Tay's eyes were like huge blue marbles. He couldn't believe what she'd just told him, but knew she wouldn't lie about something like that.
"I...I...I'm sorry..." he didn't have any idea what to say to something like that, though I'm sure you wouldn't either, if you had that thrown at you by the person you had a humongous crush on. She shook her head.
"Don't be...it's not your fault, Tay. Don't apologize for something you couldn't help." She gazed at her wrist again, flexed her fingers, and smiled, hoping it would take his mind off what she'd just dropped on his shoulders.
"You promise you won't tell anyone?"
He nodded weakly, not sure whether he should say something or just nod and shake his head.
"I won't," he started. "But you really should..."
She shook her head frantically.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting them stick me with somebody like my aunt. If my mom were still alive, then it wouldn't happen at all. But you can tell that to that asshole 17-year-old in the Camero that was high a couple of months ago," she said bitterly, and he realised then that if he let it slip, she'd kill him. Lips sealed...for now.
Okay, so it was a nice hotel room. Actually, it was a really nice hotel room. Unless they'd asked for penthouse suites, they couldn't have gotten anything nicer. August stopped short when she walked into her room. It was gorgeous...she was suddenly reminded of her aunt's house, and shuddered involuntarily. She dropped her bag in the corner, not bothering to unpack. She was used to living out of a suitcase - literally. Just like Dawn was used to having her sleep over. There was a knock at the door, and she jumped three inches off the floor. She went to the door, and found Tay upon opening it. He blushed quickly, but said,
"Um...we're going to get some dinner...you wanna come?"
She shrugged.
"Sure...why not? I could go for some real food."
It wouldn't have looked so obvious if Tay hadn't sat beside her the whole time, but August rathered he sit there and not Zac. Zac was in an extremely hyper mood, and she wasn't up to it tonight. After dinner, she went back to her room before Tay could stop to talk to her. She went out on the balcony, looking out over everything. Within the second, she went in and returned with a pack of Players and a lighter. (I don't actually smoke, but it seems to me cigarettes make the story. Excuse me if you don't agree.) She lit one up and took a drag, thinking hard on something she wasn't sure what to do about. After sliding down the wall until she was sitting, she went through half of the cigarette before the sliding glass door slid open. Tay stepped out, and got his shirttail (and his braid, for that matter) caught in the door as it snapped closed.
"Fucking piece of..." he pulled his shirt and hair out of the door, and sat down beside August, who was now trying her best not to laugh.
"You okay?" he asked, eyeing the cigarette. She shook her head.
"No...not really." She took another drag, and noticed him wincing everytime she stuck it between her lips. "Um...does this bother you?"
He didn't answer directly, only asked,
"Do you always smoke?"
"Hell no...only when I need something to calm me down. Usually only when I'm really upset over something or I need to think really hard over something. I haven't had a cigarette in a month, to tell you the truth."
He winced again, and it was now very obvious that he didn't like to see her doing it.
"Isn't there something else you could use to calm yourself down?"
She shrugged and raised an eyebrow.
"Friends...but other than Dawn, I don't have anybody good for that. Even Dawn has her hang-ups over me."
Tay looked at her with somewhat pleading eyes.
"Then think of me as a friend for that," he said. She turned to look at him, surprised. "Please don't smoke. If not for the fact that it'll turn your lungs black and your teeth yellow, then just for me...I do have to kiss you," he said with a note of humour on the last sentence. She smiled, and said softly,
"Serious?"
"Serious."
Without so much as a whimper of regret, she pulled it out of her mouth and flicked it over the side of the balcony, then smiled at him.
"Thank you," she said so quietly that he wasn't really sure whether he'd heard it or not. He reached over and grabbed her hand, the one that wasn't wrapped up, and squeezed it. And this is how they sat for God-knows-how-long after, because I don't want to tell you how they eventually got off the balcony. I'm too damn lazy.
"So...can I come to the wedding when you finally meet those little girls?"
-A male friend of the author, on Hanson