The Things I Love About You Part 2 (Completed)

C h a p t e r S e v e n t e e n

As expected, Scott and I don't make any wedding plans, even after everyone is gone. Instead, he is laying on the couch with his head on my lap while I play with his hair. The fireplace is still crackling fiercely, setting a calmness in the room. Every so often, I notice his eyes start to drift shut, only to burst open again with a bright alertness that only lasts a second before he dozes off again.

"Scott?" I say gently, untangling my fingers from his hair. He only hums in response. "Do you want to go to bed?"

"Yes, but I don't want to move."

"As soon as we get to bed, I can cuddle with you as much as you want." He groans, eliciting a chuckle from me. "What, that's not good enough?"

"I'm so comfy." His eyes slip shut again.

"You can be even more comfortable in bed." I try, reaching down to run my hand along his chest.

"Fine." he whines, sitting up and swinging his feet onto the floor. Before he stands up, I press a light kiss between his shoulder blades.

"Carry me?" I ask, reaching my arms up with a lip-bitten smirk.

"Of course." He stands up and turns to lift me into his arms. He carries me to our room and sets me gently on my back on the bed before leaning down and letting his lips hover just under my jaw.

"Whatcha doing?" I ask through a delighted giggle. He kisses my jaw, then my neck, kneeling at the bedside to get better leverage. His lips make their way down my neck and to my collarbone, then my shoulder.

"Loving you. I don't want you to ever forget that I love you, okay?" Suddenly he sounds desperate, like he's holding onto me in case I slip away.

"How could I ever?" He kisses my arm, then my wrist, and finally my hand in response. "Lay with me." I beg, watching as he stands to his full height, casting a shadow over me. Instead of walking around the bed to get to his side, he crawls over me, careful not to kneel on me, and adjusts himself half on top of me. "What's with you tonight?" I ask, chuckling as my arms automatically wrap around his waist as much as I can with him mostly on top of me.

"What do you mean?" He sets his head on my chest to look up at me through his lashes.

"Normally I'm laying on you, not the other way around."

"I mean, we can switch, if you w-"

"No, I think I could get used to it." I say, tightening my arms around him a little so he won't get up.

"Me too. I see why you lay on me all the time; it's really comfortable."

"Maybe tomorrow we'll actually do our wedding plans." I say with a chuckle.

"Maybe. Right now I'm too tired to think about it."

"Good night, baby."

"Good night." With that I press a gentle kiss to the top of his head and let my eyes flutter shut before the calm peace of sleep takes over.

***

When I wake up, the clock is flashing the numbers 11:04 at me, drawing me into consciousness.

"Good morning, Sc-" I start to say before realizing that I am alone and suddenly I am wide awake. "Scott?" I call, getting hurriedly out of bed and leaving the bedroom to try to find Scott. It is unlike him to leave without telling me. When I find both bathrooms, the kitchen, and the living room all empty, I start to get a little more worried. Normally if he leaves while I'm sleeping, he leaves a note in the kitchen, but there is no sign that he was ever even here. There isn't even a trace of any of his stuff. I usually notice random shoes or sweatshirts or hats of his strewn about the house, but now I can find nothing. Trying desperately not to panic, I find my phone and call him. Across the room, I see his phone lighting up as it rings.

"Dammit." I mutter, ending the pointless call and staring at his phone as a missed call notification shows up on the screen. "Now is not the time to forget your phone." I try to think of places he would have gone without telling me, but the fact that a bunch of his stuff seems to be missing and he forgot his phone worries me. In an attempt to distract myself from the reality of how worried I am about him, I grab my laptop and head down to the living room to do some online job hunting, a task I've been meaning to do but haven't gotten around to just yet. Suddenly I wonder if Scott started school today and didn't tell me. I knew that he had been accepted into a school here and gotten everything transferred, but I wasn't sure when he was starting. The more I think about Scott, the less I focus on what I was doing to the point where I am just staring blankly at the screen. The sound of my phone ringing by my ear yanks me roughly out of my trance, and I jump, nearly dropping my laptop. I grab the phone and answer it with a startled, "Hello?"

"Hey, babe." Kirstie says. I can practically hear the grin on her face. It makes me forget my worries, at least for a few minutes.

"What are you so excited about?" I ask.

"I found out something very important today."

"Well, are you gonna tell me?"

"I guess..."

"Kirstin Taylor Maldonado-Lewis, tell me right now. You're gonna kill me."

"Okay, okay. I had an ultrasound today."

"Did you find out the sex of your baby?" I ask with a gasp.

"Mhm." she practically sings, delighted.

"And...?"

"I'm gonna have a daughter, Mitch." She lets out an excited squeal, and I push a comment about Peyton's claim to be a girl to the back of my mind.

"I'm so happy for you." I say, genuinely happy for the first time since I woke up.

"Thank you! Where's Scott? I wanna tell him too." My mood drops again, and the smile slides off my face.

"I don't know where he is."

"Oh no, did you guys have another fight?" she asks, worried.

"No, no, nothing like that. He's not home and he left his phone and didn't tell me he was leaving or where he was going."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I hope so." I sigh. "I really hope so."

****

This is fun, I wasn't planning to update today