sweet disposition | haylor au

8- when the sun came up, you were looking at me

Taylor was woken up from her distant sleep due to the smell of bacon and conversation that was audibly coming from the next room. It was no surprise that she'd been so sensitive to the sounds bouncing off the wall since she had fallen asleep in the living room. She couldn't exactly figure out why she had woken up in the living room out of places until she spotted the scrabble board and its little titles splattered all across the tea table. She groaned, remembering that she had spent hours playing Scrabble with, get this, her ex, who she had just fucked while having a fiancé at home not even less than a month ago.

They had stopped playing at exactly 3 in the morning. They'd been so busy trying to win, the conversations between them stayed at a costly minimum, all focus on the game and the game only. Rubbing her eyes, Taylor went to the bathroom, naturally avoiding the kitchen where all the company was coming from. Once she had finished brushing her teeth and washing up her face, she finally made her grand entrance.

"You just woke up now," Selena said and Taylor gave her a puzzled look.

"Well yeah," Taylor shrugged awkwardly, "I went to sleep at 3 in the morning, what do you expect?" She pulled back the empty chair and took a seat right across Niall, and adjacent to Harry.

"What kept you up for so long?" Selena lingered in curiosity.

Taylor had already stuffed a piece of bacon in her mouth. She groggily answered, "do you really want me to answer that?"

"Yeah."

There were two answers, but Taylor kept the obvious one to herself and used the other one as a way to tease her best friend. "You two kept me up last night with those awfully goddamn loud noises," Taylor scrunched her nose, "isn't that right Harry?"

Harry stayed quiet but there was a slight upturn of his pressed lips. Taylor amazingly watched the crimson red heat take over both Niall and Selena's cheeks. "I shouldn't have pried with that," Selena swallowed thickly, still flustered. Taylor nodded to herself presumptuously and then everyone went quiet and continued to consume.  Taylor pushed her empty plate forward, finishing up her meal, standing up.

"Pack some layers and necessary equipment." Taylor nearly stumbled over one of the chair legs due to the startle of Selena's command.

She dumbfounded blinked. "What? Are we going somewhere?"

"Hiking,"

"Right now? All of us?"

Selena rolled her eyes but continued to nod. Taylor gulped, processing the plan of the day. "People might see us," She had clutched onto the head of the chair.

"No one will see us, they only come if we call them,"

Flash forward to an hour, they were all sat in Niall's van. Niall and Selena at the front, and Taylor and Harry at the back, trying their hardest to keep their distance.

"This is going to be so fun," Selena said cheerfully amidst a quarter of the ride.

"For you two," Harry spoke up.

"Oh my god guys, patch up whatever problems you have already!" Selena urged and gave them a look that a mother would give to her immature children.

Taylor crosses her arms, her nails nearly digging into the forearm of her other arm. "P-problems? You two are making it not fun because it's basically a date for you two and the rest of us are forth wheeling,"

Harry stiffened a smile, and for a second he made playful eye contact with Taylor in agreement.

"Well, we can always double date ya know," Niall chirped in. Just when the discomfort was starting to fade away between them, Niall had to bring in the buzzkill. The playful smile on Harry's face faded instantly and he sat expressionless, Taylor immediately turned her gaze to her hands that sat intertwined in her laps.