fragments - the gifted -

X-06

Eleven Months Ago

"Should I be worried about you?" Taylor raised her eyebrow at Harry's question, wondering why he thought he needed to be worried about her in the first place. This wasn't what she was expecting when Harry told her he wanted to talk to her.

"Worried about me?" She repeated as he sat next to her on her bed. "Is... Is this about returning to Atlanta?" She questioned. When she first told him that she knew she needed to come back, he had questioned it then. Honestly, she didn't blame him because she had her own questions as to why and her own doubts in the back of her mind.

"I hear things." Harry mumbled, clasping his hands together. "You got into it with Sonia today—"

"But that had nothing to do with John." Taylor argued back, before sighing. "Look, I've known Walker for a while. He came here to help us and she—"

"I know, T." Harry said reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. "The thing with John is just kind of public and everyone is talking about it. Someone asked me today if I had heard about the fact that he was the reason you left in the first place." He chuckled briefly, but she found no humor in any of this. Returning was hard enough, the gossip made it worse. "I just want to make sure your head is in a good place."

"It is." She responded, and had it been anyone else in her room checking on her like this, she might have been more hostile towards them for asking. This was Harry though—and she knew he had her best interest at heart.

"A lot of people saw that fight, T." He said and she sighed, lying back on her bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"I'm allowed to disagree with someone because of their actions. It doesn't have to have anything to do with who they were with once."

"I know." He repeated, lying next to her. He turned his head, so he was facing her. "I have your back, Tay. I told you that in Marietta when you wanted to come back."

"I know you do, Harry."

"You having doubts? Is this too hard?" He questioned and she shook her head, a sigh leaving her.

"No—it's not that this is too hard. Life gets hard sometimes, but you need to face it." She was silent for a moment, thinking about the events of the day. "John and me? That shit felt epic in the moment. It felt like it was the two of us against the world, like some storybook we read to children. That's not the reality though. The reality is this."

"Well, I think this sucks." She chuckled at Harry's words, agreeing with him.

"Maybe, but reality is rarely glamorous."

---

"You can't be serious, John." Taylor said, sitting on the hood of his car. It felt like they had been out almost all night trying to find Caitlin and the teenagers. She yawned, holding onto the gas station cup of coffee she needed to keep fueled after the night she had.

"I don't see another way." John argued and she scoffed at that. While it felt like their backs were against a wall, she didn't think his idea was the best one possible. "It's our best shot.

"Breaking and entering is not the best shot!" Taylor argued and Marcos sighed, placing his hands on the hood of the car.

"I think it's technically just more entering—" He offered but Taylor shot him a look. "We need to be quick about this, Taylor. It's a plan."

"Shit." She mumbled, taking a long swig of the hot beverage before slowly nodding her head. "It's a terrible idea, but whatever. Let's break into this house." She jumped off the car, looking over to the house. "Seriously though, terrible plan."