Sorry guys. It's been awhile. I've had Finals this week. and next week I have Regents(State Exams.) Wish me luck! And I hope you enjoy this. :]
Review/Comments are VERY much apprieciated. 
***
Chapter 31
"Promise?"
The sky was turning a murky shade of gray as Catherine glanced out at the blanket of clouds below her. She put her head against the wall of the plane and began thinking of the last time she had been home. All those expectations she had been wondering about while she packed her bags, anxious to hit the road and get away. She remembered thinking things like what would her life be like the next time she walked into her apartment, about the position Clay had graciously offered her and wondered if it would have a big impact on her life. Would people recognize her if she walked down the street? She had thought. Only if she was with Clay of course and probably only his fans would know who she was. She had thought that nothing would make her famous enough to have her face on the cover of a magazine three years from now.
She remembered wondering if her life would ever be the same. In real time, she settled on it never being the same. If she knew then what she knew now…?
Clay squirmed in his seat next to her as she lifted her head and looked over at him.
"You alright?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah." He nodded, "Just can't get comfortable." Catherine knew the people who were compulsively looking over at them were bothering him. It was bothering her too, but she could just look out the window and forget about it.
"Well, it's not very long from now." She told him, taking his hand that was resting on the armrest and glancing back out the window.
***
Clay's hand was still entwined with Catherine's as they made their way through the throngs of friends and families that were reuniting with each other with hugs and smiles. He'd been through this airport a few times before, but he had never been this nervous about anything. He was meeting her family. A big step if you should ask anyone else. She'd already met his family numerous times, but this for some reason felt different. She was raised differently, in a different state, around different things. Would they like him? Of course, he assured himself, why wouldn't they? He had a job and a darn good one at that, he was clean and he wasn't any different than anyone else. The wrapping was different, but the package was the same, he shrugged to himself.
Clay watched this beautiful woman who happened to be his, as she made her way through the crowd. Every once in a while, she'd stop and look around. He didn't know who she was looking for or what they looked like. But he had a feeling that if he was on his own looking for them, he could pick them out of a crowd. And sure enough, he was right.
He watched Catherine's expression for a moment as she stopped and smiled, a blissful appearance flooding over her features. He traced her gaze and found a woman who looked to be a few years younger than Catherine, beaming a few steps away. Clay smiled and let go of her hand as she dropped her bag and embraced the girl.
"You cut your hair." Catherine noticed after pulling away. The girl nodded with a grin on her face. "It looks great!"
Clay shuffled his feet behind Catherine as the two of them caught up for a few minutes. He waited for her to introduce him or even acknowledge that he was still standing there. Normally he would have introduced himself, but for some odd reason he felt that she should be the one to introduce him. He let them talk for a few minutes as he watched from behind Catherine. Clay found himself studying the woman, which he assumed to be one of Catherine's younger sisters she'd told him about before. He noticed that the two of them had a few strong resemblances. He saw that they had the same curly auburn hair, same long round nose, and the same shape ear. Other than that her sister's features were much sharper than hers. Her eyebrows were angled differently, her lips seemed to be smaller and she was slightly taller than Catherine was. Even so, it was obvious that the two were sisters to begin with,
He sauntered away from his observations as Catherine turned around with a smile on her face, her hands folded in front of her.
"This is my younger sister, Reina I told you about before." Clay smiled and nodded his head and politely shook her hand. Reina giggled as he held her gaze.
"Nice to finally meet you, Clay."
"The pleasures mine." He smiled. It was then he noticed that Reina's eyes were a deep brown, where as Catherine's were very light hazel.
Catherine beamed in between them, happy to see Clay and Reina made good first impressions. She'd told her sister's a lot about Clay over the year and a half they'd known each other. She'd enlightened them about life on the road and the experience she had gone through, both had been happy to listen, although together envious in a sisterly way. The two of them had been there for her, although not as much as she would have like them to have been, when she was having that rough patch with Clay. They had heard about the tabloid that was in the paper in mid-summer, the car accident and then finally the two of them finally getting together at the end of the summer. And Catherine was sure they had re-laid all of what was going on to their mother, who probably wouldn't have taken everything so good after the car accident.
