Closer - A Connections Sequel [Ongoing]

Ten

Valerie P.O.V.

"How do you think they're going?" I asked Carter nervously, nibbling on my waffle fries and tender strips.

We were sitting in Carter's Range Rover in the parking lot of chick-fil-a, eating lunch. He still had his Jeep, but he got a second car for our general everyday use. The windows were tinted darker so there was less chance to be seen, and the car was left running for airconditioning.

He picked up a strip, and dipped it into ranch sauce before popping it in his mouth. "I think they're going to be fine. They love each other and it was just a very unfortunate turn of events."

I nodded. "I can't believe what Emily did. That's just so awful. I can't comprehend why someone would want to do that- proposition someone they know is already in a relationship so aggressively."

Carter pursed his lips to the side. "Some people just don't care about others..." he paused and then smiled, "they're not like you, Val. You're compassionate and considerate."

I bit my lip and smiled. "Thankyou. You're sweet. How did I get so lucky to have you as my fiancé?"

He chuckled, dusting his fingers off before grabbing a wet wipe. "I'm the lucky one. I can't wait to marry you."

My smile grew even wider. "Me neither. So your talk about eloping actually got me thinking... when do you want to have the wedding?"

"Honestly, any time." Carter shrugged. "A few months, a year, two... whenever, angel. I'm ready any time."

I took a sip of my iced coffee as I nodded, pretending to think. "Okay, well I was thinking maybe 10."

"10 months?"

"No. 10 years." I smiled.

His face dropped as he started shaking his head. "I changed my mind! Nothing longer than 2 years okay! That's way too damn long to wait."

"You're so silly." I giggled as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I was thinking maybe in a year and a half? So we have lots of time to plan."

He sighed playfully, tugging me closer to him. "I was just about to drive you to the court house right now, and get papers ready to be signed."

I chuckled. "But I'm not even wearing white."

"We can stop by the mall first," he smirked, causing me to giggle helplessly once again.

I pressed a kiss to his cheek, as I softly ran my fingers over his jaw. "So what do you think?"

"A year and a half?"

I nodded. "Around there I suppose."

"I think that's great." He beamed. "Should we have it sometime near our anniversary? Or maybe even on it?"

I nod my head enthusiastically. "Yes! I really like that idea! So May... or July?"

Carter and I were very indecisive on when to celebrate our anniversary. Was it the date we met? The date of our first 'hangout date,' the date of our first official date after Kean's pool party, or the date he asked me to be his girlfriend? Carter even chose all four occasions once to spoil me. So eventually, throughout the three years, we ruled out the day I met him, because that also happened to be pretty much his birthday, and I would rather celebrate just him, and how amazing he is on that day. And we ruled out our first official date, because deep down, I had already considered the time we went down to Venice and got ice cream our first date. Plus it was when we had our first kiss. So that left two options.