You Belong With Me

Taylor's P.O.V.

I decided to stay true to my word. After all, Alex did help me get a record deal. The least I could do was refrain from tricking him, even though it wasn't any fun.

The day could not get any better. There was not a cloud in the sky, I was feeling light as a feather, and I have never felt more in love than right now. Lately, Alex has been so amazing to me that it was hard not to be head over heals for him. I mean, he took me to New York City and made all my dreams come true on Valentine's Day! And then he told me that he wants me to come on tour with him! What more could I want?

A relationship. That's what I wanted; a relationship with him. Somehow, when I thought about this, I came to the same bump in the road that I was at last time. He was obviously my best friend and I didn't want to do anything to ruin that friendship. When I kissed him last September, it ended in disaster and I would do everything I could to make sure that didn't happen to me again. I don't think I could make it through that kind of heartbreak again. There was no way for me to know if his feelings had changed and I was not about to put myself out there again.

But, then again, there was that moment right after I got my deal when we almost kissed and when we held hands on the street, which had me more confused than ever. Was I supposed to think that his feelings for me had somehow changed over these past few months? What if we actually had kissed? What would he have done afterwards? Would he have smiled or would he have awkwardly backed off and then avoided me for two months again? I was not about to let us go down that road again, so I stopped it before it could start, even though that was the very last thing I wanted to do. I guess I would just have to wait and see how things turned out.

“Man, I can't believe we have to leave the city already,” Jack whined as we boarded the bus to go back home. It was only 8:00PM, but we had to leave so that we wouldn't get home too late and I know that my parents are going to make me go to school tomorrow, so I need to get some kind of sleep. This time, Zack and Jack could not turn their seats around, so they sat in front of me and Alex, while Rian and Kara still sat across from us. Alex took out his iPod and began to listen to it.

“I know and it sucks,” I agreed, “but there's always the ride home.”

“But, bus rides are boring,” he responded, turning turning his head so that he was facing me and Alex.

“We'll find a way to make this one interesting,” I said.

“Anyone bring any card games?” asked Rian. No one said anything. “What can we do then?”

At that moment, Alex randomly decided to start singing.

“Once upon a time not so long ago:
Tommy used to work on the docks
union's been on strike
He's down on his luck - It's tough
so tough.”

I caught on to what he was doing, so I took one of the earphones out of his ear, put it in my own, and began to sing along

“Gina works the diner all day
working for her man
She brings home her pay for love
for love.”

Eventually, everyone began to sing along obnoxiously.

“She says we've got to hold on to what we've got
Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot

Chorus:
Whooah, we're half way there
Livin on a prayer
Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear
Livin on a prayer

Tommy's got his six string in hock
Now he's holding in what he used
To make it talk - so tough, it's tough
Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers baby it's okay, someday

We've got to hold on to what we've got
Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot

Chorus

We've got to hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got

Chorus”

When the song was finished, we all cheered. People that we did not know had decided to sing along with us. Alex had an iTouch with speakers, so I took the earphones out of both our ears and let the music play so that everyone could hear it. Everyone laughed when the next song came on, but we all sang along anyway. It just so happened to be one of our favorite songs.

“I know when he's been on your mind
That distant look is in your eye
I thought with time you'd realize
It's over over
It's not the way I choose to live
And something somewhere's got to give
As sharing this relationship gets older older
You know I'd fight for you
But how I can fight someone who isn't even there
I've had the rest of you now I want the best of you
I don't care if that's not fair

Chorus:
Cause I want it all
Or nothing at all
There's no where left to fall
When you reach the bottom it's now or never
Is it all
Or are we just friends
Is this how it ends
With a simple telephone call
You leave me here with nothing at all

There are times it seems to me
I'm sharing you with memories
I feel it in my heart
But I don't show it show it
And then there's times you look at me
As though I'm all that you can see
Those times I don't believe it's right
I know know it

Don't me make me promises
Baby you never did know how to keep them well
I've had the rest of you
Now I want the best of you
It's time for show and tell

Chorus

Cause you and I
Could lose it all if you've got no more room
No room inside for me in your life
Cause I want it all
Or nothing at all
There's no where left to fall
It's now or never

Chorus x2”

We continued our sing along for awhile, but then people started getting tired since it was a long day, so we decided to turn it off. Jack had gotten so tired that he fell asleep on Zack. Zack got creeped out, so he tried to push him off, but Jack kept on falling back onto him, so he eventually just gave up.

“So did you have a good time today?” Alex asked me quietly as the bus began to grow silent.

“The best,” I said. I rested my head on his shoulder. I was beginning to get very tired. “Did you?”

“Of course. It was better than I could have imagined. It couldn't have been more perfect.”

“Mmmm I agree,” I said as I began to close my eyes. “Thanks for taking me with you.”

“I wouldn't have had it any other way.”

“He would have been proud of you, you know,” I said.

“Who?” he wondered.

