THE BEST THING I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED (tanner)

[lykomgitsashley]

Caroline Bradshaw was what you might call a shopaholic. She loved to shop, especially when she was stressed out and to say that she was stressed out at the moment would be the understatement of the century. Caroline had gone to Paris to de-stress and come back feeling refreshed, she had only felt refreshed for about five minutes before all the crap that she had left came piling back onto her plate. First with the whole Doug thing, and now with Allie. She knew that this whole Allie thing was solely her fault. She had royally messed up with the whole double date thing, tried to fix it with a joke which had backfired and blew up in her face, now she was left trying to pick of the pieces and make amends.

This trip to the beach with Tanner was exactly what she needed though. Being around Tanner always made her feel better. Unlike Allie, Tanner never made her feel like shit or judged her for the things she did. She was pretty sure that if there were such a thing as soul mates that Tanner was hers. But in the friendly capacity she assumed, maybe more. After that double date she had been having mixed feelings about him. She had seen him in a whole new light, it was kind of scary but kind of exciting at the same time. She didn't know what to think anymore. Her whole life had been turned upside down. First the Doug thing, then this whole Alex thing, now Tanner. It was like she had ran away from love her whole life and now it was all being shoved on her at once. God, she needed this vacation.

Sure this vacation meant that she was be completely alone with Tanner for a few days, with no interruptions. But secretly she wanted that. She wanted to be away from outside influences with him to see what was going on. Did she really have feelings for him, or was it like a onetime thing? She honestly couldn't answer that question. She didn't like being confused, specially about her emotions, and more importantly when they were about someone who was her best friend. The last time she had gone down this road, having feelings for someone she was best friends with...it didn't end well at all. She didn't want to lose Tanner, she didn't think she would be able to survive it.

Caroline had decided to go into town a little bit after they arrived to town. They had done most of their grocery shopping before they had left. But there were a few things that she had wanted to get, and she wanted to go to the little stores in town as well. She loved little boutiques the usually had the best buys. She figured that Tanner would do some surfing while she was gone, so she didn't really feel that bad. Plus she wanted to pick up a whip at the adult store just out of town just for shits and giggles since they had joked about it in their text messages before the trip. Actually that whole part of the conversation was something that she fully intended on teasing him about for a long time to come. She actually wondered if it was true that he was into that kind of stuff, but she figured it was all a joke.

The shopping trip had been a totally success in Care's opinion. She had gotten everything she wanted to, and then some. Of course their trip wouldn't have been complete without some adult beverages so she had stopped at the liquor store and bought a bottle of her beloved pinnacle whipped vodka, while she was getting that she had seen that they also had pinnacle cotton candy vodka, which seemed to be new. It intrigued her so she bought a bottle of that as well. Also as a treat for Tanner she got him a bottle of Jack Daniels since she knew he loved it so much. After a quick trip to the grocery store to get some juices and soda to mix her drinks with she made her way back to the beach house, her stomach growling from barely eating all day. "Lucy I'm home." Caroline called out as she walked in the door. "And I totally bought you a couple presents while I was out."

[lance warren wright]

Tanner was running around the beach house like a maniac trying to get everything together. He had been working on putting together this dinner for Caroline all day since she had been out shopping. He had felt bad when he opted to not go, but he knew once she saw why he had decided not to go she would forgive him. Tanner had just finished cooking in the kitchen and was starting to set the table when he spilled one of the wine bottles and it went all over his shirt, "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered to himself. With a huge sigh of frustration he wiped up everything else and removed his shirt tossing it in the direction of the laundry room. Now he had to figure out something else to wear and he hadn't really packed too many nice shirts. His gaze drifted back over to the shirt that was laying near the washer. He figured he would just have to wash it as fast as possible and hope it would be ready before Care got back.

Tanner threw it in the wash and got back to work on putting together the dinner he had planned for the two. He couldn't wait to surprise her because with the way things had been going in her life Tanner felt she could use a good surprise, or two. Well, he didn't know if the second surprise would prove to be a good one. But Tanner couldn't help but feel like their blind date, whether it was fake or not, had gone amazingly well (well at least between him and Caroline). He had to finally figure out if there was any chance she had feelings for him as well. He couldn't keep waiting especially after this whole fake wedding with Alex. It had scared him that with all the time the pair had spent together that they might actually catch feelings for each other. Now that they had called off the whole thing and Tanner was vacationing alone with Caroline he couldn't think of a better time.

Tanner was a bundle of nerves as he kept an eye on the clock so he wouldn't be completely taken by surprise when she got back. He had to get it together, but he kept thinking about the bomb he was about to drop on Caroline. Would she be happy? Or would things get awkward between them? There were just so many different ways this could play out and that only worried him even more. Maybe tonight wasn't the night to tell her. Maybe they could just share a nice dinner together and that be that. Yes, that was how it was going to go. Tanner felt like a wimp for already talking himself out of his elaborate plan, but it at least was beginning to calm him down. He finally got the table set and knew Care would be back soon so he went ahead and lit the two candles before heading over to the laundry room. He grabbed his shirt out of the dryer and frowned at the dampness that still remained. "Tonight is already going splendid...." he shook his head, frustrated with himself as he tossed the shirt back in the dryer.

