Summary: A series. At the ten year suite-mate reunion with all of your Hartfeld friends, Chris honors a pact that you made during senior year. This is for anyone out there like me whose MC dated James and missed her chance with Chris due to his emotional unavailability in Book 1 (or anyone who just loves Chris Powell, really).
Disclaimers: Most characters belong to Pixelberry. Takes place during a time jump.
Notes: Flashbacks are in italics. This will be the final chapter in this short series. Thank you so much to all who have supported me and enjoyed my very first Choices fanfic ever posted! Cheers!
You wake in the morning to the room flooding with sunlight. The pillow is still cool under your cheek, and you wiggle your fingers slightly as your eyes flutter open, straining against the brightness for a few moments. Rolling your body over and onto your back, you remain wrapped and tangled in white sheets, a gentle reminder of your stark nakedness underneath. A small sigh blows through your lips at your memories of the night before and the face-splitting grin they inspire.
Your hand reaches out toward the center of the bed, finding the space next to you empty. You run your hand along the crinkled sheets in the spot where Chris’s body once lay, and when it reaches the pillow, you find a note. Curiously, you open it, leaning on your forearm and reading:
Date tonight, 8pm? Meet me at my room.
A smirk plays on your lips when you look at Chris’s handwriting. He hadn’t just treated last night as a one time fling. He hadn’t just up and left you afterwards. You can’t help yourself from leaning forward and pressing his pillow into your face, falling into his scent and reliving your night together. You all but squeal externally, feeling giddy for the first time in a long time.
After cleaning up and dressing yourself, you join your friends out on Abbie and Tyler’s patio for brunch. Those who woke up the earliest had gone out for bagels, and Tyler had whipped up some eggs and bacon, which you could smell from the moment you stepped out your door.
“Man, it smells amazing out here. Good morning,” you spoke, smiling gently at everyone. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Leighann looks up from where she and Kaitlyn are prepping mimosas and she waves you over. You begin to pour champagne and orange juice into flutes. “I hope I didn’t sleep much later than everyone else,” you state.
“No, actually, most of us slept in,” Leighann ensures, “I believe it was well deserved”. She shoots a wink so candid to Kaitlyn that you hardly even notice.
“Ahem,” Kaitlyn clears her throat, emptying a container of pineapple juice. She eyes you carefully and hushes her voice, “You two have fun last night?”
Your smile begins to grow before you can physically stop it. You shoot up your gaze to meet hers. “You two?”
“Oh, don’t play coy,” she flashes a wolfish grin, “I heard voices coming from the kitchen when I got up to use the bathroom last night. Don’t forget that I lived with both of you for two years”.
Still unable to contain your smile, your neck starts to flush. You glance around to see that nobody is listening. Chris is across the yard with Abbie and Zig, chatting and organizing the food. He sneaks a peek at you and you make brief eye contact, smiling softly. “I’m not saying that something happened… but I’m certainly not saying that it didn’t, either”.
Kaitlyn bites down on her knuckles to refrain from screaming. “Dear God, it took you long enough!”
You chuckle and return your eyes briefly to the champagne flutes. Ignoring her comment, you continue in a whisper, “He wants to take me on a date tonight”.
Kaitlyn does a happy dance. Leighann hums, “Oooh, where at?”
“Not sure,” You reply, “We haven’t discussed details yet. He wants me to meet him at his room at eight o’clock. You don’t think he just wants to… you know… again? Do you?”
Zack comes walking over and picks up a mimosa to bring to his lips. “Are we talking about Chris?” He whispers, “because I doubt he would smash and dash you”. He stands amongst you all as if he had been part of the conversation from the start.
“What?” You spin around, “Were we really that loud?”
“Oh, no,” Zack speaks casually, “I just figured you were talking about Chris. It’s so obvious you guys were gonna get together eventually. But congratulations, girl!” He smirks, giving you a nod of approval.
“Zack!” you guffaw.
“Did he live up to the hype? Did he score a touchdown… if you know what I mean?” He leans his shoulder into you, causing a giggle to erupt from Kaitlyn.
“Ok, seriously, should I just stand up on the table and announce it to everyone at once? Get it out of the way?” You laugh, covering your face with your hands.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Kaitlyn says, “we’re all supportive of you guys. It’s just fun to tease you”.
“Alright…”
You smile tentatively at Kaitlyn and Leighann, turning next to look at Zack. His brows are still arched and wiggling. He nudges you in the ribs with his elbow.
You sigh, “…It was… amazing. There was a touchdown… and a half.”
“Yeah, baby!” Zack grins, trapping his tongue between his teeth.
