Expectations

Chapter Eight

Taylor woke up from Karlie's alarm shrilling through the bedroom. She turned around, shoving her face back into the pillow. She felt way too tired to open her eyes.

Five more minutes.

She felt Karlie getting up and moving around the room.

Wait.

Karlie made her way to Taylor's side of the bed.

It's my birthday. Why did the alarm clock go off?

"Happy birthday!" Karlie exclaimed and shook Taylor's shoulder.

Taylor groaned in response and lazily opened one eye. Even in her sleepy daze she noticed that there was no light shining through the curtains. It was still pitch dark outside.

"Karlie!" she groaned again and opened her eyes completely. Her girlfriend was standing next to her, towering over the bed and grinning.

"What time is it? It's my birthday!"

"Exactly! It's birthday surprise time!"

Taylor closed her eyes again.

"It's the middle of the night, isn't it?"

"Nope! It's 5:30!"

"Five Thirty!? Karlie! No. I'm going back to sleep. How can you even think clearly at this time of day?"

"Taylor!" Karlie whined and nudged her shoulder again.

"I have a surprise for you! You won't regret it!"

She leaned down to pull the blanket away.

"Stop doing that! That's what my mom used to do every morning before school. God." Taylor said, trying her best to be annoyed with her girlfriend. She couldn't help but giggle.

Karlie laughed. "You've never been a morning person." She leaned down further and held the blanket in place, then gave Taylor a quick kiss.

"Good morning, birthday girl. Let's get ready quickly. We've got places to be."

Taylor simply hummed in response. She felt her heart flutter at Karlie's touch. She was tired and grumpy about it, but she was excited to see what Karlie had planned.

"Good morning." It came out as a whisper. She quickly kissed Karlie back, then let herself be pulled up.

They got dressed and brushed their teeth.

"Should I feed the cats already?" Taylor wondered out loud.

"No, they will be fine. We won't be away for that long."

Taylor raised an eyebrow, wanting Karlie to elaborate. The taller girl still hadn't said a word about where they were going or what they were doing. Karlie simply grinned and made her way over to a small cabinet in the corner of the room.

She looked through the drawers for a specific shirt. The cabinet contained mostly her clothes. She suddenly realized how much of her stuff was permanently at Taylor's house. She pulled out an old St Louis Cardinal's jersey. Really? How did that get here?

Taylor was still watching her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm all done, Karlie. Only waiting for you."

A moment later Karlie triumphantly held up what she had been looking for.

"Your NASA sweater? Why do you need to wear that one right now?" Taylor asked.

Karlie quickly put it on. "Oh, no reason!"