I just updated a little bit ago, but I'm feeling generous and bored, so everyone benefits with another update :) This one is extra long with both Ginger/Wade and Punk/Liz having to say goodbye :/ Thank me by adding and reviewing! Enjoy :D
Liz got up early the next morning and slipped out of bed deciding to leave Punk sleep. She looked at her phone and noticed a slew of texts and voicemails from what seemed like everyone who knew her. She made the irrational decision to ignore all of them for the time being deciding she'd deal with the issue at hand tomorrow. Her heart sank a little as she was reminded that today was her last day with Punk in Chicago. As much as she didn't want to think about it, she wanted to do something special for the two of them and decided to start with dinner. Getting out of bed she threw on her yoga pants and a sweatshirt before throwing her hair into a messy bun and stealing one of Punk's hats. Liz tiptoed quietly out into the living room where she put on her shoes and a big pair of sunglasses. She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed her disguise wasn't the best, but not so bad for throwing it together last minute. Before she left, she scribbled a note for Punk and stuck it to the fridge.
Ginger laid in bed staring at the clock. It was just after 8, but she wasn't ready to get up. After her talk with Liz, Wade had apologized to her and she accepted however, there was still something that irritated her about him. She understood that he was concerned about both her and the baby's well being, but he had no right to tell her what she should or shouldn't be doing. She might have changed her name for him, but she was still her own person and she was bound to do the things she wanted to.
Wade was wide awake knowing that Ginger had been up for some time. Even though she had accepted his apology, he knew she still hadn't fully forgiven him. Today was their last day together until June and the last thing he wanted was for her to get on a plane feeling upset with him over something petty. Deciding he needed to fix the situation, he got out of bed and grabbed his clothes to get dressed. Wade pulled his shirt over his head and noticed Ginger still hadn't moved. He rolled his eyes, it didn't matter how long he knew her there were still some days he'd never understand her, or any other woman for that matter.
"Ging, are you awake?" Ginger wasn't in the mood to talk and odds were they'd argue, so she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Wade took notice to her ignoring his question and shook his head. He left the room making his way downstairs and wrote her a quick note that he left on the coffee table before leaving. Ginger heard the door close and became further irritated assuming he was on his way to another two hour workout. She figured today being their last day together for almost two months, he'd spend it with her, but then she took into account how she was acting. Feeling frustrated, Ginger got out of bed and headed for the shower. If Wade was going out, she was too.
Liz was gone for almost two hours, but she had managed to get everything she needed to make it a memorable night. She smiled to herself thinking of the reaction she might get from Punk over the new one shouldered black dress she had bought. It was tight, it was short and the undergarments she bought for it would be sure to please as well. When Liz walked in, she found Punk laying on the couch reading.
"Where have you been? That's a cute little disguise, how did that work for you?"
"No one bothered me, I got a few curious glances, but everyone seemed to ignore it. Anyway, I have been out, shopping."
"More shopping? You're going to need a new suitcase for all the clothes you've bought this week."
"Well someday that huge closet will be half mine, so I need cute clothes to put in it. I'm making pasta for dinner with veggies and homemade alfredo sauce." Liz made her way into the kitchen and Punk followed leaning in the entrance.
"You're making dinner? I thought we were going out?"
"Well it's up to you, but I was thinking this morning and thought maybe for once you'd like a decent meal that isn't juice!"
"Sounds like a plan to me. Anyway, I probably should've gone while you were out, but there are a few things I need to take care of. I won't be long though, I promise."
"Take your time because you're stuck with me all evening!" Liz smiled when she saw Punk smirk, shaking his head. Punk kissed her goodbye before heading out and Liz put away the groceries and hung up her dress so it wouldn't wrinkle. As much as she didn't want to, she started packing hoping that Punk wasn't right on the extra suitcase. It was a tight squeeze, but she managed to get all of her things back into the large rolling luggage she had brought. Once she was finished, she decided to relax and take a nap. To make sure she didn't oversleep, she set an alarm on her phone before snuggling up with a pillow and closing her eyes.
