You Drive Me Insane (But I Like It)

Chapter 13

I raced back into my room, shut the door and leant against it breathing heavily from the panic. Maddie turned to look at me "Has Taylor been making you breathless?" she laughed.

"He didn't get the chance."

"What?" she looked confused "When you didn't come back to the room very quickly I assumed you were grabbing a few moments alone."

"We were but then Dave knocked on Taylor's door."

"Oh my God!" Maddie exclaimed "What did you do?"

"Taylor hid me in the bathroom and then I had to let myself out when they'd gone."

Maddie looked at me for a few seconds before starting to laugh "I'm sorry. But you've got to admit that's quite funny."

I held her gaze for a moment before joining her in laughter. "I guess you're right. Although I can assure you it wasn't at the time."

We chatted and laughed while we finished getting ready and then we left the hotel together and headed into town. We had a great girlie morning shopping and then we went and had our hair and nails done. It was so relaxing and it felt like forever since I'd done something like this with a friend.

When we were both finished Maddie linked her arm in mine and said "OK lunch time and I've heard of a lovely little place close by here. Shall we try it?"

"Sure." I said and let her lead the way.

We walked into a quiet little place and as we stood looking for a table Maddie pointed to the other side of the room "Isn't that Dave and Taylor?" she asked waving to catch their attention.

I turned and stared at her. "Did you know they'd be here?"

"I might have done." she grinned.

"What are you some kind of stalker?"

"No I just listen to what people are saying and Dave said where he was going for lunch." By now Dave was waving us over and Maddie was dragging me across the room. "Hi" Maddie said "Fancy bumping into you two." she added sweetly.

"Want to join us?" Dave asked.

"Sure" Maddie replied plonking herself down next to Dave leaving the seat next to Taylor free for me.

"Hi" I muttered a bit embarrassed as I took my seat.

"Hey." Taylor replied. He looked like he wasn't quite sure how to react either.

Dave and Maddie started chatting and before long Taylor and I had relaxed and joined in. We ordered food and as we ate and continued the conversation I felt Taylor's hand gently touch my thigh. It was only the smallest of touches but it sent butterflies racing throughout my body. For a few minutes I continued as before until I felt like I could move my hand and drop it by my side. I felt for Taylor's hand and took it in mine. Immediately he slipped his fingers between mine and it felt like that was where they belonged.

We sat like that for a few minutes chatting. I could feel Taylor's thumb stroking the back of my hand and every now and again I would give his hand a squeeze. It felt so wonderful sat with him like this. Eventually he let go and put his arm back on top of the table. I missed his touch but I knew it would look suspicious if we sat like that for too long. I placed my hand on top of his thigh and gently stroked it up towards his groin. I heard his voice catch in his throat at my touch. Dave frowned at him slightly and Taylor quickly pretended to cough.

Dave looked over at Maddie "Excuse me" he said "I'm gonna have to go to the men's room"

Maddie stood to let him out and as he walked away she said "Actually I might go to the ladies while I'm stood up."

Once they were both out of sight Taylor quickly put his arm around me, pulled me to him and gave me a quick kiss "You look amazing." he said "Shopping is obviously good for you." he laughed.

"Well I have had my hair and nails done too." I said giggling.

"Well whatever you've had done you look hot and I wish I could take you back to the hotel right now and keep you in my room all afternoon." he flashed a wicked grin before giving me one more quick kiss. Then he settled back into his seat like before ready for Dave's return. I could feel my cheeks burning red at the thought of what he'd just said and I desperately wanted it to stop because I knew Dave would be back any minute.

Sure enough a few moments later Dave sat himself back down. He looked at Taylor and then at me. I dropped my head, knowing my cheeks were still flushed. "What's going on?" he asked me.

"Nothing" I muttered "Just feeling a bit warm that's all." I shot a quick glance up at him and he didn't look convinced. "Mhm..." He said with his eyes fixed on me and that made me blush even more. He knows, I thought.

"Maddie, there you are!" I said when I saw Maddie coming back to our table "Are you finished? Cause I really want to look at those shoes again"
Maddie looks at me with a confused grin but I'm trying to look at her to make her understand that we had to leave - now! Luckily she got it and said "Oh, yes, they were really pretty, you should buy them Emily."
We stood up, said bye to Dave and Taylor, Dave looked even more suspiciously on me but I tried to ignore that. Then we left out in the chilly London air.

"What was that all about?" Maddie asked
"Taylor made me blush just as Dave came back to the table and I couldn't hide it. I tried to make excuses but I know he didn't believe me. I had to get out. I didn't want him asking any more questions."

Maddie linked her arm in mine and laughed "You and Taylor need to be more careful if you're going to keep this quiet." she said.

Taylor's POV

As Maddie and Emily left Dave looked over at me "OK what the fuck was that all about?" he said gesturing towards the door the girls had just walked through.

"No idea." I replied shrugging and taking a gulp of my drink.

Dave placed both his arms on the table and leaned forward "Taylor Hawkins I have known you too fucking long for you to lie to me. I've seen the way you look at Emily and the way she looks at you too. So have you done anything about it yet?"

I looked at him a bit startled. I opened my mouth to try to speak but I had no idea what to say so shut it again. Dave just sat looking at me and in the end the only thing I could say was "Fuck off!"

Dave laughed "I'll take that as a yes then shall I?" My eyes must have been really wide by now as I felt myself panicking, not knowing what to say. Dave's face became serious for a moment. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Well we've only just started this tour, you've got to work with her for quite a while yet."

I sighed. I knew I might as well just confess. He was right, he knew me far too well for me to hide anything from him. "I haven't felt like this about anyone before man. Fuck it, I'm actually scared."

Dave smiled "Holy shit Hawkins! I think you might actually are falling in love."

"What?!" That thought really was scary. I hadn't intended to fall in love, my last attempt at that had ended badly. "No, I'm not."

"Who you fucking trying to convince there man?" Dave grinned "Come on it's about time you found someone. It's been a long time since Alison left. If Emily makes you happy you should fucking go for it ."

I looked over at him and finally I realised he was right. "Fuck!" I said again and Dave laughed. Finally I relaxed and joined his laughter. "Look man we haven't even had a date yet. We're not ready to tell the others. Is that OK?"

"Course it is. But you might have to get a bit better at hiding it if you're gonna keep it a fucking secret." he laughed.

"Well I'm glad you're finding this so fucking funny." I told him huffing slightly.

He reached across the table and slapped my shoulder "Seriously man I'm happy for you. It really is about fucking time."

I smiled. It actually felt good that my best friend knew