Your Fan Forever

by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

  I grabbed a noodle and slurped it in my mouth before taking the whole plate and putting it in the microwave.

  When it was warmed up. I grabbed a fork and joined them in the living room.

  “This wedding on Friday is legit?” Preston asked. “Not some concussion induced temporary psychosis.”

  “No. I don’t think so. It’s going to happen.” I twirled my fork in the pasta. “She wants it to be just about us. You know, Callie is weird about the whole fame thing. I guess she figures the longer we wait, the more out of hand it might get.”

  “And the whole wedding anxiety before she hit her head?” Kate held her hands open.

  “Oh, that was fear.” I said. “I guess falling off a mountain makes walking down an aisle not so scary.”

  Kate narrowed her eyes.

  “Fuck, Kate.” I grunted. “I don’t begin to understand how woman think. I’m just happy that that woman,” I pointed up the stairs, “wants to marry me.”

  “Oh, she wants to marry you.” Preston grinned. “Yeah. You better lock that shit down quick. You may not have another chance ever again.”

  I shook my head and returned my attention back to the pasta.

  Sixteen

  Callie

  Pain meds after a concussion, not too bad. I was loopier after breaking my foot.

  "Ugh." Waking up the next morning, I had to check to make sure I wasn't back on the side of the mountain. My entire body ached and my head throbbed. I reached up and touched the bandage. It wasn't big. It covered a small section on the left side of my head. I felt around me.

  I gasped.

  "What?" Noah woke from a dead sleep. "What's wrong?" He turned to me.

  "I'm bald." I felt around the bandaged wound." They shaved my head. "You let them cut my hair." I ran my hand through the other side to make sure not other chunks were gone.

  "Oh." Noah collapsed back on the bed. "Flip you hair on that side. You can't even tell."

  "I'll know it's there." I lay back down. "You're going to have a bald bride."

  Noah chuckled.

  I sat up again, which made my head throb even more. I reached out and clawed Noah's arm.

  "Hey." He pulled his arm away.

  "We're getting married."

  "In three days."

  "In three days." I lay back again. "Three days." I grinned.

  "I'm happy to hear the quickie wedding wasn't a concussion hallucination."

  "Nope." I rolled to my side. "I asked and you said yes."

  Noah stroked my cheek.

  "You’re stuck with me," I said.

  "Sounds good to me."

  Noah leaned in, but stopped when little barking dogs scratched at the door followed by a knock.

  "You guys up?" Kate's voice came through the door. "You guys decent."

  "Come on in," Noah said.

  I pulled the blanket up to my chin.

  Kate peered in wearing yoga pants and a tank top. The dogs snuck in thorough the crack in the door.

  Nip took a leap from a few feet away and landed on the bed. Valentine got as far as her paws on the mattress before she slipped down and whimpered.

  "Here you go, little one." Noah leaned over the side of the bed and pulled her up.

  Nip sat on my chest and stared. I rubbed his head and he lay down and continued to stare. Maybe he wanted to make sure I was me.

  "Don't worry. I'll save the wedding planning until you get up." She waved in the chef and another of the house attendants. "You must be starving. How do you feel?"

  The chef sat a tray on the bench at the end of the bed. The smell of eggs and cheese hit my noise. The coffee and apple juice made my mouth water. Something was missing.

  My pout turned into a grin when the other attendant produced a whole pigs worth of bacon on a separate plate.

  I almost squealed.

  Noah grabbed a slice, bit into it and handed it to me. I nibbled on it.

  "We'll leave you guys alone." Kate pointed to Noah. "Can I speak with you for a minute?"

  I narrowed my eyes.

  "Nothing for you to worry about." Kate waved Noah towards the door. "Don't you worry about a thing?" Kate waved her hand. "We have it all under control."

  For an actress, Kate was an awful liar.

  They whole crew exited the room and left me with my breakfast and the dogs.

  I pushed Nip off, snagged another piece of bacon and tiptoed to the door.

