Passion's Instinct

Eleven

Hayden

Natalie and I sat in the airport, looking out the window. We were ready to board, and I was bored. (See what I did there?)

Finally, I decided to go on Google on my laptop and search up our names. I put in 'Natalie Christensen' just to see what would come up.

When everything loaded, to be honest, I was mad about the pictures. Our wedding was supposed to be paparazzi-free, yet there were still pictures that you could tell weren't that great in quality, like people had hidden behind bushes or buildings. There were pictures of us running just this morning, and pictures of us kissing and walking and driving and all sorts of things that was nobody else's business.

Sure, I liked our fans, but not the people crazy enough to invade our space.

I scrolled down a little farther and saw a picture, a clear picture, right up close of our hands as we slid the rings on each other's fingers. How did that get on the Internet?

I could tell it was our hands, because I knew exactly what they looked like. Natalie's fingers were long and slender, and mine--I just knew what they looked like.

"Hayden, what are you...wait, is that from yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"Where did you find that?"

"On the Internet," I grumbled, shutting the lid of my laptop.

Natalie rubbed my arm and laid her head on my shoulder. I kissed her cheek.

Soon enough, it was time to board. We both picked up our carry-on bags and my laptop and case and filed inside the airplane. We took our seats, and took off.

Natalie laid her head against my shoulder and laced her arms around mine. She kept shifting.

"Have you gotten comfortable yet?" I asked, laughing.

"Sorry, it's just hard to in these seats." She laughed along with me, and she took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine.

We sat for hours, laughing, talking, reading, skimming through magazines, and finally, sleeping. Natalie shot up when the flight attendant announced we would be in South Carolina in ten minutes.

When the ten minutes were over, everyone moved quickly, bumping into each other. Natalie looked up at me and clapped her hands silently, excited.

It was probably around eight o'clock once we had arrived at our condo, eaten dinner and settled in.

"So," Natalie said as we got comfortable in bed, "beach tomorrow?"

"Probably," I said. She looked at me sadly, and I laughed. "Just kidding, yeah, of course."

She gave me a mischievous grin. "It's right outside. You know, we could always go now..."

I grinned. "Let's go." I jumped out of bed, and we ran down the steps leading to the beach.

I picked Natalie up and twirled her around, bridal style. She laughed, and I set her down by her feet gently in the ocean water.

"Hayden?" Natalie said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Ever since I knew you, you made my life better. Less lonely, more loved and comforted. Whenever I haven't seen you for the day and I come home, you always go out of your way to make me feel like you've been waiting for me all day. Like you've been missing me."

"Well, I have been missing you when you're not home."

"I know, I'm just saying. Hayden, I love you so much. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm overjoyed I decided to kiss you that day." She laughed. "That's kind of what started it all."

I laughed. "No, my begging for you to go to dinner with me was what started it all. Or maybe it was my kissing job on stage...?"

Natalie shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Oh, Hayden."

We played around on the beach for what must've been an hour or so. We looked up at the dim sky.

"We'd better go up," I said. Natalie nodded and we went up to the condo again.

"It sure is nice here," she said as we sat on the deck, swinging on the bench.

"Yeah, it is nice."

She snuggled up close to me, and I put my arm around her protectively. After hours of talk and cuddling together, we fell asleep under the stars.