where only the sweetest words remain

chapter two

A/N: just a heads up that the next chapter is going to be something i've already posted before on its own. i still need to edit and add some stuff here and there, but at the very least it shouldn't take me as long to update <3

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January 2028

"Ready?"

Carla's initial response to that question is to give him an unamused look. Between Christmas, New Year's, and their busy jobs, Samuel hasn't gotten the chance to show her the new place yet. While the wait has made them both go kind of stir crazy, she's the one who's undeniably been worse—and a thousand times more annoyed by it too.

She isn't the most patient of people, especially when she wants something, which he first found out back in high school when he tried to tease her during one of the first of their many hookups. Her reaction was to call him annoying, wrap her legs around his hips, and drag him into her, although it wasn't much longer after that incident before Samuel realized that her impatience also exceeded beyond sex. It had been surprising, but not nearly as much as the discovery that he thought it was endearing.

That hasn't changed in the slightest. The past two weeks have consisted of her expressing her frustration in their free time, and while Samuel shares it, he also really just loves the tiny pout that forms on her face whenever she does. It's cute, and maybe he's going to miss seeing it so often.

Because things have settled down, they both have the day off, and they're finally visiting the apartment together.

"Of course, I'm ready," she says. "I've been ready. So hurry up."

"Bossy," he huffs under his breath, but it's with a smile as he finally turns his key in the knob, and Carla's mock-irritation is replaced by barely contained excitement when he holds the door open for her.

Slowly, she makes her way inside and down the entry hall. It spills directly into the living area, which is open and bright with the afternoon sun's rays; they catch on the green in her eyes as she takes the room in. Samuel stands a little off to the side and quietly observes her, wearing a small grin to match her own dimpled one, and wonders if she's imagining what it would look like filled with furniture, paintings, the plants that his mom got her and that she's been meticulously taking care of because they were gifts from your mother, Samuel, I'm not going to just let them die.

Her gaze fixes on the front wall.

"There's a fireplace," she says, and he has to keep from laughing at how happy she sounds about that.

"Yeah, there's a fireplace. Between that and what I got you for Christmas, you might never be cold ever again," Samuel jokes, knowing that won't stop her from still stealing his hoodies or tucking her cold feet between his legs or curling into his side in the future, anyway. "There's also a kitchen, a balcony, and a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms too, you know."

Carla shoots him another one of those looks.

"Idiot," she remarks without heat. Then, "Show me."

So he does. He takes her through each room in the apartment, starting with the main bathroom—even without the lewd glance she sends him when she sees the tub, Samuel would know exactly what's going through her mind—then the laundry room at the end of the hall, and then the guest bedroom next to it. His earlier curiosity on whether or not Carla's been mentally designing the place is answered when she notes how the room could be made into a home office for the two of them and points out where everything would go, which makes him gleam when her back is to him. He'd thought the same thing.

When they get to the master bedroom, however, Carla's quiet. He doesn't say anything either as he follows her. She looks into the en-suite first, then comes back out and traces her fingers along the closet doors taking up the entire right wall until the room opens up. Samuel remains at the mouth of the short entryway while Carla stops in the middle of the bedroom, their bedroom, and turns in a slow circle so that she's facing him.