"It's about time I get to meet this devilishly handsome man." Reina smiled, stepping back. She watched Clay as he rolled his eyes and laughed, hitching his bag up on his shoulder again. Catherine was surprised to see his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as he became oddly interested in the scuff on his black shoe. He never took anyone seriously when they spoke to him like that way.
"So, how was your trip?" Reina asked while they started to walk to the parking lot a few minutes later. Clay felt out of place as he walked behind the two through half of the parking lot, even though he felt that was where he should be at the moment. Women, he thought to himself, they could talk about anything for hours. A second later, he took Catherine's hand and although she was in mid-conversation with her sister, he felt content with him self as he watched her head turn a fraction, a smile clad on her lips.
Reina and Catherine surprisingly didn't speak much on the ten-minute ride to Catherine's dormant apartment. Reina had respectfully asked Clay a few questions about his experiences in singing and what-not, but other than that it was generally silent in the back seat. As the trees rolled by Clay noticed that this place looked like any other small town he'd been to in the past. Farmland took up most of the scenery around, and every once in awhile there was a splurge of houses where children were playing baseball in the fields or soon running for cover as the a fall rain shower began to come down. So this is where she grew up, he thought glancing over to her. It was a small, quaint little town that probably no one ever heard of. He found it amusing when he watched her try to stifle a smile when they drove past a sign that showed they were entering the Town of Green Island.
Clay looked away and gazed out his window watching the rainfall across the window in vertical streams and wondering what Catherine was like when she was younger. What was her family like? He knew that they had grown up in two very different situations. And the thought re-appeared in his head that maybe they might not like him. His eyes traveled to Reina driving in the front seat, a wedding band clad on her left ring finger. Well, if her husband could be accepted into the family, then it shouldn't be that hard.
***
Catherine's apartment was one of the nicest Clay had seen in awhile. It had an upstairs and a downstairs, some retro looking kitchen, a spacious living room, a small balcony that had a very nice view over the city of Troy and a bedroom that Catherine had specifically decorated herself. Outside, you could see the surrounding trees around the city and town that were slowly changing colors to orange, red and brown, making for a beautiful sight by anyone's opinion.
"Sorry if it's a little dirty." She said consciously, picking things up off the floor. "I didn't get to clean before I left."
Clay shrugged. "I honestly don't mind." He said examining the living room with great interest. There were two bookshelves with large textbooks and just leisurely reading books jammed in every which way. Next to the bookshelf was a small end table with stacks of papers with articles on events that must have happened around town, he noticed her name at the top of each.
"I did freelancing for a few companies," She explained to him as he picked up a sheet and started reading it. "And I worked for the newspaper in the city over there. I told you how I wanted to be a photojournalist. I just never got around to actually applying for a job or something in the city." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony. Clay smiled at her.
"This is really fantastic." He declared putting the paper down and taking another look around. Catherine smiled and nodded, feeling pleased with herself as she took in her surroundings also. She loved her kitchen, even though she wasn't much of a cook. The floor was checkered red and white, black counter tops and an old 1970's white refrigerator that her aunt willingly gave away to her.
Clay watched her as she looked down and swiped her hand across the countertop, picking up dust in the process, a reminiscing look in her eyes. He wondered what she was thinking about. When she didn't say anything, he walked over to her and locked his arms around her shoulders.
"I can see why you were having second thoughts about moving in with me." He said quietly, resting his cheek on the back of her head. "This place is really nice and your sisters really nice. And I'm sure your family is really nice too." He was quiet for a moment before saying, "I'll remind you again, if you don't want to move, than you don't have to."
Catherine turned her head slightly, "Of course I want to move. I mean, I do love this place. A lot. But I'd rather be with you."
Clay nodded and took in his surroundings at ease a third time. He complimented her kitchen décor with a smile before noticing some photographs on the refrigerator. He kindly unlocked his arms from around her and then she went off and began compulsively cleaning the kitchen again. Clay walked over to the refrigerator and studied the pictures.
