Chase's POV

Diego's ex-boyfriend was right. Diego is clingy, immature and annoying while he's sick.

However, I would phrase it as him loving extra cuddles, wanting to be taken care of and being an adorable attention seeker.

For the past week I've slept over at Diego's house and taken care of him. I cooked, cleaned, did the laundry, gave him lots of massages and made sure he took his medicine. Diego didn't make it easy. He usually wouldn't lie down without me being near him or without resting his head in my lap. I ended up feeding him most of his food and I kept having to stop him from drinking coffee.

He literally became a big baby, my big baby. He was adorable and I actually loved every second of taking care of him.

Despite all his acting out, he comforted me whenever I returned upset from preparing for the trial, ensured that I completed the work I was assigned and that I worked on my script.

One night after he'd fallen asleep, I stayed up late to finish something for my boss and I fell asleep at the desk in his room. Diego carried me to bed and tucked me in, then ordered me breakfast in the morning so I wouldn't have to cook. So I can't say only I took care of him this past week, because he took care of me too, just like he always does.

"Ummm I'm going to miss seeing you walking around in nothing but my hoodies," Diego says, eyeing me as I put on my pants.

I've gotten a lot more comfortable with Diego seeing me naked, though I still sometimes get shy and ask him not to look. I also think wearing his hoodies has become a new obsession of mine because whenever I come over to his place, I always wear them.

"That was a limited time edition," I tease and stick my tongue out at him, causing him to laugh lightly.

"Where are you taking me for our date?" Diego inquires, putting on his shirt.

I walk over to where he's perched on the edge of the desk and peck his lips. "You'll find out when we get there."

"It has to be a camping trip," he muses, and I can hear the excitement in his voice.

"DiDi get dressed, you'll find out soon!" I say, squishing his cheeks together.

We're finally going on the date which I planned before Diego got sick. Now that he has a clean bill of health, a hike and camping is the perfect thing for us to do today. The sun is out, the sky is blue and we skipped exercise for a week so I'm really excited to work out our muscles.

I peck Diego's squished lips and quickly put on my sneakers before heading to the kitchen.

Diego and I got up early to make food for lunch and to take on the date. In hindsight we should have spent some time in bed before we started cooking, but instead we put the pasta to boil then couldn't keep our hands off each other since we showed restraint for the whole week while Diego was sick. The result was lots of pleasure for both of us, but pasta that was so burnt, we might have to throw out the pot. Luckily we didn't burn the house down, but we've learnt our mistake.

We made a second pot of pasta which Diego ate before we left, while I had mostly a plate of vegetables and some chicken breast. We also prepared some other food and snacks for us to take with us.

Esmée called while we were preparing the second time around, and we spoke to her for a while before I called Jesse to see how his trip with Bryan was going, and he told us that it was going great and they should be back the day after tomorrow.

Once I'm finished packing my backpack, I check the side pocket of the bag to make sure I have the couple rings.

"What do you have there, little lamb?" Diego inquires from behind me.

I shriek and the box flies out of my hand and lands on the floor, the rings rolling out towards the kitchen sink. "DiDi!" I yell, diving to the floor to pick them up before he can see them.

My hand encloses around one of the silver circles and I breathe a sigh of relief. The other one! My eyes widen and I frantically search the floor near where I found the first one.

"Chase?" Diego's voice is barely above a whisper and is laced with emotion.

When I scamper to my feet, I find Diego holding up the other ring. His mouth is agape, eyes laser focused on the round object in his hand. The look in his eyes is sweet enough to flavour even the most bitter coffee and a smile is starting to break out on his face.

My brain seems to have short circuited as I stand there staring at him. This isn't how I wanted to give him the couple ring.

Diego looks up to meet my gaze and opens his arms to me. This action seems to jump start my brain and I rush towards him, basking in the comfort of his arms. He is grinning from ear to ear when he releases me. "I love the design and the engraving, little lamb! It's stunning," he murmurs, connecting our lips in a deep kiss, which definitely leaves me swooning.

On the top of the ring is a design of a Diplozoon paradoxum, the creature which fuses together and has no way of separating once they are joined. The flatworm looks a little like a capital X with the two points at the top being longer than the bottom ones. In the two bottom parts of the X there are two little diamonds, and the engraving on the inside of the rings say 'Always and Forever.'

