You walked down the streets of New York City on your own.
With your headphones in and your phone in your hand, you made your way to your destination to meet up with your friends.
It's your first time visiting New York City and you're enjoying every second and every experience so far.
You were still quite a few minutes away from the subway, which you have to take to get to the place where you'd be meeting up with your friends.
But you don't mind; you like the walk and the scenery surrounding you.
However, as you continued to walk, something began to feel off.
You could hear footsteps on the ground behind you.
You didn't think too much of it because you know New York City is populated by many and you were guaranteed to have people walking behind you at some point.
But this just felt different.
You took out your headphones and turned your head to find a man following behind you and as your eyes met, he got closer and closer to you to the point where he was so close he could touch you.
"Hi." The man spoke. "Can I have your number?"
"No." You said as you began to feel some bad vibes from the guy. "Please leave me alone."
"You're so pretty. Is this your first time in NYC?"
You didn't reply, you just moved your feet faster on the ground.
"Come on, you tease. Just give me your damn number!"
You started to run down the streets as you looked behind you to see if he was following you, which he was.
Suddenly, you bumped into someone in front of you, and you quickly began to feel guilty for doing so.
"Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry!"
You lifted your head to find a beautiful girl standing in front of you.
But she looked concerned as she watched you try and catch your breath as you looked over your shoulder in a panic.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"No. Some creep is following me. He won't leave me alone!"
And that's when you saw him again.
He was standing just across the street from you and as your eyes full of fear met his, he smirked.
"Is that him?"
"Yes."
"Come on." She said before grabbing your hand. "Just go along with this."
You didn't know what she meant but you felt so terrified of the guy that you didn't complain.
If she had a plan of some sort, you'd be following it.
As the guy made his way across the street, she stepped in front of you protectively.
"Is there a problem here? Why do you keep following my girlfriend?"
"Your girlfriend?"
"Yes, my girlfriend. Look, I think she made it perfectly clear that she's not interested. She doesn't want your number. She doesn't want anything to do with you. Leave her alone."
"I want her."
"Too damn bad. It's not happening. Now walk away. Or else you're going to regret it. Do I make myself clear?"
The guy clenched his jaw as he looked between you and the girl holding your hand so tightly, so protectively.
"Walk. Away." She said as she clenched her jaw. "You think I won't do anything to keep her safe? Come on, try me. You're not getting to her."
The guy was seething.
"Come on. Let's get out of here, baby." She said as she began to run with you. "Right ahead is the subway. Get on it."
You were both hurrying away from him as fast as you could.
He was still following you when you both got onto the subway.
You felt as though you could breathe again only when the subway began to move and you watched him fade far away.
"Are you okay?" She asked as you sat down.
You nodded your head, breathing shakily.
"Thank you. For everything."
"It's no problem at all. I'm Taylor, by the way."
"Y/N." You said and watched a smile pull at her lips. "God, that guy was so creepy. I don't know how to thank you enough. If I hadn't bumped into you I don't know what would've happened."
"Well, you did and he's long gone now so you have no reason at all to worry. You're safe. Catch your breath and calm down. Everything's fine." She said as she rubbed your shoulder comfortingly.
Taylor looked around as she scooted closer to you and as she saw people gazing at you, she became a little more protective.
Taking your hand back into hers, she shot everyone that gazed at you daggers, scowling at them all.
You couldn't help but smile.
It felt nice to hold her hand and, on top of that, it was just precious to see her so protective of you.
She was determined to keep you safe at all costs and you found that to be extremely endearing.
As the subway went along and the minutes passed by, you and Taylor continued to talk.
You got to know each other better.
You found that she was going to see her friends in the city, just as you were with yours.
She told you about herself and you did the same, finding it to be easy to open up to her.
Suddenly, the subway came to a stop and you got off together, still hand in hand.
"I've never been to New York City before. It's so beautiful here."
"It is. It can be overwhelming at times, especially if you're new here. But it's a really great city. It's so pretty and there's so much to do here. I've got a place here in the city and I love it."
You smiled brightly at her as she told you about New York City and all her favorite things, though she, of course, didn't talk just about herself.
She wanted to learn more about you and happily let you speak too, wanting to know everything about you.
She couldn't explain what but there was something about you that was already making her fall hard and she knew that you were doing the same.
You walked some more together, your hand still in hers as she led you to your friend's place.
And when you reached it, you dropped her hand and she couldn't deny that it made her feel sad.
"Well, this is my friend's house. Thank you for walking me here and thank you again for everything. It means a lot to me, Taylor."
"You're welcome." She smiled. "Bye, Y/N."
"Bye."
You gave her a quick hug and then went into your friend's place, leaving Taylor standing outside.
Taylor breathed out a sigh of sadness.
She was undeniably sad because she felt as though she'd missed her shot.
She really liked you.
You were so attractive, so sweet, and kind.
You were exactly what she was looking for and she felt sad because she hadn't gotten your number.
Or, so she thought.
Because as she made her way to the restaurant she was going to meet with her friends at, she stuck her hands into her pockets and felt something inside one of them.
Pulling it out, she saw a note from you that you had slipped in at some point during the time you'd been together.
"I think you're pretty cool. Call me sometime. Y/N."
She smiled from ear to ear as she held the note against her chest, feeling happier than she ever has before.
She stepped into the restaurant a moment later and her friends could tell something was up with her.
"Someone's happy. Having a good night?" Gigi asked.
"The best night. I met someone." Taylor announced.
"Oh, that's amazing! What's her name?" Ryan asked.
"Y/N. She's beautiful and kind and I really like her. There's something different about her. She's so special and sweet. I can't explain it. I've never felt this way before."
"She sounds wonderful, Taylor. We're happy for you." Blake smiled.
And everyone exchanged glances and grins as Taylor continued to go on and on about you.
"I think she might be in love," Ryan teased, making everyone laugh.
Taylor just blushed and nodded her head, already looking forward to seeing you again soon.