Shirtsleeves

Chapt. 8

Once Taylor has slipped off to Karlie's bedroom to wait, the brunette hesitates with her hand gripping the door knob, knowing that opening it means coming to terms with something she'll eventually have to face.

So, in a shaky breath Karlie opens up the door and standing in the doorway is Toni Garrn. She looks up at Karlie, looking a little more relaxed than when Karlie last saw her, which was the moment Taylor walked through the front door.

"Hey you." Karlie says softly, "Come in, I'll make you something warm to drink." She says calmly. In all the rush of excitement in seeing Taylor, she completely forgot that she came to that event with Toni. The realization hits her hard when she's face to face with a disheveled looking Toni that's still just lingering in her doorway. Karlie has a lot of mixed feeling right now but the biggest one in this moment, is guilt.

"I don't want to come in." Toni mumbles, shoving her hands in her pocket and scoffing her left foot back and forth on the pavement. A clear sign of nervousness.

"I don't want you to get cold. The least I can do is make you some a cup of coffee." Karlie attempts to protest but the almost immediate shaking of Toni's head shows her that Toni won't be coming inside tonight.

The blonde wipes her face with her hand, "I just, I can't come in." She stammers, her voice almost completely softening up.

"I know Taylor's in there." She adds quietly when Karlie doesn't respond right away.

A sharp whistle is heard when Karlie intakes a deep breath, understanding Toni's hesitation now. She looks up at the dull stars in tonight's sky before holding her index finger up to Toni, signaling for her to wait a second.

When Toni nods, Karlie slips back inside and she wants to go grab a coat but she's surprised to see Taylor already standing behind her in the hallway holding one. With a small smile that whispers a silent 'thank you' between them, Taylor helps Karlie slip on her old leather jacket over the very expensive Versace dress she's wearing. Taylor then slips a small scarf round Karlie's neck, pulling her down for a short kiss before sending her back outside.

When she returns outside, Toni isn't standing by the doorway, but further down the porch instead. Karlie stuffs her hands in her pockets and makes her way over to the girl.

She must've been caught because Toni turns around when she hears the soft clicks of Karlie's heels hitting the cement.

"You should zip this a little." Toni says suddenly in a quiet voice, meeting Karlie halfway and zipping up the coat a little for her.

"Thank you." Karlie smiles. It's so amazing to her to see how nice Toni is being and how much she still clearly cares about the brunette. Even though she did run off with her ex tonight and left Toni.

As they sit there silently at first, Karlie can't help but look Toni over and noticed how different she looks even in the last few hours. She looks out of breath, and her white undershirt has become looser than it was, with a few wrinkles beginning to form in the shirt. Has she just been walking this whole time?

"How did you get back here from the city?" Karlie suddenly blurts out. Clearly it wasn't what she should be talking about right now but she wasn't sure what to say, and she was genuinely concerned as to how Toni got here.

"Your friend Kendall." Toni sighs, her breath showing like a light cloud when it hits the cool air outside.

It figures now. Karlie assumes that Kendall was acting weird earlier and now she knows that she probably saw Toni leave. And when she rushed away after seeing Taylor and Karlie briefly, Karlie had been confused.