small town love

everything i had

i realized that no matter what he does, i'll always love him. after you love someone for so long it's hard to just stop.

i walked into the kitchen in sweats and a tank top and he was standing right there cooking breakfast. he didn't see because i walked quietly.

"morning" he said before i could hug him. he turned around and i kissed him softly on the cheek.

"how'd you sleep?" i asked him stretching my arms above my head and then bending down to touch my toes.

"well, i didn't really sleep... mom called me and she was really messed up and emotional so to answer your question, horrible cause i didn't sleep." he said as a tear rolled down his cheek.

i grabbed his hand and turned off the stove and turned him around to face me. i've never seen him like that. i could tell he had been crying for a very long time and his nuckles on his right hand were cracked and you could tell they had been bleeding. my heart started pounding and i looked at him in the eye. "taylor what happened last night?"

he looked away and covered his face with his hands. "this whole thing is just so messed up. all the boys can't handle it, she can't handle it. she's just sitting there staring out the window and crying. i don't think she's stopped crying once since we got here. she's not eating. when i ask her a question she just looks at me and i can't even look at her. all you can see is pain. that's it. she just looks at me and then looks away. i can't take it anymore."

i thought about what he said. it's hard. i know it is. after all, my dad left my mom, too. it hurts. it hurts everyone. no matter what you think it effects everyone and it always ends up being the first of many bad things to happen down the road.

i looked at him and all i saw was pain. throughout this whole thing, no one asked him how he was feeling. it was always how everyone else was and he was always the one to be called to help someone or fix something or break up a fight. no one asked him what he was going through in his head. no one paid any attention to how his facial features were and how much pain he was in.

i grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "go upstairs, take a shower, and get dressed. i'll cook breakfast and do all of this. get some sleep and take a shower. i'll wake everyone up and you can have your time up there."

he looked at me like i was crazy. "what? no. i have to take care of everyone."

"first of all, don't look at me like i'm crazy because i've been exactly where you are right now no matter what you want to think and i know what you need. now either go upstairs and get some sleep or i'm calling our guidance counselors at school and telling them we're transferring to here. now you pick which one you want to happen."

he just looked at me. didn't say a word, just looked at me. finally, he said "god i love you," and kissed me on my forehead. he walked up the stairs and it took everything in my body not to follow him to the bedroom.

i looked at the pot on the stove and the eggs were burning. i threw them in the trash and wrote in big handwriting on a note 'do not, whatever you do, wake taylor up.' i grabbed my keys and wallet and walked out the door.

I drove to the diner on Main Street and ordered bacon, pancakes, eggs, a few omelets, and hash browns. it took forever to be cooked but after it was done, i paid, and then walked out.

"Wes?" i heard someone call.

i whipped around and almost dropped my phone. it was my ex boyfriend. we went on a few dates and then the boys scared him off.... well that's what they say but only him and i know the real story.

"please just leave me alone trey. i don't want or need to have anything to do with you." i told him and kept walking to my Tahoe.

he jogged after me and opened the door to my Tahoe for me. "thank you. now i need to get back home. goodbye." i said harshly.

"could we at least meet up again? i miss you." he said as he ran his hand up my arm.

"leave me alone trey. get away from me. we were never a thing and we never will be." I told him as I slapped his hand away from me.

i got in my Tahoe quickly and drove home. when i got there, everyone was at my house. i got all the food and brought it into the house.

taylor was sitting at the table on his computer, on the phone. he took a shower. i could tell because when i kissed his head i could smell my shampoo in his hair.

"yea i moved in with my girlfriend so i don't need that apartment anymore." he said into the phone. "no we're serious. i don't need the apartment." he said again.

the feeling that went through my body when he said "girlfriend" and "we're serious" is unexplainable. my heart melted.

he hung up and i asked him what that was about. "well Luke woke me up after I took my shower, so I called my coach, your coach, and the housing department and told them basically what you just heard."

"what about my coach? what'd you tell him?" i asked nervously.

"well he said you won't be able to play the first four games of the season because you missed so much practice but, good news is, he said whenever you're ready to come back you can. your scholarship won't falter. and then my coach said the same thing but my game time starts at the third game, not four. so that's about it. what'd you get?" he asked looking at the food on the counter.

"thanks for doing that for me." i told him as I sat on his lap.

he nodded and kissed my jaw. "i love you, so much." he told me.

"i love you so much more." i said as i looked at him.

"WESLEY" Sam screamed from the living room.

"what is it?" i said as i ran into the living room.

my mom and Taylor's mom we're sitting together on the couch quietly.

"hey babe come see" i called for taylor.

"what?" he said walking into the room.

"we want you two to go back to school. y'all have done so much for us and y'all need to go back." my mom said to us genuinely.

"but no i need to stay with-" taylor started to say but his mom cut him off.

"no taylor you do not need to stay with me and the boys. you need to go back to school." she said softly.

he nodded and i just looked at Luke, Sam, and chase.

"are y'all okay with this?" I asked them.
they all nodded. "okay. we're going back to school." i told taylor.

he nodded and walked out of the room. we walked up stairs and he crawled into bed.

"no taylor get up." I said sitting on the bed. i laughed. I completely just contradicted myself.

he crawled towards me. "i just wanna lay with you for a little bit." he said quietly. I nodded and pulled the covers over our heads.

he looked at me for a while and finally said something. "you're beautiful." he whispered to me. his breath tickled my neck and a shiver went down my back. he wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my neck. as the kiss went deeper, he brought his hand up to my face and cupped my face in his hand.

i didn't want to do too much in my childhood bedroom so i pulled away after a few minutes of playing with his hair and kissed his cheek. "i love you."