Taylor walked downstairs, feeling a bit better about himself. It’d been a day since Zac had convinced him that it would be better for him to get on with his life and forget about Angela. Until she came back, that is. Zac said that if she came back that he wasn’t about to let her run off again.
His room was still a wreck. He hadn’t bothered cleaning it yet. There was too much to do and too little time to do it. He’d clean it later. Right now he was busy trying to figure out what to do and what to say.
Taylor was getting better at the family thing. But every time he changed his clothes, he glanced at his scars. They brought back everything, every memory. He had to clear his thoughts often, trying to get her image out of his head.
Taylor sat on the couch and watched as Zac danced around the room like a maniac. Then again, he was a maniac. Zac was so happy, there was nothing he couldn’t and wouldn’t do. He’d recently found a side of him he never paid much attention to. It was the side that attracted him to the opposite sex. He was beginning to really enjoy the company of females.
Zac was just wasting his time until he had to pick up his ‘date’. The boy was only thirteen for God’s sake! Taylor hadn’t paid much attention to females…until he met Angela. He still didn’t consider her a female that he could be attracted to until Zac brought it up.
They were close, close to the point where he saw past her gender and looked at the person inside. He knew he’d only be able to do that with a female, though. They’d been such good friends. Now Taylor was beginning to get a crush? He stuck his head in the couch. It couldn’t be.
The clock rang out three o’clock. Zac stopped dancing and froze. Taylor had to laugh. Zac was scared. The poor boy. "Hey Zac!" Taylor said, trying to get his attention. Zac looked at Taylor. "You’re going to be late! Not a very good impression…"
"Taylor shut the fuck up," Zac said, loosening up. Taylor opened his mouth to comment on the swear. "No! Just shut up. I’m going to pick up Ginger (hehe) and you’re not going to comment."
"Hey Zac."
"What?" Zac asked, annoyed. Taylor was getting on his nerves from being around so much. He liked it better when he didn’t talk to anyone. God Zac, this is all your fault. Taylor smiled at his brother.
"Have fun."
Zac smiled. Taylor didn’t rip on him, like Zac had thought he would. It was a great feeling. Taylor was wishing him good fortune. "Thanks, man." Zac playfully hit Taylor’s arm, his smile staying. "Since you’re not ripping on me, I know I will."
"I want to hear everything!" Taylor called out as Zac walked out the door. When he heard the door close, Taylor sighed. Nobody else was home. It was a rare day off. Everyone was out. Taylor and Zac were the only ones who were staying home, and now Zac was gone. "I miss you Angela," he whispered, afraid someone would hear.
Taylor was bored. It would of been so much better if it was nighttime, if the sun had gone down. But it would be a bit before he could go outside and watch the stars. He let his thoughts drift, to Angela of course. He tried, he really did. He tried to think of other things. Whenever Zac wasn’t around he thought of her.
Taylor pulled up his baggy jeans and looked at his legs. They’d been bandaged up the day before for fear of infection. He’d remembered the pain when he stuck on the disinfecting stuff. It hurt worse putting on the medication than when he actually got the gash. But Taylor was too busy fearing for his brother to realize he’d been whipped. The one on his chest hurt like hell. Now he was stuck with pants and shirts with sleeves until he was ready to show his scars.
He wondered how Angela was feeling. Her back had been horribly whipped, and she had been carelessly thrown about the room. Taylor was so glad that the asshole who would even think about this was now dead.
And to think, a five year old killed him.
Taylor had openly laughed when he saw the crystal break against the wall. That kid was too smart for his own good. Who fucking cared if he did well in school? He could outsmart the Maker of Dreams. Of course no one would know. The four of them would never talk about it again. Taylor would constantly think about the pain and see the scars, but he never talked about it.
Taylor sighed and let go of the ends of his pants. They fell over his shins, hiding the wounds. How long would it be before his family found out that he had been whipped twice while trying to save an Angel? He silently hoped for never.
Taylor looked at nothing and thought of Angela. What was she doing now? Had she gone back home? If she did she’d probably be on her way right now. He could see her, her hair blowing in the wind as she walked down an abandoned highway. When a car came into distance, she’d stick out her thumb, hoping they would stop and let her ride for a while.
