stuck with him

twenty nine

a week later
ariana's pov

'stop walking so fast.' dalton said anxiously as he lifted me up.

i wrapped my legs around his torso and let my arms rest around his neck as he carried me down the stairs placing me on the couch.

'can you please stop doing that?'

'stop doing what?'

'breathing down my neck.' i replied bluntly.

'wow... okay.' he huffed.

'look, i love you and for the first few days while i was resting it was nice having you look after me, but i'm perfectly capable of walking down the stairs by myself.'

'i thought you were capable of showering by yourself too, but obviously that's not the case.' he mumbled.

'come here.'

he stared at me blankly as i reached my arms out motioning for him to come lay with me.

'dalton, come here.' i repeated firmly.

i heard him sigh and then he walked over to me laying his head on my chest. i wrapped my arms around him and drew small circles across his back while he hummed in response.

i've had a feeling something has been going on with him ever since we got home from the hospital last week. he was treating me like i was some fragile glass that was gonna break any second and he just wasn't acting the same.

'it helps if you talk about it' i suggested softly.

'what?'

'i know something is bugging you, and i'm telling you that from my experiences it helps if you talk about it.'

i felt his grip on me get tighter when he moved his head up and placed it in the crook of my neck. i noticed the damp patch on my sweater from where he had previously been and reached down to cup his his face in my hands. i wiped the wetness from under his eyes and softly brought his lips to mine.

'you don't have to talk to me, but you need to talk to someone.' i said letting his head fall back down as i ran my hands through his hair.

'i was just really scared that day.' he confessed lowly. 'it's like you... the doctors... everyone is just playing it off like it wasn't that big of a deal when it was... if you were to hit your head any harder or fall in a different direction you may not be here right now and i just- i feel like if i would have just stayed in the house with you instead of running off maybe none of this would have happened.'

'what if a giant ufo landed on our house right now?' i asked him.

'what?'

'you heard me.'

'is this a joke to you or something? cause-'

'no no no, baby i'm trying to make a point. you can't live life asking what if because there are an infinite number of endings to that question. we could sit here and think of a hundred different scenarios for how that night could have ended, but it's not gonna change anything.'

'i know, i know. you're right.' he groaned.

'well yeah i'm always right.'

he smiled and kissed my cheek before playfully flicking me on the arm.

'ouch!' i yelped with my mouth wide open.

i flicked him back on the forehead which earned me another one in return.

'ahhhh! get your tiny crab hands away from me!' he laughed as i brought my hands up in front of my face doing little pinching motions.

'fine i'll put them away.' i pouted.

'thank you, your majesty. i appreciate your kindness.'

'your majesty? that's new.'

'well you are a princess... or queen... or whoever you call majesty...?' he questioned awkwardly.

'ouch. a swing and a miss by dalton gomez.' i laughed.

'shut up.' he giggled pulling me in for another kiss.

his hands roamed around my body as my arms found their way back around his neck. i moaned softly at his touch when suddenly the little imaginary light bulb in my head lit up.

'wait!' i exclaimed pulling away. 'i have an idea!'

i ran up the stairs into our room dragging dalton with me. he watched as i opened my laptop clicking the video feature.

'uh ariana-' he started.

'we're not doing that you freak, i want you to be in the stuck with u video with me... well that is, if you want to?'

'are you sure?' he asked shocked.

i nodded and watched the biggest grin i have ever seen appear on his face as he picked me up, spinning me around.

i played stuck with u from my phone and turned the camera on giggling as i saw dalton already dancing from behind me. i walked over to him with my arms wide open holding onto him tightly. we stayed as close as possible our gaze never leaving the others as we shared a few soft kisses.

before the song ended dalton swiftly spin me around a few time and we couldn't help but smile at each other.

'are you sure you wanna do this?' i asked catching my breath.

'i've been waiting to tell people you were mine since the first time we kissed, but it's not about me. i only want to do this if you're 100% sure.'

'i promise i could not be more sure than i am right now.'

he smiled again and i brought the laptop over to the bed as we got under the covers. the entire night dalton watched as we cut parts of our scenes and added them into the finished music video.

'are you nervous?' i asked turning towards him.

'i'm freaking out, but in a good way.'

'please promise me that if you at any point in the next 27 hours regret this you will tell me right away okay? i really want you to be sure because once they find out who you are your life is never gonna be the same again.' i said seriously.

'i promise. now tell me more stories about the fans!' he exclaimed propping himself up on his elbows.

i giggled at his reaction and began to tell him a rage of stories from my crazy to heartwarming fan experiences as he listened to every word with fascination.

i knew we were definitely making the right decision.

***