After weeks of therapy, and help from Tyler, Fran did get better. She wasn�t as closed off as she had been, but she was still conservative. She cried openly, sometimes. She wasn�t much different in the end, but she trusted more and was able to live her life better.
Taylor came home the next year. After no contact, Fran was almost hesitant to go over to that house and say hello. It was a few hours after they came back that Fran decided to walk over and say hello.
"Hey," Fran said to Diana, after knocking on the door. She looked startled to see her. It almost made Fran wonder.
"Hello!" Diana said, walking over and giving her a hug. "It�s been too long since we�ve seen you." Fran smiled at her. "How have you been?"
"All I can say is that I�m better now that I ever was before. Is Taylor around?" Diana stiffened.
"Um, no. I sent him shopping with Zac."
"Okay, can you tell him I need to talk to him?" Diana smiled and nodded. Fran turned around to leave. She got to the door when Zac walked in. Diana tried to silently shoo him out of the room, but he didn�t seem to even notice her gestures.
"Hey mom�" Zac started. Fran turned around, having caught Diana in her lie. Fran gazed at her, silently demanding an explanation. Zac looked between them, confused. "Am I not supposed to be here or something?" Fran nodded, still looking at Diana.
"Actually, I told Fran that you went to the store with Taylor."
Zac looked at her like she had two heads. "Uh no. I�m here and Taylor�s in his room with his girlfriend�" Zac�s eyes flickered to Fran. She didn�t know. "Oh."
"Fran I�m sorry�" Diana said.
"You knew? How did you know and I didn�t?" Fran asked, trying to keep her voice down.
"He told me that you two broke up months ago. When he found her I figured it would be alright. I had no idea, Fran�"
"I don�t understand," Fran said, leaning against the doorframe. Diana shrugged. "There�s nothing wrong with me, is there?" Diana gazed lovingly at Fran, the closest thing to a teenage daughter she�d have for a while.
"No, Fran, there�s absolutely nothing wrong with you. There�s something wrong with Taylor if he could ever treat you like this. Trust me, if I had any idea at all that you were still together then I�d kill him the first chance I got." Zac walked over, not knowing what to do, but trying anyway. He stuck an arm around her, pulling her close to him.
"Never in my life would I think someone would do this," he whispered. "But I�m here if you need a punching bag." Fran cracked a smile, trying her best to keep her tears away from her eyes.
"You don�t want to be my punching bag." Zac kissed her cheek, like he�d done numerous times in his lifetime. "I�ll beat the crap out of you. I got my hockey buds to do that." Diana smiled.
"How�s that going, anyway? The last time we were around, well long enough to inquire, you were just starting it back up."
"I�m having fun. The guys got used to having me back again. Some of them have actually told me now I�m better than I used to be. I didn�t think I�d ever be able to play again, cause once I was able to walk again I had a ton of trouble re-teaching myself how to do everything. But now it�s the same as it used to be, and I never really realized how much I miss it."
"I knew you were going to get back full strength." She looked around. "I think you should go before he comes downstairs and we have a brawl in my kitchen." Fran nodded, those tears forming back in her eyes. She bit her lip before speaking again.
"When she leaves send him over. Just don�t tell him I know, alright? I apologize if he comes home in a full body cast." Fran gave a kiss to Zac and a hug to Diana before she ran out of the house and across the street. Diana sighed and sat down at the table.
It was a while before the girl left. Diana nonchalantly mentioned Fran�s coming over. "Taylor," she called out. Taylor turned around, a sly smile on his face. He just had it all going for him, didn�t he? Her view on her son completely changed at that instant. He wasn�t regretting what he was doing one fucking bit.
"Fran stopped by earlier. She was in a hurry so she just told me to have you talk to her." Taylor nodded. "I suggest you do it now." Taylor gave his mother a strange look before leaving the house and crossing the street. He knocked and walked in. Sally was sitting in the kitchen.
"She was on a rampage earlier today," Sally said, as a warning. "I don�t know why but she was upset. It was to the point where she was almost crying. So proceed with caution." Taylor took this warning to heart, knowing that Fran could get pretty damn mad. But she was almost crying? Fran never cried, unless it was something that majorly affected her life. "When�d you get back?"
"Earlier today."
"Well welcome home. She�s in her room. She�s been blasting the live album for over two hours, and you know how bad her voice is�" Taylor laughed and shook his head. He gave a hug to Sally before running up the stairs. The sound of his voice coming from his room made him smile. He stopped at her door, watching in amusement. Even with her like this, she still looked upset. He didn�t know how she would react, because he�d been gone so long.
"So glad you made it, woah, so glad you made it. Won�t you come on, gimme some lovin� ," Fran Carlston sang into her brush while dancing around the room.
While making a fool outta herself, Fran got a strange feeling all over. Something she hadn�t felt in at least a year, but she recognized it all the same. Using her remote, she turned off her music, put her brush on the dresser and faced the wall.
"You�re back," she said. For some reason she didn�t want to turn around. An empty void that was once there but always gone stood at the door of her room.
"I�ve been gone a year. I haven�t seen you in a long time, please turn around." She closed her eyes and faced the voice, her long blonde hair flipping as she did so.
Fran heard footsteps coming closer. She still kept her eyes closed. "Will you at least look at me?" Reluctantly, Fran opened her eyes, revealing the bluest pair the boy had ever seen.
