"I feed him twice a day," Bryce was informing my dad, as I came downstairs.

"I know, you've told me twice," dad said, with a laugh.

"I'm just worried," Bryce said, kneeling down to give Dawson a good scratch behind the ears.

"We're good pet owners," my mom promised. "I mean, we've never owned one, but we raised a kid."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks."

Bryce turned around, a smile spreading across his face. "Good morning!"

I planted a kiss on his cheek before petting Dawson. "Is he nervous?"

"I think I'm more nervous," Bryce confessed. "I've never left him with anyone for longer than like a weekend."

Bryce would leave Dawson with us when he went away for baseball tournaments over the weekend, but we were going to be gone for four days.

Bryce had never left Dawson that long, aside from when he was in the hospital. And Regina took care of Dawson then.

"He's going to be fine," dad promised. "Now go on, you don't want to miss your flight."

Bryce knelt down and kissed the top of Dawson's head, promising him he was coming back in just a few days.

Dawson let out a whimper, nervous because Bryce was nervous.

"Come on," I said, practically pulling Bryce out the door.

Dad came out behind us, shutting the door to keep Dawson inside.

I gave him a tight hug, and he kissed the top of my forehead.

"Always be aware of your surroundings," dad warned me, his arms still wrapped tightly around me.

"I will."

"I love you kiddo."

"Love you too daddy."

He released me, and I kissed his cheek before heading out to the car, my mom and Bryce already there.

Our luggage was already loaded into the back of my mom's car, courtesy of my dad.

I took passenger seat and Bryce stretched out across the backseat of my mom's SUV.

"You two be careful now, you hear?" mom asked.

"Yes ma'am," Bryce said, without looking up from his phone.

"You really need a haircut babe," I said, reaching back and mussing up his hair.

He looked up to glare at me before smoothing back down his hair.

"I'm going with Josh later today," Bryce informed me, before glancing back down at his phone. "After we land and get situated."

I couldn't help but wonder what was so intriguing on his phone, until I saw the Candy Crush screen flash.

"You're addicted," I said, laughing as I shook my head.

"It's not an addiction," Bryce declined, his voice flat.

I didn't mean it like that.

"It's just a slight obsession," he added.

"Now Kayla is picking you up at the airport, correct?" my mom confirmed.

I nodded. "Kayla and Regina, supposedly."

"Yeah, my mom will be there too," Bryce said, still without looking up from his phone. "It's a family affair."

"And did you bring your facial mask?" mom asked Bryce.

"Yes, I brought my dignity killer."

My mom chuckled.

"You'll get through it," I promised.

"We always do," he added.

I couldn't help but smile.

"Now you two behave yourselves," mom said, looking over at me and then in the rearview mirror at Bryce. "Proper manners, don't get in Kayla's way. This is her big day."

"Yes ma'am," Bryce agreed.

"And no funny business in the bedroom."

I could feel my face immediately start to heat up and Bryce began laughing, actually looking up from his phone. "Yes ma'am," he agreed, again, through his laughter.

"You too Sophie," mom said, looking over at me.

"Mom!"

"I'm serious."

"Stop."

She just laughed to herself, exiting off the highway for the airport. "Offer Kayla whatever help she needs, she's bound to be stressed out."

"She's always stressed out," Bryce pointed out. "She's high-strung."

"She's your sister," my mom chastised.

"That's why I can say that."

My mom parked in the airport parking garage, walking the two of us inside.

Bryce pulled our plane tickets out of his backpack, handing mine to me. "Now don't lose this."

"Shut up."

He chuckled, lightly kissing me on the cheek.

"Do you think you brought a big enough suitcase?" Bryce teased.

"I have a lot of options, okay? What if it's casual wear before the wedding? What if everyone's dressed up? What if I want to change after the wedding? What if I stay in my dress? It's all too much."

"I still haven't seen your dress," he pointed out.

"You can see it when I put it on for the wedding."

"Next in the line!" the check-in desk called, and Bryce and I stepped forward.

They weighed his duffel bag first, which was practically nothing, before sending it off to board the plane.

My suitcase weighed in at 39 pounds, with the maximum at 50.

