where only the sweetest words remain

chapter one

A/N: bear with me for a VERY long writer's note here but hi guys! im so excited to share this fic with you all as it's been really special to me over the past month or so that i've been developing it <3

let me explain a few things lol so firstly this is a direct continuation of the three part story i posted to my other book take it how you want it (take on my love) so you may be confused if you haven't read those last three chapters. this is another multichapter, but it'll more resemble the one-shots format. each chapter is connected and in chronological order but will have weeks, months, or maybe even years gaps in between them (pay attention to the dates at the beginning!), so think of them as a series of interconnecting one shots that piece together a bigger picture. for the most part this is pre-planned so i do wanna stress that unlike the one shots i will not be taking genuine requests for it. but if you have suggestions, feel free to make them anyway. you never know it could always help :)

also a few of the beginning chapters will include or outright consist of one shots ive previously posted in take it how you want it, but will be edited/rewritten or actually expanded upon so that it suits the timeline better. i'll go back and delete those chapters from the one shots just so there isn't any double posting, and i promise that it's only a few (you can probably guess a couple of them lol). for the most part this fic is 100% original and im very much looking forward to it!!

lastly in this long note, and i know a couple of you have seen me mention this, but chapter lengths will greatly vary. i kinda set myself up with this first chapter being so long but it got ahead of me a little lol

fic title is from the song turning page by sleeping at last which is also the name of this whole series, i suggest listening to it if you want to be hit with every single emotion on the human spectrum. also this begins two months after the reunion fic. enjoy!

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December 2027

"I don't know how you're always so fucking warm," Carla grumbles as a shiver wracks through her for the thousandth time since they stepped out of the safe, insulated confines of his car.

"And I don't get how you're still freezing," Samuel replies, amusement coloring his voice. "You're wearing three layers."

He pointedly looks her up and down. She's wearing a red, oversized turtleneck underneath a fur-lined jacket, and he knows that she's also got a long-sleeved shirt under both of those things too. Her legs are only clad in a pair of tight-fitting jeans, but she's wearing two pairs of socks beneath her boots.

Okay, so it's kind of endearing, and she looks really cute, honestly. It's their first holiday season together as a couple, and while he has occasionally seen her in an old sweater that she swears never sees the light of day in public or one of his own hoodies, just a little too big for her, this entire look is different. Her hair is falling loosely around her shoulders, a few wisps stuck to her lip gloss, and her nose is slightly pink.

He kind of really wants to kiss it, but then it scrunches adorably, because Carla is still keen on arguing with him about body temperature.

"All you're wearing is a jacket and t-shirt. How are you not freezing?"

He does have his jacket zipped all the way up to his chin, but he still rolls his eyes and says, "It's not even that cold out. Seriously, how did you handle all those times you went somewhere with actual snow?"

"By almost never leaving the central heating of whatever place I was staying at. I would've stayed in that cabin in Asturias all weekend too if I was given a choice," she says, then a sultry smirk tugs on the corner of her lips as she looks him over, stepping closer and dancing her fingers across his chest. "Although, I can think of another way you can warm me up..."