There were two family photos stuck to the metal with magnets from various vacation spots. He could tell that her mother had the dominant traits in the family. Catherine's two younger sisters looked a lot like her, but not as much as Catherine did. Her father, on the other hand was a heavyset man with dark bags under his eyes, and a receding hairline. But other than that, he seemed to have a friendly disposition while he hugged his eldest daughter's shoulders in both pictures.
Below those picture's was another photograph that looked to be from a wedding reception. Catherine's hair was neatly styled, and her face was flustered in pink probably from the heat. She was wearing a pink bridesmaid dress that reminded him of what she had looked like on the night of their first date. He did remember that she loathed the color pink. But he figured out that it was probably one of her sisters' weddings and that she was forced to wear it. She looked beautiful nonetheless, and he noted that the man next to her thought so too. It almost bothered him the way he was staring at her. Not much like a friend would, and definitely not like brother-in-law would. But before he could ask questions Catherine came up behind from behind him and tugged it out from under the magnet.
"Don't even bother." She scoffed, looking down at the photograph.
"Who is it?" He asked curiously.
She looked up at him and not a trace of sadness or longing was in her voice. "My ex." She said simply.
Clay suppressed a smile and raised his eyebrows as she ripped the photograph down the middle. "He broke up with me about three weeks before you asked me to go on tour with you. I think I remember telling you about him once. I just never got around to throwing any of these damn pictures away, I was so busy." She ripped it into fours before placing it on the countertop and smiling. "You asking me was fate, I believe." She said poking him in the chest and reminding herself of what Angelo had told her before. Clay smirked and kissed her temple.
"So tell me more about this kid." He smiled stubbornly, putting his hands on her hips.
Catherine looked down at the torn photograph and then back at Clay. "He was a jerk."
"I got that part." He said dipping his head in and urging her to go on.
"Okay," She said, rolling her eyes. "Well, his name was Adam Pedrola and we dated for a little under a year. We met through a friend of mine when I was in college and that was that."
"That's a long time to be together." Clay noted. Catherine nodded hoping that her and Clay could last the same if not longer.
"I don't know what his problem was." Catherine said quietly as she began playing with the top button on his shirt. "He didn't really give me a good explanation as to why he was leaving me. He just…did."
"That means there was another girl." Clay said knowingly. She could tell that he regretted saying that, hoping it wouldn't upset her. But it didn't.
Catherine shrugged. "I've never had much luck with guys. Except you of course. But that wasn't to hot in the beginning either. But if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure I'm over the kid." She laughed, leaning into him.
Clay smiled and put his arm around her, becoming silent in the passing minutes. "I think I remember you saying something about this kid before. He never seemed like the nicest thing. He finally said. "And honestly, that was pretty stupid of him to do, I think." Catherine smiled and shrugged.
"I guess we just dated some pretty stupid people in the past, hu?" Clay laughed and nodded his head.
***
Later that night, with nothing much to eat in the apartment, the two lit a fire and snacked on some peanut butter and jelly, bringing back some memories in the process. There was something indescribably romantic about the whole sitting in front of the fire and talking until midnight thing. Though Clay had come to realize that lately just being alone with Catherine struck him as romantic. There was some sort of elegance to everything about her. To the way she held her glass, to the way she crossed her legs the way that made him feel as though he'd want to remember these days for the rest of his life.
These past few months were like he was living another life. As if his life wasn't hectic and unreal to begin with, he felt like he could just flip a switch and everything would go back to how had been before the tour had even started. How could one little thing, one confession she'd given, and one piece of paper, change both of their lives so quickly and so spontaneously that he would never change it back?
As she felt the strength of his arms as they slipped around her, Catherine was thinking along the same lines as him. When she'd seen her sister's wedding band today she realized and hoped that maybe she'd being wearing one this time next year. She had always found herself dreaming of someday wearing one. The perfect engagement, the perfect wedding. She'd always dreamed about that. Although many people couldn't see her as the type of girl to have her wedding planned out before she even found the groom, but it was just who she was deep inside.
