thoughts are in italics! this chapter was really fun to write and i had such a fun journey with this book:) one or two more chapters left, depending if you guys want a sad or happy ending so lemme know in the comments.
also, WE HIT 1K READS!! LETS GO!! over the past couple days this book has been getting by hundreds of reads and i'm so proud and happy:) ty guys!!
words: 5425
finished: july 24, 2021 - 11:49pm
-
one day left - 11:35am
clay's pov
i lightly rub y/n's shoulder.
"hey... it's time to get up. i have plans for us today." i lean down to kiss her cheek. "oh, and wear that one pair of ripped jeans you have, a white t-shirt, and your air forces. love you." i have her another peck on the cheek.
today is gonna be another fun-filled day for us. i planned it all out a couple days ago. first, i'm gonna drive her to a small restaurant for lunch and perform a song there for her, second, i'm taking her to the bakery we first went to where we got all those good deserts, third, we gonna go for a walk and i'll lead her to a hidden area by the beach, fourth, i'll take her shopping at the small stores around the bakery, fifth, i'll take her out again for dinner, and then sixth, i'm driving her to a prettiest party of orlando, when it's dark. i know, it's a big day today and it might be a little much but i know she'll love it.
-
"so what are we doing today?"
i shut her door and walk around to the other side of the car to hop in the drivers side.
"it's a surprise." i grin.
"of course it is." she laughed. she looked down at my outfit and ended up laughed even harder.
"what?" i laugh.
"why are we matching, again?" she continued to laugh.
"because we look cute when we match!" i followed her laugh, it's contagious.
"i bet there's gonna be people who think we're that one sappy couple who wear match their clothes every day or there's gonna be people who think we're siblings. it's one or the other." she said.
i burst out laughing.
y/n and i took turns playing music as i drove down the road. eventually, we arrived at the restaurant and i led her inside. we sat down at a table for two and began to order food right away. we didn't bother eating breakfast because we had both slept in from staying up late last night and it was close to lunch time anyway.
i kept looking at the time and began to grow more nervous. although, i just passed it off as being really hungry to y/n. will she even like my singing? no, she likes my voice, she told me. but what if that was a lie to make me feel better? my thoughts were interrupted by one of the employees walking onto the small stage and speaking into the microphone.
"hello folks! thank you all for choosing to eat here at Eli's Corner House but 12:20 is coming up on the clock which means it's time to leave for the hosting we're having in a bit. we open again at 1 o'clock so do come back if you'd like!"
"what? but our food hasn't even come." y/n pouts.
"it's okay, don't worry. i'm the one that's hosting for us." a smile crept up onto my face.
"what? you rented out the restaurant for almost an hour just for the two of us? how much did that cost?"
"y/n, it's okay, really! you'd be surprised how much money i make by playing minecraft." i chuckle.
y/n laughed. "okay, but why did you rent it out?"
one of the waitresses came over to our table and handed me the microphone with a smile. before we knew it, the restaurant was empty now.
"your about to find out." i spoke into the mic.
i got up and walked onto the stage. with me were four of my home town friends to play the music. i went to talk to them for a minute to see if everything was set up. they told me they had it all ready for me and that they'd start when i gave them the cue.
"hey, don't worry man, you got this." andy patted me on the back.
"yeah, like seriously, i haven't even met y/n yet and i can already tell by the way she looks at you that she loves you." tyler chipped in to make me less nervous.
"really?" i ask him.
all the boys nodded. "she looks at you like your the only person in the world, clay," tyler reassured.
"okay then... here we go." i told them. i walked over to stand in between the drum set and the guitar stand. i looked over at y/n and i could tell she was really confused, yet curious.
"um... y/n, this is for you... i remember you telling me that you like it when i sing so i thought it'd be nice to preform a little concert for you." i spoke into the mic. immediately,
y/n's expression changed to a smile. i turned around and gave the boys a thumbs up.
song recommendation: what you know by two door cinema club
the music started to play and i immediately started to feel better. andy nudged me and shot me a smile and mouthed to me, "you got this!"
more employees of the restaurant started to come out of the back and they began to dance with each other. one of the girls went over to
y/n and told her something but i wasn't able to hear. but, i assume it was good because y/n smiled as the girl pulled her to the other employees and she began to dance with them.
in a few weeks, i will get time
to realize it's right before my eyes
and i can take it, if it's what i want to do
the guitar, the drums, the music... it made me feel really... alive. it's hard to explain. but right now, i was having a fun time.
