Carter P.O.V.

I had the most incredible time. The best trip of all time. I was completely elated, floating high up in the sky, I could probably fly. Damn. That rhymed. Look at me being all lovey dovey, rhyming and shit. Maybe I should write a song? I chuckled.

Val was always up for doing anything; all the adventurous things like the ropes course and the ATV'ing, but she was also interested in learning about culture and we obviously both really enjoyed the ocean. Not to mention we had a lot of really, really mind-blowing sex. It was amazing. I had definitely hit the jackpot. She never ceased to amaze me with everything that made up her beautiful personality. We were so compatible.

The best part though? Was that she told me she loved me too. I was pretty nervous, but at the same time I really had to fucking say it. It was kinda eating me up, there were so many moments where I almost blurted it out casually.

Is this what it feels like to be in love? Really in love? Cause if it were, I needed to find a way to bottle this shit up and sell it. It could bring about world peace. No, really. My heart was pounding and I was always blushing and laughing and smiling... it felt like I was on top of the world. I think I'm the happiest I've ever been.

I fell asleep once I got home for a while, before I began to unpack. After having something to eat for lunch, I decided to go through some of the footage I got whilst we were overseas. I didn't film too much, since I really wanted to be in the moment.

My phone buzzed as I got a post notification from instagram. I swiped my phone to see what Valerie had posted.

dreaming of our next getaway 🌴🌏💖

God, she's cute. I liked it immediately before dropping a comment.

"✈️💓"

Simple. With a content smile, I proceeded to finish off browsing the footage. I should definitely upload another photo. I had to have at least two of the resort itself, with one including me in it, and not just scenery. I selected one to edit, tagging the resort company in the photo and added a location before uploading. I'll stash all the others for later dates to post.

My phone began to ring as I relaxed in bed. It was my manager.

"Hey Carter! How was your trip?"

"Hey Trev, yeah it was amazing! You should definitely check it out whenever you can," I chuckled.

"That's good! Yeah I will! Look I'm sorry to bother you so soon after your vacation but I have some paperwork I need you to get Valerie to sign."

"No it's all good. Oh what is it?"

"Just legal stuff for your merch. We can't go ahead until she signs off on her designs. She's the one that drew all those sketches right?"

"Yeah she did. Okay I'll ask her to do it tomorrow, if you wanna send over the deets before then. She's out at the moment."

"Okay sweet. Glad you had a good time Carter, see you later."

"Thanks, bye!" I hung up.

~

I got up the next morning and printed out the forms Trev had emailed me before giving Valerie a call. She didn't pick up. I looked at the time before remembering- she probably had to go back to work today. Hm, I'll have to try again later, or wait for her to ring me back. I decided to hit the gym and go for a jog instead, then caught up on some work as well.

I waited for a few more hours, before glancing at the time. It was well past when she usually finished working on Mondays, so I decided I'd give her another ring. No answer once again. I wonder what she's up to? I decided to send her a text instead.

Hey Val 😊 can I come over?

I have some stuff for you to

sign regarding the merch

The three dots in a bubble popped up, before it disappeared. I paused as I waited for her text to come up. It didn't. After a few minutes, the bubbles started up again.

Okay

Not thinking too much of the reply, I grabbed the papers, my keys, wallet and phone to head on over.

"Hey gorgeous," I smiled coming over to wrap my arms around her in a hug. She stiffened at the contact a little, before patting me on the back. That was weird.

"Hey," she said quietly, before shutting the door.

"You okay?" I asked her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and her very lacklustre behaviour.

"Yeah, um just tired I guess," she mumbled, walking over to sit at the dining table.

"Aww, we can take a nap if you want after?" I said as I followed her.

"So what do I have to sign?" Val asked bluntly with a blank stare. I frowned, she seemed really off. I brushed it aside, she was probably really tired and out of it. Like she said.

"Oh yeah, just some agreements saying that I have full permission to use your intellectual property on my merchandise, and that you have no right to claim any interests from the sales of such." I explained briefly, as I spread out the forms. She studied business, so I'm sure she would understand it easily. Val nodded silently as she skimmed over the three pages. "But, we do have a cheque for you to compensate for your work, and you need to sign off that you agree to selling it."

"What no? It's fine, I was just helping," she shook her head at me.

"No Valerie, really I want you to have it. It's just not in me to ask you to do work for nothing, even if you were just trying to help me out. Besides this technically counts as professional work for all the styling and design stuff you're into," I smiled.

She turned her head to look at me, with a little crease between her brows, her lips turned down at the corners. "I-" she took a deep sigh, "Okay..." She grabbed a pen and began to sign her name where all the blank spaces were, adding in the date as necessary.

"Thank you," I beamed. "This is for you." I handed her an envelope with her name on it.

She slid it open, before pulling out the cheque. Her eyes widened. "Carter! This is $2000. I barely did anything!"

"That's a reasonable price generally for artists, especially since it's a tiny portion of the projected sales profit... and I may have inflated that commission rate a little bit..." I admitted with a sheepish laugh. What? The less time she spent at Bean Crushers, the more time she could spend with me. Plus I may have been bias.

She put the piece of paper down, before putting her head in her hands and groaned. "This is too much."

She stayed in that position for a couple moments longer, looking distraught. Valerie really doesn't seem okay.

"Hey..." I reached out to touch her arm. She broke away from her position, causing my hand to fall loose. What's going on with her? "I can change it if it's making you really unhappy." I said concernedly.

"No it's fine. Just, I'm just gonna go to sleep okay. Alone. I just want to be alone right now," she said getting up from the table.

I stared at her confusedly as she started collecting all the pieces of paper together before handing it over to me. I took them from her hands and placed them back on the table before standing up to come over to her.

How did we go from having the time of our lives together to being so... detached?

"Val, are you sure you're alright?" I asked her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

I took in her features, as I cupped her face in my hands. Her eyes looked full of emotion as her forehead creased with lines and her lips settled into a small frown. I could see her mind churning with something.

"Talk to me," I whispered softly.

Her glaze flickered to mine for a split second, before she looked down and grabbed onto my hands to remove them from her. Okay. That kind of stung.

"I don't want to do this right now," she mumbled, before turning away to run to her bedroom.

There she was.

Running again.

I stood frozen in my spot as I contemplated what to do. I should definitely go after her. I had to. But? What if this is what she needs? Some space? I don't know what was going on with her but maybe this is her way of saying she needs time? I don't know.

I can see why they say that love fucking hurts. Because seeing her like this hurts, and seeing her push me away hurts.

I heard the door click shut, like a nail in a coffin.

I picked up the forms as I let myself out, driving home in a crestfallen state. Maybe this is what she needs to cope at the moment, I reminded myself. With a big sigh, I sent her a message to let her know I care.

I love you