dream maker ✧

007. early autumn

a few weeks after i'd moved into princeton, fall came around. it was my second favorite time of the year- the first obviously being summer. i had a week off for fall break, and it happened to land on the same week of tay tay and belly's homecoming week. 

taylor had been made captain of the volleyball team in the fall, and the friday before her homecoming week was their final game. she led the team to victory, and i couldn't have been more proud to be there.

she didn't know i was coming home early because i'd finished an exam early, so she didn't even know i was at the game until after. it was my little happy surprise :))

"tay tay!" i shouted, walking up behind her as she was talking to someone from the rival team they'd just beat. 

she turned around faster than i could've imagined. "steven?! oh my god! what are you doing here?!" she came running at me and threw her arms around me, nearly squeezing the guts out of me.

"you were amazing out there!" i shouted over the loud talking crowds. "i'm so proud of you!" 

despite having just played a long volleyball game, she smelled like a mixture of marshmallow and pumpkin spice. it was perfect. she was perfect. she was everything i'd ever wanted.

"steven, man, what are you doing here?" jeremiah interrupted us, clapping his hand on my back with belly walking over to explode with pride over winning the game. 

"not right now jere," i mumbled into tay tay's jersey. "i just got here and i want to spend some time with my girl."

taylor nodded in agreement as she pulled her arms away. "seriously, jeremy. i'm team jellyfisher and all, don't get me wrong, but you have the worst timing ever."

"hey," i said, taking her hand into mine, "are you guys doing anything as a team to go celebrate together after?"

she shrugged. "i mean, we have a party tonight, but it's not until 8:30. plus, i'd rather hang out with you anyways. i haven't seen you in what feels like forever."

i chuckled. "aww, come on, tay tay, two weeks isn't that long."

"okay, mr. princeton, that's because you've been doing collegey things for the past month. i'm sure time goes by faster there," she said with a smile and an eyeroll.

"okay, okay, i get you two are the couple of the century or whatever," jeremiah said, sliding in between us and slinging his arms around our shoulders, "but you're definitely coming with me and bells to whit's."

taylor rolled her eyes. "yeah, that's not happening. we don't go to frozen custard shops anymore together. bad memories."

"um, wasn't that a pizza shop?" belly asked as she walked up next to her.

"technically," i said, "but we don't count it as that. you don't mess with pizza, belly."

jere stared at tay tay and i with extreme puppy dog eyes. "oh, come on. pleeeeaaaasssseee. do it for belly."

"sorry, man, we're going on our own date," i said. "i wanna spend time with my girlfriend alone if you don't mind."

"ohhhhh, okay, i see," jere said with an insinuating smirk. "have at it, then. you guys are still coming to the party tonight though, right?"

taylor rolled her eyes. "uh, yeah. i'm literally the captain of the team this year. you think i'm gonna miss the party?"

"right. sorry. catch you guys later," jere said, slinging his arm around belly's shoulder.

i looked back at tay tay and asked, "so, do you still wanna go talk to more people? oh, also who's car is your stuff in?"

"i've basically talked to everyone here, so there's really no point," she replied with a shrug. "oh, and i rode in evelyn's car, but all of my stuff is in the locker room. hold on, i'll go grab it, and then we can take your car wherever we wanna go."

"sounds good," i said with a nod and a smile as i watched her walk away. taylor always made me proud. how could anyone ever not be proud of being loved by someone as incredible as tay tay?

while she was getting her stuff from the locker room, evelyn walked up to me and asked, "so, you and taylor are still going strong?" i nodded with a smile. "yeah. she's the best. are you dating anyone?" she shook her head no.

when evelyn saw taylor walking back towards us with her stuff, she gave me a quick smile and said, "i'll catch you later, steven. it was nice seeing you again."

"what was that about?" tay tay asked as she walked up to me, watching evelyn suspiciously scurry away. i shrugged and rolled my eyes. "i seriously don't even know. you wanna go?"

she smiled and nodded. "yeah, let's go." i held out my hand to take her bags, but she put her hand in it instead. i blushed and smiled as i said, "i was offering to take your bags."

she shrugged and said, "i know, but i'm okay carrying them. thank you for being my prince charming, though."

i smiled softly and pulled her in closer. "i always will be, tay tay."

~~~

we ended up just driving around town before heading back to my house before the party. we still had a good amount of time before we had to go, so we decided to chill and watch a movie upstairs in my room. 

we switched who got to pick the movie every time we watched one together, and this time it was mine... i chose high school musical 3 because of the nostalgia and the fact that tay tay had just won her final game of her senior year.

by the time can i have this dance came on we were buried in each other's arms under the covers, but i quickly slid off the bed and grabbed her arm. "tay tay, get up."

"steven, nooo, i don't wanna do anything else before the party. we're gonna be exhausted by the end of the night," she groaned. 

i knew there was no way she was getting up by herself, so i went around to the side of the bed she was lying down on and pulled her by the waist off the bed. 

"steven, what are you doing?" she asked in a fit of giggles.

i set her down flat on her feet seconds later and pulled her in close. "it's a dance song, tay tay. obviously, we're going to dance."

she wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in close. "you're such a cheeseball, steven. you're the best."

i smiled softly and kissed the top of her head. 

in that moment, i believed i could stay there with her forever.

just us. just plain old steven and taylor, until the day we die.

nothing to worry about. nothing to be scared of. nothing to be anxious about.

just "team staylor" forever.

we stayed dancing for the rest of the song, and then she reached over and grabbed the remote and turned it off so we could continue dancing in silence.

it was peaceful, and i didn't want it to end. it was perfect. 

the perfect dance with the perfect girl.

but everything comes to an end, and so did our little long-lasting moment. belly knocked on the door and said it was time to get ready for the party, and i'd almost completely forgotten.

it was party time, and it was for sure going to be a party to remember.

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AN: i'm going to continue updating on sundays from here on out, but i'm going to try to get 2 chaps out weekly instead of just 1 :)

and thank you guys for so much love on this fanfic <3

ik there aren't too many staylor fics out there, but writing these 2 characters truly does make me very happy & seeing you guys enjoy makes it so much fun writing bc i'm so excited to release more chaps

see ya next time!! -s