Brynn Kishbaugh stared at the night sky for a moment before closing her eyes. She felt Taylor's arm go around her back and rest on her shoulder. Snuggling up to him and putting her arm around his stomach, they rocked back and forth in the large wooden swing outside the hotel room in Oklahoma City. Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were to play their last show there the next day before heading off to Mexico to play in Monterrey.
The last month had gone by and Brynn was already beginning to fear how fast the next one would go. What would happen when she and Holly had to go back home. She didn't even want to think about leaving Taylor. They'd grown so close and comfortable with eachother. Isaac had decided to take his long distance relationship with his girlfriend seriously. As for Holly and Zac, they seemed to just be enjoying themselves.
Brynn and Holly found it very funny that Taylor was head over heels in love with Brynn and Zac was falling for Holly. The ages didn't add up to anybody else. Holly was a month away from being 18, and Zac had just finished celebrating his 15th birthday an hour before. Brynn was almost 15 and Taylor was almost 18. To everybody else, it seemed backwards. To Brynn, Taylor, Holly, and Zac, age didn't matter. It didn't even seem to exist.
Brynn jumped slightly and her eyes shot open when she got splashed by a wave of water. "GUYS! KNOCK IT OFF!" She wiped off her forehead and glared down at Holly and Zac who were splashing around in the pool. "You did it on purpose that time."
Taylor laughed. "They've been doing it on purpose since they got in there."
She laughed and leaned back again, fitting purposely into the curve of Taylor's side. "Zac likes her so much." She whispered into his ear.
He shivered as her breath hit his ear and neck and whispered back. "She definitely likes him too."
"She'll never admit it."
"Why?"
Brynn sighed. "Boyfriend issues." Then she jumped when water hit her again and grabbed Holly's flipflop from beside her. "DIE!" She yelled and laughed when the shoe bounced off of Zac's head.
Holly ducked under water and Zac shrugged. "Sorry."
Taylor lifted his arm from around Brynn and held her hand. "You want to go for a walk? There's a field about a half a mile up the road that looked really nice."
Brynn nodded and grinned. "Let's go." Without telling Holly and Zac, they left the hotel grounds and began walking up a windy road to where Taylor had seen a large field no the way to the hotel. He held her hand in his the whole time and five minutes before they reached the field, he slid his arm around her waist.
They found the field and Brynn plopped down on the grass and stared off into the distance. Taylor sat next to her. "This is really nice." She smiled at him. "Good thing we didn't bring Holly and Zac with us. You know what they'd be doing right now?"
"Hmm?"
"Crop circle hunting."
Taylor looked around him. "It's not a corn field."
"Don't get me started." She laughed and when Taylor went to put her arm around her, she backed away. He looked hurt for a moment until she smiled and layed down on her side, resting her head on his thigh. He smiled down at her and watched as she closed her eyes. Then, he ran his hand through her long blonde hair.
Brynn shivered and Taylor asked if she was cold. "I'm... fine. Very very good." She laughed lightly and he continued playing with her hair. She rolled over onto her back so her head was still in his lap, but she could now stare up at the sky. She didn't want to make any cliche comments about the stars, so she stayed silent and stared.
"Looking for a shooting star?" Taylor asked, looking in the direction that she was.
"Why would I need a shooting star?"
"To make a wish."
Brynn smiled up at him. "Now, why would I need a wish?" Then she looked back out into the distance.
"Are you excited about Mexico?" He asked, wondering if she was homesick.
"Very. I think Holly is a little nervous. She's really homesick. She would never have gone on a trip like this if I wasn't pushing her along. She cries a lot at night."
"I didn't even know that..." He felt bad.
"She's ok. She wouldn't trade this in for the world." She paused. "And neither would I."
"Have you decided if you want to come to South America yet? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to."
"I've decided. I definitely want to. And my mom wants me to. She thinks this is a great experience."
Taylor's face lit up. "That's great!"
"Yeah." She smiled back. "I don't know if Holly wants to."
"Oh." He sighed. "And if Holly doesn't want to, you won't come either. Right?"
