There was a carnival about 30 minutes away from the hotel. The night was cooler than usual and she had already worn the two sweatshirts she had packed. She wore her beige mini shorts and a black cropped tank top. She decided to sneak over to Baylen's bag and grab his pink 'Frick Vape' hoodie. She threw it on over her shirt and adjusted it.
"It looks better on you then it does me." Peyton quickly turned around to see Baylen leaning against the wall. She rolled her eyes while laughing.
"Does that mean I can keep it?" She asked, batting her eyelashes while grinning widely.
He folded his arms over his chest and smiled, "yeah. It's yours." He winked. "You ready to go?" He pulled the keys out of his shorts pocket, swinging them around his finger.
"Yeah. Let's do it." She grinned widely, brushing past him to the door. She and Baylen walked out the room and made their way to the elevator, clicking on the call button.
When they entered, Baylen hummed the elevator tune causing Peyton to laugh. "Do they seriously need to play music in here?"
Baylen snorted, "it's makes the ride less awkward."
"I beg to differ."
The elevator made it to the lobby, the two exiting and making their way out to the car. The sky was painted with such a beautiful golden hue. The orange, pinks, and purples gave the evening sky such personality.
"You taking aux?" Baylen asked while smiling wide.
A smile tugged on her cheeks, "I would love to!" She got in the passenger seat where she had stormed out the previous night. She grabbed the chord and plugged it into her phone. She played "Broccoli" by Lil Yatchy.
Baylen laughed hard, "I remember you doing a Musically to this song!" He re-enacted the Musically at the wheel.
She laughed, her cheeks tinting red. "Oh my god! I remember!" She did it with him while singing along. "Put your hands on the wheel!"
They arrived shortly after, getting their tickets at the front. The fair grounds had large rides and even bigger food stands. The lights from the fair rides glimmered in Baylen's eyes as he examined everything.
"Pretty huh?" She smiled, looking around at the lights as well. She knew he would say something corny, he always used corny pick up lines.
"Not as pretty as you." He winked.
She rolled her eyes, "i fucking hate you." She laughed. She pointed at the teacups. "Let's ride those!" She grabbed the male's hand and dragged him to the teacup line.
"Baylen Levine!" The two turned their heads around when they heard his name. Multiple teenage guys with their girlfriends ran up to the two of them. "You and Peyton are dating?" The blonde one asked, ruffling his own hair.
Peyton glanced over at Baylen to see what he'd say. "Yeah... Yeah we are." His hand slivered into hers. She smiled and looked back at the group of teenagers.
"W rizz!!" He smiled widely, dapping Baylen up with his free hand. "Can you guys be in my Bereal?" He asked.
"Yeah!" Baylen let go of Peyton's hand and wrapped his arm around her. All of them surrounded Baylen and Peyton, keeping them in the middle, and snapped the picture. The guy then took a picture of the rest of the Fair.
"You're the best." He dapped Baylen up again and lead the group away. They officially entered the line, laughing at the other couples further in the line.
"They're way too touchy." Baylen leaned down, whispering in her ear. She let out a faint giggle.
"It's so embarrassing. How could they do that?" She looked back at him, blushing at how close he was to her face.
"We just wear our bracelets, hold hands, and kiss." He laughed.
Peyton's eyebrows furrowed, "when do we kiss in public?" She asked.
He leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek, "now." He winked. She grew flustered over his gesture, covering her face in embarrassment while they both laughed.
The line moved slow, but they eventually made it to the front. She rushed to the green teacup with three other people. Baylen sat next to her while grinning widely.
Baylen grabbed the center along with the two other teenage boys. When the ride began, the three guys spun the teacup as fast as they could. Peyton screamed, holding onto Baylen's arm. Every time they spun faster, she grabbed onto him tighter.
When the ride stopped and they got out of the teacup, she continued holding onto his arm. She stumbled while trying to get off the ride, Baylen catching her when she'd almost fall. "Take it one step at a time." He'd instruct her, making sure she wouldn't injure herself.
Her dizziness faded away slowly the more they walked together. She felt her stomach growl at all the sights of the food stands. "I'm starting to get hungry. Are you?" She asked, not letting go of him.
He looked down at her, nodding. "Yeah, I could eat." He looked around, "what are you in the mood for?"