  "I don't know how it got out." Kate’s high pitched voice echoed through the door.

  "We just decided last night." Noah's muffled voice sounded angry.

  "Maybe someone at the hospital or ..."

  "What did you tweet, chat, gram this morning."

  "Nothing." Kate guffawed. "Here. You can examine my phone."

  I opened the door.

  "What's going on?" I reached for Kate's phone. I frowned remembering mine was at the bottom of a canyon.

  I tapped a few icons but couldn't focus. I handed it back to her, grabbed my computer off the desk, and crawled back into bed.

  Noah and Kate walked back into the room and watched me.

  "They found out about the wedding?" I asked as I opened up Twitter. I had thousands of notifications of tweets and retweets. I tapped on the search icon. At the top of the page showed a meme of Noah catching a woman in a wedding dress. "We're trending." I whispered.

  "It's fine." Kate said. She kneeled on the bed. "It's going to be fine."

  "It's going to be a fucking circus." Noah climbed into bed and pulled the covers over his head.

  "They aren't going to ..." I look over at my famous fiancée and then scanned over to my uber famous friend. I groaned. "They're on their way aren't they?" I nodded.

  "Maybe." Kate held her hand up. "I could call my people and at least get it contained."

  "Okay." I closed my eyes and took inventory.

  "My publicist could put out some fake dates and locations." Kate continued. “We need a decoy or a diversion.”

  "We have to call security and probably the Aspen police." Noah sat up.

  My eyes popped open. I placed my hand on my chest. My heart beat normally.

  "No one knows exactly where we are staying, so we can get ahead of it, right?" Kate looked at me.

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  She dropped on the bed. Valentine placed her paw on her hand to make sure she was okay. She sat up. Val leaped back and squeaked. I grabbed her and held her to my chest.

  I was shocked a full on panic attack hadn't ensued. Noah and Kate were more freaked out than I. It was going to be fine. I was marrying a celebrity. I had celebrity friends, it stands to reason, my wedding would have a little mini-celebrity attention.

  "It's fine people." Kate turned toward me. Noah peeked out from beneath the covers. "It is."

  "What?" Noah asked. "Why aren’t you freaking out?"

  "We'll take precautions, we'll be smart about it." I nodded.

  Noah sat up.

  "Maybe we should postpone it until--"Noah reached for me.

  "No." I said louder than intended. "I'm getting married on that mountain." I swirled my hands over my head. "I don't care it helicopters from TMZ cover it."

  They both looked at me like I had snakes in my hair.

  I snagged another piece of bacon and lay back down.

  "Can I use your phone?" I reached out.

  Noah handed me his from the nightstand.

  I punched in his code and scrolled to my sister's number.

  The phone didn't even ring.

  "I can't believe you feel off a mountain."

  I pictured her shaking her head.

  "Technically I fell off a deck into a canyon."

  Kate waved.

  I gave her a thumbs up.

  She returned it and exited the room.

  "You okay," Dani asked.

  "Yeah." I touched my bald spot again. "Few stitches and a concussion. Noah's taking good care of me."

  "So, you're getting ma
rried on Friday?" She asked. "What am I wearing?"

  "What every you want." I twirled my head. "I'm sure Kate has a whole color scheme in mind."

  "Kate Carter is planning your wedding." My sister laughed.

  "Preston, too." I laughed with her. "If everyone knows about it, at least it will be pretty."

  "When do you need me?" She asked.

  "As soon as possible."

  Noah cut into my omelet and took a bite. He turned to me and pointed to the food.

  I nodded.

  "You're lucky I'm curious about the spectacle that is your life," Dani said.

  "And you excited to see your little sister marry the man of her dreams." I added.

  "Yeah, that too." A thump came through the phone. "I'll call you when I'm on my way."

  I hung up the phone.

  "I called your parents last night. They'll be here on Thursday morning."

  "Oh yeah, what did they say?" I sat up.

  Noah fed me some of the omelet. It was cheesy and rich.

  I snagged another piece of bacon and broke off a little piece for Nip and Val.

