“Tay’s in the hospital again, come quick.” The words came through the receiver like a nightmare. You jump into your jeep and speed to the hospital. You go in and Mackie is standing there. He leads you into Tay’s room. Diana and Mackie are there (Ike left.) in the room. Tay looks over at you and you gasp. His face is all bruised and beat up. His leg was bandaged but you could see that there was blood.
You ran over to his bed and hugged him. Then, you started to cry and you asked him what happened. “Well, I was walking out to my car after going to the GAP and your ex-boyfriend Steve came up to me and said that you were hurt and he would show me to where you were. Hearing that you were hurt, I didn’t think twice about it. I just followed him. He took me behind the store and him and a bunch of his friends started beating me up. When they finally knocked me out, they left me alone and, the next thing I know I am here.”
You start crying again saying, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry Tay.” He looks up at you and says, “It’s not your fault.” “Yes it is. I knew he was the jealous type and I still introduced him to you and told him you were my boyfriend. This is not the first time he’s done this.” Then, Tay tells you not to cry and that they are pressing charges against him.
You still feel bad. Then, a doctor comes in and asks to talk to Diana. She takes Mackenzie out with her. You go over to Tay and just stare down at him. Your eyes fill with tears. They spill over onto your face. “Don’t cry please. It breaks my heart to see you hurt,” says Tay. You lean down and hug him. He pulls your lips to his and you sit down on the edge of the bed. You kiss for a long time. Then you hear, “Eeeewww!” Mackie was back. You guess he didn’t like the idea of his brother kissing a girl. You look up embarrassed. You sit there and hold Taylor’s hand and Mackie climbs up on the bed. He looks sad and Tay notices that too and tells him that he’s going to be alright. “It’s not that,” he says. “If mom doesn’t finish soon, I’m gonna miss Power Rangers.” “OH, come here,” says Tay and he tickles him. Mackie laughs and Tay turns on the TV and Power Rangers had just started. A smile spread across his face.
You and Tay sneak in a long kiss while Mac watches TV. Then, Diana comes in and announces that Tay can come home tomorrow. You decide to spend the night. The doctor says that Tay has a broken arm and a bad gash on his head. He is going to have to be on crutches for a while. You feel even worse. You sink lower onto the bed. Diana announces that she’s going to take Mac home. You run out to call your mom and tell her that you are spending the night in the hospital.
Later, you go out to the cafeteria and get a sandwich for you and one for Taylor. Then, you pick up two soda’s and two bags of chips. You sneak them back up to Tay’s room. He is very grateful and eats it up as fast as he can so he doesn’t get caught. Then, you turn on the TV and turn it to South Park. You sit on his bed and stroke his hair as he watches and laughs. You try to concentrate on the show because it’s your fave. During the commercial, you lean in and kiss him. He rubs your back and it feels good. You kiss him more deeply and more passionately than you ever have before. Then, you pull apart and he looks at you with wide eyes. You kiss him and laugh. You settle back against his pillow beside him and watch the show. “Shut up fat boy! ‘I am not fat, I’m festively plump,’” when Cartman says that you both crack up.
After South Park is over, you turn off the TV and close the door to his room. The nurse said he could if he wanted to sleep since he’s in stable condition. You go back, lay by him and say, “I love you Taylor Hanson.” “I love you Stacey,” he says back. “Prove it,” you say. “Haven’t I proved it enough getting myself beat up for you?” You look up at the ceiling pretending to think, “No,” you say. “Come here,” he says pulling you into his arms. You kiss for a long time and you run your fingers through his hair and feel him turn to putty. You kiss his neck, his throat, and you unbutton the first 3 buttons of his shirt (yes, they let him wear a shirt instead of a hospital gown) and kiss his chest. He rubs your arms. You put your lips to his warm ones once more and kiss him. When you are done, you joke around saying, “I think I have a blister on my tongue now thanks to you.” “Ha-ha,” he says laughing, “I’ll give you something to whine about.” Then, more quickly than you knew he had the strength for, he puts you on your back and holds you down and kisses you, while tickling you. You try to laugh and you pound on his back with your fists. He finally lets you up and you say, “Taylor Hanson, I should refuse to talk to you but you are just so cute it’s irresistible. I hate you!” “What can I say?” he asks conceitedly. “OOOHHHH!” you scream at him. Then you pick up the pillow from under your head and throw it at him. He puts it behind him and kisses you again.
You melt and it makes it impossible for you to use any muscle in your body except for your tongue. You regain some of your strength and try to tickle him. He barely even moves. He only moved your hand. You got annoyed and closed your mouth. He tried kissing you and found he couldn’t and let up. “Alright, what’s wrong?” “I’m helpless against you,” you say pouting. “Awww,” he says in a baby voice. “Poor Stacey, can’t do anything to stop my enormous powers!” he says in a super hero voice. “Ha ha, “ you say, still annoyed. “Awww, will I ever get a smile out of you again?” he asks. “Never,” you say trying to hide a smile. “I see that smile,” he says. “It’s not a smile,” you say. He leans in to kiss you and you say, “Sorry, I don’t kiss super heroes, they might kill me with their extra strength lip-lock.”
You go over to a chair and cover up and go to sleep. Tay, looking hurt, pulls the covers up to his chin and goes to sleep. You fall asleep smiling a smile of satisfaction. You start to feel bad and hope he doesn’t hold a grudge against you in the morning.