Tanner had to have something else he packed. He quickly made his way back to his room, finding his suitcase sitting on his bed. He started to pull everything out as quickly as possible because he didn't want Care to come back and see everything without him there to reveal it to her. He had to have packed another nice shirt in here somewhere! His head jerked up and whipped over in the direction of his door when he heard the front door open and close. He began to rush even more as he heard her voice, "I'm back here." He called out just reaching into his suitcase and grabbing a polo figuring it would have to do. He walked out of his room hoping to catch her before she got any further. "You're so good to me," he grinned as he finally got in view of her. He slipped his shirt on and helped her by grabbing a few of her bags.

"Follow me," he didn't want to take the chance of her deviating from his path and walking past the dining room. He lead her to the kitchen and just put all the bags on the counter not wanting to take the time to put things away just yet. He wanted to show off his hard work and that meant getting Caroline to the dining room. He turned on his heel to face her, "Okay, so you trust me right?" Tanner had a mischievous grin on his lips which probably didn't help convince her to trust him, but he wasn't even going to give her a chance to answer. He maneuvered his way behind her and placed his hands over his eyes. "I have something to show you," and with that he lead her towards the dining room. He came to a halt right before the table and finally removed his hands from her eyes, "Surprise!" he called out in excitement hoping she would love it. He had cooked his best Italian dishes and everything she loved that he had cooked her before.

The room was scarcely lit, but the candles at the table illuminated it completely so they wouldn't have to worry about being able to see each other. After letting the shock sink in he took her hand in his and lead her over to her seat. He pulled out her chair and let her take a seat as he gently pushed it back in before making his way over to his seat. "I hope you're hungry," he said with a chuckle at all the dishes that dawned the table before them. He had gotten a little carried away, but only because he wanted it to be perfect.

[lykomgitsashley]

Caroline could smell food the second she walked in the door, which made her stomach growl so loud that she thought she was housing a lion inside there. She laughed a little, as she looked around for Tanner. "My stomach approves of whatever it is that I'm smelling." She called out, kicking off her shoes at the door. This house was so clean and pristine that she didn't really want to ruin it with dirty shoes. "Where are you I wanna show you what I got you, your gonna love it." She called starting to walk down the hallway, but she heard him call out that where he was. She was about to go and meet him but before she could get anywhere he had found her. "Your pretty good to me too, Mr. Robbins so I try to repay the favor. Plus with that a body like that, who could mean to you?" She said making him well aware that she had seen him putting his shirt on. She wouldn't deny the fact that Tanner was very physically attractive.

She had expected to come home and find him surfing yet, since she knew how much he liked it and how eager he had said he was to do so. She hadn't expected him to be cooking or dressed up for that matter either. His appearance made her quirk and eyebrow, and his actions were suspicious. "Did you meet a girl on the beach? Is that why you were coming out of your room half naked and want me to follow you?" She trying to look behind her in the direction of where his room was, but he was leading her to the kitchen so fast that it made it kind of impossible. "Is she in your room yet and your getting me out of the way so she can do the walk of shame out of here?" She had to admit that she was rather amused and yet also jealous of that thought. She knew that her and Tanner weren't together and that that meant that he could freely hook up with women whenever he wanted to. But the thought of him hooking up with some random girl while he was on a getaway with her made her extremely jealous for some odd reason.

"Of course I trust you...." Caroline said, the tone of her voice, voicing her suspicion for her. She quirked an eyebrow at him. He was acting funny, and she wanted to know what exactly he was up to. Was there a girl here... That thought was crushing, and she was starting to believe it was more true than she realized but then he threw her off when he said that he had something to show her. "You have something to show me?" She asked looking really confused. When he placed his hands over her eyes she grew even more suspicious of what was going on. Their text message conversation didn't help in any way either. If this was his plan to get her into some kinky threesome with another girl boy was she going to give him a piece of her mind when she found out. But it was tanner she doubted that was what was going to happen.

When he uncovered her eyes and yelled surprise she looked at what was before her and let out soft gasp. She was absolutely speechless and if she was honest just a little bit overwhelmed with emotion. A candle lit dinner for the two of them, that he had prepared himself. This was possibly, no this was the most romantic thing that anybody had ever done for her. The fact that he had gone though all of this trouble, for her of all people was so touching to her. She knew that as of lately she hadn't been the nicest person. She had been horribly cruel to Allie, their best friend and she had practically been ignoring him. She didn't deserve this, she knew that. But he had done it. Her eyes welled with tears, the happy kind as she looked over at him. "You did this for me?" She asked in a soft voice, which was the only thing she could think to say.

Caroline still couldn't get over the fact that Tanner had planned all this out. She was so touched, she didn't know why he had done it. But it meant so much to her that he did. Ever since their double date, she had been seeing him in a whole new light, she had been feeling things for him that she had never felt before. This only made those feelings grow stronger inside her, the fact that he had done something so romantic for her, made her only start to fall for him just a little harder. While this was terrifying to her, she couldn't say that she hated the feeling. After he took her hand, before she let him lead her to the table Caroline wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "Thank you so much, no one had ever done anything like this for me before." After she said that, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and let him lead her to her chair.

She sat down in the chair, and smiled as he gently pushed her in towards the table. While Tanner had always been a gentleman, she had never seen him act like this. It was nice to see this side of him, she had to admit that she liked it a lot. She could tell that he had put a lot of thought into this. She didn't know why he had done it, but she wasn't going to let her curiosity ruin it either. "I am starving, and this all looks so amazing, you've really out down yourself." She said with a smile, ready to dig in and eat.