Friday morning

Nick felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he shifted his hands on the steering wheel to pull it out. Jess turned her head from lazily looking out the window and watched his face tense as he glanced down at the screen. After seeing the number, he quickly laid the phone down in the center console and flashed a weak smile to his girlfriend.

Jess studied his expression curiously. "Who was that?"

"Clyde."

"Oh." Jess shook her head and looked at him strangely. "He knew we were coming down here, right?"

"Of course, Jess. I'm not an idiot." As soon as the words left his mouth, he cringed. He quickly glanced sideways at Jess, seeing her mouth open slightly. He shook his head and reached out to grab her hand, squeezing it apologetically. "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't know why I snapped like that."

Jess slowly nodded and squeezed his hand back. "It's um,... it's fine."

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute, the only sound being the tiny beep signaling a new voice mail on his phone.

"Do you need to check that?" Her voice was soft and apprehensive. "I can drive for awhile if you want."

Nick just shook his head, rubbing her knee before returning his hand to the wheel. "Nah, it's fine. I'm sure it's not important."

Jess tilted her head and watched him carefully. He seemed to be so distracted lately, and she really wished she could understand why. "Nick, is everything okay at work?"

"Work? Yeah, it's good. I ... We just had a few delivery mix ups last week and Clyde is on edge." God he hated feeling like he was lying to her. In reality, it wasn't a lie, they did have a lot of mix ups the past few weeks due to some issues with distributors, but he knew that wasn't why Clyde was calling.

She reached her hand across the seat and rubbed his shoulder. "I'm sorry, no wonder you've seemed distant."

He cleared his throat nervously, "I have?"

She shrugged. "A little. It just seems like you have a lot on your mind, that's all."

He knew exactly what she was talking about. The ring that he had hidden in the back of his bottom desk drawer had caused him a ridiculous amount of anxiety the past few days. He couldn't get it off his mind, and he couldn't stop playing out proposal scenarios in his head. He just wanted everything to be perfect for her. He was so afraid that he would let something slip, that he had spent the past couple of days changing his shirts far too many times and trying to avoid any type of conversation that would trigger thoughts of the ring or their anniversary. Fortunately, with all the running around she had been doing with Cece, he didn't think she had noticed.

"Maybe this just really hit me hard, you know? Coming down here? It's been a crazy couple of days..."

Jess nodded in silence, before turning towards him. "I know what you mean. Everything with Cece has been so intense." She paused, then bit her lip gently. "This is nice though."

"What's nice?"

"Us. This trip." She smiled and shifted in her seat, leaning into the center and wrapping her arms around his as best she could. "It's a pretty great way to celebrate a year together, don't you think? Finally have some time alone?" She placed her chin on his arm, looking up at him as he quickly glanced between her and the road.

"Yeah. It is, Jess." He swallowed, his fingers finally relaxing their nervous grip on the steering wheel. "It's going to be a good weekend."