Cove's POV
It's been a week since River and I made up, and he's been clingier than ever. The day after it happened, he barely even let me go to the bathroom alone. We spent the entire day Saturday and Sunday together, laying in bed and doing nothing but watching movies.
It was quite cute honestly, how worried and protective he was. I think he was worried that I would regret what we did. I don't though, not at all.
Hey baby, can you come over? I have a surprise for you <3
I received that text right as I stepped out of the shower. I smiled and quickly responded;
Sure, I'll be there in an hour x
I wonder what the surprise will be. Oh, maybe it's ice cream!
With that thought in mind, I hurriedly dressed in a sweater with a jacket on top. It finally snowed yesterday, so it's pretty cold outside.
After putting on some boots, I told my parents goodbye and got in my car. I can't wait to see the surprise.
ð ð ð
I knocked on River's door and waited anxiously. A few moments later, he opened the door.
"Oh hey baby, just on time. Come in." He moved to the side and let me walk through before shutting the door behind us.
"The surprise is in the living room so close your eyes," he instructed.
I obeyed and closed my eyes. River stood behind me and covered them to make sure.
"I know you had a really rough week last week, so I decided to try and make it up to you. I know nothing will ever fix the fact that I lied to you, but I hope this will at least make up for the hard week you had. I love you so much, baby."
He grabbed my shoulder and lead me to the living room. "Sit on the couch for a moment and don't open your eyes," he instructed.
I sat down like he asked and heard some shuffling followed by a familiar whimper. Then something was placed in my lap.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now."
I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, looking down at the thing on my lap.
"BUBBLES!"
She barked excitedly and stood up with her arms on my chest. I kissed her head and picked her up, rubbing her belly as she licked all over my face.
"Ohh Boo-Boo I missed you! I thought I would never get to see you again."
She's grown a lot since I last saw her. Don't get me wrong, she's still pretty small, but she's not a baby anymore.
"I know you really like her and you were sad you couldn't adopt her, so I did. She's your dog, but she'll live at my house under my registration," River explained.
"River thank you, I love her thank you. I love you."
"I love you too," he smiled as he sat beside me. Bubbles instantly climbed on his lap, making me pout. River laughed and moved her to lay with her head on my lap, and her body on his.
"It was my idea!" Azalea came down the stairs with a huge smirk on her face.
"No, it wasn't! It was my idea," River countered.
"No, I came up with it!"
"You did not. How would you even know about Bubbles? She told me about her, not you."
"All I'm hearing is excuses."
I giggled at their argument and laid my head on River's shoulder. I'm sure this was his idea, but I'm gonna tease him anyways.
"River are you lying to me?"
"No baby! She's deceiving you, don't listen to her she had nothing to do with this."
"Hmm, I don't know. Azzy you say this was your idea? That makes sense, I believe you."
"Yes, it was my idea. I planned all of it."
"No! No you didn't. All I did was ask you if you think Cove would want me to adopt Bubbles and you said yes. That was it."
I burst out laughing, not being able to keep it together. Azalea joined me while River just looked stunned.
"We were just messing with you!" Azzy chuckled.
"Oh. Where did you learn to act like that, I seriously believed you."
"I was only being sarcastic, I wasn't even trying to act, I'm a natural."
"You are. Here, let me show you what I got for her yesterday."
He grabbed a bag and pulled out a pretty purple collar with a bone shaped plate with the words "Bubbles" and River's contact information underneath.
He also got 2 leashes, a bowl for water, a bowl for food, a mat to put the bowls on, dog food, a bunch of toys, and a fluffy gray bed.
"Do you want to do the honors?" He asked, motioning to the collar. I nodded and sat Boo-Boo on my lap, clipping the collar around her neck.
She barked happily and nudged my hand, begging me to pet her. I obeyed and ran my hand from her head, to her back.
A few moments later she jumped off the couch and started running around in circles.
