Stand By Me

Fourteen

The shift ended with an arduous overhaul, leaving Taylor feeling exhausted and she couldn't wait to get home. Once home, she grabbed a few hours of sleep and woke up with a pounding headache.

"Morning," Shay greeted in her usual cheery tone as Taylor entered the kitchen, "You look like hell."

"Thanks," Taylor replied as she retrieved some painkillers from the cupboard, "My head feels like it's about to explode..."

"Sounds like a migraine."

"Probably... what's your plan for today?"

"I'm meeting Corrine for lunch and then heading over to Molly's for Annabelle's birthday. You?"

"I'm going to go check on Mrs. Caswell and make sure that she's okay, then head to Annabelle's party."

"Did you want me to pick you up about three and we can go together?" Kelly asked as he joined them.

"Sounds good to me," Taylor agreed, smiling as Kelly kissed her cheek and left with a quick wave to Shay.

"What sort of spell have you placed on him?" Shay joked, causing Taylor to chuckle and shake her head in amusement.

Taylor retrieved Annabelle's presents from her room and made her way over to Mrs. Caswell's house, letting herself in. The sound of old war music drew her to the living room and she smiled, when she spotted Mrs. Caswell listening to the tune with her eyes closed.

"That was the first song that George and I ever danced too," Mrs. Caswell told her as the song finished, "We'd dance all night long and then he'd walk me home, leaving me with a kiss on the cheek."

"Sounds like a true gentleman," Taylor commented with a fond smile, heading to the kitchen and making them both a cup of tea.

"He was," Mrs. Caswell replied sadly, "Not a day passes, where I don't miss him and wish that I could hear his voice again. How was your shift?"

"Tiring, but we got the job done and no one died."

Kelly texted a few hours later and Taylor made Mrs. Caswell another cup of tea, before stepping outside to find the truck already parked up. It wasn't long before they arrived at Molly's and she collected Annabelle's presents from the back seat, handing them to Herrmann as they went inside.

"Taylor," Annabelle squealed excitedly as she ran over, throwing herself into Taylor's arms and waving at Kelly.

"Hey Anna bandana," Taylor greeted with a smile, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

She offered everyone else a wave in greeting, before setting Annabelle back down at the table with her friends and agreeing to help Cindy out with the games. They were in the middle of singing happy birthday, when Shay nudged her shoulder and pointed towards the door. Frowning, she looked up and immediately spotted Kelly's ex Renee standing over by the door.

Unsure how to feel about Renee's sudden appearance, Taylor watched as Kelly hugged her and felt her heart drop a little. Sat at the bar a while later, Taylor drained the remainder of her coke and stood up.

"This headache isn't shifting, so I'm going to head home..." Taylor told Shay with a sad smile.

"Do you want some company?"

"No, you stay here with Corrine and tell Annabelle that I said goodbye."

"Of course."

With a final glance over at Kelly, she made her way towards the door and headed home. Dressed in some comfortable clothes, she took her duvet into the living room and settled in to watch a movie. She wasn't sure when she drifted off, but she was soon awoken but the feeling of fingers gently carding through her hair and looked up to find Kelly watching her concerned.

"Hey," she mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"Hey," he replied, "How're you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Taylor stated, checking her watch and realizing that it was still early, "Why are you home so early?"

"Shay said that you weren't feeling too good and came home, so I came to check on you," Kelly explained, sitting down next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were catching up with Renee..."

"There's nothing between us anymore, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know," Taylor lied, "Do you want to watch a film?"

"Sure."Putting on another film for them to watch, Taylor curled into Kelly's side and relaxed as he entwined their fingers. The truth was that she didn't know what would happen now that Renee was back in the picture, but she had to believe that Kelly was serious about them and trust him not to hurt her.