A/N: Buckle up y'all, you aren't ready.
Y/N POV
The countdown begins. This week is week 1 out of 5 I have with my love before we get back to reality. Our goal for this week is to get Lizzie's new apartment all set up. But first, we have to go see it. I slip on my sunglasses as I hop out of the Uber we took instead of the subway and walk around to open her door for her.
"Madam" I smirk as I over my hand to my lovely soulmate. She smiles and rolls her eyes lightly, accepting my hand which she keeps in her grasp, intertwining our fingers together. I raise them up and kiss the back of her hand as we walk up to the realtor. I mildly pay attention to their conversation and throw a peace sign to a random camera pointed our way before Lizzie tugs me into the building and into the elevator. I briefly wonder if I have a superpower to spot paparazzi. Lizzie either doesn't see them or ignores it.
The realtor opens up her door and hands her the keys and we walk in. Whoa. This is even more beautiful than the pictures. He shows us all the special stuff about the apartment. There's a dishwasher, fireplace, washer and dryer, and the closet space is amazing. Lizzie pulls me into the bedroom and I lay down testing out the bed. Not bad.
"C'mon ya goof, there's more." She pulls me up and I plant a quick kiss on her lips which makes her smile as she drags me to the second smaller bedroom. This room is empty and Lizzie explains her vision of the two desks and dog bed between them. I smile at the confirmation that she still sees us living together in this apartment at some point. The bathroom attached to the larger bedroom includes a bath, which of course it does, it's so Lizzie. The guest bathroom is simple and has a standing shower. The living room is beautiful, dark wood and exposed brick. The extensive shelving is empty so we are going to go shopping for stuff today. The kitchen is bigger than I thought and Lizzie squeals in excitement. An amused smile fills my face as she opens random drawers and spins around her kitchen.
Lizzie starts to sign the papers and she turns to me. "There's a spot for a second name." She states and I look at her confused. "I have the option to sign for Joint Tenancy." She explains a little bit more and my confused frown deepens. She kindly excuses us from the realtor and pulls me to the bedroom. "I could own this solely by myself, or you could sign with me and it could be ours." She explains in terms I understand. Her eyes scan my face and I look at her in surprise.
"Uh, I mean. I know we plan to eventually live together but this is kind of a big decision. You'll be away, I still have my apartment until well, actually until the end of August. Uh wow. Wait you really want to co-own a property? I'm not even paying for it?" I ramble out confused.
"Well, even when I'm gone you can still stay here. Your lease is up soon so that actually works. I know you don't like that I'm paying for it solely but I mean, eventually what's mine will also be yours." She hints and I sigh. I don't not love the idea but also don't love it 100%.
"How much are the monthly payments?" I ask, maybe I'll feel better if I help out with them.
"Uh I'm kind of buying it full price right now." I groan and sit on the bed with my head in my hands.
"You're kind of springing this on me babe." I complain.
"I know, I'm sorry. I uh, I was thinking about it but didn't want to ask and spook you. You like being spontaneous let's be spontaneous!" She tries to get me excited and it makes me crack a smile.
"If I sign, I get to pay the power, heat and water bill." I negotiate. She goes to argue, "Nope, don't even. You know I hate how much you spend on me. I would feel better if I'm paying for something that I'm about to co-own. And you won't even be here and it would be me using all that shit anyway." She sighs and nods in acceptance.
"Okay, fine. You can pay those bills for a year." She tries.
"5 years." I give back
"1 and a half." She pouts. Dirty play Elizabeth.
"4 years babe." I continue.
"2 years." She grabs my cheeks staring me down.
I sigh, "3 years and that's my final offer. After that 3 years we split the bill." I add in.
She huffs, "Fine. 3 years." A smile grows on my face realizing what we are talking about. Jesus Christ. I haven't even met her parents!
"What are people going to think. People already think I'm a gold digger." I sigh my excitement gone.
"But you aren't, and I know that and my family knows that." She assures me.
"I haven't even met your parents." I point out.
"We can invite Mom over for dinner. My sisters adore you, they are the ones you want on your side, trust me." She continues to try to sway me.
"You know this means you have to marry me someday." I tease and she smiles softly.
"I thought that was the plan anyway?" She lightly teases back, her eyes sparkling.
"Okay, holy shit, just give me like 5 minutes to process the last 15 minutes." I hang my head in my hands again and she comes closer so my head rests on her tummy. Her hands run down my back under my shirt and against all my better judgement I look up at her. "Okay. I'll sign." I take a deep breath and she giggles in excitement pulling me up into an intense kiss. "But I'm also buying whatever we get today." I add in and kiss her before she can argue.
My thoughts about my change in career come back, this adds onto my reasoning beyond just being able to be with Lizzie. I can do a number of those things I listed at the same time and make bank without even leaving home. I should probably bring that up to Lizzie. For now though, I'll continue teaching. New York City teachers make more than other states and I'll just live in the dark for a while. I remember that I applied for a promotion and now really hope I get it. Fuck. This is a lot.
