Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard

Charlotte stood, with her hands on her hips, in the middle of her very large, very empty apartment. The furniture was being delivered in a couple hours and she was all alone, with nothing to do. She walked around and traced her fingers along the walls, imagining all of the artwork and photos she would hang. She crossed from room to room, barefoot and loving the feel of the cold hardwood beneath her toes.

She originally didn’t plan on staying long in the apartment, but as she wandered around, the blank walls and empty rooms came to life with her imagination. She could feel it becoming more and more like a home, and she decided that she would keep it. She would keep it even though she would be going back to California for school, and Garrett would be touring all the time. She would keep it because she instantly fell in love with it, and something like that – you didn’t just throw that away.

She came to the room in the back of the apartment. She had been able to pack a few boxes in her car and luckily, it was all of her sketching materials. She pulled a blanket from one of the boxes, folded it up neatly next to another box, and sat down on it. With her legs crossed, she shifted through the contents, pulled out her sketchbook and some colored pencils, and began to draw. She lost track of time until her ringing phone broke her concentration.

“Hello?” she answered, holding it against her shoulder so she could finish her sketch.

“Char,” Garrett said quickly. Charlotte’s eyes lit up when she heard his voice and a smile took over her lips. “We had to pick something up – then we grabbed lunch – but we’re like two minutes away now.”

“I’ll meet you downstairs,” Charlotte replied. They hung up at the same time.

Charlotte stood up, leaving her sketchbook open on the floor, and grabbed her keys. She skipped through the empty apartment, threw the door open and stepped outside just as the boys pulled into the parking lot with the moving truck and their van. She giddily pulled the door shut behind her and raced down the stairs.

“Char!” John called when he saw her rushing down the stairs toward them.

Jared was next to step out of the van. “Where are your shoes?” he questioned.

Garrett slid out of the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at Charlotte.

“In a box somewhere,” Charlotte giggled, jumping into Garrett’s arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her arms around his neck. She kissed him and rested her forehead on his. “Hi.”

Garrett grinned again. “Hi. You ready for this?”

“So ready,” she answered as he carried her over to a shaded area and lowered her back down to the ground.

Each of the boys grabbed a box and carried it up to the apartment. Charlotte gave them a quick tour before they all sat in the empty living room and ate lunch together. After cleaning up, everyone returned to the moving truck and grabbed more boxes to bring up.

“Oh!” Kennedy exclaimed, on their third trip to the truck. He went over to the van and climbed inside. When he came back out, he was holding a CD case. “For you, Char. The first copy.”

She examined the CD he had placed in her hands, then looked up at the five boys. She smiled, overwhelmed. “Your new CD?”

“We’re still working on marketing and publicity but that’s the first copy we got,” Pat told her.

“We wanted to give it to you,” John continued, “because you have been supportive of us through thick and thin. We put a lot into this record and we think you deserve to hear it first.”

Charlotte grinned and hugged them all. “You guys are perfect. I love you all so much.”

When they went back upstairs, Charlotte dug out her computer and played the CD. By the time all of the songs had finished playing, there was a knock on the door. Charlotte answered and signed the papers to accept her new furniture. She stayed in the apartment while the boys continued to bring up boxes from the truck, and she directed the movers where to place her things.

By the end of the day, the once-empty apartment began to look like a home. The walls were still empty and there weren’t many decorations, but the boys had fallen asleep on the couches and reclining chairs, she had a bed in her room, and she had just finished putting the dishes away in the cupboards.

Garrett walked out of the bathroom and quietly made his way into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Charlotte’s waist from behind and kissed her temple. “How does it feel to be living on your own?”

“Liberating,” she said truthfully, turning in his arms. She brushed her fingers through his messy copper hair, loving the familiar feel and the smile it brought to his face. But his eyes glittered with an emotion she almost missed. “I rented this apartment for the two of us, Gar. Remember that. You can stay here whenever you want to.”

“I know,” he replied with a small smile. “I promise, I will be here all the time when I’m home from tour. I’ll be here when you go away to school so I’ll be able to smell your perfume in the sheets and on your pillow. I’ll be here because this is where your things will be, unorganized and scattered all over the place, as if you hadn’t left at all. It’ll feel like you’re still here.”

Charlotte’s lips meshed with his, cutting him off before he could continue. He was tugging at her heart in ways she couldn’t handle. Then she rested her forehead against his and smiled, “I’m the luckiest girl in the whole world.”

Garrett took her hand and led her to the bedroom. They climbed under the covers, fully dressed, and cuddled close. Charlotte reached over the edge of the bed and grabbed a notebook.

“I want to show you something,” she said, and Garrett sat up straighter. She flipped through a few pages, finally settling on one and smoothing it out, placing her palms over the pages so he couldn’t see it yet. “I drew this today while I was waiting for you guys to show up. It’s still rough but being here, alone in the emptiness of the apartment, inspired me. And I came up with this idea for our wedding.”

Garrett gently removed her hands, kissing her knuckles as he looked at the spread. She had detailed the centerpieces, the bouquets, the tuxedo color accents – a pale green that perfectly matched the crème color of the bridesmaid’s dresses – and the simple décor of the entire ceremony.

Garrett turned the page and was welcomed with the visions of the reception. It was outdoors and elegant. She had drawn a couple of trees, linked together with stings of lights, and a little note scribbled out to the margin that they were white, twinkle lights to be exact. She had jotted down a few notes on food, but mostly about the desserts – Garrett knew this was because dessert was her favorite meal. She wanted a traditional cake but she also drew out the idea of giving each guest a mini, individual replica. She wanted a sundae bar, too, and that caused Garrett to chuckle.

“Well?” Charlotte asked impatiently.

Garrett pressed a kiss to her temple. “I love it. Let’s make this happen.”

Her eyes lit up and she grinned so wide it actually hurt. “Really? You love it?”

“Of course I do. Simple is perfect. This is beautiful. And as long as I’m marrying you, everything else is just an added bonus.”

Charlotte crushed her lips onto his, throwing her body onto his, causing the sketchbook to slide off his lap and once again onto the floor. Charlotte couldn’t contain her love for Garrett and her happiness over the fact that she would be marrying the love of her life. Nothing else mattered. She wouldn’t care if her designs never came to life, or if she never became a big name in the industry. She didn’t care that Garrett’s career was taking off and that he’d be gone most of the time.

She didn’t need anything but his love, and that’s exactly what she was getting. Everything else, as Garrett had said, was just an added bonus.