Page 15 of Falling Together

Chapter 15

Blair

“Bear! Bear! It’s time for the beach, Bear!”

Even from her bedroom, Blair could hear Nolan loud and clear as soon as her mom let him and Erin in the front door, and that high-pitched voice made a wide grin spread across her face.

“Just a minute, bud.” She rushed around her room throwing things into the bag she hadn’t started packing until about fifteen minutes earlier.

Even though she wasn’t quite sure what she was saying, she could hear her mom speaking animatedly to Erin and Nolan. Her mom had been so proud when Blair told her she was going on this trip to help out with Nolan that Blair actually felt a little bit guilty. It’s not like she had lied to her mom, per se, but her reasons for going might not have been completely selfless.

She was not going to worry about that now, though. She was about to go on vacation with two of her favorite people in the world, and nothing could ruin her good mood. She whistled as she shoved the last of her things into her suitcase, slammed it shut, and continued to whistle as she made her way downstairs.

Her mom lifted an eyebrow at her as she skipped over to them. “Someone’s excited.”

Excited was an understatement, but Blair wasn’t going to actually let on to her mom why

.

“Well,

someone

didn’t plan a family vacation this summer because she thought I needed to get a job and learn how to be responsible. Now, I get both.”

“Bear, what’s ’sponsible?”

Before Blair could answer, her mom replied. “It’s something Blair had a lot of trouble with before this summer.”

It took everything in Blair not to glare at her mother. Erin clearly thought Blair was too immature to date. She didn’t need her thinking she wasn’t even mature enough to form a real friendship.

Instead of addressing her mom’s comment, Blair focused her attention on Erin. “We should probably get going before the traffic gets too bad.”

All three of them said goodbye to Blair’s mom, before Blair quickly shut the door to avoid any more embarrassment.

“Bear! Sit with me!” Nolan said as he grabbed her hand and ran toward the car.

Blair looked back at Erin. “Only if it’s okay with your mommy. If she needs a copilot, I’ll have to sit up front with her.”

She couldn’t decide if she’d rather help Erin navigate or goof off with Nolan, so she figured it would be best to let them fight over it.

Erin waved a hand at them. “You two have fun. The map on my phone will be a great copilot.”

Blair bent down to put up the hand Nolan wasn’t holding for a high five. “It looks like it’s you and me, buddy.”

“Yay!” Nolan hit her hand so hard he made it tingle, then pulled her the rest of the way to the car.

After everyone settled in their seats, Erin turned on the map and some music and they were on their way. With Nolan’s nonstop chatter and entertainment, the hour-and-a-half ride went by in no time. Blair couldn’t believe it when they pulled into the parking lot of their hotel that was just two blocks from the beach.

As soon as Erin parked, Blair jumped out of the car and ran around to the other side to get Nolan out. She put him on her shoulders, then went around to the trunk to grab the bags.

She pulled all three bags out and stacked Nolan’s smaller bag on top of her suitcase, so she could clumsily take them all. “You go check in. I got this,” she yelled to Erin.

Was Blair trying to show off for her? Well, yes, actually. That was one hundred percent what she was trying to do. Knowing Erin felt the same way she did, even if this couldn’t actually go anywhere, made their relationship that much more fun. Sure, knowing Erin also wanted to kiss her didn’t make it any easier

not

to do it, but it was kind of like nonstop foreplay. Foreplay for something that was never going to happen, but

whatever

.

Instead of going into the hotel, Erin walked around to the back of the car. “Are you sure?”

Blair didn’t miss the big smile that took over Erin’s face in response to the scene in front of her, and it made Blair’s smile grow as well. “We’re sure. We’ve got this.” Blair stuck her hand up for Nolan to give it a fist bump. “Right, dude?”

Nolan giggled as he fist-bumped her. “Yeah. We got this!”

Blair raised an eyebrow at Erin, who simply shook her head at the two of them and walked away toward the entrance of the hotel. Blair struggled to hold the bags and keep Nolan balanced on her shoulders, but after a few steps, she got used to it.

There was a line for the front desk, but by the time Blair made it over there, Erin was next in line to be checked in. When the woman at the front desk called Erin up, Blair walked over and stood beside her, Nolan still excitedly bouncing up and down on her shoulders.