When Ginger finished in the shower, she took her time getting ready and was surprised to hear Wade come back home. After getting dressed, Ginger headed downstairs to see what the deal was. She found Wade in the kitchen putting away groceries and wasn't sure what was going on.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh you're awake, now go back to bed."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, I'm in the middle of something, so go back to bed and I'll be up in ten minutes or so." Ginger opened her mouth to protest, but figured there was no point in wasting her breath because he wasn't paying attention anyway. She went back upstairs and went over to their bed throwing pillows around as she made the bed. When the last pillow was put in place, she climbed back into bed and let out a frustrated sigh. Thoughts circled through her head, the main one being since when did she let Wade tell her what to do? She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and headed back towards the stairs only to find Wade standing on the landing with a tray in his hands. She felt like a complete jerk, here he was doing something nice to make up for their argument, and she was too wrapped up in herself. Rather then saying anything, she headed back towards the bedroom and sat on the bed. Wade had followed behind her and sat the tray over her lap. Ginger stared at the food before her and then at Wade, back at the food, then at Wade.
"I'm sorry I've been so bitchy, but…"
"You don't have to explain love. I know your hormones are all over the place right now and besides that I need to listen to you better. I'm sorry I tried to tell you what to do, you are your own person and you're capable of making good decisions. I know Liz needs you right now and I know you want to get out of this house, but I'm still going to worry about you every step of the way. We've been through so much over the last few months, I don't want to deal with another heartbreak."
"Wade please stop worrying so much. You were at the last doctor's appointment and everything is developing fine with this baby. I'm in the second trimester, so we're halfway there. I promise you I'll take care of myself and you know Liz won't let me slack on that either. We'll be okay, well after we eat breakfast." Ginger smiled and touched Wade's cheek. He put his hand over hers caressing it before he kissed it. The two sat in bed and ate breakfast together before deciding to take a walk around the grounds. Neither one of them was looking forward to their time apart, but they'd done it before and knew they could do it again.
Liz jumped up at the sound of her alarm feeling her heart race at the shock of shooting out of bed. She took a few minutes to calm down before heading to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Punk still wasn't back, so she decided to break out her laptop and jot down some more plot ideas that had come to mind through the week. Before getting started, she checked her email and noticed that everyone that she hadn't responded to that left a text or voicemail had resorted to emailing her. She groaned at the fifty two new messages that appeared on her screen, most of them were from either her publisher or her mother. Liz hadn't talked to her parents about her personal life because she knew that always led to "bringing home boyfriend" and she didn't think that her or Punk were ready for that yet. She knew she was in for it as she opened the first email from her mom and shockingly found a calm response.
"Elizabeth, I'm slightly disappointed that you didn't tell us you were dating such a charming looking young man, but I know you've been very busy with your book. I also know we don't talk a lot about your personal life, and while I respect that, I hope from now on you give me a heads up. I heard about this one from Carol at Bunco night and had to play it off like I knew all about it, thank God for Google! Anyway, it's obvious you're both very busy, but based on those photos from the TMZ site he looks like he makes you very happy and your father and I hope to meet him soon. Dad prefers during baseball season because he's a sports fan. Call us soon! Love Mom."
"Wow! If I would've known it would be that painless…"
"What's painless?" Liz shook her head and closed her computer screen before making eye contact with Punk.
"Ahh…nothing, just something about the second book." Punk noticed Liz was rubbing her earlobe, something she did when she was nervous.
"Interesting, you know what else is interesting? I've noticed that when you're nervous or hiding something you rub your earlobe like you're doing right now." Liz quickly realized what she was doing and dropped her hand from her ear.
"Okay fine, you caught me. I currently have a phone full of voicemails and texts and an email inbox that now has fifty one new emails. I know I should reply to all these people now, but I don't want to. Anyway, when you creeped in here, I was reading an email from my mom, which I expected was going to be much worse then it was."
"Why would an email from your mom be a bad thing?"
"Well I don't really like to talk about my personal life with my mother. She some how talks me into bringing home whatever guy I'm seeing and invites the entire family to meet him and it never turns out well. I don't think either one of us is ready to meet the parents, so I didn't tell her about you."
"We've been together for a few months and you didn't tell your parents?"
