Subtle Love ~ C.E. (FIRST BOOK)

Puddin' ?!

Chris's POV
Two months pass by, and y/n started to slowly get back to where she was. Her talking became more consistent and she's coming downstairs a little more to eat, instead of upstairs like she usually does unless it's breakfast. Right now, she's taking a nap upstairs and I decided to give her some space to have the bed to herself. With Dodger by my side, I sat on the couch and turned the tv on to a football game. I sighed, got myself comfortable, and took a sip of my beer. "Do you want to do something fun?" a voice behind me spoke. Startling me, I choked on my drink and whipped my head around to see y/n, standing with a blanket covering her from head to toe. Dodger, who's already excited, turns as well and wags his tail. Wiping my mouth, I say, "Love, I thought you wanted to take a nap?" "I did but-", She came around the couch and sat on my lap with her arms around my neck.

"I want to be with you. You left me upstairs all by myself." She pouted, "I thought you might've wanted the bed space all to yourself for a little." "I think I've had enough space from you. And is that a no to the doing something fun?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. I smiled warmly and said, "Of course. What do you want to do, beautiful?" She blushes and looks around before looking straight ahead at the tv, "How about you teach me about football? I've never understood it, no matter how many times I've tried." I chuckled at her answer and replied, "Yeah I can teach you about football. Get comfy because you have a lot to learn, bug. Okay, this game is between the Patriots, my favorite team, and the Eagles. You see that guy running right there?" I said pointing to the man as he beamed across the field, "Yeah, who's he?" "He's the quarterback annnnd boom!" I screamed, making her jump. "Sorry, he just made what you call a touchdown. Which is 6 points and a big deal in football."

"Anyways, there's the wide receiver, you see him?" I said pointing again, "Yeah, you know it's rude to point." She giggled. That sound was so refreshing to hear, I quickly turned to her smiling face and chuckled, "Well good thing they can't see me, huh?" She giggled again. Oh, was it great to see her eyes disappear into her cheeks. "You want to know something cool?" She asks, "What is it?" "My therapist says that I've been making a lot of progress." "That's amazing, gorgeous! You want to know something cool about me?" "Tell me!" She asked excitedly, making me chuckle, "I learned how to speak a little French." "What! Since when? And why?" "Well, my therapist suggested that instead of just moping around the house all day, try to find something to do. So, I looked up some digital books and listened to some videos. I kind of just know the basics." "Say something to me in French." She said inching closer to my face.

"Je t'aimerai pour le reste de ma vie." I said looking into her big beautiful eyes. "Ohh, that sounded sexy. What does it mean?" She asked amused as I laughed at her comment, "It means....I will love you for the rest of my life." "Aww, did you learn all of that from the teaching videos or did you learn that just to say it to me?" "The second option." I admitted making her laugh. I'm pretty sure my brain is releasing oxytocin by just hearing and seeing her happy. "So, I've been thinking. We need to start planning Halloween! And Thanksgiving and Christmas! We've missed all of them last year and I absolutely love those holidays and I don't want to miss it again." "Are you sure you're ready to be around a lot of people? I'm not trying to make you feel caged or anything but, I want to make sure you're comfortable with being around family again." She took a pause and the smile fell from her lips. I could tell she probably didn't take that into consideration. "You're right, I think I have to still think about that but, I really do miss them. Maybe we could just have them come here. It's not that many of them. And we could have your family come here too! That way it's like a big family holiday, I've always wanted that."

