Dear Payton,

Chapter 9

It's 9:03p.m and Payton and I are still on the couch. She's laying on my chest and I'm rubbing her back with the tips of my finger. We lay there in silence for a bit then she closes her eyes and asks me, "Sam are you excited we're engaged?" "Of course baby! Do you know how long I've dreamt of this?" I said in a sort of whisper while playing with her hair. She moaned a bit in exhaustion and said, "No, not really. Tell me how you imagined it." I sighed and took a deep breath while I situated my thoughts and then after a few minutes I finally said, "Well, do you remember the summer of my sophomore year of college when we went to Tampa, Florida and got that huge beach house? We had it all to ourselves and we stayed there for about two weeks and then left on the 4th of July." I grabbed her hand and locked our fingers together and heard her smirk and say, "yeah, what about it?" "That was the summer I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I wanted to settle down and be happy. I wanted you, I wanted you forever." I said softly and kissing her hand gently. She sat up and supported herself on my chest and whispered, "I told you I would never leave or hurt you." "I've heard those words before." I whispered back and smiled faintly. She kissed my forehead, laid back down onto my chest, and whispered, "I promise, you and I are forever." I smiled while Payton and I laid there in silence and just took it all in. I felt so safe whenever I was with Payton, I felt secure, happy, home. I brushed her hair with my fingers and whispered, "goodnight beautiful. I love you." She had fallen asleep in a matter of seconds and soon after, so did I.

It's 8:03a.m and Payton had just left for work. I sat up and put on a black v-neck and a pair of Payton's nike shorts. I went over to the kitchen and started packing up some more of my clothes and a few other items I had laying around. Afterwards, I went upstairs to our room, sat on the floor, and started pulling out random things Payton and I had stored under the bed. In the middle of packing old picture frames, I heard a loud scream coming from outside. It sounded like a girl, the scream was loud and painful. I ran down stairs and went to the window, I opened the blinds and looked around the parking lot, nothing was there and it was calm and quiet. I thought it was my imagination so I headed back up stairs. Once I got in the room, I heard it again. A girl screaming for help and the scream became louder and louder. I ran to the bedroom window and looked out into the backyard and nothing was there. Just cars, trees, and the park in the corner of the complex. The scream didn't stop until I ran back downstairs and opened the blinds again. I saw Payton bleeding, she was crying, and screaming for help. It was the most horrifying thing I've ever seen, she was walking to the porch so I ran and opened up the door. When I opened it, she was gone. The screaming had stopped and no one was there. I walked outside and it was quiet, the only sounds I could hear were the trees blowing in the wind. I heard the phone ring so I walked back inside and answered it, "hello?" "Hey babe, I was calling to check up on you. Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare last night?" Payton asked. I hesitated for a few seconds, I was busy situating my thoughts about what just happened. Then I heard Payton say, "Sam? Sam? Sam, are you there?" I then replied and said, "Yeah, sorry I was busy cooking something. Um, no I didn't have a nightmare last night. I guess the stress relieving thing is really working." She smirked and said, "Well, I guess we need to do stuff like that more often huh?" I laughed and agreed with her. "Well, I was calling to see if you wanted to go out to eat later?" she asked. I hesitated to figure out an excuse and replied with, "baby, I really can't today. I have so much I need to get done and I have a lot of homework and stuff. But, I'll come bring you lunch." She sounded a bit disappointed and said, "Oh, okay baby. I understand. I'll see you soon. I love you." "I love you too baby, bye." I said before hanging up. I walked out to the car and headed to her favorite fast food restaurant. I got Payton her favorite meal, a caramel frappé and a chicken sandwich with a salad on the side. I got myself a sweet tea and then headed to the studio. I got out of the car and Payton came running to me and hugged me from behind. I laughed and turned around the kiss her. I handed her the bag and her drink and we walked inside together. When we got inside, her office was a mess. The studio had three different backdrops and probably 30 different props. "What's going on in here?" I asked. "A pre-k down the street decided to take there christmas pictures early this year." she said with an annoyed look on her face. I laughed while looked around the studio and asked to look through the pictures she had taken of the kids. She grabbed her camera and she showed me her favorite ones. There was one of a little girl in a white dress, she had pretty blue eyes, and the most gorgeous smile. There was another one of a little boy, all of his teeth weren't grown in yet, and he had on a plaid shit with a pair of jeans. They were adorable and Payton knows just how to get the perfect angle. We talked about the pictures for a little bit then we sat back down and talked a little more while she ate her food. When she was done, she walked over to me and said, "I love you. Thank you for the wonderful lunch and making my day a bit brighter. Don't get yourself too stressed out, give yourself a break today okay? I know you don't like that, but do it for me." I assured her not to worry and I hugged her as hard as I could. I lifted her feet of the ground and kissed her too. She laughed, we said our goodbyes, and I went back to my car.

It's 12:37p.m, since Payton has been nothing but good to me, I decided to do something sweet for her. I went to the store and picked up some of her favorite stuff. I got 24 white roses, dove chocolate with caramel in the middle, sugar cookie and white christmas candles, and her favorite movie, G.B.F. I headed back home and I took a dozen of the white roses and picked the petals off. I laid the petals in a trail, that lead from the front door all the way up stairs to our room. I put the candles on our nightstands on either side of the bed. I laid her favorite chocolate in a little glass bowl on her side of the bed. I made the bed up perfectly and I put the rest of the white roses on top of the comforter. I put the movie in and now it was time to wait for her to get home. While I waited, I packed a lot of stuff up. I watched a few of my favorite shows down stairs and made dinner for Payton and I between commercials. I laid our dinner on the table and when Payton came home I made sure her attention was focused on me and not on the rose petals. "Hey baby, dinners ready. How about you come eat." I said while she was walking in. She smiled and kissed me and said, "Alright babe, I'm gonna go upstairs and change first and I'll be right down." "No, I'm really really hungry and there's clothes down here. I was doing laundry, you can change in the bathroom." I said quickly making sure she didn't see the trail yet. She smirked and said, "Ugh, fine. Can you just get something comfy and I'll change in the living room." She walked to the living room and I brought her a long t-shirt and some short shorts. She changed then met me in the kitchen for dinner. "Wow, this looks amazing! I'm starving!" she said with a smile on her face. We ate pretty quickly and then I headed up stairs and told her to come up once she's finished. She had a confused look on her face while I walked away but she let it go once I left the room. I heard her put the dishes in the sink and then I heard her walking up stairs. I was laying in the bed when she walked in and I could see the shock and happiness her eyes. She said, "Aw, you're so cute princess! This looks wonderful, how'd I become so lucky?" I motioned her to come lay next to me and I fed her a piece of chocolate while she picked up the roses and admired them. "Aw! You got my favorite chocolate and these roses are fabulous and smell wonderful. I love the candles! Baby, you're so sweet! I'm so happy!" I kissed her softly and said, "well you've been doing a lot for me lately. With therapy, the night terrors, and shit, I hit you in the face. I just wanted to let you know how much I love you and need you. I couldn't live without you and I wanted you to know that I love you." I leaned in and kissed her again and I cuddled up next to her and played the movie. We stayed up for hours together just talking and watching the movie. We had no idea what was going on half the time cause we were too busy making out to watch. God, Payton is so beautiful and I'm so lucky to call her mine. She's my princess and I can't wait to call her my queen.