“Reservation for Erin Corcoran.”

The woman nodded before furiously tapping the keyboard as if the keys were on fire. “Ah, yes, right here. That was a king room, right?”

Only one bed? That sounds fun.

Erin’s face immediately turned red, and she fumbled over her words in the cutest way. “Um, no, actually, it… uh… it should be Queen.” She shook her head and held up two fingers. “Two queens.”

The woman typed some more and nodded again. “Oh yeah. I’m sorry. I see it now. The two queens for five nights.”

“Yes!” Erin practically screamed. She cleared her throat. “I mean, yes, that’s right. Sorry.”

The woman looked from Erin to Nolan then back to Erin again. “It’s okay. I completely understand. I never wanted to bedshare either. Those little bodies sure can take up a lot of space.”

For a moment, Blair wasn’t sure where that comment came from, but when she saw the blush that had spread across Erin’s face, she understood.

She thinks the extra bed is for Nolan, not me.

“Right?” Blair said with a laugh. “Two of us in the bed is already more than enough.” She nodded at Erin. “Especially with how much space this one takes up.”

Erin flashed her a look that was somewhere between anger and confusion, or maybe it was just a warning glance telling her she should shut the hell up. Blair wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t going to push her luck, so she didn’t say anything else.

The woman went back to typing on the computer and after a minute or so, smiled back up at them. “All set. I upgraded you to the two-queen suite with an ocean view at no extra cost. You’ll be in room 918. Breakfast is every morning from 6 to 10 a.m. We also have a restaurant that offers room service that’s open twenty-four hours a day.”

When the woman held the key cards out toward Erin, instead of grabbing them, Erin stood there as if she was shellshocked. Blair kicked Erin’s foot because it was really all she could do since she didn’t have any available hands.

Erin shook her head and reached for the key cards. “Sorry. Thank you. That’s amazing.”

“It’s my pleasure. You have a beautiful family,” the woman said with a wink.

Something strange bubbled in Blair’s chest at the sound of Nolan and Erin being referred to as her family. She loved the sound of it, and if that was what this woman thought, there was no reason she shouldn’t play along. “Thank you so much. I totally agree, but I might be just a little bit biased.”

“As you should be,” the woman said with a laugh. “Enjoy your stay.”

“Let’s go, sweetie.” Blair encouraged Erin to move by using her foot again.

Erin grabbed one of the bags (

thank god, honestly)

and led them toward the elevator. It wasn’t until they were inside that she turned to face Blair and Nolan, her face still the slightest shade of red. “I feel a little bad that we got an upgrade by lying.”

Blair shrugged. “

We

didn’t lie.

She

assumed.” As much as Blair normally didn’t like to see Erin losing her shit, it was pretty adorable in this situation, especially because she knew Erin was at least partially thrown off because of the feelings she had for Blair. “Just enjoy it, shnookums.”

Nolan shook on Blair’s shoulders as he giggled. “Why you call Mommy that?”

“You mean, that isn’t her name?” Blair asked sarcastically.

She could tell by all the movement on her shoulders that Nolan was shaking his head. “No. Her name is Mommy. Or sometimes, Erin.”

“Oh, that’s right. Sorry. My mistake.”

When Blair winked at her, Erin moved her eyes toward the ground, but Blair didn’t miss the small smile that parted her lips. Blair’s heart warmed at the sight. That smile had the power to make even her worst day better. Not that this was one of those days. As far as days went, this one was already pretty fucking awesome.

As soon as they got into the hotel room, Nolan began trying to wiggle off of Blair’s shoulders. When Blair put him down, he immediately ran to the big sliding door that led to the balcony. He pointed out the window, eyes wide when he looked back at Blair and Erin. “Look at the big pool!”

“That’s the ocean, sweetie,” Erin said with a laugh.

“Wait. Is this his first time at the beach?” Blair asked. For some reason, she just assumed they had been here before.

Erin’s face turned red again. “It is. I’ve wanted to bring him for a long time, but, well, things have been a little crazy.”

“That makes sense.” Blair walked over to Erin and squeezed her hand in reassurance. The last thing she needed was for Erin to feel like she wasn’t the world’s greatest mom, because she obviously was. “And, hey, he’s here now. That’s the important part, right?”