halfway through the song, i walked down to the floor of the restaurant and started to walk around, lightly dancing with the employees. if i were to actually dance, my voice would bounce—if you didn't know, it's hard to manage singing and jumping around and or dancing at the same time.
and i can't say it's what you know
but you've known it the whole time
yeah, you've known it the whole time
i made my way over to y/n as i sang and twirled her around. she laughed and continued to dance.
and just like that, i was lost in the music and dancing. people was jumping, some were dancing, and a couple people were singing along. but i was watching y/n dance and spin and sing and... now i get why people say i look at her like she's the only person in the world. she's beautiful.
andy came down by everyone to show off his guitar solo and, of course, was surrounded by some of the female employees. i laughed at it and shouted, "WOOOO! YEA ANDY!" andy gave me a they love me look and i laughed even harder.
when the song was coming to an end i went back over to y/n to end the song in a romantic way with her. you don't have to tell me i'm being cheesy, i saw it in a movie and figured it would be fun to do with her. maybe get her flustered one more time... to be honest, i forgot all about our stupid "love war". but then again, it is the thing that got us together so i wouldn't call it stupid exactly.
i smiled as i sang the last words of the song and pulled y/n in close by her waist. she was standing directly in front of me. maybe 5 inches away from my face, but of course she had to be looking up to see my eyes.
my breath was heavy and grew noticeable after the last beats of the music was played. the restaurant was filled with cheers and applause but i was still looking at y/n. a pink hue spread across her cheeks. i let out a chuckle as a grin spread across my face. y/n rolled her eyes and attempted to give me a kiss by going on her tippy toes but she was to short. i laughed at her attempt but closed the gap when she whined at me.
today was going to be the best day ever.
-
1:23pm
"are you going to keep the entire day a surprise?" the pretty girl questioned me.
"yep."
she scoffed and looked out the window.
"i know i already said this but that performance was really awesome, clay." she turned her head to look at me. i gave her a quick glance and smile. i would have gave her a better response but, i was driving.
"sometimes i forget how great your voice is. i love it." she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. i squeezed hers back and told her thank you.
not long later, we pulled into a parking slot on the road and headed to the bakery.
"wait, are we going to that one bakery?!" she jumped at me with excitement.
i laughed and put my hands up. "you caught me." her eyes grew wide with even more excitement and gave me a side hug as we kept walking.
we ended up ordering only a few things. i got a carrot cake cupcake, y/n got a powdered sugar brownie, and we also got a slice of key lime pie to share. the woman handed us a to-go bag with the desserts and gave us a kind smile and wave. we thanked her and went to go sit outside to eat the sweet treats.
"thank you for letting me pay this time," y/n laughed a little as she bit into her brownie.
"well i knew you wouldn't stop nagging on me if i didn't so your welcome." i leaned over to her a stole a small bite of her brownie and in response she took some of the cream cheese off my cupcake with her finger.
"ha, jokes on you, i don't like all the cream cheese on here anyway!" it makes the cupcake look more appealing but there's always too much of it for me.
"oh really? well, i can help you get more of it off then." a grin spread across her face and she ate the frosting off her finger and went to grab more. although, this time she didn't eat it. she simply wiped it on my nose. i gasped a little at the cold feeling and laughed.
"ah, the good memories of our flirting times." i told her.
"well, you still flirt with me." she took another bite of her brownie, finishing it.
i laughed, "that is true."
y/n took a picture of us eating our purchased sweets—i still have cream cheese on my nose—and then helped me wipe the sugary topping off my nose.
we continued to talk about how we would make each other flustered in the first week she arrived and how we would overthink the smallest things about each other. we talked about watching the horror movie i made her watch, as a joke, we talked about how i got jealous and defensive over her when the guy from panera flirted with her, and we especially talked about the tiktok trend i wanted to do with her. good memories.
"k, c'mon." i stood up and held my hand out for her to take. she took it and got up to walk with me.
"where are we going now?"
"to a pretty place," i responded. "but for now, we're just going on a walk."
she hummed in response. we continued our talk about the fun memories we had the first week she had come to visit, we shared laughs every now and then. eventually, a comfortable silence grew between us. it was nice. i was having the time of my life with my so loved girlfriend, we were holding hands, the smell of the ocean lingered in the air, and the sunny day made the world feel a lot more alive. my thoughts were interrupted when y/n spoke up.
"do you still get butterflies around me? like you know, that feeling in your stomach when you see me? i know sometimes that feeling just goes away after a little bit but obviously you still love that person."