"Do you want me to pretend I didn't see it, and you can give it to me when you're ready, or do you want to give it to me now?" He is a little out of breath from the kiss, but his eyes are twinkling with happiness.

"Bold of you to assume the ring is for you," I mumble, panting slightly and glancing away as I try to keep a straight face.

Diego gasps and I peek at him to see the confusion that flashes across his face. "It's not? I-"

Not being able suppress my giggles anymore, I burst into a fit of giggles, cutting off Diego. "Of course it's for you DiDi! Who else would it be for!" I choke out through laughter.

A pout forms on Diego's lips. "I'm not going on the date anymore," he says sulkily and I giggle harder.

Once I'm finished laughing at my adorable boyfriend, I press kisses to his lips until he starts smiling and kissing me back. Diego's arms are wrapped around my waist and my arms are resting on his chest as I look into his eyes.

Over the past few months, I've gotten used to Diego's intense gaze, and unlike with most people's eyes, I have no problem staring into them for hours. Diego knows everything about me. I even told him about my suicide attempt the night of the car accident and my suicidal thoughts after the incident, something that only my therapist and Jesse know.

"It's a promise ring," I whisper and Diego's smile widens. "You already know how much I love you and how happy I am to have you in my life. But I'll tell you again, over and over until you get tired of it."

"I'll never get tired of hearing you say you love me," Diego says with a chuckle and he pecks my lips.

I giggle and continue. "I promise to love you with my heart, body and soul, to always be there for you and to take care of you, always and forever."

With that I hold up the ring in my slightly trembling hands and Diego holds out his left hand so that I can slip it onto his ring finger. I tug his head towards mine, pressing his lips to mine. Diego's arms tighten around my waist and his tongue enters my cavern, running along the roof of my mouth and colliding with my tongue, drawing moans from both of us.

When we break the kiss, we're both grinning like we just discovered the meaning of happiness.

"And I promise to love you, to protect you, to take care of you, to be there for you and to make you smile and laugh everyday, always and forever," he murmurs against my lips, before nibbling them. He pulls away after a few seconds and kisses my left hand before sliding the ring onto my ring finger.

Someday I know that these will be replaced with engagement rings and that thought has me smiling brighter.

"I also have a gift for you," Diego says, giving me a sheepish smile and I furrow my eyebrows. He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck before tugging me towards the door. "Close your eyes."

My eyes flutter close and I giggle, waiting for my present. I hear the door open and Diego guides me outside. "Open them!" He says in an excited voice and once I do, I gasp.

In front of me is a sleek, brand new, black BMW i4, sporting a big red bow on top of it. My eyes widen and my mouth hangs open. "You bought me a car!" I haven't quite managed to find my voice, so it comes out as a tiny squeak.

"Do you like it?" He questions and I can hear the nervousness in his voice, since I currently look like a slack jawed zombie, staring off into space.

After a moment, I finally regain control over my body and I turn towards him. I recently thought about buying a new car and was looking up reasonable models online that I could buy. The insurance paid for the damages of my previous car, which was totaled in the accident, but we spent that money on something else since I wasn't eager to get behind the wheel at that point.

"You bought me a car!" I repeat, the excitement finally seeping into my voice.

Diego seems to release a sigh of relief and he grins and nods. "When the movie you're working on starts filming, you'll need a way to get to and from work and to run whatever errands you need to. So I thought I'd get you a car. Do you like it?"

"DiDi, I love it!" I squeal and wrap my arms around his waist, burying my head in his neck. Diego chuckles and squeezes me tightly. "But," I raise my head and look at him, "you know you don't have to buy me expensive gifts."

He grins and pecks my lips. "I know, but I want to! It's already paid for and so is the insurance." He pouts. "And you also needed a car, so let me give you one," he whines, holding up the key for me to take.

I giggle and nod, not being able to resist his adorable pouty face. "Thank you, DiDi! I really appreciate it!" I press a chaste kiss on his lips and giggle again. "Let's go on our date!" I exclaim, pecking his lips one more time before taking the car key from him. 

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