You are in Taylor’s room, kissing on and off for at least an hour, when Mackenzie walks in. “Tay guess wha…what are you guys doing?! You were kissing! Gross!” He screeched, running out of the room. You and Taylor start laughing. Taylor put his forehead to yours and looked you in the eyes, your noses touching. “I love you, you know that right?” he asks you. “Yeah, I know, and I love you too, more than words can explain.” “Me too. I can’t wait until you’re out of college,” he said eagerly. “I know,” you said softly, before touching your lips to his.
“I guess we better go downstairs now, since everyone is home ,” Taylor said reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess so,” you say softly. Taylor leans in and kisses you. You kiss back and you wrap your arms around each other and lay back down on the bed. He starts to slide his hands up your shirt and you start to take his shirt off. Just then Diana walks in the room. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry,” she said, “Wait what am I saying? What are you two doing in here?!” Taylor pulls his shirt back down and you get off of him and look down embarrassed. “Sorry mom,” Taylor says. “Sorry Diana,” you say. “Oh, you’re at that age…” she sighed, and left. “I can’t believe we got off that easily,” you say. “Oh I have a feeling I’ll be hearing from my dad later on tonight,” Taylor said. “Yikes! I’m sorry,” you tell him. “You don’t need to be sorry, it was mostly my fault.”
You walk downstairs and out to your car. You climb in and he leans in the window. “You wanna do something tomorrow?” “Yeah sure, like what?” “Hmm, how about going to see a movie,” his eyes twinkled mischievously. “Oh sounds fun,” you say back slyly. “Well bye,” he says. “Bye.” Taylor leans in and gives you a deep kiss. You put the car in reverse and pull out of the driveway.
When you get home your mom was sitting at the kitchen table. “Hi hon, where’d you just get back from?” “The mall with Zac and then I went over to Tay’s for a while.” “Have fun?” “Yup.” “Good, good uh Stacey, there’s something I need to tell you. Well all those times I left you notes and stuff saying I was going for an emergency meeting, I was actually going to see your father and we’re getting back together.” “That’s good right!?” “Well, yes and no, the bad part is…we’re moving.” “What?! You’re taking me from Taylor and all my friends!” “Honey, Taylor travels all the time, so you’ll see him about the same as now.” “No, cuz Taylor lives in Tulsa, so when he’s home I get to see him all the time.” “Honey, I’m sorry, I wish there was something I could do…” “Don’t move,” you say simply. “Honey, it’s not that easy.” “Where are we moving anyway? In with dad?” “Yeah but…” “So we’re staying in Oklahoma!” “No.” “Huh?” “Well your father got another job in New York City.” “All the way out there?!” “I’m sorry honey.” “When?” “In a week.” Tears spring from your eyes and you take off running out the front door and down the street.
You reach Taylor’s doorstep, feeling like you were going to die any second. You had just enough energy to ring the doorbell before you fainted. When you woke up, you were in Taylor’s arms and his eyes were bloodshot and full of fear. Then all of a sudden, like a ton of bricks, it hit you why you were there. You start sobbing uncontrollably. “Stacey!” Taylor exclaimed, happy that you were awake and sad because you were crying. “Taylor, I’m moving…to New York City…in a week,” you managed to gasp out before dissolving into sobs again. “What?!” “Taylor, I can’t do this, I can’t leave you,” you were squeezing the life out of him. “Hey, it’s gonna be OK,” he said, trying to be brave for your behalf but inside he felt as if his whole world was coming apart. “Taylor, no matter what, I want you to know that I love you.” That did it. Taylor was sobbing as hard as you were and you had a grip on each other that nothing could tear apart.
Taylor’s family started to come in the living room one by one, to see what the loud crying sound was about. Walker came in and tried to get you both to calm down enough to tell the story. You couldn’t stop crying so Diana called your mom. She came back into the room with tears in her eyes, seeing her son and his girlfriend in torturous pain. She pulled Walker aside and told him what was wrong. You and Taylor’s sobs had quieted down to a soft cry by then and every so often one of you would start up again.
Walker placed a hand on your back and said, “Stacey, if you like you can sleep here for the night.” “I would like that very much thank you,” you say. Taylor wipes his tears with the back of his hands and then uses his thumbs to wipe away your tears. He gets up and starts walking away. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” he said, walking out of the room. “Taylor!!!” you screamed, “Don’t leave!” “Jordan Taylor!” Diana yelled, “You have a girl in there who you love more than the world and she loves you even more, go in there and get her, how can you be so cold?!” You were still screaming his name. He turned around, tears falling fast and scooped you up in his arms. “I’m so sorry Stace, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry,” he said stroking your hair.
Taylor got up and pulled you up this time. He helped you up the stairs and into his room. “I’ll call your mother and tell her that you’re staying here for the night,” Diana said as you were walking up the stairs. “Thanks,” you said, your voice hoarse. You continued to walk up the stairs and you collapse onto Taylor’s bed. He lays down next to you and wraps his arms around you. He kisses your neck. You both fall asleep and wake up late the next morning. You turn around and see that Taylor was still asleep. You put your mouth to his and kiss him passionately. He wakes up and runs a hand through your hair and then you detach yourselves.
You go downstairs and Diana hands you a bag. “Your mom brought this over before she went to work this morning.” “Oh, thanks,” you say. You eat breakfast and then grab your clothes out of your bag and head for the shower. Taylor took a shower at the same time as you but in the downstairs bathroom. You walked into his room where he was working on something secretively. He hid it as soon as you walked in. You looked at him quizzically and he said, “Are you still up for the movies today?” “Yeah I guess, anything to take my mind off of this.” “OK well shall we go?” he asks, holding his hand out to you. “Yeah,” you say, taking it. You head out to Taylor’s car.
