Nothing in Between

12

Maybe Clyde is going crazy.

Because if someone comes up to her and asks what she's doing at such an ungodly hour, she will not have an answer. If someone actually asks Clyde why she's picking up pebbles and small rocks, she won't have an answer that won't incriminate herself.

Every single one of those pebbles are rapidly shoved into her pockets, and in total, Clyde must have picked up eight. She laughs as she runs back to the side of the house where a specific bedroom is located, preparing to hurl one of the tiny stones at the window.

Clyde steadily pulls her arm back and is about to let go, when a rational thought appears in her mind. What is she doing? What if a random person really catches her and assumes that she's a criminal? Well, that's something Clyde's future self can worry about.

Call her stupid, but Clyde James will happily risk everything to be with Taylor Swift.

And so, Clyde throws the stone. The faint sound of it hitting the glass fills her ears, mixed with the noises of the night. She flinches when it bounces and lands right by her feet, but she brushes it off and simply throws another one, feeling quite unbothered.

She continues relentlessly, throwing pebbles one after another. By now, Clyde is growing increasingly more aware of how much noise she's making in the neighborhood. Does she really care, though? Not really, especially when her mind is in an alcoholic haze.

Clyde runs out of pebbles after a minute, and she quickly reaches into her pocket for the last one, pulling her arm back and about to let go when the window suddenly opens. She almost throws the rock from surprise, but drops it onto the grass just in time.

A head with blonde hair pops out through the window, glancing around. Clyde runs closer and happily waves her hand. Clyde's eyes slowly make contact with familiar ones, the set of eyes she has been desperately longing to stare into for the past week.

"What are you doing?"

"Look, Taylor. I know you don't even want to look at me right now, but I miss you!"

"Just... get inside," Taylor says.

And Clyde stumbles along the grass as she cautiously reaches for the ladder propped up against the house, moving it so the top is right at Taylor's windowsill. Clyde lightly braces herself and takes a deep breath, wrapping her hands around the sides of the ladder.

She lets go of that long breath and quickly begins to climb the ladder, feeling the way her hands violently shake with each step she climbs. Clyde seriously avoids glancing down or thinking about which step she's currently at, knowing how scared she is of heights.

Eventually, though, Clyde makes it to the top. She just groans as she haphazardly throws her leg over the windowsill, climbing into Taylor's bedroom. Clyde almost kicks the ladder off the wall as she makes it inside, drunkenly giving Taylor a beaming grin.

"Darling, I missed you so much."

Clyde practically pounces at Taylor to give her a tight, much-needed hug, quickly burying her face into the crook of Taylor's neck. She rapidly sucks in another deep breath through her nose, taking in Taylor's familiar scent. Clyde can't believe she's here tonight.

"Okay, Romeo. You smell like alcohol and sound really drunk."

"I drank, like, one cup. I'm fine, Tay." And Clyde finally lets go of Taylor.

"You what?" Taylor whisper-yells, "What the hell, Clyde? Sit down."

For a second, Clyde just stupidly glances around, searching for a place to sit. A surprised sound leaves her lips when Taylor suddenly pushes her down onto the bed. Her mind fully stops from shock, but Clyde recovers after a moment, softly chuckling to herself.