Thirty Two
Two Months Later
"I wish you could come with us," Cheyanne said sadly. "It sucks that you have to be here alone during Thanksgiving break."
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to my house tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner," Page smiled. "And thanks again for letting me stay here for the next few days."
The Diaz family were being so sweet by giving Page permission to stay in their home while they were away. This was not something most people would allow unless they really liked the visitor.
"Mi casa es tu casa, Page. You are always welcome here. You're like a second daughter for us," Mr. Diaz gushed. Page smiled, remembering all those times he would teach her Spanish when she would visit Cheyanne.
"He's right, Page. You are like a second daughter to us, mija." Despite using Spanish, Mrs. Diaz was not clearly not Hispanic. She was Irish and had the accent to prove it. Page was always amazed when she spoke Spanish around them.
"Aw, thanks you guys," Page smiled giving each of them a hug.
"We'll be back Sunday afternoon and you have all the instructions. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to call us on our cell phone or the number that we have listed. Virginia really isn't that far from here, maybe five or six hours, so we should get there by one or two in the morning," Mr. Diaz explained.
"Don't worry, Dad. I think she'll have it under control," Tony, who was in his sophomore year in college, said. He gave Page a hug and headed toward the garage.
"Okay, I guess we should be going now," Mrs. Diaz sighed.
They all said their good-byes and then the Diaz family was on their way, Page left in their house all alone. For the past two months she had seen her own family enough times to count on one hand. Her father hadn't talked to her once the whole time. He paid Cheyanne's family money for taking Page in, but he gave it to them directly. He wasn't going to talk to her as long as Taylor was still in her life.
And Taylor was definitely still in her life. They talked on the phone daily and sent e-mail to each other constantly. He was home in Tulsa right now with his family for the holiday season. She thought he was extremely lucky to have the undying support of his family while Page had been kicked out of her house. It was odd how opposite their families were.
Thinking of Taylor made her sign online to see if he was on. Unfortunately, he wasn't. She called him on her cell phone. There was no answer, which was unusual. Finally, she decided to go out and find something to do.
* * * *
Taylor knew he had to do it. After two months, he was beginning to go crazy. Not only was he sex deprived, but he genuinely missed everything about his girl. The way she smelled, the way she smiled, and the way she made him feel inside.
"What if Page is with her family this weekend? They won't be too happy, man," Kathy warned. She was visiting their family for Thanksgiving. The Hansons were practically her surrogate family now. She had just taken Zoe outside to play and was surprised when she came across Taylor, packing his car, ready to leave for New York, all with his parents permission.
"She told me she's going to see her family tomorrow, but that's it. They are seriously not talking at all anymore," Taylor explained. He was sitting behind the wheel, but he put the car in 'park' as Kathy talked to him from the driver's side window.
Kathy remembered the stories Page would tell her about her family and how much she missed them when they were away. Kathy knew Page had to resent Taylor somewhat for all he had cost her.
"Well, I hope you guys have fun," Kathy remarked with blatant sarcasm in her voice.
"Hey, what's up with the sarcasm?"
"Nothing," she replied, straightening up.
"Okay, we'll have fun. You take care of my family while I'm away." Taylor winked. He then put the car in 'drive', backed out the driveway, and was on his way to the airport to board the plane to New York.
* * * *
Page left Lauren's house feeling weird. Alan happened to be there and kept questioning her about her distance from him. He knew it had something to do with Taylor, but she denied it. The last sentence out of his mouth, "Don't call me when you realize you made the biggest mistake of your life," still resonated in her head. All the way home she thought about that statement. Was Alan right? Was she making the biggest mistake of her life?
Once she got back to Cheyanne's house, she put her pajamas on, grabbed some ice cream from the refrigerator and settled in to watch television. The TV was turned to MTV and suddenly an advertisement for Hanson's album flashed across the screen. She felt the tears swell up in her eyes because she realized she missed them. She missed Hanson being her favorite band and she missed being obsessed over them. Now, she never even listened to her Hanson CDs and she didn't spend any time taking everything all in. Now, she was Hanson. All the fans knew about her and hated her. Everyone in the world seemed to know about her relationship and she had to deal with it. Hanson didn't symbolize innocence and fun to her anymore. She knew she could never have those feelings back again.
Just as she was thinking about those thoughts, she thought she saw something at the window. She watched it for a second and saw a silhouette move. Startled, she thought maybe it was just her imagination. When she realized it wasn't, she put the ice cream down and carefully picked the phone up. As her fingers started to nervously dial 911, there was a knock at the front door. With the phone still in her hand, she carefully she walked to the door and looked out the peephole. Someone was looking right back at her. She jumped, but suddenly realized she recognized the blue eyes. It was Taylor.
"Oh, my God!" she hissed to herself. She yanked the door open. "You scared me so much," she exclaimed, hugging him. "Why didn't you just knock at the door?"