You left the movie theater, not quite sure what movie you saw. Between crying and kissing, you didn’t have much time to look at the screen. You walked out of the theater, holding Taylor’s hand and walking extremely close to him. While you’re driving home, he stops the car at the place where you and him used to talk all the time. He gets out and opens your door and you both get into the back seat, he puts his arm around you and says, “Stacey, we go to New York a lot ya know so we’ll still see each other, and we’ve gone without seeing each other before.” “But I can’t be close to you all the time,” you say sadly. “You’re close to me now,” he whispers to you. He starts kissing you wildly and trying to remove your shirt. “Taylor, are you prepared for this?” you ask him. “I always am,” he says, reaching down into the seat pocket and coming back up with a small clear package.
As you are driving home from the little rendezvous in the woods, you say, “Tay, will you come over and help me pack?” “Of course, I will, did you even have to ask?” You drive back to your house and find half the downstairs in boxes. You run upstairs and Taylor follows you, staring at the boxes. You find a bunch of boxes stacked up in your room, ready to be filled. You started throwing things into boxes, not really caring what went where. Taylor, however, packed things with love and care. When you had almost everything packed, (5 hours later) you decided to take a break and go get take-out food for you, Tay and your parents. They were very grateful. When you were finally done packing it was mid-night. Your parents let Tay spend the night. You slept in your bed, side by side. You kissed for a while and then fell asleep, exhausted.
A WEEK LATER~
Everything was loaded into the moving van and cars. You were driving to your new home. The Hanson family was saying good-bye to your parents and you. Then Taylor said, “Stacey, I wrote this song for you, it’s that paper I hid from you that one day.” The guys sang it a capella. It was the most beautiful thing you had ever heard. Then he handed you the paper with the lyrics on it. When your parents announced that it was time to go, you hugged everyone in the Hanson family really tight. When you came to Zac and Isaac, you hugged them like the world was ending. You came to Taylor and hugged him and then he kissed you more passionately and lovingly than ever before. You pulled away and he pulled you back into a tight embrace. You both broke down in tears. You pulled away and held up your engagement rings.
Your mom walked over to Diana and whispered something into her ear. She nodded and smiled. Then your mom walked over to you and Taylor, who were sobbing uncontrollably. “Taylor, honey, would you like to drive down there with us and stay a few days?” His face lit up. He picked you up and spun you around in a circle. “Thank you mom, thank you Diana!” you exclaimed. Taylor hugged his parents and got in your car with you.
A WEEK LATER~
Taylor was flying home that day. He had helped you unpack and your room was the same it had been in Tulsa. You and Taylor were at the airport. Your parents were there but they were letting you and Taylor say good-bye alone. When they called his seat number, you kissed him deeply and hugged him tight. He started to walk to the ticket person but then ran back to you for one more kiss. Then he walked up and she took his ticket. When he was walking down the corridor, he turned around and waved to you, he held up his hands in the I LOVE YOU sign. You made the same sign back to him.
2 MONTHS LATER~
It was midnight and you were chillin’ in Times Square with your friends, Paul, Mark, Jennifer, Celia, and Doug. It had been two months since you had seen Taylor. You had talked to him on the phone but it wasn’t the same. You had started to get careless. You didn’t really care that you had a curfew, you let your grades slip some, and you weren’t getting a long with your parents. They told you it was your new friends, you were convinced they were the best thing that had ever happened to you since Taylor.
You were looking around, Time Square, this is where Taylor and his brothers shot the “Weird” video. “Shit Paul! What was that for?!” Celia asked, shaking you from your daydreams. “Fuck, I don’t know, I just felt like hittin’ ya.” Just then Adrian came up to your group. “Hey guys, look what I got,” he said, holding out a paper sack. Inside was speed, pot, anything you could think of. Jennifer took a joint and lit it. “That’s some good shit,” she said. She handed it to you. “Try it,” she said. You hesitated. Then you thought about your parents and what they did to you. “This is for you mom and dad,” you said as you stuck the joint in your mouth and sucked in. You coughed a little but by the end of the night, you were high and a pro at it.
Since that night, you tried every drug that came around. Your parents suspected something was wrong when you ditched school to get high with your “friends”. They didn’t know you were getting high but they knew you ditched school. Your mom decided it was time to give Taylor a call. She set everything up to have Taylor fly out the next day. He got there at around 3 am and took a cab to your apartment. When he got there, your parents were worried and couldn’t find you. Taylor decided to go out and look for you. He was fear-stricken. Your parents told him where you hung out, usually around Time Square. He went there and looked around. He couldn’t find you. Then he was passing a dark alley when he saw a lighter flicker. He listened closely for voices. You were high and attempting at smoking five joints at one time. You were lighting the last one when Mark said, “That’s some heavy shit Stace, you’re gonna owe me for all this weed.” “Yeah, yeah,” you mumbled, all the joints in your mouth.
Hearing your name and voice, Taylor ran into the alley. Celia shinned a flashlight in his face. “Who the fuck are you?” she asked. “I’m Taylor, Stacey’s fian…boyfriend.” “She ain’t never mentioned no boyfriend.” You turned around and saw Taylor there. You let the joints fall out of your mouth. “Tay!” you screamed. “Stacey! What are you doing to yourself?” he asked, now crying. You jumped up but couldn’t stand on your own, the drugs made you feel like a load of bricks. You fell to the ground, Taylor caught your head before it hit the ground. You knew you were gonna pass out weather it was for a short time or forever, you didn’t know but you wanted Taylor to know one thing. “Taylor, I love you,” you said before everything went black.
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Chapter 12
I'd Walk Through Fire