When Love Walked In

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

"I don't think using that sharp knife in a moving vehicle is a smart idea Taylor."

Ignoring Jesse's comments, she hoisted the cake up onto her lap in the crowded van. White frosting was smoothed all around and cookie crumbs were smushed up against the chocolate layered cake.

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER' was spelled out in pink sugar candy letters.

"Please be careful Taylor." The way she was balancing the candles and matches in her hands filled me with anxiety.

Alex plucked the matches from her fingers. "Maybe it's not such a good idea to light anything on fire."

"How else is Amber suppose to blow out her candles?" She protested.

"I can pretend?" I offered.

"No, no, that's not the same thing," she dismissed the thought. "You're suppose to blow out the candles and make a special wish."

"Then maybe we should hold off for now?" Chris said.

"Yeah, we can wait until we get to the restaurant," Will agreed.

Taylor pouted. "Fine."

"It looks amazing! Did you guys make it?" I asked, hoping to distract her.

Her face lit up in a cheerful grin. "Well Aunt Heather made it but Damien wanted to help too."

From right next to me, I heard him groan and I weaved our fingers together.

"But it turned up in disaster and Aunt Heather had to make another cake," Taylor continued.

All the boys erupted in stomach clutching laughter and the whole van shook. "It's harder than it looks!" Damien tried to explain.

I fell in love with him all over again. "You're so sweet." I wanted to hug Damien until the end of time and never have to let go of this warm place that made me so happy.

"If not the cake, then how about giving presents now?" Taylor suggested hopefully. "Pretty please?"

"Not all of the presents." Alex gave Damien a sideways glance.

"Why? Is it something you can't give around other people?" Jesse grinned, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.

Alex elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to shout in pain. "What was that for?"

"You got to have some ounce of a brain up there, just some," he said sympathetically.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing but Taylor didn't hold back. "Okay, let me give you your present now," she wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes and handed me a large gift bag, tissue paper peeking from the top.

"Aww Taylor," I said. "You didn't have to." Honestly, I was overjoyed despite knowing what I had to do later tonight. I tried not to think much about how tonight would be the last time I would get to see this group of people I've come to care for very deeply. I held the bag by it's strings and tried peeking in.

"Open it!" Taylor bounced in her seat impatient but excited.

I grinned and reached inside. When all the wrapping paper was ripped away, I gasped. "Taylor!"

It was a scrapbook, a beautifully handmade scrapbook. The cover was lined with gold stickers and embroidered with colorful patterns. On the top, my name was stitched gracefully in script letters. All the guys tried crowding around to take a look. "Woah!" "That's nice!" "Awesome job Taylor!" "This actually looks really good!" Taylor flipped her blonde hair playfully in response.

"Taylor, I love it. Thank you so much!" I reached around to give her an awkward hug in the awkwardly small van, and we toppled on top of each other laughing. "I want to see your reaction when you look through it."

"Okay." I flipped open to the first page where there was a handwritten note in bubbly, pink letters.

"Read my letter later," Taylor said shyly.

The next couple of pages were more letters and I was surprised to see them from the rest of the Blackjacks. I looked up to see them all looking anywhere but at me. "Thanks guys," I smiled.

There was one from Suzy, and I smiled at the sweet words. Then I was surprised by some pages of photographs, mostly taken from the last couple of months, and then some that were older, where I saw Victoria, Jules, and Gustavo. I smiled at one photo of Gustavo and I cooking in the kitchen, not noticing there was a camera capturing the moment. There was one photo that had me smiling and blushing, and I looked up at Damien.

"You see how much of a stalker my cousin is," he said, shaking his head at Taylor's antics. "Total invasion of privacy."

The photo in question was one from a few weeks ago, from before all of the drama with Ky. It was captured in secret, with Damien and I lost in each other's eyes a good distance away, completely unaware we are being watched. His forehead lightly grazed mine and I remember that moment when my heart started beating frantically and my palms started sweating.

"That's my favorite," Taylor said, a smirk on her face.

I kept flipping, stopping to glance at photos of magazines I modeled in torn out and taped to the pages. "Where did you get these from?" I asked, tugging the corners of each square lightly.

"From Jules and Victoria..." she said hesitantly.

I nodded and continued on. "Thank you so much Taylor," I reached over to give her a hug when I had finished. "I'll treasure this forever."

"We got you something too." Alex handed me a green bag with tissue paper foaming over the edges. "From all of us."

"You guys," I said, overjoyed at the gesture. I pulled away at the tissue paper to reveal a Polaroid camera in the shade baby blue.

"A Polaroid camera!" I exclaimed in shock.

"It's customized," Jesse said.

"And there are enough Polaroid sheets to last you a while," Will added.

At the bottom was a Polaroid and I laughed at how uncoordinated it was. "We wanted to test it out," Chris said.

"Sammy took the picture though," Jesse said in a low voice.

"I tried my best!" Sammy defended himself from the drivers seat.

"I'll start my own scrapbook and make it the cover page," I said with tears in my eyes.

"You definitely should," Taylor managed squeeze in between a fits of giggling.

Long time no see lovelies! I'm really sorry for the lack of updates. I've just been getting over writers block and am still searching the right inspiration to get the creative juices flowing.

I'm sorry if this chapter isn't so great, I just really wanted to get something out for you all to read.

Hopefully I can update again within the next week and get the ball rolling. Hope you are all having lovely days and beautiful nights and if you ever want someone to talk to, I am always here for you!!

Sending lots of love and thank you's all for sticking with me as I figure out what I want to do with my life and with this book.

Until next time!!! ❤️