Alex Pettyfer as Taylor. Enjoy ♥️
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That week passed by in a blur. I have never broken up with anyone before and it drove me crazy just thinking about how Taylor will react. He kept texting me this whole week and I either replied him in one word texts or nothing at all. Being with him feels safe and mature but at this age, I don't want that. When I told my friends what I was going to do, they were all very supportive of my decision. I had a little chat with Emma. I remember what she said.
"You love him right?"
I nodded.
"But you are not in love with him?"
I weakly nodded again.
"But you still care about him."
"I do." I whispered.
"Then set him free. Let him have the chance to meet someone else. You are not happy with him but you are letting him believe you are. That's deceit. You have to let him go for him to find true happiness with someone else."
I nodded very slowly. This is exactly the reason why she is my best friend. She knows what to say and when to say it. I have no idea what a mess I would have been if it wouldn't be for her.
Mark came by a few times in the shop to help me cook. Most of the times I was distracted and I exchanged orders quite a lot. To say that my customers were annoyed would be an understatement. I had to give them free chocolates as compensation. Nevertheless, that whole week was packed with people; some came by to order in, others just wanted to buy gifts for their loved ones. Every once in a while, whenever a couple walked in, I had to put on a forced smile and make sure I don't cry in front of them. Combined with the guilt I had for breaking Taylor's heart and messing up orders and recipes, my days in the bakery were a disaster except for the money I made which is quite good. To say that I cooked bad would be praise. One particular day, I was staring at the pancake for so long, it turned black. Mark caught the smell and rushed inside to find a burning pancake. He immediately threw it out but I didn't even move from my place. He put his hands on my shoulder and jerked me to pull me out of my trance.
"Liv, what is it? You have been so distracted this week. I asked your friends and they aren't telling me anything. What is going on?" He asked half worried half frustrated. He cupped my face and made me look at him.
"I am breaking up Taylor." I simply said.
"About time!" I pushed him away and shoved my elbow on his chest. He made an oomph sound and I smiled a little.
"Look just focus on the cons for dragging this relationship with him. Just focus on how toxic it will be for him." He said after fixing his composure. I nodded and he hugged me. We stayed like that for a minute or two before customers came in.
"I need a favour." He said while I was cooking a better, more eatable pancake.
"Yeah sure. What is it?" I said without looking at him I was too focused on making sure I out the batter in a perfect round shape.
"Can I have Emma's number?" I whipped my head so fast I thought I got a sprain.
"You and Emma?" I asked in utter disbelief.
"You don't have to be so shocked. I am a nice guy." He pouted.
"Doubtful." I said and flipped the pancake. I put chocolate and strawberries crushed on it before putting it out on the plate. I let the chocolate melt and get mixed with strawberries.
"Come on please! She is in my literature class and I kept looking at her instead of focusing on the class. I got detention twice this week because I was asked a question I didn't know the answer of cause I was too focused on your friend." He said the last part in a low voice.
"So you have a crush on Emma?" I asked while putting the batter on the pan for another layer of pancake. When he didn't reply, I looked at him to see him blushing furiously. I put my hand on his cheek and he looked at me hopefully.
"Not happening." I said and flipped the pancake. He groaned and I laughed out loud.
"I am not saying that you should not make your move. You are a nice guy and she is awesome but I feel that you should try talking to her in person first. If she likes you, she will let me know and then I will give you her number." I explained and went out to serve the customer. He smiled at me and I went back to make his chocolate coffee shake.
"But what if she rejects me? How will I pester her until she falls for me?" He asked when I came back. He was still sitting on my work platform.
"If she rejects you, you better stop bothering her or I will kick you in the nuts." I said and smiled sweetly at him. He gave me a pointed look and kept blabbering about how much he liked Emma and he doesn't wanna blow his chance with her.
"Mark, honey, I am not giving you her number. You can say whatever you want. Make a good impression and if she tells me she likes you, you can have her contact info. I will even tell you where she lives. But for now, you won't get anything from my side. Also to be honest, now that you have got two detentions in her favourite class, your chances are pretty slim. She loves literature and classic books and stuff like that and seeing as you got punished twice, she probably believes that you are not interested in the class and by extension, in books." I said and he gaped at me.
"WHAT?" He said and kept looking at me as if he saw a ghost. I chuckled.
"Don't worry. When you make your first move and she tells me she is neutral about you, like she doesn't like you or hate you, I will try to bend things in your favour." At this, he hugged me.
"Can't....breathe.....Let....me....go!!" I said under his suffocating hug. He does that when he is way too happy to express it. When he let me go, I smiled at him. I have to play Cupid now, I thought.
I was so lost about Taylor, I never had time to talk to Carter. I heard he screwed over some girls. He took them out on a date and had sex with them but never called them again. I didn't have the energy to deal with him. He came to me quite a few times to casually talk to me but I ignored him and kept myself busy. We didn't even exchange glances at each other when we passed down the hall.
