I Knew You Once [ Taylor York ]

10. We should hang out more often

The Q&A ended up going great. Brian did his magic on Taylor so his black eye wasn't so noticeable in the end.

I stood backstage laughing at their jokes and wondering how Taylor could be so damn cute.

The show ended, and I am now going to Taylor's room with some ice.

I enter the room and I see him sat on the bed waiting for me.

"I brought the ice" I say as I sit by his side.

He turns to me and I delicately place the ice on his eye.

He hisses in pain.

"Is it too cold?" I ask softly

He nods.

I get a paper towel and I wrap it around the packet of ice.

"This will do" I say and I put it back on the bruise.

"Thanks" he mumbles and grabs the ice himself.

I look at him in the eyes and I sigh.

"I'm sorry, Peter's a jerk"

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize for him"

"I know, I just hate seeing you in pain" those words leave my mouth without even realising it.

He stays in silence for a few seconds afterwards.

"Thanks... For taking care of me and last night's talk. I've been having a rough few months."

"I know, me too" I sigh "We should hang out more often"

"Yeah"

"Yeah"

I look him in the eyes and he does too.

No, that's a lie, he stares into me. I can feel him rummaging through the corners of my mind. And out of the blue, I feel a force leaning me towards him. And I know he can feel it too.

I see him moving the ice out of his face slowly and his eyes switch between my eyes and my lips. I do the same, I look at his pink lips and all my defences finally fall.

Suddenly, I feel his lips brush softly against mine and I close my eyes to savor the moment. His lips are soft and fit perfectly with mine. Just like I remember.

But it doesn't last long and he goes back to his original position. I open my eyes slowly, trying to linger on the feeling for a few more seconds.

I look at him again. No, I need more.

I lean in and I get a rush of adrenaline that shakes my whole body. I place my hands on his neck, playing with the little curls growing out.

My lips capture his with a little more passion, but sweetly still. He didn't react at first, but after a few seconds his lips move against mine slowly.

His hands reach to my waist and grab it softly, his thumb draws circles on the little bit of exposed skin.

He runs his tongue against my bottom lip driving me insane and I feel a shiver down my spine. My heart beats fast and I can feel that his is too.

This is a dream.

"Hey Tay! How's the-"

Taylor and I quickly pull apart embarrassed.

I look down.

Hayley has entered the room without knocking and in the worst moment ever, as per usual.

She looks with wide eyes at Taylor and I.

I set my gaze on Taylor, his hair is messy, his lips are swollen, his cheeks are red and his breathing is uneven and heavy.

And I must look exactly like that.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I'll come back later." She basically runs away and closes the door behind her.

My gaze goes back to the curly man next to me and I blush.

I let myself fall back onto the bed and I giggle.

Taylor looks confused at me but lays next to me.

"What's so funny?" he asks smiling.

"Nothing, it's just-" I laugh again "That's just such a Hayley thing to do."

He laughs with me and we both stare at the ceiling.

We stay in silence for a few seconds.

"That's a really beautiful ceiling" I mumble.

Taylor erupts in laugh.

"What?"

"I mean it. It's really cute, why didn't I notice it last parahoy?" I turn my head to him.

"Well, you were usually on top. So I was the one staring at the ceiling" I let a big belly laugh "And you, of course" he adds smiling.

"You're a jerk" I state looking at him.

"You're weird" he answers back.

"Cool"

We both look back at the ceiling.

I kissed him. He kissed me. We kissed.

I grin slightly at the thought and I touch my lips. I can still feel his on mine.

I sigh deeply.

"I don't want to go back to LA" I turn my head to him, he does too. "I hate it there"

He stays quiet for a few seconds. I can almost hear his brain think.

"Come to Nashville" he blurts out.

I get up the bed.

"What?" I look at him as if he was crazy.

"Come on, you have Hayley there, Brian... Me" he gets up with me.

He grabs my hands excitedly.

"Please, please, please, please..." he looks at me with puppy eyes.

"I just have so much work, and changing uni is so difficult and then finding a place is just so... I just- I don't know..." I start rambling

What the hell are you doing? Say yes, say yes!

"Come on! You can stay with me for as long as you need to. You said it yourself! We should hang out more often"

"I..."

My mind is completely blank.

Except for a little voice on the back of my head.

Do it, you dumbass.

"Okay"