𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴

reassurance!

AN: for context, in this one-shot nothing in season 2 has taken place. this means taylor is not with milo (she's single, but by choice because who wouldn't want to be with taylor jewel??). steven has graduated already, and this occurs during the summer in between his senior year of highschool and freshman year of college.

TW: slight mentions of angry arguments & home/parental custody issues

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steven was sitting at the kitchen table scrolling on his phone when he heard the doorbell ring. he was home alone because his mom had just gone out of context for a writing conference and his sister was out doing her own thing too.

he wearily sighed and walked over to open the door. to his surprise, his sister's best friend, taylor jewel, stood before him in a gray haze. it was cold compared to a normal summer's day, and she looked the most upset he'd ever seen her.

steven inhaled a deep breath, trying not too hard to make it obvious that he'd been thinking of her just a little while ago. he'd been catching feelings for her. he didn't know how it even started. she was just someone he cared about more than regular.

sure, steven had seen taylor cry over boys before, but it was never anything serious. he didn't know why. she just didn't seem deeply devoted to the guys she dated. steven assumed it was some kind of internal defense mechanism not to get hurt. it made sense. he hoped he could help her kick those walls down someday.

"is belly home yet?" taylor asked weakly, obviously wanting to avoid conversation. it was never normal for her to not want to talk.

steven knew something was bothering her, even more than some random teenage guy. "no, she's still at the store."

he wanted to say something more, to ask her what was wrong. hell, he wanted to wrap his arms around her. he wanted her to tell him everything that was wrong, and he wanted to be the one to cheer her up.

taylor was about to turn around to leave, but then a smaller voice came from behind her. "can't we just stay here and wait for her, tay? please?" the young girl's voice shook.

it took steven a minute to realize that taylor was holding someone's hand. no, not just someone's hand. her little sister, bridget's, hand.

before taylor could react to her sister's plea, steven said, "yeah, of course you can. the storm looks like it's about to start back up anyway. you shouldn't be driving in this kind of weather."

when bridget finally peaked out from behind her older sister's figure, the boy's eyes softened. she had blotches of shades of pink and red all over her face and tear-stains by the corner of her eyes. it was easy to see that she'd been sobbing only minutes before.

it was even more awkward than taylor had anticipated when she walked inside the house with her little sister. laurel was nowhere to be seen, and everything was radio silent. it did, at least, smell vibrant. she wondered if belly had baked some kind of cinnamon rolls earlier that morning.

"i was just waiting for the cinnamon rolls i was making to come out of the oven. you guys want any?" steven asked the girls with a strangely honest, vulnerable look on his face.

bridget just shook her head, not saying a word. steven smiled sadly and told her, "you can go up to belly's room if you want. i'm sure she won't mind. first room upstairs on the right."

it caught taylor off guard that steven was being so kind, especially to someone he hardly even knew. that was, of course, the kind of guy he was, but she was just so used to his teasing, annoying side that it was like seeing another side of him for the first time in a long time.