TAYLAH’S POV
“Christian are you sure you know where we’re going?” I asked him again and he shot me a look. “Alright, just checking.”
“It’s just around… here somewhere,” Christian looked around, standing on his tiptoes to try and find the building we were looking for, and he was supposed to be a local?
“Wait look,” Luke said suddenly, pointing at a sign. “There! Down this street, Northshore Plaza.”
We all proceeded down the street he’d pointed out. This small local shopping centre had let us use their space to do a last minute meet and greet. Only problem, we were late because we’d been wandering the streets looking for the place.
We hurried inside to find a crowd of girls already gathered around a long table set with a row of chairs. They screamed so loudly when we entered that I was surprised the windows didn’t shatter. The boys waved and smiled and took their places.
The boys were along the table and we sat down the end. We were one chair short so I just shrugged and sat on Maeve’s lap. She just laughed and poked me in the side.
“God, these girls seem even crazier than Melbourne fans,” Georgia said quietly so nobody would hear us. We were a bit separated from the boys so we could talk without them hearing us.
“Don’t you guys find it weird?” Maeve asked thoughtfully, looking out into the crowd of girls. “I mean, all these girls, throwing themselves all over the boys?”
“All over Luke you mean,” I said pointedly, glancing over at where he was talking to a young girl.
“Oh shut up,” she rolled her eyes. “But imagine being one of them, only liking them because they’re from What About Tonight. I mean, not knowing them like we do.”
“I guess,” Georgia shrugged. “But it’s not like they’re making out with them or anything.”
“It’s not like they’re making out with us either,” I pointed out and we all laughed.
“Maybe we just need to take some initiative,” Maeve sighed. “Just jump them in the streets or some-”
She cut off so suddenly, I went to turn around to see what she was looking at but Georgia grabbed my arm, stopping me from moving. Before she could open her mouth, I stood up and turned around. It felt like all the breath in my body whooshed out at once. I was frozen, watching.
Mitchel was sucking face with some skanky girl in barely any clothes. He pulled away, looking flustered and looked to the side, seeing me standing there.
“Fuck you Mitchel Cave,” I said icily before turning and walking away. I pushed my way past the now confused fans and out onto the street.
“Taylah! Taylah come back!” I heard him yelling after me and stopped, turning around slowly.
“What do you want?” I demanded.
“She kissed me, I swear,” he said, pleading. “I promise, I would never - ”
“What’s stopping you?” I laughed humourlessly, holding back angry tears as I turned around, hurrying away with my head down and arms crossed tightly. A hand turned me around, making me jump.
“This,” Mitchel said softly. Then his lips were on mine and I literally melted. My arms found their way around his neck and his hands were on my waist, pulling me in close. We were in the middle of the street, people were probably watching us and hurrying around us, but I couldn’t care less.
He pulled away gently, keeping a hold on my hand as if he just needed contact, which I had no complaints about.
“Now that’s a kiss,” he chuckled, fluffing up his hair. “So uh, I’ve been thinking – for a while – and…” he sighed and took a deep breath. “Taylah Jays, will you be my girlfriend?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him excitedly. “God, I thought you’d never ask!”
“Come on then,” he led the way back inside. “I want to show you off.”
I felt incredibly self-conscious going back into that crowded space full of eyes staring at us and staring at our hands, still entwined between us. Mitchel walked confidently up to the table and the room went silent.
“I’d like to introduce to everyone,” he pulled me in to his side, his arm around me. “My girlfriend.”
Everyone went nuts, cheering and yelling and in some cases, crying. The ‘lovely’ girl who’d kissed Mitchel looked embarrassed and hurried out as quickly as possible. I kissed Mitch on the cheek and made my way back down the table to the girls. On my way past, Brock grabbed my wrist.
“Not that it would have mattered to you, but you’ve got my blessing,” he said seriously. I hugged him tightly, trying to say ‘you’re the best big brother ever’.
Maeve and Georgia just squealed and attacked me with hugs. We sat there and talked while the boys continued through the line, Mitchel with a goofy grin plastered on his face.
“You’re so lucky,” Georgia said enviously. “That was actually adorable.”
“It’ll be your turn soon enough,” I assured her. “Am I still smiling? My face has gone numb from smiling so much!”
“Titch is perf,” Maeve hugged me from behind; I was back on her lap. “If you’re planning on doing anything tonight, do it in his hotel room, okay?”
“Maeve!” I spluttered, elbowing her and blushing. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You ladies ready to go?” Luke asked a bit later when they’d made their way through everyone. We nodded and stood up. Mitchel held out his hand and I took it in mine, walking out with him and feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.
When we got back to the hotel, we split off into our rooms to change into comfier clothes. The girls and I were all lying across our beds in trackies and singlets, completely in bedtime mode, when there was a knock on our adjoining door.
“Come in,” I called, not expecting all five of the boys to come in, strangely dressed in boardies and carrying hotel issue towels.
“You girls care for a night swim?”
