Cassie
Weeks of waiting had been and gone and it was finally the day.
Valentines Day.
Landon had given the slightest hints every now and then when we were together, however, they all seemed to hint towards different things and in the end, I stopped trying to guess. Elle also demanded that I didn't attempt to figure it out for myself because the surprises would be ruined.
When I woke up, I received a message from him saying he would pick me up in an hour and a half. I showered and prepared myself as much as possible, apart from picking out what to wear. With Elle knowing exactly what I was doing, I went to her for advice on the outfit and still had nothing.
Casual, yet not too casual. Definitely something hot whilst also something to keep me warm. Her contributions weren't helpful in the slightest.
With only ten minutes left before he would arrive, I had to quickly set on a light pair of jeans with a cropped, low-cut shirt and a black blazer to dress it up a bit more. Earlier than I expected, the apartment buzzer sounded, giving me a very limited amount of time for shoes. Landon would be up any second and even with a while to get ready, I still wasn't done.
"What are you stressing about?" He said from behind me. I never heard him walking through the door and somehow he made it in without startling me.
"Shoes. Given the fact that I know next to nothing about the day ahead, I'm not sure what you want me to wear on my feet. Or wear in general. Is this okay?" I rambled, turning around to see him holding a bunch of white roses.
In a letterman jacket with a white hoodie underneath, he stood at the door to my bedroom with a smirk on his face. "You look perfect. Wear those."
Pointing to a pair of grey boots, he came up from behind me and kissed the side of my neck lightly.
I turned around in his arms and took the flowers, bringing them to the living room and putting them in an empty vase. They would last the day without water. I'd do it tomorrow. Landon followed me, holding the shoes in his hand.
"Happy Valentine's, Coco." He gave them to me and picked his car keys up from the coffee table. "You best hurry, we have a certain time to be at the first place."
"The first place?" I asked, looking up from him whilst tying my laces.
"This is your first time having a Valentine. I'm going to give you some very high expectations for next year."
Grabbing his collar, I pulled him down to my eye level. "They're only going to be exceeded by you. Don't make it too difficult for yourself."
With a grin, he led the way out to his car. He explained that it was a long drive and that I would need to keep comfortable. After around a few hours of driving and a lot of unanswered questions, we had reached a sign welcoming us to Toronto.
"What's in Toronto?" I asked.
"You'll see." He clearly wasn't hinting anything to me. I gave up and leaned my head against the window, looking out into the city I had never visited before.
Going straight through the centre of the city, we made it to the outskirts on the other side and he pointed to what looked like a stadium from the distance we were at. The closer we were to it, the more I feel like I recognised the structure. In the middle was a track, surrounded by rows and rows of seats. It wasn't a stadium.
"Are we drag racing?" I could already feel the excitement bubbling inside of me, seeing the array of cars in the parking lot.
Landon flashed his eyes over at me with pride. "Yes, we are. I remember when your dad sent those guys after you and you told me that you've done this sort of thing before. I figured it's probably been a while and it was something we could do together."
"Christian, I love you so much."
I couldn't believe he remembered such a minor detail like that. Especially considering how long ago we had that conversation. He insisted I waited for him to get out of the car to open my door for me. Usually, I tried to get out before he had the chance to which was always met by him rolling his eyes. This day, I let him have his moment.
He made his way to the man at the entrance and after several minutes, we were pointed to a specific zone on the track.
"So what's the plan? Do you know how to do this?" I asked, feeling cocky already.
"I don't think you fully comprehend my life. I'm a police officer in training and have spent the past year working on crime scenes. These things tend to involve people getting away. If you don't think I can drive a car then you've got another thing coming." He said, matching my competitiveness.
"Then maybe we can just become a dream team," I said.
When we made it to our zone, an instructor talked us through the rules and somehow Landon had talked his way into making sure we wouldn't have anyone with us in the cars. It was definitely suspicious and made me question the legitimacy but it was definitely a pro for the date.
Either he has some sort of connection of he's offered a hefty bribe. Knowing him, it could be either.
"Meet you at the finish line." Landon quickly pecked my cheek and rushed over to his designated vehicle, aiming for his head start.
...
