Enchanted Series

Tell Me Why

Summary:

In which James calls Taylor out of the blue claiming he still loves her, but Taylor isn't falling for that bullshit anymore.

Notes:

Part 5 of the Enchanted Series loosely based on some aspects of Taylor's Tell Me Why song.

(See the end of the work for .)

Enchanted Series

Part 5: Tell Me Why

It had been a month, maybe two or three, honestly it felt like a year, after that damned moment in that equally damned field of heartbreak and broken dreams. It's been shorter after that day in the rain where I compared myself to the gloomy autumn sky. Not that Taylor kept track... why would she? It's unhealthy to fixate ... at least, that's what her brother Austin had always said. So, Taylor had worked on it. On not fixating, on not obsessing, on being present and fluid and in the moment. It has been a hot minute since she gave way to the world's bullshit and quite honestly, she was grateful for that. It had taken a while, but it hadn't come fast enough... and Taylor hadn't been able to wait for it. She held no animosity over it, because she knew too well that it was a waste of time, energy and man power to actually give a hundred fucks about some downtrodden asshole, who in all fairness, never really treated her right. He was well versed in the idea of his hang-ups ruining things.

In all seriousness she just wanted to know the most fundamental question in the entire universe.

Why?

Their encounters in school had been intense and short lived, lots of tense stares and sidelong glances and Taylor was pretty sure she nailed the "Come close to me and I'll cut you" face and later, he actually confronted her by her locker, because a month or three is a long time to deny the attraction they'd fought. If this was anything to go by before they broke up, she would have rightfully wrapped her arms around his neck and he would spin her around and laugh alongside her. Now, however, she would simply just punch him in the balls repeatedly and bask in the ambiance of the satisfaction that comes alongside it. An eye for an eye, you know. But she allowed him to speak, just this once.

"Tay... can I jus-" He was cut off by Taylor raising her hand to signal him to stop.

"I don't need you to justify what you did, nor do I feel the need for you to explain yourself, because no matter how much you try and plead that it could have been different... it won't be." Taylor said in a monotone voice that could send chills to anyone's spine.

"Bets- I still lov-" No, not the nickname, not those four words that would bring her back. He wouldn't and couldn't bring her back, not this time.

"Don't call me that." She said in a dangerous whisper.

"You were just gone! I couldn't find you! And you just kept on drifting away and I didn't know what to do..." He kept rambling on and on.

Taylor glared at the man as they continued to have a stare off. "Why didn't you tell me you were with Augustine last summer?" She demanded.

James spoke quietly, not meeting her eyes. "Why do you think, Tay?" His gaze flickered between the table and around the room- glancing over their faces. "If that got out..."

That properly annoyed Taylor to the bone. "So, you just left me out in the blue, hanging by a moment and thinking we still had a future because you were worried about gossip?"

James shook his head, finally looking up to the blonde. "No, not gossip. Lives." Taylor bit the inside of her cheek at that- if he were really worried about lives he wouldn't have done it. "You don't understand. You haven't lived what I lived. You don't know how these things stick." He went on, as if it was Taylor's fault.

A few moments of silence passed. "I'm sorry." James begged pathetically, looking to Taylor. "I haven't done anything like this before, I swear."

"With her?" Taylor let out, raising her eyebrows.

"No, not with anyone." James shook his head. "I mean I've had chances, but I've never done anything before this... We're tired, though... Y'know. I saw a chance at something else and I took it."

Taylor blinked slowly at the man. No, she didn't know. She would never. He couldn't even imagine doing that to him even when they were together. And the fact that James was sitting in front of them trying to justify it- it made her blood boil. She stayed silent though, keeping his face passive.

They stayed silent.

It was broken when Taylor stepped forward and came face to face with her former boyfriend, soulmate? Perhaps, in another lifetime, but now was an unwanted smudge in her life.

"I don't forgive you, if forgiveness is what you are looking for to repair your damaged ego, then you won't find it here. I am not responsible if you feel as though you are not capable of feeling and reciprocating emotions like a human being nor will I ever be the person responsible for how you showcase your overtly non-existent masculinity. So, don't you dare paint me as the villain in your bogus story, because you don't want to underestimate me, James. I may have been a dream before, but you broke that girl, that girl is gone. Now, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream and honey; I'm just waiting to burst." Taylor said in a soft-spoken voice that made James' skin crawl as he nodded meekly and turned the other way without so much as a goodbye.

When it was all over, they went back to normal. Complete with the unspoken tension, as though they'd never crossed that line, and it was... comforting and painful and so confusing. He'd melted back into it like a habit he couldn't beat, though. So, when the case they were working took a turn no one expected... it was easy to assume the role of classmate, acquaintance and someone that you used to know. It was easy to forget that this was more than her former love... it was her ex.

But to rid herself of the toxicity, the pain and heartbreak that somehow continued to shroud around James, she never felt so free.

Sure, it still hurt like the devil, but she was finally healing and for now, that was more than enough.

Notes:

Up Next:
Part 6: Vanilla Twilight
-In which Adam reminisces his and Brielle's relationship and misses the feeling of having his arms locked on with someone else's.