JATP One Shots

What If They Don't Like Me (Taylor)

Word Count: 1639

"Hey, I'm headed to bed. You okay?" I ask Taylor, leaning down to kiss his cheek. Taylor and I have been dating for a little over a year, meeting on the set of his show Julie and the Phantoms. My best friend Jeremy plays one of the main characters in the show, so when I went to surprise him on set I was awestruck by the pretty boy with raven hair. Automatically we hit it off, but he wasn't one of the main characters in the show so he wasn't on set most of the time. I thought I had lost my chance until one day he just appeared on set, asking me if we could grab coffee sometime. Jer loves Taylor so he practically forced me to go, not that I didn't want to go but I had just gotten out of an extremely toxic relationship, and trusting someone again was a big deal. I opened up to Taylor pretty quickly about him though, Tay telling me I could take all the time I needed in order to figure things out. So I did, I figured things out with the help of my friends, and one day I was sitting on my couch, just missing Taylor when I realized that I was finally ready. I was ready and all I wanted was for him to be there next to me, so I practically ran to his apartment. I'll never forget the look on his face when I told him I was ready, gently pulling him into a kiss. He melted into it automatically, beaming like the sun.

Ever since I started staying with Taylor, no matter how busy he was he has always come to sit with me or check on me, not liking having to be separated from me. So you can imagine how worried I've been today. He's been pent up in this room all day, working on god knows what, and he hasn't really come out to talk to me at all today.

"Yep," he says, not moving his eyes from the computer. "I'll be in, in a bit," he reaches his hand from his computer to grab my hand that is lying on his shoulder, bringing it to his lips. I smile, ruffling his hair before going into his room. After a couple of months of us dating, I started staying at his apartment, really enjoying being able to wake up in his arms. It quickly became addictive and honestly, I'm not sure when the last time I was at my apartment was.

I change into one of his oversized t-shirts, knowing it's going to be hard to fall asleep with him not in the room.

After a while of me pulling the t-shirt up to my nose and hugging a pillow, I begin to slowly doze off. It isn't deep sleep though so I wake up an hour later when Tay walks into the room, trying to be as quiet as he can while getting ready for bed. I smile lazily, holding my hand out for him. "Hey baby, I didn't mean to wake you up," he says, leaning over the bed to kiss my forehead since he still has to change before he can get into bed.

"It's okay, I wasn't really sleeping," I say, just admiring him. I never thought that one day I'd be lucky enough to pull a guy like him, he's absolutely breathtaking. "What were you working on?" he just sighs as he puts his dirty clothes in the hamper, pulling up the covers to lay next to me. Automatically I move into his arms, feeling a kiss on my forehead.

"I don't even know, love. I did some editing for the photoshoot I did the other day. And Michael needed me to do some stuff for this project he's working on," he says, voice sounding a little unsteady.

"So you were just trying to distract yourself?" I ask against his chest, pressing a light kiss to it. I know whenever Tay gets anxious about something he throws himself into his work, not giving himself enough time to think about it.

"Yeah, I guess?" he says, coming to the realization himself.

"What's bothering you?" I ask, pulling away so I can look at him. He just looks around for a bit, trying to put his words together. Tay is a really closed-off person, not that he doesn't trust others he just doesn't like to show that he's hurting. So he masks it. When we first started dating it was like pulling teeth trying to show him that talking about your problems is really important and that he can't just bottle everything up. Even now it's hard trying to get him to express his feelings, but it's getting better.

"What if they don't like me?" he whispers, not elaborating at all. I look at him absolutely bewildered, not understanding who he's talking about.

"Who?" I ask, softly, resting my hand on his cheek in hopes to comfort him. He leans into it before talking again, taking a deep breath.

"The fans of the show," Oh. "I mean, Bobby isn't the most lovable character in the show and it's going to bleed into everyday life and opinions on me. They're not going to decipher the difference between me and my character, I'm going to get hate," he begins to rant. I go to say something but he stops me, "And before you say that we don't know that yet, yes we do. Anyone in the public eye gets hate but people who play characters that are unlikeable get it worse. And what happens if they come after you? I couldn't bear knowing that you could get hurt too," he continues, tears coming to his eyes. I smile slightly at his concern about me, wiping away the few tears that have fallen.

"Hey," I whisper, waiting until he looks at me. I smile softly again once he does, kissing him lightly. "Listen to me, you are incredible. You are one of the greatest actors I know and if you get hate it's because you were able to portray your character so well they're like man, fuck this guy. But you have to remember that those hate comments aren't really about you, they're about Bobby," he nods, looking around again. "And if they affect you, that's okay, we'll get through it together right?" He finally looks back over at me with a soft smile, nodding. "Whatever you're feeling is okay, just know I've got you no matter what it is," tears come to his eyes again as he leans down to kiss me softly.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," he says against my lips with a smile.

"Work yourself to death?" He chuckles, pecking my lips again before pulling me back into a hug. I shift us a little bit so he can lay his head on my chest, knowing he needs the comfort right now. I begin to run my hands through his hair, knowing it's something that calms him down. I smile at the length of it, it's getting a little bit longer- just enough to put into a ponytail but certainly not as long as Owen's or Charlie's.

"Thank you," he whispers.

"Anything for you my love," I say, kissing the top of his head. "I love you," he smiles up at me shifting so he can kiss me softly.

"I love you too," he whispers against my lips. We sit there for a while in comfortable silence, me running my fingers through his hair as he traces patterns near my collarbone. "You should move in," he says quietly, voice shaky.

"Hm?" I ask, not hearing what he said.

"I want you to move in with me," he starts but then starts shaking his head. "Sorry, would you like to move in with me?"

"Wait, really?" I ask, moving a bit so I can look him in the eyes. There is nothing less than adoration and excitement in them, just wanting us to start our lives together. I mean, it's not that crazy of an idea, I already practically live here. Plus, if he asked me to marry him I'd say yes, it's not like I'm not ready for this step.

"Yeah, I mean you already practically live here. And I like being able to wake up every morning next to you. You make my life so much more exciting, and I want to be able to experience all of this with you," he says, causing me to stop, tears welling up in my eyes. Gosh, I love this boy. "I know how you feel about moving in, considering your last relationship and I know you're scared of not being able to have somewhere to go if things go south, but me asking this is me making a promise to you that I will do everything, and I mean everything, in my power to prevent things from going south," I'm full-on crying at this point. He's right, I've always had this idea about moving in, being terrified that if I make that step then I'm not going to be able to have my own space, have my own place to go to if things go wrong. But the crazy part about that is I haven't had that thought once with him. I know that if something happens and when we inevitably fight, we'll work it out.

"I'm not worried about that baby," I say, kissing him softly. "I'm not worried at all. Of course I'll move in," I say against his lips once we pull away.

"I love you so much," he says, tears now filling up in his eyes.

"I love you too."