CHAPTER 9
Taylor and Carrie were nestled and cuddled up and warm by the Hanson's fireplace. They had
a blanket wrapped around them, and holding eachother tightly. It's been two years since
Taylor thought he was in love with Carrie. They never did tell eachother that they loved
one another. It was kept silent. They had experimented with other people within those two
years, but coming back to eachother, realizing that they were the only ones that should be
together. But each one didn't really know if they loved eachother....each one barely knew
what love was.
"Love is war." Taylor said outloud. The two had a poetry book before them,
reading it's words, and then wondering if the statements were true. "He's
right."
"Yeah, I would say so." Carrie then turned around and looked Taylor in the face.
She just stared at his face, noticing every little detail about it. He turned away from
the book, and looked at Carrie. "What?" he asked.
"Nothing, I just thought....well I was just thinking of how lucky I was to have
you." she sweetly said.
"And I am lucky to have you." Taylor said with a smile. She leaded up and gave
him a light kiss on the lips.
"Hello? We're home!!" Zac said as he tromped in the room, with a girl about his
age. Carrie and Taylor pulled away, and looked at him.
"Hi." Taylor squeaked out.
"Hey." Zac said. "Umm, we're gonna just go hang out in my room for
awhile."
"Whatever." Taylor said..."Leave MY stuff alone." he added.
"Fine. Whatever. Come on Hope, let's go."
"Alright." a meak voice said. The two then dissapeared into the hallway.
"Who was that?" Carrie questioned.
"Oh, that would have to be Hope, Zac's new girlfriend."
"They are cute together." she said.
"I know, but we are too...." he trailed off. She looked up and smiled at him.
"I know." There was a pause. "What time is it?" she asked. He looked
down at his watch.
"4:30."
"Oh, gotta go and get ready for the party. Be there at 7:00" she said as she got
up.
"Alright." Carrie was having her 16th birthday party tonight. "I'll be
there."
"Oh, and, ah, tell Zac he can bring Hope too."
"I will." he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and she started walking down
the road.
CHAPTER 9
"Okay, okay, time to open presents everyone!" Taylor shouted.
"Here, open mine first." Zac said as he handed Carrie a neatly wrapped box.
"Oh God, do I dare?" she smirked.
"Hey, I was nice this time...." he trailed off, with a smile on his face. Carrie
carefully unwrapped the gift, finding a teddy
bear.
"Aww, Zac that was so nice of you." she cooed.
"Well, I'm quite the shopper." he sarcastically added. "If you'll take the
time to recall your last birthday present..." he
started to laugh.
"That was NOT funny Zac. That scared me half to death."
"Well, I like snakes. They don't hurt you or anything, well, atleast, that one
wouldn't have...." he chuckled. He wrapped
his arm around Hope's waist, and continued on laughing.
"This year, it's a lot better. Thank you." Carrie said as she reached over to
give him a hug. Carrie opened up the remaing
presents, each with a smile on her face.
"Okay, now for my gift." Taylor said. "I'll be right back." he stated
as he walked out of the room.
"I say we play spin the bottle!!!" Zac shouted. Some people went with the idea,
and they decided to play it after Carrie
opened Tay's present. He came back, with a small present, and some other items. He pulled
his arms in front of him, and
out came a red rose.
"Aww." people cooed.
"And then, there is this..." Taylor informed everyone, holding out a precisely
wrapped gift. Carrie anxiuosly unwrapped
the present, as Tay took a seat next to her. Under the wrapping, was a picture in a golden
frame. It was a blown up
picture, of Carrie and Tay sitting on a bench before some waterfalls. Carrie was kissing
the top of Taylor's forehead, and
Taylor was looking up at Carrie. It was the cutest, and sweetest picture, which was taken
earlier in the summer.
"Oh my God, I remember Ike taking this, but I don't ever remember seeing it."
she softly said.
"I know. I hid it until now." Taylor confessed. Carrie looked and admired the
picture, and then looked at Taylor. He
smiled back, "And there's just one more." Taylor again pulled out a neatly
wrapped small package, and handed it to
Carrie.
"Oh God, you spoil me...." she said an in exasperated tone. One again, she took
off the paper, and found a velvet
covered box. She opened it, finding a beautiful silver necklace. "Oh." was all
she could stutter.