You roll your eyes playfully at your friends, trying desperately to control the pink hue from spreading up to your face. Turning to Zack again, you grasp his elbow, “May I have a word?”
The two of you prepare yourselves plates filled with breakfast food and look for a place to sit. “I wanted to know how you’re feeling after last night,” You prompt him.
“Well, I feel like an ass for doing what I did and for dragging you into it…” he responds and you frown a little, “but honestly, I don’t regret it. Last night I got to thinking… and thinking and thinking about what you said. And, hooking up with somebody else may have made me feel sick to my stomach at first, but it also made me realize how much I really want to be with Sam. Eventually I thought, why the hell are we doing this? We should be fighting for each other. So that’s what I’m going to do”.
You swallow a bite of scrambled eggs and feign wiping away a tear. “My baby… growing up so fast!”
Zack laughs into his mimosa, shaking his head at you. “Thanks, Mom, you know what I’ve been thinking?”
“What’s that, Zack?”
“I need a new daddy. How about that guy?” He smirks, tossing his head in Chris’s direction. You turn cautiously to see Chris laughing with Tyler, and Zack continues, “…Unless you call him ‘daddy’, in which case, I don’t want to know anything about it”.
_____________
Later, you’ve finished your shower and have dolled yourself up for Chris, heading toward his guest room where he had asked you to meet him. You hadn’t been sure how to dress, as he insisted that the location of your date be a surprise, no matter how hard you pressed him. You call for Chris with no response, and as you walk into the open doorway, you see rose petals scattered along the floor. They seem to be making a pathway across the room, but end at the opposite wall. You look around, seeing a few lit candles.
You smile softly, “…Chris?” You call out again.
Then, to the side, you see a note sitting on the bureau next to a vase of roses. You pick up the note and it reads:
Follow the rose petals…
Feeling even further confused, you look to see if the petals are scattered in any other direction. But no, they stop at the window. When you hesitantly peek out the window of the guest room, you are absolutely stunned with delight. Right out the second floor window is Chris sitting atop the roof with a picnic blanket and wine, looking out over the water.
“What is all this?” You ask, mouth still ajar.
Chris is beaming as he stands up to help you. After removing your heels, you take his hand and step one foot after the other carefully through the open window.
“I thought we might have a drink on the roof… for old time’s sake”. He responds.
Practically shedding a tear, you take in the beauty of the picturesque sunset over the ocean, then you shift your gaze back to Chris. You shake your head and grin, at a complete loss for words. He chuckles as you both have a seat and pick up your wine glasses, “I’m glad you like it”.
“Like it? I couldn’t have dreamt up a better way to end this weekend”, you say, taking a small sip.
Time seems to stand still as you listen to the distant waves crashing on the shore. After a few moments, Chris’s voice breaks the silence. “To think how many times we did this back in college, and it was never a date, then”.
You turn your head to look at him. “It could have been, if we could have just gotten our shit together”, you say.
The two of you laugh at your honest thought. He nods in agreement. “You know,” he starts, “I really respect the road you took to get to where you are right now.” You raise an eyebrow at him and he continues, “No, really, I mean that. Back in college we all wanted to believe that we had the answers. Even though you were just as lost as the rest of us, you knew you wanted to do what you could to get the most out of life and the most out of your relationships. You inspired me and the rest of the gang on many occasions. And I think your genuine belief in the greater good is a big part of what makes you an incredible person”.
You’re touched by Chris’s kind words of admiration. Once you’re able to break your eyes away from the liquid in your glass, your gaze meets his and you thank him sincerely. He then goes on to recall a certain memory he has from your senior year of college, practically sending you back in time.
The night is clear after a day of clouds and rain, offering you a long-awaited opportunity to sit up on the rooftop and catch a few breaths of fresh air. As beautiful as the campus grounds look coated with snow, you had been looking forward to the first days of Spring, when the ice thaws and you can feel a sense of calm in the air. You lean on the railing and shut your eyes, feeling a few strands of your hair lifting in the breeze. A few moments pass where all you can hear are cars passing on the street and the steady sound of your own breathing. You revel in the tranquility.
“It’s like you’re a brand new woman, am I right?”
You startle slightly at the voice calling out from behind you, but you don’t need to turn around to know who it belongs to. Your eyes shoot open and, over your shoulder, you see Chris walking toward you. He waves gently and, on his shadowy figure, you see a half smile on his face.
“Sorry if I startled you,” he says, standing beside you at the railing. He leans on his forearms and takes a swig of a beer.
“I thought I was the only one still here,” you reply. You take a mental headcount of all your suitemates and the plans that had driven each of them out for the night, leaving you to a long overdue evening of solitary Netflix binging. You had been more than okay with that. “Don’t you have a date?”
