What About Now

Chapter 22 - Taking Care Of You

Thomas' P.O.V.
"Hey Dylan, I'm off," I said quickly, grabbing my rucksack from under my desk, "Taylor's really not well and I need to go over there."

"What about Ben?" Dylan asked; his eyebrows furrowed.

"Ben's too busy working to look after her, or even bother to come see her," I growled, throwing my coat on over my shoulders, "She needs someone to be there with her. She was in tears on the phone."

"Oh no," Dylan said quietly, "But do you think George'll let you take off? With it being almost Christmas, he's got us going to all kinds of places to photograph the Christmas lights."

"He'll either let me take off, or I'll go anyway," I stated it simply, "I can't leave her on her own, Dylan!" Dylan gave me a sympathetic smile and just as I began heading towards George's office, he tapped me on the shoulder.

"Here, you may need this," Dylan said, digging around in his bag. He pulled out a key with a Mickey Mouse key ring on it, and handed it to me.

"Taylor's spare key," He nodded, and I took it from him, "I brought it out by accident this morning, but I guess it was kinda lucky! She might be asleep or something."

"Okay, thanks Dylan," I thanked him, pocketing her key. Why she'd trusted Dylan of all people with the key to her flat was beyond me.

"Take care of her, man," Dylan said gently, "And tell her I hope she feels better soon?"

"Will do," With that, I waved to Dylan and made my way to see George.

"Hey Thomas!" George greeted me as I entered through the door. He was sat at his desk with a cup of coffee in one hand, and a biscuit in the other. Typical.

"Hey George, listen I need to ask you a favour?" I said, walking up to his desk.

"Name it my boy!"

"I need to go and see Taylor. She's really unwell, and her fiancé isn't able to take care of her." It took all of my self-control not to shout that last part. What Taylor saw in Ben, I had not even a clue! He was never there for her, and she needed him now more than ever!

"Look, Thomas," George looked down at his lap, and set his coffee cup and biscuit down on the desk, "I know you're friends and all, but Taylor's a grown woman. She can take care of herself."

"George, I need to go over there," I pressed on, "She was in tears on the phone earlier. She needs someone to be with her, and if it's not going to be her fiancé, who should be there anyway, then it's going to be me." George looked at me carefully, and I wondered if I'd taken it a little too far. But I didn't care. Taylor was ill - I needed to be there with her. There was silence between us for a minute or two, before George pointed at me and smiled.

"You know, that's what I like about you, Thomas. Nothing comes before those you love and care for, and you were even willing to put your job at risk to go to her aid. Go on, you can go. But your work will still be here for you when you get back tomorrow!"

"Yes of course! Thank you so much!" I grinned, quickly walking towards the door. Just before I closed it behind me, I heard George call my name.

"Yeah?" I asked and popped my head round the door.

"You know, why you're not her fiancé by now I don't know! You seem to care about her enough!" George chuckled, before returning to his computer. A sad smile formed on my lips as I closed the door. Yeah, but I'm in love with Bella, and she's in love with Ben.

Over at Taylor's place...

I didn't even bother dumping my bag or coat over at my place as I passed my door. I needed to get to Taylor's, to make sure she was okay. Jumping the last few steps, I approached her door and knocked loudly. But there was no answer. Sighing, I dug around in my pockets and pulled out the key. Careful not to make too much noise, in case she was asleep, I unlocked the door and crept inside. The hallway was dark as I closed the door, and I could hear noises coming from the living room. Quietly, I followed the source of the noise and when I entered the living room I couldn't help but give a sympathetic smile. Taylor was asleep on the sofa, huddled up in a mess of blankets and pillows, with what I assumed to be a Disney film on, on the T.V. Her hair lay sprawled out all over the pillows, and her face was half buried in it as she slept. Her eyes were red, and she was almost as white as the pillow she lay her head on. Sighing sadly, I put my bag on the floor and went to her side. Crouching down on the down, I slowly lifted back a strand of hair that had fallen across her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Taylor? Taylor, wake up," I whispered softly, shaking her shoulder a little. She mumbled something quietly in her sleep, and shifted about on the sofa slightly.

"Taylor? Wake up, it's me," I tried again, shaking her arm. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and when she saw me, her eyes widened.

"Thomas! What are you doing here? How did you-?" She sat up in a hurry, causing her to sway a little with dizziness, and I quickly placed my hands on her shoulders to stop her from falling.

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" I hushed her, as she looked pretty surprised, and slightly stunned, "Don't you remember I called you, and told you I'd come over to take care of you?" She looked at me distantly for a second, before sighing and rubbing her eyes.

"Oh yeah," She sniffled, "And I said how I sounded like Mickey Mouse?"

"Yeah, that was it!" I chuckled, sitting down next to her and pulling her to my side. She lay her head on my shoulder and I wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You didn't need to come, Thomas," She said quietly, before sniffling again.

"Yes I did, love," I replied, "You're ill, and you can't be on your own when you're like this, love!" She didn't say anything in reply, but just tightened her arms around my torso in a hug.

"How are you feeling?"

"Bloody rotten," She groaned, her voice becoming slightly higher as she did, "My head is swimming, my eyes keep watering, and my throat is burning from all the-" As if on cue, she burst into a coughing fit, and placed her hands over her mouth as she did. She bent over a bit as she coughed, and placing a hand on her back, I rubbed small circles to comfort her.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay," I said gently, pulling her into another hug when I realised there were more tears in her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," She said mid-cough, "You don't have to be here, Thomas."

"Yes I do, and I'm not leaving you!" I reassured her, hugging her tightly, "What you need is tea, blankets and movies. And probably some medicine," I added, making her laugh a little.

"And I can tell that you've already got the blankets covered," I chuckled, looking over the mass of blankets she had on the sofa, "And you've even got your duvet!"

"I was cold!" She smiled, pulling away from me and folding the end of the duvet over her lap.

"Okay, well go put a jumper on, and I'll get the tea and movies!" Reluctantly, Taylor got off the sofa to go get a jumper, and I started on the tea. When she came back in, I'd set up one of her favourite films, The Little Mermaid, which caused her to grin from ear to ear.

"You remembered!" She laughed quietly, taking a seat beside me and pulling a blanket over the two of us.

"Um, how could I forget? You sung pretty much every song from this last night!" She groaned, and pressed her head to my shoulder.

"Now I can't sing along!" I laughed as she fake cried, and handed her a cup of tea and some tablets.

We'd been watching The Little Mermaid now for about an hour, and Taylor was already fast asleep. Small snores escaped her mouth, and I couldn't help but smile down at her. This shouldn't be me doing this. This should be Ben. Why he wasn't here for her, I didn't know, and why he didn't take care of her like this, I didn't know! Sure, I've gotten along with Ben when I've seen him, and he no longer looks like he wants to murder me whenever he speaks to me, but that doesn't mean to say he's a good guy. And it was starting to grow in my mind, that he was spending a little 'too-much' time at work. If that's where he was anyway. I just hoped for Taylor's sake, that he was at work, and that he loved her as much as he said he did. She deserved better.