"Someone has a lot of energy," Azzy exclaimed.
"Yeah. I think she's been inside too long, we should take her on a walk," River said.
"Okay, make sure to put on a jacket because it's so cold outside," I agreed
He nodded and slipped on a black jacket, then put a pink leash on Bubbles. The task proved quite difficult because she kept spinning around in circles, but we managed.
"River it snowed last night!" I said, starting a conversation as we walked outside.
"Yeah, it usually doesn't take so long for snow to come so that was weird. At least we'll probably have a white Christmas."
"Mhm. Oh wait! I promised you to help put up Christmas decorations! It's already the 14th, have you ordered them yet?"
"I ordered them 2 weeks ago, I kind of forgot about it. They're in my closet, we can put them up later."
"Okay yay! We should also get matching Christmas sweaters for all three of us."
"Three of us?"
"Yes, me, you, and Bubbles. You can't forget about Bubbles."
"Oh you're right. What if Bubbles doesn't like wearing clothes?"
"She does, trust me."
"How would you know whether she likes clothes or not?"
"Motherly instinct."
I can't wait until we have kids. We need to have at least 3, preferably not all of the same gender. It doesn't matter though because at the end of the day, I'll love them all the same."
"Watcha thinking about?" River questioned.
"Just about when we have kids in the future, you do want kids right?"
"A whole NFL football team."
I laughed and shook my head. "I don't think that's possible, I was thinking maybe 3 or 4."
"Sounds good to me, you're the one carrying them after all."
"Yeah, and pushing them out. Not to mention the hours and hours of labor."
"Don't worry, that's still very far away. For now, we can practice with Bubbles."
"Yeah." We got to the end of his driveway, and I started to turn back but he stopped me.
"I want to show you something, it's this way." He said, pointing to the forest. I've never been there but it looks really cool.
"Okay," I agreed. This will give Bubbles more time to be outside, and it's some new scenery.
"A few years ago Azalea, her parents, and her brothers all came to stay for the summer. After a week, my cousins and I got bored of staying indoors so we started exploring the forest. One time while we were running around, I found a bunch of tree stumps in a circle. We went back to my house and got a bunch of blankets and tarps, then turned the area into a little camp. We would hangout during the day, and sleep there at night. It's still there and I want to show you it."
"That's really cool River, although I don't know how you could ever sleep there. That would be way too scary for me, didn't you ever get scared?"
"No not really, it was quite peaceful honestly. We should stay out there one night, it'll be fun."
"Fun? Like I said, it would be way too scary."
"Aww baby don't worry I'll protect you. There's no bears or anything if that's what you're worried about."
"Okay I'll do it. But, Bubbles has to be there with us. She can fight off all the mosquitoes and spiders."
"Deal."
We walked a few more minutes in silence before arriving at the beautiful set up. Fairly light are strung around the stumps, a huge tarp is in the middle of everything and there are tons of blankets and pillows on top.
"I'll have to put batteries back in the fair lights and wash the blankets. I haven't been here in almost 3 years, I honestly forgot about it until Az reminded me of it a few days ago."
"It's beautiful, I'm sure if we clean it up a little it will be even better."
Bubbles suddenly pulled out of my hold and jumped over the stumps, landing on one of the pillows. She laid down and nuzzled her face in a blanket, whining tiredly.
"I think she's tired," I giggled.
"Yeah, we should let her take a break before going back. Come sit." He patted one of the stumps and I happily sat down next to him.
Bubbles came over and laid by our feet. I reached down and lightly scratched behind her ears, making her lay her head on my foot and close her eyes. I don't know how that's comfortable, but you do you Boo.
River's phone dinged and he took it out. I paid no attention to what he was doing for the first few minutes, instead focusing on my Boo-Boo. When grunted in frustration though, I turned my head and asked what's wrong.
He shook his head and said, "it's nothing baby. We should head back now so Bubbles can sleep."