"Do you like it?"
"Taylor, I...."
"Here, let me help you put it on....." he said as he reached over and laced the
necklace together behind her neck. He
leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I love you." he whispered.
"I love you too." Carrie said as she pulled his neck down, and kissed him softly
on the lips. Chills ran through their
bodies, and goosebumps covered their skin like a blanket. The kisses became deeper, and
they were doing this in front
of everyone at the party.
"Okay, that's enough. I don't wanna sit here and watch Carrie and Tay make out."
Zac shouted.
"Uhh, me neither." Ike sain in his best Beavis and Butthead voice. Eventhough
19, he still had a scent of a child in him.
Carrie and Tay pulled away, and sat on the couch holding hands.
"Okay, now, time for spin the bottle!" Zac announced.
"Yeah, alright!" was shouted from the room.
"Whoa, wait guys, I still have one more thing..." Taylor cut in.
"Oh come on..." Zac pleaded. Taylor gave him a look.
"REMEMBER?" he mouthed to Zac.
"Oh, oh yeah." he stuttered. Ike and Zac got up and followed Tay to where their
instruments were, and once they were
set, Taylor began to speak.
"Okay, we're gonna play something, which is dedicated to Carrie." he flashed her
a smile, and she blushed, as she toyed
with the necklace in her hands. They began to sing a beautiful, slow, new song....which of
course was about Carrie.
Carrie stared to feel tears coming, and tried to keep them in. Towards the end of the
song, Taylor grabbed Carrie's
hand, and took her up to where the guys were performing.
"And I know that I will always.......love you." Taylor belted out as the song
finished. He looked into Carrie's eyes, and
he leaned in to kiss her. They shortly kissed, and then, the two walked off, hand in hand.
******************************************************************************************************************************
"Taylor, what you did tonight was......too much." Carrie explained. "You
spoil me." The two were outside along the
beach, while the rest were inside playing Zac's game of spin the bottle.
"No. No, Carrie. It's not like that." he said, brushing away a section of hair
away from her face, and putting it behind her
ear. "I did it to show you how much you mean to me. I did it to show you how much I
love you. I have always wanted to
tell you...but I never knew when, or how. Carrie.....I love you."
Carrie blushed. She now knew that she had the best boyfriend in the whole world. "I
have to tell you something too..."
"Humm?" Taylor asked.
"I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a guy like you." she said, as she
put her head down. He did the same and they
were sitting with their forheards pressed together. "You have always been there for
me...you could always brighten up
my day, and you always made me feel like I was wanted...even when we were just friends,
and dating other people."
They sat and stared into eachother's faces for awhile, noticing every detail. "And, I
love you too." she ended. They again
sat in silence. Then, Taylor spoke.
"If anything ever happened to you Carrie, I...."
"Shh." she interrupted, putting her finger on his lips. He smiled, and kissed it
softly. A wave rushed up to the surface,
causing both of them to get sprayed with water, but they sat, ignoring it. Taylor slipped
his hand behind Carrie's back,
and pulled her closer. She put her hands on his neck, and twirled loose peices of hair in
the back. As another wave
made it's way in, Taylor and Carrie were pushed together, and their lips met again. The
moon was out, reflecting off the
lake, the waves were rolling, and love, was once again circling the two teens.
They kissed until the spin the bottle game was done inside. Taylor and Carrie walked in to
find Zac and Hope sitting on
the couch, with Ike sitting in a chair, and the others were scattered out around the room.
"Well, look who decided to grace us with their presence." Zac pronounced.
"What were you two doing? Eh? Eh?"
"Zac, shut-up." Taylor mumbled.
"Well, PARTIES OVER!!!" Zac screamed at the top of his lungs...still almost at
the same maturity level as he was 2
years ago. They people dissappeared, and the party was over.
"Well, see you guys tomorrow." Carrie said, yawning. "Thanks for
coming."
"Bye Carrie, happy birthday." Ike managed to choke out between yawns.
"Bye, happy birthday." Zac repeated, with Hope by his side.
"Thanks for everything you guys." Carrie said as they walked out. "And
especially thanks to you. I have never had so
much fun...." she said to Taylor.
He laughed. "Bye, I'll call you tomorrow..." they gave eachother a quick kiss.
"Bye. Love you." she said as he walked out the door.
