AN: This is like the one before, I wrote it on A03 and am just putting it on here now, so that's why the format is a bit different than before
For context, in this one-shot, Steven and Tay have been broken up for about nine months. It would be occurring around the same time as book 3 in the series-- also season 3 next year. They're at a mutual friend's party in the summer... and some interesting things take place
Hope you guys like it!
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It was late July night, and the sun had finally finished setting when the local engagement party escalated into mad chaos. Two mutual friends of Taylor's, Belly's, and Steven's had known in high school were getting married a few months from the day but wanted to celebrate during a more convenient time when all of their friends were in town for the summer. A good amount of the town was there, including Laurel Park.
Taylor Jewel was dancing, her arms swinging by her side as she twirled around the dance floor with her best friend Belly, when her eyes just so happened to wander to a discreet corner of the large courtyard.
A mischievous pair of familiar eyes smiled in awe at the person in front of him. There was a girl. Of course, her ex-boyfriend, Steven Conklin, would just so happen to find a girl who looked like that. A dark knot twisted in the pit of Taylor's stomach.
Her hair was dark, her skin was flawless, and she had the kind of smile that seemed to drive boys, specifically college age, mad. Hell, even her teeth were perfectly shaped. It was repulsing to watch-- yet somehow Taylor couldn't seem to take the eyes off the two of them. The girl batted her eyes flirtatiously, and Steven's head leaned back a bit, shook to the core with hearty laughter.
It was as if Taylor could hear the sound ringing in her ears.
Belly had warned her, before they returned home for the summer, that Steven was dating someone. It was extremely new. They'd only begun dating-- officially as boyfriend and girlfriend-- about two weeks before the summer. Her name was Myra. They'd met at an internship through Jeremiah's and Conrad's father, Mr. Fisher. Taylor didn't ask any questions. She and Belly talked about Steven casually, like they had before he and Taylor had dated, and everything was fine.
Taylor had already spent most of the summer with Belly, just not at her house. Seeing Steven didn't bother her, she actually liked seeing him, but she refused to spend any time at the Conklin house when Myra was around. Oddly enough, Belly hadn't mentioned Myra being at the house hardly ever. It was as if she was a figment of imagination-- or, at least until she showed up at the party.
After a while of forcing a fake smile, Taylor needed a breath of fresh air. She walked back into the cobblestone manor, slowly and deeply inhaling the cold air as she closed the intricately designed class door behind her. She was only gone a few minutes in the bathroom before she decided to re-face the large crowd. How else was she supposed to get over Steven and his new perfectly doll-faced girl?
She'd only made it a few steps before hearing voices down the hall adjacent to the one she was walking down.
"Alright, that sounds good. I'll see you on Sunday," The stingingly familiar voice echoed.
Taylor was about to turn the corner but stopped when she realized who was speaking.
"I love you!" A squeaky, mouse-like voice peeped in return.
It didn't even take Taylor a second to make up her mind. Myra's voice was insufferable.
"I love you too," Steven reciprocated.
The three words attacked Taylor's mind like a swarm of bees. I love you. Three words Steven Conklin had never told her, not in the entire almost year and a half they'd dated. Yet there he was, speaking them to little ole Myra, only two months into dating her.
