For the rest of the night, Karen and I cuddled and watched movies on the couch. About halfway through "Big Daddy," Karen's favorite, my cell rang. I looked at the caller ID, which read 'Wesley.'

"What up, Wes?" I answered after Karen paused the movie.

"Yo, dude, where are you? It's like…" Wesley paused, then shouted to who I assumed was Keaton. "What time is it?!" I heard muffled voices, and Wesley sighed. "It's late man. Where are you?"

"Dude, relax," I laughed. "I'm just chilling with my girl."

"What girl?"

"Karen, you idiot," I laughed.

"Woo! Get it, Drew!" Wesley laughed. He shouted to Keaton the news, and I heard another cheer. "Congrats, man. I hate to spoil the fun, but Scott," who was our manager, by the way. "Said we gotta jet back to Cali in the morning."

"What time is the flight?"

"8:30." I sighed and looked at Karen, who was looking up at me with sad eyes. I hated to just ask her out and then leave her like that. Suddenly, I got an idea. "Hey man, where's Scott?"

"Sitting in the chair across the room from me. Why?"

"Put him on the phone."

"Aight." He handed the phone to Scott, and I heard his voice come on. "Hey Drew, what's happening?"

"Hey, I have a favor to ask of you. Remember that girl that I asked to come to the last show, and I asked if I could spend the day with her today?"

"Yeah, Karen, right?"

"Yup. I hate to up and leave her after asking her out, so I was wondering, do you think she could come to Cali with us?"

"Oh, Drew, you don't have to…" Karen started protesting, but I put a finger to her lips.

"I'll make some calls, see what I can do," Scott told me. "In the meantime, she should check with her boss if she has one and see if that's okay. I'll call you back in twenty minutes, okay?"

"Alright, sounds good. Thanks, man." I hung up, and turned to Karen.

"Drew, I…"

"I'm not going to be like the other guys," I told her seriously, looking into her eyes. "I'm not going to promise you the world and then run off. Now, call your boss and tell her you're taking a vacation with your friends until classes start in August." I handed her her phone off the coffee table, and she slowly took it. She took a deep breath, then hit 'call' to her boss, Jessica.

"Hey, Jess, it's Karen," she said when Jessica answered. "I'm good, thank you, how are you? Yes, thank you, I had a great birthday. The concert was wonderful, I even got to meet the band. Hey, listen, I know this is last minute, but I got invited to go out to California for the rest of the summer with some friends, and I was wondering if that was okay with you? I'll be back a week before classes start at the college, so I can buy my books and get settled. Yeah, I know, it's a lot of time off, but it would mean the world to me if you said yes. I'll work extra days, or for people who call in sick, if that helps at all. Really? You're not pulling my leg? Okay. Wow! Thanks, Jess. You're the best boss ever. Yeah, I'll check in with you tomorrow after I land in California. Okay, awesome. Thanks again! Bye!" She hung up, and smiled at me. "She said yes!" She squealed and jumped forward to hug me, and I laughed, hugging her back. I leaned back and gave her a quick kiss, then pushed her up and towards her room.

"Go pack then, goof!" I laughed. She scurried into her room, and I couldn't help but smile and shake my head. I was so in love with this girl already, and we'd just started dating. I didn't want to scare her off, but I knew if it was up to me, she was going to be around for a long time.

After a while, Scott called me back and said all was clear for Karen to come with us. Karen then called me into her room to help her pack after I hung up. She already had several shorts and capris stuffed into a suitcase, along with t-shirts and tank tops, several pairs of undergarments, and a few bathing suits. I helped her decide on shoes to bring, which ended up being some flip flops, sneakers, and short heels. I laid on her bed, watching her scurry around the room, throwing things into the suitcase. She came out of the bathroom with a toiletry case, packed with all her shower supplies, plus skincare products, dental things, and a few essential makeup pieces. She then packed her shoulder bag with chargers for her iPhone, headphones, her wallet, laptop, and keys.

"Alright, I think I'm done," Karen announced, zipping up her suitcase. I grabbed her suitcase and her hand, smiling at her.

"Then let's go." We turned off all the lights and unplugged any electronics, locked up, and we were off to the hotel. Once we arrived, I called the rental car company to come pick up the car, and then led Karen up to our room.

"Wes, Keats, we're here!" I called into the room as I unlocked it with the key.

"Hey guys," Karen called in.

