Time: Christmas Eve / Kinsey: Age 24 / Post-YIM
Rating: Naughty
“Why are we up so early?” Taylor grumbled, dropping his head back to smack into the cabinet behind him. He and Kinsey had actually gotten out of bed when the alarm on Taylor’s bedside table had sounded at four in the morning. It appeared, Kinsey noted, that Zac had not done the same.
“Because it’s Christmas Eve and if we miss our flight our parents will probably have four simultaneous aneurisms,” Kinsey said as she poured coffee into three travel mugs which were sitting on the counter right next to where Taylor had perched himself. They had been up late the night before, going to bed after midnight despite the early hour at which they were supposed to be waking in order to make their 6:30am flight. Reggie had drug them out to a club where they had proceeded to get completely plastered. Isaac and Tif had been the smart ones and had gone home around ten and they were all supposed to be meeting at the airport at 5:45. “If Zac doesn’t get his ass down here in one minute, we’re going to have to leave without him.”
“Fine with me,” Taylor sighed, accepting the travel mug eagerly from Kinsey. He leaned forward to place a kiss to her lips before taking a long sip.
“Mom wants to do lots of wedding talk while we’re there. I’ll be sure to give you forwarning so you can have plenty of time to run away.”
“Thank you,” he said, “You know what I want.”
“You want to get married at the courthouse,” Kinsey rolled her eyes.
“I was joking…” he insisted, “My point was that it doesn’t matter what happens that day as long as we’re married at the end of it. That’s all.”
“I understand,” she smiled, and she really did. She knew that Taylor wanted them to have a beautiful wedding and he trusted her. And, he was right. As long as they were married at the end of the day, nothing else mattered.
“Finally,” Taylor grunted as they heard movement on the stairs. They got their things together and started to walk across the kitchen. Suddenly, they heard the footsteps speed up and a lot of rushed movement in the entryway.
“Is he whispering?” Kinsey asked, dropping her voice instinctually. Taylor gave her a strange look and nodded towards the doorway, indicating that they should go check it out. As soon as they stepped from the kitchen, they heard Zac say “Shit!” and saw exactly what all the noise had been about. Standing by the front door with Zac, her coat on and misbuttoned, was Reggie.
“Hey guys,” Reggie said, smiling widely at them and inching towards the door. Kinsey bit back a laugh and tried not to smile, not daring to look at Taylor since she knew he would make her resolve break. She had been teasing Reggie for months about the crush she suspected Reggie was harboring for Zac. But, she distinctly remembered their taxi dropping Reggie off at her apartment before bringing them home.
“Reggie just.. uh… forgot her… scarf,” Zac stammered. Reggie nodded with feigned enthusiasm, pointing to the scarf around her neck.
“And she found it in your pants?” Taylor asked, not missing a beat. Zac looked down at himself to find his fly unzipped and quickly rectified the situation while swearing. The forced smile never left Reggie’s face as she continued to inch her way towards the door.
“I should go,” she said, “Merry Christmas!” And then, she fled from the condo. As soon as the door was closed, Kinsey started laughing hysterically.
“What happened?” she demanded, still laughing.
“She called me after we got home and she came over,” Zac explained.
“Oh god, the look on your face was classic,” she said.
“Are you packed?” Taylor asked. Zac nodded and ran enthusiastically up the stairs and away from them.
“Well, looks like Zac had a great start to his Christmas,” Kinsey said to Taylor.
“Not as good as the one we’re going to have in the airplane bathroom,” he replied, raising an eyebrow at her. Before she could open her mouth to respond, Zac came bounding back down the stairs.
“You probably want to sleep on the plane. Huh, Zaccy?” Kinsey teased as she pulled on her coat, “So, is this a thing or-”
“It was just sex, Kins,” Zac told her, prompting Taylor to snort.
“Yeah, we’ve heard that one before,” he said, “Now let’s go before we make that big scary vein in Ike’s forehead pop out.”
“It was just sex!” Zac repeated.
“Sure. We totally believe you,” Kinsey said before patting him on the head and following Taylor’s lead out the door. Zac sighed and locked the door behind them.
“It was,” he muttered to himself before following them out to the street where a taxi was waiting.