She could deny all her thoughts about her and Clay being married. She could ignore them and she could even tell herself that neither of them were ready yet. And maybe that last part was true. She was still learning more about him everyday and he was definitely learning more about her. They'd only been together for a few months, but they'd known each other for over a year. How long did they need? She'd seen friends and relatives get married after two months of knowing each other and their relationships are perfectly fine.
In the silence they laid together as the hands on the clock moved steadily past midnight, she thought that if he asked her tomorrow, she would like to think that she'd say that the two weren't ready. Yet…she wouldn't. She'd say yes a million times over.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked, noting her uncharacteristic silence.
Catherine shrugged. "Life?"
"What about it?"
"Nothing."
"Then what are you thinking about?"
"You ask too many questions." She said. She slid her head against his chest and sighed.
"Just wondering." He replied shyly.
Catherine was quiet in the passing minutes until the silence between them became oppressive. All that was heard was the sounds of the crackling fire next to them, sending sparks out as it ate away at the wood. She raised her head to meet his and rested it on his collarbone, her nose level with his chin. He looked at her and smiled. She placed her the back of her hand under her chin and waited for him to say something, wondering what he was thinking about. It took him a minute as she felt his hand on the back of her head, his fingers running through some tangled curls.
"I'm going to marry you someday." He said quietly. As if reading her mind, Catherine blushed and laughed before burying her head in his chest for a moment.
"Is that a promise?" She smiled, looking back up.
"It could be." He admitted.
Catherine smiled for a moment before she leaned up on her elbows and brushed her lips across his, once, twice, before finally meeting them for good. He crossed his arm over her back, running a finger up her spine again. They didn't say much for the rest of the night, his words still sinking in. She didn't want to think much about anything else, except that maybe all the things she'd dreamt up months ago, was actually coming to life.
And, of course she would keep him to that promise and she knew he'd keep it. The question she thought about before falling asleep that night was how long would she actually have to wait?
***
Chapter 31
"Promise?"
The sky was turning a murky shade of gray as Catherine glanced out at the blanket of clouds below her. She put her head against the wall of the plane and began thinking of the last time she had been home. All those expectations she had been wondering about while she packed her bags, anxious to hit the road and get away. She remembered thinking things like what would her life be like the next time she walked into her apartment, about the position Clay had graciously offered her and wondered if it would have a big impact on her life. Would people recognize her if she walked down the street? She had thought. Only if she was with Clay of course and probably only his fans would know who she was. She had thought that nothing would make her famous enough to have her face on the cover of a magazine three years from now.
She remembered wondering if her life would ever be the same. In real time, she settled on it never being the same. If she knew then what she knew now…?
Clay squirmed in his seat next to her as she lifted her head and looked over at him.
"You alright?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah." He nodded, "Just can't get comfortable." Catherine knew the people who were compulsively looking over at them were bothering him. It was bothering her too, but she could just look out the window and forget about it.
"Well, it's not very long from now." She told him, taking his hand that was resting on the armrest and glancing back out the window.
***
Clay's hand was still entwined with Catherine's as they made their way through the throngs of friends and families that were reuniting with each other with hugs and smiles. He'd been through this airport a few times before, but he had never been this nervous about anything. He was meeting her family. A big step if you should ask anyone else. She'd already met his family numerous times, but this for some reason felt different. She was raised differently, in a different state, around different things. Would they like him? Of course, he assured himself, why wouldn't they? He had a job and a darn good one at that, he was clean and he wasn't any different than anyone else. The wrapping was different, but the package was the same, he shrugged to himself.
Clay watched this beautiful woman who happened to be his, as she made her way through the crowd. Every once in a while, she'd stop and look around. He didn't know who she was looking for or what they looked like. But he had a feeling that if he was on his own looking for them, he could pick them out of a crowd. And sure enough, he was right.
He watched Catherine's expression for a moment as she stopped and smiled, a blissful appearance flooding over her features. He traced her gaze and found a woman who looked to be a few years younger than Catherine, beaming a few steps away. Clay smiled and let go of her hand as she dropped her bag and embraced the girl.