"Don't buy any souvenirs," Bryce warned.

I just rolled my eyes.

The two of us got checked in, and I went back to meet with my mom.

"Alright, be careful," she said, giving me a tight hug.

"I will, I promise," I said, giving her a tight hug in return.

"I love you."

"Love you too momma."

She kissed my cheek before releasing me and giving Bryce a hug. "And you be good now, you hear? No shenanigans."

"Yes ma'am."

She gave him a tight squeeze before releasing him. "Alright, go board your flights."

"It's not boarding time, but bye mom."

The two of us headed to Security, and I looked over my shoulder to see my mom still standing there, waiting for us to disappear.

"Your mom is the sweetest," Bryce informed me.

"That she is."

"We should bring her back a souvenir."

"Like what? A bobble head of the Statue of Liberty?"

"Do you think they have those?"

I rolled my eyes, stepping onto the escalator to take us to the Security line. "I'm sure they do dingus. It's a money maker."

We made it through Security relatively unscathed, though Bryce did end up having a pat-down because I guess he looks rather suspicious, and we headed down to find a Starbucks.

"So when do you have to put the thing on?" I asked Bryce, after I ordered my Iced Caramel Macchiato.

"You mean the surgery mask?"

I nodded.

"Before we board the plane so I don't breathe other people's air."

"Aren't you technically breathing other people's air all the time?"

He cleared his throat, straightening to his full height. "Airplanes used a recycled air system," he informed me, in a deeper voice. "Therefore you're constantly breathing other people's exhaled air. And other people's icky germs."

"I'm sure your doctor sounded just like that."

"Word for word," he agreed, with a smile.

"Sophie?" the Starbucks Barista called out.

I accepted my drink, stepping off to the side.

Once Bryce had his, we found our gate, and it was only a short time before our plane started boarding.

They called for first class first.

Bryce let out a long sigh, casting a look in my direction.

"It's not that bad," I promised.

"I don't want to."

"I'm going to do it with you," I promised, finishing off my Starbucks. "So come on."

He dug into his backpack, pulling out the surgical mask. "You don't have to do with me."

I could tell he really didn't mean it.

"Okay."

He jutted out his bottom lip.

"Stop being a goofball and put the mask on. I'll go throw away our drinks and then put mine on."

He strapped the mask to his face, glaring at me.

I finished off Bryce's drink as I went to throw it away, coming back as they started to call the next round of people to board the flight.

It still wasn't us.

"Are you still frowning at me under that mask?" I asked him.

He nodded.

I reached into my carry-on, digging around until I found my pencil case.

"What're you doing?" Bryce asked me, his voice muffled under the mask.

"Giving you a smiley face," I said, giggling as I drew a smiley face on his mask, including dimples.

His glare deepened.

And then our seats were called for the plane.

I reached into his backpack, grabbing myself a surgical mask and strapping it to my face.

We boarded the plane, getting some strange looks from people.

Not that I blame them, we looked a tad bit ridiculous.

We took our seats on the plane, two seats off on the left hand side.

I scrambled for the window seat, Bryce trying to climb over me as I ultimately plopped down in it.

I went to stick my tongue out at him, only to realize that he couldn't see me.

So I just laughed, not that he could really hear me either.

The flight was relatively painless. Bryce slept most of the way and I watched The Amazing Spiderman for the first time.

"Come on sleepy head," I said, shaking Bryce a bit as the plane started to descend.

He was slow to wake, his bleary eyes staring at me as the plane hit the ground in confusion.

He reached up and felt his mask and then looked around the plane, slowly stretching out and making sure to stretch out on top of me.

"Jerk."

He closed his eyes again, resting his head on my shoulder as the pilot came on over the intercom, thanking us for flying with his airline and informing us that we could now exit the aircraft.

The two of us stood up as people began to flood the aisles, trying to wrestle their stuff out of the overheads and be the first ones off the plane.

Neither one of us had anything in the overhead compartments, but we still had to wait what seemed like hours before it was finally our turn to step out into the aisle and slowly shuffle off the plane.

Since we were in such a large crowd of people heading down to the luggage carousel, it had been Bryce's doctor's advice that he left the mask on until he actually left the airport.

