JC sits on the edge of a patio lounge chair as he watches Maestro run around the backyard chasing a bird. He chuckles a bit and takes a sip of his coffee as his eyes scan the property basking in the early California sunshine. He never usually gets up this early but he hadn’t been able to sleep well the night before and as soon as it had been deemed an acceptable time to get out of bed, he had.
His mind has been going many different ways lately, especially since they had returned from Florida a couple of weeks earlier. It had been nice to come back to the place where he and Ari had made their home, but it had felt a little harder leaving his family this time. He doesn’t know if it’s because of all the emotions he had gone through with his dad’s heart attack or just because he is getting older and wants to be closer to his family.
The whole reason he had bought the Winter Park home in Florida was to be near his family. He always assumed that when it was time, he would pack up, sell the LA house and move there.
He had purposely not finished the studio in the basement so that it wouldn’t get outdated by the time he made the move. He’d also not decorated the house much with the intent that when he moved there, he’d finish the house with whomever he moved there with.
Now more than ever, he thinks, is the time to make the move.
Today’s technology makes it so that he no longer needs to be exclusively based out of LA. Then when you add to that his aging parents, his growing niece and nephew and the next step in his relationship with Ari, all of it makes for a very convincing reason to move.
Thinking of this reminds him of a conversation he’d had with Ari the night before they had flown back from Florida.
“So how do you like the house?” He’d asked her as they lay in bed basking in the glow of their recent lovemaking. She was hugged to his side, her cheek resting on his beating heart as he gently walked his fingertips along her bare arm.
“It’s gorgeous. You should have seen my face when the cab came up the driveway.” She giggled softly and shifted against him.“It totally looks like a castle with the brick and the green vines climbing the walls.”
He’d chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I sort of thought that too when I first saw it. So do you like it more than our house in LA?”
She’d shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s different. The house in LA is more…modern I guess. This one feels more…homey. I’m not sure if that’s because your family is so close and they’re around more or just the way it’s built. But it’s not finished? I noticed that two of the rooms have nothing in them and I'm surprised to see that there is no studio downstairs.”
He’d been gnawing on his lip as she spoke. “Um, yeah. I don’t come here all that often and I always figured that when it was time to move here permanently I would finish everything then. The studio would be able to be finished with all of the current equipment of that time. When I’m here it’s to visit with family or friends, so I don’t really need to have a studio that has all that equipment that sits there for no reason.”
She’d nodded. “I get that. So um, have you decided when you’ll move here?” She’d sounded sort of hesitant when she’d asked and he couldn’t help but laugh softly.
“You think I would pack up, move here and leave you in LA?” He’d poked her side playfully and she’d laughed.
“I don’t know! You’re sounding all serious and ominous.”
He’d laughed softly again and shaken his head before leaning down to kiss the top of her head, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair. “Would you like living in Florida?”
“Probably, I don’t see why not. I can pretty much work from anywhere, it would just take a little time to get my name out there. It would be nice to be closer to your family and the little ones; we could babysit them for Heather once in a while. That would be fun.” She’d looked up at him and he’d smiled and nodded. “Plus Florida is much closer to my family as well. I’m sure they’d love to come for a visit during the winter to get away from the snow.”
He’d nodded quietly and played with her hair without saying anything further. “But this isn’t still for a while though right?” she’d asked.
“Yeah… you’re right…”
JC adjusts his glasses, drains the last of his coffee and stands up as he calls Maestro back and they both go back into the house. After he refills his coffee cup he sets it on a tray which he’d already filled with a tall glass of orange juice and a bowl filled with yogurt, granola and fruit. “Come on, Bud. Let’s go find Mum.”
He quietly makes his way back up to their bedroom with Maestro in tow. He then very quietly sets the bowl and glass on her nightstand before he sets the empty tray near the door and finally settles onto his side of the bed with his coffee cup.
He turns the TV on to CNN, puts it on mute and sips his coffee for a few moments before he is unable to keep himself from turning and staring at Ari sleeping soundly next to him. He still can’t believe how lucky he is that he’d walked into that coffee shop over a year and a half ago. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have found the single most important person in his life now.
His eyes roam over her features, softened in sleep with her long blonde hair which partially covers her face and shoulder as she sleeps on her side. He watches the long eyelashes that kiss her soft cheeks and the full lips that purse slightly when she breathes in and out.
“Are you watching me sleep?” Ari says sleepily as her eyes slowly open and she stretches onto her back.
“Maybe.” He smirks and turns his eyes toward the TV while taking a sip from his mug.
“How very…Robert Pattinson-y of you.” She smirks back as she turns onto her side to watch him. “Did you sleep well?”
He nods and lies. “Yeah, haven’t been up that long. I let Maestro out, made some coffee. I brought you something too.” He angles his head toward her side of the bed.
She turns her head to find her breakfast on the nightstand and he smiles when she laughs softly and sits up. “This feels familiar…”
“Does it?” He narrows his eyes at her, playing as if he doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
“Yeah, it’s just like that first night I slept over. When my apartment had gotten broken into? I woke up to find you just like this, sitting there with your coffee, your glasses-“She turns to see that the TV is on CNN but muted and it’s her turn to narrow her eyes. “…it’s exactly like that morning, what’s going on?”
Here goes nothing.
He smiles and turns off the television with the remote. When he sets it on his nightstand, his fingers wrap around a little black box which is sitting there.
He turns to her and smiles again. “Ari, over a year ago now when I walked into that coffee shop I never could have imagined that I would meet anyone like you. You came into my life in the most unassuming, unpretentious and unexpected way and I never could have imagined how you would change my life so completely. You just fit into my life so seamlessly and without any drama. You’re kind and decent and so loving. You challenge me in the most important ways and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. I want to share my life with you, I want to have children with you, I want to make a home with you. Even if I never write another song, produce another album or act in another movie, I know that as long as I have you by my side my life will be happy and full of love….” He takes a deep breath and cracks open the ring box to reveal the sparkling diamond ring he’d bought all those weeks ago. “Ari, will you marry me?”
He watches as Ari’s eyes widen when she sees the ring, then glance back up into his eyes. He smiles at her hopefully until his smile falters when he notices that she is opening her mouth and closing it without a sound.
She doesn’t want to.
I can’t survive this again.
Should I have gotten down on one knee?
He bites his lip and voices his last thought. “Should I have gotten down on one knee?”
She shakes her head and finally speaks. “No…I mean, yes-I mean no.” She shakes her head again as if she’s trying to get a grip, takes a deep breath and tries again. “No, you didn’t have to get down on one knee. And yes, I will marry you.”
JC feels like a thousand bricks have lifted off of his shoulders as he hears her speak the words and turn her bright beautiful smile at him. He must have had a stunned look on his face because she moves closer to him and touches his cheek gently with her hand and repeats. “Yes, I will marry you.”
It’s his turn to grin at her widely before he sort of remembers himself and grabs the ring out of the box to slip it onto her outstretched hand.
The ring slides onto her slim finger perfectly and shimmers up at him from its spot there. “Do you like it? If you don’t, we can go back to the store and-“
“Did you pick it out?” She cuts him off and he nods with a shy smile. “Then I love it. I can’t picture anything else as perfect as this. I can’t picture anyone as perfect as you.”
And as she leans in and kisses him softly, all he can think about is, She said yes.
Chapter End Notes:
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Story Tags: phonesex boyfriendjc showersex jc producerjc
