"L A B E L S"

Episode 59

Taylor walks down the front steps of the school, heading home when she sees Nick laying across the picnic table outside the school, trying to get a short nap in before football practice. She smirks and walks over to him, making sure to keep her footsteps quiet. She takes her water bottle out of her bag and pours what was left of the ice cold water all across his chest.

Nick jumps up as soon as the cold water hits his chest. "Oosh! Oosh!" He looks over at Taylor with surprised eyes. "What the hell?!"

She crosses her arms and stares back at him with a pleased smirk.

Taylor stands above him with a large smile and shrugs with a snicker. "Let's just call it payback."

Nick smiles lightly and begins airing his shirt out, trying to get it dry. "Well, I guess I should be grateful if the only payback I get for cheating on you is ice water down my shirt." He smiles with a sincere expression and sits down at the picnic table.

She stares at him for a moment in surprise. He seemed...different somehow to her and she didn't know why. She decides to let the change in his attitude slide and sits down in front of him. "I'm done being mad at you, Nick. We both knew that our relationship wasn't going anywhere and me holding a grudge because of the way it ended is just pointless. I forgive you Nick and I'd like to be friends." She gives him a sincere look.

He looks at her with shock at her sudden change of heart. "Seriously? Are you sure you don't want to dump of few more water bottles on my head and release a little more anger?" He smirks jokingly.

She smiles and glances down at the table before looking up at him with a serious expression. "We may have been a total mess as a couple but you were a pretty good friend and I hope that we can keep that part of our relationship intact...but only that part." She gives him a serious look.

He gives her a slightly confused expression. "What's with the change of heart? Just last week you were damning me and my label."

"Life's too short to go through it angry...right?" She gives him a look like she's expecting an honest answer to that question.

His face turns serious as he thinks a moment before nodding. "Yeah, it is."

She nods with a small smile and sits there for a minute in silence before speaking. "So...I hear you've been hanging out with Dani quite a bit."

"She's my physics tutor..." Realization hits him and he speaks with a little more irritation. "Is that the reason for your sudden change of heart? You're Adam's little spy! He wants to know what's going on with me and Dani, right?" Nick leans back and smirks with a combination of both irritation and satisfaction.

She leans forward with seriousness. "He's just concerned, Nick. Dani is his best friend and I know you know that..." He averts his eyes down to the table to avoid her stare. "If this is some game - and I really hope you wouldn't sink that low - but if it is, I guarantee it will blow up in your face."

"Dani is just my tutor, Taylor."

She rolls her eyes. "We both know you don't need a tutor. I've seen what you can do when you set you mind to it. You're not dumb, Nick, you're just lazy."

"I'm not sure if I should feel flattered or insulted."

"Don't do anything you're going to regret. I know you can be an ass but I sincerely hope I know you well enough to know you would never intentionally hurt Dani just to get back at Joe."

Nick rolls his eyes. "Adam really needs to check himself...not everything is about him."

She nods once, deciding to believe him for now. "Okay."

He leans forward and speaks after a few moments. "You really like that dork?"

"You labeling him as a dork isn't going to make you any less of an ass, Nick."

He snickers and leans back a little. "Do you?"

She smiles lightly and nods. "Yeah, I do."

"More than me?"

"Oh, so, so much more than you Nick." She smirks and stands up, playfully hitting him on the arm before snickering and walking off.

He chuckles and slowly turns around to look at her. "Where are you going?"

She turns back to him with a less than enthused expression. "I got a birthday party to plan."

"Who's?"

"Your "tutor."" She smirks and does air quotes with her fingers.

A small smile begins to appear at the corner of his lips. "It's Dani's birthday?"

"Saturday, Scarlett's house. Make sure you get her something nice." She shows a small smile and turns continuing her walk to the parking lot. Nick smirks and turns back around, thinking over his new plans for this Saturday night.

~~~

Logan's sitting in his apartment, watching TV when he hears a knock at the door. He throws his remote back on the couch and walks over to the door.

Mia shows a small apologetic smile when he opens the door. "Hey."

"Hey."

"I just wanted to apologize for earlier today. I've been kind of on edge lately and it wasn't you I was mad at, you were just the only person around at the moment."

Logan sighs and glances down at the ground before opening his door wider, letting her inside. She steps inside and he closes the door behind her, turning to face her with a serious expression. "What is going on with you? Lately you've been getting crazy angry at the drop of a hat, you are constantly exhausted and don't take this the wrong way...but you have been eating like nobody I've ever seen before."

She forces a chuckle, trying to play off his accusations.

"I'm just worried about you. If working and going to school is really having this effect on you, you need to do something about it."

She nods and puts on a serious expression to convince him it's all under control. "I know, and I am. I've moved in with Scarlett and I promise things will get better. I just need some time to adjust. Things are really crazy right now."

He nods and glances over at his TV then back at her with a small smile. "Wanna watch some TV?"