Training for Love « Chase Elliott »

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Gabby's POV

I silently sat in the passenger seat of Chase's Chevy, holding his hand and watching the sun set behind the Charlotte skyline. The sky was colored in blue, purple and pink hues. The further away from the city we drove, the darker it got and the stars began to shone.

One fell from the sky; I closed my eyes and made a wish.

Please let this be real.

Chase squeezed my hand at that moment, causing my heart to stutter.

After everything we've gone through; the horrendous first meeting, me running away, us fighting, to me finally facing reality, I hope in the end of all of that - what Chase and I have together is real.

I don't want a romance that's caught up in the moment and a tiny party of me fears this is the case. I don't want this to be a charity case where Chase feels bad and somehow feels like he needs to save me. Even though he told me otherwise, a part of me still thinks that.

"I can feel you over thinking over there." I sighed, interlocking my fingers with Chase.

"Some things are hard to overcome."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just want this to be real, a small part of me is scared that it's not. Like I'm making this all up in my head and come the morning, you'll be gone... or worse, that all of this will disappear."

"I promise you that it is real. I haven't left you yet, and I don't plan on it." Chase raised our hands so he could kiss mine. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll tell you a million times a day if I have to."
"You promise?"

"On my heart."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and closed my eyes. Chase squeezed my hand, reassuring everything he just said.

This is so hard for me to believe that he's mine, but he is. For the past month I've woken up everyday expecting this to be a dream. Chase is seriously the sweetest guy I've ever met. He opens doors for me, holds my hand in public when we go out and looks at me like I'm the only one in the room.

He's forever encouraging me, whether at the gym or when I'm having a bad day at work. He always knows what to say to cheer me up, and he's also not afraid to tell me the truth when I need to hear it.

Chase also gets it when I have no energy. Like how on some days all I can do is just sit on the couch, because that's all I can do. Some people don't even realize how much energy it takes to interact with people. I was scared of what his reaction would be when this happened, but instead of asking me what was wrong, he just showed up at my place and sat with me. We barely talk to each other on those days, but him just being there was what I needed.

I haven't asked him how he understands depression because I know people who do understand it, has dealt with it themselves. I can't even imagine this boy being depressed.

"Hey, where did you go?" Chase brought me back to the hereto as we pulled into his driveway.

"Just thinking about how amazing you are to me." And that I'm 100% falling for you. Chase smiled at me, that earth shattering smile he gets when he's happy. My heart skipped a beat when he leaned in and kissed my lips so gently. When he pulled away, he was biting his lower lip to hide his smile.

"I think you have it the other way around." I went to rebuttal, but Chase cut me off with another kiss. "C'mon, I have a surprise for you."

My heartbeat was louder than my thoughts as I followed Chase wordlessly into his house. He stopped in his kitchen, grabbed two glasses and a bottle of champagne. "Chase, no." I laughed as handed me a glass and popped the bottle and filled up our glasses. "You don't have to pop a bottle for me, Chase." He just shook his head no and smiled down at me.