My Heart Belongs to You

Heading to her locker after another confrontation with Michelle, Taylor put her books in and slammed the door shut. Resting her forehead against the cool metal, she took a deep breath and went to meet Tammy out on the bleachers.

"I heard about what Michelle said to you," Tammy stated as Taylor sat down, looking over at where Dylan and the team were practicing, "Why do you let her get away with it?"

"It's not worth the trouble."

"She disrespected your dad again and she told you to die, why would you not want to confront her about that?"

"Why does it matter so much to you?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm your friend, Taylor... I'm tired of watching you get hurt and pushed around by others," Tammy snapped, barging passed Taylor and storming into the school without another word.

Running her hand over her face, Taylor groaned in frustration and kicked the bench in front of her. Hearing a cheer from the field, she glanced up and spotted Dylan watching her. Averting her gaze to the ground, Taylor shook her head and followed Tammy inside. It was weird sitting in class and not having Tammy trying to get her attention, but she wasn't going to be the one to make the first move to fix things with her.

Walking home at the end of the day, Taylor decided to swing by the batting cages and vent some of the anger she felt. Greeting Brad with a smile, she made her way to an empty cage and thanked him as he set up her automatic pitcher. Adjusting her grip on the handle, Taylor swung at the incoming pitch and smiled in satisfaction at the cracking sound created by the bat connecting solidly with the ball.

Taking a break, Taylor sat on the counter talking to Brad about how she could further improve her swing and looked up as Dylan's voice caught her attention. Excusing herself, she jumped down and approached him.

"We need to talk," Taylor said, following Dylan as he walked away and grabbing his arm to stop him, "Dylan, please..."

"What?" Dylan replied, spinning around with his arms out to the side and watching Taylor expectantly.

"I just want you to talk to me again," Taylor mumbled, letting her shoulders slump in defeat and staring at her feet as she continued, "These last couple of weeks have been rough with Michelle hell bent on getting revenge, then today I fell out with Tammy over my refusal to stand up for myself... it just feels as though I'm losing everything I care about."

"So, you want to fix things because you fell out with your best friend and have no one else?"

"No," Taylor snapped, fighting to stop the tears from falling, "I want to fix things because after my argument with Tammy and each confrontation with Michelle, you were the person that I wished I could run to."

Chuckling weakly at how pathetic she sounded, Taylor turned away from him and left without giving Dylan time to respond. Arriving home, she made herself something to eat and went to her room.

Sitting on the bed with her sketch pad, Taylor started on her art project and had just begun sketching her tigers head when a red dot appeared on the duvet beside her. Frowning, she looked out her window and saw Dylan standing in his room with his board held up.

I've hated not talking to you he had written, rubbing it out and replacing it with another message, I miss you

I miss you too Taylor scribbled down, lowering it and writing something else, I'm sorry

Buffy?

Smiling, Taylor nodded and went downstairs to open the door. Seeing Dylan already waiting on the other side, she threw herself into his arms and finally let her tears fall. Lying on the bed, Taylor sat up from where she had been curled into Dylan's side and watched him for a few moments in silence.

"Why did you forgive me?" Taylor asked.

"I saw the pain in your eyes and I hated knowing that I was partly responsible for putting it there," Dylan stated, "I never want to be the reason for your pain, Tay... never."

Swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat, Taylor settled back down and returned her focus to the laptop screen. She knew that things weren't perfect between them, but he was there and it made something loosen within her chest.

She didn't like it when she fell out with Tammy and she missed her best friend already, but for some reason not talking to Dylan had torn her apart inside. Later that night, Taylor logged onto her Facebook and noticed that she had a message from Kevin. Clicking on it, she read it through and couldn't help smiling at his words.

'Being weak doesn't make you worthless, being strong doesn't make you invincible, but having those two sides makes you... you. Always be you, beautiful.'

Sending him a heart emoji in reply, Taylor logged out and put her laptop on the side. Moving over to her window, she paused as Dylan held up his finger for her to wait and scribbled something down before changing his mind.

Sleep tight the board read as he held it up, but Taylor knew that that wasn't what he was originally going to show her and frowned.

Night Taylor wrote back, before waving and closing the curtains.