Your Love Will Be Safe With Me

We got to my sister’s at 1:15. Hanley and Justin drove with us. Nick practically forced Kitty to ride in The Maine’s van because he was still embarrassed.

“Do you have any idea where this place is?” I asked through my open window to my sister who was standing on the curb in front of her house. Kelie and Charlie were running around the front yard while Danny stood at the top of the driveway, watching us.

“No.” She said, “It’s weird, though. What could possibly be in Rancho?”

I nodded in agreement, “Anyways, I guess I’ll follow you there or you can just follow the van with the writing on it.” I said as I jabbed my thumb behind me to The Maine’s van.

Malinda looked then jumped in surprise clearly not noticing it before. In my rearview mirror I saw John wave his fingers at her causing me to laugh while Malinda looked at me in confusion, “Who are they?”

“Some of Nick’s friends.” I answered with a laugh, “Don’t mind them, though; they can be pretty retarded sometimes.”

“Hey!” Nick exclaimed from the passenger’s seat and I looked at him with an “Oh-really?” look “Yeah, all right they can be pretty retarded sometimes.” Justin and Hanley laughed in the backseat as did I.

When we pulled up to the address my mother had sent me, I was even more confused. It was a house on a cul-de-sac that looked more like a cabin in the mountains than anything. There was stone work all along the bottom half of the house and a plethora of different bushes and small tress out front. In the back I could see some kind of net and another building. My mom’s car was in the driveway next to my dad’s truck.

Confused, I got out of the car and looked around for Malinda. When I saw her, she had the same look on her face as I did. “What the fuck is this?” She asked as she walked up to me.

“I have no idea.” I said honestly.

“Well, let’s go inside and see.” Nick said as he laced his fingers with mine.

Nick and I led the pack of fifteen people up to the door and I knocked. My mother answered and we all just looked at her expectantly. “Could you bring anymore people, Sawyer? Jesus Christ.”

I scoffed at her greeting, “You told me to invite people and Nick knows a lot of people.” Realizing she sidetracked me, I got back on track with what I wanted to say, “But enough of that, what the hell is this?” I asked referring to the house.

“Oh, well, we’ll get to that later.” She opened the door all the way and I stepped in warily, dragging Nick behind me.

As I looked around, I recognized some of the décor and furniture. “Wait, is this your guys’ house?” Malinda asked making me think she had read my mind.

Our mom sighed, “Yes.”

I felt a little betrayed; how could they keep something like this from me? I had seen her the week before and she didn’t say a word about it. My parents couldn’t have just moved in this week because everything was in order and there were no boxes anywhere. It made it seem as if they had lived there for a while.

“How long have you lived here?” I finally asked as I squeezed Nick’s hand. I knew he was worried about me because I had been relatively quiet. My mother continued to walk deeper into the house, ignoring my question. “Mom?” We were in the kitchen/living room now.

“We moved in in mid-May.” She finally answered and my mind went blank.

“What?!” Malinda exclaimed, “You’ve been living up here all this time and you didn’t even tell us? I live like fifteen minutes away! How selfish are you?”

I looked around the room at our guests, they all seemed like they felt uncomfortable. I knew I would if I walked into one of my friends’ parents’ house whom I’ve never really met before and all of this drama immediately unfolded. I shot them all apologetic looks, feeling bad that the party was getting off to a bad start.

Malinda was still going on about how upset she was while I took a look through the backdoor into the backyard. There were more trees and a swimming pool. There were white plastic tables with matching chairs set up around the patio and off to the left I could see a building which I later found out was a bathhouse. This house must have cost a fortune.

The living room was nicely furnished with two brown couches and a plasma flat screen against one wall. Old pictures of my sisters and myself were hanging on the wall. Good God. The kitchen was fully equipped with stainless steal appliances and a wine cellar. My parents didn’t even drink wine.

“That is a very big pool.” Kennedy said as he looked out the backdoor.

“What is that net over there?” Justin asked as he stood next to him.

“It’s a trampoline built into the ground.” My dad said as he finally made his appearance. The room immediately fell silent. “Now, who are all of these strange guys in my house?” He asked which led to everyone looking around uncomfortably at each other.

“Uhm, these are some of Nick’s friends. Pat, Jared, Garrett, John, and Kennedy are in a band called The Maine.” I said as I pointed each of them out.

“The Main?” I knew he was thinking of “main” instead of the state.

“The Maine. Like the state, Dad.” I clarified and he gave me a strange look.

“Are you from Maine?” He asked the guys and they all shook their heads, clearly too intimidated to talk.

“They’re from Arizona…” I said nervously waiting for what he would say next. He tended to get a little offensive sometimes.

“Well you guys don’t look like lobsters so your band name makes no sense.” He said then shrugged.

I heard snickers from the guys that weren’t in The Maine and had to roll my eyes. “Anyways,” I said then turned back to the last two that hadn’t been introduced yet. “Justin and Eric are in A Rocket to the Moon.” I said then trailed off as I saw his confused face.

“What’s A Rocket to the Moon?”

My mouth dropped open and I saw the smile on Nick’s face drop, “Dad! It’s Nick’s band! Remember, you saw them back in March.” I exclaimed and he shrugged.

“Oh, okay.” He said then walked over to my mother who was fixing a bowl of guacamole. I rolled my eyes and squeezed Nick’s hand.
---
By 2:30 almost everyone had arrived. I’d introduced Nick to my aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, and dad’s parents. Some more of his friends showed up including Jac, Dirk Mai, and Colin Baylen. Hayden had shown up too along with another one of my old friends, Remy. I was ecstatic to see them and had been catching up with them and Kitty for a majority of the party.