Brynn stayed silent before slowly nodding. "I can't go to another country without her. But that doesn't mean I don't want to come. I don't want to leave you. Ever. But..."
"She's your best friend. I understand."
Brynn smiled up at him. "Thank you. Don't worry though, we'll convince her."
In the next moment, Taylor wasn't sure what came over him. He didn't even realize he said what he said out loud. But he whispered, as lightly as possible, "I love you..."
Brynn sat up slowly and stared at him for a moment before wrapping her arms around him tightly. "I love you too." She whispered back, softly, nuzzling her face against his neck.
"What are you doing?" Zac asked, watching Holly as she walked to the diving board of the swimming pool.
"Diving. What are you doing?"
"You can't dive."
"So? I can't tie my shoes either, but somehow every morning they end up tied." She smiled down at him from the board.
"You don't wear shoes with laces."
"DETAILS!" She laughed and dove into the pool. She swam over to wear Zac was and came up, coughing. "I... can't.... dive...." She muttered between gagging coughs.
Zac laughed and patted her on the back. "You ok?"
"Of course." She swam away and got out of the pool.
"What are you doing?"
"TO THE BOARD!" She yelled and pointed as she ran to the diving board.
"You've got to be kidding me."
She grinned at him one more time before diving, more smoothly than the time before. She came up and smiled, throwing her arms in the air in victory. "I didn't even cough up a lung!"
Zac laughed. "True. But your legs went up over your head and you looked like a frog when you hit the water."
Holly growled and got out. She ran to the diving board again and took a deep breath before jumping. But this time, Zac screamed just as she was jumping. Her foot slid off the board and she flipped backwards, landing in the water on her back. Once again, she came up coughing. "THAT! WAS NOT FUNNY!"
Zac laughed and swam over to her. "I'm sorry. It was just so easy."
"Yeah? Well so is this!" Holly grabbed his shoulders and pushed him backwards, pulling herself on top of him and shoving him under water.
He broke free and came back up laughing. "Wow, for a girl who's swimming capabilities consists of the doggy paddle, that was pretty good."
"Funny."
"I thought so." He splashed her and she splashed back. They continued throwing water at eachother and dunking eachother underwater until Holly was out of breath with her back against the wall of the pool.
"Alright, Holly needs a breather." She said, referring to herself in the third person as she often did.
"Fair enough. You have about ten seconds." He looked down at his bare wrist as if keeping time.
Holly laughed and pushed him lightly, but he grabbed her hand before she could take it away. "What?" She asked and then he took her other hand in his own. "What are you doing? You're not gonna dunk me. I won't let you." She laughed, but before she could try to stop him, he made his move. However, it wasn't the move she had been expecting. He lightly pressed his lips against hers.
He let go of her and blushed. "I'm sorry... I just..." Holly smiled and put her arms around his neck, pulling him to her and kissing him again, this time more deeply and passionately. When they parted, he leaned his forehead against hers. "What was that for?"
Holly shrugged. "You're really hot when you're wet." She paused. "I didn't say that. Why did you kiss me?"
Zac laughed and smoothed her long, wet hair away from her face. "Because you're you."
"I should definitely be me more often." She laughed and gave him a long hug.
"Come to South America." He blurted out.
She let go of him and frowned. "I want to."
"So?"
"I'm really homesick, Zac." She whispered. Whenever she was homesick she had a hard time even talking about being away. She almost choked on the words. "I want to go home." She frowned.
Zac put his hand on her arm. "Don't cry..."
"I'm not going to." She took a deep breath and swallowed. "I don't really mean that. I don't really want to go home. And if I did I'd kick myself. My parents think I should stay and go and finish off this trip. It's just really hard."
He nodded. "Can I convince you to stay?"
She laughed. "You already did, Zac. The minute you kissed me. I'm coming. Don't worry."
Zac smiled a huge smile and hugged her again, not wanting to let her go for fear that she'd disappear. They stayed in the pool until three in the morning until they were both freezing cold. When they got out, they sat on the swing and talked. They barely even noticed when the sun came up. They barely noticed that Brynn and Taylor never came back to the hotel.
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