Erin squeezed Blair’s hand back and gave her a small, but sincere, smile before focusing her attention on Nolan. “Do you want to go out onto the balcony so you can see it better?”

Instead of answering, Nolan attempted to open the door by himself, a task he was luckily unable to accomplish.

“Let me get that, bud.” Blair undid the latch and slid the door open. As soon as she did, Nolan squeezed past her onto the balcony.

Nolan stood at the edge of the balcony, his eyes darting from one spot to another as though he couldn’t decide what to focus on. He pointed down at the large pool that was part of their hotel. “Whoa! ’Nother pool.”

Erin rested her hand on his head. “That’s our pool, buddy. Do you want to go in there first or do you want to go down to the beach and put your feet in the ocean?”

Nolan jumped up and down as he pointed to something that Blair couldn’t see from where she was standing. “Slide! Slide!”

Erin ruffled his hair then smiled up at Blair, the sun shining over her causing her body to have the most perfect glow. “It appears the pool has won since it has a slide. Are you okay with that?”

“Whatever you two want to do is perfect.” Honestly, they could stay in the hotel room watching movies all week and Blair would be happy as long as she was spending time with these two.

Nolan grabbed Blair’s hand and jumped up and down. “Pool! Pool! I want to go down that huge slide.”

Blair couldn’t help but laugh at his excitement. It was contagious, and now all she wanted to do was go down that huge slide as well. “Well, what the hell are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Let’s go!” Nolan repeated.

***

After spending hours at the pool (and going down the slide more times than she could count), Blair could barely keep her eyes open, and it wasn’t even dinner time yet. Luckily, if their yawns were anything to go by, it appeared Erin and Nolan were just as tired.

“I have an idea,” Blair said as the three of them walked toward the elevators. “What if we order room service and eat dinner in bed tonight?” When Blair saw the hesitation on Erin’s face, she added, “It’s on me, and we can eat in

my

bed.”

“Yay! Dinner in Bear’s bed.”

It took them way too long to decide what they each wanted so by the time the food arrived, Blair was starving. She set the food up on her bed and motioned for Nolan and Erin to sit next to her. Nolan pressed right up against her and Erin sat on the other side of him. As soon as Nolan started to eat, Blair was reminded why Erin had a rule that he wasn’t allowed to eat on furniture at home. At this rate, she would not be surprised to wake up in the middle of the night and find herself snuggling with a chicken finger.

A while later when Nolan announced he was too full to eat anything else, Blair wasn’t sure how that could be true since there was definitely more food in her bed than in his stomach.

Blair dramatically patted her own stomach. “I’m super full too.”

Nolan poked at Blair’s stomach and giggled. “Squishy belly.”

Blair laughed along with him. She couldn’t actually be offended by anything said by someone who believed Baby Shark was a good song.

Erin clearly didn’t feel the same way, because she used what Blair could only describe as her

mom voice

when she said, “Nolan Patrick! Blair does

not

have a squishy belly. You need to tell her you’re sorry.”

Nolan stuck his lower lip out at Blair. “I’m sorry, Bear.”

Blair poked him in the side. “It’s okay, little dude. I know you were just being silly.”

“All right, buddy,” Erin said while reaching for Nolan. “Let’s get you cleaned up and ready for bed and give Blair some space to finally relax.”

“No!” Instead of letting Erin lift him, Nolan snuggled closer to Blair. “I want to sleep in Bear’s bed.”

“Honey, you can’t-”

Blair put a hand up to stop Erin. “I don’t mind if you don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” Erin asked, looking legitimately surprised that Blair would offer to do something that honestly felt like a minor request to Blair. “For a small human, he definitely knows how to take up a ton of space.”

“I’m sure. It’s no big deal at all.” And Blair meant that. The bigger deal to her was the fact that Nolan

wanted

to snuggle in her bed with her. It made her heart feel like it was growing inside of her chest. This little boy had crawled inside of her heart and was burrowing himself deeper and deeper with every day that passed.

The smile Erin shared with her cracked Blair open even more. Clearly, Nolan wasn’t the only one who had made it into her heart. The scary part was, Erin didn’t really have to try. Every little thing she did made Blair like her more.