She let out a hum while looking at all the options they had. There were more fried, diabetic, heart attack treats instead of actual food. She pointed at the fried pickles. "What about those?" She looked back at him for his approval.
He crinkled his nose. "Hm, not in the mood for pickles." He looked around as well. "What about corn dogs?" He pointed at the other stand.
She shook her head, "nah." She responded. She pointed another stand. "Let's get cheese fries!" She smiled widely, something that was actually appetizing.
He smiled back at her. "Sure." The two made their way to the stand and ordered food. They got the food and made their way to a seating area with benches spread out everywhere.
They ate while laughing. "What the hell is a Bereal?" Baylen asked while eating his fries.
She laughed at him, "Do you live under a rock?" He had a genuine look of confusion on his face. "Okay so there's a time of day where you get the notification to take a picture of what you're doing in real time. It snaps a picture from your front and back camera, and you only take 1 picture a day." She smiled. "I don't have the app because I'm not consistent like that, but you're the type of guy who'd have it." She giggled, eating her fries.
"What do you mean?" He spoke with his mouth semi full.
"I mean you love documenting your life. With Youtube, Instagram, Snapchat. Adding Bereal to the mix just makes sense." She shrugged. "If you download it, I will." She smiled.
He nodded his head, "Maybe I will." They continued talking until they were done eating. After they finished, they decided riding rides was a no go. Instead, they decided to play the carnival games scattered around the Fair.
They both sucked at Ring Toss so of course they played that first. She screamed when she made a ring on the bottle, Baylen cheered with her. She ended up winning a little frog plushie because she only made one ring, but she was still happy.
She handed the frog to Baylen. "I expected you to win stuff for me, not the other way around." She giggled.
"Hey! It's 2022, those double standards should be abolished!" He laughed. He posed with the frog and Peyton took a picture of him, this time purposely posting it on her story. "Did you mean to click the story button?" He asked teasingly.
She looked up at him. "We already told the group of boys about us dating. Making it more public would just confirm the rumors." She smiled watching as the DMs rolled in.
The rest of the night was spent with them running around and taking pictures for each other's Instagram. There were so many funny things they could've used for videos, but the feeling of the two of them only witnessing them made it personal.
The two of them stood waited in line for the ferris wheel. It was long and slow because of how small it was. "Are you sure it's even safe?" Baylen asked her, wincing at how rusty it seemed.
She but her bottom lip, also a bit concerned. "Maybe... but it's romantic!" She looked back at him. "There's that at least."
They made it to the front after waiting forever, cramming into the blue cart. The ride didn't feel safe, nothing about it felt secure. Baylen wrapped his arms around her, causing her to laugh. It made her feel at least a little safer.
They made it to the top, over looking the entire fair. It was truly beautiful. Nothing she'd ever seen before. She looked over at Baylen and saw how he admired the beauty. God, he's so pretty, She thought. This love felt intense, nothing she'd ever experienced before. It was scary, but what was love without the adrenaline rush?
He noticed how she stared at him, quickly turning to her. "What?" He chuckled. "Do I have something on my face?" He began to rub random spots of his face.
"No!" She laughed. "No, not at all." She brought a hand up to his chin. "You're just so unreal. No one I've ever met before compared to you."
Baylen rolled his eyes, "that's a lie."
She shook her head. "We both know it's not." The two of them leaned into a kiss. Their kids lingered for minutes, long minutes. Making out in front of everyone was crazy, especially for two hot topics right now. Did the two of them care? Nope. Not at all. Then the thought of her leaving hit her. She felt a lump form in her throat. When they pulled away from each other, tears formed in her eyes while a smile formed on her face. "I don't want this to end."
Baylen brought his hand up to her face. "It wont. You won't lose me. I promise you won't lose this, any of this." He ran his fingers through her blonde hair while staring into her blue eyes. She sniffled, "I'll miss your horrible singing."
Peyton couldn't help but snort. "I'll miss your sense of humor." She spoke through giggles. She sniffled again. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
Sometimes things don't end the way they're supposed to. Peyton won the man of her dreams since she could remember, but it wouldn't be in the way she intended it to. She needed to leave in 12 hours for her flight home. They would visit, they would call, they would spend time together even when it's not in person.
"Baylen?" She muttered.
"Yeah?"
"Hold me closer." She rested her head on his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "Without hesitation."