Helplessly in Love: A Taylor Lautner Love Story

Chapter Twelve - Fairytale

“Taylor,” I began in my sweetest voice possible, “where are we going?”

His lips quivered for a moment and he took a breath, like he was getting ready to tell me, but he stopped himself. He looked at me incredulously as my smile widened.

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“Do what?” I asked innocently, trailing my hand up and down his arm back and forth.

“That,” he said suspiciously, motioning to my hand.

“So you don’t want me to touch you?” I asked. He rolled his eyes and took an unnecessary breath.

“You can touch me. You just can’t persuade me into telling you secrets,” he said.

“Am I persuasive?” I asked him, enjoying that I could produce the same effect he has on me. I would definitely use this to my advantage.

“Very,” he breathed, nodding quickly. I dropped the subject with a smug smile and reached for his hand, intertwining our fingers. 

Taylor made it easy to take my mind off my brother if only for a few minutes. I wanted things to go better for Derek. I didn’t want to him to be the underdog anymore.

A few minutes later, we pulled into a restaurant I’ve never seen before (surprise, surprise) and drove around to the back. I craned my neck to see the title of it. It was named Little Italy on the top part, but I didn’t get the chance to see the bottom part. 

The parking lot was jam packed full of cars. This was a Friday night, after all. There were tons of people here. Families, couples, friends. All just enjoying each others company.

“I discovered this place yesterday,” he told me as he parked near a door in the back. 

“I didn’t know you liked Italian food,” I accused.

“I like anything you like, and I know it’s your favorite…” he trailed off, seeing me blush. Then he got out and opened my door.

“You should’ve told me we were coming here. I would’ve dressed better,” I said as we walked, hand in hand, up to the big double doors in the back.

“You look perfect,” he said. “Absolutely perfect.”

I smiled and squeezed his hand before he opened the door, letting me in first. When I walked in, I was overwhelmed by the smell of a fantastic marinara sauce, and I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. I could literally taste the deliciousness on my tongue, savoring it.

“Chao, Taylor!” A round man exclaimed enthusiastically, walking towards us with extended arms.

“Chao,” he replied hugging the man like they were best friends.

“And this must be Rachel,” he says with his strong Italian accent, hugging my shoulders. I smile warmly at him as he speaks in Italian, listening carefully to his pronunciations. “E 'un piacere conoscerti, bella.” 

I didn’t catch anything but the last word, and I know that meant ‘beautiful‘. I blushed as he led us through the rowdy, busy kitchen to a much quieter room with a candlelit table set for two. It looked like it was a lounge, but the chairs and sofa had been pushed aside to make room for the table. The only light came from the candles on the table, shining brightly. I heard the soft sound of music coming from somewhere in the dark.

“My name is Mauro, and I’ll be your server tonight,” the man said.

“Wow,” I breathed. I felt Taylor’s eyes on me and I felt like running around and squeezing him as hard as I could. This was absolutely amazing! I’m totally speechless. I smiled ear to ear, not really sure how to express my gratitude to him. “Taylor, this is incredible.”