You Belong With Me

Taylor's P.O.V.

As soon as I got everything straightened out with Kara, I got into bed, but sleep was far from my mind. I couldn't stop worrying that something would go wrong with the plan. This had to work out right or my whole future could be jeopardized. There were two possible outcomes: Alex would tell me he loved me, or I would make a complete fool out of myself. Only time would tell.

Even though Jack told me that Alex loved me, a part of me doubted it. Maybe Jack had misunderstood Alex when he said that or maybe Alex just meant that he loved me as a friend. Either way, I had to find out. Now that Jack said that, I had to hear Alex's true feelings for me directly from his own mouth. It would make me or break me.

Soon, my alarm went off and it was time to start this crazy day that would change everything in one way or another. First was the nail appointment. I decided on a white on white French manicure to go with my dress: simple, yet elegant.

After the nail appointment, I went back home and tied my hair back and put on my big glasses. It would be awhile until my hair appointment and I had to make sure Alex would think that I wasn't going tonight. I plopped down on my bed and took out a textbook.

It caught my attention when I noticed his light turn on next door. Jack told me that Alex said he needed to get ready early because Katelyn's parents weren't available to take pictures later, which worked out very well for our plan. I couldn't help but gawk at how handsome he looked and I was so grateful that his back was turned to me as he studied himself in the mirror. He wore a white shirt with a black vest and a black bow tie over it. It seemed he had actually taken the time to straighten his hair and push it off to one side of his face so that it lay in thick tufts just above his right eye. God, how I wanted that boy!

When he turned around, I quickly looked down at my book again pretending to study. A few seconds later, I saw the light of his laser blinking twice through my window, so I grabbed my white board from my nightstand and looked out the window at his gorgeous face.

You going tonight? he wrote. I told him I would be home, but I guess he thought I would change my mind.

No, studying, I wrote back.

Wish you were! He then proceeded to draw a sad face. That one simple statement gave me hope that maybe tonight would work out after all.

Have a great time! I wrote back.

Thanks! He smiled at me and waved and then walked out of his room.

As soon as I saw his car leave his driveway, I ran over to my nightstand and picked up my phone to call Kara.

“Hey, he just left,” I said when she answered the phone.

“Great,” she replied. “Now, remember what we discussed before. You'll go to your hair and makeup appointment while we are all getting our pictures taken. Then, you'll come back to your house and get into your dress. The limo should be there to pick you up around 6:30. Jack said the driver would drop all of us off at prom first and then he would come back for you. Do you still have your ticket?”

“Yeah Jack bought it for me when we were supposed to go together and I never got rid of it.”

“Good, so you can be ready by 6:30?”

“Yup. I can't believe I'm actually doing this,” I breathed.

“I can't wait to see Alex's face when he sees how beautiful you are going to look. It's going to be great.”

“Thanks for all your help, Kar,” I said sincerely. “I honestly don't think I could have pulled this off without you.” Kara's mom was a beautician, so she pulled some strings to get me a last-minute appointment.

“You would have done the same thing for me,” she responded. “Anyway, I'd better go. I have to go get ready myself. Call or text me if something happens. I can't wait until tonight! Good luck!”

“Ok, will do and thanks!” I hung up the phone and looked at my watch. It was just about time to go to my hair and makeup appointment, so I grabbed my keys and left.

By the time 6:15 came around, I was ready and anxiously waiting for the limo to get here. I decided to stay simple with my hair too. It laid in soft curls against my shoulders and had about five pounds of hairspray in it since it was so thick. The tip of my hair hung down to the top of my strapless white dress. The dress had a row of silver jewels that wrapped all around it with one square blue jewel in the middle. The center of the dress created a pyramid of material with the blue jewel at the top as its peak. My mom lent me long diamond earrings that dangled and gleamed from my ears and I wore a thick silver bracelet on my right wrist to complete the look.

For the past fifteen minutes, I have been doing nothing but posing for pictures. My mom was so overcome that she was practically in tears. She couldn't believe her baby had grown up so fast and was now on her way to her senior prom. In fact, when I told her I had changed my mind about going last night, she was almost happier than I was.

Finally, the limo arrived, so I hugged my parents goodbye and got in. As soon as I left, I texted Kara and Jack to let them know I was on my way. I may have been leaving my house dateless, but I prayed I wouldn't come back the same way.

Twenty minutes later, I thanked the driver and stepped out of the limo. I took a deep breath and walked straight into the Baltimore National Aquarium. I entered the ballroom to find several of my classmates already on the dance floor. I searched and searched until my eyes finally settled on their destination. When he saw me, his face lit up into the happiest smile I have ever seen and he began to make his way toward me. Here goes nothing, I thought.

