"That's Page without an 'I'. You know, like Page as in a page in a book?" Taylor informed the florist at the small flower shop not too far from his home.
"Is she your girlfriend?" the nice, elderly lady asked. She was a very handsome woman and Taylor imagined she had once been courted by many boys in her day.
"Yeah. . ." Taylor replied, smiling. 'Girlfriend' sounded like an understatement to him after the amazing time they had shared the night before. It wasn't like anything he'd ever experienced with anyone in the past.
"Well, this arrangement is beautiful. Your girlfriend will be grinning from ear to ear when she sees it. You've got a good eye for floral arrangements." She winked. He blushed and thanked her.
As Taylor stepped into his house, carrying the bouquet of flowers, he was the one grinning from ear to ear.
"Wow, Taylor! What's all this? Mother's Day was over a month and a half ago!" Mrs. Hanson joked, knowing who all of the flowers were intended for. "Sorry, Mom. This is for Page. Is she awake yet?" Taylor said. He kissed his Mom on the cheek and preceded to walk through the foyer and into the kitchen.
"No, not that I know of. All the kids are awake and making lots of noise. I'm surprised she hasn't woken up yet. What'd you guys do last night?" Mrs. Hanson inquired as she followed Taylor.
"Nothing. We just hung out here for awhile."
"Oh. What are the flowers for, honey?"
"I'm just glad she's here."
"Taylor, did you guys sleep in the same room last night?" Diana Hanson asked her seventeen-year-old son. She was determined to get a straight answer. It took all of her strength to look him in the eyes and ask him that question.
"No, we didn't sleep together, if that's what you are insinuating. I already had the sex talk with Dad."
"Tay, you can tell me anything. I think it may be more intelligent on your part to inform me right now, rather than your father and I finding out some other way."
An awkward silence stood between them and Taylor changed the subject.
"I have to put these in a vase before they dry out, right? I want them to look nice for her."
"Damn it, Taylor!" Mrs. Hanson said loudly and angrily. She never cursed and seldom became angry, so when she did, everyone listened.
"Mom, calm down! Everyone is going to hear you!" Taylor shouted.
"You mean like they heard you and Page last night?"
Taylor froze and looked at his Mom.
"Mom, I. . ." He began.
"Taylor, we didn't say that Page could stay here so you two could engage in whatever you did last night conveniently. We said she could stay here because no matter what we say, you guys will find a way. We thought we were being good parents by allowing you two to stay under our roof because we could watch over you and it would be harder for you two to do anything bad. I guess we were wrong. Parenting is so difficult, Taylor. We always want to do what's best for our children, but we also want them to be happy. Usually, the two go hand in hand, but not always. We don't say things to be mean, okay? We always have reasons behind our rules," Mrs. Hanson lectured.
"Mom, I love you. I. . .We didn't want to hurt you or Dad," Taylor said at a loss for words. "I love her, Mom. We're in love."
"Taylor, you are seventeen years old! You don't know what love is!"
"You and Dad were thirteen when you guys fell in love!"
"We didn't have sex! You're using love as an excuse for sex. I think you have the two confused," Mrs. Hanson articulated, not wanting to hear any excuses.
"No, I don't. I thought you'd understand, Mom," Taylor said shaking his head.
"I thought you'd understand, too. I'm not sure what to do. I have to talk to your father and then we'll talk to you and Page."
"Why? We don't need a sex talk."
"Don't question me, Tay. I'm very disappointed with you," Mrs. Hanson said sadly. She walked out of the room and Taylor could hear his little brother, Mackenzie,ask her what was wrong.
Taylor's happiness was gone and replaced with sorrow. Thoughts ran through his head. He didn't like to make his Mom angry and he didn't like for her to be disappointed with him. Most of all, he didn't want them to keep Page and him apart. He knew they had a valid excuse for being all of the above. It wasn't like he intentionally made love to Page to upset them. It wasn't something he could control. He loved her and she loved him. That's what you do when you love someone, he thought. It was natural and it was good to him. It wasn't bad or shameful, so why was it such a big deal?
Taylor knocked on Page's door with flowers in hand.
"Who is it?" Page asked sweetly.
"Taylor," he answered.
She opened the door quickly and smiled when she saw the flowers.
"They are beautiful! Oh, my goodness, you are so sweet!" She awed, taking them. She kissed Taylor and smelled the flowers. "They smell wonderful. Thanks so much."
"You're welcome," Taylor said solemnly.
"What's wrong?" She asked puzzled. She was in her robe and her hair was tied up in a towel.
"My parents know. I just got into an argument with my Mom," Taylor informed her.
"What? How? What are we going to do? Do I have to go home now?"
"They just heard us. I don't know what they're going to do, yet. I don't think they'll send you home."
"Oh, my God. How can I look them in the eyes? They all know what we did. We shouldn't have done it here," Page exclaimed panicking.