Bryce wrapped his hand around mine as we neared the escalators, and the two of us rode them down together.

I scanned the people down at the bottom, looking for Kayla or Regina.

I spotted Kayla's blonde hair amongst the crowd. It was piled on top of her head in a bun, her arms folded across her chest as she searched for us.

Not that we were too heard to miss in a crowd.

Regina was next to her. Regina was standing on her tip-toes. We locked eyes, and she nudged Kayla, pointing at the two of us.

Kayla's eyes brightened, and she began to enthusiastically wave at us.

Bryce chuckled next to me.

As soon as we stepped off the escalators, Kayla made a beeline for us, immediately wrapping her arms around Bryce and showering him in kisses.

"Hello dear," Regina said, giving me a hug.

I went ahead and took my mask off, shooting Bryce an apologetic smile. "Hello."

He glared at me.

"How was your flight?" Kayla asked me.

"It was fine. No issues."

We made our way over to baggage claim.

"Did you guys find your way okay?"

I nodded. "It wasn't too difficult."

"I have to stay here and wait for a few more people," Kayla informed us. "But you guys are going to go back with mom and get settled in the hotel and everything. And then God Bryce, you cannot show up to my wedding looking like an overgrown caveman. So you and Josh are going to go and get haircuts."

Bryce rolled his eyes.

"Tonight there's going to be just like a little get-together downstairs in the meeting room," she informed us. "Nothing too grand, just drinks and hors devours," she explained. "Around 6, so if you guys want to come down and mingle for a few minutes?"

I looked over at Bryce, and he shrugged and nodded.

"Not too long though," she instructed.

Bryce rolled his eyes.

"I want to save you for the wedding," she defended. "That's the most important."

My bag finally came around the baggage claim, and Bryce retrieved it for me.

"Thank you," I said, kissing him on the cheek.

I want to believe that he was smiling at me underneath his mask.

We waited a few more minutes before Bryce's bag came around, and then we left the airport.

The moment we stepped outside, Bryce ripped his mask off, letting out a long sigh.

"Is that safe?" Kayla asked him, worriedly.

He shot her a long glare.

"I'm just asking," she defended.

"I've been waiting to do that since the moment we stepped on that stupid airplane," he muttered, as we joined the taxi line.

And then he kissed me.

"Well hello," I said, once he pulled away.

"And that," he added, with a smile.

Kayla laughed, and Regina just shook her head with a smile.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kayla asked him.

"I feel fine," he said, with an eye roll. "That was stupid."

"I want you to feel fantastic for my wedding. So it wasn't stupid."

He just shook his head. "You try wearing one of those for a couple hours."

"Your girlfriend did that for me."

And then he kissed me again. "Thank you."

I couldn't help but smile, feeling a blush creep up on my cheeks. "Stop that."

"And I do not look like an overgrown caveman," Bryce informed Kayla. "I happen to like having hair."

"You're allowed to like having hair," Kayla said, with a huff. "But like having hair with less of it."

We made it to the front of the taxi line, and Kayla kissed Bryce's cheek, giving him a tight hug.

"I'm fine," he promised. "I'm going to see you tonight."

"I know," she sniffled, hugging him tight before letting him go.

"How many?" the guy at the front of the line asked us.

"Three," Regina informed him.

The taxi driver stepped out of the taxi, helping to load our luggage into the back.

Regina rode up front with the driver, leaving Bryce and me in the back.

"Where are we staying?" I asked Bryce.

"The Hilton, right off of Times Square," he said, checking his phone. "Do you think D is alright?"

"I think he's fine."

"We're going to have the entire day tomorrow to sight-see," Bryce said, tucking his phone underneath his leg. "What do we want to see?"

"The Statue of Liberty is a must," I said, with a smile. "And you know I want to go to the zoo."

"I know," he said, shaking his head. "I want to go to the Shake Shack."

"That burger place?"

He nodded.

I shrugged. "Okay. And then we can just walk around, have a little fun."

He wiggled his eyebrows, a smirk on his face.

"Not like that."

"It's always like that."

"It'll be day three of Chemo," I pointed out. "So we can't get too overzealous."

