Taylor's eyes widened once she saw the bouquet of roses that I went a little effort to go through.
"Oh my gosh! Really?!" She jumped on her spot in excitement. "They're for me?"
Sarcasm would be the best reply at the moment but upon instinct, I only replied with a nod. Of course it's for her, who else?!
"Thanks!" She partly squealed in excitement. She took it from my arms and took her own moment to appreciate the red roses in the bundle.
It is four p.m. in the afternoon, nothing is odd about the snow and me showing up with a bouquet of red roses for her. . . it's a bit easy to point out that what's odd is her look though then again, I should have expected it.
Her hair was the usual curly mess I saw everyday only this time, a lot more of a mess than the average, you honestly have no idea whether her curls go this way or that. Her sweater was a knitted, striped black and white, showing off her thin composure and above all, she is wearing pyjamas printed with Tom and Jerry. Add points that she is holding one of her dolls but it was as if it is hanging in the air because her other arm was left hanging at the side.
"Wow."
"Shut up," she mumbled, hiding the fact that she is embarrassed. She shouldn't be, she looked beautiful regardless.
Taylor told me to go inside and then she started explaining why I've caught in her in the most embarrassing moment. She was seated on her bed, –which had a fair number of papers and notebooks with pens all over– looking at me as I was still standing at her doorway. Her telly had a movie playing, which she paused earlier and it's got Angelina Jolie in it. I've got no idea where she put the doll and the bouquet I gave her. I couldn't recall.
"I didn't know you would come!" Of course, she didn't. If she'd have expected me, it would have been a bit more organised. Though I like getting her off-guard, everything just seemed natural. "I was writing this — this article and I fell asleep. And I hated the fact that I did but then I woke up and tried continuing it. And then you came not seven seconds after I settled down."
"What?" I asked. "I said I would come."
"Yeah, m-maybe but I was sleepy that time you told me and I don't have photographic memory, Harold."
"Eidetic," I corrected immediately, I also wanted to mention that she is also always sleepy but too late.
"What?" She asked, obviously not getting my point. I forgot what I said right after so I told her not to mind it anymore. "Look, I'm sorry, this is so. . ." She took a deep breath, "Thanks for the flowers."
I nodded. "Hope you liked them."
"I do," she said. "But you honestly caught me off-guard, you could have texted."
I darted my eyes to her pyjamas and then back to her. "What so I wouldn't see Tom and Jerry?" I asked jokingly.
"Shut up," she partly whined.
I laughed quietly. "You look nice, Taylor. There's no need to be embarrassed." She gave me a shy smile, letting me know how Taylor gets nervous when I start talking like that so I cleared my throat and then said, "You were writing?"
"No, I was bungee-jumping, what do you think?" Sarcasm. "I just woke up! I look like a mess! There is no such thing as nice over here. Assuming I did wake up and I'm not dreaming right now."
Now she thinks she's dreaming?
She swept her bangs sideways, maybe to fix it but it didn't do much of a help because as soon as her fingers were away, they went back the way they were and I almost found it funny. She huffed once she realised it was exactly the way it used to be.
I crossed my arms smirking at her.
"What?" She asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at me as if I've done a great crime. "Harry, what?" She repeated impatiently seeing as my way of looking at her never changed. "Hey what?" She asked once more while giggling.
I shook my head, "Nothing, I simply find you amusing."
"What is it about me that could possibly be amusing?" She took out her laptop and played the movie. Then she looked at me with a partly guilty, partly befuddled look. "I am not dreaming though, am I?"
That. That is what's amusing.
I never said it though.
I shook my head, "No."
"Good. It's just —" she sighed. "I'm sorry, I just hate Sundays." Her voice had gone back to the usual sweet, and dreamy voice even though she is expressing her certain dislike for something.
"Why?"
"Because after Sunday is Monday and that's basically sucking the life out of the weekend," she answered. "Take a seat, Harry. You're going to get tired just standing up."
I simply walked towards her and cleared the notes on her bed. I sat beside her, she didn't seem to mind that.
"What are you writing about this time?" I asked, looking into the screen. There was barely a second of me looking at it when. . .
She partly shut her laptop with a gasp, "Absolutely not. Harry, privacy. You can't read this."
I pushed it up a bit, "Why not?"
"No!" She said, absolutely sounding repulsed by the idea and pushed it down. "You cannot!"
"Why? What is it about?"
Gunfire can be heard in the background because of the telly but neither of us let it interrupt this tensed conversation.
"This is not the typical travel story. It's like—" she groaned, "—you know, you did not just come here and try to read that. Do not even."
"Back then, you did not want me to leave. Now, you seem like you do."
"Hey, don't put thoughts in my head. I don't want you to leave. I don't, okay? I never said that and I am not even thinking of it. Thanks for the flowers, they're really amazing."
