Camryn Quinn is finally getting what she wants...sort of. Moving into a dorm and away from her not so supportive father is a good first step, but like everything with him-it comes with strings. She must attend the college of his choosing for at leas...
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Taylor and I walk as one ungracefully across the threshold of the room. I stumble over his feet as I try to maintain the makeshift blindfold I've created with my hands over his eyes. The plan was better in theory than in actual execution considering I'm tiptoeing through each microstep we take. I take a deep breath. The scent of pine and patchouli calms my nerves and keeps me going. It is Taylor after all. This could go horribly wrong and he would still never hate me. He's not a soul capable of hate.
"Stop!" I yell as he stands parallel to the closet, not wanting him to get too close, not yet.
"Am I going to have to play with your hands on my face tomorrow Capt.?" he teases. I reach a knee forward, connecting it with his bottom. I ignore his fake pleas of pain and continue on my mission.
"Nope. I'm ready if you are," I announce. Taylor nods and I count it down. "Three. Two. One."
"Surprise!" Shea and Nora shout in unison.
I quickly reposition myself so I can see Taylor's face. I've been envisioning his reaction to my hard kept secret all week, but the real thing isn't even close to what I had imagined. He doesn't move from his spot to hug them. Instead his head falls with his chin tucked to his chest. His palms move to cover his eyes as tears immediately begin to slide down his perfect cheeks. And not just a few droplets escape, his body shakes as he sobs.
His mom and sister rush to his side. They each slide their arms around him, engulfing him in the largest bear hug I've ever witnessed. The excitement in the room is replaced by a collection of tears, myself included, at the heartfelt reunion. No sadness is felt though, only relief, longing, and joy. I watch silently as Shea pulls back every few seconds to kiss her children on their cheeks. She looks so small next to their long and lean bodies. She has to grab Taylor's face between her hands and pull it down to her level to kiss it, but with each kiss his grip on her only tightens.
I wait for the tears to subside, mostly my own, before grabbing my film camera from the counter. I chose film so I could quickly develop and share them. I also may have learned from stalking Nora's Instagram that she loves a good Polaroid, too.
I owe her Instagram account a lot of the credit for making this entire thing happen. I couldn't sneak into Taylor's phone to get her number, and asking him for it would have given too much away. So instead I took to social media. I followed her on all platforms, but she was the one who sent me a direct message as I was typing my own to her. Apparently she had been wanting to follow me since her brother first mentioned my name, but wasn't sure if I was the type of girl to rat her out to him. I quickly promised that I have her brother's best interest at heart, which was only reiterated through my proposal. So with the help of Nora, my dad, and Alyssa, as well as the approval of Shea's doctor, I was able to set this up quickly.
The trio finally releases each other, but only long enough to give individual embraces. Shea surprises me when after hugging Taylor a third time, she pulls me into their group hug. I let it envelop me, to hold me in a way I've only ever dreamed of from a family in the last four years.
Through her tears she confesses that it was even better than she imagined it would be, something that I can only shake my head in agreement with. I don't want to start crying again, one of us has to keep it together and considering I'm the architect of this event it should probably be me.
As Shea releases her grip on me, Taylor pulls me into a hug of his own. His body completely presses into mine. He's letting his hold on me tell me all the words that fail to come to his mouth. He hasn't said more than ten words since we walked in, and most of them have been a different version of the phrase, "I can't believe this." I tighten around him and allow myself to melt against him, letting him say his thank you, but also attempting to say the words I can't voice, not yet. When he finally pulls back he and his mom have matching smiles, dimples and all. It's the kind of smile that consumes their face, that is contagious to anyone who witnesses it. It's a smile that can be felt in your bones, in your soul. So worth it, I think to myself.
