Back To You

Chapter 5 || Like It Was Yesterday

"Don't worry, she has that effect on everyone," I assured him. "Are we almost there?" 

"You're so impatient. Just a few more stairs," Carter said and helped made sure I didn't trip up the stairs. Soon enough, I heard a door had opened and air had hit my face. "We're here," he said as he stopped me from walking and had taken the blindfold off. We stood on a rooftop of a building, which one, I did not know. The rooftop had fairy lights that surrounded the ledges around the roof, and candles sat on the floor of the roof that stood out against the night sky above us. A mattress was lying in the middle of the roof, covered in blankets, pillows, a bottle of wine and snacks, with a projector screen in front of it.

A homemade cinema.

"You really know how to charm a girl, don't you?" I giggled and turned around to face him with my hands now placed in his.

"Believe it or not, this isn't a regular thing for me," Carter admitted and rubbed the back of his neck. I smiled at his nervousness and leaned up to kiss his cheek softly.

"It's cute," I admitted and pulled back before we walked over to the makeshift blanket bed and sat down. "No one has ever gone to all this trouble for me before."

"Well, they were idiots, you deserve to be treated right," Carter said and pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear, which made me look down as a blush formed on my cheeks. His hand trailed down my bare arm where goosebumps appeared to and grabbed my hand before he kissed it.

"I was right. You're a charmer. I like it though," I admitted. "Did you make this?" I asked about the food that was in front of us.

"Contrary to what you might think, I'm actually a good cook," Carter said.

"Well, I have to try this food and see for myself how good of a cook you are," I told him as I sat facing him. "Hmmm," I said after I tasted one of the mini pizza rolls. "Ok, I admit it, you're a good cook. Who taught you?" 

"My grandma, she has a recipe book the size of someone's head." Carter laughed. "My grandad cannot cook to save his life and she said if I turned out like that she pitied my future wife."

"She sounds awesome, and she's not wrong. A man that can cook is a selling point." I shrugged.

"Good to know," Carter said as his hand reached up to wipe some crumbs from the pizza roll from the side of my lip as he stared into my eyes.

"You seem close to them."

"I am. They raised me since I was seven. I owe them a lot." Carter smiled in admiration of his grandparents. "Which is a story for another day and definitely not one for a first date." Carter chuckled, although I could see the pain in his eyes.

"So what movies do we have? And let me tell you now movie choice could make or break this date." I pointed at them as I changed the subject, knowing he didn't want to talk about his past and I saw the appreciation in his eyes.

"Someone takes movies seriously, huh?" Carter asked. "Well, I brought three movies so you could choose. A classic Disney movie, a romantic comedy, or an action movie." Carter held up the choices.

"Oh, the action one for sure," I told him. "I'm a big action girl." I winked, and he laughed as he threw his head back.

"This may be too soon, but please marry me," Carter joked, and I laughed. "You've just won my heart."

"Keep cooking for me and we'll see," I joked as he sat next to me again and grabbed some of the food he made. He laughed before we lied back on the mattress, cuddled up together as the movie started.