handprints on my soul - jaylor oneshots

sparkling nights (part 2)

"This is so strange," Taylor giggled, jogging the last few steps to where Joe stood on the lawn in front of her mansion. "Thank you for coming back. I didn't think you would."

"Is it creepy?" asked Joe. "I just couldn't get you out of my mind, I had to come find you again."

"I was thinking about you too," Taylor smiled, happy that she was in his thoughts. "We barely got time to talk, but I really liked it."

"Let's go back out to that garden, shall we?" asked Joe, offering his hand.

"I have a better idea," Taylor told him, and took his hand anyway, but led the way in a different direction.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Joe, amused by how easily Taylor took the lead. She was beautiful with an amazing personality; it was no wonder he couldn't stop thinking of her.

"Somewhere we can be alone." Taylor looked back at him, her skin sparkling in the moonlight as she smiled over her shoulder.

It wasn't too far of a walk, just to a lake near the edge of the property. The moon reflected on the dark surface, causing it to shimmer even in the dead of night.

"No one will find us here," Taylor said with content and certainty.

"There's no one here anymore, who would find us?" Joe frowned.

Sighing, Taylor took a seat on the grass, and motioned for Joe to join her. They just sat for a while, looking out on the glassy top of the lake.

"My parents don't like you much," Taylor revealed finally, tilting her head to look at him once more.

The corner of Joe's lip turned up slightly, as if this was some sort of bad joke. "What'd they say?" he asked, and it almost sounded as if this was a conversation he'd had before.

"They said you're... reckless and bad at commitment," Taylor said. "They don't want me around you."

Joe nodded, looking down at the ground. He fiddled with a blade of grass, bending it back against itself. "What do you believe?" he asked.

"That they're wrong," Taylor confessed. "Is it dumb to trust someone so quickly?" she asked.

"I don't know," Joe responded truthfully.

"Who was that girl? Polly, is she your girlfriend?" Taylor questioned.

"She's my sister," Joe said, smiling faintly. "My twin sister."

Taylor felt lighter all of a sudden, relieved that Joe wasn't in love with someone else, that he didn't have a different girl just waiting to be his Juliet.

"Oh, that was the other thing. That you're the odd one out of your siblings," Taylor recalled. "How many do you have?"

"Three," Joe answered. "My older brother, Tom. He's still in London. My twin sister Polly, and our baby brother Patrick. He's seven."

"Awe," Taylor said, smiling at the idea of a mini Joe. "You're so nice. Why don't my parents want me around you?"

"Well," Joe began, chuckling slightly. "I think that's a rather awkward question to answer about myself."

Smirking a little, Taylor realized it probably was a completely inappropriate topic to be discussing with him, and blushed. "I'm sorry," she laughed, looking away.

"I think I can answer the black sheep part, though," Joe offered. "I'm just the only one who doesn't care about all the fancy things. My family aren't pricks. They don't value it above everything else. They just... like to put in the effort. I don't hate it, but I don't choose it. They choose," he explained.