"of course i do," i chuckled. "this is about to sound really cheesy and cringy but bare with me here." she laughed in response. "okay. so yes, i still get butterflies when i see you. i actually have them right now... i mean, how would i not to be honest? like, i'm holding your hand and we're talking about feelings toward each other! this is like what my 6th grade self would dream of doing. plus, your the most gorgeous woman i have ever met. if there was a guy on this earth that didn't find you incredibly pretty, then there's something wrong with him! these butterfly feelings aren't going away anytime soon y/n. because knowing that your mine makes the butterflies even worse then they already were before."
"wow..." y/n turned her head and gave me a smile. i could definitely see the blush on her face. "your right... that was really cheesy." she burst out laughing but i couldn't help but join her in laughing.
"but, it was really sweet." she added.
"well, what can i say? i'm a sweet guy." we both laughed.
there was a small moment of silence but not for long. i couldn't help but ask the same question.
"why? do you not get butterflies anymore?" my face saddened a little bit.
"what? no no no, i do!" she was quick to make me smile again.
"good." i smiled back at her. "the place is just around the corner," i told her.
we continued to talk about memories we've made so far until we reached the destination. i slide my hand out of y/n's and stepped behind her to place a hand over her eyes and the other to guide her.
"alright, i'm gonna lead you carefully to the place. just don't fall. please." i laughed. "i'm joking, i'd never let you fall."
i led her through the small dirt trail and to the place. now, at this point your probably wondering what the place is. well, it's a small seating area right next to the beach. it's on a massive rock and the rock is on the sand so we're about 8 feet off the sand. it has a decent sized fountain the in the middle with a couple wooden benches all around it. and then to top it all off, is it's surrounded by trees—except for the front part of it, that's where you get the ocean view.
okay my smart ass just remembered that orlando is in the middle of florida and the ocean is on the outside of florida. so we're gonna pretend there's a place in orlando that has access to the ocean okay?
i positioned y/n in front of the ocean view and took my hand off her eyes. "open."
she opened her eyes and stared at the pretty view in awe with a joy-filled smile. she turned around to look at me and noticed the fountain and wooden benches. her smile grew even more.
"this is really pretty, clay... where did you find this?" she was still in awe at the beautiful nature spot.
"i found it when i was a teenager, maybe 16 or 17. i was on a bike ride with my friends and ended up getting lost," i chuckled.
"well i'm glad your 16 or 17 year old self got lost." she joked.
sometime later, y/n and i decided to sit down on one of the benches and have more time to ourselves together. at one point she ended up laying her head on my lap so out of habit, i started to play with her hair.
"can i braid your hair? you can take it out after if you want." i asked her.
"you know how to braid hair?"
"yea," i laughed. "my sisters taught me a couple years ago. it was when my hair was longer and they wouldn't stop bothering me, mainly my younger sister, until i let them braid it. in the process, i got curious so i practiced doing it on them and that's how i ended up learning."
y/n hummed in response and closed her eyes.
"...is that a yes?" i laughed.
"mhm."
"yay," i whispered under my breath. in all honesty, braiding hair but be a girl thing to a lot of people but it's actually really fun for me. it gives me something to do. although, i haven't been able to do it in a while... sometimes when my younger sister, drista, was over at my house or when i was back at my parents house with her, she would ask me to do her hair. if i has to guess, that was probably... maybe a month or two ago?
i was very concentrated on making the braid look perfect. i knew y/n probably wouldn't wanna keep it in but i still liked to try.
"sit up please." i told her.
she sat up and looked out at the pretty view once again.
"you really getting into it aren't you?" she laughed.
"i am." i was almost done with the braids, i just needed to tie them together. i reached into my back pocket it grab a small, thin one and tied the two braid together. i made two small braids on each side of her head and then pulled them to the back of her head and tied them together so it was like a half-braided crown on her head.
"all done." i smiled, proud of my work. the braid look pretty in her hair.
y/n faced me and reached her hands back to feel what i did, since she couldn't see it. "where did you get a hair tie from? please don't tell me you picked it up off the ground."
i laughed,"no! of course i didn't pick it up off the ground y/n, i grabbed it from my back pocket. it's from home."
"you keep hair ties in your back pocket?" she smiled.
"well yea, just in case you need it if you forget one or something."
y/n didn't say anything, she just kept staring at me with a sappy look on her face.
"what? why are you looking at me like that?" i asked her.
"that's just really sweet of you." she covered her mouth and nose with her hands and continued to smile. i rolled my eyes.
"we should leave in the next couple minutes or so, we still have places to go."
"like where?"