In the middle of the night, you start to feel really guilty and you don’t know why. You climb in bed with Tay, put your arm around his neck, and put your lips to his. You kiss him passionately and he wakes up and looks at you with wide eyes. You smile, still kissing him. “I’m sorry,” you say when you come up for air. “I couldn’t stand having you mad at me.” “Neither could I,” Tay says. You kiss again and fall asleep kissing.
You wake up to hear someone banging on the door. You jump out of bed, run and unlock it. Tay is still sleeping. The nurse comes in followed by Diana. Tay wakes up and the nurse says, “Congratulations, you can go home, and I don’t ever want to see your face here again.” You all get the joke and start laughing. They wheel him out to the parking lot and you carry his bag of stuff.
You get back home and Tay comes over to your house. You decide to go swimming in the backyard. You change into your bathing suit and Tay changes into his. You grab your portable stereo and a couple of CD’s and head outside. You climb into the pool and relax. The water is perfect. You climb onto a raft and lay there listening to the music. You tell Tay that you are trying to get a tan. “OK,” he says, “I will try not to get in the way of your sun Ms. Stacey!” “HA HA,” you say splashing water in his direction. You lay on your back singing along to the music. You close your eyes and enjoy the relaxation of the sun. Then, you feel water being trickled onto your back. You look over and see Tay right by you trickling water onto you and smile. He kisses you and you turn back around. You are settling back down and relaxing and all of a sudden you are being flipped over and are up to your shoulders in water. You hear laughing and look over at Tay. He is cracking up! You give him a LOOK. His expression changes and he looks hurt. You climb back onto your raft without saying a word to him or giving him a second glance. You sneak another look at him and he looks hurt.
“I’m sorry,” Tay says. “Please talk to me Stace.” “What?” you say annoyed. “I’m sorry don’t be mad at me please.” “Well, that wasn’t funny OK,” you tell him. “OK I am sorry,” he says. Then, you drop into the water and pull him towards you. When he is about an inch from your face, you say, “That was some trick you pulled.” Then, you dunk him under the water. He comes up and you start cracking up this time. “HA HA,” he says. Then he pulls you in his arms and kisses the top of your head and works his way down to your cheek and to your neck, then back up to your mouth. You sit there for a long time kissing, Tay’s hands on your bare back, your hands on his hips.
After some time, you hear, “C’mon guys, enough already!” You turn around and see Zac sitting there. You start laughing and Zac comes over to the pool. “How did you get here?” you ask. “Your mom let me in.” “Oh,” you say. “Oh yeah, Tay, mom is looking for you, she wants you home.” Tay looks at you and sighs. “Wanna come?” he asks you. “Sure,” you say. You climb out of the pool and Zac leaves to go to Laserquest with some friends. You wrap your towel around you and shiver, it’s gotten cold. Tay notices and says, “You cold?” You shake your head and he wraps his arms around you. You sit there for a while in each other’s arms.
You dry off and change and go over to Tay’s house after you leave a note for your mom. Tay’s mom greets you and says , “Well, the good news is, they caught the guy that beat you up, and put him in jail. The bad news is, he got out on bail.” “WHAT????????” you say astonished. “I’m sorry Stacey but that’s just the way it is.” “But that’s not fair! He is just going to do it again!” You slide down to the floor crying. Tay kneels down and puts his arms around you. “Shh, it’s OK.” “No it’s not,” you say. “He can hurt you now, even worse, you don’t know him like I do.” “Maybe not, but I can protect myself.” “How come you didn’t do that last time?” you ask. “Trust me,” he says, “I will be OK.” “I hope so,” you say.
THE NEXT DAY
Tay had rehearsal, so you made plans to meet during your lunch break from school. You only have an hour so you decide to go to Mc Donalds. You drive there and get out of your car and feel something hard pressed up against your head. You stop dead in your tracks and look over at Steve, he is holding a gun up to your head. “Get in the car,” he growls. You do as he says and drive off. Steve, still holding the gun, removes it from your head and says, “You be a good girl and do what I say or you will never see your beloved boyfriend again, and no one will ever see you again either!” You gasp.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT MC DONALDS
Tay is waiting anxiously for you to show. After an hour, he leaves and calls you on his way home. No one answers so he calls the school. They tell him that you haven’t returned there yet. He goes home and asks Zac if he has seen you. “Yeah Tay, sorry to have to break this to you but I saw her leave Mc Donalds with another guy.” “What?????!!!!!” Tay says. “Yup, that’s what I saw.” Zac says.
Tay stays in his room the whole night, rubbing his thumb across your picture and crying. Then, he gets a call from your mom. “Tay,” she says tearfully, “Have you seen Stacey? We can’t find her anywhere.” “No,” Tay says gruffly. “Apparently she’s cheating on me, I wouldn’t know where she is, probably with her new boyfriend.” “NO,” your mom says, “That can’t be it, her car is in the Mc Donalds parking lot.” Tay drops the phone and grabs Zac by the shirt collar and asks him, “What did the guy look like?” “I don’t know,” Zac says. Tay tightens his grip. “What did he look like?” Tay asks him again. “Umm…really tall, brown hair, big muscles, and Stacey looked kinda surprised when she saw him. Tay lets go and grabs the phone. “Mrs. Daweson, I’m sorry, Zac just described a guy he saw her leave with, really tall, brown hair, big muscles and she looked kinda surprised to see him.” “Now who could that be?” your mom says. “STEVE !” Tay says.
home
I'd Walk Through Fire (chapters)
Chapter 4