We all know how much trouble this chapter got me into, and frankly, I don't see why it did. Compared to some stories, like Tulsa 74132, or Breathing, (which isn't up anymore, people please stop bugging me for the address) this is a fairy tale. So if you don't like it, I'm sorry, but I had to do it. Otherwise, this wouldn't have ended the way I wanted it to. I don't care whether the Hansons have read it, I couldn't care less, unless they personally wrote to me and told me so. So you can just shut off the goddamn guestbook entries telling me that you know them. "A Girl From Tulsa" and "It's Just Me", this means you, you freaks.
August wasn't exactly sure what had brought it on in the first place, but all she knew was that she was laying on her back on her bed [still fully clothed] looking into Tay's eyes. She really had no clue how they'd ended up there, but said nothing. There was no way she was going to break the little moment they had going there. Tay gazed at her for another second or so, then resumed his original occupation - kissing her neck. He sat back suddenly, and she noticed him slightly wretching.
"Oh, God...what the hell is that?" he attempted to clear his throat of something, but didn't succeed. August pulled him down, kissed him to taste it, then said through a sudden burst of laughter,
"It's my CK, numbskull...I had a patch of it at the back of my neck."
He shook his head as though attempting to dislodge something, and started kissing her again. It wasn't going to swiftly, but, to tell you the truth, August was trembling horribly. She had no idea what she was doing, [though, neither did Tay...] and frankly, was scared out of her wits at the mere thought of what was to come of this. She snapped the thought from her head, though, when she just went with it and pulled her shirt over her head. Tay jumped slightly at the sight of the zebra-striped bra.
"What the hell is that? Jane of the Jungle?"
August chuckled.
"Everybody thinks I'm so low-key...I need something unique," she replied, biting her lip. He shrugged, and said with a strange, amusing tone,
"Yeah, well, it looks good...it's coming off."
She started laughing, unable to control it, and he pretended to look annoyed.
"No, I'm serious. Take it off."
She stopped herself, and obeyed...she slipped out of it before he could even see her do it.
"That's more like it, I'm sure," she said softly as he pulled his own shirt off and threw it to the side. He smiled slightly, and went about tossing his khakis in a pile of tan coloured stuff in the corner, which left him in a pair of dark green boxers [bulging, no doubt...never mind!] (In dreams, falling snow is traced back to sexual excitement...) and nothing else. August stuck out her lower lip for a second or two, then tossed her own army print pants among his.
"Matching zebra underwear? Wear did you get those?"
She merely smiled miscieviously, and things got going again. I'm not going to get graphic here, because I will not give the people who were looking for that the satisfaction, but I will resume later on.
Taylor sighed deeply. He was tired, and as for August, well, she was on the verge of falling asleep. An hour after all that, after the adrenaline [and hormone] rush, they laid there, in each other's arms, thinking deeply. August looked up sleepily.
"Did you hear something?"
He heard a knock, and his eyes widened slightly. He reached over for his boxers and yanked them on, knowing it was either Zac or Ike looking for him. He whipped on the rest of his clothes, not noticing that his shirt was on backwards. With a thud, he fell off the bed, and August would have started howling, but she was way too tired, so just watched him fly to the door. After about five mintues, he returned, and shook his head.
"Just Zac..." he looked at her. "I'm getting back in there. It was warm, and this room is freezing, and I'm tired..."
"Tay?" August asked quietly. He looked up as he was quick to yank his pants back off. "Shut up and get in."
He shrugged, tossing his clothes back in the corner.
"Remind me to kill Zac later," he remarked as she cuddled up.
"Oh, don't do that. We might need him later for terrorist negotiations."
August was fast asleep, in Tay's arms, and had been for the past hour. He traced a pattern on her back gently, mapping out a foreign route for some unknown sailor's map. She sighed in her sleep, and made to roll over, but realized unconsciously that she couldn't and thus stayed put. Tay watched her for God-Knows-how-long, thinking about how to keep this under wraps. Only Zac knew, but Tay knew he could trust Zac, unless they got into a fight. Even then, Zac knew he'd be out of line if he told anyone. Zac did know when to draw the line, and this was where he had to draw it. Zac was good for that...if he knew it would get Tay into more trouble than he deserved, he left him alone and went to bug Ike. August murmured something in her sleep, and Tay smiled.
"There's another thing we have in common," he whispered to her hair. (It's true, we both talk in our sleep...it must be fun for those awake and listening!) The thought hit him more than once that he was going to be in such deep water if this got out...deep water over his head. The thought freaked the shit out of him, but one look at August, and he said out loud,
"Screw how much shit this'll cause...as long as you love me..." The Backstreet Boys were now stuck in his head. Damn. (Tay hates the Backstreet Boys...that was nasty of me. My bad. Bad girl.) He was almost sorry they'd done what they did (wouldn't you just love me to say it? HELL NO! Be miserable.) she was awfully young, she was only thirteen, and...Tay shook the thought. It hadn't seemed to bother her. He sighed, and gazed at her. She looked, to him, like an "absolute, perfect angel." (If anyone said that about me in real life, I'd have to ask what kind of drugs they were on...I'm not such a hot picture right now, if you catche my drift...) He sighed again, then thought out loud,
"I wonder if it hurt when you fell from Heaven..." his voice trailed off. Her hair fell in rays all over, framing her face, and he almost expected to see her face luminate in some kind of divine light. That was a little too far...but she was still a goddess to him. (I've only been called a goddess twice, once because the guy was just being sweet, and the other time because he was being a sweet idiot. Friends. Go fig.) A goddess...in need of help. She was begging for someone to take her under their wing, in return for love and respect. He ran his fingers down her cheek, gently fingering the bruise behind her ear that ran down her jaw. She whimpered in her sleep when he accidentally pressed a tender spot. He instantly took his hand away, and she slept undisturbed. The thought of her father crept into his head, and refused to go away. He gazed at her bruised jawbone again, and the gauze pad under his hand, which was taped to her shoulder blade. An anger swelled up inside him, pushing into every empty space it could find. It turned to hatred, a pure, true, genuine hatred for her father, a hatred so overwhelming that, had August's father been there, Tay probably would have (and certainly could have) killed him...August seemed to sense his anger, and innocently whimpered, nuzzling her cheek into his. He softened.
"Why can't you do something about him?"
August's seemingly angelic expression was what answered that. From the set of her jaw and the snub of her nose, he could tell she was too sweet for that.
"You're right...I'm sorry."
With that, he kissed the top of her head, and took all of five minutes to fall asleep.
"I'd rather be a failure at something I love, than a success at something I hate."
-George Burns