"You cut your hair." Catherine noticed after pulling away. The girl nodded with a grin on her face. "It looks great!"
Clay shuffled his feet behind Catherine as the two of them caught up for a few minutes. He waited for her to introduce him or even acknowledge that he was still standing there. Normally he would have introduced himself, but for some odd reason he felt that she should be the one to introduce him. He let them talk for a few minutes as he watched from behind Catherine. Clay found himself studying the woman, which he assumed to be one of Catherine's younger sisters she'd told him about before. He noticed that the two of them had a few strong resemblances. He saw that they had the same curly auburn hair, same long round nose, and the same shape ear. Other than that her sister's features were much sharper than hers. Her eyebrows were angled differently, her lips seemed to be smaller and she was slightly taller than Catherine was. Even so, it was obvious that the two were sisters to begin with,
He sauntered away from his observations as Catherine turned around with a smile on her face, her hands folded in front of her.
"This is my younger sister, Reina I told you about before." Clay smiled and nodded his head and politely shook her hand. Reina giggled as he held her gaze.
"Nice to finally meet you, Clay."
"The pleasures mine." He smiled. It was then he noticed that Reina's eyes were a deep brown, where as Catherine's were very light hazel.
Catherine beamed in between them, happy to see Clay and Reina made good first impressions. She'd told her sister's a lot about Clay over the year and a half they'd known each other. She'd enlightened them about life on the road and the experience she had gone through, both had been happy to listen, although together envious in a sisterly way. The two of them had been there for her, although not as much as she would have like them to have been, when she was having that rough patch with Clay. They had heard about the tabloid that was in the paper in mid-summer, the car accident and then finally the two of them finally getting together at the end of the summer. And Catherine was sure they had re-laid all of what was going on to their mother, who probably wouldn't have taken everything so good after the car accident.
"It's about time I get to meet this devilishly handsome man." Reina smiled, stepping back. She watched Clay as he rolled his eyes and laughed, hitching his bag up on his shoulder again. Catherine was surprised to see his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as he became oddly interested in the scuff on his black shoe. He never took anyone seriously when they spoke to him like that way.
"So, how was your trip?" Reina asked while they started to walk to the parking lot a few minutes later. Clay felt out of place as he walked behind the two through half of the parking lot, even though he felt that was where he should be at the moment. Women, he thought to himself, they could talk about anything for hours. A second later, he took Catherine's hand and although she was in mid-conversation with her sister, he felt content with him self as he watched her head turn a fraction, a smile clad on her lips.
Reina and Catherine surprisingly didn't speak much on the ten-minute ride to Catherine's dormant apartment. Reina had respectfully asked Clay a few questions about his experiences in singing and what-not, but other than that it was generally silent in the back seat. As the trees rolled by Clay noticed that this place looked like any other small town he'd been to in the past. Farmland took up most of the scenery around, and every once in awhile there was a splurge of houses where children were playing baseball in the fields or soon running for cover as the a fall rain shower began to come down. So this is where she grew up, he thought glancing over to her. It was a small, quaint little town that probably no one ever heard of. He found it amusing when he watched her try to stifle a smile when they drove past a sign that showed they were entering the Town of Green Island.
Clay looked away and gazed out his window watching the rainfall across the window in vertical streams and wondering what Catherine was like when she was younger. What was her family like? He knew that they had grown up in two very different situations. And the thought re-appeared in his head that maybe they might not like him. His eyes traveled to Reina driving in the front seat, a wedding band clad on her left ring finger. Well, if her husband could be accepted into the family, then it shouldn't be that hard.
***
Catherine's apartment was one of the nicest Clay had seen in awhile. It had an upstairs and a downstairs, some retro looking kitchen, a spacious living room, a small balcony that had a very nice view over the city of Troy and a bedroom that Catherine had specifically decorated herself. Outside, you could see the surrounding trees around the city and town that were slowly changing colors to orange, red and brown, making for a beautiful sight by anyone's opinion.
