Valerie P.O.V.

The next few days went by blissfully as Carter and I went on a picnic 'date' on the beach. I thought it was a date, at least. He expertly ploughed a bright yellow beach umbrella into the sand, whilst I stood there watching him like a creeper. Don't blame me! It was super hot seeing him doing some manual labour. He also packed a massive beach towel that could fit both of us onto it comfortably and a small picnic basket filled with mini salad rolls, Kombucha and chocolate-covered strawberries that I devoured whole-heartedly.

Carter had a pair of sunnies on his face, as well as a hat in an attempt to not be spotted by fans. Shaking my head, I laughed at him and said that it was still a little obvious as to who he was. He simply chuckled and said that he wanted to try give me his full attention today without being interrupted like we were a few times last weekend. I didn't mind the disturbances too much, I either took pictures for them, or I was the random friend that stood to the side pretty much as they fawned all over him.

"Thankyou, Carter." I smiled genuinely. It was really nice to hear that he wanted to make the most of our time together. He was surprisingly quite sweet.

"Of course Val, I want to spend time with you," he responded, like it was no big deal. I don't remember the last time I felt like someone wanted me. I guess my face fell, as I became enveloped in my thoughts about New York, because he soon frowned and nudged me with his elbow.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Oh uh nothing," I shot back quickly and plastered on a smile.

He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "...You sure?"

"Mhmm," I nodded. "Nothing... nothing concerning." I convinced him. I wanted to make the most of our time together too, and keep my past, in the past.

We sat there people-watching, making up random background stories for them. The stupidest one, was about a woman who had lost her memory after being hypnotised by a monkey in the African jungles and is now dedicating her time to teach the seagulls how to attack and steal people's food, before going home to watch crime documentaries in her nudist cat cave. All she had really been doing though, was throwing her fries to the birds. We both laughed at the ridiculous story both our twisted minds put together. I'm glad I made the decision to stop being scared and finally open myself up to being with him, it felt so good. All is well, for now.

~

On one of my days off work, Ell had invited me to come on set with her again where she would be doing a promotional photoshoot for the show. A blank white canvas had been put up for the shoot as well as a huge lighting setup, with multiple crew members running around busily. I watched as Ell got her hair and makeup done before heading for wardrobe to get changed and then onto the set. Ell moved fluidly through different poses, looking like a total natural as the photographer snapped away.

"Hmmm no, this doesn't really feel like her character. I'm not getting the right aesthetic!" one of the production managers exclaimed as he looked through one of the monitors, halting everyone's movements.

"Can you put her in something else?" he turned to one of the stylists.

"Well I think you need to remove the scarf, and then just undo one of her buttons. That'd make her look a little more chic without overdoing it." I piped up unexpectedly from my position at the back. All heads in the room swerved towards me with curiosity and apprehension. Oh woops. Should I have not said anything?

The stylist squinted at me inquisitively with a hand on his chin, before nodding his head. "Darling, you have a good eye," he commented approvingly. Phew! He proceeded to then fix up Ellana's outfit before they resumed shooting.

"Oh yes much better!" the production manager shouted with glee. I smiled to myself and gave myself an invisible pat on the back. Piece of cake. I've been helping Ellana with clothing tips for so long now, it was easy to identify things that worked. Also, nearly everything looked great on her, so there was that.

"My name's Julian," the stylist came over to introduce himself to me with a smile.

"I'm Valerie," I smiled back, shaking the hand he offered.

"Come with me darling, I have this other piece that I feel is a little off," he motioned with his hand before quickly striding off. Without a second to think, I followed behind him to see what he needed. We headed back to the main wardrobe area where he pulled out a dark, suit ensemble and asked for my opinion.

"Hmm, I definitely think a printed dress shirt would work better," I suggested after analysing the outfit.

"You're right!" he pointed a finger at me with a hand on his hip. "It was definitely lacking a little something- something," he nodded as we proceeded to look through the racks for the right patterns.

"What do you do Valerie, my dear? You have quite the talent," he asked me with a raised eyebrow, after selecting another dress shirt to replace the one in the current suit.

"I go to college for business," I shrugged.

"Well honey, if that don't work out, you should think about being a stylist." He said with a wink as he pulled out one of his business cards and handed it to me.

I graciously accepted and returned to the photoshoot. Me? A stylist? I'd never thought about that before. Huh...

~

Today, Carter and I were going to stop by some house and home style stores, as well as Target, so I could pick out some décor to spruce up his apartment. It was like a free shopping trip, and I wasn't gonna say no to that!

"Did you ever ride in one of these as a kid?" Carter asked me with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"No, my parents never really came here." I shook my head and laughed at the thought of my mom pushing around a bright red shopping cart in a department chain store. As if.

