Valerie P.O.V.

I woke up to the sweet scent of musk, mixed with an earthy sandalwood. My bed was extra warm and toasty today I noticed, as I snuggled further into it.

Wait.

Why is it moving?

A muscled arm pulled me in tighter around the waist, as I felt the deep rhythmic breathing of a body behind me. Oh my god.

Carter!

I squirmed a little in his hold, awakening him from his slumber. "Morning beautiful," he murmured sleepily into the crook of my neck.

"Morning..." I turned around to see his gorgeous rugged face, my hands itching to move some of the hair falling down in his eyes.

"I fell asleep last night, sorry," he looked at me apologetically. Gosh, his morning voice had me weak.

I sat up to look down at my current attire. Bikini and Carter's T-shirt. So... it wasn't some magical hallucination last night. I wandered my eyes around the room I was currently in. It was spacious, modern and quite clean, there wasn't much décor really. A TV mounted the wall opposite the bed, and a small desk and computer was tucked in the corner with bits of camera equipment and a couple of books strewn across it. The only indication that I knew this was Carter's room, was the fact that he had a piece of fan art with his name hung up above the computer desk.

"No, it's okay, I just forgot where I was," I laughed nervously, running my hands through my long, messy hair.

"Mhmm, you were kinda drunk," he teased, as he stretched his arms and leaned up onto the large bed frame.

"I'm mortified." I winced, slapping my hands onto my face to hide and shrank back further into the bed, as if it would do me a favour and swallow me whole.

"You're full of surprises," he chuckled before getting off the bed and grabbed my hands to drag me out as well. "Come on, a shower will make you feel better. I'll get you a towel and there should be a spare toothbrush in the top drawer."

After about 20 minutes of drowning my sorrows in the soothing hot water, I felt clean and refreshed, I even smelt a little like Carter. Bonus. I had no choice but to wear my shorts and bikini again, alongside another one of Carter's T-shirts that I tried to roll up and tie in a knot for a better fit. The smell of pancakes wafted throughout the apartment, luring me to its source. There stood a freshly showered Carter, flipping delicious fluffy goodness at the stove. Wow.

"Hungry?" he grinned at my mouth-watering expression. I might as well have the heart-eye emoji plastered permanently all over my face.

"Yes! it smells so good," I basically drooled as I sat down on a stool by the kitchen bench.

He served up two stacks of pancakes before whipping out some butter, maple syrup and some berries, handing me a knife and fork along with it. Biting into my first piece, I let out a moan of appreciation.

"These taste amazing!" I said in a muffled voiced due to the large mouthful of pancakes I had shoved in there.

"Thankyou," he beamed before wiping the corner of my mouth of some syrup. We smiled at each other for a second before I looked down and blushed.

He can't be real.

After finishing up breakfast in each other's company, I helped Carter clean up the area before stacking the dishes in the washer. This felt nice. So comfortable. So domestic. So routinely intimate... and it hit me. We were growing close, and fast. I had barely enough time to register and sort through the feelings I felt towards him. Were we friends, friends with benefits, in a relationship? All I knew, was that maybe I should give us some distance.

"Thanks for... for everything. You know, I um, should get going now, I mean Ell should be home soon, and I could just catch an Uber back and then text her... and yeah so... uh, its fine, I'm just gonna..." I blabbered on looking down at the floor.

Just as I turned around to leave, he gripped my wrist and pulled me towards him unexpectedly.

"Hey," Carter whispered, tilting my chin up with his thumb and forefinger to look directly into my eyes. "You're always running away from me Val," he said with a frown.

"I..." My voice caught in my throat. "Sorry." I sighed guiltily. I was.

His thumb brushed my cheek softly as he slowly leaned in. My heart was beating against my chest as his hand slipped to the base of my neck, tilting my head closer to his. My eyes fluttered close as he brought his lips down on mine so painstakingly slowly. His lips this time were soft and sweet, gently brushing mine as if he was testing the waters. I succumbed to the feeling and slowly kissed him back as his other arm snaked around my waist and pulled me closer, my hands pushing up against his chest. This was mind-blowingly euphoric.

As the hard ridges of his body pressed against my soft curves, the kiss deepened and quickly turned heated. His tongue darted out a few times, seeking entrance to mine. I allowed him to pass as we explored the intimate parts of each other. It felt like every sense in my body exploded as he devoured me in his arms. I ran my hands along his chest and broad shoulders to the base of his neck, satisfied by the feeling of our touch. A fire woke inside me after being dormant for so long. His hands travelled up and down my waist as he kissed me with fervent need. I tugged my fingers through the silky strands of his hair, earning a low groan from him in response. Heat pooled in my belly as he gripped my thighs and hoisted me up, wrapping my legs around his waist for some stability. He strode forward, suddenly pushing me up against the door.

