raising it » david dobrik

7

*putting a/n at front bc it fits better in my mind? because the last chapter sucked ass, i wanted to make this one special! thank u for being patient with me, and i hope u enjoy!! xoxo abby*

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" I asked David for the millionth time, looking down at Luke ready in his car seat.

"They're your friends," David chuckled, letting the door shut. Luke had been outside before, if you counted David's backyard as outside. This was going to be his first time leaving the house after a month and a few days, and he was going to stay with Aaliyah and her dad while David and I went to some vitally important business meeting. I wasn't positive why I had to be there. I was a nobody who did nothing for David's brand or videos, but David was a very convincing man and now, I was dressed to the nines and ready to meet whatever snotty business man hated me for ruining David's career. "I think I should be the one asking you that."

"Okay, obviously Aaliyah and Michael aren't going to kill him," I sighed, climbing into the front seat. "I'm just nervous about everything, okay?"

"What do you mean everything?" he started the car and we got on our merry way, only making my nerves creep up my throat and keep me silent. David noticed and placed his hand gently on my exposed thigh, giving it a light squeeze. "Hey, it's okay, babe."

"I'm just not a business person," I huffed, crossing my arms as a way to comfort myself. I swallowed thickly, choosing to look out the window and anywhere but David. "I don't know why you want me to go."

"Because you're my best friend and business meetings scare me?" he said like it was obvious, and I had to admit it did help a little with my nerves. "Besides, you're funny and a good conversationalist. The guy is bringing his wife, too."

"Who is this guy, exactly?" I asked, carefully fixing a bit of my smudged red lipstick. "I mean, what is the business for?"

"It's something for Snapchat, but honestly I don't know," David seemed to clam up when he answered my question, and my suspicion grew. What wasn't he telling me? "You know how they have those little shows in Snapchat stories? Summer McKeen has one?"

"Yeah, I love Summer," I nodded. "Wait, you think that's what this is about?"

"That's my best guess," he shrugged. "I mean, what else could it be about?"

He had a point. What else did Snapchat do?

We arrived at Aaliyah's dads a few minutes later and dropped off Luke, after a few kisses and lots of "I know you guys are family, but if you kill my baby, I'll end you". David tried to slip a couple hundreds to Michael as a thank you for taking care of Luke, but he shook him off, pulling him in for a hug. He said, "Any family of Sloane's is family of mine. This is my grandson."

"Thank you, Mr. Walker," David shook his hand with a smile. "We'll be back around ten for Luke, if that's okay."

"Aaliyah will be awake," he sent a pointed look to his daughter, who smiled like she didn't care much about his judgment. "She can't seem to go to bed before two in the morning."

"Yeah, I'll be awake," she grinned, leaning forward to plant the lightest of kisses on my cheek, as not to disturb the makeup below. "Have fun."

She hugged David, a first for them, and whispered something along the lines of good luck, loser in his ear. Good luck with what, I don't know. Probably not pissing me off for the next three hours.

David and I left, albeit a bit hesitantly, and made our way to a part of town I had never been to. I had no clue where we were when we pulled into the driveway of a small house. I, confused, looked to David and said, "This is where they said to meet?"

He checked his phone again, then looked at the numbers nailed to one of the porch columns. Nodding in confirmation, he said, "5740 Willingham Court."

"Did you talk to this guy on the phone, David? What if it's a scam to rob us and murder us?" I asked, glancing through the dimly lit front windows to try and see what was inside. "I'm scared."

"Don't be scared," David half rolled his eyes and climbed out of the car, leaning down to say, "I'll go check it out and be right back."

"Okay. Be careful!" I called after him as he shut the door and walked up the two wooden steps that led to the front door. My view was slightly obstructed by some bushes, but I saw him knock and the door opened. He talked to someone I couldn't see for a few seconds. Turning around to face me, he waved me up. I sighed in relief and unbuckled my seatbelt, climbing out of the car and following him to the open door, still seeing no one inside. "Uh, where'd he go?"

"He said he had to go help his wife zip up her dress," he told me, and for some reason, it felt like a lie. That feeling was only confirmed when I stepped inside and saw rose petals on the ground, an extremely odd touch for a business meeting. I turned to stare at David, who just shrugged like he had no idea what they were doing there. "Follow them."

"Are you sure this isn't some swinging party, David? Did you get us into swinging?"

"Follow them, Sloane," he instructed me, and I listened this time, following the trail through the small house until we reached a quaint dining room. Looking in, I gasped at what I saw. The table was covered with candles and rose petals, and the lowly lit room had soft classical music playing in the background. On the table rested two fancy plates and two champagne glasses, an open bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling apple juice sat gently below them.

I didn't even notice the camera in the corner, not that I would've cared. The room looked beautiful, and knowing David put in all this effort in order for me to have a good night was one of the most romantic things I had seen, probably in my entire life. It was like a movie, and I was in love.

Turning around to thank him, or to ask him what this was all for, or to tell him I loved him, I noticed he had disappeared. My eyes slowly drifted downwards to see David on one knee in front of me, a glistening diamond ring perched in a simple black box.

"Sloane Carlisle, will you marry me?"