"Would You Like To Know Me?"

Part 16

You both stayed silent making your way towards Paul's car though you still were smiling from ear to ear. No one had gone out of their way in this extreme to show that they cared. The phone calls every night was the highlight of your day, learning about him, his son, and the day to day life, but you wanted to be physically close and see him from time to time.
"When did you get here? I thought you said you were going to be busy for a few days? You asked as he opened your car door.
" I got here late last night, and I am going to be busy hanging out with this awesome chick" he grinning at you.
Paul leaned down and grabbed your chin lightly to pull your face up to look at him for a moment before he leaned down and kissed you softly. Feeling shocked for a moment you remained still as you felt him start to pull away as though he had done something wrong. Quickly you grabbed his face with your free hand to keep him from pulling away and returned the kiss. The butterflies you had before when you first saw him in the office had exploded. A small meow from the kennel you were holding pulled you both apart for air. Looking down at the kennel and back up at each other you both started laughing.
"I guess the furball is ready to get rolling, I gotta pick up some things from my hotel room and then we will get him back to his owner," he told you as you climbed into the car.
"I am fine with that, just happy we will get to spend more than a few hours together this time" you smiled as he pulled out of the parking spot and headed toward the direction of the hotel that was about twenty minutes away from your job.
The drive was semi-quiet between the occasional meow from the little kennel and the music from the radio. You looked over at Paul studying him for a moment in awe that he had stayed true to his word as you had about doing what you both could to see each other and see where things could go. Hopefully remaining uphill in your case.
"I still can't believe you're here like it doesn't seem real that you'd fly back here after being on tour for so long and being away from Evan. I feel like I should pinch myself or you to make sure I'm not dreaming this all up." laughing you said
" Please don't pinch me, you can do whatever else you want to me just don't do that" he laughed "but this is real Y/N I told you I would make this work and we have both kept our word, you've answered almost every call, we are making long-distance relationships look like a breeze." patting your hand.
"Well if we do have lunch today we should do it at the hotel or somewhere out of this area, my mom's friend told her all about us being at the diner. I don't want to go through that again." you said pausing for a moment as you remembered he had said 'almost every call'. What did you mean when you said I answered almost every call you made? Have you called the house and my mom answered? You asked knowing the response wasn't going to be a good one.
" I called twice, one no one picked up and that's when I paged you the night we got back from tour, and the other time your mom answered by giving me some babble about me being the guy you were clearing your head with and if I was making another appointment. He said looking over at you seeing you looked pale.
"Y/N are you okay, did something happen after that call? I know you didn't sound right the morning before, did she hit you again?
Trying to think quickly so the start of a great day wasn't ruined. "I just didn't know you had called at all that night," you said, giving his hand a squeeze, as he turned into the parking lot of the hotel.
" Grab the furball and we will go up and relax for a bit and grab his stuff to take to his owner if that's cool with you? he asked. He wanted to make sure you were as comfortable as possible with no pressure about having to do more than you felt your relationship was ready for. This was your first one and he didn't want to rush it.
"Sounds perfect to me" reaching into the back seat for the kennel.
Getting up to Paul's room and walking in you put the kennel down as you looked around. Clothes were all over the place like he had spent the morning trying to decide what to wear, plus hair products all over the counter. Looking over at him grinning as he was letting the kitten out of the kennel.
"Did you have a hard time picking something to wear this morning for the surprise or did your suitcase explode while you were gone? You laughed as he stood up walking toward you.
" Very funny, I was looking for some things and well this is the aftermath." he chuckled as he pulling you closer to him sighing " Y/N, you have no idea how happy I am to be here finally with you."
Hugging him " Paul, I'm pretty sure I feel as happy as you do." feeling the kitten pulling on your shoestring you looked down scooping him up. "When is his owner supposed to pick him up or when are we supposed to take him back?"
Pulling away from you, Paul walked over to the closet and pulled out a ton of cat supplies. " The owner has already shown up to pick the furball up, so whenever you are ready to take him home, we can," he said with a shy grin.
Tears formed again in your eyes looking down at the little green eyes staring at you and back at Paul. Again no one had ever done anything of this caliber for you. Paul had listened to you about your love for animals especially black cats and had taken the time to find one and bought it for you.
Paul spoke up pulling you out of your thoughts, " I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you and I didn't think to ask if it would be okay for you to have him at your mom's before I adopted him."
Wiping the tears from your eyes as you laughed " No no Paul you didn't upset me, I'm happy that I have him, he will be a big comfort for me. Probably better to sneak him into the house but my mom will love him"
Paul walked over and put his arm around you kissing the side of your head. " So let's give the little guy a name, he can stay here with us while I'm here, then to lunch"
Sitting on the couch, holding the animal as he curled up in your lap purring. The name hit you " Paul what do you think of the name Maverick? looking at him seeing his finger tapping his chin.
"I like it, you seem to have a knack for naming things Y/N, lets put him up and go get food now I'm starving"
Putting Maverick up you grabbed Paul's hand and gave it a small squeeze " hey Paul do you mind if we stop by my house so I can grab some stuff to stay here and my camera backpack? I'm sure we will go people watching" you asked
Paul nodded in agreement grabbing the key for the room. You leading the way.