I gently touched her face and grinned as she grinned back at me. "That would be amazing." "Yes! Besides, I think I need to be surrounded by family more than ever around this time." "Whatever your heart desires, love." I said before she placed a kiss on my lips and looked back at the tv. "Whatever my heart desires, eh? I want us to dress up as Harley Quinn and the joker." I drop my head back and roll my eyes in laughter, "But everyone dresses up like them on Halloween!" "Fine! Do you have any better ideas?" I take a minute to think and say, "How about we do something Disney related?" "Ouuu, that would be cute. What are you thinking?" "Maybe......Boo and Sulley from Monsters Inc.?" "Do you really want to be in a full furry suit?" "No. Now that you mention that, I don't." I chuckled, "How about any princesses?" "That would be cute but, I feel like everyone will do that one too." "Maybe we should be villains." I suggested, "But what villains do you know come in two?" "Yeah, you're right." "Disney's too hard! I'm telling you we should just do H & J and call it a day." "Fiiiine. But if I think of something better before the end of the month, we're doing that." "Yes! I-I mean okay." She tried to hide her excitement but, it was obvious.

I was shocked by her sudden burst in energy but, definitely not mad about it. We continued the night with me explaining the game and drinking beer, even though she thought it was disgusting. And for the first time in a few months, she let me cuddle her as we slept. She even wrapped her arms and legs around me which took me by surprise. I'm not sure if this will happen every night but, I'm definitely gonna take the chance to hold on to her. She snuggled her head into my neck and said, "I'm sorry." I moved away a bit to look at her with my eyebrows knitted together and said, "Why are you sorry?" "Because I left you alone and it was selfish-" "Love, I need you to stop right there. You've never been selfish with me. Ever. Taking care of yourself isn't being selfish, you should be your top priority. Then, it's probably Dodger than me." I joked. She smiled warmly and said, "You know, you make me fall more and more in love with you every time?" "I was just about to say the same thing." And just like that, we fell asleep.

I guess I must've overslept since y/n was nowhere to be found when I woke up. There was a light beat of  music that caught my attention, I'm just not sure from where. Then, Dodger ran up the stairs barking like he had something to tell me. "What's going on Dodge?" I asked petting him behind his ear. As he made me follow him downstairs, the beat of the music grew louder until I reached the living room and watched y/n cook and sing to a song I haven't heard before. "I say do that, do that, baby all night long! And I'ma turn off all my phones! You know I hate it when I'm left on read. But he make it all up in the bed!" I tilted my head slightly amused by her singing and Dodger ran past me to meet y/n back in the kitchen, where I assume he already was. She pet him and looked over to me before playfully skipping towards me and giving me a kiss, "Good morning sleepyhead!" "Good morning, what's got you so happy?" "I just want to have fun! I don't want to be cooped up and moping around anymore. So-"

She took the pan off the stove and put the food on two plates and added some other things as well. She grabbed some OJ out of the fridge before pouring it out into two cups. "Bon appetite!" She smiled as she presented the food and motioned me to come. There was hash browns, bacon, eggs, and pancakes on both plates. "Wow, when did you have the time to make all of this?" I asked sitting down, "I woke up around 7 and decided to jam. And since I was already in the kitchen while jamming, I decided to cook." I amusingly shook my head and motioned her to take my hand. She took it, coming closer to me and gave me a soft kiss. "Thank you, bug. You didn't have to do all of this." "Oh, but I wanted to Evans. Anything for my bug. Or should I say Puddin'?!" She asked in her Harley Quinn voice. I playfully palmed my face and said, "You really want to dress up as Harley, don't you?" She nodded her head excitedly as I laughed and said, "Well in that case....Are you sweet talking me? Because all of that chit chat's gonna get you hurt." I said quoting a line from Suicide Squad, impersonating the Joker.

She giggled in response and said, "See! I knew you wanted to do it!" "Just a little. I only hesitated because I didn't want to betray Marvel." She rolled her eyes and said, "I think they'll live. Plus, I already bought the outfits. All that's left is the face paint and hair dye!" She exclaimed sitting down next to me and digging into her food. "Wow, so you knew I would say yes?" "No." She said muffled with food in her mouth, "I just knew I had do a lot of convincing." Without responding, I looked at her with a beaming smile before eating a piece of bacon and kissing her cheek. "Vous êtes tellement magnifique. (You are so gorgeous.)" I whispered. She turned to me with confusion and soon laughed, "I think I might have to learn French now since you want to be fancy." She said making a silly face. I think she's almost back to her old self.