infatuated

eleven

         Paige stands in front of the mirror, her dress and heels on as she sighs softly at the sight of herself. The party was only a half an hour away, the anxiety building up inside her as the minutes went by. Tyler comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the head as he admires her. He was wearing a tie that matched her dress perfectly, Paige noticing as he walked up. "You don't think that's a little suspicious?" She asks followed with a little giggle as Tyler shrugs a bit, "I think coincidence maybe." He responds, starting to kiss down her neck softly. Paige smiles as he does, tilting her head to the side to allow him to before he pulls away after a few seconds. "We gotta go baby," He says as Paige turns around, "You look so beautiful, stop critiquing yourself too much." He says with a smile, pecking her on the lips before holding out his hand. Paige grabs onto it as Tyler leads her out of the bedroom, opening the front door as they approached it. Paige held up her dress as they walked, meeting the cold December air on the way to the car. Paige shivers as she walks, Tyler laughing a bit as he watched her. "I know baby, it'll be warm inside though." He says as Paige nods her head a bit, Tyler opening the passenger door for her before getting in as well. As they drove to the venue, Paige was sitting in the passenger with her heart pounding as Tyler glanced over at her. He sighs softly, noticing her fidgeting with her hand as she looked out the window. "I know you're nervous baby, I'm sorry I wish I could take some of that away. If I could stand there and hold you the whole time I would. If you need to take a minute after talking to him just walk outside for a bit, I'll have my eyes on you and I'll follow you right out." He reassures her, Paige nodding her head with a sigh. "Okay.." She mumbles, "Thank you." She says as she looked over at him. "I love you Tyler." She blurts, Tyler smiling as he glances back over at her once more. "I love you too baby." He says, looking back at the road soon after.

         A few more minutes go by before they pulled up to the beautiful venue, Tyler parking as close as her could to the door. He sighs softly, looking over at Paige as he grabs her hand kissing it gently, "Okay baby, you go first." He says softly. Paige takes a deep breath before she opens the door, stepping out as she picks up her dress again before closing the door. As she walked she wanted to cry at the thought of facing her father, her eyes welling up with tears from how alone she felt in doing so. She knew Tyler wanted to be there for her, despite not being able to show off how close they were with each other at this point. As she approached the door, the doorman held it open for her as she gives him a thank you before walking in. Paige looked around the room like a dear in the headlights, the sea of people blocking her from finding her parents. She walked through the crowd, looking around as she did in pure fear and anxiety. She suddenly feels someone grab onto her arm from behind her, spinning around and meeting the gaze of her mother. "Hi baby!" Shannon exclaims in excitement, "I can't believe you came! You told me you weren't going to!" Paige puts on a fake little smile, before shrugging her shoulders before she spoke, "I know I just... had a change of heart I guess." She mumbles in response, her mother embracing her with a hug. Shannon squeezes her tightly before pulling away as she smiles at her, "You look absolutely stunning, I love the dress! Your dad is going to be delighted to see you, I know you guys haven't really spoken but I'm sure it will go well. He misses you a lot Paige." She says softly, placing a hand on her cheek before grabbing onto her hand, leading her towards a table.

       Paige followed her, feeling her stomach drop as she walked. She wanted to throw up as she approached the table, Archie standing and talking to one of his employees before he looks over at the two of them. His smile drops as he sees Paige, the man he was speaking to quickly getting the memo before walking away. Archie wasn't necessarily upset that Paige was there, he was just taken aback. He quickly set down his drink, gathering himself as he walked over to Paige and Shannon. "Hi Paige.. I didn't expect to see you here." He says before giving her a hug, Paige not really hugging back as he did. "Yeah I didn't really plan on being here.." She mumbles as Archie pulls away. He sighs softly as he looks over at Shannon who was standing with a smile as she watched. "Do you mind if we go talk for a minute?" He asks Paige, glancing back and forth between her and Shannon. Shannon nods her head a bit as she looks back over at Paige, "Yes I think that would be a great idea!" She says as Paige sighs, nodding her head in agreement. "I suppose." She mumbles, Shannon quickly walking away as she went to greet one of her friends. Paige looks up at Archie as he smiles a bit at her, motioning to the table as he pulls out a chair. "Take a seat kiddo." He says as Paige obeys, taking a seat as she fidgeted with her nervously.