Okay so it's a little short but it's important and you'll see why. :) Enjoy and thanks for all the support on I Wanna Be There.
"Taylor," a soft voice called to her from just beyond the edges of her unconsciousness.
Taylor wrinkled her nose and made a mumbling noise as she turned away from the voice. She vaguely heard a chuckle and felt the bed dip before a pair of lips pressed themselves against her sunburned shoulder, causing her to smile and open one eye.
"You're here early," she said, reaching back and pulling Ryan's arm around her waist, resting their hands on her stomach.
"I know, sorry. "
"It's okay. Who let you in," she closed her eye again.
"Housekeeper," Ryan said in her ear, before planting a kiss in her tangled hair. "Summer's still asleep, too."
"Sleep is good," Taylor said.
"Tired?"
"Too much sun yesterday," Taylor mumbled.
"Yeah, I see that," Ryan said, lightly trailing his fingers down her arm. "Does it hurt?"
"No. Summer and I rubbed aloe lotion on each other last night before we went to sleep," Taylor opened both eyes and turned in the circle of his arms to face him. "Sorry about not calling last night. The sun just kind of zoned me out."
"It's okay. I was kind of tired, too. Seth and I did some talking."
"That can be very exhausting," Taylor nodded.
Ryan smiled at her as she scrunched up her nose with a yawn.
"It's Sunday," she said, smiling up at him.
"Yes, it is," Ryan said.
"So, can we just stay here all day?"
Ryan's heart skipped a little in his chest, "You want to stay in bed all day?"
"Yes. We can make out and sleep and then make out some more. I just want to be lazy today."
"Sounds good," Ryan said.
"Thank you," Taylor smiled at him. "Just for that, we can make out first."
Ryan smiled as she drew him into an embrace.
OCOCOCOCOCOCOCOC
"You stayed in bed all day," Brooke asked.
"We didn't do anything but sleep and kiss, Brooke. It was," Taylor frowned, at a loss for how to describe their time.
"Hot," Brooke ventured.
"Always," Taylor smiled.
"I hate you," Brooke groaned.
"Why? You have your pick of any and every boy in Tree Hill. In fact you could be getting lucky right now, so why are you talking to me?"
"Because, I'm bored. The guys at school are so lame lately and Peyton is of no help whatsoever because she's always with Nathan and they're either doing it or fighting or a combination of the two."
"Ew," Taylor winced. Cute as Nathan was, hey she had eyes didn't she, she did not want to hear about him and Peyton doing it. Peyton was too much like her sister for that particular mental image.
"Sorry," Brooke said. "I forgot that whole thing you have about not hearing about the sex lives of the people you consider family."
"Hey, you were ewing along with me when Summer was talking about handling sticks which was so a code for handling Seth," Taylor said.
Brooke giggled.
"Hey, I'm gonna go. Seth wanted me to come over before dinner and it's just about that time."
"Okay. Talk to you later," Brooke said. "Love you."
"Love you," Taylor said, hanging up.
OCOCOCOCOCOCOCOC
Taylor walked out the back door after being told that Seth was in the pool house. She opened the door and walked in. Seth and Ryan were playing a video game.
"Hey guys," she greeted, taking a seat on Ryan's bed.
"Right on time," Seth said while Ryan leaned back and got a kiss from Taylor.
"Yeah, what's up," Taylor asked. "You didn't say much on the phone."
"Well, it would seem that someone forgot to mention that it's his birthday."
"Ryan?"
"I'm gonna kill Sandy."
"Mom blew the whistle," Seth smiled.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Taylor poked Ryan in the shoulder. "I can't believe I didn't ask."
"I didn't know when your birthday was until the day before," Ryan protested.
"So not the point. We'd only been going out for about a month when my birthday rolled around and I didn't want you to feel obligated to get me anything."
"See, the point that sentence just made was that we were in fact going out so I should have been aware of your birthday."
"And I should have been aware of yours," Taylor smiled smugly.
"She's got you there," Seth said.
"Shut up."
"Okay," Taylor lay on her stomach and rested her chin on Ryan's shoulder, her arm dangling over his other one. "If you don't want us to make a big deal about this, we won't, okay?"
"Really," Ryan leaned his head back against her shoulder, relaxing.
"Really," Taylor nodded. "We can do something really quiet, like dinner with Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, and Summer."
"Works for me," Seth said.
"But, you are getting a present of some kind, so don't even think of telling me you don't want anything," Taylor said.
"Deal," Ryan turned his head towards her and smiled. "Seth?"
"Yeah?"
"Get lost," he told him before sliding a hand into his girlfriend's hair and kissing her.
"I'm gone," Seth made a fast exit.
Taylor giggled against Ryan's lips.
"That was easy," Ryan said.
"Well, if you go by Summer, Seth is pretty easy."
"What about you," he said turning so he could get on the bed as well.
"I'm hard."
"That makes two of us," he kidded.
"Ryan," Taylor groaned pushing him away.
"Sorry. Bad joke," he put his forehead against hers as they knelt in the center of his bed.
"It's okay. I know I have to be driving you crazy," she put her arms around his neck.
"You're not," he told her.
"Really? 'Cause I'm thinking a guy who's been doing it since he was thirteen has to be getting a little frustrated with the virgin."
"Not when he loves her," Ryan said quietly, staring straight in her eyes.
Taylor stared at him for a moment before she smiled, "Really?"
"Really. I love you, Taylor."
Taylor let out a breath with the smile that spread across her face, "I love you, too."
Ryan kissed her and just as she was shifting her legs to lie down Sandy's voice called down to them from the main house.
"Kids, dinner!"
Ryan lifted his head and smiled, "Of course."
Taylor giggled. "We'll be right there Sandy," she called.
"No," Ryan groaned.
"Later, okay? You, me, and the beach," Taylor said as she started to get off the bed.
Ryan grabbed her wrist and kissed her once more before they both got off of the bed and headed into the house for dinner.