She was a millionaire, why was she walking down the road in raggedy clothes, waiting for someone to pick her up? There was crazy people out there and she didn’t have any way to defend herself. It was too much for Taylor to think about. He shook his head and closed his eyes.
The sun’s position fell lower to the horizon, slowly. Taylor didn’t pay much attention to it until the room got darker. There was silence, bleak silence. It haunted Taylor. At least when he was alone in his room thinking he could hear people talking downstairs, or a child screaming. Something.
Now there was silence.
It frightened Taylor, to the point where he was beginning to go crazy. What the hell? I’ve been going crazy for weeks now. He shook his head clear, waiting for someone to come home. Someone, Zac, Mackenzie, someone. He didn’t care who, he needed company. Being alone was getting boring, especially when his thoughts went to forbidden territory.
The door opened and Taylor smiled. Someone was home. He glanced over at the door to see Zac come in. He had a smile on his face, wider than Taylor had ever seen before. He must of kissed her. Taylor was confused, though. He’d just seen Zac leave not that long ago.
"Back so soon?" Taylor asked. Zac turned on the light, looking happy but confused. "I just saw you leave, like, ten minutes ago." Zac laughed.
"Where is your sense of time? The sun went down, Taylor. It’s eight o’clock. I’ve been gone five hours." Taylor looked at his brother, amazed. "I’m guessing you were thinking for a very long time. You haven’t moved and you’re confused."
"I guess I lost track. I do tend to do that a lot." Zac nodded, agreeing. "Does that mean I just wasted my day off?" Zac nodded again. "Dammit." Taylor got up and walked to the kitchen. He’d been sitting on that couch for five hours. Now he was hungry. "So, tell me everything that happened."
As Zac went into his exciting tale of what he did on his first date, Taylor rummaged around in the fridge. There had to be something to eat in there. Well, something that he didn’t have to cook or spend a lot of time preparing. That limited him to either celery or bacon bits.
Taylor closed the fridge and grabbed the bag of chips that was sitting on the counter. He nodded his head to whatever Zac was rambling about, and sat down at the table. Zac sensed that he wasn’t listening. "Then we went to the Atlantic Ocean and made passionate love to one another," Zac said. Taylor nodded. "Taylor! You’re not listening to me!"
"Yes I am! You went to the beach, right?" he asked, confused. Zac shook his head, upset. He’d had so much fun that day and Taylor wasn’t even bothering to listen. Five hours ago he’d wanted to know everything. Hell, even a few minutes ago he wanted to know everything! "Then what the hell did you do?"
"You’re just going to end up not listening to me again. We went to the movies, walked around for a while then I dropped her off at her house and came home." Zac reached into the bag of chips and grabbed a few. Taylor nodded.
"Sounds sensible," Taylor said. He stopped and looked up at Zac. There was a bit more that Zac wanted to mention. "Did you kiss her?" He smiled and nodded. "Go Zac! You are just a dog, aren’t you?"
"You could say that."
"So…where and when?" Taylor asked. Zac was amazed that he wanted to know this. Taylor noticed the look. "What? I want to know! I can actually care about your life for once." Zac smiled. The boy had changed.
"It was after the movie. We were walking around and were talking about something…I don’t know. That girl talks a lot!" Taylor smiled. "Anyway I just stopped her and kissed her to shut her up." Taylor opened his mouth but Zac just cut him off. "No tongue. Not that time, at least."
"What the hell?" Taylor asked. Zac only smiled. "You know you really suck." The door opened again, and the rest of the family found their way in. The conversation was finished now. No way they would continue this with the family hovering over their every move.
Taylor watched as Zac got up and left. He sat there for a while, before deciding it would be best to get up and leave. He put the bag of chips on the counter again and turned to walk out of the room. He found his mother at the doorway, smiling. He hadn’t seen her smile in a while.
"Hi honey," she said. "The rest of us ate already, and Zac most likely had something on his date. Do you want me to make you something or have you eaten already?" Taylor smiled at her and shook his head.
"No, that’s alright. I just had something. I’ll be fine until breakfast," he lied. If a few chips would be considered a dinner. "I’m tired. Ya know, sitting on that couch all day really drains you out." She laughed. "I’ll be upstairs if you need me."
He walked out of the room and up the stairs. He was actually rather tired. It was the thinking that sent him into a slow mood, and it drained him. When he got to his room, he closed the door and went to sleep.