It's been a while since part 1 but here you go! hope you like hehe <3
---
3 months later
~
Taron hadn't made the mistake of knocking on Y/N's door again. That was something he made damn sure of every time he visited Ben.
Twice he had seen her. One time it was a quick glimpse of her peeking through the curtains out at the street, before she shut them roughly when she saw him staring. The other time they actually spoke. Well, almost.
He was just leaving Ben's place when he looked over and saw her locking her front door. She had a loose corduroy jacket on, concealing whatever figure she might have. When she saw him her face immediately flushed bright red, and Taron's first thought was that she was angry at him still for accidentally knocking on her door.
But she made no move to yell at him, or even to simply roll her eyes at his presence. Instead she managed a weak smile, which was so out of character that Taron felt his knees wobble beneath him, and he failed to return the gesture.
They both walked down their front steps in unison, looking at each other silently. It was like they were two species meeting for the first time, they had no idea what to do or say to the other. Especially Taron. In the short amount of time they were there together his mind was spinning with thoughts; none of them helpful at all. He pondered asking how she was, but the anxious part of his brain assured him that would not turn out well. Inside his head, it was madness, but he kept a perfectly calm face.
Taron reached his car within seconds, and he knew that he should just get into it considering they weren't in the middle of a conversation or something. But so much felt unsaid between the two, and he wondered if he might not ever get a chance again with her.
He looked down for a brief moment to fetch his keys out of his pocket, and by the time he looked back up, Y/N was gone, walking down the street away from him.
In that moment Taron felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time. Since his school days to be exactly precise. He knew it all too well, and he was not happy about it at all.
No, the feeling wasn't love. Though Taron felt sure if he didn't do something about it there was a chance it could turn into that. But for now Taron was experiencing his first crush in many years.
That was the last time Taron saw Y/N; two weeks ago. Two long, drawn out weeks.
Whenever he went over to Ben's he found he wasn't excited to see his friend, rather he was excited that he might have the chance to see her again, maybe even to talk to her, properly this time.
But life doesn't work that way does it?
---
Shivering, Taron stepped out of his car, knowing that when he got back into it hours later it would take far too long to heat back up again, and he would have to sit there freezing his ass off for longer than he wanted.
As usual, he glances at Y/N's front window, (empty) before skipping up the steps to Ben's house.
Ben pulls open the door before he can even raise his hand to knock, and ushers Taron inside, all too aware of the cold air rushing into his living room.
As he locks the door he smirks to himself. "You did it again mate."
When he turns around he sees Taron staring at him blankly.
"Did what?"
"Look through her window, tryna see if she's home."
Taron shrugs and flops onto the couch wearily.
"Make yourself at home why don't you." Ben jokes, sitting beside him.
On any other day Taron's thoughts of Y/N would disappear right about here, and he would forget about her for a few hours until he stepped outside again. But today, he falls into silence and makes no effort to escape it. He allows his thoughts to consume him, his worries and his fears to take over.
This was something Ben immediately noticed, and for once he decided not to joke about it. If he was any good at giving advice he might try that, but he knows that wouldn't work out, and he's probably find some way to stress Taron out even more.
"Shall we pop the telly on then?" He says brightly, reaching for the remote. "I think there's supposed to be a game on soon."
"Yeah sure." Taron agrees.
He stands up and walks into the kitchen, grabbing two beer bottles and chucking one at Ben's head, which he catches almost too late. Taron grins and settles back beside him, kicking his feet up onto the ottoman.
Almost an hour later Taron had returned to his usual self, and the two men were happily joking around, just enjoying each other's company.
But then the comfort disappeared in a matter of seconds.
There was a knock at the door, and, ignoring Taron's protests Ben made him go answer it. Taron made futile attempts to stop this, but settled for just flipping him off as he walked backwards towards the door, pulling a face at his friend.
The frigid air swept through the room for the second time that day, almost distracting Taron from what he saw when he pulled the door open.
Y/N stood shivering in front of him, rubbing her arms fruitlessly in an attempt to warm herself up. She sighed with relief when she saw him, and held a gloved hand out for him to shake.
"Hi, I don't think we've properly met. I'm Y/N I live next door. You must be Taron correct?"
Taron nods, unable to form words.
How does she know his name? He's never introduced himself to her.
She continues, breathless from the cold. "Sorry to bother you but I was just wondering if someone could help me carry this nightstand upstairs?"
She points back to the front of her house, where a small wooden nightstand stands at the bottom of her steps, abandoned.
"It won't take long, I just need one of you."
Taron opens his mouth to offer to help but is interrupted by Ben's amused voice calling out from the couch.
"Taron'll do it!"
"Yes Ben thank you very much for your help." Taron retorts, turning back to Y/N. "But yeah, I'd be happy to help."
"Awesome thank you." She says, and leads him down the steps and around the gate, to where the nightstand stands.
It's relatively small, but the shape of it makes it difficult to carry by yourself, and Taron can see why she put herself out there for this reason.
"I'll take this end you take the other." She says, gripping the now freezing wood with her hands and getting ready to lift.
"Okay. One, two, three!"
The two lift the nightstand and shuffle to the front steps, inching their way up them ever so slowly. Taron is surprised by how heavy the nightstand actually is, certainly he underestimated it's weight. But there's no way he's going to tell that to Y/N. For her, he soldiers on, doing his best to take more than his half of the nightstand where possible.
Ten minutes later they're in Y/N's bedroom, and Taron is shifting the nightstand into position where she wants it.
By the end they're both panting, and rubbing their fingers which are now quite sore from all the weight.
Y/N smiles. "Thanks for doing that, there's no way I could have managed that by myself."
"Yeah of course." Taron smiles back.
Neither of them move, and again Taron can feel the unsaid words between them flying around, taunting him. He should leave now, but the way Y/N looks at him is enough to paralyze him.
"I'm sorry about slamming the door in your face by the way." She says softly. "I was having a bad day and I guess I wasn't feeling mys-"
"Hey, don't worry about that." Taron smiles reassuringly, thankful for the dim winter light so she can't see his cheeks flush. "I get it."
"Thanks."
They lapse into silence again, and Taron wants to scream because the more he gets to know her the more he falls for her. He can see this ending horribly, and no matter how much he wants to stop this he can't do a damned thing about it.
"Well, I should leave. Unless you have anything else you want me to carry up here?" He grins, and she chuckles.
"No, that's it for now. Thanks again."
"Of course."
And before he can do or say anything to embarrass himself he pads down the stairs and out the house, shutting the door softly against the now raging winds. And even though the air is freezing, his face is still hot from the exchange they had above.
Little does he know, Y/N watches him walk away herself, feeling almost exactly the same things as he.
---
probably gonna do a pt. 3 to this hehe, comment if you want that ig <3