When I introduced Nick to Hayden, she narrowed her eyes at him. “This is the insensitive douche bag that made you upset?” She questioned and Nick’s face completely dropped.

“What?!” He exclaimed while I laughed.

“Babe, this was the person I was talking to when you decided to be a jerk back in Braintree.” I explained to him and he looked at me sadly then turned back to Hayden.

“I’m sure you probably think I’m the biggest jerk in the world, but I swear I’m not like that. I was having a bad day.” He explained to one of my oldest friends.

Hayden was pretty stubborn and she could hold a grudge for a very long time. I just hoped she didn’t hold a grudge against Nick because that wouldn’t be a very good thing in the end. “I guess I’ll give you a second chance just because I can tell Sawyer really loves you.” She sighed and I smiled.

“I really love her, too.” He said then leaned down and pecked me on the lips. I squeezed his hand as I hung off of his arm. I was really in love.

A little while later after we had broke our news to everyone (which really caused an uproar with my dad’s side of the family), I sat with Hayden, Kitty, and Remy munching on some chicken and carne asada my dad had grilled along with the jello my mother made. I looked around at my three friends and smiled lightly. I had missed them dearly since I moved to LA. I grew up with them and really hated that I couldn’t spend much time with them as I used to.

I looked around the backyard after, checking out the scene. The little kids were jumping around on the trampoline, my dad’s side of the family were talking, my mom’s side of the family were scattered around the patio, talking and eating. Halvo, Hanley, John, Jac, and Dirk-who was documenting the whole night with his camera-were sitting at a table laughing and eating. Pat and Garrett were jumping with the kids. Finally, I spotted Nick’s orange hair. He was standing with Danny and my cousin Nate along with Justin, Jared, and Colin. Danny and Nate had some kind of beer in their hands while the rest were drinking water.

“Sawyer,” I snapped back to reality as I heard my name being said.

“Hmm?” I asked.

“Who’s that standing with Nick?” Kitty asked.

I looked back over at the group of guys, now laughing at something one of them said. “Which one?” I laughed.

“The one in the cut offs.” She said.

“Colin?” I asked.

“If that’s his name then yeah.” I chuckled.

“That’s one of Nick’s best friends. He’s in A Cursive Memory.” I explained to her already knowing where this was headed.

“Does he have a girlfriend?” I was right.

“No, I don’t think so.” I laughed and she smiled.

“Hook it up, Man.”

I shook my head as I chuckled, “Still the same ManScout.” I said referring to the nickname I had given her a while back.

She shrugged, “It’s my way of life.”

I smiled at her; I had missed her way too much, “I’ll see what I can do for you.” I said then turned back to look at the guys. “Hey Nick!” I called out to him with a smile still plastered on my lips. The group turned and looked at me, “Bring your friends over here for a minute.”

“Oh God, Sawyer, way to draw attention to yourself.” Hayden said with a laugh.

“It’s my party, it should be there anyways.” I joked.

“What should be where?” Nick asked as he walked up to the table.

“Your butt should be in my lap.” I said in complete seriousness, not thinking he would do it.

“Oh, really?” He asked with his eyebrow raised and I nodded, patting my legs. Next thing I know, his bony ass was sitting in my lap. I let out a loud laugh as I fastened my arms around his waist and burrowed my head between his shoulder blades.

“You guys are so effing cute.” Remy said as everyone watched Nick and I interact.

“We’re very aware.” Nick joked, causing me to laugh again.

Still smiling, I turned to look at Colin, “Hey, Colin, have you me my friend Kitty yet?” I asked.

“Uhm, no I don’t think I have.” He sounded put off my by sudden interest in if he’d met my friend.

“Well,” I leaned back I n the chair making a gap between Nick and I. I still had my hands locked together at his waist while his left hand grasped them and his right one picked at the food on my plate. “Colin, this is one of my oldest friends, Kathlyn Frost or Kitty and Kat for short.” I turned to Kitty next, “Kitty, this is Colin Baylen, singer and guitarist for A Cursive Memory.”

They smiled at each other. “Kathlyn? That’s a unique name.”

She nodded, “My name was supposed to be Kaitlyn, but my dad spelled it wrong on the birth certificate.”

He chuckled, “Wow, that’s a crazy story.”

She smiled and nodded, “Actually, you know what, I’ve actually seen your band play before at Chain Reaction. This was before I moved, though. Breathe Carolina opened.”

“Oh really? Sweet!” He smiled then paused. I watched on with interest to see his next move, “Can I get you something to drink?” He asked.

Kitty looked down at her full cup of Pepsi and stifled a laugh, “You know what, I could go for something else.” She said then got up and disappeared into the house.

Nick leaned back into my body, “Did you just set up one of my friends with one of your friends?” He asked in a low voice only I could hear.

I smiled, “I did.”

He leaned his head back and pecked my cheek, “Matchmaker.” He smiled. He had this look in his eyes that showed pure love and adoration and I could feel that I was giving him the same one. A flash went off, bringing us both back down to reality. We looked and saw Dirk looking at his camera.

“I want a copy of that!” I yelled at him which he laughed at.

“Don’t worry, you will.” I stick my arm out and gave him a thumbs up.

“Hey,” Nick said softly gaining my attention back. “I love you.” He said and I smiled lovingly at him.

“I love you, too.”

As I looked at Nick, I knew I had made the right choice by getting married even though we had barely known each other. He was my forever and I knew that even though I was only eighteen. Nothing would break that and we both knew that.