"Love you too." Carrie leaned back against the wall, watching Taylor walk down
the road as she sighed.
CHAPTER 10
"Your temp is 103 honey." Carrie's mom said as she took rubbed her daughters
forehead.
"Yeah, and I feel like crap." Carrie muttered.
"Well, I'll go get you another glass of soda." her mom said as she sighed and
exited the room. Carrie drifted off to sleep,
feeling terrible. It was a week ago that she had had her party, and now, she was sick with
the flu. So far, being 16 wasn't
too fun. As she was sleeping, Taylor made a surprise visit. He found Carrie lying there,
and he felt so bad because she
looked so sick. He wanted her to get better, he hated seeing her like this.
He placed the dozen white roses that he had brought her, and placed them in the window. He
also brought a teddy bear
that was holding a sign saying get well soon. He layed it next to her side, and gently
placed his hand on her forhead. He
brushed away any hairs that were keeping him from seeing her elegant face. She moved a
little, but never woke up. He
stared at her for awhile, just noticing her beauty. Carrie then woke up, finding a
wide-eyed Taylor staring at her.
"Hi." he softly said.
"Ughhh." was all she could manage to get out.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, concern staining his voice.
"Worse." she said rubbing her head. Taylor frowned. "What's this?" she
asked, referring to the teddy bear, and holding
it.
"Oh, just a little something I picked up." he smiled, but he wasn't himself, he
hated seeing Carrie like that. Carrie then
noticed the roses. "Geez Taylor, I only have the flu." she joked.
"I know, but, I hate seeing you like this." he moaned.
"Oh, nock-it-off. It's just the flu!"
"Either way." he bit his lip. "I hate this!"
"Oh, I'm lovin' every minute of it!" Carrie sarcastically shouted. He sighed.
"Well, if you don't mind sitting with a sick
person, do you wanna watch a movie or someting?" Carrie cautiously asked.
"Sure." He grabbed a chair, and scooted it closer to Carrie's bed, and she
grabbed the remote and pressed play.
"Forrest Gump" was in the VCR.
"I love this movie. It's old, but I still love it." Carrie said as she took a
sip of soda.
"Mama always said, life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're
going to get." Taylor imitated. Carrie
let out a weak laugh.
******************************************************************************************************************************
A week passed and Carrie was still sick. She hadn't gotten any better, and she hadn't
gotten any worse. She hoped that
every morning as she woke up, that she would be all better. But every morning it was the
same old routine. She became
weaker within that week, and Taylor often visited her. She enjoyed his company, but they
couldn't get anywhere near
eachother.
"Carrie, if you aren't better by the end of this week, I'm taking you in."
"I'll be fine mom." she muttered. And surprisingly, she was better by the middle
of the week.
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************
"I am so happy that you aren't sick anymore." Taylor said. The two were in his
room, just talking. "I couldn't stand seeing
you like that." Zac entered the room.
"Oh, you're not sick anymore? That's all we heard about around here. 'Carrie is still
sick' was all we heard from Tay.
Whine, whine, whine." he said to Carrie. "Thank God.....NO MORE! But no, really,
I'm glad you're better." he said
giving her a pat on the arm.
"Thanks." was all she said. Zac started to rumble in his drawers in the
backround as Taylor and Carrie continued on with their conversation.
"Tay, where's that one shirt?"
"I donno Zac. Shut-up." he rolled his eyes. "So, you wanna go to that
performance we're doing Saturday?" he asked Carrie.
"Yeah, that'll be fine. What time?"
"2:00, at the mall."
"Alright, I'll see you there." She grabbed Taylor's wrist and looked at his
watch. "Gotta go, mom wants me home by 5."
"Okay, bye."
******************************************************************************************************************************
"Where is she?" Taylor questioned himself. It was Saturday, and he was waiting
for Carrie's arrival.
"Chill out. She'll come." Ike assured Taylor.
"Yeah, you know Carrie, she doesn't miss any one of these." Zac said.
"I know, but she's never late either. 10 minutes before we start! She always gives me
good luck too." he said, kicking the
ground, with his hands jammed in his pockets.
"Oh God." Zac muttered as he rolled his eyes. Another 5 minutes passed. No
Carrie. Where was she?