"Page, chill. Don't freak out, okay? They found out and there's nothing we can do about it. They can't stop us from being together."
"Why not?"
"Because we're in love. I will do anything to stay with you or I'll die trying. Nothing and no one can keep us apart," he said desperately.
"They're your parents," Page said quietly, looking down. "Why did we have to have sex last night?"
"Do you regret making love last night?" Taylor asked, hurt. Page looked up at him and Taylor saw tears in her eyes. "Why are you crying?"
"I don't want them to hate me."
"They won't. I won't let them, okay? It's not your fault. I love you and they will, too," he vowed. He kissed her delicately on the lips and began to untie her robe.
"Are you crazy? They're already pissed," Page said, backing away. "I'm going to get dressed. I'll talk to you later."
"Does this mean we'll never do what we did last night again?" Taylor questioned.
"No, it just means I don't want to do it right now. Bye, Taylor," Page said, pushing him out of the room as he protested.
Taylor stood outside of the door feeling shut out from Page's room and from Page. Little did he know, Page sat on the bed and cried because things were going bad. Sex always changed everything.
"I can't believe you agreed to this, Page," Taylor said sadly as they sat in his car outside of the airport.
"I didn't have a choice. They said if I left that they wouldn't tell my parents," Page cried.
They, as in Taylor's parents, decided that Page and Taylor needed some time away from each other. The truth was, no one knew what to do. They said they'd tell Page's parents about everything, but Page begged them not to. They said that she'd have to tell them herself or they'd do it. She said she would, but they said she had to leave if that was the case. This only caused Taylor to go off on his parents and made everything a lot worse. Now, he was grounded and she had to leave.
"I hate to interrupt, but the plane leaves in ten minutes, " Zac replied from the back-seat.
"I can see that!" Taylor shouted as he hugged his girlfriend. He wished they were alone, but his parents forced Zac to go.
"I should be leaving, Tay," Page agreed with Zac.
"I don't want you to leave," Taylor said honestly.
"You think I want to?"
"Then don't. You don't have to. . ."
"What do you mean?" Page asked confused.
"We'll go somewhere. I'll get some money out of the bank and we'll just leave."
"Hello? Are you fucking crazy? What about me?" Zac exclaimed.
"Shit! I forgot about Zac." Taylor said rolling his eyes.
"I'm not embarking on your little Thelma and Louise adventure, okay?" Zac said, sitting back.
"Tay, I have to go. . . I'll miss my flight. If we're going to leave, decide now." Page reminded him.
"Zac, you're coming with us," Taylor insisted as he drove hurriedly out of the parking lot.
"You're kidding me! Damn, man, why can't you guys kidnap me when we're on tour or something?" Zac said sarcastically.
"Zac, you wanna walk home? Fine, get out!" Taylor said angrily stopping the car abruptly. Everyone's head jerked forward.
"Are you trying to give us whiplash? What's your problem?" Zac said holding his head.
"I don't have time for your shit! Get out or shut up!"
Zac didn't move. He wanted to participate in this rebellion, but he didn't want to get in trouble by his parents.
"I'll go, but you have to tell Mom and Dad that I had nothing to do with this. I'm completely innocent."
"What? You're asking me to say that we kidnapped you?" You're fucking insane." Taylor laughed incredulously. "If you go, it's because you wanted to, not because I "forced" you."
"Exactly. Do you realize we are running away? We're not going o come back for awhile. If you don't want to come, leave now." Page insisted.
"Even though the thought of running away with you and Taylor is the last way I'd like to spend my last days before the tour, I wouldn't give up a chance to piss people off. I'm going to go with you guys." Zac said finally.
Tay and Page exchanged looks. Tay put the car in drive and they preceded to drive down the country road.
"Where are we going?" Zac asked from the back-seat.
"That's a good question." Page said to Taylor.
"Hey! Why are you guys looking at me? I don't know all the answers." Taylor stated hopelessly.
"You seemed to know the answers to everything. You were the one taking the initiative earlier." Page replied.
"So? I don't know the answer to this question." Taylor shrugged.
"Let's go to Mexico! There isn't a legal drinking age!" Zac exclaimed.
"Actually, Page was supposed to be going there in two days with her friend Cheyanne."
"Yeah, I was, but that's not going to happen."
"Why not? Dude, that's perfect! We'll go to Cancun also!" Taylor said enthusiastically.
"Do you guys have your passports?" Page asked doubtfully.
"Shit! I knew I should have brought my passport for some reason. . ."Zac snickered.
"I guess we're stuck in America. We'll go to Arkansas because the first place they'll look is Texas. Kansas and Missouri are too close and predictable." Taylor reasoned. "We'll find a hotel and stay over night."
"Sounds good to me." Page smiled. Zac didn't add his input, he watched Taylor and Page smile at each other and knew what they were going to be doing that night. He prayed to God that he'd have a separate room.
. . .Chapter 18. . .
. . .Back to Obsessed. . .