  “Since I didn't exactly ask for your father's permission, I did it last night over FaceTime and then said, 'oh yean, by the way, the wedding is Friday.'"

  "Oh god, my mother loved that." I pictured my mother going nuts.

  "Well, yeah, they did until I had to tell them you fell off a mountain." Noah took another bite. "They made me promise that you would call them first thing."

  "Ugh." I settled into the pillows. "I'm too tired. I'll call them later."

  "We have to meet the doctor at two." Noah said.

  I nodded.

  "You want me to stay with you." Noah rolled back and kissed my shoulder.

  "I think you better go supervise the wedding planners." I kissed him.

  "You sure you okay with this now that it's news."

  "I thought I would be more freaked out, but I'm not." I shrugged. "I realized in February that if I want to be with you, all of this goes with it."

  "We could elope." Noah rubbed my nose. "Grab a flight to Vegas, we'll be back in a couple of hours."

  "Noah and his bald bride take off to Vegas." I laughed. "Oh, Kate would kill us."

  "I just want you to be happy." Noah kissed me again before heading for the bathroom.

  "Dani said she's looking forward to the spectacle."

  Noah stopped at the door.

  "I kind of am too."

  Seventeen

  Callie

  “Mom." I whispered. She spoke a mile a minute since she picked up and she wouldn't hear me if I spoke at full volume anyway.

  "I had a paparazzi call me in my hotel room." Mom continued. "It was kind of exciting, but then I couldn't tell them anything even if I wanted to. I didn't know anything. You didn't even tell me you were engaged."

  "Mom." I yelled this time. She had broken through my med buzz and I wasn't in the mood. "We just got engaged a few days ago and I wanted to get used to it before we told everyone."

  "And now the world knows."

  "I know." I held my hand in my head. I sat up when Noah walked into the room.

  “You okay.” He mouthed.

  I pointed at the phone and rolled my eyes.

  "Mom."

  My mother continued talking. I put the phone on speaker and threw it in the middle of the bed.

  "What's the hurry anyway?" My mother asked. "Oh god. You don't have to get married do you?"

  Noah covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

  "Mother." I crawled over the bed on my knees towards Noah. "I'm not pregnant. It's just a perfect place." I hugged Noah to me. He buried his head in my neck. "The weather's perfect."

  Noah hugged me tight. When he held me all the happy endorphins masked the pain.

  "Okay." She sighed. "We'll be there on Thursday to help out."

  "Okay."

  "We have to go." Noah lifted me off the bed.

  "Mom, no talking to the paparazzi."

  "If they ask me a question, I don't want to be rude."

  "Politely say no comment with all the southern charm you can muster." I picked up the phone. "I have to get dressed. The doctor wants to check me out again. Just a precaution."

  "Make sure you invite him to the wedding." Mom said. "After all, he did save your life."

  "I hit my head on a rock." I shook my head. "I wasn't going to die. Bye mom."

  I hung up the phone before she could say anymore.

  "This is why we're getting married so quick. I'm not putting up with that for any longer than I have ..." I stopped and stared at Noah in the reflection in the mirror. He had his arms crossed leaning against the doorframe. His face sullen and sad. He looked down.

  "Noah."

  He didn't look up.

  "I thought you were gone." Noah said.

  "Baby." I placed my hands on his arms.

  He blinked away tears.

  "I've never been so scared in my life." He tilted his head. "I just keep thinking if I lost you before I could tell you, show you..."

  "Hey," I unfolded his arms and wrapped them around my waist. "You didn't lose me. I'm not going anywhere."

  "Callie." He turned away and went over towards the bed and plopped down. He sat with his head in his hands. "We have to talk about it sometime. Before we do this."

  I held on to the door, ran my hand down the smooth painted wood.

  "I want to be with you, but I can't live up to what every fantasy you have in your brain about what our life is supposed to be like."

  I narrowed my eyes.

  "Our life ... it's going to be amazing, but it's not always celebrity weddings and dream vacations and traveling the world all the time."

