Taylor rolled over on his side and smiled at the moniter that was sitting on the pillow next to him. He could hear two sets of breathing. One was the raspy, snoring sound of Zac in his sleep, and one was Carter. Her breaths came in short, gasping, puffs as if she had just finished running a mile up hill.
Taylor swung his legs over the side of his bed and pulled a pair of jeans over his boxers. Shirtless, he walked across the chilly balcony and pushed the door open to Carter's side of the house. He laughed when he noticed the bookshelf was still laying face down on the floor, and then walked down the hall to where Carter's bedroom was.
She was laying there in a tanktop that showed her stomach and a little pair of plaid shorts that looked like they were his. He wondered when she had the time to steal everybody else's clothes.
Carter rolled over, kicking the blanket completely off of the bed. She mumbled something and started breathing heavily again. Taylor sat down next to her and shook her shoulder lightly. "Car... hey..."
Carter's eyes fluttered open slowly and she stared up at him. She was still a little dazed, not quite sure where he had come from. "Hey." She whispered softly and looked around for her blanket.
"Here." Taylor picked her maroon, flannel, blanket up off of the ground and laid it on top of her.
"Thanks." Carter smiled and curled up into a ball, facing him. "Why did you wake me up?"
Taylor sat down on her bed. "Because you sounded like you were having a bad dream."
"Was I?" She closed her eyes for a second and thought. "Yeah I was." She nodded. "Usually Zac wakes me up when I sleepwalk or dream..."
"He must be really tired."
Carter nodded and glanced over at the moniter when she heard a faint click. She knew what it was, but she wasn't sure if Taylor noticed. She smiled and laughed lightly.
"What?"
"Zac turned off his moniter."
"So?"
She shook her head. "One time when you and I were going out, and we were sitting in here talking and you kissed me... he turned off the moniter then too."
Taylor smiled. Note to self: Get Zac a big present. "How did you know?"
"Well, I'm so used to the walkie talkies being on all the time. Now that we got the three way moniters, you can hear them being shut off. They just make this little clicking noise."
"Oh."
Carter rolled over onto her back. "So are you going to stay?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On if you want me to stay or not. I could stay, and keep you up all night talking like you and Zac do. Or I could leave, and let you sleep. Or I could stay, and watch you sleep." He smiled.
Carter shifted uncomfortably under her covers.
"What? What'd I say?" Taylor blushed.
"Nothing I just..."
"Say it."
Carter sat up and looked Taylor straight in the eyes. "I don't want you to take the place of Zac. Ever." Taylor looked down at the bed and Carter put her hand under his chin to lift it back up. "Listen to me. You're so caught up in being Zac. It's covering up who you are. If I really wanted to date my best friend... don't you think I still would be? That time in history is over, in the past. Zac's always going to be my best friend in the world, but never my boyfriend. He was for a few months but... I need something different than that and so does he. A best friend is somebody you go to when you want to talk about your boyfriend. If you're going to be focused the whole time on trying to be Zac... things will never work out. I already have a Zac. I don't need another.
Taylor blinked hard and smiled back at her. "You mean I can actually just be myself and catch me a great chick?"
Carter laughed. "Not if you talk like that."
Taylor leaned over and hugged her, the only thing between her and his bare chest was her maroon blanket. He suddenly became aware of this and blushed. "Did you really mean all of that?" He asked, reaching forward to push a piece of hair behind Carter's ear.
She nodded. "And you're not totally repulsed by me?"
Taylor laughed. "I never was."
"I think I have an answer now."
"Huh?" Taylor gave her a confused stare.
"I want you to stay here all night and talk to me. But not like Zac does. I want you to stay here and talk to me like you do."
"Okay. I think I can do that." He smiled and watched her for a few minutes, as she could barely keep her eyes open. He knew they wouldn't talk for very long, but at least he could just stay there and watch her sleep.
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