CHAPTER 11:
"I can't play...this has thrown me way off now." Taylor protested, with only 2
minutes left before they played.
"Oh come on. It's just one concert. Give it a break." Zac begged. "We have
to play."
Taylor shook his head. "No. Something must be wrong. Carrie ALWAYS comes. I have to
go find her....maybe something terrible happened."
"Tay, stop worrying about it. Maybe she's in the crowd." Ike assured.
"Yeah." Zac added. "She's gotta be."
"Okay, but if she's not..." Taylor started.
"Come on, time to go." a guy shouted, pulling them closer to the stage. Taylor
sighed. "Please welcome: HANSON!!!!!!!!!!!" Girls started to scream, making a
loud shrill. Taylor immediately scanned the audiance for Carrie but never found her. He
slapped a smlie on his face, and vowed himself that he would play anyway.
They played a number of songs, some from the old and new album. Taylor kept an eye out for
Carrie, but she never showed.
During a slow song, Isaac spotted a gil his age. He was pulled in by her beauty, and
immediately snapped into a daze. She was staring at him, and he was staring at her. Their
eyes were locked, and then, he messed up on his guitar.
"Oh God." he thought, trying to regain the rhythm. He got it again, and tried to
find the girl, but she was gone. "How could this be?" he thought. "She
couldn't have gone within a few seconds."
"Oh God, Carrie better be okay. If she's not, I will lock myself in my room forever,
and starve to death." ran through Tay's mind.
"Whoa, that blond is pretty cute over there. I wonder if she likes me. Oh yeah, she's
gotta. I've got all the moves. No wait, I have Hope." Zac thought, just then, he
messed up his part. They were all thinking of different things, the music was turning out
bad.
"Well we bombed that." Taylor mumbled at the end of the concert, backstage. Ike
suddenely started walking away from them, in a daze. "Where's he going?" Tay
asked Zac.
"Don't ask me!" he said, throwing up his hands.
Isaac had spotted the girl again, and wasn't going to let her get away this time.
"Hey..." he said as he grabbed her arm.
"Oh, hey." she said turning around.
"I'm Isaac Hanson." he offered his hand.
"Yeah, I know. I'm Kate. Nice to meet you." They shook hands for the longest
time, each in a daze, and stared into eachother's eyes. Noticing his stupidity, Isaac
asked, "Can I get you a drink or something?" noticing they were right outside
the food court.
"Oh, no. I'm okay. I just had lunch a while ago."
"Oh. " There was a pause. "So, are you from around here?" Ike started
the conversation that lasted nearly a half hour. They talked and Ike really liked
her...not only was she beautiful, but she was hilairious and had a great personality.
"I am not gonna sit here and watch him flirt with a girl when my Carrie could be in
trouble." Taylor said, sounding more like a father than a boyfriend. He said this
with crossed arms, and a long face. He marched over to Isaac.
"Ike, we have to go."
"Oh, umm, okay." Ike waited to see his brother leave, but he didn't. Noticing
his brothers stubborness, he said, "Could you give me a minute?" as he
"shooed" his brother away.
"A MINUTE." Tay shouted.
"So, " he said, turning to Kate, "Can I call you sometime?"
"Oh, sure." They exchanged numbers, and Ike walked back with a smile on his
face.
"Okay, okay, he's here. Let's go!" Taylor quickly rambled. "Into the
van...." he said as he pushed his brothers and sisters in. He nearly hurled Jessica
in.
"Hey, watch it!" was her reaction.
"Sorry, but HURRY!" was his only response. When he wasn't watching, she stuck
her tongue out at him. They finally drove up into the driveway, and Taylor immediately ran
into the house to use the phone.
"Tay, could you help with some of this?" Walker tried to ask his son, but he was
already inside. He sighed, and piled more onto Zac's already filled arms.
"Hey!" he yelled from behind the stack.
"Take it inside." Walker demanded.
"Fine." Zac said as he frowned.
Taylor anxiously dialed Carrie's phone numer with shaking hands. "Is Carrie
there?"
"Is this Taylor?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, hi hon. I'm sorry Carrie didn't come to the performance, she felt really
bad." Carrie's mom explained.
"What happened?" he persisted.
"She didn't feel well again this morning, and then she passed out in the kitchen this
afternoon..."
"Is she alright???" He demanded.