I nodded. "What's in there?" She's good, she tried to change the statement earlier but luckily, I remember enough.
She groaned quietly, "Uh, let's not talk about it."
"Alright. What do you want to talk about?"
Taylor cleared the scraps of papers on her bed, and took what I was holding. I didn't even realise I was holding it. She put them all in between the sheets of her notebook and shut her laptop. She set them all aside in the nearest chair.
"Your dad," she answered immediately right after. "When did he get that shop? He inherited it, right? When?"
I smirked a bit as I recalled, "My birthday, accurately, my grandpa got so excited he gave it to him when I was born."
"Really? Wow. I wish I met either of them."
"Why do you ask, anyways?" I asked. "You loved asking about them."
"That's because they're dead and you're an open book," she replied sweetly. Then she shut her eyes, moaning in a way I am certain she regretted what she said. "Okay, that was harsh. I take it back."
"No, no, that was — accurate," I said. "They're dead. Although, I've no idea about that open book statement. Might I ask what made me so?"
"Your expressions make you easy to read. Plus your words. Though limited, can easily say a lot. Which is good, you should be a writer for the news. Straight to the point and such? But anyways," she sighed, "thanks for the flowers."
She really isn't getting over it that quick. I sighed and she laughed once I did. "I know, I can't get over it. Scott used to do it—" she trailed off and I gave her a smile.
"But I did it this time," I interrupted once her voice almost fell inaudible. It also to tell her that I couldn't care less what Scott used to do. He is not here anymore, I am. The things he used to do were already in the past while I am now here.
It certainly isn't easy to tell that to Taylor.
"I know," she smiled up and gave me a light kiss on the lips. "Why do I get all-sweet on you?" She asked with a pretend-to-be confused face.
I raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk, "That's sweet?"
She moved her legs over mine, leaning close. I am pretty sure I muttered a swear under my breath but I am also sure she did not hear it. She held both my cheeks and squeezed them together. I shook my head to get out from her grasp. "Depends on your definition, over there." She whispered, sending sweet vibrations all over my head. "God, I'm getting sleepy."
No joke. It's really amusing how she could just change her mood like that. That's alright though, she does look like she could get sone rest. I didn't even want to remind her how she just woke up.
"Lie down then," I said, "I can keep myself preoccupied."
"Stay off my laptop," she warned before lying down. "Wake me up at five."
I looked at my watch, it's about fourty-five minutes from now. I nodded and she gave me a smile before closing her eyes. Her legs are still partly entangled with mine and I have no intentions in removing them. Her touch, even the slightest gives off some sort of comfort I could not entirely explain.
I lied down with her once I was getting a bit bored with my position. That gave her an easy opportunity to wrap both her arms and legs around me and I don't really mind. Only, she forgot to turn the TV off again. I canned for the remote the best I could but I couldn't find it so I watched the movie. . . including the closing credits.
Luckily, before the closing credits were finished, it was already five and Taylor told me to wake her up. I remembered the times when I would but I also remember that during those times, things went rather odd. But I did agree so I still have to.
"Taylor?" I said, I know she is a deep sleeper so that would never cut it. If it were my brothers, I would just push them off the bed. If it were my sisters, I would probably play loud music. If it was Cara, it would be setting off her alarm clock to ring. With Taylor, I never actually devised a perfect way to wake her up.
It was a while of calling her name and telling her to wake up in various tones.
"Taylor, wake up. Please?" I did not even raise my voice at that when she shuffled a bit. She buried her head on my neck. "Taylor?"
"Stay this way," she whispered. That slight movement of hers messed up my glasses a bit so I took them off and hung them on my shirt. Things were stranger when I take them off but the distanced looked alright.
"Wake up, Tay."
"I am awake," she mumbled. "I just don't want to wake up with you right there. So embarrassing."
"Tom and Jerry already cuts the embarrassing so wake up."
I heard her quiet giggle. "Fine." She put her hand over my chest to lift herself up but I told her not to because she'd crush my glasses so she moved her hand and sat up.
I gave her a smile once she did. Her hair was even messier, if that was even possible. Of course being a load of curls doesn't help. I remembered the struggle so I get a haircut every once in a while.
She rubbed her eyes, "What are you smiling at?"
"You're a nice sight to wake up to," I said and sat up, glancing at the television that is still on, quite annoyingly for the matter.
"You didn't wake up, you didn't sleep," she replied. "But I could say the very same to you, you know. You look great 24/7, that is a problem."
"Why is it a problem?" I asked, now getting a lot more distracted by the sound of the closing credits. I tried to distract myself by focusing on her and fixing my hair but so far, it hasn't really worked out.
"Not yours, mine," she said softly.
"That and please shut the TV." That was a great moment to just destroy but it was sort of getting to my head.