"Okay," I agreed warily. We quickly walked back to his house and took the leash off Bubbles, letting her run to her bed in the corner.
"I gotta go, I'll be back tonight," Azzy announced as she came out of the kitchen.
"Okay, are you meeting that girl again?" River asked.
"Yeah," she replied, turning her face to hide the light blush on her cheeks.
"Oo, you're blushing!" I giggled.
"Shush, I'm not. I'm just cold so my face is red. Goodbye." She closed the door before I had the chance to say anything else.
"She's gone to see the same girl 4 times this past week," River informed with a smile.
"Do you think they have something going?"
"Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to tell with Az, although she hasn't been seeing anyone for months. This might be something special."
"I hope it is, she deserves someone amazing. I can't wait to meet her."
"Yeah me neither, but knowing Azalea, it'll take a few months before the relationship is serious enough for us to meet her. She likes to go slow and build up trust before officially announcing her relationship."
"Makes sense. Oh look who's already up!" While we were talking, Bubbles decided that she's done napping and got up, grabbing her avocado toy before running to us.
I tried to grab it from her, but she turned her head at the last second and ran away. Okay then.
"I realized earlier that she's a toy hog, we'll have to teach her how to play fetch."
"Oh okay. Are you hungry or is it just me?" I haven't eaten all day since I skipped breakfast and came straight here.
"We can eat, Az and I got pizza last night so we can have the leftovers. Or we can make something else, your choice."
I decided on leftovers. River put them in the oven and while we waited, we played with Bubbles. I am so happy she's here, I don't think I could've ever let her go.
When we sat down to eat, Bubbles started scratching at my leg, begging me to feed her.
"River has she eaten yet?" I asked.
"She ate this morning, it's probably time for me to feed her again."
I nodded and he went to pore her some food. Bubbles immediately sprinted to her bowl and practically inhaled it, making me laugh.
"Are you starving her?" I joked.
"No of course I'm not! She's just hungry from her walk."
"Hmm I don't know, you better not be starving my baby."
"I would never! Bubbles is my bestie."
"Bestie?"
"Yeah, my bestie."
I laughed really hard and he gave me a curious look.
"Why are you laughing?"
"S-say it one more time."
"Bubbles is my bestie."
I had to grab on to the table and nearly fell out of my chair laughing.
"Should I be concerned?"
"Bestie? Bubbles is your bestie?"
"Um yeah, that's what I said. Are you okay?"
"No I can't breath."
"Okay then." He gave me a weird side eye before turning back to his food.
I eventually stopped laughing after a few minutes, and now my stomach is on fire. It feels like I did a whole Chloe Ting ab workout.
"Jeez, if I knew that would be such a big hit I would've said it earlier," he joked.
"It's just, you're the last person I would expect to say that word, bestie."
"Why?"
"Well, I don't know it's just not something I would expect from you. You're so serious all the time, that sounds like something you would make fun of Ryan for saying. I think he's rubbing off on you.
"Maybe, maybe not. Are you done eating?"
"Yeah, it was good except my piece had no pineapple on it."
"Oh sorry, Azalea hogged it. You should've seen her last night."
"That's a sight I would pay to see."
"Yeah it was pretty funny. Anyways do you want to hang up the decorations now? I really want to show you all the pretty lights I got!"
"Yeah of course."
"Okay, wait down here, I'll bring the boxes." He ran upstairs and while I waited for him, I gave Boo-Boo some back rubs because she looks lonely.
"Here they are!" River said, coming into the kitchen with 3 cardboard boxes.
"This one has lights, this one has indoor thins, and this is for the Christmas tree. We have a fake tree up in the addict, so while I get that down, you can start."
I nodded and he went back upstairs. It took him about 25 minutes to come return with the tree, and when he did I instantly noticed his dampened mood.
"River what's wrong?" I asked. He shook his head and said that it's nothing. Hmm, that's weird, that's his his second time doing.
