Broken Records | Tayley

Chapter 26: The weight of memory

Taylor's POV

I was heading up the stairs, the faint sound of music drifting down from our bedroom—no, her bedroom—though at this point, it was more of our room, even if she hadn't officially said so. The days after her return from L.A. had been strange, a subtle shift in the air that I couldn't quite put my finger on. She was here, physically, but there was a part of her that seemed lost somewhere far away. I tried not to push, to give her space to sort through whatever was going on in her head. But the silence was starting to feel like a wall between us, and I didn't know how to break it down.

As I reached the doorway, I saw her sitting on the bed, a large, worn photo album open in her lap. She was flipping through the pages slowly, her fingers trailing over the edges of each photograph as if they were fragile, delicate memories she was afraid might crumble under her touch.

"Hey," I said softly, stepping into the room.

She looked up, startled, but when she saw me, her expression softened into a small, almost sad smile. "Hey."

I crossed the room and sat down beside her on the bed, leaning in to get a better look at the album. It was filled with photos from our childhood, snapshots of a simpler time when life was all about music, video games, and figuring out who we were in the world.

"You found the old photo album," I said, recognizing a few of the pictures as ones I'd seen a thousand times before.

"Yeah," she murmured, her voice distant. "I was just... thinking about when we were kids. Everything seemed so easy back then, you know? All we cared about was making music and having fun."

I nodded, my eyes scanning the photos. There was one of the two of us, probably around thirteen, grinning like idiots with our arms slung over each other's shoulders. I remember that day like it was yesterday—one of those perfect summer afternoons when we had nothing better to do than goof off and dream about the future.

"Life was simpler," I agreed, my voice soft. "Back then, we didn't have to worry about all the heavy adult stuff."

She turned the page, revealing more photos—some from our first band practices, others from random hangouts at each other's houses. "It's crazy to think about how much has changed since then," she said, her tone thoughtful. "We've been through so much, but somehow, we've always managed to find our way back to each other."

"Always," I echoed, my heart swelling with affection as I looked at the girl who had been my best friend for so long, and who was now so much more.

She was quiet for a moment, her gaze lingering on a picture of us at some sport event, both of us dressed up in what could only be described as awkward pre-teen fashion. "My therapist asked me something the other day," she said, breaking the silence.

"Oh?" I prompted, curious but cautious. I knew better than to push too hard when it came to therapy; those sessions were her safe space, and I respected that.

"She asked me when I first realized I had feelings for you," Hayley continued, her eyes still on the photo, though I could tell her mind was somewhere else entirely.

I held my breath, waiting for her to go on. This was a topic we hadn't really delved into before. Sure, we'd talked about how our relationship had changed, how we'd gone from friends to something more, but we'd never really pinpointed the moment when that shift happened.

"And?" I asked gently, not wanting to break the spell of the moment.

She sighed, finally looking up at me. "I couldn't really give her an exact answer. It wasn't like there was a single moment where everything clicked. It was more like... a series of moments. Little things that built up over time until, one day, I just realized that what I felt for you was different. Deeper. It's hard to explain."

"I get it," I said, reaching out to take her hand. "I think it was the same for me, too. It wasn't just one thing; it was all the little things that added up."

She squeezed my hand, her eyes searching mine. "But then I started wondering... was there a moment for you? A specific time when you knew?"

I hesitated, not because I didn't know the answer, but because the memory of that moment was so vivid, so personal, that I almost didn't want to share it. But this was Hayley, the one person in the world that would never judge me, so I took a deep breath and let the words come out.

"September 16th, 2015," I said quietly.

She blinked, caught off guard. "That specific?"

I nodded, my heart beating a little faster as I remembered that day. "Yeah."

Hayley stared at me, her eyes wide, like she was seeing me in a new light. "I... I never knew that," she whispered.

I smiled, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "It wasn't something I could just come out and say at the time. You were already engaged, and I didn't want to complicate things. But yeah, that's when I knew."

She was quiet for a moment, processing everything I'd just told her. Then, slowly, a small smile spread across her lips. "I guess we were both a little clueless, huh?"

"Maybe," I chuckled, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her forehead. "But we figured it out eventually."

She rested her head on my shoulder, closing the photo album and setting it aside. We sat there just holding onto each other, and for the first time in days, it felt like the distance between us was starting to close.

"I'm glad you told me," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm glad we're here now, together."

"Me too," I whispered back, wrapping my arms around her. "Me too."

As we sat there, I couldn't help but think that maybe this was how it was always meant to be—just the two of us, finding our way back to each other, no matter how complicated life got.