"You didn't shut it all this time?" She asked with a laugh. "God! The remote was —" she blinked a bit, a little bit confused maybe because the remote is not there. "— hey, where was it?"
"I don't know," I replied. I don't really know, I never held it since I came.
Taylor went on about her search for her remote, complaining about how easily she loses it when it was right there. It was still very entertaining to watch. I helped her with it but I couldn't very well concentrate on trying to find the remote because all I could focus on was her complaints. I turned the TV off using the power button already but she said she doesn't want to give up on the search, fine.
"It was right here! Why is it not here? It's not even under the bed! Some elf is playing a trick on me! I read about this, and they're having a good laugh right now. This is really —"
After looking under the bed, I looked for it in the oddest of places, my eyes darting almost everywhere. Then finally, I looked at the chair where the laptop was placed and saw the remote in between her notes. I, however, did not point it.
It went on for a while and she still haven't considered looking at that chair when she's already looking at the dents in between the mattresses on her bed.
"Don't you have work to do? You should probably just continue with it," I said, giving her a silent clue that I know she would not get.
"No. Not until I find the remote. Until then, the laptop is so going to wait for it." She moved the chair aside, causing a few sheets of paper to fall off the floor. She groaned quietly and then picked them up to put them back.
By then, I was trying to hold my laughter back because the remote was already halfway visible and she just covered it with the pieces of paper. I licked my lips, looking down with a smile because I couldn't exactly laugh out loud at the moment.
"You missed a piece," I pointed out.
She ran her thin fingers through her mess of a hair frustratedly. "No, I didn't."
"You did, you missed it," I said, almost failing to hold back the laughter because she still doesn't get it.
"No, I didn't. There's not a piece of paper on the floor, Harry. I didn't miss one."
"I was not talking about the pieces of paper," I said, smiling at her.
"Then what are you —" she looked at the pieces of paper and by then, I know she already found it.
I started laughing like mad when she found it, dumbstruck eyes and a perplexed face. It was too funny not to laugh to. She stood up and faced me.
"You hid it, didn't you?" She asked accusingly.
"No," I said but I was laughing so of course, she wouldn't believe me.
"You did! You're laughing!" She accused again, but she was laughing as well.
"That does not mean I hid it!" I said, still laughing at her. When earlier it was because of her unsuccessfulness to find the remote, now it is because she is accusing me of hiding it.
"Oh I've been to school, Harry!" She yelled and then started chasing me.
"I didn't!" And of course, she didn't believe me.
It was already too late when I realised I was not wearing my glasses and I already tripped onto something. I almost fell, luckily I didn't. In fact, trip was the wrong word, I actually kicked it but stumbled a bit because of it. Taylor laughed once I did.
"You hid it!" She accused once more. "Serves you right!" She said, her laughter filling up the air in the most enjoyable way.
"I didn't," I repeated and laughed again. I tried to look at that thing that tripped me -or whatever it is I kicked- but it was blurry. It's not even a dark, tiny thing, it's a bit cream. "What is that?" I pointed, blinking.
Taylor picked it up, "One of my dolls?" I assume she is raising an eyebrow. "It's the walking Baby Alive my mom gave me last Christmas."
"I have one too," I said and only realised how awful it sounded from me. Me, a full grown man standing six foot tall with an unfortunate eyesight just mentioned how he has a walking baby doll and was actually proud of it.
Taylor was obviously smirking, "Pleased to have a similarity, are we?" She laughed again, harder this time. "You're lucky no one is here to actually hear that."
I reached for my glasses and wore them, finally seeing things a bit clearer than before. Now I don't have to guess, thankfully.
Taylor hugged the doll, "I leave it on until it loses its batteries, it creeps people out because it kept walking around."
"No joke," I muttered, rolling my eyes a bit. "I lock mine in my deepest dungeon."
"Course you do." She smiled up.
"I'm sorry for kicking it though, accidentally," I said.
"Uh, no, she said it's fine. She's pleased to meet you by the way. Her name is Daisy," Taylor whispered the last part with a wink. She is once again successful at creeping me out for putting up an illusion that she can talk to dolls.
"You're an odd person," I said because I know Taylor never took it as an offense.
"I know," she replied sweetly and traipsed towards me. "You're going to need to do her a favour though."
I raised an eyebrow, she didn't say a thing. I reckon she wants me to ask so I sighed and then asked, "What favour?"
I cannot even believe I am calling her bluff like that. Literally, it meant I am doing a favour for her doll. . .
"Stay for tonight," she said very sweetly.
"Done."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's 🎵
I just realized we're in chap 32. That's already too far omg.
Okay so title change from Blue Fireflies to Right Into Place. (RIP for short XD) that will fit the story so much better.
See ya 'round guys.
Stay awesome!!!! 😍😂😁😄
~DP22