Today was the day. Today was the 1st day of VidCon. The convention spread out into 3 separate days, so their group was going to stay busy.
Peyton's eyes fluttered open, her vision blurred at first. When she was able to open her eyes fully and see, she noticed herself tangled with Baylen. How the fuck...? She thought as she looked at the pillows, now kicked to the edge of the bed. Next to her, Baylen snored, clearly still asleep. She carefully slipped out of his grasp, her face the same color as a tomato.
She checked the time on her phone. They were supposed to be at the convention at 10 AM. It was currently 7. She decided she should start getting ready. She did take forever.
Before anything, she decided to snap a picture of Baylen, who was spread out on the bed with his mouth hung open. She pulled up SnapChat and took a picture of him, laughing slyly as she posted it in her main story.
She entered the bathroom after grabbing her clothes and turned the shower water on. She examined off her matching heart bracelet before taking it off and putting it on the bathroom counter.
🐳
She came out of the bathroom with her makeup and hair done, wearing a pair of jean shorts, a sage green cropped tank top, and her white strapped Birkenstocks. She wore a white baseball cap with a green Polo Ralph Lauren logo on it. She put the heart friendship bracelet back on her wrist along with 6 other bracelets, 3 on each arm. She came out of the bathroom, now seeing Baylen dressed and putting his shoes on.
He wore a green "Frick Vape" t-shirt and black gym shorts, and was now attempting to put on a pair of white crocs over his white ankle socks. He looked up at her and smiled. "Good morning."
"Morning, sleepyhead." She teased. She looked down at her phone and checked the time. 8:05 AM. They had some time to spare before they had to meet up at the Anaheim Convention Center. "You want to go grab breakfast with the others before we head over to the convention?" She asked as she made her way over to her nightstand.
"Of course. We could go to Denny's." He suggested. Peyton let out a hum, agreeing with Baylen as she put her mic on her body. She faced away from him as she slid the wire and the microphone up her shirt, attaching it to her chest. She clamped the box to the waist of her shorts.
She faced him once again, now prepared to head out. "Let me text the others." She said with a smile.
Me
You guys down for Denny's???
Lake
Duh.
Alissa
Ofc.
Kyle
YES
PJ
sounds good
Lucas
yeah sure
DYL
yes mama 😉
PJ
ayo...
Kyle
wtf...
Me
Baylen and I are heading over there now
Peyton was shocked to see everyone was actually up. She wasn't too sure when they'd actually show up, but she hoped it would be soon. "Alright, everyone's on board." She said with a grin.
"I see that." He said, looking down at his phone. "Diz also just called you mama." He chuckled. A smile formed on Peyton's face as she rolled her eyes.
"Let's go. I'm riding with you." She didn't really ask, she more so informed the male.
"Yes, ma'am." He followed behind her like a lost puppy. The two of them grabbed their key cards and heading to the elevator. "You think we should ask Jidion and D'Aydrian to meet us there?" Baylen asked as the elevator doors opened.
She shrugged her shoulders. "If you want." She watched as the man pulled out his phone and texted the two individually. He placed his phone in his pocket when the elevator stopped on the lobby floor. The two of them walked out of the hotel and towards Baylen's rental.
"I get aux!" the girl shouted, now sprinting towards the car.
"Wait!" the male yelled, chasing after her towards the car. They both laughed as they made their way inside the car.
The two of them hopped in the car and she plugged her phone in. She realized she might have taken the guys' ride. "Do Peej, Kyle, or Lucas have their own rental?" The girl asked, worried she might've just stolen the guy's seats.
Baylen frowned. "You're right." He dialed in Peej's number, "let me get him out here."
"Oh! I'll text Alissa and tell her to ride with us. We should force them to sit together in the back." Peyton giggled.
Baylen snapped his finger, pointing at her and nodding his head. "Good thinking." The phone ran for a few seconds before Peej answered. "Yo, come down to the car. We're heading over now." Baylen said. Peyton pulled out her phone to text Alissa.
Me
come ride with Baylen and I
Alissa
ok
why??
Me
bc i love u 🥰
Alissa
ok...
"Bingo." Peyton said right after Baylen hung up on Peej. "Now we wait." The two of them turned back, watching and waiting for the two lovebirds to come out.
Several minutes passed before Peej and Alissa came out, talking to one another. Peyton pulled up "Careless Whisper" by George Michael and clicked play. The two of them hopped into the backseat. Baylen smiled widely. "Why hello, you two." He cooed.
Peej just rolled his eyes and glanced over at Alissa. They made eye contact momentarily before they both looked away. Alissa shot a glare at Peyton, clearly anxious. Peyton flashed a grin and winked before turning back forward. Baylen backed out of the parking lot and made his way to Denny's.
