Count Me the Hours

Waking up the next morning, everything felt the way it should be. It felt like any other morning, the way things were before Garrett and I fought. I was curled up against him, my head on his chest. I liked this more though, because for the first time, we were both naked.

The alarm that I'd set on my phone, so I'd wake up to get ready then head to the airport for a forth time, was going off. I reached for my phone and turned off the alarm, staring at the time. Seven a.m. was an ungodly hour to be up at after the previous night. Sighing, I untangled myself from Garrett, sitting up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Garrett asked, his voice heavy with sleep. I glanced over at him, a smile forming on his lips. His eyes were still closed, his arm draped over his chest.

"I have to get up and get a shower," I said, returning to the bed. I pulled the blankets up over me again and pressed my lips to his shoulder.

"And why is that?"

"I have to go pick up We the Kings from the airport. Want to come with me?" I questioned, toying with his haphazard hair. I moved my lips up to his, kissing him softly.

"But that would involve moving," he said, moving his arm from his chest to wrap around my shoulders, holding me down to him. "I'd rather not move."

"You have to move eventually," I told him, smiling softly.

"Do I?" he asked, opening one eye to look at me.

"We have a wedding to go to tomorrow," I informed him, nodding. "We get to get all dressed up and there will be an open bar and I get to wear a fancy dress that you get to take off of me l ater."

"I like that part of the plan," he said with a soft laugh as he kissed the side of my neck softly. Smiling, I raised my shoulders as a chill ran down my spine.

"I do too," I teased with a laugh. "But now, we have to get out of bed, shower, and get to the airport. Maybe after we pick them up we can get some coffee or something."

He sighed lazily, looking around the room. "What time does their flight get in?"

"Nine fifty," I said, keeping the sheet up to my chest as I sat up. Garrett nodded, letting out a breath. "Shower time?" I suggested.

"Together?" Garrett clarified, sounding surprised.

"I don't see why not," I told him with a shrug. "It'd probably be quicker anyway."

In the end, it wasn't.

When we stepped out of the shower, Garrett wrapped a towel around his waist before he wrapped one around me as well. I swear, the sight of him, the towel riding low on his hips, was enough to stop my heart.

"You know," I said, starting to get dressed. "You haven't told me that you love me yet this morning. Was last night not worth all that I put you through?" I teased, winking at him.

"Trust me, you are worth more to me than anything," he assured me, kissing my bare shoulder. "And I love you."

"I love you too," I said, smiling up at him as I leaned into his chest.

We took our time, dressing slowly. I put on a little-make up and pulled my hair back and we headed into the main house in search of food. It was rather surprising to find my mother sitting at the table in the kitchen when we entered.

"Oh, morning Mom," I said, taken aback a bit.

"Morning, baby. Morning Garrett," she said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Good morning, Ms. Bishop," he returned, smiling nervously.

"You two about to head to the airport?"

"Yes, ma'am," he told her with an affirmative nod.

"Relax, Gare," I said to him quietly, smiling to myself. I knew what my mother was doing.

"What are you planning after you take the guys to the hotel?" she pressed on, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Not sure yet, Mom," I said with a sigh, grabbing a coffee mug from the rack and pouring myself a cup. I opened the refridgerator and pulled out the creamer. "Just back off, Mom, you're scaring him."

"Garrett Nickelsen, am I scaring you?" she asked him, pursing her lips.

He chuckled very nervously, licking his lips. "Honestly? A little bit, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and I smiled.

My mother laughed loudly, finding amusement in his discomfort. "You kids have a good day. Tallulah, sweetie, be careful driving. I don't think your sister would appreciate it if you had an accident and showed up to the wedding all bruised and bandaged," she warned, standing up slowly.

"I will, Mom," I said, looking down at the counter as she left the kitchen. I slid into one of the chairs at the island, staring at the swirls on the granite.

"Something wrong?" Garrett asked, touching my arm softly.