"Not technically," Bryce declined. "If I started Chemo last night, then that doesn't make yesterday day one. Today is day one."

I shook my head in disagreement. "Today is day two."

He just sighed. "Whatever you say."

I reached over and patted his leg, offering him a comforting smile. "I'm always right."

We pulled into the hotel and retrieved our luggage before following Regina to the elevators.

"So we're sharing a suite," she explained to us. "It's a two bedroom."

Bryce smirked at me, and I could feel my cheeks heating up.

I hated it when he did things like that.

She handed us both room keys as we reached our floor, and we followed her to our room.

The door led into a kitchen area, which then led back into a living room with couches and a TV, and from that broke off two bedrooms.

"Yours is the one on the right," she informed us. "And there's a connected bathroom, so feel free to shower up Sophie. Bryce, Josh is on his way up."

I let myself into our bedroom.

There were two separate Queen beds, and I immediately claimed the one closer to the air conditioner.

Bryce plopped down on his bed, letting out a long sigh. "Can I just sleep here?"

"You need to go get cleaned up for the wedding," I instructed. "Look a little more human."

I laid out my clothes to change into before stepping into the shower, washing the airport grime off of me.

I stayed in the shower much longer than necessary, mostly just because it felt much nicer than I'd anticipated. And I didn't want to leave.

But eventually I stepped out, wrapping a towel around me and my hair before venturing back out into the bedroom.

Bryce was lying out across his bed, reading one of those cheap magazines you buy in the grocery aisles while you wait to checkout.

His hair was cut and styled, and he looked up at me as I stepped back into the room.

"Did you know that Miley Cyrus is pregnant?" he asked me.

"Again? That's like the fifth time this year," I said, as I grabbed my clothes.

"And Michelle Obama has called the divorce lawyer."

"That's not going to look good on Mr. Obama."

"Those poor kids."

I rolled my eyes, stepping back into the bathroom to change into my romper.

I stepped into my white and blue romper, my outfit for tonight. The top was white lace that came down into a v-neck, the back of it was open, just two single straps that criss-crossed and connected to the blue lacy shorts. A white belt was looped through the blue shorts and tied in the front.

This was one of my favorite outfits, but it was a little too dressy to wear just anywhere.

I figured a wedding get-together was a perfect occasion.

I blow-dried my hair before stepping back out of the bathroom to locate my curling wand and makeup.

"I love that one," Bryce said, now flipped upside down on his bed as he watched TV.

But his eyes had left the TV and were now concentrated on me.

"Thank you," I said, as I knelt down to rummage through my luggage.

"Come watch TV with me."

"I need to get ready."

"Just for a minute."

"It's never just for a minute," I declined, with a laugh.

"Please?"

I turned to face him, a smile spreading across my face. "Maybe just a minute."

~*~

"What's going on with your collar?" I asked, standing up on my tip-toes to fix Bryce's collar on his maroon shirt.

"I've tried," he defended. "I don't know."

"It's doing something funky."

"I know."

He was wearing a pair of jeans and a maroon collared shirt with a pair of boat shoes, his hair still styled in the quiff that the hair stylist must've done for him, because Bryce never wore his hair like that.

But I loved it on him.

"Do you like your hair like this?" I asked him.

"I guess."

"It looks very sexy."

"Then in that case yes."

I chuckled, fixing the strap on my wedges before we left the room.

Regina was already gone, heading down to the party a few minutes before us.

But Bryce wasn't going to be able to stay the entire duration of the party. So we decided to take our time getting ready. And then we'd leave a little early and go find somewhere to get dessert.

There was a cute little place just a couple of blocks down that had red velvet cake that Josh had raved about, so I think we were going to try there.

We could hear the party before we found it, people chatting and music playing.

"Hello Bryce!" an older woman greeted, with a smile.

"Hello," he said, glancing over at me.

"And who is this?" she asked him, noticing our entwined hands.

"This is my girlfriend, Sophie," he introduced. "Sophie, this is my Aunt Wilma."

And so it continued as we made our way throughout the room, Bryce introducing me to his family until we found Kayla.

"Is it okay?" Kayla asked him. "Is it too formal?"

"I think it's fine," Bryce said.