All Because of You

Chapter 13

The next several weeks flew by in a whirl of modeling and life. I got my first paycheck, and for the first time ever, I had money left over that wasn't automatically spent on the necessities of life. Connor helped me set up a bank account, and I immediately went out and bought myself a notebook. Connor thought it was a strange first purchase: "I would've gladly bought you a notebook," he told me over and over again, but I always just shook my head. It wouldn't have been the same, I told him every time. That notebook became my lifeline of sorts; the front quickly got covered with doodles and colors and random things that made it 'so me', as people at work said. I quickly began filling in the pages, sometimes with random thoughts and ideas, but mostly with lyrics. And once I had enough money, I bought myself a keyboard to go with it. For the hours of the day when Connor was at the office without me, I was almost always on it, figuring out chords and basic arrangements to fit behind the lyrics.

On top of that, my relationship with Connor continued to get better. We went out on a lunch date nearly every day, and nights where we didn't have to wake up early were spent cuddling and watching various movies and t.v. shows. I had yet to move out of his room; Connor swore he didn't mind, and I loved being there with him. Every once in awhile, we would get into a small fight, but it would always blow over in less than a day. Overall, life was good. Actually, life had never been better.

"Is a double lunch date with Ingrid and her girlfriend okay?" Connor asked me suddenly one day. I hesitated; meeting new people wasn't really something I was extremely good at, and even though Ingrid and I had become close friends, I had yet to meet Hannah, her girlfriend. Finally, I shrugged.

"Yeah, sure. Might as well." Connor grinned at me and I grinned back; his adorable smile when he got his way was still not something I had gotten over, and every time I saw it, I couldn't help but feel insanely happy to be with him. We parted ways then, each of us going off to do our separate work with a promise to meet in front of the building at noon.

Even though the idea of it made me nervous, I was extremely excited to get to meet Hannah, and as soon as I could get off work, I found myself rushing down to meet Connor, even though I was a few minutes early.

I paced around a few minuted before Connor showed up, and he quickly took my hand, instantly calming my nerves.

"Hey," he whispered against my neck as he hugged my arm. "I missed you." I giggle, planting a kiss on top of his head.

"It hasn't even been a full day, Con." He pouted at me.

"But four and a half hours without seeing you is a long time," he whined, curling even more into my side; I just laughed.

"How you ever survived without knowing me, I will never know." Connor stuck his tongue out at me, laughing as he lightly head butted me.

"Rude! This is bullying!"

"C'mon, you dork," I laughed, tugging on his arm. "We have a lunch date to get to."

Connor's antics made me forget all about my nerves, and we walked down the sidewalk hand-in-hand, telling stories about our days and trying not to trip over each other while laughing. After knowing Connor for months, it still amazed me how he made me feel like the only one in the world. I had always heard people say that they would never get over their partners' smiles or laugh or tiny habits, and I always thought they were lying or playing up their 'perfect relationship', but with Connor, i began to rethink that. His laugh, his smile, his excitement, his jokes, the way he treated me, the way he made me feel. How could I ever get tired of that?

Ingrid and Hannah were waiting for us outside the lunch cafe and Hannah looked just slightly less nervous than I felt. Ingrid was excited though, and soon her energy had worn off on everyone else in the group. It was fun to watch Hannah turn from polite and friendly to a giant puppy, though I knew I probably did the exact same thing. I could see how Ingrid liked Hannah so much and why they got along; Hannah was a fun-hearted pun master whose personality both matched and contrasted Ingrid's personality perfectly.