"She's dying," I whispered, glancing up at him.

"What do you-" he started.

"She has breast cancer and it's spread to her liver. I'm not supposed to know. The doctors don't know how much longer she has. That's the reason John and Mila are getting married so fast," I explained, keeping my voice down. Tears stung in my eyes again and I bit down hard on my tongue.

"Tallulah, I am so sorry," he said quietly, kissing my hair. I let out a breath and nodded.

"Yeah, same here." I downed the rest of my coffee and stood to put my mug in the sink.

When I turned around, Garrett was standing beside me and he wrapped his arms around me tightly. I let my body relax in his embrace, resting my head against his shoulder. Eventually, he kissed me softly and slowly, brushing his thumb over my cheek.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, kissing my forehead.

"I'm good," I said with a smile. I grabbed my mother's keys from the counter and headed to the door, Garrett following.

As we walked out to the car, Garrett took the keys from my hand.

"I'll drive," he said when I looked at him. He unlocked the SUV and opened my door for me and shutting it behind me.

"You're being awful gentleman-like this morning," I said, fastening my seatblt as he started up the SUV. He shrugged, fastening his own seatbelt.

"Figured you might want to sleep on the way there," he explained, backing out of the driveway slowly. "It seemed like you tossed and turned an awful lot last night."

"Really? I slept like a rock." I laughed, rolling down my window a bit. It was hot and plenty sunny already. I instantly regretted wearing jeans when the sun hit my legs.

Garrett sighed. "So where am I going?" I smiled and told him which exit to take once we hit the highway.

To my surprise, I actually did fall asleep on the ride to the airport. When I woke up, we were in the parking garage and Garrett had my door open, kissing my cheek until I woke up.

"Wakey, wakey," he teased, kissing my lips once.

"Stop," I groaned, pushing him away. He smiled, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling my out of the SUV. As we walked towards the airport, he laced his fingers through mine.

Once we found the gate, we checked to see if the flight was on schedule, which it was, before heading off to get Starbucks. We ordered our coffee and sat in silence as we drank. We still had half an hour before their flight was due in, so we browsed the news stands for a while.

We found ourselves sitting in the terminal, his arm around my shoulders as I leaned into his side.

"Are you comfy?" he asked with a quiet laugh. My face was buried in his chest, enjoying the warmth and smell of him.

"I am," I answered, my voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. He fiddled with the ends of my tied up hair and my breathing slowed as I drifted off to sleep for only a few moments.

"Flight's here, babe," he told me a few minutes later, dragging a finger down my spine. I arched my back away from him and sat up. Sure enough, the plane was docked and passangers were filing into the airport.

It wasn't hard to spot the guys, led by their Ginger of a lead singer. He was all smiles as he high-fived Garrett and looked at me.

"Tell me this beautiful girl is your lady, Gare," he said rather loudly.

"Yeah, she is," Garrett responded, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my temple. I blushed awkwardly, not used to showing affection in front of relative strangers. Garrett introduced me to the band, and knowing I was tired, wasted no time in heading to the baggage claim.

"You excited for the wedding tomorrow?" Travis asked when we were back on the highway.

"I'm just excited for it to be over," Garrett answered with an honest laugh.

"You a groomsmen?"

"Yeah. I'm not looking forward to wearing a tux all day," he joked, looked at the lead singer in his  rearview mirror.

In the midst of their small talk, I stared out the window at the passing cars. Sighing, I slid down more in the seat, trying to relax.

"Tallulah, are you okay?" Garrett asked after a while, putting his hand on my thigh to get my attention.

"Yeah," I said with a small smile.

By the time we got back to my mother's, it was nearly eleven, but I was still plenty tired. I changed out of my jeans and into sweats and climbed back into bed.

"Is today your lazy day?" Garrett questioned, leaning over me.

"Who's asking?" I teased.

"Someone who loves you very much," he answered, kissing my cheek softly. I smiled up at him and put my hand on his cheek.