Chris had been seeing a girl named Lily for the past few weeks. He had told all of his friends, including you, that they were taking things slow but that she was great and he felt like they were on the same wavelength. Any time she had spent time around the lot of you, you had had nothing but positive things to say. He lifts the bottle to his lips before responding. “Yeah. Lily’s sister had a crisis. I didn’t ask questions.”
Chris looks out over the city, following your eyes’ gaze. “So, what were you thinking about?”
“Hm?”
“When I came up, you seemed pretty deep in thought. Like I broke your concentration or something”.
“Actually, I was just thinking about something that came up during ‘Truth or Truth’ last weekend”.
“Really?” Chris chuckles, “What was that?”
“When Kaitlyn asked Tyler where he sees himself in ten years;” You shrug, “Not sure why it stuck with me, but I guess I was just doing some reflecting”.
“Come up with anything?” Chris asks, turning to look at you.
“It’s not so much the ten year mark that I’m thinking about, it’s the stuff that leads up to it…” Chris studies the side of your face expectantly but you hold your gaze forward as you continue, “Like, I want to travel some; maybe write about my adventures. And I want to have a place where I always go when I have writer’s block or I need a quiet place to spark creativity, like a charming inn or a beach cottage or something. It’ll be there where I finish something I’m really proud of”.
“You’re not proud of the book you’ve already published?” Chris frowns.
You turn to him and chuckle slightly, “No, that’s not it. Of course I am. I’m proud that I’ve been published at all. It’s just… that was a book that Professor Vasquez began and I finished. I’d like to have something that’s my own… from scratch. You know?”
He nods, smiling softly. “I do. And I don’t doubt for a second that you’ll make that happen”.
You return his smile bashfully and pull your sweater a bit tighter around your shoulders, fighting a chill. “So, how about you? NFL hot shot or city councilman?” you question, shooting Chris a smirk.
He grins to himself, looking down thoughtfully at the rim of his beer. “See, that’s the thing,” he starts, “I used to have dreams of joining the big leagues when I was playing football in high school; it was kind of the thing that I was best at. But since I got to Hartfeld I’ve been exploring these other parts of me that I never knew about. So, I’m not really sure what the future will bring.”
You nod, validating Chris’s statement.
“But one thing I do know for sure is, whether I’m a star athlete, a mayor or I’m coaching little league, my full time job will be being a dad. I want more than anything to find someone I love and start a family. If having an absent father taught me anything, it’s that”.
Your heart warms at Chris’s words. He looks out again at nothing in particular and you can’t help but think it’s because he has started to tear up. You raise your arm to squeeze him gently and his eyes return to lock with yours. “Chris, that’s the most admirable thing I’ve ever heard anyone say. I agree completely”.
“Yeah?” He eyes you warily, “You don’t think it’s lame?”
“Not at all!” You reply, “I can see myself, in ten years, maybe settled some place not too far from home, so my parents can always visit. Doesn’t need to be in Connecticut; just not across the country. And I’ll be holding the ladder still for my hunky husband while he paints the nursery walls in spots I can’t reach…” Your words break off into a giggle when you realize your train of thought has escaped the both of you. Your cheeks blush when you look back up at Chris, who is surprisingly looking less freaked out than you expected.
“I know,” he says, completely disregarding your embarrassment, “In ten years I think I would like to be married… or at least planning to be married to the right person.”
“Me too,” you pause, lowering your voice to an audible mumble, “assuming of course that I’ve sorted out all of my emotional shit by then. Seven to eight years should be enough time, right?” You joke, snubbing yourself.
Chris blinks and shakes his head in confusion. “And, what exactly is this ‘shit’ you’re referring to?”
“Oh come on, think about it, Chris,” you begin plainly, extending your hand, “My luck in romance has been failing me ever since I got here freshman year. This on-again-off-again thing that James and I have dragged on for three years has been a complete mess. I thought it might have been something real when it first started, but I was clearly kidding myself. Before that, my best friend professed her unrequited lesbian feelings for me. And before that… well…” You trail off intentionally, hoping that Chris will pick up on your implication of the connection the two of you shared in freshman year. It wasn’t something you particularly wanted to discuss in detail.
While the two of you had an instant connection when you met, he was still recovering from a painful breakup. You had kept your eye on him while he walked around campus with Becca on his arm, and by the time he had finally realized how he felt about you, you had already established a relationship with James. The universe played that nasty little game with you time and time again over the past three years, leaving you with nothing left to do but come to peace with it–accept that it wasn’t meant to be.