She saw his hair first, the long blonde hair. Then the lips, the precious lips with such a powerful voice. The cute as a button nose, and the crystalline blue eyes, staring down at her.
Taylor.
"I�m sorry," he whispered. Fran didn�t even hear, she was busy staring at him. He was there, he was really there. Still doubtful, she reached out her hand and touched his arm. The flesh was warm to the touch. It was real; he was real.
Her arm quickly drew back, and she looked up at him. His eyes bore right into hers. "I�m back, Frenchie. I�m here." I haven�t been called Frenchie in a whole year. Taylor�s name for her.
"Oh God," she whispered, then threw her arms around him. He held her in his strong arms. "Can I just hold you forever?" Of course not�
"I would like that, but my job thinks otherwise." She let go of him.
"It�s always your job, Taylor. You�re job kept you away from me for a whole year. I see you on TV and I want to be there! I want to meet all those people that you meet, I want to see what you go through all the time. I want to see what keeps you so busy that you can�t even bother to call me. I mean don�t tell me you forgot the number or some lame excuse like that because you memorized my number before you memorized your own!"
"Do you want to start this off with a fight, Frenchie? I just want to make the most of this before I have to leave again."
"And when is that?"
"Tomorrow at noon." Fran sighed and turned away. It was four in the afternoon then, so all she had was 20 hours, excluding sleeping time. Figures, he never stayed long. Even when he came back a year before, Taylor had to leave within a few hours. He had enough time to say hi, bye and a quick kiss on the cheek in between.
Fran sat down in a chair, facing away from him. Taylor shook his head. "I thought we had something here, Frenchie. I thought we could get through anything. That�s why we�ve been together for so long."
"No, Taylor, we�ve been together for so long because you�re never around long enough for us to break up. Well, I�m finishing it right now." She got up and walked over to him, forcing something into his hand. "A promise is a promise, and you broke it. Take back your ring. It�s not going to be Taylor and Frenchie forever."
"What?" he asked, his fingers running over the ring. He�d given it to her so long ago, and now it was back in his possession. He didn�t understand why. He didn�t even think of the obvious. She looked into his eyes, eyes that gazed upon someone else. She gazed over his lips, lips that had been pressed upon someone else. She�d wasted how many kisses on this boy? Fran turned away, putting a hand over her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes. She�d cried too many times that day.
She mentally slapped herself for putting up with him.
She mentally slapped herself for loving him.
She physically slapped him for ever trusting him.
He cringed in pain. "What the hell did I do?" Fran gazed to him, fire burning in her eyes. He didn�t know what he did? He didn�t know? What the hell did I do? He knew. He just didn�t know she knew.
"How could you not know? I�m sure you were all over her a few hours ago." He stiffened. "Yes, Taylor. I know all about her. I know how you lied to your mother and said we were broken up so you could go out with her. I don�t even want to go there anymore. I suggest you leave before you�re dragged out on a stretcher."
Taylor gazed hopefully at her, silently pleading for forgiveness. Why would she even think about that now? He�d crushed her heart that had enough pain already. "I lost enough Taylor. You know what I�ve been through and yet you�re still doing this. You told me years ago that if you ever get egotistical that I should smack you. You said that you wanted me to smack you as hard as I can. I don�t think I did that."
She smacked him again, sending him to cry out in pain. "Go home. I don�t want to see you again." He gazed lovingly at her once more before walking out of the room. Once he was out of sight, she collapsed to the floor and cried.
Taylor stood outside the door, silently listening. It tore him apart inside to hear her cry like that. She�d never sounded like she was in so much pain before. All the time that he�d known her she�d never wanted to show any kind of pain, and she rarely did. Now she sounded like her entire life was quickly fading away.
It had been hours and she still hadn�t calmed down. Her phone rang, and quickly she tried to hide the pain in her voice, and subside her tears. It didn�t work very well, but she tried. She picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hi." It was Tyler. She collected her thoughts, a few gasps for air letting out, for she was holding her breath, trying to keep her cries inside. "Fran? Are you alright?"
Fran broke down. She began to sob again. "Oh God Tyler, Kyle was right." Tyler was immediately upset. He�d never heard her like this before.
"I�m coming over, wait a minute, I�ll be right there." Fran hung up, and pulled her knees to her chest. She waited for Tyler to come over, and in the process she just got worse. When he ran in she was bawling into her hands, sulking like a pathetic loser in the corner of her room. It was dark, so he flicked on a small lamp. "Fran?"
She took her hands away from her face, revealing that it was all red and horribly wet from her tears. Her eyes were bloodshot. "He found someone else, Tyler. He found another person and he�s been seeing her for two months. We were still together! We�re supposed to be still together!"
Tyler put his arms around her, letting her sob into his shoulder. She hated to be like this, in front of Tyler of all people, but this is the way it was. Kyle had predicted right. "Calm down, Fran. It�ll be alright. You�re gonna be fine. I�ll call the coach and tell him you�re not going to today�s game." Fran grew defensive, and forced herself out his arms.
"Hell no! I�m playing today! Taylor or no Taylor, pain or no pain, I am playing and that�s all there is to it." Her eye caught a picture of her and Taylor, that stood on her dresser. Her eyes welled up. "Oh God�" she said, and put her arms back around Tyler.
Tyler reached for the phone and discreetly called up his father. As Fran continued to cry into his arms, he told the coach she wouldn�t be making it to that game.