handprints on my soul - jaylor oneshots

the story of us

"You're such a nerd!" Taylor laughed, her head rolling back against the side of the bed as she cackled.

"Hey, you're no better!" Joe argued, his face turning a rosy blush.

"Seriously, who can name every Star Wars character in order from when they were introduced? Why do you know that?" Taylor asked him, still trying to get her laughter under control.

"It could be a very important skill someday!" said Joe, and his cheeks grew even more pink.

"Yeah, right," Taylor said as she rolled her eyes. Doing so, she caught a glimpse of outside, and her smile faltered a bit. Joe noticed this, glancing behind him out the window. It had grown dark out, and neither had even noticed.

"Curfew's at nine, I should probably get home," said Joe, and he stood up, grabbing his phone off the desk.

"See you tomorrow?" asked Taylor, and she also stood up.

"Definitely," Joe grinned, and he hugged her quickly before walking out.

"Bye," Taylor said softly, not loud enough for him to hear it. Then she sat down on her bed, her legs crisscross and her elbow resting on her knee to prop up her head.

Taylor loved all her friends. She loved spending time in a large group, she loved the smaller groups they divided into for certain activities. She loved how they could always lean on each other for anything.

But she loved Joe in particular just a tiny bit more. She loved when they got to hang out one on one. She loved when he texted her in the middle of the night. She loved how they could get so lost in conversation together, they wouldn't even remember there was anyone else around them.

Since the first second she had met Joe, she had been just a little obsessed with him. He was easy to talk to, it wasn't hard to make friends with him, he was nice to everyone around. They had gotten along so well from the first time they had been introduced, in chemistry class sophomore year when Joe had first moved to the area.

It had been such a cliché, but Taylor had somehow been put in a class with no one she knew, so she was alone at her workstation. Joe had walked in, only just making it on time, and had seen the seat next to her empty. He'd asked if the seat was taken, she'd told him it wasn't, and since then they had just never stopped talking.

Sometimes, and Taylor would never admit this to even her closest of friends, she fantasized about telling that story on their wedding day. How they had met, and the sparks flew instantly. She fantasized about laying in his amrs, laughing and cuddling as they sat around with friends who would say they were the lucky ones for having met their soulmates so young and easily.

-

It was around two hours later, and Taylor was sitting on her bed, too caught up in the book she was reading to consider sleep. She heard her phone buzz, and, finishing the sentence she was reading, she put the book down and picked up her phone. It was a text from Gigi, simply reading don't be mad. Taylor frowned, wondering what that could be about.

What? Taylor typed back, her attention captured away from the book and now onto this.

There was an instant FaceTime notification from Gigi, and Taylor answered, leaning her phone on a pillow so the camera faced her.

"Please, don't be mad. I didn't mean to, it just slipped out-" Gigi began rambling, seeming apologetic for something Taylor had hadn't the slightest clue about.

"Woah, G, slow down. First, what are you talking about?" asked Taylor.

Gigi looked down at this, growing quiet. "Well, you know how Joe and I have that history project together? We were on the phone, figuring out some stuff, and I may have... accidentally... told him you have feelings for him."