Untouchable

“Is it just me or is this carnival more deserted than usual?” Selena scanned over the park grounds. “Seriously, I can hear Taylor’s stomach all the way over here.”

Taylor grinned and said, “I was keeping it empty so I could stuff it with cotton candy.” He laughed at the group’s expressions. “Don’t act like you think I have an eating disorder or something.”

“Jeez, we don’t think you have an eating disorder.” Emma rolled her eyes and looped her arm through Taylor’s.

“Yeah, it’s more like a brain disorder,” Kellan corrected, sarcastically.

Selena ignored Taylor’s excessive glaring. “Hello! Is someone going to answer my question? This place feels way too deserted. It’s starting to creep me out.” She shivered from something other than the weather and Kellan wrapped his jacket around her.

“We convinced the workers to close off the carnival for us.” Taylor grinned, more than satisfied with himself. “Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.” Emma giggled beside him and leaned into his shoulder.

“Okay, I know you two are in that honeymoon phase or whatever it’s called, but seriously. All this flirting is starting to annoy me. Oh, and you should probably never say that easy-peasy whatever shit anymore. And I really don‘t want to know what you did to get this to ourselves,” Selena announced, sounding extremely bitter and agitated. She caught the hurt expression in the couple’s eyes and quickly changed the subject. “Umm, the beach is a couple of yards from here.” She looked up at Kellan. “Do you want to walk with me?”

Kellan sent Taylor and Emma an apologetic smile, which went unseen by Selena. “Sure, let’s go.”

Taylor watched as they walked into the distance. “Why does she always say those things to me? Do I say the wrong things?” He drew an imaginary circle in the pavement with the tip of his shoe.

Emma pulled him into a hug. “Don’t worry, sweetie. She’s just been stressed out lately. She would never say those things and really mean them.” After a few seconds, Emma laughed. “Is this hug helping? Because I feel like I’m hugging a huge…wolf!”

Taylor broke from her hug. “Ha ha, very funny.” He paused. “So you do think I have an eating disorder?”

“Ohmygosh, are you obsessed with that question? You sound like you’re having a serious case of PMS!”

He opened his mouth to say something, but turned his gaze to the sunset. “Come with me.” He pulled on Emma’s hand and walked her to the base of the Ferris wheel. “Have you ever seen the sunset from the top of a Ferris wheel?”

Emma frowned. “I don’t do well with heights. I get sick easily.”

“Well then this’ll be a great time to test our trust.” He smiled sweetly and told the worker something Emma couldn’t comprehend. The worker pulled up the protective rail and pushed it back down when the couple was seated.

Emma jumped slightly when the Ferris wheel jerked to life. “Taylor, if I throw up on you, I’m so sorry.”

Laughter glowed brightly in his chocolate brown eyes. “And I’ll forgive you if you do.”

She swallowed softly and relaxed as she snuggled into him. “How did this happen?”

“How did what happen?”

“Us.”

Taylor grinned slightly. “That’s an easy one. You came to the set of my movie and my beautiful face charmed the hell out of you.” He smirked, letting her know he was being overly cocky on purpose. “You liked me so much you even asked if I had a girl name.”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “That’s not what I meant.” Emma sighed. “I thought all guys would be like Cody. I…I didn’t know that someone like you could be out there for me.”

“Someone like me?”

Emma nodded slowly and touched his face softly. “Yes. You care for me in so many ways. You see me for who I am and not what people think I am. And for once in my life, I have someone here for me, because I obviously don’t have a family to care of me. I think…” She closed her mouth quickly, shutting the awaiting words inside.

“You think what,” Taylor frowned, wanting desperately to hear the words he knew she wanted to say.

“I think you’re beautiful.” Her cover-up would have passed as the truth, if the words hadn’t spilled out too swiftly. She laughed lightly to try and lighten the mood, but she could still see the hurt that clearly painted itself across his face.

“Em, I know you’re afraid. I know you think I’m going to leave you, but I will never do that. I could never even think of doing that to you. It hurt me so much to do it to you the first time and I can’t feel that way again. I had to literally fight against the feeling that was telling me to pull you into my arms that night.” He kissed her cheek and wiped the fresh tears from her face. “You’re too beautiful to be sad.” He leaned in to kiss her, but she evaded him.

“The last time somebody told me that I wound up on the cover of the tabloids.”

“Does somebody mean Cody,” Taylor asked, anger clouding his eyes.

Emma moved away from him. “Yes, that’s what it means. I can’t have this happen to me again. I just can’t! If you don‘t have any intentions of having a real relationship with me, one that doesn‘t involve sex before marriage, I want you to tell me right now.”

“Where is this coming from?”

“Please, just please, answer the question. I need to know.”

Taylor pulled a reluctant Emma into a tight embrace. “Of course that’s what I want. I want a relationship with you. I‘m not asking you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I‘m sorry that I couldn‘t have met you before that asshole did this to you.”

“I wish that I hadn’t been stupid enough to date him in the first place.”

“Emma, there’s something I should tell you.”

She nodded. “Go ahead.”

“I saw you at the restaurant when you were there with Cody. I thought things happened differently between you two. I thought you were the one that wasn’t supposed to be there, not Miley.” He stared at the ground below them. “I misjudged you. And I feel like such a jackass for doing that, but I had to tell you.”

Emma swallowed loudly and buried her face in his chest. “I think that’s what everyone thought.”

“But I don’t want to be everyone. I want to be the only one.”

The Ferris wheel came to a stop at the very top and Emma stared out into the sky. “It’s the sunset. You did this on purpose.”

Taylor smirked again. “Guilty as charged.”

“So tell me why you wanted to get me up here. Because I have no idea why I even let you talk me into getting on this thing.” She rose her head from his chest and her face was only inches from his.

He held her face in his hands and brushed away the hair that had been framing her face. “I wanted to be able to do this.” He brought his lips to hers and kissed her. It was soft and sweet and it felt like it had lasted an eternity. All too soon, it was over.

Emma opened her eyes to his smiling face and rested her head against his chest, listening carefully to his heartbeat. “I can’t imagine being without you.”

Taylor cradled her against him and after a few seconds of silence, he spoke. “I love you.”