Infatuated

I hadn’t seen Taylor since the day of the events. Several weeks had now passed and I hadn’t seen him anywhere. According to Alex he’d seen him all over the place, but I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him. If I did I would have asked him what happened that day in the hall. I’d narrowed my options down to two conclusions. He was avoiding me due to embarrassment of what had happened and didn’t want to face me, or he was avoiding me because he genuinely did hate me. However, the second one seemed less likely. I hadn’t done anything wrong to him. Maybe I’d blanked him in the hallway the next day without realising it was him. No. He’s not one to even speak in the hall. The only person who’d be upset by that: Alex.

More weeks had passed, still no sign of him, yet everyone else had said they saw him just as usual. I’d started to lose hope in finding him by this point; he probably hated me for some reason unknown to myself. By this point, it was late on a Saturday. I’d been sat in front of the battered old sofa watching re-runs of cribs on the TV when the doorbell rang. I groaned inwardly, uncurling myself from my comfortable position and sluggishly dragging myself to the door.

“Got it” I yelled, dragging out the vowels. My hand twisted the door knob and opened it to reveal a tall, slim figure, stood on the threshold with an arm leant against the door frame.

“Not seen you in a while,” Taylor smirked. He was dressed in a worn leather jacket, covering a grey hood, and black faded jeans. His casual stance confused me.

“But, I thought-” I cut myself off, frowning and shaking my head.

“Hm?” His stare was fixed on me, his smile comforting as he tilted his head. I returned his smile, shaking my head once again to assure him it was nothing.

“Come in,” I welcomed him, to which he pushed himself lightly off the frame and past me before grabbing me by the waist and pulling me towards the sofa I had recently left. His actions stunned me a little but it hardly showed in my facial expressions. He lounged casually at one end of the couch like Alex usually did, but he could, he was here every day. Now I thought about it, they dressed similar too.

“So what are you doing here anyway?” I asked folding my arms across my chest and perching myself on the opposite end to him. He was sat, one leg crossed loosely over his other, with his back to the corner of the sofa and arms draped over the back and arm of the leather. His eyebrows raised, an amused smirk played on his lips.

“Am I not allowed to come and see you anymore?” He asked, emitting a low giggle. I rolled my eyes, crossing my legs like he had.

“I was just wondering why you were dropping by at ten o’clock at night,” I commented. His smirk dissolved into a warm smile, his eyes lingered on my form, however avoiding my eyes as he shrugged. His gaze then returned itself to my face as he murmured the next part.

“I guess I missed you,” a rising sensation took place deep within my chest and I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks. I bowed my head, pretending to merely took hair behind my ears as I giggled lightly.

“I haven’t seen you in almost two months,” I commented. I felt the weight shift beside me before a hand was placed on my opposite shoulder, dragging me into a hug.

“Exactly,” was all he said, keeping me in the embrace and soothingly rubbing the back of my shoulder for a few more moments before returning to his original state. I studied him, long and hard with a smile on my face. His eyes were firmly fixed on the screen but I knew he could tell I was staring. I didn’t even try to hide it.

“I missed you too,” I whispered, mainly to myself. The corners of his mouth were tugged lightly; he was trying to suppress a smile. I leant back in my seat, watching the TV and smiling to myself. Even after what I was sure had happened in April, I wasn’t scared of him. He made me feel safe.

A couple of hours had passed, it was now gone midnight and we’d resorted to watching Planet’s Funniest Animals. We were now a lot closer, my head against his chest and my feet curled up into my side listening to his heartbeat more than watching the dog on the TV shredding newspaper. How did people find that funny? Every now and then something would amuse Taylor, causing him to giggle to himself, sending small vibrations through his chest, making me smile. He’d stayed in near enough the same position all night but now one of his hands was wrapped protectively around my shoulder playing with loose strands of my hair. I snuggled into him closer and shut my eyes, I wasn’t going to fall asleep, but resting gave me more energy.

I felt Taylor bury his face in my hair, his breathing blowing loose strands of my hair rhythmically. I smiled into his shirt, holding onto it lightly as I grew tired. My eyes fluttered open when I heard the stairs creek. I stayed where I was though as my mother appeared next to us, carrying onward into the kitchen.

“Oh, hello Taylor,” she called chirpily seeing our position on the couch. Had it been a reasonable hour I would have mentally slapped myself but by this point I was too tired to function properly.

“Hey Mrs Matthews,” he replied passing her a smile as she made her way back to the nearest armchair.

“How long have you been here? I didn’t hear you come in,” great, she was already quizzing him and she’d only been in the room just over a minute. I pulled my face away from him, shooting an apologetic look up at him. He merely smiled back at me and carried on. My mother for some strange reason didn’t bother him, he just answered her questions.

“I’ve been here a few hours, I hope you don’t mind my intrusion,” he answered politely shooting her a cautious smile. Ha, as if he even had to try for her approval.