"Sorry if it's a little dirty." She said consciously, picking things up off the floor. "I didn't get to clean before I left."
Clay shrugged. "I honestly don't mind." He said examining the living room with great interest. There were two bookshelves with large textbooks and just leisurely reading books jammed in every which way. Next to the bookshelf was a small end table with stacks of papers with articles on events that must have happened around town, he noticed her name at the top of each.
"I did freelancing for a few companies," She explained to him as he picked up a sheet and started reading it. "And I worked for the newspaper in the city over there. I told you how I wanted to be a photojournalist. I just never got around to actually applying for a job or something in the city." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony. Clay smiled at her.
"This is really fantastic." He declared putting the paper down and taking another look around. Catherine smiled and nodded, feeling pleased with herself as she took in her surroundings also. She loved her kitchen, even though she wasn't much of a cook. The floor was checkered red and white, black counter tops and an old 1970's white refrigerator that her aunt willingly gave away to her.
Clay watched her as she looked down and swiped her hand across the countertop, picking up dust in the process, a reminiscing look in her eyes. He wondered what she was thinking about. When she didn't say anything, he walked over to her and locked his arms around her shoulders.
"I can see why you were having second thoughts about moving in with me." He said quietly, resting his cheek on the back of her head. "This place is really nice and your sisters really nice. And I'm sure your family is really nice too." He was quiet for a moment before saying, "I'll remind you again, if you don't want to move, than you don't have to."
Catherine turned her head slightly, "Of course I want to move. I mean, I do love this place. A lot. But I'd rather be with you."
Clay nodded and took in his surroundings at ease a third time. He complimented her kitchen décor with a smile before noticing some photographs on the refrigerator. He kindly unlocked his arms from around her and then she went off and began compulsively cleaning the kitchen again. Clay walked over to the refrigerator and studied the pictures.
There were two family photos stuck to the metal with magnets from various vacation spots. He could tell that her mother had the dominant traits in the family. Catherine's two younger sisters looked a lot like her, but not as much as Catherine did. Her father, on the other hand was a heavyset man with dark bags under his eyes, and a receding hairline. But other than that, he seemed to have a friendly disposition while he hugged his eldest daughter's shoulders in both pictures.
Below those picture's was another photograph that looked to be from a wedding reception. Catherine's hair was neatly styled, and her face was flustered in pink probably from the heat. She was wearing a pink bridesmaid dress that reminded him of what she had looked like on the night of their first date. He did remember that she loathed the color pink. But he figured out that it was probably one of her sisters' weddings and that she was forced to wear it. She looked beautiful nonetheless, and he noted that the man next to her thought so too. It almost bothered him the way he was staring at her. Not much like a friend would, and definitely not like brother-in-law would. But before he could ask questions Catherine came up behind from behind him and tugged it out from under the magnet.
"Don't even bother." She scoffed, looking down at the photograph.
"Who is it?" He asked curiously.
She looked up at him and not a trace of sadness or longing was in her voice. "My ex." She said simply.
Clay suppressed a smile and raised his eyebrows as she ripped the photograph down the middle. "He broke up with me about three weeks before you asked me to go on tour with you. I think I remember telling you about him once. I just never got around to throwing any of these damn pictures away, I was so busy." She ripped it into fours before placing it on the countertop and smiling. "You asking me was fate, I believe." She said poking him in the chest and reminding herself of what Angelo had told her before. Clay smirked and kissed her temple.
"So tell me more about this kid." He smiled stubbornly, putting his hands on her hips.
Catherine looked down at the torn photograph and then back at Clay. "He was a jerk."
"I got that part." He said dipping his head in and urging her to go on.
"Okay," She said, rolling her eyes. "Well, his name was Adam Pedrola and we dated for a little under a year. We met through a friend of mine when I was in college and that was that."
"That's a long time to be together." Clay noted. Catherine nodded hoping that her and Clay could last the same if not longer.
"I don't know what his problem was." Catherine said quietly as she began playing with the top button on his shirt. "He didn't really give me a good explanation as to why he was leaving me. He just…did."
