dream maker ✧

004. start of a movie

after taylor and i kissed, we just kind of sat for a little while together and talked. it was nice to just be with her after everything that had happened. i was glad milo was out of the picture, but the way it had happened was really messy.

"you know, i never thought i'd be here like this with you," i said, "but i wouldn't change it for anything. everything that's happened was worth it for this moment with you."

taylor smiled and lightly shook her head as it rested on my shoulder. "if someone had told me i'd be here with you two weeks ago, i would've laughed in their face. it's weird how things can change so fast."

"did you-- did you ever really like milo?" i asked, "or was he like... i dunno, just someone to spend time with?"

taylor shrugged. "i mean, i kind of liked him. i did at first, but when we came here things just changed. i've always liked you, steven, i just never thought you'd feel the same way."

"i just hope belly doesn't freak out when she finds out about us," i muttered.

"she won't be," taylor said reassuringly. "i think she's kind of gotten used to the idea, as long as you don't do anything stupid."

i shrugged with a nod. "that's fair. do you wanna go swim or something, or do you wanna stay here?"

taylor sighed. "we should probably go find skye. i saw them walk out with belly and the fisher boys after what happened with milo."

"are you-- do you think you'll regret breaking up with him?" i asked.

"no," taylor said. "he hardly knew anything about me, and even though it scares the shit out of me, i don't want that kind of relationship."

i sighed as a wave of relief hit me. she didn't regret us. she wanted us to be together. "we should probably go look for them, but i don't want to. i want to stay here with you," i said to her.

taylor smiled. "i know, but we have to go find them. plus the party can't last all night. someone will call the police on us."

i shrugged and got up and offered her a hand and we went to find the others. we saw skye and asked them what happened, and they told us everything. taylor and i looked at each other and she said she would go looking for belly, and i would go look for conrad and jeremiah.

when the party was over, i saw taylor hanging out in belly's room and walked in. "hey."

taylor smiled. "hey."

"is she okay?" i asked, looking at my knocked out little sister.

"yeah, i think so," taylor said. "she just looks really tired. your mom has been calling her for a while, though, so you might want to call her."

i shrugged. "eh, i think it'll be fine. my mom worries a lot, but she probably knows that belly's asleep by now so it's pointless to call her. i'll text her in the morning. are you okay tonight in here by yourself?"

taylor nodded. "yeah. i'll be fine. this house is a mess, though. i think julia is going to actually kill jeremiah and conrad when she sees it."

"yeah, well, from my understanding she's kind of a bitch anyways, so it won't really change anything," i muttered with a humorless laugh.

"just give her a chance, steven. i know she might seem like a bitch, but it's the fisher's family drama anyways," taylor told me.

i sighed. "i know, i know. i just hate seeing how much it's hurt them."

"i don't know if it'll make you feel any better, but they've made some shitty mistakes in the past too," taylor said.

i laughed. "believe me, i know." i walked over to her and kissed her on the head. "goodnight, taylor."

she smiled and said, "goodnight, steven. i'll see you in the morning."

~~~

the next morning was chaos. while taylor and i were throwing popcorn at each other while we were cleaning up, mom and belly came back inside and then skye told their mom to come. 

then, before anything else, taylor said that she thought it would be best if she left. she wasn't really interested in staying to get into conrad and jeremiah's family drama, and i guess i can't really blame her for it.

"i don't want you to leave. like, you know that, right? we're- we're clear on that?" i asked taylor as i walked down the stairs with her and belly.

"crystal, babe. yeah," taylor said with a smile.

"well, i- i want you to stay too," belly agreed.

"and i adore you for it. i just... i think it's better if i leave. i think this is feeling more and more like a family thing," taylor told belly by the front door.

"you sure you're not just trying to get out of cleaning up?" belly asked. 

"babe, i mean, you're not wrong. this place looks disgusting," taylor told her. she then looked at me and asked, "um, do you want to drive a girl to the bus station?"

"bus station?" i asked. "what? no." she looked taken aback for a second before i said, "look, if you're gonna go, use my car, okay?" i said before leaning down and kissing her cheek. "let me go get the keys."

as i walked away, i could tell she was happy, and that made me beyond happy. i just wished i could go with her, but hopefully i would be back home and see her again very very soon.

when i came back, i walked her to the car and kissed her before she said, "bye." 

"be safe, okay?" i said. she nodded. as i backed away from the far, i said, "remember to fill the tank with gas when it's half empty. it's like road trip 101."

"but it'll still be half full then," taylor said. i smiled and laughed. "regular unleaded, right?" she asked, smiling and nodded. 

"right. that's a joke! high octane premium! the good stuff!" i shouted as i watched her drive away. 

even though everything was chaos, julia ended up selling the house to conrad and jeremiah's dad, and everything ended up okay. i stayed an extra night to help conrad study, and the next morning, mom and i headed back home to pennsylvania.

after everything that had happened in the past week, all i knew was that i wanted to go spend time with taylor for the rest of the summer. she was the only person i wanted to be around, and we were going on our first date soon.