"I think it's nap time," I said, pulling his down to me.

"Sounds lovely, but I have to go pick up my tux for tomorrow and the guys and I are getting together and having a drink or two as our last night with all of us being single, and I know you have your pre-wedding meeting later," he explained with a sigh.

I frowned. "I'll see you tonight though, right?"

"Yeah, at the hotel," he promised, kissing me quickly.

I laughed. "I actually forgot about that."

That night, the entire wedding party was staying at the hotel where all of the bands were staying the night before the wedding, that way, the next morning, we'd all be in the same place to get ready. The reception was also at the hotel, so it just made things easier.

"What time will you get to the hotel?" I asked, keeping my arm around his neck to keep him close.

"Is ten okay?" he asked, sounding as if he was asking my permission.

"You don't have to get my approval, Gare," I teased.

"I know," he said with a shrug. "I just want to make you happy."

"Trust me, you do," I assured him, smiling. He smiled back at me, leaning down to kiss me fully.

"I love you," he told me, his lips brushing over mine.

"I love you too," I responded. "Don't have too much fun."

"I'll try not to," he said with a wink. "Now get some sleep."

I nodded silently and he kissed my forehead before grabbing his own keys and heading out the door.

After he left, I tossed and turned for a while, trying to get comfortable. Finally I sighed, abandoning the idea or a nap. Ruffling my hair, I went down the stairs to the main house and tip-toed through the hall towards my mother's home office.

The door was closed, and I knocked softly before twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

"I realize that the carrying costs are a pain in the butt to deal with Caroline," she was saying into her desk phone, "It's just something you'll have to go through. Yes, I am advertising the house as much as possible."

She spun her chair around and smiled when she saw me. I waved silently and slid into one of the arms chairs in the corner of the room.

"Caroline, I know what you're going through, believe me. But right now, I need to go. I'll talk to you soon, hopefully with a perspective buyer in mind. Bye bye now," she said before hanging up the phone quickly. "Home flippers, crazy people," she explained, rolling her eyes.

I smiled and she stood up from her desk and walked slowly over to the chaise lounge, settling into it and propping her feet up.

"Where's your man?" she asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Errands and a final single guy's night," I answered with a bit of a laugh.

"Men," she groaned, rolling her eyes dramatically. "You're sister's at the hotel, supervising the decorating crew, if you'd like to go down there and help."

"I think I'll pass, Mom," I said, nodding slowly.

"So, what can I do you for?"

"How much is a relatively small, nice, two or three bedroom apartment down here going to cost me in rent per month?" I asked, running a finger over the paisley pattern of the chair's fabric as I spoke.

"Thinking about moving down here?" she questioned, tryin and failing to hide an excited smile.

"I can't not move down here, after all Garrett and I went through to be together. And I want to be here for you and Mila," I answered honestly with a shrug. I glanced up at her, meeting her eyes before looking away.

She sighed. "Mila's told you, hasn't she?"

All I could do was nod. My mother's lips pressed together in a single line, looking diseased.

"It is what it is," she said, picking a stray fuzz off of the surface of her blouse.

"How long have you known about...it?" I asked her, a lump forming in my throat.

"About the cancer? A little over a year. They tried to treat it, and they thought for a while that they'd got it, but they hadn't. They discovered it had spread a few months ago and gave me my prognosis then. That was back in February and they gave me eight months to a year.

"I kept it from your sister for a while, but of course she found out after a few months. Then she came home one night and told me she was dating John. I was really surprised by that because he didn't exactly fit her 'type,' I mean, he actually has a steady job and he doesn't do drugs or anything. A few weeks later, they told me they wanted to get married, that they new they were right for each other and that they didn't want to wait. Mila told me that she wanted to have the wedding as soon as possible, so I could be there for it.

"I didn't want her to get married so young or so early into a relationship, but something just told me it was the right thing to do. I know this whole ordeal hasn't been easy for you, and I wish there was more time to work with it, but there just isn't," she finished, wiping her teary eyes.