As the sky grows gradually darker, you can’t help but hope that Spring will bring you more than just green trees and warm nights. In this on-again-off-again relationship you’ve had with James, it has been hard to make sense of things, and now that you’re off again, you’d like to see Spring come with some new opportunities for you. A fresh new start, just like the way the air smells after it rains.
And, at that, Chris’s face falls at the acknowledgment of your reference. You can’t quite tell if he feels saddened or just awkward that you’ve brought it up, but either way you dismiss his response with a wave of your hand, trying to appear unfazed.
You want to say something to break the tension of the moment and, without giving it an appropriate amount of thought, you say, “Hey, if neither of us are in serious or happy relationships in ten years, maybe we should just get together”. Immediately nervous that it was a stupid thing to say, you force out a laugh. You stare into the bottom of your empty glass.
“Get together like…like, get married?” Chris asks, and you look up at him, surprised to see a calm smile on his face.
You start, “Well, I didn’t necessarily mean–”, but he interrupts you,
“You know what, I like that idea. Let’s pinky promise it”.
You look at him questioningly and laugh. With that, you raise your pinky fingers and raise your glasses, making a pact for marriage.
“To the future,” Chris declares, “however it may look”.
At first you think nothing of his mention other than a pleasant memory, until you look over and see Chris fiddling with something in his pocket. Your eyes narrow with curiosity as you look from his eyes, to his hands, and back to his eyes again. Your heartbeat quickens.
Chris gives you his nervous smile and takes a breath, “I know we haven’t seen each other half as much as I would have liked to over these past years, and I think part of that is because we both thought the right thing to do was to move forward. And maybe that wasn’t wrong… but there has been something between us since the day we met, and I’d be lying if I said I don’t regret letting that fall between the cracks. Since I’ve known you, you’ve been my best friend, my supporter, and undeniably the biggest crush I’ve ever had,” he chuckles, looking down for a second and making you blush, “Man, I really hope this doesn’t sound any crazier to you than it does in my head…”
Chris trails off, releasing the tight grip from his hands. Gulping, he reveals a small velvet box and your eyes immediately well up with tears. He flips it open with a crack and inside sits a round, classic, diamond engagement ring. The sunset’s glow reflects in its brilliant stones, glimmering softly. You suddenly can’t control the tears from rolling down your cheeks. Biting your lip, you look up and into Chris’s hopeful face.
“It doesn’t have to be now, I mean, we can see how this goes first and then revisit it again, but…” he lifts his hand to your face to gingerly wipe a tear away with his thumb, “I’m crazy about you”.
Lips trembling, you smile wider than what seems like you have in years. Feeling speechless, you shake your head slowly. Apprehension is written all over Chris’s face as he awaits your reply.
“You know, I would think this were crazier if not for how right it feels when I’m with you, Chris.” You take his hand in yours, “I could never understand what went wrong when relationships would fail and I would wind up back at square one, but now, I think I do. It was this. This is what I’ve wanted. Someone who knows me better than I know myself and who doesn’t take any moment for granted. You’ve just made good on a pact that we made ten years ago, for pete’s sake,” you say, giggling, which makes Chris’s heart skip a beat.
His eye sparkles at you and you get serious again for a moment. “Oh my god…” You pause, burying your face in your hands,
“…Yes!”
Chris’s eyebrows shoot up and he grins. “Yes?!”
You nod emphatically, laughing. “Yes!”
Chris exhales with a laugh of his own as his shaking hand picks up the ring and slides it onto your finger. He then crashes his lips into yours, knocking you over in the process. Landing on top of you, he feels your giggles against his mouth as he tangles his fingers in your hair. His kisses are fervent and passionate and they leave you both breathless.
When Chris draws back to look at you, your chest rises and falls against his body. Suddenly you notice the same look in his eyes that you had seen the night before. And you think to yourself that you can’t wait to see it over and over for the rest of your life.
The two of you, giddy and in shock, make your way back onto solid ground and out onto the beach to meet up with the rest of your friends and share the good news. A bonfire is burning in the sand with seven of the best people you’ve ever known circled around it. Most of them are joyfully surprised when you tell them, shouting and leaping up to hug you. Abbie, on the other hand, had already known of Chris’s plan, as he had gone to her for her assistance in setting things up. She wears a sly smile and pulls you both in for a big, giant hug as well.
After the group hugs and the happy tears subside, Zack rips open a bag of marshmallows, white and fluffy goodness scattering in the sand as a result. You all sit around the fire and make s’mores, talking about plans for next year’s suitemate reunion. Looking over to your side, you catch Chris’s eye, and he sits for a minute just staring back at you, smiling. He takes your sticky, chocolate and marshmallow covered hand and squeezes it.
Chris Powell, the one.