Isaac decided to drive the family van with everyone in it while Taylor and I were going to take his personal car, just so we could get some time alone. Taylor linked his hand with mine as he lead me out to his car He walked me over to the side and opened the door for me.
"Why, thank you!" I said, stepping in and sitting down. I waited as he walked around and let himself in the car before I put my seatbelt on. He sat down and looked over at me. He grinned.
"You excited?" He asked, turning to face me.
"Oh, I'm so excited I don't even know how to express it. It's like, everything in my life is going so well right now. I'm doing well in school, I just got a RECORD deal, and...well, I kind of have you too." I said, not quite sure how to finish what I was saying.
"You kinda have me?" He asked, squinting at me. "What do you mean?"
"Well," I searched for the right words. "I mean, we're not like, officially a couple or anything, but I feel kind of like a substantial part of my life right now is you." I said, guesturing lamely with my hands.
He smiled faintly. "Well, I should hope so. I'd feel pretty bad if the first person you went to after one of the best things ever happened to you wasn't very substantial."
"Well, Taylor, you are substnatial to me, but I guess I'm just kind of wondering if I am to you too." I said, wondering where this conversation started. He looked hurt when I asked him that question.
"Did you just ask me if I cared about you or not?" He asked, his eyes wide.
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I know you like me and stuff, but I guess I'm just wondering how much you do. Because I know for myself how much I like you." I said, trying to explain what I was getting at.
"Andrea," he started, putting his hands in his lap, "I like you a lot. It's not like my other relationships when I didn't want to bring the girl home because she wouldn't like my family, it's not like the other relationships where all we did was make out, and it's not like the ones that I've been roped into and wished that they were over as soon as they started. It's...it's new, and it's exciting, and I want you to know my family and I want them to know you, and I want to kiss you all the time, but if I leave after spending time with you without kissing you once, I still feel like things are great, and I'm comfortable with you, and I'm comfortable telling you things like this, even though I'm hardly comfortable thinking them," he paused, "and the fact that you can make me so angry by just questioning my feelings scares me." He ended quietly. He had been staring at his hands throughout his entire speech and continued to look down at them, wringing them back and forth. He looked so confused, so uncomfortable, and so vulnerable, all at the same time. I didn't quite know what to do.
"You know how sexy you look right now?" I blurted, hardly aware of what I was saying. A small smile formed on his lips and he turned to face me.
"I look sexy?" He asked. I bit my lip. He really did.
"Yeah...sorry to ruin the moment though." I apologized. He reached his hand to my face and lightly tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. His two fingers traced their way down to my jaw and chin. He tilted my head towards him and leaned in. Our lips hardly brushed against each other before he pulled away. I kept my eyes closed after he kissed me and let out a shaky breath. "Taylor," I started, but I was cut off by his lips on mine again. He began stroking my cheek with his thumb as our lips started moving against each others. I raised up my hand and set it soflty on his chest. His mouth opened and he licked my lips, finding his way inbetween them and prying them apart. I accepted his tongue into my mouth as he traced it over my teeth, the roof of my mouth, and finally I brought my tongue up to meet his. I heard someone rapping on the window a second later and jumped away from Taylor. I turned to see what was going on and Zac had his face up close. I rolled the window down.
"Sorry to, erm...interrupt or whatever, but there isn't enough room in the car for all of us. Can I ride with you?"
"Yeah, sure." I said. He opened the back door and slipped in. There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Uh...I think I came at a bad time." Zac said nervously as Taylor started to back out of the driveway.
"No, don't worry about it Zac. I was just congratulating Andrea, that's all." Taylor said, grinning at Zac through the mirror.
"Oh, ok. Then nevermind. I'm glad I barged in on you making out." He said with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Geeze, we weren't making out! That was only one kiss." Taylor defended.
"Well, you know, I just figured since you've been in here for a few minutes and all..." Zac trailed off.
"And a lot of that was spent talking." Taylor interrupted.
"Ok, ok!" Zac said, holding up his hands. "Don't feel like you have to explain yourself to me. I don't care either way. Now hurry up, I want some ice cream." He said, laughing. I smiled to myself at the brotherly bantering going on in the car. Taylor smiled over at me and placed on of his hands on mine as he drove.
"Gag me!" Zac yelled from the back. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at him.
"Zac, you don't know who you're messing with." I threatened.
"Oh yeah? Who?"
"The girl who, at an ice cream shop, in fact, stuffed her rocky road in her little brother's face." Zac's face went from defiant to awe.
"You did that?" He breathed.
"Of course! He was being a jerk." I explained with a shrug of my shoulders. I glanced over at Taylor and winked at him. He squeezed my hand and winked back.
"What'd he do?" Zac asked, scooting forward to hear better.
"Oh, you know, he made fun of my in front of this guy I'd liked for like, a year. He was the ice cream boy, and Jake, he's my brother, told the guy that I wet the bed until I was nine. So as soon as we got out of the store I smashed my cone into his face." I finished simply. Taylor burst out laughing.
"I can't believe you did that!" He said between gasps. Zac was shaking his head furiously.
"Wait, wait...you wet the bed until you were NINE!??!"