Invisible String [T.S-E.S BOOK ONE]

17

March 30th, 2013

Taylor went straight to bed to take a nap as soon as they got home from brunch. Spence followed her, curling up in the spot that was supposed to be his right next to her. She didn't really know what to do about that because dogs were not her specialty, but she wouldn't deny that he was sweet. He just laid their, his body pressed against hers. The warmth of his body immediately soothed her to sleep.

Eleanor left her to sleep. Tour had to be incredibly hard on her mental and physical heath, so she probably needed the sleep more than she needed anything. Thank god she had given herself a long break after the Newark shows. That may or may not have been purposeful.

The brunette took the spare time to tidy up around her apartment. It was Anthony's birthday and her family would be doing a joint call soon to wish the boy a happy birthday, so she had to clean the living room before her parents and Izzy got on her ass for being messy. It wasn't her fault that after a long day of practice all she wanted was to throw everything down and collapse.

The clean took close to two hours and luckily for her, her parents had decided to start the call thirty minutes after she had finished.

She was beginning to set up her laptop and camera in the living room when Taylor finally made her way out of the bedroom, Spence on her heels. Eleanor was speechless. The singer had changed into her Team USA hoodie and a pair of her Sky Blue practice shorts. It was unholy the things that Taylor wearing her clothes did to the athlete.

"What are you doing?" The tired woman asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Sorry I slept so long.

Eleanor shook her head as she crossed the room and pecked Taylor's lips. "It's okay, I get it. Your must be hard." She pecked her lips again. "It's Anthony's birthday so we're doing a joint family call."

Taylor's eyes widened and she suddenly became fully awake. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?! I have to see my favorite little man on his birthday!"

It absolutely melted Eleanor's heart to see how much Taylor loved her family. First it was the close relationship with Hawk, then her budding friendship with Iz, and now this over the top love for her little brother. It was a lot to take in. Family meant everything to Eleanor. She'd been to hell and back to obtain the one she had now and she would never let it go.

Maisy never understood that. She hated Patrick for being "too boisterous" and a "troublemaker." She didn't let Eleanor talk to Izzy because "all they did was commiserate" and she "hated to see her sad." And Anthony, she refused to acknowledge him because he was "just a little kid."

But not Taylor. Sometimes Eleanor thinks Taylor loved her family more than she loved her. It made sense, though, who wouldn't?

Eleanor lead her, now excited, singer to the couch where she finished setting up the laptop. Taylor was about to explode with excitement at getting to see the Slater-Hawkins family. They had already really accepted her as their own and she thought of them as her second family. And if-god forbid-anything went wrong with Eleanor, she knew she'd still want them all in her life.

And she watched Eleanor mess with the camera, a thought dawned on her. "Should we tell them?" Eleanor quickly turned to meet Taylor's gaze. "I mean my mom and Austin know. I'm sure my dad probably figured it out too."

Eleanor didn't know where this sudden confidence had come from. She had seemed so anxious earlier that morning at The Labyrinth, regusibg to let anyone know, but now she was totally cool. But then again, family was different. "If you want." Eleanor shrugged. "I won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

Taylor blushed, the feeling that Eleanor truly cared about her and her needs was truly a drug for her. "I can't tell the world, not yet. But I think Hawk will kill us if we let him continue to think we're still dancing around each other."