"Okay, well I separated everything. We should put the ones outside up first before it gets dark."
He agreed and we went out, Bubbles following close behind. River started to put lights up the side of his house while I made Bubbles a little are to play in.
A few hours later, we finished. River did most of the work while I stood at the side, handing him everything he needed. He didn't want me to go on the ladder, and frankly, neither did I.
"Okay I'm gonna plug it, you ready?" He asked.
"Yes!"
He plugged the cord into an outlet. Beautiful gold lights illuminated the roof and every window of his house. It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen.
"Woah," I mumbled. River gave me a small smile and stood next to me, putting his arm around my back.
"We should go inside, it's getting cold," he suggested after some time.
"Okay," I agreed and picked Bubbles up, carrying her in. She feel asleep ages ago.
"I have to tell you something," River announced as we sat down on the couch.
"Okay," I agreed nervously as I put Bubbles down next to me. She learned again my leg and put her head in my lap.
"River are you okay?" I asked for the third time today after noticing his breathing pick up. He looked at me with a sad expression and shook his head no.
"I... I talked to my Dad today," he started.
"That's good, right?"
"No baby, he only calls when it's something bad."
"Oh.." I looked down unsurely, not knowing what to expect. All I know is that this won't be good.
"Do you remember the conversation you overheard him and I having last week?" He asked.
"Kind of. Why?"
"He... wants me to go to Italy."
"What!" I immediately looked up and into his eyes, hoping that he's lying. "When? Why?"
"Tomorrow."
I stared at his with my mouth open and eyes widened. Tomorrow? He's leaving tomorrow.
"It'll only be for a week baby, I promise. It was supposed to be more but I talked him out of it. I'll be back before Christmas and everything."
A week? We just went 5 days without seeing each other and now we have to go another week?
"Don't worry, we'll talk everyday at least 3 times. I'll call you every night too, I promise," he assured after seeing the look on my face.
"But River, what about the time differences? And what if one of us gets busy, then will we just not talk at all?"
"Don't worry baby, we'll figure it out. Even if I have to wake up at 3 am just so we can talk, I will."
"But- River we just got back to seeing each other! And it's the holidays, you have to go right before the holidays?"
"Baby I'm so sorry. If it was up to me I wouldn't go at all. I'll be back soon enough though, okay?"
"Okay," I whispered meekly.
"Okay good. Spend the night so you can come with me to the airport tomorrow morning, okay?"
"Of course. Who's gonna take care of Bubbles though? You can't just leave her."
"Az will, don't worry. Come on now baby, we have a long day tomorrow." He reached out his hand and I took it.
We went upstairs and he had me turn on a movie while he packed. I picked Jumanji 2 in order to hopefully bring up the mood. I love Kevin Hart and the Rock together, they're such an iconic duo.
"I'm gonna get in the shower," he announced half way through the movie. I nodded, too focused on watching to respond verbally.
He came out a few minutes later with wet hair and occasional droplets of water cascading down his bare upper body. I stared at him in awe and blushed when he smirked, clearly catching me staring.
"Where's Bubbles gonna sleep? We shouldn't leave her all alone downstairs!" I asked as he climbed into bed next to me.
"I'll bring her bed upstairs," he answered and left. He came back a few moments later, Bubbles in tow.
She immediately ran to the edge of the bed and lifted her little arms up. I looked at River wearily, not knowing if he will allow her on his bed
"It's okay, she can lay with you while we finish the movie," he assured. I smiled and picked her up, setting her next to me.
When River sat down, she moved to the other side and laid between us. I rested my hand on her back and River put his on top of mine.
The movie finished way too quickly. I swiftly changed into leggings and a t-shirt while River put Bubble's bed on the ground next to me so that I can keep and eye on her.
We then got in bed and laid facing each other. River draped his arm over my waist and pulled me flush against him, putting his head on top of mine.
"Goodnight baby, I love you so much."
"Goodnight River, see you in the morning."
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