"back to the bakery area, with all the cute little shops and stuff. i know you liked it last time we went there."
y/n squealed and hugged me. "thank you!" she laughed.
i chuckled,"yea." shes cute.
before we knew it, we were back at the shops and y/n was already started to pull me to different stores.
she gasped, "they have an arie down here?! oh my gosh we have to go there, i love that store." she looked up at me for approval.
i smiled. "let the shopping begin."
-
5:47pm
i ended up taking y/n to go get pizza at the italian restaurant out more towards the city, we were both very much in the mood for some pizza.
once we got there, we were seated right away. there wasn't very many people here so that made service a lot better. a little later on a woman came up to our table to take our order.
"hi, my name is miranda and welcome to italian inc! i will be your server today. can i get anything started for you?"
"may i please have a sprite to drink?" y/n asked her. miranda nodded in response and looked to me next.
"i'll take a water, please."
"okay, sounds good! are you guys ready to order or are you still thinking?" she smiled at me.
"we could probably order right now." i told y/n. she nodded in response. "do you wanna share a margarita pizza?"
"sure."
"okay, one margarita pizza..." miranda thought aloud as she wrote it down. "will that be all?" she looked at me.
"yep." y/n told her. she looked over to y/n and smiled but to be honest it seemed a little forced. must have had a long day so far.
i felt my phone buzz so i pulled it out real quick and started to type, responding to a message. after i sent the first text, y/n kicked me from under the table in a playful way.
"pay attention to meeeee!" she whined but laughed. i rolled my eyes and set my phone on the table.
"okay okay, i'm paying attention." i put my hands up in the air and laughed. y/n reached her hand out and tapped her fingers together a couple times to tell me she wanted my hand. i reached mine out to grab hers and smiled.
miranda came back with our drinks. "here's your water," she put my water next to my hand. "and here's your sprite." it looked like she was about to place y/n's sprite right on y/n's hand so we both let go. i reached out my other hand across the table and y/n took it.
"your pizza should be out in 20 minutes or so." miranda smiled at me.
"alright, thank you." i told her, although she didn't leave. she just stood there are played with her fingers.
"i should go help out in the back." she told me, pointing to the kitchen. i just nodded my head in response as i watched her walk away. when i looked back at y/n, she was already looking at me but with a different facial expression that i didn't know how to describe.
"please tell me you saw that." she told me.
"saw what?" a grin broke out onto my face as i reached to drink a sip of my water.
"she totally just disregarded that fact that we're holding hands, which she tried to break up when she gave me my drink, and then was just flat out staring at you!" i laughed at y/n's reaction to miranda flirting with me.
"okay, come sit over by me." she moved over on the booth and patted the seat next to her." i laughed even harder as i got up to go sit next to her.
"it's not funny." she told me.
"it's pretty funny," i wheezed.
about 20 minutes later, miranda came back with our pizza and set it down on the table. "be careful, it's hot. i'll be back with some plates." and of course, she smiled at me. i really couldn't help but laugh again after she left.
"okay, this is getting annoying." y/n grabbed my arm it put it around her. "she clearly couldn't take a hint before so i'm gonna hope she's gonna take it now." she scoffed.
"wow, your really jealous aren't you?" i laughed again and placed my forehead on her shoulder.
"she's clearly interested in you! of course i'm trying to make it obvious that we're dating!"
"okay y/n." i kept laughing.
miranda came back with the plates so i sat back up again.
"thank you." i told her as she placed them down in front of y/n and i.
"no problem! can i get anything else for you?" by now you could probably guess she was asking me and completely disregarding y/n right next to me.
"that'll be all for my fiancé and i, thank you."
y/n told miranda. i turned my head to look at y/n but she was looking dead straight at miranda.
"oh you guys are getting married...?" miranda looked extremely confused.
"yup." y/n held up her left hand with the ring on her finger so i held up mind as well with the ring i bought myself to match y/n's.
"that's great to hear." miranda told us. it was like her and y/n were having a war with their eyes.
"okay, well thank you for the pizza." i told her, hoping she would leave after that and thankfully she did. when she was out of sight, both y/n and i burst out laughing.
"oh- my god," i wheezed.
"that was amazing!" y/n laughed.
"so, fiancé huh?" i turned to look at her.
"i thought taking it to the next level would make it even better." she proudly said.
"well to be fair, we are gonna get married at some point so..." i winked at her and watched as the blush spread across her face.
"okay, let's eat." she pushed aside my comment, making me wheeze even harder.
-
7:03pm
"why won't you tell me where we're goinggg?"
y/n whined for probably the third time in a row.
"because it's a surprise!" i laugh.
