Love's Not A Competition(Tayley) *FINISHED*

Chapter 25

Taylor POV

No luck last night. We searched and searched and searched but couldn't seem to find any sign of Hayley. All of us split up, some of us going north of the street, others south, the rest went east and west, but no luck. The only sign of Hayley that there was was the bow that I found, but that's it. It seemed like not even a simple hair of Hayley's was to be found. From what I know, Tay and I are the only ones who know about Chad and the stalking, I'm not sure who else knows though.

I got changed and headed over to Tay's. I still have some questions that need to be answered, and hopefully, she will be able to answer them. I texted her and told her that I was coming over. When I got to the front door, I knocked and the door flew open right away, revealing Tay, who forced a smile. "Hey Taylor, come on in." She moved out of the doorway and held the door open so that I could walk in.

"Thanks..." I said as I walked in.

"You can take a seat over there on the couch." I pointed to the light brown colored overstuffed sofa in the living room. I walked over and sat myself down on the sofa and Tay sat about a foot away from me. We were silent, which was kind of awkward, but I just looked down at my hands. "So how've you been?" She finally broke the silence.

"Good..." I lied, but she didn't seem to buy it.

"Taylor..." she said and I looked up at her, "How've you been?" She said in a more serious tone.

"I..." I scratched the back of my head, "I... I feel..." I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"Taylor..." I heard her say. 

"Guilty," I said, "guilty, I feel guilty. I feel like If I would've known about what was going on, I could've protected her..." I felt tears starting to form in my eyes, "I feel like if I didn't have to go to the bathroom, then maybe Eddie wouldn't have taken me in there, that maybe Hayley wouldn't have seen that, that maybe she wouldn't have run off, and that maybe she wouldn't have disappeared..." I closed my eyes to try to stop the tears from flowing down my face.

"Taylor, none of it was your fault..." Tay reminded me, "it's just how she reacted, I have no idea why she ran off, or where she ran off to, but don't blame it on yourself."

"Do you think..." I took a deep breath before saying what I was about to say, "do you think Ch-Chad got her? Do-do you think he took her?"

Tay sighed. "I know that's something scary to think about, I'm just gonna say that that could've been a possibility, but we aren't sure. What I do think is that you should go to her house, maybe talk a bit with her mom, tell her what happened, then go to Chad's house and talk with his aunt."

I sighed, "Okay... Just one more thing, who else known about this? About Chad stalking her and all that?" I asked.

"From what I know, just me, you, and Kat." She answered.

"Should we tell the rest?" I asked.

"I'll tell them, don't worry, just go and talk with her mom. And get some rest too, you look tired." She smiled and gave me a friendly punch in the arm. 

I chuckled for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Tay..." I said and she looked up at me, "Thanks...for everything." I pulled her in for a small friendly hug.

"Anytime." She said as I released her. 

We said goodbye and I was on my way to Hayley's house to talk with her parents. 

"Hey Taylor, where's Hayley?" Her mom asked when she opened the door.

"Actually... that's what I came here to talk about..." I said.