Sober love -Haylor au

15. Years down the drain

A small tear fell down her cheek as they stood in the hallway, all the boxes had been moved into the truck. "I'm going to miss you." "I'll miss you too, Teds. You know you can call me whenever." She smiled, "Thank you, same here."

He pulled her in for a hug, "It's not your fault, I promise." She shook her head as she glanced up at him, "It is though but it's okay, we will be okay, right?" He nodded, a soft smile on his lips.

"I should go now." She nodded, "Yes, I suppose so." He smiled and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Take care of yourself, okay? We will talk soon."

She nodded, "Of course. You too." He smiled, squeezing her hand one last time before walking out, leaving her alone in the hallway.

A small sigh escaped from Taylor's lips as she turned around, walking back into the big empty house. She was now officially alone.

As she walked back into the living room she realized that maybe this house had gotten too big. She was alone with Elodie now, half the time Elodie wasn't even here. When they first bought the house they still often threw parties and even now, Joe's family used to stay here for a few weeks every now and then so the spare rooms still had use. Now they wouldn't need to stay here, why would they if Joe didn't live here anymore? She realized that maybe it was time for her to find something smaller too, something more fitting to her new life.

She sighed as she made her way over to the couch, letting herself fall down next to Meredith. "Hey sweetie." She softly petted the cat who snored in response, showing her approval of the attention.

"What are we gonna do mere? What are we gonna do?" A small "meww" was the only response she got. She sighed before getting up, she needed a drink.

Once she got a glass of wine she sat back down, fumbling a bit with her phone. She wanted to talk to someone but she had no idea to who. Non of her friends were near and she didn't want to converse over the phone. Calling Joe already would seem to desperate and she knew that if she broke down in front of him he would insist to stay until she was okay enough, in his terms, she couldn't do that to him, she wasn't that cruel. So instead, she dialed a number she hadn't in a long time.

The phone rang twice before she got an answer. "Swift?" She sighed, "Styles." "Did something happen? What did I do to deserve this phone call?" She chuckled as she slightly shook her head. "I don't know, I just wanted to talk to someone and you're the person that came to mind. Am I calling at a troubled time?"

"No, I always have time for your Swift, no worries." She smiled, "Are you free today?" "Yes, just spending some time at home. I wanted to hang out with El but she had a date day planned or something, god knows." Taylor chuckled, somehow it was funny in her mind. "Care to come over?" "Say no more, I'll be there in ten." "That's very Swift of you, Styles."

He didn't lie, ten minutes later he was at her doorstep. She let him in, a smile spreading on her face. They hugged for a small second before going inside, settling down in the living room after Taylor fetched both of them a drink.

"So what's up? You seem... out of it." The blonde looked down at her fingers for a second, debating what to tell him. She ended up going for the truth.

"Joe moved out today." "Oh right, you told me about that. I'm sorry, do you want to talk about it?" She sighed, "There isn't much to tell really. We split up a while ago, he just stayed here until he was convinced I would be okay." Harry nodded as he took the words she had just spoken in. "Why did you split up was it because of the accident or? if that's okay for me to ask?" She nodded, "Partly, yes."

She paused for a little, finding the right words. "The accident didn't help but we weren't doing good before it anyways. We had been having... troubles.. if you could call them that, for a few months already. I got my memory back now, for the most part that is, I still have small gaps here and there but if that was the problem, it would be fixed now. We just.. couldn't keep going. It wasn't good for us."

Harry nodded, understanding what she had said. "I see. I'm sorry Tay, you know I'm here if you need anything always." She smiled, appreciating his offer. "I'll be okay, we are on good terms still. There's no bad blood between us, pin is intended." Harry chuckled and nodded, "Well I'm glad."

A few hours later Taylor walked Harry out. They stood still by the door to say their goodbyes, a smile on both their lips. "Let me take you out tomorrow." Harry said, he seemed serious about the offer. It quite obviously caught Taylor off guard, she just stared at him. "To take your mind of it, it's important to go out and have fun, Swift. It's not good for you to sit alone in that empty house all day."

At least she nodded, "Alright. What time are you picking me up?" "I'll be here at 8. Be ready." Taylor smiled and nodded, "Alright, deal. Now chop chop, go home and make sure my kid eats." Harry chuckled and shook his head, "See you, Swift." "Drive safe, Styles."