“Eric. If he was still alive, he would want to celebrate with us. He wanted everything to come true for you.”

“He would have been proud of you too. You're the one that made all of this possible.”

“It was your talent that got you here, not me. I just sped your future along a little bit. You would have gotten a deal anyway. I just wish Eric would have been here to witness it all.”

“Me too. Sometimes, I find myself wondering what he would say to me about certain things. Would he have wanted me to go to therapy or would he have thought I was weak?”

“That's simple: he would have wanted what was best for you. If he thought therapy was what you needed, he would have driven you there himself.”

“Yeah, I guess I just wish I would have done the same for him,” he said bitterly.

I sat up straight and looked at him, but he looked away so I took his hand and squeezed it. “Hey, none of that,” I said. “You weren't living with him every single day. There was no way you could have known what he was going through. He loved you so much. The last thing he would want would be for you to blame yourself about this for the rest of your life. Besides, I don't want to ruin this day by thinking of bad memories.”

“You're right,” he agreed.

He slipped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. I couldn't keep the smile from my face even though my eyes were closed. He was silent for a few minutes. I didn't have to have my eyes open to know that he was thinking deeply about something.

“Hey, Taylor?” he finally said.

“Hmmm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” I joked, “but go ahead.”

“I know this is kind of late and everything, but uhm, will you uh will you be my, my valentine?” he stuttered out.

Whatever I was expecting him to ask me, it certainly wasn't that. It took a minute for me to get past my surprise and my stomach fluttered excitedly. I almost asked him to say it again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

“Did you hear what I said,” he asked nervously when I didn't answer right away.

'Yeah, you just surprised me, that's all.”

“So what do you say?”

“I say I would love to be your valentine,” I responded as I opened my eyes and looked up at him.

He smiled widely at me and kissed my forehead. I nestled my head into his chest and felt sleep overcome me. As I slowly drifted off, I couldn't help but wonder if he really wanted me to be his valentine or if he felt bad because neither of us had one. I hoped with all my heart that it was the first option.

________________

“Hey, guys, I have some bad news.”

Alex, Jack, Zack, and I were gathered in the hallway near my locker before school the following Friday. As Rian walked up to us, he he looked slightly pissed off.

“What is it, Bro,” asked Zack.

“We can't have the party at my house. My parents just told me yesterday that they had to cancel their plans for the weekend.”

“Well that blows,” said Jack. “What are we going to do now? I NEED TO DRINK!”

“Say that any louder and the only thing you'll be drinking tonight is your own words,” I said as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Wait, what does that mean?” His eyebrows crinkled together in confusion.

“She means that if you scream about how you're going to get drunk tonight, someone like a teacher might overhear you and then you won't be able to drink because the teacher would tell your parents or something,” Alex clarified.

“Oh. Well, Taylor, you could have just said that instead of confusing me so much!”

“But why would I do that? The look you get on your face is way too funny. You look like a lost puppy.”

“Anyway,” said Zack. “What do you guys want to do now that we don't have a place for a party?”

“We could just go out somewhere,” I suggested.

“Where would we go?” asked Rian.

“It's so fucking obvious. We all have fake I.D.'s,. right? So then lets go to a bar or a club or something and get trashed. Why don't we just go back to the Den? They have free admission, right?”

“Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Their drinks are pretty cheap too,” agreed Rian.

Alex turned to face me. “Taylor, is that ok with you? I know you didn't have the best experience the last time you went there.”

I got chills as I remembered the huge fight Alex and I got into after we got back from the Den the last time I went. A situation like that was exactly what I was trying to avoid, but then I realized that the circumstances were completely different now. For one thing, I would be going with four other guys and Alex no longer had a bitchy girlfriend that wanted to tear me out of his life. I thought I ought to give this place another shot, so I nodded.

________________

Alex came to pick me up around 8:00 that night. Kara volunteered to be the designated driver because her dad had a van that we could borrow, so we decided to meet at her house and bring things to sleep over in case some of us were too drunk to drive home.

I could tell that there was something wrong right away. He stared determinedly at the road as he sped along the highway and he didn't look over at me even once.

“What's up?” I finally asked.

“Noting,” he responded dully.

“Alex, you can tell me. You are practically seething, now what is it?”

“Fine.” He let out a long sigh and then began to talk again. “I saw Katelyn in the hallway today and she wasn't alone. She and that other Alex had their arms wrapped around each other. She saw me walk by, so she pulled him closer and started making out with him.”

“So do you think you're jealous?” I asked with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“I'm not really sure, but it just makes me so fucking angry that she purposely does that because she wants to hurt me. What's even worse is that it's working. Every time I see her with that guy, I think of what she did to me and it brings back all those bad memories.”

“She was never a good person. She just does what she wants and does not even consider anyone else. I can't wait until she gets what's coming for her. Every time I see her, I just want to punch her in the face.”

“Wow, Swifter, I never knew you to be so violent. I'm not sure how I feel about that.”