"What?!" his eyes widened, "Come on, sit in the front of the cart and dangle your legs over the edge!" he demanded enthusiastically.

"Omg, no Carter!" I protested. Completely ignoring me, he proceeded to pick me up and put me in the cart like a child, before running off to an emptier part of the store to avoid the employees. I can't remember the last time I felt so high on life; laughing without a care in the world as he raced me down the aisles, drifting around the corners and almost knocking over a display stand.

After grabbing a multitude of cushions in all sorts of patterns and textures, a few fake plants, random knick-knacks and some photo frames, we came back to Carter's so I could do my thing.

"It looks so much better now! You're pretty good at that y'know." Carter stated as he observed the finished look on his apartment. "Thanks babe." he grinned.

"Eh, it's nothing really, just balancing the right shapes, colours and textures," I shrugged with a smile as I went to flick through some movies we could watch.

I was cuddled up on the sofa in the living room with him, half-way through watching but unable to concentrate.

"Mm Carter, stop that," I said aloud. He had his hand on my thigh, absentmindedly drawing patterns against my skin.

"Stop what?" he mumbled quietly, eyes still focussed on the TV screen. I put my hand on top of his to halt the motion, giving him a stern look.

"Oh, why? Is it turning you on?" he smirked at me, drawing his hand further up my thigh and down again.

"No." I answered all too quickly.

"Your voice goes up one whole octave when you lie Valerie."

He placed a small kiss below my ear, on the side of my jaw, and to the very corner of my mouth, teasing me slowly as my breathing grew shallow. Unable to resist, I placed one hand where his shoulders joined the slope of his neck, before I gave in and pressed our lips together. He responded willingly, firmly caressing my lips with his, igniting an onslaught of sparks throughout me. His hands trailed from my thigh up to my hips and squeezed tenderly. I moved my other hand to hold the side of his face, feeling the minor stubble beneath my fingertips. A soft gasp left me as he slipped his tongue in, deepening the sensation of the kiss.

He started to lower my body onto the sofa, climbing over the top of me as we kissed passionately, feeling the full length of his body over mine. His hands slipped underneath my top in the gap where it had ridden up, gently exploring the exposed skin as I moaned in response. Heat rose from every inch of where our skin touched as our lips moved together.

I wrapped my legs around his torso and dragged my nails down his back as he began to kiss and suck on the sensitive spot by my neck. I felt his member slowly hardening against me, as a deep rumble sounded from the back of his throat in pleasure at my squirming body beneath him. I tugged at the hem of his shirt, prompting him to break away and pull it over his head, before connecting our lips together once again in a fiery rush. I stroked my fingertips along his chest and delicious abs, tracing up and down the V line and low across the waistband of his pants, causing him to shudder from my touch.

"Fuck Val," he gasped and drew back, running his hands through his hair. "We shouldn't keep going, I know you're not ready for that."

I closed my eyes deeply, trying to calm myself before nodding. "Yeah, you're right, we should stop. I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have anything to be sorry about at all, okay?" he said reassuringly, as he put his shirt back on and helped me up to a sitting position again.

We finished off the movie and sat there with my head on his shoulder for a short while, before the ending credits came to a close.

"What would you be doing if you didn't have this life right now Carter?" I questioned him out of the blue, toying with the hand he had swung around my shoulder.

"Hmm, well I got started when I was around 17 so I guess at that age I had no idea really. But now when I think about it, I would have liked to do something adventurous. Like a travel guide maybe," he shrugged.

"Well that is sort of like what you do now, you get to travel often, that's pretty amazing. I'd love to experience more of the world," I turned my head to smile up at him.

"Yeah, that's true, I've been so lucky. Even more so after meeting you," he grinned back at me, tickling my sides a little. I giggled and pushed him away playfully.

"That was so cheesy!" I shook my head, as we both burst out laughing.

"So what about you?" He nudged me in the side. "What are your plans after college?"

I chewed on my lip. "I'm not really sure. I guess... I could work for my family, but that's never been my thing. My brother Will excels at his job there though."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Honestly Val, there's no rush. I guess whenever you figure it out, you figure it out and go for that. There's no point in doing something you don't like just for the sake of doing something that doesn't benefit you in any way."

"Yeah, you're right. I do enjoy my business classes... it's just such a broad field, I'm not exactly sure where to go from there."

He smiled, placing an arm on my shoulders. "Well, whatever you decide to do, I know you'll be great at it. And I'll be there to support you."

I couldn't hold back the gigantic beam gracing my face upon hearing those words. "Yeah?" I whispered quietly.

"Of course. You can't get rid of me that easy."

I hope so.