For the first month of our relationship, everything felt blissful. I barely thought about the whole fame thing because as long as we were together it didn't matter. The amount of time we spent together that first month was bordering on excessive. I'd never had a relationship with someone where being with them didn't feel like a chore. It was scary and exhilarating all at the same time.

One weekend Estelle had to go home for a family event that she spent the entire week before complaining about, so Chris and I had the whole apartment to ourselves. I spent that entire Friday morning cleaning the apartment before he got there. I still wanted to hold up the image that I was a well put together adult. I had even planned out a dinner for us to make together to boost my girlfriend points. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on my pristine living room Chris buzzed up from the front door. "I have arrived bearing gifts." His voice crackled through the speaker.

"Oh, what is it?"

"It's a surprise." He laughed. "Buzz me in and you'll find out."

"Fine, I guess." I joked and let him inside. When I opened the door he was standing outside with flowers and a bottle of wine.

"I know its cliche but it felt fitting for our first official weekend together."

I laughed and pulled him inside. "I love it, cliches and all." I gave him a kiss and lead him inside.

"You know, this place feels a lot different without Estelle eyeing me down the whole time."

I laughed, taking the flowers from him and walked into the kitchen to find a vase. "She's just very protective. Kind of like a dog, she has to sniff you out before she can really trust you."

"I guess it's a good thing I always remember deodorant." He joked.

"I think I just physically cringed at that joke."

"They can't all be winners I guess."

We opened the bottle of wine and talked for a while before deciding we should probably start cooking before it got too late. 

"So, what is on the menu for this evening?" He asked. 

"All right, so this might have been an ambitious choice on my part," I started, pulling up the recipe on my laptop, "but I thought spaghetti carbonara would be a good idea." 

"You picked the perfect meal for me to showcase my Italianness." He joked and got up from his seat to start collecting all the ingredients with me. We didn't talk a whole lot while we were cooking, but it was a comfortable silence. I let him take over for a while while I drank my wine. "You're doing a lot of staring over there." He winked at me.

"Just admiring the view." I joked. "I'm really starting to understand why casting directors love you." He laughed and returned to cooking leaving me to admire him once again. 

After dinner, we sat on the couch watching tv. It was so domestic and I never thought I'd really be into that sort of thing, but with him it felt so right. I turned to look at him and caught him looking back at me. "Whatcha looking at there?"

"Just you." He said. There was something in his eyes and I could tell exactly what he wanted.

"Well," I said leaning into the moment, "do you like what you see?"

"Oh, I do." He paused the tv and leaned back to me, gingerly placing a kiss on my neck. He whispered into my neck, "I definitely do," and I felt goosebumps form all over my body. I placed my hand on his jaw and guided his face back up to mine. I hovered my lips over his for a second just to tease him but he wasn't having any of it and quickly pressed his lips against mine. He started gently then separated my lips with his tongue. I knew he was a great kisser but this was so much more intense. He grabbed my leg and pulled me so I was straddling him on the couch. His hands quickly found their way to my ass. The man knew what he liked. 

"Before we get too carried away," I said as I pulled back for a moment. "Estelle would kill me if we had sex on this couch."

He chuckled a bit. "Point taken." He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around him as he made his way to my room.

*****

I woke up the next morning to sunlight streaming through the blinds in my room. Chris had his arm draped over my side and I could feel his chest rising and falling slowly. Trying not to wake him up, I turned slowly to face him. The sunlight fell gently on his face and if it was possible he was even cuter while he slept. It felt like I was in a movie. He started to shift a little and opened his eyes slowly. He smiled and brushed my hair away from my face. "Goodmorning babe." His voice was hoarse from sleep. 

"Morning." I said and placed my hand on his chest as he pulled me closer to him. "How does breakfast sound?"

"Maybe we could lay here for a while longer. You're just so nice to wake up to." I nestled into his chest in agreement. The feeling I had in that moment is hard to describe but I'm pretty sure that was the moment I really started to fall in love with him. I never stopped falling for him but I'm pretty sure that's where it started. 

We finally decided it was time to get out of bed and actually be people. I threw on some clothes and made my way to the kitchen to make us some breakfast. As I grabbed the eggs from the fridge he came out from the bedroom in sweatpants, no shirt. Even when he didn't try he looked amazing. "My own personal chef, I could get used to this."

"I don't know if chef is the right word to use here but I appreciate the sentiment." I smiled at him as I started cooking.

"Well, what can I do to pull my weight here?"

"If you wanna boil some water for tea that would be perfect."

"Yes chef." He said and kissed my cheek. Domesticity looked good on him.

That day we barely left the apartment. Having each other's company was really all we needed. Chris had told me a while ago that he would have to leave soon to start filming for a new project so having as much time together as possible seemed to be the most important thing at the time. While we were sitting on the couch my phone buzzed but I chose not to answer it. Then it buzzed four more times after that and Chris picked it up and handed it to me. "Seems kind of important." I sighed and took the phone from him. I had gotten five messages from my brother. 

Mason

Hey

Are you busy right now?

I need to talk to you!

LAUREL!!!

ASAP!!!

"Who is it?" He asked clearly curious.

"My brother. He's freaking out about something," I said rolling my eyes. Mason had a flare for drama. "I'm gonna call him really fast and see what's up." I got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

Mason picked up almost immediately. "So is there something you've been neglecting to tell me?"

"Hello to you too, Mason." I laughed.

"Yes, hello. I love you. Are you dating Chris Evans?"

I paused for a second. "What?"

"Mom sent me a picture of a magazine she saw at the grocery and it's so obviously you sitting with him." I didn't know what to say. My heart sank. This was the one thing I had hoped wouldn't happen, but it did. And so fucking soon too. "You still there?"

"Yeah, sorry." Chris had turned his attention over to me and could tell something was wrong. "Do you think we could talk about this later? I'm a little busy right now."

He could tell that I was getting worked up and knew not to push it. "Yeah of course. Call me when you're free." We said goodbye and hung up. I left my phone on the counter and sat back down with Chris. 

"Are you okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah, it's fine." I tried to say it casually but it didn't work.

"You wanna tell me what's actually going on?"

I didn't want it to ruin our moment but it seemed like it already had. "Apparently my mom saw a picture of us together in a magazine."

Chris paused for a second trying to think of the best way to go about this. "Laurel I'm so sorry I honestly didn't think people would jump onto this so fast."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault." I tried to sound as reassuring as possible, but I'm not sure it worked.

"Yeah, but I know that this is what you were worried about and I just wish I could've done something about it." He looked genuinely upset about this. The last thing he wanted was for me to feel like my privacy was gone. 

As much as what Mason told me freaked me out, I wasn't gonna let it ruin this. I cared about Chris. I cared so much it was overwhelming. "It's okay. I can get over it and I'm not gonna let this fuck up what we have."

I felt his tension ease a little. "Are you sure?" He asked. 

"Of course." 

I meant it.