More Than Just A Mark On My Sheets

Taylor’s POV:

“Hey, Taylor,” Zack shook me awake.
“Hmm?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes. I looked over and the little crib Jack bought and saw Jason still sleeping peacefully.
“I have off today, so do you wanna like, hang out?” He asked hesitantly.
“Sure,” He smiled slightly. “Where are we going?”
He shrugged. “Where do you want to go?”
I sat up and ran my fingers through my knotted hair. “Let’s just walk around, I’ll figure something out,” He nodded. “Who’s going to watch Jason?”
“Barry said he’ll do it,” He said.
“Okay,” I yawned. “I’m going to get changed now,” I announced, standing up slowly and grabbing a Glamour Kills shirt and black skinny jeans off of the floor and going into the bathroom.
After running a flat iron through my hair at least six times, throwing on my clothes and applying my eyeliner, I was ready.
“What took you so long?” Zack chuckled as I walked out of the bathroom.
“Perfection takes time,” I smirked, walking over to Barry who was watching a Full House rerun. “Barry Bear!” I cooed.
He turned his head and smiled at me. “Taylor, what’s up?” He asked.
“You’re taking care of Jason today, right?” He nodded.
“Don’t worry, I won’t get him a tattoo. Maybe just a piercing or two,” He teased.
I pulled Jason’s formula out of my bag and mixed it in a bottle, placing it under the microwave. “As soon as he wakes up, heat this for a minute, and give it to him. You have to keep checking the bottle; because once it’s empty you have to take it away so he doesn’t suck the air. If he’s not asleep by one, put him in his crib and stay there until he falls asleep. Got it?” I instructed.
“I think so…” Barry furrowed his brow in fake confusion.
“Stop playing around!” I whined.
He laughed. “I’m sorry.” He smiled. “I’ve taken care of kids before, I had two little sisters. He’ll be fine, I promise. Go out and have a good time,”
“If I come back and my baby is dead I’ll kill you,” I threatened.
“Go,” He grinned wider, pushing me out the door, Zack being pushed out shortly after me. I stood staring at the door, worrying about Jason. I always worried about him, even when he was with me. I think it’s the way a mother is supposed to feel.
“Taylor?” Zack waved his hand in front of my face.
“What?”
“Barry won’t let him die,” Zack laughed.
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go,” I said, walking slowly away from the bus, turning my head every few seconds. Zack placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward, trying to make me go faster. “Okay, okay, I’ll walk normally!” I gave in, picking up my speed and turning my eyes away from the bus. “Sorry, it’s just… I don’t know. It’s weird. I’m super protective of him,” I mumbled.
“That’s how you’re supposed to be, right?” I nodded.
“Yeah,” I looked up at the sky, staring at the sun that was only peeking out through all the clouds that filled the Pittsburgh morning sky. “I’m hungry,” I announced randomly.
“Than we shall go get food,” Zack smiled, linking my arm with his. The sudden touch of his skin brought back memories of the night we met, but I shook off the flashbacks the best I could.
“Where should we go?” Zack looked around.
“McDonalds is the only good place within walking distance,” He mentioned.
“Let’s go there, than.” I said.
He smiled and guided me towards the road, stopping at the curb and waiting for the cars to stop so we could cross.
“I don’t have any money,” I realized.
“I wasn’t going to let you pay, anyways,” He said, pulling my hand as we ran across the road to the other side, the McDonalds coming into view. “I’m a gentleman,” He pretended to curtsy, making me giggle.
My phone rang out to the chorus of Circles, signaling one of the boys from All Time Low was calling me. It obviously wasn’t Zack, because he was right next to me, so it was probably Jack.
I fished my phone out of my pocket and I was right. It was Jack. I flipped it open and pressed it to my ear.
“Hey, Jacky,” I greeted.
“Tater, where did you go? I can’t find you? Did somebody kidnap you and rape you?” Jack asked. I could picture him hopping up and down and looking around for me everywhere.
“I’m with Zack,” I laughed. “We’re going to McDonalds, we’ll be back later,”
“But you were going to give me a mohawk!” Jack whined. Zack cocked his eyebrow at me.
“I’ll do it when I get back, I promise.” I giggled.
“Okay, have fun,”
“Make sure Barry doesn’t kill my son!” I said seconds before the line went dead.
- - -

