California Love

Chapter 9

I couldn't stop laughing as Matthew sat on Nash, Nash trying to get out from underneath him. "Alright! Who's ready for one last magcon?" Cameron asks, walking in. Everyone turns to him, all of us smiling.

Taylor walked in, tucking his phone in his pocket. "Ready?" He asks with a smile. "Yeah." He smiles, kissing my cheek. "Let's go." He takes my bag, leading the way to the waiting van. The drive was long, I was sleeping on his shoulder for most of it. Cameron finally announced when we were about 10 minutes away and I sat up with a yawn. "Where are we?" I ask, looking outside. "Middle of-" Taylor slaps Nash, shutting him up. "Damn, thought I'd actually get someone." I frown.

"You'll find out in the next few minutes." Cameron calls, grinning at me through the rearview mirror. "Good. This is killing me." I mumble. "You're fine." Taylor says, kissing my cheek. I finally saw buildings in the distance, familiar buildings. "No way." I say in disbelief. "Yes way." Everyone says. "Oh my god." I say, covering my mouth. "Will I get to see everyone?" I ask. Taylor nods, gripping my hand. "I called a few people, had Jack and Jack call a few others, we are meeting with them all later tonight." "You're amazing." I grin, kissing him hard.

"No sex in the van!" Cameron calls loudly. I flip him off, kissing Taylor once more before facing forward again, staring at the skyline of Omaha.

-

"Sydney!" I scream, hugging her tightly. She hugged back just as tightly, rocking us back and forth. "I've missed you so much!" She says, pulling back. "You do know there is this thing called a phone?" She frowns. "I'm sorry." I giggle, covering my mouth. "I'll do better about that." I promise. "No need, I'm moving out to LA!" She squeals, jumping up and down. "No way." My mouth fell open, I was finding out so much today!

"Yes! I finished at UNO in May and now I'm moving to LA to work at a publishing company." "Dude! That's amazing! You go girl!" "I know right! I've been so excited about this and when Taylor called saying you were coming for mag I thought that'd be the best time to tell you!" She explains.

"But back to you, engaged? Excuse you! And I'm not in the bridal party?" She frowns. My eyes widened and I suddenly felt so bad. I'd been so focused on all my new friends and I hadn't seen Sydney in forever... "I have someone else who would like to be part of my groomsmen if you want to add her to the bridal party." Taylor says. "I'm so sorry Syd, would you like to be in my bridal party?" "Duh. I can't believe you forgot about me." She frowns. "I'll make it up to you, I promise!" I grin, hugging her again. "Good."

-

I danced across the stage, the music playing. "I wonder if I can still do a back handspring." I ask in my mic, handing it to Taylor. I get in position, going over the motions in my head before doing it. The crowd erupts into cheers when I land on my feet, Taylor handing me the mic back. "I still got the moves!" I grin.

"Thank you so much for coming tonight! We had such a blast and it was so good seeing my Omaha people again! I promise to return soon, I miss you so much!" I announce. We all say goodbye then head back to our rooms, Taylor taking a shower. I lay back on the bed, watching tv. I was almost asleep when he came back in, the glow of his phone illuminating his path as he walked through the room. "Love you Hannah." He says, laying beside me. "Love you too." I murmur, laying my head on his shoulder.

-

I carried Sydney's last box in, setting it in her kitchen. "I'm not helping you unpack, you have way too much crap." I deadpan, sprawling out on her floor. "Well aren't you sweet." She says, sitting down by my head. I give her a smile to which she pats my cheek, glaring down at me. "I helped you unload the stupid truck, let me go home." I frown. "I have a meeting tomorrow for cakes with Taylor and I'm stressed out because we can't agree on cakes. He wants the traditional carrot and I want red velvet. We are going with red because it's cheaper during July since we actually got a July wedding so I want the cake to match." "You want everything to match." Sydney laughs. "When do I not?" "True." She nods.

"Just pull the guilt card. Gets him every time." "I've played it so much, I don't want to wear it out." I giggle. "Trust me girly, you won't wear it out." Sydney shakes her head. "Alright, well, it's late, I'll see you soon." I say, standing up. She gives me a hug and I grab my bag and keys, heading for my car.

The drive was fairly short which I was happy about. I climbed straight into bed, laying next to Taylor and it feels like minutes when I woke, getting ready for the day.

We sat at a table, different cakes in front of us. "What is so wrong with red velvet?" I ask Taylor, crossing my arms. "It's not traditional!" "We have the traditional wedding cake and the red velvet would match the red in our wedding, which you picked out." I begin to guilt him, watching him. "Don't guilt me,that doesn't work anymore." He frowns. "U don't even like carrot cake, do you really want to do a cake I don't even like? What would we do with the extras? You won't be able to eat it all before it went bad and you know I hate wasting food."

He let out a long sigh, running his hands through his hair. "Fine. Red velvet." He says, writing it down on the paper. I grin, feeling accomplished. "Thank you." "Flower time?" He asks with a sigh. I nod, following him over to a different table. I had to choose between 3 different bouquets, a red rose one, a red carnation one or a red gladiola one. They were all beautiful, it was difficult to choose.

"Which one is the cheapest?" I ask, looking at my choices. "The gladiola one. The carnations are the most expensive." I nod, holding each one in my hands. "Which one looks best?" I ask Taylor, picking up each one for him to choose. "I like the roses, they are simple and traditional." I nod, picking them up again. "So if I did the roses would all the girls get a red rose corsage and the guys get the red rose on the lapel?" I ask. She nods, showing me an example of each. "I really like that, let's do that." I nod.

"Wonderful!" She says, writing everything down. Taylor and I head home, where I collapse on a couch. "Imagine when we have kids and we have to help them with this! We go through this all over again!" I groan to Taylor who was in the kitchen. "I'll let you handle that. I'm already handling the boyfriends our daughters will bring home and who they end up marrying." "What if we only have sons?" "Then who am I supposed to threaten?" He asks, coming back in.

"Your sons. They shouldn't break girls hearts." I frown. "Got it." He says, going back into the kitchen. "What are you doing?" "Looking for food. I think I need to go to the grocery store." "Who are you and what have you done with Taylor?" "You're so funny." He says sarcastically. "While you're there get some watermelon, it sounds really good right now." "It is on the list." He says slowly, probably writing it down as he spoke.