"Karen!" Keaton cried. He was bouncing up and down on the bed, but jumped off when he saw us and scurried over. He gave Karen a hug and smiled. "Welcome to the Emblem family!"

"Thanks," Karen laughed. "I'm glad to be a part of it."

"We're glad to have you," Wesley said, coming in from the balcony. Scott came in from the balcony as well, and he came over to shake Karen's hand.

"Nice to officially meet you, Karen," he said. "I've heard quite a lot about you from Drew since the Orlando concert a few days ago."

"Really?" Karen asked, surprised, looking at me. "What did he say?"

"Don't worry about it," I laughed. "All that matters is that you're here, and you're gonna have a blast with us in Cali."

"Most definitely," Wesley agreed.

"And you'll get to meet Sampson," Keaton said.

"Oh, I love puppies!" Karen cried. I chuckled to myself; it was so cute how she got excited.

"Well, you all have fun, but don't stay up too late, we've gotta be up bright and early," Scott told us, heading for the door. He nodded to each one of us, then said goodnight and left.

"So, are we all staying in this room, or…?" Karen asked.

"Nah, this is mine and Keaton's room," Wesley explained. He jerked a thumb at the door that was cracked open. "That's Drew's room."

"Here, I'll take your stuff," I said, grabbing her things and taking them into the room. I set them down by the little breakfast table by the window, and she followed me in.

"I'm gonna take a shower and change into pj's," she told me, grabbing the necessary things from the suitcase.

"Alright, I'll be hanging with Wes and Keats," I told her, grabbing her hip and pulling her close to give her a kiss. "Holler if you need me."

"Will do." She smiled softly, then went into the bathroom and locked at the door. I smiled at the door where her figure had been a minute ago, then went into the other room. I flopped down on the bed and sighed happily.

"Someone's happy," Wesley grinned, poking my ribs. I swatted his hand away and laughed.

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome," I grinned.

"What are you gonna do when the media catches wind of her?" Keaton asked. I looked down, frowning, and bit my lip, thinking. After a while, I shook my head.

"She's different, Keats," I told him. "She's special. I don't think she's going to be phased by them. I care about her, she cares about me, and I've got nothing to lose. I just know she means a lot to me, and I won't let anything bad happen to her." They both smiled and nodded.

"Proud of you man," Wesley said quietly, nudging my shoulder with his fist. "I can tell by the look in your eyes that she means a lot to you. You've never had that look for any other girl before."

"Yeah," Keaton grinned. "And I could tell from the way she was acting around you that she was hesitant, almost scared to fall, but she was falling for you. But I know you, and you'll take care of her no matter what."

"Definitely," I nodded. I heard the bathroom door open, and smiled as Karen came into the room. She was rubbing her hair with her towel.

"What?" she asked when she caught us all staring.

"Nothing, babe," I laughed, getting up and hugging her. I inhaled the scent of her shampoo, and smiled. "Cucumber melon shampoo?"

"My favorite," Karen giggled. She turned to Wesley and Keaton. "So, what all would you like to do before we head to bed?"

"We can play cards?" Wesley suggested.

"You're on, Stromberg," she laughed. We all gathered around the table, and Wesley shuffled his deck while Keaton put his iPhone in the iHome and hit 'shuffle.'

We played several different games, including Jim Rummy, which Karen wasn't too bad at, and jammed out to music. Around ten, we called it a night and went to bed. I changed into plaid pajama pants and crawled into bed, where Karen was already sitting, reading a book.

"What'cha reading?" I asked, propping my head up on my elbow.

"Harry Potter," she grinned.

"Which one?"

"The first one, 'Sorcerer's Stone.' I decided to re-read the whole series."

"Sounds fun," I said. "But you know what's more fun?"

"What's that?"

"Watching a movie with me and cuddling." She closed the book and turned to me.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." I smiled and kissed her nose, then got up to grab her laptop.

"You got Netflix?" I asked her. She nodded, and I handed her the laptop. After hitting a few keys, the home screen of Netflix popped up, and we searched for a movie. We ended up picking "Captain America," and Karen curled up against my chest as it started. I kept a hand on her back, rubbing small circles on it with my hand. Halfway through the movie, I looked down at Karen, and she was asleep, breathing slowly. I smiled and clicked the laptop closed, then put it down on the floor. I turned off the light, and pulled her closer, drifting off to sleep.