"Yes, she's fine now, she's just sick again. She's in her room. She feels really bad
about not being able to come either."
"Oh, it's okay...is it alright if I drop by to say hi?"
"Yeah, that should be fine, I think she's awake, so you could come now, if you
like." she offered.
"Thanks, I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Okay, bye Taylor."
"Bye." He grabbed his jacket, and ran down the road.
******************************************************************************************************************************
"Carrie.." he said as he stumbled into the room.
"Taylor! I am so sorry about not being able to-" he stopped her talking and gave
her a kiss. She pushed him away. "Tay, you'll catch it too... I don't need you
getting sick."
"Are you okay?" he changed the subject.
"Yeah. Mom says if I'm not better, she's taking me into the Doctor. I mean, I've been
sick for like 2 and a half weeks now. It's starting to scare me."
"Oh, don't worry, it's just the flu."
She shrugged. "I am so sorry about not being able to come."
"It's okay, as long as you are okay." he said as he sat next to her on her bed
and put his arm around her.
"You are really sweet honey, but, I don't want you to get sick." she said,
gently giving his a shove.
"I don't care."
"Well I do. I don't wanna see you sick..."
"Ah-ha! Now you know how I feel." he smirked.
"Well, yeah..." she mumbled. "But, still..."
"Okay, okay." he said, backing away from Carrie. "Just one more kiss
though? PLEASE?" he pleaded
"You are sick." she smirked. "Come here." She gave him a soft, gentle,
and long kiss that seemed to last forever. She finally let go.
"You have to get better....I can't live without you." he wispered.
"You better go, you don't need to get sick too."
"Alright." he groaned. "I love you, and get better." he said as he
walked out the door and blew her a kiss. Carrie smiled.
"I love you too." Then, she drifted off to sleep, still feeling horrible.
CHAPTER 12
"The doctor said it was nothing." Carrie explained over the phone.
"Yeah well, passing out when you just have the flu isn't nothing to me."
"Taylor, don't yell at me! I don't know what's going on!"
"Sorry...I'm just so worried about you." he mumbled. There was silence for
awhile. "So how do you feel now?"
"Fine. Ever since this morning." It had been yesterday that she went into the
doctor and was still sick.
"Oh. Well, do you just wanna do something simple? I donno, like come over here and
just watch t.v. or a movie or something?"
"Yeah, I haven't seen you in like 2 days." she said with sadness.
"I know. Why don't I come to your house first, and then I can walk with you to my
house...just in case anything happens to you."
"Oh God Taylor, I'm fine."
"I'm coming over." he protested.
"Okay, fine." she said laughing a little.
"I'll be right over. Bye."
"Bye." she hung up the phone, and grabbed her jacket and shoes and waited for
Taylor. Minutes later, he was there.
"God those two days were so long." Taylor said as he walked in the door,
immediately giving her a kiss. This time, Carrie didn't pull back even though she was just
sick a few days ago. She pulled him closer, running her fingers up and down his back. He
cupped his hands around her face, and continued on kissing her deeply. He worked his hands
down to her hips, and they kissed for a few more minutes.
"Ready to go?" he asked, still holding her in his arms.
"Um-hum." Then the two walked out the door, towards the Hanson's house.
"So you're feeling okay?" Taylor asked once they got inside.
"Yeah, I pretty much feel normal." she said, taking her coat off.
"What do you wanna do?" he questioned.
"What do I want to do? Humm, I donno, whatever."
"Well, I think that it's just me and you here, so we can pretty much do anything.
Movie?"
"Sure, what one?"
"It's up to you."
"God, I hate it when people do that to me." she said, and then thought for a
moment. "Nothing scary."
"Let's see...." he said, peering into the cabinit where they kept the movies.
"Titanic, Scream 2, Romeo and Juliet...."
"Titanic." Carrie inturrupted. "I remember going to see that with you. I
haven't watched it since."
"Okay, Titanic it is." he said, pulling it out, ad shoving it into the VCR. The
two sat down on the couch, and crawled next to eachother. Before the movie was starting,
Taylor quickly said something.
"I love you."
Carrie laughed. "Ditto."
"I'm so happy you aren't sick anymore." It seems as if they had had this
conversation before.
"Me too. " was all Carrie could say.
*****************************************************
Go On