Alex's P.O.V.

Today was finally the day we had all been waiting for. Everyone else had been so excited about it, but I began to feel like going with Katelyn was a chore; if I didn't do it, I would get in trouble. I didn't want to go tonight; in fact, I was dreading it. Since Taylor wasn't coming at all, I was left with this giant empty feeling in my stomach. It wasn't going to be any fun without her. I was going to spend the whole time wondering where she was or what she was doing.

When my alarm went off, I got up and immediately got in the shower. I made sure to take as long as possible to get ready. I did everything I could to draw everything out so that I would not have to leave my house. I spent a good half an hour in front of the mirror trying to straighten out my tuxedo so that it looked just right. Of course it was just my luck that I needed to be ready earlier than everybody else. Katelyn's parents had something going on tonight, so they were making us take pictures mid afternoon. What bullshit.

When I turned around to grab my jacket, my heart sank as I saw Taylor studying on her bed with her hair tied back and her big glasses on the tip of her nose. I didn't want to leave yet, so I got my laser and pointed it at her window. I picked up my white board from the top of my desk and wrote, You going tonight? Even though I already knew her answer, I couldn't help but hope.

When she wrote back, No, studying, my heart sunk even more. I wished more than anything I could just stay with her, but I was too deep in over my head now.

Wish you were! I wrote back. I drew a sad face to enforce my feelings.

Have a great time! she wrote. I hoped what I had just said would somehow change her mind, but it didn't.

I wrote, Thanks! and then gave her a little stupid wave. I wish you were my date more than anything, I thought. I love you. Then, I turned around and left. I couldn't prolong the inevitable any longer.

I told my parents that I was ready and we all piled into my car and headed to Katelyn's house where we would take the pictures. Driving to her house was like second nature to me even though I hadn't been there in a very long time. When we got there, I knocked on the large dark brown double front doors and peaked through the oval-shaped glass in the center of one of them. We heard scurrying footsteps and then the door opened to reveal Katelyn's hot mother, Rachel Gander.

Katelyn looked just like her mother. Her mother had that same reddish brown hair, deep green eyes, pale skin, and tall, slender body. The only difference in their appearance was their facial structure and their height; Rachel was slightly taller than her daughter. She opened the door wider and graciously welcomed us inside. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about any introductions because my parents had already met Katelyn's parents back when we were going out.

“Katelyn!” Mrs. Gander called up the stairs. “Alex and his family are here, so hurry up and get down here so that we can take the pictures.”

“Ok I'm coming, I'm coming,” came a voice from upstairs. A few seconds later, I looked up and watched Katelyn descend down the staircase. In a classic, cliché moment like this, she would have taken my breath away, but she didn't. Don't get me wrong, she definitely looked good in her long, strappy red dress, but her beauty was nothing of what it used to be in my eyes. Her beauty shied in comparison to someone else's.

“How do I look?” she asked me as she got to the bottom.

“You look good,” I told her and it wasn't a lie.

“Thanks.” She smiled at me.

Her dad joined us and we began to take the pictures. I placed the red rose corsage I had gotten her on her wrist and she pinned a white rose to my jacket pocket. We proceeded to get pictures all over her house, both inside and out. In each and every picture, I wished that Taylor was the girl in my arms instead of Katelyn.

An hour later, we were finally done with the first batch of pictures, so my parents, Katelyn, and I piled back into my car and headed to Rian's house where we would take group pictures and the limo would pick us up from there. Once we got there, we went through the same motions as last time, except this time, each picture was a different pose and we stood in all different places and orders. By the time we were finally done, all seven of us were exasperated and ready to leave.

The limo arrived at 5:30 to pick us up, since prom would start at 6:00. We got into the limo and waved goodbye to our parents as we drove away. Jack searched the vehicle and found a bottle of champagne and some glasses, so he filled them up and passed them out.

“I would like to propose a toast,” he said when he finished filling up his own glass. We all raised our glasses in the air and listened to what he was about to say. “To tonight,” he continued. “May it be a night that changes everything.” He looked straight at me when he said the last part for some reason.

“To tonight,” we all chorused and then clinked our glasses together and drank.

Soon, the limo pulled up to the curb of the aquarium and we all got out. The driver told us that he would be back later to pick us all up and drove off. We all presented our tickets at the front door and proceeded inside.

The lights on the walls and the strobe lights surrounding the dance floor served as the only sources of light in the large ballroom. Each door or archway was engulfed in tiny lights. The dance floor in the center of the room had tables and chairs all around it with the DJ's table against the right wall in the middle of it. In the back left corner of the room stood a memory wall where students could go to write their favorite memories of senior year. All in all, the room seemed like the perfect prom atmosphere.