"I know it wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but no worries, Carol the gossip Queen from Bunco mentioned it and my mother Googled you." Punk raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Well meeting your mother will be that much more interesting. Hopefully she didn't read the Wikipedia page."
"She probably did, but don't worry, we'll get there when we get there. We're both busy right now and she gets that, so we're off the hook for now. I'm not sure how long I can keep her that way though."
"I'll look forward to it because if your mother is anything like you then what isn't there to love?" Liz smiled and felt her cheeks blush. She didn't understand how he still had the ability to make her blush, but she liked it. Punk kissed the top of her head as he headed back to the bedroom. He made sure Liz hadn't followed him as he took off his sweatshirt taking the bag from the jewelry store and stashing it in his top drawer. He noticed her suitcase was packed and let out a sigh hating that she had to leave and that he still had to pack his own bag. Luckily his flight wasn't until the early evening, so he'd have plenty of time to do it after dropping Liz off at the airport. He stripped down to his boxers and headed for the shower.
Ginger sat on the edge of the bed folding her clothes and packing to go away with Liz. Wade was leaning in the doorframe of the bathroom watching Ginger stare into space and fold clothes.
"What's wrong hun?"
"Nothing." Ginger said as she directed her attention to Wade.
"I just watched you fold and unfold the same pair of socks at least five times."
Ginger sighed and balled up the socks and threw them in the suitcase. "I'm sorry, it's just a huge change. I'm used to you leaving but now all of a sudden I am leaving and I have a kid in me. My hormones are running wild and I don't know what to do." Tears started to flow over her eyelids and down her cheeks. Wade crossed the bedroom and wiped the tears off her cheeks.
"Look it's a lot of change for both of us and it will be hard. I won't try to sugarcoat this because that isn't how we do it." Wade pulled her close and rested his chin on the top of her head. "We'll get through this like we always have, just take it one day at a time."
"I know, but it's so hard for me right now, I'm a mess." Ginger cried into his chest as Wade patted her back
"I know it is, love. I know but it will all work out. You won't be like this forever."
Ginger looked up and smiled. "I know it isn't. I really hate being like this and putting you through more stress. This is the last thing you need."
"I don't mind. I understand that this is such a huge shock to you and that you are going through a lot. I'm sure soon I'll even be sleeping on the couch more."
Ginger pulled away and slapped him playfully. "Starting with tonight?" She said with a smile.
"You have to work harder to get rid of me on our last night together for a while."
"Wow, way to kill what little happiness I was feeling."
"Let's get packed and get some dinner. I know you bought a ton of new blu rays the other day, so we might as well settle in and watch one"
Ginger smiled and they both went back to packing so they could get past all the work and finally hang out together. It wasn't long before Ginger was sitting on top of her suitcase yelling for Wade to come zip it up.
"How in the hell do you think you are going to carry this?"
"It's not heavy, it's just bulky." Wade just shook his head and smiled. He knew deep down that no matter if the suitcase was heavy or not Ginger would find a way to get it where it had to go. He zipped up the suitcase and lifted Ginger off the top of it.
"What's for dinner?"
"Really? You're asking the pregnant girl to pick?"
"Forget it, I'm calling Anthony's. What do you want, or should I ask what you don't want?"
"You're on thin ice! We are hungry for spaghetti with meatballs and a slice of pepperoni."
"Go pick a movie. I'll call and finish here before running to go get it."
They stayed up for most of the night, both not wanting it to end knowing that it was the last time they would see each other for a while.
Liz finished checking and responding her emails and realized it was already 4:30. She put away her laptop and got everything she needed out to make dinner. She was in the middle of chopping vegetables and noticed Punk out of the corner of her eye dressed in dark jeans and a black dress shirt. Granted she had bought a dress for their dinner date, but she never expected him to dress up in return, but he looked good, so she didn't mind. Punk walked into the kitchen and rolled up his sleeves before rubbing his hands together.
"What can I help with?"
"Nothing, I have everything under control."
"Do you know how rare it is that a man offers to help in the kitchen? You should probably take the offer. Besides, it's not fair for you to do all the work."
"Okay fine, if you insist. You can finish cutting all these vegetables and I'll get started on the sauce."
