Place Your Bets

Chapter Five

four years ago, Taylor aged 13 

"I know this is difficult to understand, Taylor; but we need to move for your dads job. It'll be better in the end, he's going to get paid more. That means we'll be able to afford things that normally we could not afford." His mother's voice was soft, trying to calm the crying little boy who did not want to leave all his friends. 

"But... mommy! I don't want to leave this house. My friends are here, all of them. What about David? He will be so mad that I'm leaving." Taylor whined, his face contorted with the saddest expression he could muster, his eyes red from crying. 

"I'm sorry Taylor, you'll see him again. We'll be the next city over. He'll understand and you can still call him, we'll still have a house phone." She was getting slightly irritated, they had been talking for hours and nothing seemed to calm the young boys nerves. 

That didn't really calm Taylor at all, he was still crying and now his brother was getting mad, "Shut up Taylor. You only have one friend anyways, why do you care where we go? You'll make more friends anyways. Why is David so important? Is it because you're gay in love with him?" Taunting the younger boy, Eric seemed to struck a note not only with Taylor, but his mother as well. 

"I will wash your mouth out with soap, Eric. Your brother is not gay, you need to stop bugging him about it. It's not nice." Standing on her left foot, her mouth furled into a slight frown. "Please go and finish packing, we leave in two days. I need the truck loaded and ready to go by Thursday," Waving a dismissive hand, Eric muttered something and walked away. 

"Mom! Can I go see David at least? I need him to know this isn't my fault my evil parents decided to send me away without even so much as a week's notice. We'll be almost two hours from here, I'll never see him again." The desperation running through his voice gave away more then he would have liked to, but he really needed to let his friend know the truth. What if he thought he was responsible for leaving? 

"I suppose that would be okay. I except you back here in no more than an hour though, Taylor. You still need to pack up your clothes and the odd ends in your own room. I'll give you until four thirty, okay?" 

"Thanks Mom!" Taylor kissed her cheek, running to the front door, throwing on his high tops and heading out the door, being careful to close the door lightly. David's house was only a few blocks away and in a small town of 6000 people, Taylor could easily make his way there in less than five minutes, especially when he was running. 

As he made his way up to David's front door, he was quick to ring the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer it. He could hear footsteps on the other end and as the door opened, Taylor finally saw Mr. Cooper's head stick out from the corner of the door, a smile hitting his face as he opened the door. "Taylor! What are you doing here? Your mother told me the news, shouldn't you be packing?" 

"She let me come say goodbye, sir." Taylor smiled lightly, "Is David home?" 

Letting Taylor in, he let him go to David's room. As Taylor opened the door, he saw David sitting on his bed, playing some sort of Nintendo game. "Hey David!" 

David looked up and smiled, "Hey Taylor. What are you doing here?" David was two years older than Taylor, being fifteen and going to high school. They had been friends for what seemed like forever, maybe even the best of friends. 

"I just came to tell you about my move..." Trailing off, Taylor looked down at the ground, frowning heavily at what he was saying. "I'm sorry, I have no choice, my dad got a new job or something and I have to leave." 

"I know." David was not smiling and he was looking out the window, "My dad told me that you were leaving a few days from now. I'm sorry we haven't been hanging out lately, I've just been super busy with tests and everything, high school is not as fun as they make it out to be, Taylor.. Are you going to come back and visit us small towners anytime?" 

Taylor smiled, "Of course. I couldn't forget about you guys." 

David smiled and patted the bed next to him, allowing Taylor to sit next to him. "I hope not, I know I'll never forget you, Taylor." 

Taylor knew exactly what this meant, they had done it so many times before, closing his bedroom door, Taylor crawled onto David's bed, letting him wrap his slender arms around his waist. "You don't forget me, will you?" 

David smiled and quickly brought his lips down to Taylor's, giving him a small but forceful kiss on the lips. "Of course not, I could never forget about my first love." Another kiss followed and soon David's hands were up Taylor's shirt, twisting his small, fragile nipples. "Are you sure I'll be able to see you again? 

Taylor giggled at the slight sensation he was feeling, but he made sure to smile and nod, "I will come back as much as I can. I think there is even a bus out here, and I heard my brother say it's only a few dollars each way, so I'm sure I could use my allowance money to see you." 

Kissing the smaller boy's lips again, David pulled away slightly, "And you won't forget me, right? I know I've asked already, but I really need to know." 

Taylor smiled and kissed the larger boy back, "I will never forget you David. ANd you keep Debra safe, okay?" 

David smiled at him, "Yes sir."