  He stood up and came toward me. He grabbed my face. "Most of the time, it's like we are at home. You know, real life. I don't want to wake up in a few years and hear that I've bored you to tears."

  "Noah," I grabbed his hands and held them in mine. "I don't have some fantasy built up about us or any delusions about our life together. If anything, I was afraid you were getting bored with me."

  "Why would you think that?"

  "I can't drop everything and go jet setting with you and your famous friends." I turned toward the bathroom. "I'm not going to be this glamozon who looks perfect all the time and acts perfect all the time."

  "I never said I wanted that."

  "You never said you didn't either." I caught his reflection in the mirror. "The truth is I've never been in love before. I don't know what the expectations are."

  "Well, that's good." He walked up and stood nest to me. We both stared in the mirror at each other. "I've never been in love either. I've no clue what it's supposed to be like."

  "How are supposed to do this if neither of us have a clue?" I shrugged my shoulders.

  "You're a writer, can't you write it up and let me know."

  "What I wrote in the past has us in this weird head space. I don't think that's a good idea."

  "Maybe we need to write something together." Noah held out his hand. I took it and laced my fingers between his.

  "Where do we start?" I asked.

  "We need a good hook." Noah rubbed his chin.

  I brought his hands up to my lips and kissed it. "How do two people who have no clue about love ..."

  "Turn it into forever love." Noah added. “That's hot Caliente."

  "Yeah it is."

  Noah pulled me into his arms and held my face. He stared into my eyes for a minute, taking me in. Confirming what I knew deep down. He loved me and wanted me to feel his love.

  He placed a soft kiss on my lips.

  My toes tingled. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body into his. He deepened the kiss. His urgency matched his eagerness to show me how he felt. In a way he couldn't say with words.

  I felt lighter. More free, knowing all of my insecurities and doubts he had them too. One thing we knew was that we wanted to be together. We had the rest of our lives t
o work the rest out.

  Noah hugged me to him and kissed down my cheek.

  "We have to go."

  I groaned. Forgetting about the doctor's appointment.

  "Come on." Noah let me go. "I need the doctor to clear you so we can get married on Friday."

  "Is this what it's like being in the concussion protocol? No one thinks you're sane until the doctor tells you you're okay."

  "Pretty much." Noah pushed me. "Beside. We have another stop to make after your appointment."

  "Oh yeah." I turned toward him. "Where?"

  "Marriage license office closes at five."

  "Oh, yeah." My eyes grew wide. "We're really doing this?"

  "If we're going to do it, we might as well make it legal. Unless ..."

  "No. I'm not backing down." I touched his arm. "Real grown up stuff, though. Right?"

  "Oh yeah."

  Eighteen

  Noah

  Callie climbed in the back of the black SUV.

  I climbed in behind her. She settled in her seat, buttoned her seat belt and than unbuttoned it and laid her head in my lap.

  "Ugh." she groaned and it vibrated on my thigh. "Why am I so tired?"

  "Head injury." I rubbed the side of her head. "Remember."

  "How many concussions have you had?" She turned her head up.

  "Two." I cradled her cheek. "They aren't fun."

  "Is that my job?" She touched my cheek with the back of her hand. "As your wife. To worry about your health."

  "Yes, but I think it's like number eight or nine on the list." I massaged her shoulder.

  "Stop making fun of me." She slapped my thigh.

  "We all set." The driver turned back.

  "Yep."

  Callie nodded. She pulled the middle seatbelt around her, sat up and buckled it. She leaned her head on my shoulder.

  "What else is on the list?" She kissed my arm. "Dinner on the table at six every night." I stared out the window to keep from cracking a smile. "House has to be spotless and ..."

  "What?" She nudged me.

  I turned back toward her and grabbed her face and whispered in her ear. "Sex on demand. Twenty-four seven."

  "That's third on the list."

  "Well, no, it's first on the list." I kissed her. "Actually, if you agree to number one, then I can live without the rest of the list."