I'm shaken out of my thoughts by Lizzie pulling me back to the kitchen. She chats with the realtor and hands me the pen, I take it between my fingers and look at the line where I have to sign. I can feel my body panicking and Lizzie sees it too so she holds my other hand in hers. "Trust me." She whispers and I take a deep breath. This entire experience with her has been a dream, a wild crazy dream and its hard to accept it as reality. Once I sign these papers, I'm not only agreeing to live with her at some point, but also eventually marrying this woman. My heart is beating out of my chest. I lock eyes with her and I see the confidence she has in the decision, the love, and trust. It's enough to make me lean down to sign the papers and before I even realize I did it, the realtor is figuring out all the legal business stuff with my soulmate. Holy fucking shit.
I strangely don't feel like I made a huge mistake which is good. I don't really feel anything at the moment. I'm kind of numb. So numb that I don't remember locking up and walking towards Crate & Barrel.
"Princess?" She tugs on my hand that's clasped between hers breaking me out of my trance.
"I need to call my mom." I reply and let go of her hand speed walking out of the store. I pull out my phone and click on my mom's contact pressing call.
Mom: Hi sweetie! How are you?
Me: Mom. I'm freaking out.
Mom: What? What happened? Was your trip okay? Is Lizzie okay?
Me: The trip was great, Lizzie is fine. We um. We just like. We just bought an apartment in Soho.
Mom: YOU WHAT!?
Me: Okay, I'm already freaking out so can you find your chill please.
Mom: With what money?
Me: Lizzie's.
Mom: So you aren't paying? She just had you sign with her? That's kind of romantic.
Me: I demanded to pay the bills for three years.
Mom: That seems fair.
Me: Then why am I still freaking out.
Mom: Because this is a huge step for such a new relationship. She obviously trusts you and sees you being together for a long time. Are you freaking out because you don't see that?
Me: No! I do, god I would marry her tomorrow but we have so much left to go through. We have been in our own little bubble this summer, it's about to be burst wide open when she has to go to LA for filming. We don't even know if we work when we are apart for months.
Mom: Well, I think with the amount of love you both feel for each other, you will both do anything to make it work. Would you agree?
Me: Yes, I would do anything for her.
Mom: Then I think you don't have much to worry about. It isn't going to be perfect but if you both want to make it work, then its worth it.
Me: Yeah, yeah. Okay. You're right. Sorry I. We've had a similar conversation but hearing it from an outside source kind of makes me feel better. I can't believe I own an apartment in Soho. Wow.
Mom: You're dreams are coming true baby. Accept that she wants to take care of you and love her in return.
Me: Okay, yeah. I'll do that, Thanks mom.
Mom: Of course sweetie. Can't wait to see the new place.
Me: I love you, bye mom.
Mom: Love you too.
I hang up and feel better. If my mom isn't freaking out about this then I don't need to. She's right. Maybe I need to suck it up and let Lizzie be Lizzie and love her for it. Even if it involves spending a shit load of money on me. But, I guess this money isn't solely on me, its for our relationship and that thought makes me smile. Okay. I feel better. I notice a camera on me and stick my tongue out before running back into the store. I find Lizzie near the knives and I hug her from behind.
"You done freaking out now?" She asks picking up a few knives.
"I feel much better, thank you." I confirm.
"Are you going to accept that money doesn't need to be an issue?" She continues and I cringe.
"I'm working on that part, my love." I answer kissing her cheek.
"That's all I ask. Now which set do you like better?" She points out two sets of knives and I honestly don't see the difference. I pick a random set and apparently I picked right one since she hums in approval. We continue through the store and pick out a bunch of stuff for the apartment that we walk back once I pay. Lizzie let's me do it without fuss and it makes me smile that she's sticking to our deal. She hums as she puts away various kitchen things that she got and I smile at how elegant she moves around her knew kitchen. Technically yes its ours, but who are we kidding, I will only be in the kitchen for midnight snacks that I hide from her.
The rest of the day we lounge on the couch and do some online shopping which racks up my credit card bill but I try to forget about it. Now I have to worry about moving my shit here.
"Um babe?" I get her attention.
"Yes, love bug?" She responds cutely.
"I guess this means I have to move my stuff here?" I remind her and she nods. "Then we don't need some of this stuff." I point out and she freezes.
"Oh, duh. You're right." We go back over the list of things and take out stuff I already have out of the cart. At least I'm contributing to filling the apartment. I sigh and look up at the high ceiling with a smile on my face. This has been a crazy day.
"I feel like we need to break the apartment in." I comment with a smirk on my face.
"What do you mean?" I look over to her and quirk an eyebrow. A look of realization covers her face and she bites her lip. I push the computer out of her lap and onto the floor gently before crawling over her as she lays down, her hands pulling my neck towards her. Oh yeah, this will definitely our apartment after this.
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A/N I went back and forth on this, but I think it will add to some interesting angst for book 2. A huuuuuge step that may come back to bite them in the ass but who knows. I want to build in things that could or couldn't come back as an issue to keep y'all on your toes. The next few chapters will be labeled as weeks, leading up to the final chapter. Lots of fluff coming. Let me know what you think!