Protecting Taylor

Chapter 12

The SUV pulled up near the jet at the airport. There were other black SUVs there as well and people checking the jet over.
"We just pulled up, I'll see you in a minute." Taylor said before hanging up with her mom.
"She's excited to meet you." Taylor said.
"I'm excited to meet her as well." I said.
One of the bodyguards came to open her door and another opened mine. Taylor began to step out, but I told her to wait for me to come around to the other side.
"Nobody else is aloud in the area besides staff." She said.
"I'm just making sure." I said.
"You're a sweetie." She said.
I laughed and pulled my jacket closer to me as the wind whipped a bit.
"My family is already on the plane." She told me.
"Alright." I gave her a small smile.
I felt a bit nervous that her family will think I'm a monster. Taylor seems very sure they will like me and I worry she will feel let down if they don't. These were such silly things to worry about and I felt stupid for getting myself worked up about it.
We climbed the steps up to the door and entered the plane. Taylor and the pilot exchanged friendly greetings and I shook hands with him. I made sure to study him hard incase he tried to pull anything. At least I knew how to fly a plane.
"Are you ready?" Taylor asked.
"Yes." I said and she smiled.
She pushed open the door that led to the cabin area of the plane. Adam was standing there talking to who I assume was Taylor's father.
"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Taylor asked as her eyes lit up at the sight of her boyfriend. They hugged and he kissed her forehead.
"I wanted to tell you goodbye and wish you luck on tour." He explained.
The blonde haired lady came up to me.
"You must be Alex. I'm Andrea, Taylor's mom. It's so nice to finally meet you!" She said and hugged me. Again with the hugging people!
"I'm Scott, Taylor's dad. Pleasure to meet the girl who keeps my daughter safe." He said and shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you two as well." I said.
"I'm Austin, Taylor's brother. You're smaller than I thought."
"I'm fifteen." I told him.
"Well yeah, you're just really small. I bet you can still take down the bad guys like its nobody's business though. I might want to steer clear." He joked.
"You might." I gave him a playful smirk and shrug.
"I wouldn't cross her bro." Adam said as he a Taylor joined the group.
Austin and Adam joked around until Andrea said it was already 10:15 and we should have already left.
Taylor and Adam shared a quick peck on the lips considering her family was watching, but it was still meaningful none the less. Even though it was a private jet the co-pilot went over the safety plan with us incase the plane went down. It was a brief speech and we all sat down in the comfortable seats. This was defiantly better than riding coach.
Taylor sat next to me and Scott, Austin, and Andrea sat across from us.
"Is this your first time on a private plane?" Scott asked me.
"No. Sometimes I ride coach to stay undercover, but I usually ride in the agency jet or a helicopter will come retrieve me from a destination it there's an emergency."
"Very cool. I've never ridden in a helicopter." Scott said.
"It's nothing great." I shrugged.
"What is the name of your organization?" Austin asked.
I don't really know how to answer this. Of course it would be a reasonable question for them to ask since they depend on us to protect their daughter, but it would only make them feel more uneasy about Taylor's safety. I'll tell them, I just won't tell them what if stands for.
"NAPA." I said.
"Really? I thought you were like from the FBI or something." Austin said.
"No way." I laughed.
"What does NAPA mean?" He asked me.
"That's classified."
"If you tell me will you have to kill me?" He joked.
"Ha-ha, so stereotypical." I said.
"So are you like good at karate and stuff?" He asked so many questions.
"I'm a black belt, yes. I'm also into a lot of mixed marshal arts and combat training."
"She's a strong boxer too." Taylor said.
"I do a lot of boxing when I train."
"I've seen the way the punching bag moves when we go to the gym."
"That's crazy. How much can you bench?" Austin asked.
"I don't know. I don't do weight training. My training consist more of fighting and of course aim."
"How many weapons can you use?" He asked.
"Guns, knives, bow and arrows, and swords."
"Swords? Isn't that a bit medieval?"
"You'd think, but people uses a lot of different weapons. Culture has a lot to do with it. Knives and guns are the most common though."
"Do you throw knives?"
"Yes."
"You're so cool." He said.
I laughed.
"Can you-"
"I think that's enough of those questions, Austin." Andrea said.
"Sorry, Alex. I just got carried away."
"It's okay. I get it."
"So what do you like to do in your spare time?"
"Train."
"No I mean when you aren't doing that." She said.
"I don't do anything but that. It's good for me and keeps me busy." I asked.
"She can't leave her base, mom." Taylor said.
"My god, you must be bored to death when you aren't doing anything else."
"It's okay. The quiet time is nice sometimes."
"Are you in school?" Scott asked.
"I've already graduated. When I first entered the program all I did was study and train. So I was done with my schooling by the time I was 10. I was at a high school level and everything."
"You must be pretty smart them huh?" Andrea said.
"Maybe. I never use any of the math it seems."
"Math is the worst!" Austin groaned.
"I know, right?"
"What was your favorite subject?" Taylor asked me.
"Well, I liked reading."
"Do you still like reading?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah, but I never do it anymore. I'm too busy and I don't having anything to read."
"I've got tons of books at home. When we get back you'll have to pick some out to read. I've got almost all the John Green books, The Hunger Games series, and I've got some of the classics of corse."
"That sounds really nice." I said.
We all continued chatting for a while. They never asked anything too personal, like about my life before the agency. It was just nice, casual conversation. Around midnight Taylor said we should get some rest. She took me to some different seats that would recline back and got some blankets. The lights in the cabin were turned off. Taylor's parents and brother went to lie down as well.
When we were all settled in and the room fell silent I heard Taylor shift around in her chair that was reclined so far back it was nearly like a bed.
"Hey." She whispered over to me.
I turned my body so I was facing her.
"Hi." I said.
"My family didn't make you feel too overwhelmed did they?" She asked.
"Oh, no. They are very kind."
"I'm glad you think so. I just don't want you to feel under pressure to answer all their questions."
"I don't mind it and besides the questions were pretty common."
Taylor fell silent and bit her lip. She looked nervous and that made me feel a little nervous.
"Are you okay?" I asked her after nothing came out but silence.
"Yeah, I was just wondering something."
"Um, do to want to talk about it?" I asked her.
I'm not very good at this. I don't want to pry. So I thought back to when I've been deep in thought and Taylor asks what going on. She'll ask me "are you okay" and when I say yes she doesn't push me or anything. She just tells me she's here if I want to talk about it. I'm very thankful for that. Even though Taylor and I are very different people, she still could want space too.
"Well, I actually do need to talk about it with you." She let out a quiet laugh.
"Alright." I said encouragingly.
"You know with touring we are going to be traveling a lot. We're going to be getting back home late. Plus, we'll be staying in different houses depending on how close we are to the show. Your apartment will be sitting there empty a lot. I was just thing that you could get rid of the apartment and come stay with me." She said.
"Oh." I tried to process this.
"Are you okay with that?"
"What about when the tour is over and I'm still around?"
"You'd still stay with me. Did you like the bedroom you stayed in that one night? You could stay in that one. I'll even let you redecorate it if you want."
"I-I don't know."
"You can have sometime to think about it. Please, just consider it."
"I will. Good night, Taylor."
"Good night, Alex."
I turned away so my back was to hers to ensure the conversation is over. Why would she want me to live with her? I'm just another bodyguard. Maybe I need to stay closed off from her a little more. I can't let her get too close.