"Mom, I wish you would have just told me. I would have come home to be with you, you know I would have." I wiped my eyes as well, sniffling softly.

"Yes, but I know how happy you were in New York. Whenever I talked to you, you were so excited about everything, I didn't want you to worry," she said, reaching over and patting my hand.

"I'm flying back to New York to pack my stuff and ship it out here and I'll be back within a week, I think. Garrett and the guys will be gone then, so it'd be the perfect time to set up an apartment and everything, I just need to find one," I said with a laugh.

We spent the next few hours talking, just cathing up. Since I'd arrived in Arizona, I'd spent all of my time raging about the Mila/John situation or with Garrett. I hadn't even spent anytime with my mother. We went out to dinner and talked about me moving out to Arizona and about the apartment and decorating and everything else.

At eight o'clock, in Mila's suite at the hotel, there was a bridesmaid/Maid of Honor meeting. Mila pulled out all of the stops including printing out schedules for the following day and seating charts for everybody. She handed us each a bag with moisturizer, shampoo, and conditioner to use the next morning.

I stared at the schedule in disbelief.

8:30 am: Wake-up call
11:00 am: Meet in suite, showered with hair still wet. (USE THE GOOD SHAMPOO!)
11:15 am: Hair dressers arrive
12:30 pm: Nail techs and make-up artists arrive
1:45 pm: Begin dressing
2:00 pm: Inspection
2:20 pm: Begin drive to church
2:50 pm: Line up
3:00 pm: Ceremony
3:45 pm: Group photos while guests commute to hotel for cocktail hour
5:00 pm: Arrive at hotel for reception
8:00 pm: Dinner
9:00 pm: Party

"Bitch is crazy," Dree whispered, leaning towards me to speak. I could only nod in agreement.

Mila released us at ten thirty and I walked slowly down the hall to mine and Garrett's room. When I got back to the room, I texted Garrett to tell him the room number before changing into a pair of running shorts and a shirt of his that I'd stolen.

I was finally one hundred percent comfortable when there was a rapid knock on the door. I swung the door open to find Garrett standing in the hall, a duffle bag on his shoulder.

"Is that my shirt?" he asked, kissing me quickly as he entered the door.

"Yeah," I said, not feeling a bit of guilt.

"It looks much better on you," he assured me, taking a second to look me over. "Damn!" he exclaimed, kissing me again.

Laughing, I pushed him away. "How'd man night go?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Ehh," Garrett responded with a shrug. "Kenny talked us into doing a round of shots, so that might exclaim my extremely good mood right now."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said, smiling. "G, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" He flopped down on the bed beside me. Snaking his arm around my waist, he pulled me into his lap and kissed the top of my head.

"What do you think about getting an apartment?"

"What do you mean?" he questioned, his lips against my hair.

"I spent a few hours earlier with my mom and with her being  in her last few months and with us being actually together now, I think maybe it'd be a good idea if I moved down here," I suggested, shrugging.

"Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief. His arms tighten a bit around my waist as though this whole thing was a joke and I was about to take off running.

"Completely," I replied, nodding.

"Tallulah, I really do love you," he said quietly into my shirt over my shoulder. He kissed my shoulder blade through my shirt.

"I know, Gare," I told him, sighing contently.

I leaned my head back to rest on his shoulder, his chest against my back. He took advantage of our position and kissed the spot under my ear that sent a shiver down my spine.

"No fair," I groaned and I felt him smirk against my skin.

To torment me further, his hands pushed up the shirt I was wearing and he traced his fingers over my bare skin. I struggled against him, finally freeing myself. Pressing my lips together, I slid into his lap, straddling his hips.

I moved my lips over his jawline softly as he slid his
hands up the back of my shirt, pulling it over my head. I smiled at him and kissed him.

"I love you, Gare," I told him, my lips brushing over his.

"I know," he said with a smile.