My Heart Belongs to You

Sitting at the kitchen counter the next morning, Taylor stared into her bowl of cereal and pushed it around with her spoon. Her mom had left for work before Taylor had even woken up, leaving her alone and oddly she was okay with that. Checking the time, Taylor headed out the front door and made her way over to where Dylan was waiting.

"Hey," Dylan said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against his chest, "How are you doing?"

"Ask me again once I get through the school day," Taylor mumbled into the crook of his neck.

Pulling away, Taylor took a deep breath and followed Dylan towards the school. Feeling her chest constrict as they approached the double doors, she froze and swallowed nervously. Watching Dylan turn back to look at her, Taylor shook her head and moved to sit on one of the benches that lined the wall.

"Talk to me," Dylan stated, crouching down in front of her and resting his hands on her knees.

"I can't face everyone... not today."

"I know that it sucks, Tay, but you don't have to suffer through today alone," Dylan told her as Tammy joined them, "We'll be right here with you."

Closing her eyes, Taylor took another deep breath and, with her friends by her side, she walked into the school building. By the time lunch came around, she had had enough and decided to hide away in the art room. Drawing a few small doodles on the page in front of her, Taylor slipped away into her own thoughts and jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Mr. Corrick said as he sat down next to her, looking at the drawings she had done and smiling, "Are they memories or random ideas?"

"Every year without fail, my dad would take me to a football game or baseball game for his birthday," Taylor explained, feeling tears well up in her eyes and a lump form in her throat, "He hated his birthday and would always complain about getting older, but we always celebrated it with me. Last year, even though he wasn't feeling at all well, he insisted on going to the teams big match and spending one final birthday doing what made him happy."

"Sounds like a great tradition."

"He'd always make me pinky promise that I wouldn't mention what day it was, like it was our little secret..." Taylor added, wiping away a few tears that rolled down her cheeks, "I'd wake him up in the morning with a handmade card and a cake that I'd helped write 'Happy not Birthday' on, which always seemed to put the biggest smile on his face."

"He sounds like a great guy... why are you hiding away in here anyway?" Mr. Corrick asked.

"I just needed to get away, I was starting to feel... I guess suffocated is a good way of describing it."

"Do you feel like that often?"

"I've always suffered from anxiety, but it definitely got worse after my dad died," Taylor admitted, keeping her gaze on her hands, "Sometimes it feels as though I'm under water and no matter how hard I try, I just can't reach the surface to breathe... it's like I'm drowning in my emotions."

"It will get easier, Taylor," Mr. Corrick promised, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly and leaving her as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch.

Making it through the rest of the day, Taylor met up with Tammy at her locker and was collecting her books when Dylan joined them.

"How are you doing?"

"I've been better."

"Come to the game, I need all the support I can get out there and it'll be a good way for you to remember your dad."

Hesitating for a few minutes, Taylor finally came to a decision and nodded in agreement. Sitting with Tammy on the bleachers, Taylor cheered as the team ran out onto the field and the game began. Their team was in the lead by the end of the first half and the usual half time show was about to begin, but something was different.

Keeping her focus on Dylan as he jogged to the middle of the field, she realized that he was holding a microphone and listened as he brought it up to his mouth.

"Most of you won't know this, but today is a very special man's birthday," Dylan stated, causing Taylor to gasp and place her hand over her mouth to silence the sob that escaped her lips, "Tragically he passed away after fighting his illness for a long time, leaving behind a daughter and a tradition that they always shared. This year is the first birthday that his daughter has had to spend without him and as her friend, I really wanted to do something that would make today a little more bearable, so Taylor... can you come down here."

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Taylor made her way onto the field and approached Dylan with silent tears running down her cheeks.

"I know that you wish your dad was here with you tonight and that today was hard for you to handle," Dylan added as he took one of Taylor's shaking hands in his, "I've been planning this for a little while with the help of the team and it won't bring him back, but I hope that it will offer you some light on one of your darkest days."

Motioning for someone to join them, Taylor turned to see another member of the team carrying a large bundle of balloons and frowned as Dylan handed her a pair of scissors. Flinching as the flood lights were turned off, Taylor noticed that all the team was holding candles and with a nudge from Dylan she cut the string to release the balloons. Melting into Dylan's side as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Taylor watched as the balloons floated higher and higher into the sky.

"Happy not birthday, dad, I love you," she whispered, burying her face into Dylan's neck and allowing all her pent up emotions to escape.