I never wanted Saturday to come but here we are. My mom gave me a small backpack with water and snacks in it. She said and I quote, "Do the right thing."
Yeah mom like that's so easy.
I thought but I didn't say it out loud. She was just trying to help. I took off at around 8 in the morning. Through the whole ride I kept thinking about the fact that if I am feeling this guilty right now, god knows how I will manage after I break it off with Taylor. After I reached his apartment, I texted him that I am outside. He told me to come in and I did. I don't want to make a big scene out of this. Also, I want him to have a comfortable surrounding after I leave.
When he looked at me, he smiled like I am his favourite book or something. He ran towards me and hugged me. I awkwardly placed my arms on his back. I was the one to break off the hug. He looked at me in confusion. He came forward to kiss me but I took a few steps backward.
"Liv what's wrong?" He asked me obviously confused and hurt. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!
"We need to talk." I said and pulled him towards the dining table. We sat on opposite chairs.
"Yeah? Okay go ahead." He said and kept his hands crossed on his chest.
"Okay here is the thing. Taylor, I love you. I love you a lot." I said holding his hand.
"But?" He asked.
"But I can't do this anymore. I have been thinking about this for some time and I don't think we are right for each other. I don't know if it's the distance or what but I don't feel like we are meant for each other. Don't get me wrong, you are perfect and honestly it's my loss that I am letting you go but I just don't feel that we connect. I don't feel like I belong in this relationship and I am so sorry that I hurt you. It's just if I wouldn't have said anything, I would have been in a relationship that I am not fully invested in and that's not how it should be. I want to let you go because I think that there is someone perfect for you who is out there. I tried my best to be that person but I am not. I wanted so much to be that person, but I am not." He stayed silent through my whole rant looking at me. I kept my eyes down unable to look at him. I felt if I look in his eyes, I will change my decision and I don't want that.
"Olivia look at me." He said my full name, Shit! He never calls me Olivia. He is hurt! Shit! Shit! Shit! I cursed in my head. I looked at him and saw his expressionless face.
"You are not happy with me?" He asked.
"I am. I am happy with you but I feel caged with you. I should feel content with you right? Content with the fact that we are together but I feel chained all the time. Taylor you are the kind of guy I would want to spend the rest of my life with but I am seventeen. I don't want to think about that right now. I want to explore what's out there. If we would have been together by the time I am thirty, I would have gladly stayed with you forever but I can't right now. At this stage in life, I just want to be carefree in all aspects. I want to take risks and fail and learn and just be brave. That includes guys." I said and he looked down. He was taking it all in. After a few seconds he looked up and I saw tears in his eyes. Dammit!
"Is there someone else?" He asked wiping his tears.
"What? No. I would never do that to you or anyone. You know I am not that kind of girl." I said. He chuckled darkly.
"I meant, do you have feelings for someone else that you developed without knowing?"
"No Taylor. There is no one else." I said in a small voice.
"It's fine Olivia. It's fair. You are not wrong. You are not at a stage where you want to settle immediately and that's a fair thing to say. It just hurts. I love you with all my heart but that also means that I want you happy and free." He said.
"Can we be friends?" I blurted out and I immediately regretted it. His eyes darkened but he immediately composed himself.
"Liv, just because I am understanding about the breakup doesn't mean I am not hurt. I am hurt. I have loved you more than anything else in my world. I think about you when you are not around and I just feel happy when you are. Whatever happens in my day, one thought remains and that is I will talk to you at the end of the day. I will make you laugh and that sound will make my own problems vanish. But now you are telling me that you don't want to be with me. Your reasons are fair, Olivia and I understand that but I can't think about you now. If I do, that will just hurt me more. I just don't want to be hurt Olivia. So, no. I am sorry but I don't wanna be your friend Liv. It's too hard." He said and a tear rolled down his cheek followed by another and another. I felt my eyes burning up and before I know it, I started crying as well.
"Can I get a hug?" I asked in a hoarse voice. He looked at me and his eyes soften. He got up and I did the same and we hugged. It was so comfortable being in his embrace. I just wanted to stay like that but I knew I can't.
"I will see myself out." I said and started leaving.
"Liv!" He called me when I was close to the door. I looked back to meet his red shot eyes.
"Yeah?"
"You said you are not ready to settle down right now. If I ask you out thirteen years from now, will you go out with me?" He asked cheekily, his eyes still had hurt in them. I know he was trying to lighten the mood. That's his charm.
"Did you just future asked me out?"
"Yeah."
"I would love to." I said and hugged him again. I smiled and left without giving him a second glance. If I did, it will just hurt a lot more than I am ready to take. I quickly ignited the engine and took off.
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Hey you guys! I feel so sorry for Taylor but it had to be done. Some things are not meant to be, right? Lemme know your thoughts!