"That means there was another girl." Clay said knowingly. She could tell that he regretted saying that, hoping it wouldn't upset her. But it didn't.
Catherine shrugged. "I've never had much luck with guys. Except you of course. But that wasn't to hot in the beginning either. But if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure I'm over the kid." She laughed, leaning into him.
Clay smiled and put his arm around her, becoming silent in the passing minutes. "I think I remember you saying something about this kid before. He never seemed like the nicest thing. He finally said. "And honestly, that was pretty stupid of him to do, I think." Catherine smiled and shrugged.
"I guess we just dated some pretty stupid people in the past, hu?" Clay laughed and nodded his head.
***
Later that night, with nothing much to eat in the apartment, the two lit a fire and snacked on some peanut butter and jelly, bringing back some memories in the process. There was something indescribably romantic about the whole sitting in front of the fire and talking until midnight thing. Though Clay had come to realize that lately just being alone with Catherine struck him as romantic. There was some sort of elegance to everything about her. To the way she held her glass, to the way she crossed her legs the way that made him feel as though he'd want to remember these days for the rest of his life.
These past few months were like he was living another life. As if his life wasn't hectic and unreal to begin with, he felt like he could just flip a switch and everything would go back to how had been before the tour had even started. How could one little thing, one confession she'd given, and one piece of paper, change both of their lives so quickly and so spontaneously that he would never change it back?
As she felt the strength of his arms as they slipped around her, Catherine was thinking along the same lines as him. When she'd seen her sister's wedding band today she realized and hoped that maybe she'd being wearing one this time next year. She had always found herself dreaming of someday wearing one. The perfect engagement, the perfect wedding. She'd always dreamed about that. Although many people couldn't see her as the type of girl to have her wedding planned out before she even found the groom, but it was just who she was deep inside.
She could deny all her thoughts about her and Clay being married. She could ignore them and she could even tell herself that neither of them were ready yet. And maybe that last part was true. She was still learning more about him everyday and he was definitely learning more about her. They'd only been together for a few months, but they'd known each other for over a year. How long did they need? She'd seen friends and relatives get married after two months of knowing each other and their relationships are perfectly fine.
In the silence they laid together as the hands on the clock moved steadily past midnight, she thought that if he asked her tomorrow, she would like to think that she'd say that the two weren't ready. Yet…she wouldn't. She'd say yes a million times over.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked, noting her uncharacteristic silence.
Catherine shrugged. "Life?"
"What about it?"
"Nothing."
"Then what are you thinking about?"
"You ask too many questions." She said. She slid her head against his chest and sighed.
"Just wondering." He replied shyly.
Catherine was quiet in the passing minutes until the silence between them became oppressive. All that was heard was the sounds of the crackling fire next to them, sending sparks out as it ate away at the wood. She raised her head to meet his and rested it on his collarbone, her nose level with his chin. He looked at her and smiled. She placed her the back of her hand under her chin and waited for him to say something, wondering what he was thinking about. It took him a minute as she felt his hand on the back of her head, his fingers running through some tangled curls.
"I'm going to marry you someday." He said quietly. As if reading her mind, Catherine blushed and laughed before burying her head in his chest for a moment.
"Is that a promise?" She smiled, looking back up.
"It could be." He admitted.
Catherine smiled for a moment before she leaned up on her elbows and brushed her lips across his, once, twice, before finally meeting them for good. He crossed his arm over her back, running a finger up her spine again. They didn't say much for the rest of the night, his words still sinking in. She didn't want to think much about anything else, except that maybe all the things she'd dreamt up months ago, was actually coming to life.
And, of course she would keep him to that promise and she knew he'd keep it. The question she thought about before falling asleep that night was how long would she actually have to wait?
_____
Well...I guess I just felt like writing a...cute chapter with just the two of them. I really like how this came out and it was going to be
hard to top my last post, which I honestly think is one of my favorite chapters in this...exctremely LONG story, or so it seems. haha.
. I want to be Catherine. That was a very sensual chapter, but
perfectly fine for I-A. I'm impressed with the quality of your writting given your age. 
