Run, Don't Walk.

Run, Don’t Walk.
Chapter 2.
--
She's sick and she's wrong
She's young dirty blonde
And you sink inside her like a suicide bomb
He says "I've seen bigger"
She says "I've lit better"
And they throw the matches down into the glitter
Not a dry eye left in the house
Go boy, go boy, run for your life
--
It really is beautiful outside , in all honesty. It’s finally spring, the winter was long and snowy for New York. They’re leaving class, stepping out onto the busy sidewalk. His fingers are laced in her own, his denim jacket placed over her shoulders. They’re calm, they’re happy. The world is nice in their eyes, maybe it’ll stay that way for a while, she hopes. He gives her hand a gentle squeeze as he tugs her down the street, a small smile on his lips. His hair is growing out long, blonde highlights against brown, he’s got a carefree feel to him, and he’s gorgeous. He’s perfect, in her eyes. She pauses for a moment, returns the smile and picks up her walking pace so she could catch up to him.

“You know, Tay.” He starts, they’re starting to pass a few stores, his eyes flickering from her and the sidewalk in front of them. “Hmm?” Tay glances up once, then looks at the busy street, then the sidewalk. “We haven’t gone on a date yet.” He tells her, his soft smile turning mischievous, noticing how she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean? Yeah we did.” She shakes her head, sure that they did. She would remember their first date, it was at the coffee shop- Central Perk.

“Nope, that was so we could catch you up on school work.” Alex told her, as if reading her mind. “What about our first kiss? That wasn’t a date?” She continued, slowing her pace down as they came to a crosswalk. “That was when we were hanging out at your apartment, it wasn’t a date.” Alex replied, receiving a ‘Huh.’ In return. “So, what are you trying to say here?” Tay asked, raising her brow now at him. “We should go out on a date.” Alex answered, smirking. “Really?” She laughed, swinging their intertwined hands as they crossed the street.

“Mhm.” Alex nodded, tugging her in the other direction, towards a local park. “Why are we going to the park?” Tay sighed softly, hating the confusion he was causing for her. “So I could ask you out, duh.” Alex informed her, leading her into the park and under a pretty tree, near a grassy area. They had gone to the park a few times before, with friends. It was a nice, quiet place. Nice to study, despite the fact that there was a busy street close by.

“Oh.” Tay blushed slightly as he kneeled before her, laughing a little. “Tay?” Alex grinned, grabbing onto her hand. “Yes, Alex?” Tay giggled, running a free hand through her hair. “I like you a lot, you know that?” Alex started, looking up at her with his beautiful brown eyes. “I do.” Tay answered, nodding slowly. “It’s making me really nervous doing this, because you’re really hot and you’re really sweet, too, so I’m just-I’m just gonna spit it out, alright?” He explained to her playfully, acting of course. “Alright, ‘lex.” Tay nodded once more. “Would you, Taylor, the girl from my English class whose really smart and goofy, who stole my heart, please go out on a date with me?” He asked, watching her lean over and press a sweet kiss to his lips. “Yes, Alex, the boy from my English class, whose a total cheesy goofball, I will go out on a date with you.”

“So, what are you guys doing for your anniversary?” Cassadee asked Tay, smiling brightly as they sat on the blue couch of Tay’s apartment, talking over a few cups of coffee-Well, tea, in Tay’s case. Since she figured out she was pregnant about a month ago, coffee had decided to not taste good anymore. “Probably nothing big, maybe go out for dinner, I dunno.” Tay answered, shrugging. “The baby doing alright? You’re starting to show a bit, Tayson.” Cassadee laughed lightly, leaning over to poke Tay in the stomach. “Hey baby J.” She spoke softly, as if the unborn child could hear her.
“Baby J is doing fine, according to the doctor.” Tay smiled, looking down at her little bump. “Jeez, don’t get me started on the bump. We’re gonna have to go shopping for maternity clothes soon, doc says by the look of it, this baby’s gonna be big.” Tay scrunched up her nose, sighing softly before poking her bump again. “Your baby is gonna be adorable, Tay, I swear. I could see it already!” Cass squealed, grabbing onto Tay’s hands excitedly.

“She-I think it’s gonna be a she- Is gonna have big beautiful brown eyes, big chubby cheeks, and it’s gonna be a happy baby. She’s not gonna cry a lot and she’s always gonna be smiling. And, and, I’m gonna teach her how to be a great cook.” Cassadee sounded like she spent a lot of time fantasizing about Tay and Alex’s child, which probably sounded weird, but Tay didn’t blame her. Out of their friends, her and Alex were the only couple who were having a child, actually starting a family. “I hope so, Cass. This baby is going to be beautiful, no matter the gender.” Tay agreed, giggling a little. “Jeez, why must you always make a comment about my cooking?” She added, letting go of Cass’ hands and turning away playfully. “Because, Tay, your cooking is shit!” Cassadee exclaimed, shaking her head.

“Well, excuse me for not bothering to learn from my mother.” Tay tried, running her fingers through her hair again. “Yeah, you’re excused.” Cassadee rolled her eyes, picking up her phone once she noticed it vibrating. “Who is it?” Tay questioned, noticing the wide smile on Cass’ lips and the look on her face. “Rian, why?” Cass bit her lip, leaning her head against Tay’s shoulder so she could see as well. “Aw, Cass, he’s so sweet.” Tay cooed, reading the text that her friend received. “So, are you guys, like datin-?”

