And Then There Was You (Chris Evans AU)

January 4 The Trip Home

This has nothing to do with what happened at the arena or even the argument. She's embarrassed about last night.
We're only about an hour and a half outside of Miami when I whip the car into the closest parking lot.
"What's wrong," Daphne asks sitting up.
I don't speak. I fumble through a song list on my phone until I find what I'm looking for. I turn the radio up louder and roll the windows down. I get out and go around to let Daphne out.
"Chris, what are you doing?"
"Dance with me," I say.
She shakes her head and gives me a flat "Chris, no."
"Daphne, yes," I say nodding my head as I take her hands in mine and pull her up out of the car.
This is another of those moments where music speaks louder and more intimately for us. You and Me by Lifehouse comes flowing out of the speakers as I hold her close to me.

What day is it
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive
I can't keep up, and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me
And all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

Why are the things that I want to say
Just aren't coming out right?
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me
And all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

There's something about you now
That I can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right

'Cause it's you and me
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you and me
And all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why
I can't keep my eyes off of you

What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so alive.

  I continue to hold her close as the song ends. She's hugging me tightly as my chin rests on the top of her head. I lean down closer to her ear. "I know you're bothered about last night. Please know I didn't turn you down. I just want to give you the world you desire which also means helping you maintain the promise you made to yourself."
  Finally she looks me in the eye for the first time today. "Promise?" she asks hopeful.
  "I promise." I bring my lips closer and she meets me in the middle. I kiss her in a way that I know will make her weak in the knees.  I move back by her ear and whisper, "because believe me I'm longing for the day I make you weak in more ways than just by a kiss."  I look at her so she can see the honest desire my eyes hold.
I open the passenger side door for her again. "And on that note, what's say we pick a wedding date?"
"I'd like that," Daphne says kissing me once again before sitting back down.

Third person POV

The remainder of the ride home is much more pleasant as Chris and Daphne discuss wedding plans. Daphne has become much more animated in conversation. Chris listens intently to all of her ideas.
"I know most couples just leave all the decision making to the bride but I want you to be a part of it too," she tells him.
  "I'll help however I can, but I want you to put yourself first with this, okay. Think about your dream wedding and go with it. I can't really imagine telling you no to any ideas you might have," he says as he steers the car onto the last leg of the trip. One hundred miles to go.
  Daphne smiles because she knows her wedding Pinterest board has changed drastically from the time that she started it four years ago. The wedding industry is ever changing from season to season. She's going to have to go through the board and delete several things as they no longer resonate her dream wedding.
  "Do you have a preference on season?" She asks Chris.
  "Not really. Would you want to wait until the summer for when school is out? Would Spring Break be too soon?" He answers her although he feels like this is definitely more of choice she needs to make.
  She stops to open up the calendar on her phone. "Spring Break is the second week of April. That gives us three months if we do that. What do you think?"
  "Let's look at the second part of the date situation. Where do you want to get married?"
  Daphne thought as a young girl the only place she'd ever get married is at her church. But as she's gotten older she's dreamt of a beautiful outdoor wedding, someplace rustic. But then you have to worry about weather, heat and bugs.
  "That's the million dollar question, babe.  Because I honestly am not sure," she tells him. "Do you want to give input on that?"
  Chris becomes thoughtful. "At the time that I thought I'd be in South Florida all my life I thought a beach wedding would be nice. But, I know you're not a big beach fan so I wouldn't ask that of you. Do you think you'd want to do a destination wedding like your brother?"
  "At one point I did think it would be sweet to get married in one of those small chapels in the mountains," she reveals. "But I don't know who outside of family would make that kind of trip. We could maybe do Savannah or St. Augustine even. It would kind of be a destination wedding but still close for travel."
"Oh gosh! But the house may not be ready in three months, what then?" She asks him.
Chris reaches his hand over and places it on Daphne's thigh. "I guess it's a good thing you already have a house then. I can just move in with you if ours isn't finished being built."
  "Next question, honeymoon preferences?"
  "Anywhere, as long as I'm with you," he says bringing her hand to his lips. "What about you? Any dream destinations?"
Daphne definitely has some dream locations in mind but again, another realization takes place. "We should probably do something small since we're building a house at the same time."
"Babe, we're good, I promise. If you'd rather do the wedding at Spring Break and have a small honeymoon then we can plan something bigger for the summer after your house sells," he says countering her offer.
"Definitely something to think about. I guess the biggest decision that needs to be made soon is the where for the ceremony on the off chance we have to push it a year because of things being booked," she tells him somewhat sad at the thought of waiting.
The idea of waiting close to a year doesn't excite either of them. "I'd rather not wait that long but if your heart is set on one specific place and that's what we have to do then we'll do it. You're getting your dream, Daphne," Chris tells her with a knowing smile.
Daphne returns his smile and holds tightly to his hand. "Marrying you is the dream, Chris. Where we do it, doesn't matter."