Stay This Little

Part Five: Your Little Hand's Wrapped Around My Finger

(Alison's POV)

I walked down the stairs, and peeked into the living room. I was pretty much wriggling from excitement just to get to watch a movie with Taylor. This was turning out to be the best day of my life!

I looked over to the couch, and my smile faded a little. Taylor was leaned back against one of the cushions, with her head hanging back against the top of the couch. Her legs were stretched out onto the floor, and she was rubbing circles against the sides of her forehead. She looked sort of like one of the teachers at my old school, when she would say how tired she was of having us kids around all day.

I pulled back to fully hide behind the corner. I hoped Taylor wasn't already getting tired of having me around. She'd already been so nice. She talked to me about being there for me if I needed her at night, and she made me a really good dinner. She even said she would take me shopping tomorrow to get stuff for my room, and that I could travel with her whenever she went anywhere... But maybe she didn't realize how much time and effort I would take up from her?

I'll fix it. I can help make her feel better, and she'll still want me. I can do this. Maybe it's not because of me.

I took a deep breath, and walked around the corner. Taylor immediately sat up, and flashed a smile at me. I blinked.

"Hey, buddy, how was your shower?"

I tilted my head to the side a little, and looked at her with narrowed eyes. She didn't look upset anymore, but she sounded kind of funny.

"It was good," I said honestly, and I took it upon myself to go and sit beside her on the couch. "Are you okay? You sound sad, and you looked sad before I came in, too."

Taylor's eyes got wide.

"I-" She paused, the way I do when I don't know what to say next. "I am a little bit sad."

My face fell, and I realized angrily that I could feel tears pricking at my eyes. I always cried when I was upset, even when I tried not to, and it was the worst thing ever. Maybe she was sad because I was here.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I know it's probably a lot of work for you to bring me here."

"What?" Taylor got a big smile on her face. "Ali, sweetheart, I'm so excited and happy to have you here!" She reached out and I sniffled when she gently held my face in her hands. "Please, please don't ever think that I consider it too much work or too hard to have you here. I already love having you with me," she said softly.

I blinked and a couple of tears fell, but I could tell she sounded happy when she said all that.

"You weren't sad because of me?" I asked hopefully, with a smile growing on my face.

Taylor paused for a second, and then she surprised me by pulling me onto her lap and holding me tightly. I nestled my head against her neck, just like I did when she carried me before, and relaxed in her arms.

"Absolutely not. You make me so happy, Alison." I felt her kiss the side of my head. "I was sad because someone I love said some things on the phone that hurt me, but it's certainly not your fault. Sometimes, things happen and people say things that make us sad, but it's alright to feel that if we need to. Just because I'm sad from that doesn't make me less happy to have you, okay?"

I hummed quietly. I hadn't really thought about it like that, but I guess that made sense. When I was at the Gilmore House with the other girls, I always tried not to let them see when I was sad. They would make fun of me and call me a crybaby, but I couldn't help it when something hurt my feelings. I figured it would probably be a lot easier to just be sad when I got my feelings hurt, and not have to work so hard to try to cover it up.