“I’m home!” Alex’s voice yelled out, the front door of the apartment swinging open as he came inside, tugging someone in behind him. “Where were you all day, Gaskarth? Tay’s been crying to me for the past hour about how she thinks that if this keeps happening, you’re gonna leave her, and the baby’s gonna grow up with no father and and.” Cassadee shot up from the couch, dashing across the room and down on her knees in front of Alex, dramatically. Cassadee was studying drama in college, convinced that she was going to be an actress. And with the way she spoke, Alex would’ve believed her..That is, if his girlfriend wasn’t rolling her eyes from the couch. “Oh. We have company.” Cassadee noticed, peaking behind Alex to find a pair of long tan legs, following them up to find a very tall, pretty blonde.

“Working with Marky, told you earlier, Cass.” Alex answered, speaking of his co-worker. The two owned a clothing brand together, called Glamour Kills. It sold well, being there was quite a few musicians who bought from them, and their fans as well. “This, is our new model.” Alex stepped aside, Cassadee popping straight up and Tay slowly walking behind her best friend to get a look at this new model.

She was really tall- Like, taller than Alex. Tay assumed she was around Jordan’s height, which was 6’4”. She was blonde, her hair falling over her shoulders in waves. She was tan, obviously out of state. And had bright blue eyes. “This, is Taylor Swift. She’s a supermodel, and good friends with Hayley from the store Drop Dead- You know, the one Oliver owns?” Alex started, speaking of the red haired girl that Tay and Cassadee both remembered well, and Oliver, the man from the UK with tons of tattoos and an attractive appearance. “Yep.” “Yeah.” The females answered, nodding. “She’s gonna be modeling for Glamour Kills, totally going to give us more business. “ Alex grinned, the blonde female giggling slightly.

“Taylor, this is my friend Cassadee. She models for us sometimes, and she’s studying theatre. I met her in college.” Alex introduced her to Cass, who flicked her short hair out of her eyes and gave a very small smile. “And this is my girlfriend, Tay, who runs a music store down by the café, Central Perk. I also met her in college.” He said, a hint of fondness in his tone as Tay only nodded, crossing her arms.

“Now, Taylor, would you like to see more of the clothes I’ve been working on with Marky? We haven’t exactly decided on selling them yet, but I think that maybe you’ll like them.” Alex asked, receiving a nod. “Alright, I’ll be right back.” He grinned, walking down the hall quickly and disappearing into a back room.

“You seriously want to wear the clothes they’re selling?” Cassadee questioned, looking up at the very tall blonde. “Yeah, they’re really cute.” Taylor answered with a smile, her southern accent poking out in her speech. “You think shirts with the word ‘Boner’ written across it is cute?” Tay questioned, rolling her eyes a bit. “Oh, I mean, I wouldn’t exactly wear that, you know. There’s other..other clothing they have sold that I think is lovely.” Taylor nodded, keeping the smile on her face.
“Alright, so, this is some of the stuff Marky and I came up with in the past week..” Alex started, stepping back into the room with a box in his hands. “Tay and I are going to get coffee.” Cassadee declared, not paying Alex any mind as she linked arms with her best friend, opening the door and exiting the apartment quickly.

“I don’t like her.” Tay said once they reached the outside, a breeze of air hitting them as they began to walk down the sidewalk. “Me neither.” Cassadee agreed, walking quickly with Tay. “She doesn’t like those clothes, it’s obvious. They’re meant for fucking fourteen year olds.” Tay nodded, keeping her eyes in front of her. “She doesn’t look like the type to wear that stuff, I know. She’s obviously a supermodel, who should be sporting Victoria’s Secret, instead. No way in hell does she know Oliver or Hayley.” Cassadee said, breathing in through her nose. “You know Hayley would shoot her down in an instant, Hayley hates those girls.” Tay hummed, biting her lower lip as they turned the corner. “Oliver doesn’t like those girls, either. He wouldn’t interact with her.” Tay continued, spotting the Central Perk easily. Cassadee unlinked their arms, opening the door for Tay and heading in after her.

Jordan and Jack were seated on the couch, talking amongst themselves, while Cameron was leaning against the arm chair and making little comments in the conversation while he could. “Hey girls.” Cameron gave them both warm smiles, watching Cassadee plop between Jack and Jordan, Tay sitting in the armchair. “You met her?” He assumed, sitting on the arm of Tay’s chair as she nodded. “Yep. You guys, too?” Tay asked, Jordan nodding.

“I don’t like her.” Cameron told her, Cassadee let out a little laugh. “I know, we were just talking about that.” She said, Jordan frowned softly while Jack shrugged. “She had a nice body.” The skunk haired man said honestly, getting his shoulder hit by Cassadee. “You know, guys, maybe she’s a nice girl..” Jordan bit his lip, gaining looks from all of them. “Pfft, I mean, yeah. We don’t like her.” He said quickly afterwards.

“So…why is she modeling for Glamour Kills?” Cameron asked, unsure now. It obviously wasn’t for the clothing, and she was most likely lying when she told Alex that she knew Oliver and Hayley. “Isn’t it obvious?” Cassadee asked softly, glancing at Tay, then at Jack, Jordan, and Cameron, in that order. “What’s obvious?” Tay quirked an eyebrow, tilting her head. “Tay, don’t take this the wrong way, please.” Cassadee started carefully, her best friend sitting up slightly as she nodded.
“Look, I’m not into him, but I’m not gonna lie. Alex is cute, he’s attractive. We all know that.” Cassadee took a breath. “So, she’s probably modeling for his attention, she probably likes him or something.” She shrugged.

“Are we gonna get rid of her?” Jordan asked once a silence fell over them, Tay’s face twisting up slightly. “Yeah. We’re getting rid of her.” Jack answered, nodding slowly.