Thinking About You

Chapter 19: The Hinsdale House

-Audrey's POV-

I wake up from the best sleep ever.

"Good morning, beautiful," Dakota kisses me on the cheek.

"Good morning, Dak," I giggle.

"What you said last night made a lot of sense about being not ready for love. I understand about Ariya, but I never realized that what happened to your parents also affected you?" Dakota scoots closer to me.

"Yeah, I never had the chance to open up about it fully. My parents affected me from an early age, and I never understood until now. I witnessed everything about them and wish they didn't affect me for so long," I explain.

I lay my head on his chest, and I feel his lips giving me light kisses on my head. We lay there in comfortable science.

"Thank you for always being there for me, as a friend or more than a friend. I love you, Dakota, and I always will," I speak up.

"I love you, Addie. Thank you for being there for me, as well. I know we will have our ups and downs, but I know we will be able to get through it, together," Dakota kisses my head.

I get up from his grasp as he starts whining. I laugh and I walk into the bathroom. I start the shower and strip down. I wash my face and body. I get out and wrap the towel around me. I walk into the room as Dakota stares at me.

"I wish I could rip that towel off and show you how much you mean to me," Dakota smirks.

"You will one day, Dak," I roll my eyes.

I get ready in leggings, a sports bra, underwear, and a gray splotchy sweatshirt. I put on socks and my black Converse. I put on my skincare products and braid my hair. I put on my glasses and pack the rest of my stuff up.

"Dak, get ready, babe," I tell him as he groans.

He gets up and gets into the shower.

-time skip-

We are heading to the next Airbnb to figure out where Alex is taking us. Tanner stops to get gas and we all get out to get snacks. I get a Mango Loco Monster, water, pistachios, edible cookie dough, Bugles, and mini Oreos.

"Hey, can I get the aux cord now?" I ask.

Tanner sighs and hands me the aux cord. I giggle and hook the aux cord to my phone. I play "All-American Bitch" by Olivia Rodrigo. The boys roll their eyes as Chelsea and I start singing.

"At least it's not Taylor Swift," I giggle.

"I listen to more Taylor Swift with my sister than anyone else," Alex mentions.

"We listened to Taylor Swift a lot but I didn't mind it," Dakota shrugs.

"Bro, that's because you were in love with her and you were trying to make her happy," Tanner laughs.

"But, he told me he secretly loves Taylor Swift because of me," I giggle.

"Shut up. You weren't supposed to say that," Dakota's face turns red.

I laugh as everyone joins in.

"It honestly doesn't surprise me though," Chelsea laughs.

"She's got catchy music. Some of her songs I relate to, and I'm also excited about 1989 Taylor's Version to come out," Dakota says all giddy.

"You follow her too?" Tanner raises an eyebrow.

"Look, after listening to 1989 with Addie, I think 1989 is my favorite album. Plus, there are some core memories connected with the album," Dakota looks at me.