Begin Again: A Tayvin Oneshot Collection

He Had Me at Hello

I watched the morning sky, the sun about to break through the line of trees in the distance. The orange hue slowly creeping across the expanse of the once black abyss; like watercolour paint on a canvas.

The trees sat still in the dawn air, not a trace of wind tickling their leaves. Animals had yet to stir from their slumber, peeking their bright eyes open. The silent shadows of nocturnal creatures were slowly disappearing and my open window had no birdsong to carry through to me.

A single star was visible from my perch at the window. It's sparkling appearance yet to be outshone by the sun. The horizon started to gather a purple tinge as the minutes ticked by slowly yet quickly, all at once.

My crossed legs ached in protest at the uncomfortable position, reminding me of the impending pins and needles I would feel once I untangled them, and mess of bedcovers lay in a heap across the room, signifying a night of little rest. A single blanket hung loosely from my shoulders as I hunched over on the comfortable window seat in my room.

My uncontrollable blonde hair pricked my face with stray strands but I was unaffected by them; too lost in thought to care. Glasses rested comfortably on the bridge of my nose, as the scent of dampened grass and freshly blooming flowers wafted up from my large garden.

The world was in blissful peace. Far from the state of my thoughts.
Why was distance such an easy concept but such a cruel one? How could distance be so inspiring and hold such beauty yet still be so unforgiving when you longed for someone?

I was one such individual wrapped in the fragile arms of distance while I grasped desperately for consolation from someone halfway across the world.

How could the root of my sadness be the same thing that eradicated that heavy feeling in my chest and stinging in the back of my eyes with a blinding smile that made my knees weak and a sultry voice that sent chills rushing down my spine like a bolt of lightning?

So many questions, yet every answer was so impossibly intricate that I felt myself become suddenly unconcerned with them once my brain made even the slightest attempt to fathom these riddles. Instead, I gave in to the longing and need for the one person who could make everything better with a few words and the feel of their arms around me.

The little prickles of energy that stabbed my skin so delicately that it became a comforting feeling with every touch and passion-filled kiss shared in the depths of the night or the excitement in 'hello's.

Even I had to admit there was a certain beauty in the dull grief of 'goodbye' in every parting.

That's what I strived on. That's what kept me hopeful in this tumultuous road of distance. These moments of stunning intensity from such simple words made every inch of distance worth it in the end.

I used to see it as a destructive force. An inspiration for some of the most heartbreaking words being exchanged and the most depressingly relatable lyrics entwined with a melody to form a dismal consolation of a song.

Distance was an old friend of mine. It had put me through so much heartbreak but this was the worst experience.

The heartache.

When you knew you could touch someone but they weren't there. Instead, they were grieving the loss of your touch halfway across the world.

You would sit there, feeling a hopeless cause weigh your shoulders down to the point where you physically felt it. The nearly unbearable pressure.

It would drive you insane for hours. Time ticking by innocently as you waited for some sort of sign that you weren't alone in your struggle while being apart.

It messed with you so much, you were convinced that you would give up your last breath just to see them, touch them one last time, without a second thought.

But my strong-willed mind yearned to be in control of my longing and turn it into another reason to love him.

He made me feel so free when we were together and when we were apart - although it seemed unendurable at times - one Skype call was all I needed to be reminded of a reason to smile for the rest of the day.

Not to mention the sweet intentions behind funny text messages; mostly of pictures he found online or goofy selfies that he knew would make me laugh.

With each hug and each fight, every goodbye and greeting, every sneaky kiss and night filled with pure, raw passion, I fell harder for Adam Wiles.

If I were to put a label on something so pure, I would dare to call it love.

What I thought I knew was irrelevant. What I thought my future looked like before, now seemed pessimistic.

My life had changed completely in one greeting that fateful night at the Elle Style Awards.

The same greeting he used after I got up, alarmed at the sharp shrill of my doorbell seconds after having these thoughts, rushed downstairs in nothing but his oversized shirt and shorts and flung open the door, ready to punch someone if it came to it, but instead, I was swept off my feet and into two loving arms.

One passionate kiss later on my doorstep in the middle of summer, the same all too familiar greeting was uttered right into my ear that made every breathless second thinking about him. Every insufferable day apart make sense: "Hello, Taylor."

And that was it.

He had me at hello.

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Hope you liked it!
~Maeve