An hour later, we had come to a conclusion that I was far more superior. His skills required him to follow laws and having to chase something, when he was in the front it was like he didn't know what to do with himself. I was constantly at an advantage and it didn't take too long for him to accept defeat. Whilst he claimed it was him flattering me, we both knew that was a lie so his ego wouldn't be hurt.
After the rush that I hadn't realised I missed so much was over, we were back on the road driving across the city again.
"I can't believe we just did that?" I smiled, looking over at him. It was never something I did with other people, it was amazing to be able to share it with Landon now. "I wish we had something like that in Northlyn Hills."
"I'll bring you back whenever you want to. The rest of this day isn't nearly as lively as that, but it's going to be the greatest day." He sounded very confident in himself.
Leaning my hand over, I scratched the back of his head just how he liked it. "It's already the best. I'd be perfectly happy going back to yours."
"The day isn't nearly over yet."
Landon spent a lot of time in Toronto, therefore he knew the ins and outs of the place. From what I understood, his parents still lived there and he still came back every now and then. This was where he spent the holidays away from me.
He made reservations for us to have dinner later on and in the meantime, he took me to all of the important places. From his high school to the places he used to play lacrosse, it was like I was experiencing his stories first hand. He talked about childhood friends and what he and his sister would do or where they would go when they were younger. I thought I knew him well before, this was a whole other level of trust.
I swore to myself that soon, I would take him to Vancouver and do the same thing for him in return.
When the time eventually came, we arrived at a restaurant that despite being very small, seemed very fancy. They had the velvet ropes in front of the windows and lanterns hung all across the ceiling. The interior was very rustic, filled with dark wooden tables and little candles dotted around.
At the door, a man in a waistcoat greeted us and asked for the reservation details. Apparently, it isn't the sort of place where you can simply walk in and ask for a table.
We had our table on a platformed section near a window, what the waiter claimed was one of the best seats. Landon had definitely put more thought into it than I ever could have guessed. Then again, it might have been simple and he could still have connections here.
Whatever it was, I didn't care.
"This is beautiful." I practically whispered once we were finally alone, admiring all of the minor details.
"It's a family friend who owns it. I told you, this was going to be perfect. It was quite easy getting this all arranged." He claimed as if it was no big deal.
No matter how much he tried to downplay it, I couldn't imagine anything more romantic. We ordered our meals that I could tell were ridiculously expensive, Landon wasn't fazed in the slightest by it. Next time, I promised to pay and he was having none of it.
I would find a way to pay him back discretely.
After we ate, we stayed talking for a while as he continued telling me about his life growing up. I knew the big events, these smaller stories were still fun to hear. They were just as important.
"Sometimes I would sneak into places where my friends worked and they would stash food somewhere we could easily get to it." He started, laughing as he reminisced. "This was in Northlyn actually. My old friends of course. Adrian would never let me do that."
Though it hadn't even been a year yet, from everything I knew about them it was like I had known them forever. You wouldn't think that Landon was the one going into the public sector and helping people considering the way he used to be. He was very easygoing and it took a lot to bother him.
"Maybe we should sneak somewhere. I was never one to live on the wild side." I said, comparing the adventures he had to my lack of.
"That can go on our list for our future." He suggested.
"What else is on this list?" I raised an eyebrow at him, sipping at my drink.
He had mentioned the little list in the past, nothing specific was ever told about what he had in store for us.
"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise when the days came. I can tell you that bringing you here is one of many." He said.
I was incredibly happy that he did. The food was divine and presented so professionally. When it came to paying for it, I tried to subtly get the waiter to run my card. Landon pulled a face that suggested he shouldn't and in the end, I settled on paying for the drinks. It's all he would allow.
Going somewhere he had connections is great until he can convince them to do anything he wants.
"Next time, I'm taking you out, and if you dare even try to pull out your card..." I started, thinking of what threat I could make.
Instead of taking me seriously, he put a hand around my shoulder with an amused look on his face. "What will you do, Miss Pierce?"
"You'll find out."
There wouldn't be anything I could do.
With enough pushing, he would soon let me.
The sky was completely black with the exception of a few stars whilst Landon drove us back to the city. The date was far more than I expected and right when I thought we were going back to his apartment, he took us straight past the turning.
"I know it's dark but surely you know your building was on the right there?" I pointed out.
He glanced over at me with a nonchalant shrug. "Guess we aren't going back then."
