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After his stunt of bringing you out on dates for a whole weekend consecutively out of his awareness of not being as romantic as he thought he should be, you and Cove take a break from all the grandiose(in both your definitions—being together was fun as it is already, anything more than that was something you both considered too much) hangouts and revert back to the familiar staying-over-at-each-other’s-houses type of dates(which Cove only recently confirmed for himself that were actual dates—he wasn’t sure if it counted as one to you, after all) three weeks later because the comfort was like no other, and comfort was one of the biggest factors you both considered but to a different context.
You both wanted the best for each other, not mainly for yourselves, which was why the two of you were so hell-bent on deciding which house to prepare for the night: yours of Cove’s. After much panic-induced planning and soothing your boyfriend that times like these were normal for couples who truly love communicating with each other as form of love language, Cove’s house was chosen and you were lucky Cliff was nice enough to let you two have it to yourselves for the night.
So with everything finally settled and the only thing to do was to put the plan into motion, the cozy date night commenced the moment your hands knocked on the Holden residence—a surprise for both you and Cove, as both of you were used to just barging in this specific house like you owned the place(Cove does, but Cliff and his son made it seem like you were so at home as well)—and it took only a breath for the door to swing open and your boyfriend, Cove Holden, was there in all his cute and lovable glory all for you to smooch and cuddle with.
And smooch and cuddle you did. Or rather, you glomped on the man and peppered his face with kisses as if you’d just returned from the military. Your ‘military wife’, in this case, wasn’t all too shocked anymore with your advances, getting used to it the more often you did it, but it was cute nonetheless that he wasn’t as embarrassed anymore of getting your affections out in the public(as if Sunset Bird wasn’t a quaint place by the ocean and only almost a dozen households live here) and was even reciprocating in his own way: holding you securely in his arms—strong enough to twirl you as if you two really hadn’t seen each other literally yesterday—and refusing to pull away first from your kisses, as if challenging you to do it first because there was no way he would let you go.
There was just so much love into both of you that let loose every time you saw each other, as if the latch had been pulled off and you were free to gaze and hold on to your man just as he was with you and he wouldn’t step away from the intensity of your love just like you wouldn’t blink at the level of his.
With his serotonin levels boosted upon your arrival, you finally step in the Holden residence after he settles you down and invites you in. The familiar scent of the ocean everywhere—with both son and father being absolute ocean geeks it shouldn’t really be surprising, the men would live underwater if they could—but there were a few new things you’d noticed upon entering: there were two similar game consoles, wires extending to the television screen, and snacks all in display on both the kitchen counter and the table.
Cove wasn’t one to play console games; you and Derek were the ones who had that common point in the friend group and you made up for Cove not relating to it by making time for both boys, now with two different hobbies and two people to do each of the pastimes with. Your boyfriend, who’d only been bestfriend at the time, never showed a hint that he felt out of place whenever Derek was around, and you’d made sure to do things the three of you would like than to leave someone out—knowing fully well just how saddening any child would be to left out what with your firsthand experiences with Shiloh and Liz in the past.
So to see the familiar consoles of Derek’s on the table made you wonder if Cove was just trying to be polite and not show his jealousy way back then. But after knowing you for ten years now, Cove likes to think he knows you like the back of his hand—and he does. “I borrowed his game set for us to try and play together—I never really bothered with them before but I’d like all my firsts with you.” is what he says without you needing to say your thoughts were running a mile a minute. And only with his reassurance does your mind settle with ease, just like he knows it would: and it warms his heart how he could calm you just as well as you could calm him in either his fears or his tears.
The mention of another first spent with you makes your cheeks turn red. Cove never talked in such floral language like your one-time neighbor Baxter, but he sure does make your heart flutter with his honest to heart manner of speaking. There was no need for scrutiny on his words, and it was laid bare for you to ingest without hesitation.
What you don’t know is that even with all that honesty, your boyfriend still has many secrets he never ever wants you to know. Like, for instance, his heart being on fire whenever you were near. As passionate as he was with you always, your love was so fierce that it was both mesmerizing and terrifying for Cove—not in the sense that he wanted to flee from the fire, but in a way that he wanted to know the root cause of your burning flames and the way it scorches any doubts you have of being with him, as hard to be with as he is(in his opinion, at least)—that it heats up the cold rush of water no matter how deep he dives.
He experiences your flame again in the form of happiness, both of you playing the racing game Derek’s mentioned a couple times to be played with his family every game night. Having only his father and you to hang out with during a supposed game night, Cove hadn’t related to Derek at the time when his friend had said that the more players there were, the merrier the game would be. To him, seeing you right now basking in your obvious victory over him, was worth any playmate he’d have now, and in the next ten years. His eyes never once looked at the television, your happiness far more entertaining to him than any digital imagery.
You don’t notice his very obvious gaze, the rush of gaming all to familiar, and the feeling of being competitive coming back to you like a second nature, but Cove doesn’t mind. He’d much rather see you so happy with him especially when he’s the one factor that causes your happiness. It really does ignite his own flame when he sees you likes this, so he hopes his body temperature doesn’t make him chicken out and not reveal the box in his pocket. That would be an embarrassing story for his dad when he finds out that all that planning and he still hasn’t proposed with the ring that’s been sitting in his pockets for over three weeks.