“So…” Zack took a sip out of his Coke and set it down, looking at me from across our booth, his blue eyes filled with various emotions.
A wolf whistle filled my ears and I turned my head to see four guys checking me out. Zack noticed them, too, and his eyes were now filled with anger as he glared at them.
“Hey, baby,” One guy mustered up the courage to say to me, smirking.
I noticed all four of them had their eyes glued on my chest, and after a few moments, I got fed up. “Can you all stop staring at my boobs and get lost?”
“Feisty,” One of them chuckled. “I like it,” He winked at me.
“C’mon Zack, let’s go,” I stood up, grabbed the food and walked out, Zack following behind me.
“Stop checking out my ass!” I called over my shoulder to them before Zack opened the door for me.
“Assholes,” Zack and I muttered in unison. We looked at each other and laughed.
“Let’s sit over there,” I skipped over to a wide patch of grass that was shaded by a tree, the shadow of the leaves and branches shielding the sun. He followed me and we both sat down, facing each other.
“Taylor,” He sighed, looking down.
“What’s up?” I asked, crossing my legs.
“I’m sorry,” He fumbled with the hem of his shirt, not making eye contact with me.
Oh great. He was going to tell me he couldn’t have me on tour. This was it. I would have to go find some way to get enough money to get an apartment. He was going to make me raise Jason on my own.
As these thoughts flooded my head I didn’t notice the tears that started forming.
“Why are you crying?” He asked, looking at me with concern.
“You’re kicking me off tour,” I mumbled, playing with my fingers and biting my lip.
“No I’m not,” I looked up. “Why in the world would you think that? I have a heart, you know,” He chuckled.
“I just… I don’t know.” I shrugged, wiping the stray tears away. “Why are you apologizing, than?”
“What’s not to apologize for?” He questioned, seeming frustrated with himself.
“Zack, it wasn’t all your fault,”
“But I left,” He shook his head. “And I got you pregnant, and you got kicked out of your house, and-”
“Zack, it was my fault, too.” I interrupted him.
“But I was the one who left you alone,” He exhaled sharply. “I just wish this didn’t happen to you,”
“I couldn’t get an abortion,” I shook my head. “Zack, I saw him on the ultrasound, and I just… I couldn’t. There was no way I was going to kill him,” I remembered the day I went to get the ultrasound. The lady was nice, but my mom was being a total bitch, commenting about how he wasn’t a person yet and how he wasn’t living. But I knew he was living. He was alive since the night Zack and I had sex. I wasn’t going to kill such a helpless little thing.
“No, I wasn’t even thinking that,” He responded.
“Hey, Zack?” I said after a few minutes of silence and eating.
“That’s me,” He smiled, making me smile slightly as well.
“Can I tell you something?”
“Anything,” He nodded.
“I don’t regret having Jason,” I said.
“You mean you like being a mother this young?” He asked.
“Well, yeah. Without Jason, I don’t know where I would be right now. He makes me happy,”
“I think I know what you mean,” He murmured. “Plus, without him, we wouldn’t have become friends,” Friends. The word struck me. Friends didn’t raise a kid together. Friends didn’t go to their sons wedding as his parents. Friends didn’t get each other pregnant.
But I guess it was going to have to work. As much as I knew it wouldn’t, I would have to give it a shot. I found myself becoming strangely attracted to Zack. But, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised that I kind of missed the feeling he gave me that night, although it only happened once. It also didn’t surprise me that he just wanted to be friends.
“Yeah,” I whispered, our eyes locking for a moment.
“I think we better get back to the bus,” He said after a minute, standing up, blushing a little bit. He took my hand and pulled me up from the grass onto my feet.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, our hands still touching.
As we walked back, our arms linked like they were on the way to McDonalds, I thought about Zack and I parenting Jason, as friends. The only thing we would ever be.
I knew that I didn’t have a crush on him. Well, not yet at least. But it was developing, and I wished it wasn’t, because every time I would hear him say friends my heart would just tear some more. But I was going to do my best to ignore the developing crush I had on the father of my child, and stick to just being friends.