"well you told me that we were going to the bakery and that we were going shopping and that we were going to go eat dinner and you told me that was a surprise!" she poked at my arm.
"okay those were small things, this... this is gonna be the best part of the whole day i think." i told her.
"oh really? i think you performing was pretty good... it might be hard to top."
i chuckled, "thank you but i really think this will top it."
"okayyyy."
i was driving y/n through the city of orlando and was looking for the suntrust center. it's the tallest building in orlando. y/n told me a little bit ago that she really loves the night time with all the pretty city lights so i thought maybe it'd be cool if i could get her a better view of them.
i pulled into the parking lot and sure enough, there was quite the crowd here. that makes this a whole lot easier to blend in. to be honest, i didn't really know what this building was. i think i heard it was a bank but i wouldn't bet on saying it is one. before we left the car, i made sure to grab my bag.
as we were walking inside i whispered to y/n, "just follow me and don't talk to anyone, let me do the talking if it's needed." i grabbed her hand and we walked to the elevator. when we got in it, i pressed the highest floor we could go to.
"what are we doing here? and why are we going to the highest floor? your scared of heights."
y/n questioned.
"yes, i am scared of heights but trust me this will be worth it. and i'm with you, so i'll be fine." i smiled. the elevator made a ding sound and it opened its doors. i took y/n's hand again and led her throughout the hallway until i saw an exit sign. when i did see one, i walked to it and pushed open the double doors. score.
"why are we at the stairs if we just went up the elevator? i'm gonna be honest, i don't see how this is supposed to be the highlight of the day, clay." she chuckled.
"just wait." i led her to go up the stairs, even higher then we were before. i told her to close her eyes now and i went behind her to guide her. i told her to open the door and once she did, we were finally outside again. i carefully led her to the middle of the roof .
"okay... there. you can open." i took a step back from her so she could take in the view. she opened her eyes and gasped. in front of us was a view of the entire city of orlando. the sky was dark, all the lights in the city were on, cars were driving by, people were walking... it was a moment.
"clay, this is... amazing! i didn't know orlando was so pretty..." she turned around and gave me a hug.
"i have something for you." i sat down on the roof ground and signaled for her to sit beside me. i pulled a book out of the bag, but not just any book. it was the book i made of our memories we had the three weeks y/n stayed with me. i handed the book to her.
"wait... hold on, "she laughed. "is this a book of the memories we've had here together?" she flipped through the book, treasuring each page she looked at.
"yea." i leaned into her side to see the book as well.
"you know, the funny thing about this is that i actually made one of these too." she laughed.
"what? you did?!" i laughed with her. "no chance."
"yes, i did, it's at home!" we continued to share our laughter. y/n made sweet comments here and there as she looked through the pictures i put in the book.
"wait, how did you get these pictures of us? who took these?" she pointed to the pictures of us when we were watching fireworks at disney.
"i got a teenager to take those for us. he was actually really kind about it. ended up giving him 5 bucks." i laughed.
this is really sweet clay, i love this. i'm definitely keeping this for forever." she closed the book and looked at me. i looked back at her, mainly into her eyes. it was dark enough where i couldn't see her facial features clear but i could still see her. a smile grew on my face as i leaned in to give her a kiss. i'm going to miss this.
the kiss was sweet and loving. y/n pulled away and gave me a hug. we stayed like this up here for a while. just looking at the view, sharing hugs and kisses.
"i love you," i whispered into her ear.
"i love you too. so much," she whispered back.
-
9:23pm
finally, we were back home and getting ready for bed. i can't believe it's over already. three weeks, gone by just like that.
i finished brushing my teeth and went to change into my pajamas. i guess y/n was still getting ready as well because she wasn't in bed yet. i changed into a red plaid pair of pajama pants and was deciding whether or not to wear just a t-shirt or my hoodie, wondering if i would be too hot in the night. i picked up my hoodie and put it on for a second to see if i would be able to sleep in it. no, too warm. wait a second. i lifted the cloth of my hoodie to my nose and smelled it. it smells like y/n... i smiled. okay, never washing this again. i quickly put on a black t-shirt and headed to bed.
not long later, y/n was done getting ready for the night as well and crawled under the covers. i held my arms out for her to come and cuddle with me. she gladly did so and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
she ended up lying her head down on my chest and i had my arms around her waist. i turned the lamp on the nightstand off and pulled the covers over me.
"i can't believe this is our last night," y/n spoke softly.
"me either." i held her tighter. "but it won't be the last. i promise." she hummed in response.
i sighed. "goodnight y/n."
"goodnight."