~~~Long-winded but extremely important author's note at end. Please read :)~~~
The next morning, Will breezed through the apartment at just past eleven, faced with four slightly hung-over and extremely tired patrons blearily sitting around eating cereal and watching TV.
“Crazy night?” he asked, and I noticed his hair was slightly wet as if he’d just emerged from a shower.
“Too many beers and card games,” I supplied, standing up and pecking Will on the lips. “Morning.”
He grinned. “Morning, love.”
I sat back down on the couch, and Will, who looked undeniably handsome decked out in a black coat and dark jeans, leaned against one of the taupe walls and said, “So, I was thinking that, since neither of us was working today, we could all go out and check out some of the London sights.”
I looked around at everyone, raising an eyebrow. “What do you say, guys? Interested in a day of sight-seeing?”
“Oh, no,” Ava replied sarcastically, twining a thick woolen scarf around her neck over the top of her leather jacket. “We were just going to spend our days holed up in the apartment. Of course I wanna go!”
Everyone else confirmed and moved off to get dressed, leaving only Will and I together in the kitchen. I leaned against the kitchen counter, and Will stepped forward until we were pressed flush against each other, his hands braced on either side of my body atop the counter. I arched an eyebrow. “You know my friends are still in the apartment, right?”
He smirked cockily, a lank of dark hair falling into his eyes. “But they’re not here now, are they?”
He bent down and placed a lingering kiss on my lips, making butterflies erupt in my stomach and my fingers reach up and twirl around his neck in a way that was purely instinctual.
He pulled back and grinned down at me, his eyes hooded. “So, I was thinking, and I thought maybe we should talk.”
I bit my lip nervously. “That doesn’t sound good.”
He smiled and kissed the edge of my nose, making me giggle with relief. “No, it’s good. Don’t worry.”
“What is it?”
He reached up and played with a soft wave of hair, making me shiver. “Well, I was thinking, and—”
“All right, I’m all ready,” Ava announced, breezing into the room, and stopped when she saw our promiscuous position. “Sorry. I’m interrupting, aren’t I?”
Will stepped back with a smile aimed her way and an apologetic shrug aimed toward me. “No. It’s okay.”
Eventually Jamie and Chance filtered in, and we set off into the snowy coldness to check out the sights London had to offer. Thankfully England had gotten the memo that summer had begun, and, though it was still chilly and slightly snowy, the sky was mostly a pale blue occasionally dotted with clouds, wan sunshine spilling onto the sidewalk. I walked hand-in-hand with Will, taking in the pretty bookstores and boutiques around us, spotting al the beauty that surrounded us.
After checking out a few of the clichéd sights and grabbing a quick lunch of chili dogs and chocolate milkshakes (much to Ava’s disbelief that England also had hotdog and fast food vendors on the pavement), we started off towards one of my favorite sights in England, mostly because it was a cheap, romantic spot.
“An ice skating rink?” Ava asked, as we turned the corner and reached the venue.
Inside I could hear excited shouts and whoops from children and teenagers, and my gloved fingers tightened around Will’s. I loved this spot, despite the fact that, before I’d made the move to England, I’d never been much of an ice-skater. Now that I’d made it here, my ice-skating skills were finely tuned, and I found it great fun to just skate and do tricks with Will.
“It’s so cool,” I promised her, walking towards the center. “I hope you’re bundled up, though. It gets cold.”
We made it in, and Will paid for our entrance, before leading us in to the rink. We tied on the ice-skates, and got ready to go out. I tightened my pink trench-coat around me, before fixing the shoelaces on my skates and standing up. I grabbed onto Will, and we skated onto the ice with an ease that showed we did this probably a lot more often than necessary.
I kept my hand in his and did a few slow laps around the edge, getting my ice legs and taking the time to enjoy the sights and smells and sounds. I spun around and skated backwards, taking both of Will’s hands and allowing him to lead me around, letting out giggles each time either of us almost toppled over in the ice.
