Nothing new

~06~

When Taylor woke up the next morning, she almost screamed as soon as she saw the monster directly in her face.

Clutching the monster tight was a tiny hand that belonged to Juno, whose blonde hair was messily spread across the pillows and she was softly snoring. The way she clutched the little monster, the fear she had of letting it go was insane, Taylor watched the little girl stir, it looked like she was about to wake up.

A couple seconds later a very groggy little girl was sitting on the bed, legs crossed, rubbing her eyes, looking at Taylor as if waiting for an explanation."Watcha want?" Taylor muttered and Juno shrugged, Taylor glanced at the clock, 6:28. Not what she had in mind for her day off.

"Go back to sleep bug." Taylor muttered and Juno slumped down on her pillow, her monster purposely falling on her face. God that child is a drama queen. Taylor thought and Juno let out a loud, pretend desperate, sigh and Taylor groaned "what do you want?"

"Can I watch tv?" Juno asked in the most innocently sweet voice she could muster and Taylor had to hold herself back from laughing.
"It's too early bug." Taylor said and Juno crossed her arms, her lower lip quivering but Taylor could see in Juno's eyes that Juno was faking it.

Once seated at the breakfast table Taylor was drinking her coffee and Juno was eating her cereals, messy hair and the sweetest smile on her face. Taylor sighed and she only knew that in a couple of days Juno wasn't going to be here anymore, Juno wouldn't be with her anymore, Taylor wasn't all dumb, she knew that children belonged with their families but she was convinced that sometimes she was exactly what Juno needed. The little girl was smiling and she could get closer than two feet to another person, she wasn't as scared anymore.

Often times curiosity got the better of her and she wanted to pry, find out what was going on to break a little girl like this, but Taylor knew she wasn't supposed to ask.

The day was relatively eventless, nothing significant happened and now they both found themselves at Scott's and Andrea's place, Juno busy reading a book and Taylor sitting on the couch eating some of the cookies her mom had made, however most of them went to her little brother Austin.

"So for how long is Juno staying?" Her mother asked but Taylor could hear a certain yet inexplicable disdain coming from her, she did not seem too fond of Juno, Juno however didn't seem to notice that at all, she was to absorbed into the book she was reading.

"Till next Tuesday if everything goes according to plan." Taylor smiled, looking at Juno who now smiled up at her a little and Scott shook his head "it's not like you know that child. You have no clue who she is. What if she is after your money?" Scott asked, his arms crossed and Taylor rolled her eyes, typical, her dad's biggest concern was always money. "Dad she is seven, besides it's not like she comes from a poor family or anything. Besides you hired her dad." Taylor pointed out and Scott huffed and Taylor pulled her knees up to her chest, looking at her mother who was mustering Juno. If Juno noticed, she didn't let it show.

"Taylor, we get that you always want to do something good or charitable," her mother began and Taylor sat up a little straighter, not knowing where her mother was headed with this "but if you want to do something good, just donate something or watch a well less troubling child." Andrea said and Scott nodded along and Taylor sighed rubbing her temples "She's not trouble. Juno's sweet, besides I'm not watching her for charity or whatever I'm watching her because I care about her." Taylor grumbled, crossing her arms and Scott shook her head "not from what you told us, isn't she like bouncing off the walls? You're not even allowed to come to close to her. Taylor that kid is trouble"

Just as Scott finished the last wird of his very unnecessary monologue, Juno darted off, surprisingly fast for a child and Taylor stared at her parents angrily. Taylor knew her parents hated when anything occurred that might distract her from her career but how could they say that infront of a little girl. Juno was the sweetest most amazing little girl once you got to know her and Taylor couldn't understand why her parents were throwing such a tantrum over Taylor having a child at her house for a week.

Taylor jumped up, trying to figure out where Juno might have run off to, definitely not upstairs Taylor thought. Juno always tried finding something familiar, so the most logical thing would be the way she came from. The front door, Taylor hastily sprinted to the front door, it was slightly ajar and there on the front steps sat a crying little girl.

Taylor sighed as she sat down beside Juno, the little girl looking up at her, tears streaming down her little face. "They have no clue what they are talking about." Taylor said and Juno shrugged "but I'm trouble. Dad says so too, all the time." Juno whispered and Taylor felt a lump in her throat, she didn't know what to do, Juno often times felt broken and maybe even replaceable, and Taylor always knew that but she was able to push it out of her head, she would always pretend this wasn't the case, she only looked at the overly happy and smiley girl she had always known. The little girl that always begged for more tv and candy, not the little girl that felt as if the world had given up on her.

"You are not trouble Juno. I'll kick everyone's ass that says otherwise." Taylor said and she suddenly slammed her hand against her mouth realizing what she had just said, however this made Juno laugh if only it was just for a tiny second. "Even your parents?" Juno sniffled and Taylor sighed "most of all them."

For a couple of seconds neither one of them said something, but it felt like a more comfortable silence "Taylor, can I, can I have a hug?" Juno's voice was so quite Taylor almost didn't hear it, she still wasn't entirely sure if she wasn't making it up, but she looked at the little blonde girl next to her "of course you can." Taylor said softly and Juno smiled a little bit, and climbed into Taylor's arms.

Juno was so fragile, lying here in her arms, so tiny. Taylor felt so protective here, she never felt like this before, but she knew from that moment on she was responsible for that little girl, she was going to shield the world from all of this. This was her job now.