When Erin looked away from her to focus her attention on Nolan, Blair could still feel the effects of that smile throughout her whole body. “Since Blair said it’s okay, then that’s fine with me, but you need to brush your teeth and get your pajamas on first.”

“Okay.” Nolan quickly jumped out of the bed and ran toward the bathroom.

While Erin and Nolan were occupied in the bathroom, Blair took the time to clean up their food and put on her own pajamas, which were really just a tank top and a pair of boxer shorts.

Erin must have approved, because as soon as she walked out of the bathroom, her eyes burned a path up Blair’s body. When her eyes met Blair’s, she swallowed hard. “You’re all ready for bed.”

“Almost.” Blair couldn’t stop herself from smirking. She loved that she had this effect on Erin, even if Erin was trying her damndest not to let it show. “Just need to brush my teeth.”

“Of course.” Erin limply pointed toward the bathroom. “It’s all yours.”

After brushing her teeth and going to the bathroom one more time, Blair walked back out of the bathroom to find Nolan and Erin sitting in her bed, reading a book together. She leaned against the doorway and let herself enjoy the scene in front of her. How couldn’t she? It was so fucking cute the way Erin did different voices as she read, and Nolan laughed hysterically at each one as if it was the greatest thing in the world. And in that moment, to Blair, it kind of felt like it was.

“And that was a nice story,” Erin said as she closed the book.

“Night night, Mommy.” Nolan yawned and snuggled into Erin’s side.

“Night, buddy.” Erin kissed Nolan’s forehead and tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her even tighter. “I thought you wanted to snuggle with Blair tonight, sweetie. You have to let Mommy go to her own bed so Blair can get in here.”

Nolan shook his head. “I want to snuggle

both

of you.”

The blush that had taken over Erin’s cheeks when the front desk woman assumed they were a family came back with a vengeance. “Oh, honey, the bed isn’t big enough for all three of us.”

“Yes, it is.” Nolan nodded matter-of-factly. “We all ate on the bed.”

The kid

did

have a point. Blair wasn’t sure how Erin was going to argue with that logic. Instead of arguing with him, Erin looked to Blair for backup, which Blair was sure she was going to find was a mistake because Blair couldn’t care less about sharing her bed. “He has a point. I’m cool with sharing. We’re all small. We can make it work.”

Erin squinted her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows at Blair, and Blair could tell exactly what she was silently saying to her.

This is a terrible idea.

Blair didn’t disagree, but it also kind of felt like a

terribly wonderful

idea, so she simply shrugged and threw Erin her most charming smile to soften the blow.

Erin shook her head at Blair, and even though Blair could tell she was trying not to, her lips curled up into the slightest smile. Blair took that as permission to get back into bed and situated herself on the other side of Nolan. Nolan immediately grabbed her arm and wrapped it around himself. Within a few minutes, his breathing had leveled out, indicating that he was asleep.

“I’m really sorry about this,” Erin whispered into the quiet room. “I would offer to go back to my own bed now, but if he wakes up and I’m not right here, it’ll only make the night that much longer.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Blair whispered back. “This isn’t exactly what I normally mean when I say I want to get a girl in my bed, but I can’t say I hate it.”

That was the understatement of the century. Blair secretly wished Nolan would ask them to share a bed every night so she could lie this close to Erin. Even with Nolan in between them, she could still feel Erin’s presence, and it made her feel safe. In the darkness of this hotel room, with these two by her side, it felt like nothing and no one could ever hurt her. Blair always loved her life, but nothing had ever felt as perfect as this moment.

At least, she thought it couldn’t get any more perfect until she woke up in the middle of the night and felt a hand on top of hers. At first, in her half-asleep state, she assumed it was Nolan’s hand, but she quickly realized it was way too big for a child’s hand. When she cracked her eyes open, she found Erin lying close to Nolan with one hand on his back and the other on top of Blair’s. Blair closed her eyes and wished this moment could last forever. She might not know what job she would get once the summer ended or where she saw herself over the next year, but if she was being completely honest with herself, she was pretty sure this right here was all she wanted for the rest of her life. Even the next morning, when she woke up to a tiny finger shoved up her nose, she still felt the exact same way.