“Yeah, well she brings out that quality in me. It took all I had not to punch her at our party when she showed up with the other Alex.”

“Yeah, I remember that. I was in pretty bad shape that night.”

“You couldn't even get up off the floor. I practically had to carry you upstairs.”

“Thanks for being there for me. I really needed you that night.”

I shrugged. “You would have done the same for me.”

He stopped the car as we reached Kara's house. “I still really need you,” he said as he turned to look at me after he turned the motor off. There was a deep sincerity in his eyes.

“We'll always have each others backs,” I said looking into those deep brown eyes. We both just looked at each other deciding what to say next, but then I jumped as I heard a loud tap on my window. I turned to see Jack standing there waving at me foolishly. Alex and I both got out of the car.

“Hi, friends,” said Jack. “I'm so excited to get trashed, so lets go!” He motioned us over and practically skipped to Kara's van. Alex and I exchanged a look and I just laughed and shook my head as we piled into the van. Everyone else was already there so Kara started driving as soon as she saw that we were settled in the car.

We later found out that Jack was high on caffeine, so he had a very hard time controlling his energy on the way there. Poor Kara must have been ready to kill him because she was trying to drive and he was being obnoxious and dancing and screaming. I would have been annoyed if it wasn't so funny.

Half an hour later, we were finally inside after waiting in line outside for awhile. Of course, as soon as we were in, we went straight to the bar. We came during happy hour again so it was a two-for-one special. Before I could put money down for my first set of drinks, Alex handed the bartender some cash. “That should take care of both of us,” he said.

“Alex, you don't have to buy me a drink,” I said.

He waved his hand in the air like it was no big deal. “I want to though.”

“Well thank you,” I said and I smiled at him as the bartender handed me my drinks.

All of a sudden, the Jack attack was in my face. “Come on, Taylor! Let's go dance!” Before I had a chance to answer, he pulled my arm and led me into the middle of the dance floor and started dancing. I tried to drink quickly so that it wouldn't spill all over the place while I was dancing. I looked around and noticed that Alex had not followed us. He must have stayed back at the bar for some reason. I decided to forget about whatever it was that Alex was doing and just have fun with Jack. We danced, even grinded. A little while later, “Good Girls Go Bad” by Cobra Starship started playing and Kara, Rian, and Zack joined us after they had a few drinks in them.

“Where's Alex?” Rian asked as we danced.

“A-Alex is a-a cotton-headed ninnymuggins,” answered Jack. We had been there for less than an hour and he was already drunk.

“What the fuck?” Zack chuckled. “Someone has been watching too much Elf.”

“What? It w-was on l-last night.”

“And why exactly is Alex a cotton-headed ninnymuggins?” asked Kara. She couldn't keep the smile from her face.

“B-because he's n-not here d-dancing with us.”

We stopped talking then because no one could hear anything over the music. Once the song was done, I finally broke away from Jack and went back to the bar to get another set of drinks.

“Hey, Sweetheart, what can I get for you?” asked the bartender as he smiled at me.

“Can I have a sour appletini, please?”

“Coming right up.” He proceeded to make me the drink. As he was making it, I felt a pair of eyes on me, so I turned around and saw Alex walking toward me. As soon as he came up, the bartender gave me my drinks. I handed him cash, but he wouldn't take it.

“It's on the house,” he said winking at me.

“Thank you,” I said smiling at him.

“Free drink, huh? Not bad.”

I turned around to find Alex standing directly in front of me.

“Where did you go?” I asked him. “We couldn't find you and I didn't realize that you weren't following us when Jack pulled me to the dance floor.”

“I was enjoying my alcohol in peace. You and Jack looked like you were having fun out there.” I wasn't sure, but I thought I sensed a feeling of bitterness in his voice.

“It was fun. We were just dancing, nothing more. Why don't you stop being so antisocial and come join us?”

“Lead the way.”

I finished my drinks, took his hand and led him back to the dance floor where everyone else was.

“Nice of you to show up, my brother,” said Rian clapping Alex on the back.

The next song that came on was “Fallin' For You,” by Colbie Caillat. Jack got this really disappointed look on his face.

“Those f-fuckers! Why the h-hell would they p-play a slow song?” he pouted and stomped his foot.

“Uhm, anyway,” said Alex ignoring Jack completely. “Taylor, do you want to dance?”

“I would love to.” I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed his hands on my sides. He smiled at me and I rested my head on his shoulder and smiled as the butterflies in my stomach went crazy.

As I’m standing here
And you hold my hand
Pull me towards you
And we start to dance
All around us
I see nobody
Here in silence
It’s just you and me

I’m trying
Not to tell you
But I want to
I’m scared of what you’ll say
So I’m hiding what I’m feeling
But I’m tired of
Holding this inside my head

I’ve been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don’t know what to do
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’ve been waiting all my life
and now I found ya
I don’t know what to do
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’m fallin’ for you