Gone.

St. Louis

Taylor strains her eyes slightly as she awakens. Apprehensively she reaches over to the other side of the bed and finds that Dianna has already left for work. They never got to wake up together the morning after. She sighs before getting up and padding over to the bathroom to check herself out in the mirror. She was a mess. Her short blonde hair was pointing in every direction possible, it had frizzed up to an unbelievable proportion and there were very prominent bags under her eyes, she hadn't gotten much sleep.

After brushing through the tangled mess, she wanders into the kitchen and pours herself a bowl of cereal before placing it on the breakfast bar. The vampire checks her phone and her heart sinks when she sees five missed calls from Karlie.

"Shit," she drops her spoon and immediately dials the girl's number. It takes five rings before there is an answer.

"Hello?" Karlie says simply.

"Babe what happened? I'm so sorry I missed your calls I was super busy. I'm so worried, what did she say?" 

"I'm in St. Louis," Karlie's voice is shaky and uncertain.

"You... You're what? How?" Taylor is clearly confused and she wishes she had been able to answer Karlie's calls the night before. She could tell that the girl was fragile and she hadn't been there when it had mattered. A familiar feeling of guilt washes over her and Taylor feels her face heat up and her palms start to sweat.

"She... Oh god I'm just so confused... Josh is out of town and I needed you." There is an audible sigh from the younger girl's end of the line.

"It's okay, I'm here now. Just tell me what happened Karls," Taylor tries to keep her voice calm and level to try and offer support.

"My mom told me she missed me. She asked me if I was still gay and after I said yes she just... she said she's sorry for what she said before and that she regrets letting me go. She... she said that I will always be her daughter and that she wanted me to fly out to see her as soon as possible and now I'm here." She sighs again as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"That's great! But how do you feel about it?"

There as a short pause before Karlie answers in a soft and small voice. "Happy."

"Then I'm happy too," Taylor smiles widely, "how long are you going to be there?" She desperately hopes it isn't long.

"Two more nights. It's going well, we had a long talk yesterday about everything and I can see that she is really trying to understand and push aside her views for me. I..." she stutters, "I think it's going to be okay."

"Of course it is babe, I want to come and see you as soon as you get back. I feel so terrible for missing your calls yesterday."

"I'll look forward to it and please don't feel bad. I know you would've answered if you could and that's all that matters. I love that you're so caring," she beams.

"And I love that you forgive me when I'm an idiot," they laugh together and talk until Taylor forgets that she is hungry.

When they do eventually hang up due to Karlie being called by her mother, Karlie sees that they had been talking for over an hour and a half. She smiles to herself before making her way downstairs to see that her mother had made a breakfast of scrambled egg on toast for her.

"You seem cheery today darling," Tracey says smiling. Karlie nods quickly. "Anything to do with who you were on the phone with for about an hour just then?" She smirks and Karlie's cheeks heat up as she looks down at her food in order to evade Tracey's gaze. "You can tell me you know, I'm okay with it," she takes a seat opposite her daughter and rests her head in her hands awaiting Karlie's answer eagerly.

"It's a girl called Taylor," she finally meets Tracey's gaze.

"Are you together? How long have you known her?"

Karlie thinks back for a moment, "No, a couple months I think."

"And how long have you known you liked her?"

The brunette pauses slightly. "Maybe a few weeks but not for certain until just then if I'm honest..." The girl can't help but show her smile just thinking about Taylor.

"And does she like you?"

"Um..." She stutters, "I don't know.  Maybe."

"I'm happy for you Karlie, I really am," her words seem sincere and she grabs Karlie's hand across the table. "I hope it works out. I know we've had our problems but I've realised that I'm your mom and I love you whoever you love, including this Taylor girl." She smiles warmly.

"Thank you mom. I really like her." Tracey gets up and walks to Karlie on the other side of the table to embrace her in a warm hug and to Karlie, it felt like nothing had ever happened between them. Almost.