"Carter," I softly moaned as I felt him kiss my jaw and make his way down to my neck, sucking and biting. It's like I couldn't think, every single nerve was fried and I was thrown into a deep dark pit of thoughts involving only him. My hands roamed his solid upper body, as his lips moved back to mine and shot sparks throughout me. I wanted to strip him and let him do whatever he wanted to me. Realising this thought, I immediately snapped out of the haze I was in and pulled back from the kiss. With his forehead leaning down on mine, we both struggled to control our heavy breathing for a short while.

"Too much, too soon?" he whispered lowering me down from his hold.

I nodded looking down at the floor. "I, um... I've only been with one person before, but that was a long time ago... and I don't really... I, I can't- " I admitted.

"It's okay, I understand," he spoke quietly, tenderly tucking a strand of hair away behind my ear, causing me to look up to him. "Sorry I got carried away."

"No, me too," I whispered back.

We stared into each other's eyes for a few moments longer before he slowly reached out to take my hand in his. "Spend time with me today Val. I can give you a ride home to change if you want. Let me take you out."

I pondered over his words for a moment, before taking a deep calming breath. I needed to stop being so afraid and let myself live.

"Okay," I agreed hesitantly, crossing my fingers and hoping this turns out well.

After an amazing evening where I went to the movies and out to dinner with Carter (I'm impressed he remembered I said I wanted to go see Night School), I was floating on cloud nine. He let me pick whatever I wanted, buying us a large caramel popcorn and slushie to share. I felt like a kid again and nothing in this world was going to break my smile. It was perfect. Things felt a little easier finally allowing myself to allow the connection we had between us to fall in place naturally. We never ran out of things to talk about. I found out more about his family and background, as he did mine. There were still parts of me deep down however, that I feared there was a chance I could just be a game to him. I hope I wasn't. I hope this is real.

~

On my day off, I decided to do some wardrobe organisation and cleanout now that summer had arrived.

"Hey Ell do you have to be on set today?" I asked my best friend who was currently lying in bed flicking through a magazine.

"Nope I'm free. What's up?" she closed the magazine and sat up cross-legged.

"Wanna go shopping? We need to do groceries as well I think." I wanted to shop for some new clothes, I was definitely lacking a few essential pieces. Plus, I had the extra cash from working more shifts at Bean Crushers.

"Always!" Ell said as she jumped up from her position and grabbed her purse. "Don't forget the green bags!"

Ell and I hit up the mall and spent a good three hours browsing and trying on a million different items. I got my exam results back a little earlier and I'm happy to say that I've maintained my 3.6 GPA, so I allowed myself to splurge a little. Treat yo' self! I ended up spending $230. In my defence, I got a big return from my investment. I purchased a cute pair of Quay sunglasses (they were on sale!), a mustard yellow mini dress with tie up straps, a strapless romper, a few crop tops, a pair of white denim short shorts and a pair of linen culottes. I know, I know. I did good. This is what I like to call a success.

We proceeded to cook vege stir-fry noodles for dinner together once we got home, and had a little girl's night in.

"Oh my gosh look at these Val!" Ellana squealed holding her phone out to me, as I shifted in my seat to get a better look.

"Oh cool!" Sommer had just posted a three-part series of the photos she had taken about two weeks ago. She was right. The lighting was absolutely perfect in them.

"Hey you're getting a ton of notifications right now," I looked at her in surprise, as she turned her phone back around to see what it was.

"Wow this is crazy, my follower count just jumped up a few thousand!" Ell exclaimed and went to show me her phone again. Ell had an impressive 35K which built up in the few small acting gigs and commercials she was a part of. She was sure to gain a ton more when her first episode on The Chase is aired.

"That's awesome Ell!" I took out my phone from my pocket and opened up Instagram so I could look through some more and like them. Just like with Ell, an influx of notifications popped up on my screen leaving me quite dumbfounded. I only had a thousand or so, mostly due to the fact I was in some of Ell's pictures, because let's face it. I was kind of a loner and pretty lazy with posting. Now though, there was a solid 4K and climbing. This was crazy!

I scrolled through Sommer's profile, where I saw a few more pics of her friends at the party, and one where I was with the girls. I didn't stick out like a sore thumb, credits to Sommer for that one!

Then there it was.

Butterflies filled my stomach as I spotted the photo she had taken of Carter and I, where we were both tagged. Our side profiles were visible as he stared down at me, the sunlight bouncing off his silhouette as I leaned up to him, looking deeply into his eyes. A few inches closer, and we would resemble two lovers soon to indulge in a heart-stopping kiss.

Wow.