Shuck Face (A Dylan O'Brien Story)

Chapter 39

March 1st. I rolled over and looked at the clock. 5am. My flight leaves at 8 and Fox has me on a private plane, so I don't have to be at the airport until 7:45. I snuck a peek over my shoulder. Dylan was sleeping soundly, a little bit of drool falling from his lip and his arms sprawled over his pillow. I suppressed a giggle before quietly climbing out of bed. When I made my way into the kitchen, I started a pot of coffee. I grabbed a blanket from the couch, slid into my slipper boots, and waited. Once the coffee was done, I poured myself a cup and walked out on the back porch, plopping down in one the Adirondack chairs. It might be Los Angeles, but it's still kind of chilly at this time of a March morning. I pulled the blanket around me tighter, took a sip of my coffee, then laid my head back onto the chair and closed my eyes. Living right on the beach never got tiresome. I loved waking up to the sounds of the waves every morning. This was where I found peace. And on this morning, I needed peace.

In less than 3 hours, I would be heading to Europe for 6 months. I would be with Wes, which was wonderful, but I don't really know anyone else yet. Everyone will be officially meeting each other at the end of the week when we start rehearsals. Dylan will come visit in a month or two, if he's not working. Hartley is working on Red Queen starting in two weeks. It's one of her favorite books, so you can imagine her excitement when it got picked up for a movie and she was able to land a job on it. Luckily they will be filming in London for part of it, just so happens they'll be there in July. I've already talked to our group. If nothing comes up, we will all meet in Paris the 18th through the 21st, which happens to be the weekend of my birthday! So at least I have that to look forward to.

"You're up early."

Dylan's voice startled me. I never even heard the door open. I open my eyes to see him standing in front of me with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, a cup of coffee in his hand, and a sad expression on his face. Standing up, I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the porch swing. He wrapped his blanket around us both and pulled me close. I draped my blanket over our legs and got comfortable.

"I couldn't sleep. Did I wake you?"

He took a sip of his coffee.

"I rolled over and you weren't there. I would rather be awake anyways though. Nervous?"

My shoulders rose and fell against his side.

"Terribly. It's going to be so weird being away from EVERYONE."

Dylan chuckled and it rumbled through me, causing me to squirm.

"You'll be with Wes. So you won't be away from everyone. But you made friends the very first day on Death Cure. I have no doubt you'll make friends immediately on Fall of Gods. Just be your adorable, funny self and people are gonna love you right away like we did."

I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see it.

"I think I'm going to miss you the most."

"Yay I'm special!"

We both chuckled then sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So," Dylan's voice broke through the serene silence. "T. Pose told me about your Pinterest."

"Oh God. What about it?"

A snicker escaped his lips. "Well I've certainly got plenty of gift ideas for you for the next 30 gifting holidays. But no I uh.... I saw your 'future' board. You have this whole easy-peasy beach boho wedding planned out up there."

I shifted on the swing until I was sitting up and could see him.

"Well I grew up with the beach. What better place to get married than on the beach? Plus, I'm pretty laid back. I was never one of those girls who planned out her wedding from age 5 with princess tiaras and ball gowns. That's just not me."

A grin spread across his face. "You're right. Though I don't think anyone would blame you if you did decide, now that you're actually getting married, that you wanted ball gowns and princess tiaras."

I nudged his foot with mine. "Trust me, that is not what I want. But ya know, it's our day. Now that I actually AM getting married, I have you to help me plan it. And I wanna do whatever makes you happy."

"Baby. We could go down to the court house right now and get married and I would be the happiest man alive."

"The courthouse doesn't open until 8."

He stuck his tongue out at me. "You know what I mean, punk. But I was just thinking. You're gonna be so busy with the new movie, I'll be busy with Teen Wolf when I'm not with you. Why don't we go with this beach wedding you already have planned? And we can get married when you come back?"

I leaned away from him to get a better look at his face.

"So you wanna get married in roughly... 7 months? That would be like October. If I'm back by then."

He shrugged this time. "October sounds good to me. And we don't have to really pick a date right now. We will check this summer and see what your end time is looking like. We'll just make sure everyone knows the estimated time of when it's happening. Most everyone who is going to be there is used to having their plans changed at the last minute. So if we have to change it, everyone will understand."

"Speaking of, we haven't told anyone and I'm about to scoot out of the country..."

"You didn't tell Hartley?"

I shook my head. "I haven't exactly had a chance."