

"there is no way in hell that works," he guestured to the cracked tv sitting across the room, "what did you do to that poor thing?"

"it fell." she said, "down a flight of stairs. by itself." she grabbed the remote to prove him wrong, and when she did a familiar face filled the screen.

"hey guys, it's me candy greene, back at you reporting for hotgoss! tonight's breaking news is about hollywood's golden boy, carter meade! our boy carter broke the internet tonight, playing a snippet of his new song and sending his fans into hysterics! the notoriously private heartthrob's new song is possibly the most insight us fans have ever had into his love life. lets read some fan reactions shall we?"

tweets and other comments began to pop up on the screen as the reporter read them out. "@mrsmeade23 said 'this song feels so personal which means it must be about like a real girl like who do i have to fight for my mans?' preach sister!

"@cartermeme said 'our boy is in love. our boy is in love. i repeat our boy is in freaking love'

"and finally @cmlover9 said it best 'i would walk over legos barefoot for miles to have that song be about me. someone out there is the luckiest girl in the worlddd' i could not agree more, am i right guys?" the screen flashed back to the reporter one final time. 

"for now, fans will just have to wait to find out more about the girl who's got their future husband smitten. be sure to check the hotgoss website for more information because we sure are looking for it! until next time, candy greene signing off!"

elliot felt her heart beating out of her chest, she had just been reported on, she had just heard some random woman promise a ton of her viewers that she would post information about elliot.

she looked over at carter, who seemed to immeadietly get what was going on inside her head, pulling her into his side and rubbing circles on her back. "i'm sorry that this is my world, literally no one, especially someone as incredible as you, deserves to have to live in it. for what it's worth, leo and i are never going to let them find out anything about you, i promise. but," he let out a loaded sigh, "if you want me to go, like for good, i wouldn't blame you."

elliot looked up at him, her glassy eyes clearing up, "thank you. though i thought i told you that you're stuck with me forever now?" her eyes shifted over to the clock, which read 12:41. "but i think you're stuck here for the night at least, anyway. if you try and leave now you literally might get murdered in this neighborhood, and i can't have another death on my conscience this week."

"sounds like you just don't want me to leave, but we can pretend that that's why."

elliot wacked him with one of the throw pillows and then rested her head on his shoulder again, both of them quickly falling asleep feeling completely safe and just completely complete in each others' arms.