“It’s been way too long since we’ve done this,” I said, glancing around at the shiny ice and the gathered people. Ava was skating around the rink easily, Jamie looked scared out of his wits at the ice, and Chance was struggling along. We skated to be a little closer to them so as not to exclude them, and Will nodded.
“I agree. We should do this more often.”
I moved closer to him. “Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my friends this past few days.”
He smiled, revealing those adorable dimples I loved. “Of course. They’re nice. I just want to see you happy, Candi.”
I leaned forward and gently kissed him, before pulling back and skating towards our friends. “Anyone want anything from the café up there?” I asked, pointing towards the café advertising hot beverages and Danish waffles.
“A maple latte sounds amazing right now,” Ava gushed, staring up at the vendor. “But you guys stay here. I’ll get everybody everything.”
“I’ll go, too,” Chance offered, and Jamie threw in an affirmation that he’d join them as well.
As they skated off the ice and undid their skates to make it up the treacherous stairs towards the cart, I frowned at their retreating backs. “Did we just get ditched, or…?”
“Actually, I asked them to,” Will said. “It’s amazing what a twenty-dollar note and a good coffee recommendation can do.”
I cocked my head to the side and stared at him in amusement. “You asked them to leave?”
“Only for a second,” Will replied. “But I wanted to talk to you.”
“What about?” I asked, feeling that small pinch of anxiety that something had gone wrong.
“Do you remember our first date?” Will asked, glancing around the ice-skating rink and taking in the smell of hot pretzels and the sounds of excited giggles. Everyone was a kaleidoscope of colored jackets, creating a beautiful rainbow.
“Which one?” I asked. “Because, from memory, you asked me out, and I said no, but you took me out for coffee, anyway. You know, on the pretense of ‘meeting some new people’.”
His jaw dropped, acting mock offended. “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you they wouldn’t be meeting us for a few hours.”
“Actually, from what I can remember, you told me every single person we were going to meet with was running mysteriously late, and would arrive there at exactly three, which is a very strange coincidence, Mr. Winchester.”
“I wanted to go out with you,” Will told me. “It’s not my fault the only way to do that was to arrange a cover story.”
“I found it charming,” I promised him, kissing his cold cheek gently.
He pulled back with an impish smile. “Anyway, that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about our actual first date. Do you remember where we went?”
“Of course I do,” I said. “We went here. It was late at night, and we were one of the only people here. It was Valentine’s Day, and we could see the fireworks up above. We shared a hot chocolate and then you slipped over on the ice and hit your cheek.”
He looked away, obviously remembering with shame his unexpected tumble to the cold ice. “And then what happened?”
I laughed, remembering his blazing cheeks and embarrassed tremor. “And then I went to jokingly kiss it better, and you turned your head to the side at the right time so that I actually kissed you. Smooth moves, Winchester.”
He smiled. “Do you remember what I said to you right after that?”
I grinned, because I remembered every aspect of that night. The smell of his cologne, the sweet smile he gave me, and the soft feel of his lips against mine as he kissed me gently. I remembered the crackling of fireworks and the sweet taste of the hot cocoa and the way he held me like he intended never to let go. “You told me that you just fell for me in every way possible.”
He laughed. “Kinda corny, but I couldn’t resist.”
I looked down and took hold of his hand, lacing my fingers through his. “I thought it was one of the sweetest things I’d ever heard.”
“I meant it, Candice. And I mean it now. I fell for you that night. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. I was in love with you. The moment you helped me up and went to kiss my cheek, I thought to myself, ‘This is the girl I want to be with for the rest of my life’.”
“If you hadn’t already popped the question, I’d almost think this was a proposal…” I told him, smiling at his sweet words.
He shrugged. “Maybe it is.”
“What?”
He sighed. “When I asked you to marry me, I didn’t have a date set in mind. I didn’t know when or how or where—and I still don’t. But what I know is that nothing has changed since you said yes and I put that ring on your finger. But I knew that night at the ice-skating rink and I know now that I’m in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So marry me, Candice. At the end of this summer, in three months. With your friends here watching in the audience. Marry me.”
“You want to marry me in… three months?” I asked, my thought process stuttering to a stop at his proposal.