The crew was now a couple of minutes away from Denny's when both Jidion and D'Aydrian responded to Baylen. He quickly checked his phone, then grinned. "Jidion and D'Aydrian will now be joining us for breakfast." He sang.
Jidion and D'Aydrian were friends with Peyton as well, but D'Aydrian and Peyton were much closer than Jidion and her. She grew antsy in her seat, ready to see the two.
The last time she saw them, it was a year ago. They both grew in that year, especially D'Aydrian. Thanks to Baylen and Dizzy's help, she grew too.
Baylen pulled into Denny's and put the car into park. "Alissa, did you bring the camera?" Peyton asked while unbuckling herself. Alissa nodded and held the camera up. "You have to film me seeing Jidion and D'Aydrian again. It just makes sense since I got no footage of me seeing the rest of the crew."
"Understood." She got the camera prepared. Peyton and the rest of them got out of the car.
"How many would be in our party?" Baylen asked, trying to count on his fingers.
"I think 10." Peyton answered. Baylen nodded his head as they made their way inside.
The male at the front asked for number of people in their party and what the name would be under. "We have 10 at our party and it'll be under Ben Dover." He grinned.
Peyton elbowed Baylen, causing him to laugh. "Put it under Peyton." She grinned. She didn't want to cause any trouble for workers so early in the morning. It was only 8:30.
"We can either have you guys seated now, or you guys can wait for the rest of your party." The male suggested. Baylen's eyes fell on Peyton, seeing what she'd say. She was the adult of the group, always speaking up for the guys when they didn't know what decision to make.
"We'll wait until our party gets here." She answered for him. "Thank you so much." The male nodded his head, reserving their table and heading back to set it up. "Let's go wait for the rest outside so we can goof off." She suggested, quickly rushing out.
As soon as she stepped outside, she spotted D'Aydrian and his filmer, Kai, coming over. Alissa had already been filming the two of them while they reserved the table, just in case D'Aydrian or Jidion were already inside.
"My favorite snow bunny!" The male yelled childishly, hopping around and waving.
Peyton laughed loudly as they approached. God, they were stupid. "D'Aydrian!" The two of them shared a hug while laughing. "I missed you so much!" The girl squeezed him even tighter. They let go, and D'Aydrian greeted Baylen and the rest of the group.
A bit later, Jidion showed up and the same thing repeated except 10 times louder because now there were 4 men screaming. Baylen, D'Aydrian, Jidion, and Peej. They all had a group hug. Baylen dragged Peyton into it.
🐳
Breakfast with the 10 of them was chaotic, for sure. A Karen grew mad over how loud they were when they laughed, mostly Baylen and D'Aydrian, and she began arguing with them. Hearing D'Aydrian and Baylen's responses to the lady made Peyton almost piss her pants with laughter. She laughed until her stomach cramped.
Peyton played her playlist in the car while talking to the group. "I'm so nervous, I don't even know why!" She frowned. Faintly on the aux played Kiss the Girl from The Little Mermaid. She played it to see if Peej and Alissa would at least consider it, or have it in their mind for later.
"I'll make sure my crazy fans won't shove you out of the way. Although it's not a guarantee." Baylen joked. Peyton slightly shoved him while rolling her eyes.
She had almost 1 million subscribers on YouTube and her TikTok sat at 1.5 million. Even though she wasn't as popular as Baylen, she still felt accomplished. If anyone went back to her senior year self told her she would be a famous youtuber a year later, she would've rolled with laughter. Some days, she still can't believe she made it this far.
"Well, let's hope that tension goes away in 5 seconds because we're here." Peej placed his hands on Peyton's shoulders, giving them a tight squeeze. Her heart raced at astronomical speeds as Baylen found a parking spot in the lot reserved for creators.
When Baylen parked, they all hopped out of the car, and Alissa began filming. Shortly after, the rest of the crew arrived. Both Lake and Lucas began filming for Dizzy and Baylen.
"We're finally here." Baylen said, wrapping his arms around Peyton, Dizzy, and Peej. This was the first VidCon they were invited to as featured creators, and Peyton was happy they could all do it together as the iconic friend group they are. "I couldn't be here without you guys. I'm so excited to meet everyone who could show up at VidCon, and if you couldn't... Hey. It's fine. There will be other opportunities."
Dizzy stood at the end next to Peyton and turned to look at the three next to him. The order went to Peej on the left, Baylen, Peyton, then Dizzy on the right. "You guys ready to go?" He asked while grinning wide.
The three of them all exchanged looks. Peyton's nerve seemed to wash away and fill with determination and joy. These guys she surrounded herself with had a way of empowering her beyond belief. "Ready than ever." Peej confirmed. Just like that, the group let go of each other and made their way into the Anaheim Convention Center with their chins up.