The Lost Girl

Chapter Thirty

*Taylor's POV*
I was awoken to my phone ringing. At 3:45 in the morning. "Hello?" I said after finally finding my iPhone. "Hello Princess. Did I wake you?" I heard a smooth voice say through the phone. One that had recently become a favorite of mine to hear. Nicholas Hood, son of Robin and Marian Hood. I smiled as he talked. "Well, it's only 3:45. No. I'm wide awake." I said and chuckled. "Well, would you like to take a walk?" He said. "Uh, sure. Hold on." I said as I got up. "I'm at your front door." He said. "That's not creepy at all." I said and giggled as I turned on the light. "I'll be right down." I said and he hung up. I put on a pair of skinny jeans and Uggs, then an oversized long sleeve Boston shirt my mom had given me. I put my blonde hair in a messy bun and slid my iPhone 6 into my back pocket. I turned the light off and walked out of my room quietly. I heard my moms talking, so I decided to ask instead of just leaving. i walked to their door and opened the door. They looked at me like I had 2 heads. "Uh, can I go take a walk with Nick? Neither of us could sleep and he called me and invited me." I said and rubbed my arm awkwardly. Gina looks like she's been crying. "Sure. Just don't stay out too late. You have a day off tomorrow from lessons, so, you can see him tomorrow too if you want." My mom said and rubbed Gina's arm. I nodded. "Mom? Are you okay?" I said and looked at Gina. "Yeah, just a b-bad d-dream." Gina stuttered. That was so unlike her... "Okay... I'll be home in a bit. Uh, I have my phone if you guys need me or need anything." I said and they nodded. I turned around to walk out. "Kid." Emma said and I turned around. "Be safe." She said and I smiled and nodded. "I love you guys. Bye." I said. "Love you too kiddo." Emma said. "Love you Taylor. Have fun." Gina said then rubbed her eyes. I nodded and walked out, closing their door quietly. I walked downstairs and to the front door. "Hey." I said and smiled at the boy with messy brown hair. "Hey." He said and kissed my cheek lightly. He grabbed my hand and we walked around the town. "So, how were your first set of lessons?" He said as we walked past Granny's. "They were good. Snow started teaching me archery. And I'm pretty good. How's school?" I asked as I shivered from the cold air. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I felt warmer immediately. "It's okay. I miss sitting behind you in English though. You were always so cute, how you'd play with your hair if you got nervous, or how you tapped your pen on the textbook. It was adorable. But, I'm good as long as I can see you outside of school." He said and I looked at him and smiled. He looked at me and smiled. He was a few inches taller than me, but it was cool. "So, can I ask you something?" He asked as I wrapped my left arm around his waist. "Sure." I said and nodded. "The rings you wear on your left hand... Were they your wedding rings?" He asked. He knew I had been married to Lili and he was cool with it. I nodded. "Yeah, the one on my ring finger is my wedding band. And the 2 on my middle finger are her engagement ring and her wedding band." I said and he tightened his arm around my shoulder. He felt so protective. "That's cool." He said and I nodded. "Wanna sit?" He said as we reached the gazebo in the middle of the town. It was now 5 am. We had been walking for an hour. Dang. I nodded and we sat on the bench. I moved my arm from around his waist and laid it on his thigh. This was nice. I leaned my head against his chest and we watched the lake. "So, Taylor. We've been on several dates. And I really like you." He started and I nodded. "So, what I'm getting at... Taylor.. Will you, uh, will you be my..." He started nervously. "Yes, I will be your girlfriend." I said and kissed his cheek. He stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. He picked me up and spun me around and I laughed. "Yes! I was so nervous." He said as he set me down. I smiled at him. He's 6'1 and I'm only 5'7. He smiled at me and kissed my forehead. "We should probably start walking back... Wouldn't want the Queens to worry, Princess." He said and smiled. I laughed and nodded. "You're my princess." He said with a big smile. "And I couldn't be happier." I said with a big grin. We continued the walk and we got to my house around 6:15 am. We sat on my front porch step and watched the sunrise. My moms were probably already up. "Wanna come in?" I said as I stood up and walked to unlock the door. "Sure." He said. "I have the day off today. So, we can hang if you want." I said and looked at him. "Sure." He said and smiled. The school was on Fall Break. But Henry and I didn't really get breaks. We would have days off every once in a while but that was about it. I unlocked the front door and opened it. I smelled pancakes being cooked. I smiled. Emma. I knew it was Emma because Gina didn't cook breakfast. She could, she just didn't like to. She liked dinner much more. "Morning mom." I said as Nick and I walked into the kitchen. "Morning kid." She said, not turning around. "Morning your majesty." Nick said. "Morning Nick." Emma said and turned around, she smiled at him. Mom was wearing a white tank top and flannel pajama pants. "Where's mom?" I said. "She's upstairs. She's pretty upset. So, I came down to make breakfast for her." Emma said and I nodded. "Nick, I'll be back. I'm gonna go upstairs for a minute." I said and smiled at Nick. He nodded and kissed my forehead. I walked upstairs and to my moms bedroom. "Mom?" I said and opened the door. "Yeah?" She said and looked at me. I walked to my moms bed and crawled into the bed with her. I got under the covers and snuggled close to her. She wrapped her arms around me. "Are you okay?" I asked lightly. "Yeah, I'm fine dear." She said and kissed my temple. "Guess what." I said as I sat up. She sat up. "What?" She said as she crinkled her eyebrows together. "Nick asked me to be his girlfriend." I said with a smile and looked at my hands. "What'd you say???" My mom asked with an excited tone. "Yes." I said and smiled