"I wanted to make sure I was at the right house," he said, not letting go.
"What if you weren't? You would have been arrested or something for stalking!"
"I missed you so much, Page," Taylor replied, kissing her.
Page eyed Taylor carefully after he kissed her. "How'd you get here?"
"I walked," he replied smartly.
"No, smart-ass, how'd you know where Chey lived?"
"I used my stalker skills," he chuckled. "I'm here, right? That's all that matters."
"Your parents let you come here?"
"Yeah, why not? As far as they know, Cheyanne's family is still here," Taylor said cleverly. "I love you so much, Page. I need you. . ."
"No, you need help," she taunted.
"Maybe so. . ." he confessed.
"I'm so glad that you're here, even if you are in need of help. We have four days to enjoy each other," Page said happily. She didn't mention that she was happier that she wouldn't have to be alone.
* * * *
"How did you know that pancakes were my favorite thing to eat in the morning?" Taylor walked into the kitchen and gave Page a kiss.
"I have eaten breakfast with you quite a few times," Page reminded him. She was cooking breakfast for the two of them, which was a big deal since she hated to cook and moreover, couldn't.
"You're so cute, Page," he smiled dreamily sitting down at the breakfast table. There was a little compact in front of him, which he opened. "What's this?"
"My birth control pills," she replied nonchalantly.
"Are these the dates and times of when you're supposed to take them? What if you forget or take them late?"
"You have to take two the next day," she explained. "It's a pain in the ass."
"Don't take them, then."
Page laughed and assumed Taylor was joking. "Those are for times like last night when we don't use condoms."
"Speaking of last night. . ." he said seductively. He walked behind Page and put his arms around her waist.
She could feel him poking at her lower back and said softly, "I'm cooking right now, sweetie."
"I know, I can wait," he said into her ear and then started kissing it. He kissed her neck, which she knew drove her crazy.
She flipped the remaining pancakes on the griddle and then turned the stove off. She put the spatula down and turned to face him.
She kissed his bare chest and neck while he pulled her hips into his. She kissed his lips and then parted them with her tongue while he tried to pull down her panties. She followed his lead, pulling the oversized T-shirt she was wearing over her head.
"This is what I call breakfast. . ." he panted.
She smiled as he fondled her. Just as she began to pull down his boxers, there was a knock on the door.
"Pretend we're not here," he said not wanting to stop.
"I think it's my family," she panicked. "You rented a car, right?"
"Yeah," he moaned, still kissing her neck.
"Shit, and it's outside!"
"Relax, I parked down the street. Let's go upstairs and maybe they'll go away. Your car is in the garage. . ."
Page agreed and they ignored the knock on the door. They ran upstairs to finish what they started.
* * * *
"Tonight I think I realized how much I miss my family," Page told Taylor as they laid in the queen-sized bed in the guest room.
Taylor was quiet as he ran his hand along her arm, tickling her.
"My dad even decided to give me a hug today, it was really nice. They all wanted me to stay, but I told them that I would be over tomorrow morning. I said something about having company over here."
"You do. . ." he smiled.
"Yeah, imagine if I told them you were staying with me," she laughed.
"So, you're leaving me tomorrow morning?"
"I'll leave before you wake up. I'll only stay for an hour or so," she promised. "Aren't you happy that things are going better with me and my family?"
"Yeah, as long as you're happy," Taylor said insincerely. He wasn't even looking at her. He was still running his hands all over her body.
Page ignored his comment and got up out of bed. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Why are you taking a shower?"
"Because I want to," she snapped.
"What's your problem?"
"Fuck it, Taylor. You know what? You don't even care that I'm hurting! I miss my family and I miss my old life! No matter how much I love you or you love me, this void cannot be filled! I need them!"
"I need you, too!"
"If you really loved me, you'd understand that I need my family to be fully happy."
"Fine, you want to sneak around again? What is it that you want exactly?"
"To be normal again. . ." she said quietly.
"No, you can't ever be normal again," Taylor said sternly.
Page felt chills run through her spine. In some odd way, she knew he was right. She wouldn't ever be the same as she was before and she would never have the life that she had.
"Is it that I can't be normal again, or that you don't want me to be normal again?"
"For you to be normal, it would require me not being in your life. So, consequently, I don't want you to be how you were ever again."
"Maybe you not being in my life wouldn't be as bad as you think," Page replied with tears in her eyes. She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Taylor felt the anger boil up inside him. In a sudden blind rage, went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed the birth control pills that were still sitting on the kitchen table. He hastily emptied the birth control pills into the garbage disposal and hid the compact in the trash. After washing his hands, he went upstairs, grabbed his bag, and rummaged for his condoms. After finding them, he started looking for something sharp. He remembered that Page had taken off her earrings earlier, complaining about them poking him when she laid on him. He grabbed an earring off the bedside table and poke an inconspicuous hole in each condom.
He was going to be sure Page's life would never be normal again.