“Three months, three weeks, tomorrow… I don’t care. I just thought that maybe you might want to get married where your friends can be in the audience. I don’t care when. We can elope to Vegas and have a shotgun wedding in three days. As long as you’re the one walking down the aisle and becoming my wife, then I don’t care when we do this.”
“Oh, my God,” I whispered, my hand clapping over my mouth. I’d known we were eventually going to get married—that’s what the ring on my left hand was for, after all—but having a time bomb on it now made it so much more concrete.
He smiled and got down on one knee, holding out his arms and grinning up at me. “Candice Sinclair, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes as my face split into a grin so big it almost hurt. “Yes!” I screamed. He stood up and I jumped into his arms, my arms winding around his neck and pulling him close.
By now a few of the other skaters were staring at us, and he turned around and kept me close, screaming for the whole rink to hear, “I’m getting married!”
As if it was some kind of movie, everyone collectively burst into loud applause and loud hoots of laughter, and I grinned and leaned into him, amazed at how picture-perfect this moment was.
He turned towards me, grinning like he’d finally found happiness, and, before I could say or do anything, he put me down, placed his hands on my hips, ducked his head, and kissed me.
His soft lips met mine, and I was swept up in his kiss. My hands tugged at the damp curls at the nape of his neck, and I was lost in the moment of him pressed flush against me. He reached up and twirled one of the blonde waves from my face, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. He tasted of mint and chocolate, and his lips were soft and full and dizzying. I kissed him like my life depended on it, and I felt ready to pass out with how perfect the moment was.
“Did I hear what I think I just heard?” Ava asked me, appearing with two steaming cups of coffee in her hands.
I pulled back from Will in surprise and felt a flush of embarrassment at being caught in such an amorous position. I nodded breathlessly, feeling like I might possibly explode from excitement and mortification at the same time. “I think so. Ave, Will and I are getting married at the end of the summer.”
Her eyes widened, and it looked like she was either going to drop the cups of coffee or squash them in her hands with how excited she looked. Her large green eyes widened even more, and her jaw dropped at my admission.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God! This is so perfect! I can help plan it, right? I can just imagine you in a pale pink dress—because, let’s face it, you can’t really wear white honestly now—and you’ll be carrying freshwater lilies and you’ll get married in a church beside a snowy cathedral window and—oh, my God!”
“Whoa, Ava, slow down,” I said, laughing at how elated she looked.
She turned to me. “I can help plan it, right?”
I nodded affirmatively. “Yeah, Ave. Of course you can help plan it. I can’t handle it on my own, after all.”
She sighed in relief, and then went back to chattering on about the advantages and disadvantages of salmon as an entrée at a wedding.
Behind her, Jamie stood there, and he walked over and hugged me tightly, tilting his head into my ear and whispering, “Congratulations, Candi-Cane.”
I hugged him back. “Thanks, James.”
He reluctantly stepped back out of my embrace, and I looked over to see Chance standing there, watching me with hooded eyes and a clenched jaw. When I caught his gaze, he forced a smile that looked more like an agonized grimace, and turned away.
And suddenly it felt like whatever progress we’d made towards being friends had suddenly burned down in flames.
~ * ~
This chapter, man <3
All important question: Team Chandice, Sinchester, or Jandice (Jamie & Candi)?
Also I have a few questions:
1) If I were to write a book (kind of like a third one but set in between TGWWTDM & TGWRTDM), about how Candice and Will fell in love, would you guys read that? Because I've started writing it and I love it so much, but I was curious if you guys felt the same way... :)
2) If I uploaded a book just full of bits and pieces I've written for writing competitions and creative writing courses and just random synopsis' of book ideas I've come up with, would you guys read that?
3) Final question. How would you guys feel if I put a soundtrack to each scene of the book so that you guys have like a guide of the music I listened to while writing it to set the mood? Like a movie/TV show does. Thoughts?
Thanks so much, and I appreciate any and all feedback/comments. The best and most helpful commenter will get a dedication next chapter.
Thanks guys! :)
Much love xx