bigger. "Aw, yay. I'm happy for you." She said and hugged me. "Thanks." I said. "Let's go have some breakfast. Okay?" She said. I nodded. "Nick's downstairs with Emma." I said. "You left him down there with your mom?" She said and looked at me. I nodded. "Bad choice. She's gonna ask him a million questions about you guys." She said and I laughed. She was wearing yoga pants and a fitted Nirvana shirt. We walked downstairs and Gina went and hugged my mom from behind and I smiled as Nick grabbed my hand. "You guys hungry?" Emma asked. "No." I said and looked at them. "We're gonna go upstairs." I said and looked at them. They nodded. They trust me a lot, which is good. Yeah, I had made some shitty choices, but I had regained their trust. I've grown up a lot in the past couple of years. Yeah I'm only 18. But, still. Nick is 17 which is cool. He's only a sophomore in high school, but that's okay. He should be a junior, but he has dyslexia, like me, and struggled a lot in elementary school. He doesn't know what his plans are for college yet. But, wherever he goes, I hope he loves it. Who knows, maybe he won't go to college. He has a little bit of time before he has to think about that though. We walked up to my room and I sat on my bed. He looked around my room and looked at the different pictures I had up. There were a lot of Lili and I. There were a few of Felix, Henry and I. They were from when we were just friends, so I didn't see any harm in keeping them up. There were some of Henry and I. Then there were some of me and Emma. And some of me and Gina. And some of Gina, Emma, Henry and I. And of course, there were several of Nick and I. But, there was one of me holding a baby. I have no idea who's baby it is or why I was holding it. I just kept it up because I looked so happy with the baby. "Who's baby is that?" Nick said and looked at the picture. I shrugged my shoulders. "I can't remember. I don't even remember when the picture was taken." I said and he nodded. He walked to my guitar and picked it up. "This yours?" He said. I nodded. "I play to relive stress. Ya know?" He nodded. "Like when you play soccer." He said and I nodded. Soccer was my ultimate stress reliever. I'm supposed to be a senior this year. But, I like homeschool better. He walked over to where I had my soccer ball. It was sitting on top of my cleats. He picked it up and tossed it to me. I caught it and smiled. "Wanna go play some 1 on 1?" He asked. He loved soccer too. That's how we met actually. We met at tryouts in my freshman year. He was only in 8th grade but was there to support his brother, who was a senior at the time. We've been close friends ever since. "Sure." I said. "Lemme get changed and I'll meet you downstairs." I said. "I'll go to my house and change, then meet you back here." He said. I nodded and got up and kissed him. On the lips. It was full of love. He pulled away and smiled. "I'll be back soon." He said and I nodded. He left and closed my door behind him. I put on my black Nike dri-fit jersey and then my soccer shorts. I pulled on a pair of black and white nike elite socks and then got my cleats and ball. I walked downstairs holding my cleats, hanging from my fingers and my ball under my arm. My hair was still in a messy bun. I set my cleats by the door and my ball on top of them. My cleats were black with neon blue details. The Nike check was neon blue too. I smiled at them and then walked into the kitchen. I grabbed 2 bottles of water and set them on the counter. "You going to play?" Gina said and smiled at me. "Yeah. Nick and I are going to play some 1 on 1." I said and smiled. "I like this one, Tay." Emma said and smiled at me. "Me too." I said and smiled at the floor. "Me three." Gina said and smiled. "He calls me his princess." I said and smiled at my moms. "Emma's my princess." Gina said and kissed my moms cheek. "Even if she is a queen." She continued and smiled. I smiled at them and there was a knock on the door. It was Nick. He was wearing the same black Nike dri-fit jersey. And his soccer shorts. He had on cleats and a pair of short black socks. He was #8 and I was #18. "Ready?" He said and leaned against the door frame. "Yeah. Hold on." I said and walked to the kitchen. "Bye moms. I'll be home in a bit." I said and smiled as I picked up the 2 bottles of water. "Be careful with your knee. You know you have knee problems." Emma said and pointed at me. I nodded and walked back to the front door. I handed Nick a bottle of water and then put my cleats on. I grabbed my soccer ball. Then, we walked out. There was a soccer field down the street a little so we decided to walk. We got there and set our waters down. And then we started. I didn't care if he was my boyfriend. This is my game. *3 hours later.* I sat down on the sideline and chugged my entire bottle of water. Nick sat beside me and did the same. "Good game babe." He said and wrapped an arm around me. It was 9:30 so, there wasn't anyone here. It was cold, so both of our faces were red and wind burned. Our arms and legs were too, but I didn't care. It was never too cold for soccer. "You too." I said and smiled. I shivered. "Let's go. It's cold out here." He said and we stood up. I carried my soccer ball and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. We got back to my house and he walked me to the door. "I'll see you later." He said and kissed me. "Wanna come over for dinner or something?" I said. He nodded. "Sure. I'll come over around 5." He said and I nodded. "See you then." I said and he kissed me. He walked away and I waited a minute. Then walked in. "Who won?" Gina said and smirked, raising an eyebrow. I smiled. "I did." "Nice kiddo." Emma said and I smiled. "Is it okay if Nick comes over for dinner?" I asked my moms. "Sure. I'm making dinner tonight. So it'll be good." Gina said and laughed, earning a laugh from me as well. "Hey! I'm a good cook." Emma said. "Of course you are dear." Gina said and kissed her temple. Henry was still upstairs, asleep. I seriously love my family.

(Picture of Nick included. Nick Robinson is his name irl.)