Loving You (Sequel: Friends To Lovers) (GXG)

Family

It was finally the day of Taylor and Jane's discharge. That said, the only one who actually came back to school was Jane. When asked about Taylor's whereabouts, she admitted that she had no idea what had happened to her and when she actually left. Both Alix and Rocky had come back to the group again after realizing how shallow they had been acting for not wanting to be picked on while Taylor was gone, so even they were clueless as to what could have happened. The only one who seemed to know what was going on was Emily.

"It's probably her parents again..." Emily said under her breath. Jane placed a hand onto Emily's shoulder and gave a pleading frown that made it clear that she was desperate for answers. "I'm surprised that she didn't tell you anything... Her parents, mainly her dad, are incredibly homophobic. She told me about it before when we were younger, but we both assumed that they would get over it after some time... I remember a few times where she came to school with, what looked to be, strangulation marks and fresh bruises. To think they are still that underhanded..." Jane shook in her spot with rage, trying to decide what she should do.

"I just want to be there for her... I know that she believes that she is the 'man' in the relationship or the somewhat butch girl, but I want to be there for her to cry on and not just the other way around... Look, I'm leaving school now. Can you all come with me?" Jane asked them. They all looked to each other before shrugging and agreeing to go along with her to Taylor's house where she probably was. "Oh, but I don't know where she lives..." Jane sighed, scratching her head to see if the answers would all magically pop into her head.

"Oh, I know where her house it! I've been there before and I've also met her parents before so just follow my lead." Emily tried to smile, coming off as uncomfortable and a little stressed instead. They all nodded without saying anything else so that they could hurry and get their friend back.

The four followed Emily as she began to jog out of the school and down the road. Soon enough, they all passed by the orphanage and kept on running further down. The area where Taylor's house is was in the upper class neighborhood where there were houses that were worth up to even half a million dollars.

"What do Taylor's parents do, Emily? It's a little weird that Taylor had never mentioned this about her to us." Rocky grumbled, peering at the many beautiful houses as they passed them. Emily chuckled slightly, giving off the sense that she shouldn't tell them if Taylor hadn't yet.

"Well... Let's just say that her father is involved in politics quite a bit... Her mother on the other hand..." Emily stopped speaking, lowering her eyes towards the ground before letting out a soft sigh. It was noticeable that Emily was uncomfortable speaking about Taylor's mother, but no one could understand why exactly.

"What about her mother?" Rocky asked. She didn't take the hint that Emily didn't want to talk about Taylor's mother and instead simply ignored Rocky before changing the subject quickly.

"That's the house over there. Why don't you guys let me go up first? Jane, stay out of sight. I'm not sure how he—they will react..." Emily said, walking straight for the front door. She knocked on it first before ringing the obnoxiously large and bejeweled doorbell. It took a few minutes, but finally someone had comes to open up the door. It was Taylor's mother. She was dressed in a fine red silk dress with a pair of plain white high heels. Everything about would be what you would expect of someone with such a house and high status. The problem was her face. Her eyes drooped as if she hadn't gotten any sleep in years. Besides that, she also had a clear hand mark over her throat and a well-defined bruise on her cheek.

"Hello, can I help you...?" She asked them with a brittle voice. Emily opened her mouth to speak, but the more she looked at Taylor's mom the harder it was to get anything out. Eventually, she spoke up with a bright smile.

"Hello Mrs. Colin! It's me, Emily Ross...  We noticed that Taylor wasn't at school today, so we came to see if she was doing alright." Emily said. Mrs. Colin's eyes grew wide upon realizing who Emily was. Her dreary expression was replaced with a more upbeat one as she stepped outside the house and closed the door.

"Well I'll be darned! It's been a while, Emily! How have you been my dear?" She grinned, pulling Emily into a tight hug.

"I've been doing just fine, Mrs. Colin. Is Taylor here by chance?" Emily asked again. Mrs. Colin's face turned cold and she released Emily upon hearing her question.

"She is, but her father... He's not too happy with her... It's the same old thing with him! He's stuck in the past... I guess he heared that she's been together with a special someone, a girl, and he's been lecturing her all morning. You know how he is... I've accepted her, but he just doesn't want to believe it..." Mrs. Colin sighed, wiping tears out of her eyes. Jane stepped forward and furrowed her brows.

"Is she ok? Can we see her? Can I see her? Please?" Jane begged Mrs. Colin. She smiled at Jane and took her hand in hers before shaking it.

"You must be that special someone then... I'm sorry, but he won't even let her out of the study right now... I tried to talk to him a moment ago, but as you can see it didn't go too well..." Her smile faded. Jane's hand slipped out of Mrs. Colin's as she headed towards the back of the group again.

"Mrs. Colin, can I please speak to Mr. Colin? Please? We need Taylor at school! She is our precious friend and I can take the blame for anything that may happen. I'm pretty sure he thinks that I may be the one who she is... dating... You remember when he—"

"Of course I remember that!" Mrs. Colin cut Emily off, wiping away more tears from her eyes. "That man is terrible! I still can't believe what he did to you and Taylor that day..." She mumbled, placing her hand onto her neck. Anne looked to Emily in confusion.

"What happened? Should I know about it?" Anne asked. Emily glanced back to her and nodded.

"I should probably tell you this... The last time I came over for Taylor's birthday party, this was after she told me that she liked me, there was a moment where she surprised me with a kiss to the cheek, but it was clearly just as friends... Her father saw us and... and... and..." Emily couldn't continue speaking about what had happened and instead just began to cry and hyperventilate.

"It's fine, Emily! You don't have to speak about it if you get this upset about it..." Anne stopped her, bringing her into a hug as she cried while holding onto her own body...