At that point, I learned to never make any assumptions around him. He was full of surprises.
With us being back out of Toronto, there were only so many places we could go. He took us back home on purpose.
Instead of raising my concerns, I stayed quiet. The radio had been on the whole time and songs were starting to repeat. Newly released love songs played and for each of them, I managed to find a way to relate them to him. I didn't miss the smile playing on his lips whenever certain lines were sung.
I reached across to his pocket and his eyebrow raised. "This seems very sudden, but I must give a lady what she wants."
"Get your mind out of the gutter. Where's your gum?" I asked.
"Other pocket." He reached down to the other side and handed me the packet. "Here."
After taking a piece out and passing him some, I put the rest in my coat.
It didn't take much to decipher where we were going. We had some sort of pattern. When we were wanting to just go to one of our places, we would head to the rooftop. This was different. When he was sentimental and aiming for something more special or meaningful, we would go to the lake he showed me.
The lake always ended on a high note.
He parked in the trees as usual and before letting me out, he took the blanket from the trunk and handed it to me. Along with that, he pulled a laptop out and led the way to our spot.
The folder showed a list of movies ready to watch.
"Elle said that watching trashy movies is a great way to end a date. In this case, it's also cold and the ground is slightly damp. We can make it work." He explained, selecting the top one.
Landon could've perfected this without her help. Knowing him, he panicked after she listed her ideas and picked whichever was easiest. The likelihood of us watching anything was slim. The whole atmosphere was incredibly idyllic. It wasn't raining and the icy breeze gave us an excuse to lay extremely close to each other.
As expected, it didn't take long for the movie to bore us and we started talking instead.
"How was your first Valentine's date?" He turned the volume down and paid full attention to me. "I hope I lived up to your standards."
"You exceeded them. You must be very experienced." I joked, earning a frown in return.
"I've never had a date as thought out as this. Dinner somewhere local? Sure, not in a whole other city." He said.
I never really acknowledged the fact that despite him seeing many girls in the past, none of them were serious. It wasn't a secret that he was experienced with short flings. With us, we were very close and had something more than he ever had. With my poor relationship history, I forget that he never had anything real with a girl, besides Ellie. I still don't know exactly what they were like together.
"Then how was this for you?" I asked.
"I couldn't ask for anything better."
There was still a look in his eyes that told me otherwise. Something was missing and I doubted he would tell me what. Instead of bringing it up, he turned the volume back up on the movie he definitely wasn't enjoying any more than I was.
Landon sat up and gestured for me to lay between his legs, resting my head on his chest. Whilst I was comfortable with his fingers scratching my hair, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something.
I trusted him with my life, I didn't think he was hiding anything bad. However the secrecy had been there the whole day and I was anticipating something, especially with the hesitant gaze he cast over me whenever I locked eyes with him.
My focus on the movie was completely lost, I found myself paying more attention to the river and the creature on the other side. A fox crawled across the grass and perked up when we were noticed.
"Look," I whispered, pointing to it.
He laughed quietly. "Have you never seen a fox before?"
"Not this close." I was oddly mesmerised. It didn't take much for it to disappear off into the trees.
Landon gently pulled at my shoulder, silently asking me to turn around. "I need to ask you something."
What had I done?
In my head, I went over my entire week, wondering what he could possibly be asking me about. Most of my days were spent at the coffee house. Tori was sick and nobody else could do any more hours, so I volunteered. Was that the issue?
"Why do you look so nervous?" He frowned. Okay, maybe it wasn't a bad thing. If he's asking why I'm nervous then there's probably no need.
"Usually when people say they need to ask me something it's because they're annoyed."
Without a response, he tilted my chin up. "I'm not annoyed at you. I'm far from it."
Words failed me and all I did was nod. His eyes were so intense, burning into me and I couldn't figure out his thoughts this time.
"I know you've been suspicious of something all day." He started and I hoped he was going to tell me what it was. "You're the first person who I've ever wanted to be with every hour of every day. Hell, we're inseparable at the best of times. There's one thing left that's missing from us and I don't want to put it off any longer."
"What's that?" I felt the shaking in my voice as I spoke.
"I think you should be my girlfriend. Officially that is."
Heart racing, I pulled him close with a smile.
Landon has finally asked the question! Get ready for the next chapter, it's going to be a big one.
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