"I'll cut the vegetables and the sauce can wait. It's still early, why don't you go change into that dress I saw in my closet."
"Damnit that was supposed to be a surprise!"
"Liz, calm down, I've learned that just because it looks one way on a hanger doesn't mean that's how it looks on the woman who wears it. I have a feeling it'll be much tighter and shorter. Besides I don't want to be the only one dressed up." Liz started towards the bedroom, but stopped in the kitchen entrance.
"You didn't have to dress up, but you do clean up nice." She took out her hair clip and headed to get ready. Liz was quick to get ready and did so in record time only taking thirty minutes to do her hair, make-up and perfect her outfit making sure that is clung tightly in all the right places. When she was happy, she headed back towards the kitchen feeling the butterflies in her stomach in full effect. She let out a deep breath and peeked around the corner to see Punk sautéing the vegetables in a pan.
"Everything is done, just need you to work you magic with the alfr…wow…umm, you…wow!"
"I'll take that as a good reaction." Liz smiled as she grabbed another pot from the cupboard and started making the homemade alfredo sauce.
Twenty minutes later they sat down to eat. It took a while, but Punk finally found his voice again.
"You're great at making bologna sandwiches, but this is delicious. What is in this sauce?"
"Seriously? You watched me make it!"
"I'll admit I watched you, I didn't notice you making anything, but I noticed you in that dress."
"Well I'm glad to know it was money well spent."
"Well I don't know there's something not right about it, like something missing." Punk got up from the table and went back to the bedroom.
"Phillip nothing else is fitting in this dress!" Liz didn't know what he was up to, but pushed it aside continuing to eat.
"Okay, umm, close your eyes."
"What? Why?"
"Don't be difficult, work with me. I planned on doing this a different way, but you distracted me with that dress, so I couldn't focus." Liz really didn't know what he was talking about, but covered her eyes with her hand.
"Does this work?"
"I don't know, are you peeking?"
"No, I promise." Liz sat with her hand covering her eyes for what seemed like five minutes. She was starting to get impatient when he finally took her hand.
"Okay don't open your eyes yet, just listen first. I got you something that I hope you like because if you don't it's on Colt and Cassie. You're very special to me and I love you more then I love myself, which you know is a lot. This week has been amazing and I really hate that we're going to be apart, but I'm hoping this will remind you that I'm thinking of you at any time of day. God no, that was extremely cheesy, let me start over. What I meant to say was…"
"Punk, you're fine, it wasn't cheesy, it was beautiful."
"Are you just saying that so I stop talking?"
"No…okay maybe yes…I like hearing all the nice things, but I'd like to uncover my eyes."
"Give me a second." Liz felt him open her hand placing a box in her palm, "Okay, go ahead." Liz uncovered her eyes and looked at the box before smiling at Punk. She took the lid off and inside was a white gold Cartier open bracelet. Her jaw dropped and she put a hand over her mouth to cover her surprise.
"Oh my God, it's beautiful."
"So you like it then?"
"Are you kidding, I love it!" Liz took it out of the box and went to put it on pausing when she noticed it was engraved. She read the words Distance means so little when someone means so much and felt the tears spring free. Punk moved to the seat beside her handing her a tissue.
"This was not the reaction I was hoping for."
"I'm sorry, I just really hate this. I don't even think we've been apart for more then a week, two max and now it'll be two months. I don't know how Ginger and Wade do this." Punk wiped the tear that had fallen down her cheek and smirked.
"They do it the same way we're going to do it, one day at a time. We'll call each other whenever we can and before you know it our waiting time will be up. Being in a different city every week will help the time pass trust me!" Liz nodded as he pulled her onto his lap.
"So we have sixty five days to go, are you sure we can do it?"
"I've never been more sure of anything. I love you Elizabeth, forever."
"I love you too Phil, but you do realize forever is a long time right?" Phil smirked at her.
"Yeah I know how long it is, just keep in mind you have to put up with me for that long." Liz leaned forward and kissed him deeply while running her fingers across the back of his neck near his hairline. Punk responded by picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom. The two capped off a memorable night by making love before falling asleep wrapped up in each other.