As soon as we found a table and put some of our stuff down, Kara and Jack excused themselves saying that they both had to go to the bathroom. That seemed kind of odd to me, but I shrugged it off. Waiters came to our table and we put in our drink orders. After that, Rian went off to talk to some of his other friends and Zack and his date Laura wanted to dance, leaving Katelyn and I alone at the table.

“I'm really glad you asked me to prom, Alex,” she said after a few minutes.

“Me too,” I responded. I left out the fact that I wanted her to be Taylor.

Five minutes later, Kara and Jack finally returned and joined us at the table. When they saw that I noticed they were whispering back and forth, they abruptly stopped. Those two were definitely up to something. I would have to find out what it was later.

“So, Jack, why didn't you bring a date?” Katelyn asked.

“I figured I may arrive at prom dateless, but I sure as hell wouldn't go home dateless,” he responded. “You see, I think of it like this: there are plenty of hot girls here that don't have dates, so I will just take one of them home at the end of the night.”

“Good luck with that, buddy,” I chuckled. “Did you ever wonder if maybe there was a reason why some of them don't have dates?”

“Nah, some of these girls are just begging for a Jack Attack in the sack.”

Everyone at the table burst into laughter.

The DJ announced that dinner was now served, so we all got up and joined the buffet line. We said hi to some of our other friends and got our food and then sat back down. As I had previously predicted, Taylor was the only thing on my mind as I ate. What was she doing right now? Had she already eaten dinner? As soon as I was about to excuse myself and go to the bathroom to call her, the DJ's voice once again sounded into the microphone.

“Hey kids!” he said. “I hope you are all having a great time so far. I'm going to take the time to slow it down a little bit while some of you are still eating, but feel free to get those feet out of the dance floor.” He began to play “Wasted” by Carrie Underwood.

“I love this song!” Katelyn gushed and then she turned to face me. “Alex, will you dance with me?” I nodded, so she took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor. She wrapped her hands around my neck and I placed mine on her hips.

“I really missed you after I lost you,” she said. “I made a huge mistake and I'm sorry for how much I hurt you.”

“At least you realize all the mistakes you've made.”

“I'm trying to be better,” she agreed. “You didn't deserve what I did to you and I want to make it up to you.”

“Good for you,” I said. “But, don't do it for me, do it for yourself. I know you are capable of being a better person.”

“Thank you for having faith in me,” she responded.

I shrugged. “Someone's got to.”

She stood on her tiptoes, closed her eyes and began to move her head closer to mine. Once I realized what she wanted to do, I moved my head back.

“I'm sorry, Katelyn, but I can't do that,” I said and she opened her eyes.

“Oh God, Alex, I'm so sorry,” she said. “I'm such a moron.”

“You're not a moron. I just don't have those feelings for you anymore.”

“I never should have done that. I knew you don't have the same feelings for me, yet I tried to kiss you anyway.”

“It's really ok,” I said. “Don't worry about it.”

“No, it's not. This whole time, I noticed that your mind was somewhere else and I couldn't help but notice that Taylor wasn't riding in that limo with us. I saw that longing in your eyes. I can tell that you love her. She's the one that should be here with you right now, not me. You deserve to be happy, Alex, so go do what makes you happy.” With that, she let go of me and walked away.

For a moment, I stood in the middle of the dance floor still trying to comprehend what had just happened. I realized that she had released me of my obligation to her. I was now free to do whatever I wanted. I decided that I would go call a taxi to take me back home. It was time for me to go get my girl. However, when I turned around, I saw an angel in a white strapless dress. I blinked to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. She was the one who took my breath away. I made my way toward her and she met me in the middle of the dance floor.

“Hi,” she said nervously.

“Hi,” I repeated, cracking a smile. “I thought you said you weren't going to come.”

“I changed my mind,” she responded

“I can see that. Taylor, you look, you look, God, I can't even describe it. You look completely amazing.”

“Thank you,” she smiled up at me.

“So what made you change your mind?”

“Actually, it was Jack. He made me realize a few things that I didn't before.”

“Oh yeah and what's that?”

She looked around the room as she tried to form an answer in her mind. She saw something that made her smile and then she took my hand and pulled me away from the dance floor. “Follow me,” she said as she led me to her set destination. She had taken me to the memory board set up all the way in the back of the room. When we got there, she turned around to face me. “Alex, there's something I have to tell you.”

“Good,” I smiled, “because there's something I have to tell you too.”

She took a marker from the bottom of the board and began to write me a message. When she was done, she stepped back so that I could read what she wrote. Three little words were written in her neat but loopy handwriting.

I love you.

For a minute, I stood rooted to the spot. Again, I had to blink to make sure I wasn't seeing things. She just said she loved me. There was no way this was real. I was living in a dream.

“Tell me what you're thinking,” she said nervously.

Wordlessly, I took the marker from her hands and wrote my own message on the board. My handwriting wasn't nearly as neat as hers. When I stepped back to show it to her, she looked just as surprised as I was.

I love you too.

“Do you really mean it?” she asked breathlessly.

I put my hand under her chin and lifted her head so that I was looking her right in the face. “I love you, Taylor Alison Swift. I think I have loved you ever since the beginning of senior year, but I just couldn't see it yet. We were late that first day because I couldn't stop staring at you and how beautiful you looked when you slept. I wanted that moment to last forever. When you kissed me a few days later, it scared me to death. I thought everything was going to change between us and I was confused, so I made the biggest mistake of my life; I ran away. I thought about you every single second for those two months we were apart. I was completely miserable without you, but then I remembered that we had both made a promise to Eric, so I had him remind you of that. You might not have wanted to do anything for me back then, but I knew you would do anything for him. Luckily, I was right and you came. When Eric died and Katelyn dumped me, you were there for me despite how I treated you before. You are the reason why I made it through; I couldn't have done it without you. Then, you got sent in a demo and got my band a record deal. You are the most unbelievable person I know and I don't deserve you, but there it is. I love you. I was going to get a taxi so that I could come tell you myself, but you beat me to the punch.” By the time I was done my little speech, I could see the tears forming in her eyes, so I wiped them away for her.

“You, you were going to come back for me?” she asked.

“Yup,” I responded. “I was on my way out, but then I saw you. I saw an angel for the first time tonight.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed through her tears. “Stop, Alex. You sound like one of those cheesy love quotes.”

“Sorry,” I said apologetically. The DJ began to play “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. “May I have this dance?” I got down into a little bow and offered her my hand. She took it without hesitation.

“Yes you may, good sir.” I led her back to the dance floor and held her in my arms as the song played.

“So, what was it that Jack made you realize?” I asked as we danced.

“How much I love you,” she answered. “After Jack told me he didn't want to go with me anymore, I decided I wasn't going to go with anyone but you. When you told me you were going with Katelyn, I was really upset, but I knew I didn't have a right to be since I had already turned you down. After Jack went with you to buy Katelyn's corsage, he drove over to my house and told me what you said about me in the car. He told me that you loved me, but I wasn't sure if I should believe him. He told me that you wouldn't come after me because you were afraid that I stopped loving you, but I haven't. Even if I may have wanted to, I couldn't stop loving you. I decided that I would go after you since you were too much of a chicken to go after me. Jack and I came up with a plan and Kara was in on it too. Now, here I am.”

“Oh, that's what those two were whispering about!” I realized. “I'll have to find a way to thank the two of them later.”

“What happened with you and Katelyn?” she asked.

I told her the whole story. By the time I was done, her mouth was hanging open and I couldn't help but chuckle.

“Wow,” she said. “I never thought I would actually feel grateful to that girl for telling you to be with me. I guess hell just got a little colder.”

Then, someone jumped on my back and almost knocked Taylor and me down. I turned around and saw that it was none other than Jack.

“So did you two tell each other you love each other yet?” he asked excitedly.

“We did,” said Taylor and she smiled at him.

“Yay!” he cheered. “So I guess this means you two are a couple now?”

“If she'll have me,” I answered.

“Of course I'll have you, you doofus!” she laughed.

“Yes!” Jack cheered and he hugged us both. “Anyway, I'll let you two lovebirds be alone. By the way, Alex, I kind of stole your date. I hope you don't mind.” I looked behind him and noticed that Katelyn was standing there.

“I'm really happy for you two,” she said smiling at us.

“Thank you,” Taylor said warmly. “I really appreciate it.”

“Ok well we're going to go dance now, so we'll see you later,” said Jack as he led Katelyn away from us.

“I'm really glad that they ended up hanging out together,” Taylor said as she watched them go. “She really does seem to be changing.”

“Yeah, maybe I should go back to her,” I joked.

“No sir, you belong with me,” she insisted.

“I wouldn't want it any other way,” I said as I pulled her closer to me.

“We should probably go to the table soon,” she suggested.

“No, we can't do that yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because there's still one thing that we haven't done yet.”

“What's that?”

“This.”

I leaned down and touched my lips to hers. Her soft lips moved in perfect rhythm with mine and I could feel the electricity spark between our bodies as we became more passionate. God, how I loved this girl!