| He took a deep breath and a sip of his coffee, before he answered her. He looked directly into her eyes and smiled, though his heart felt like it was going to shatter. "Tour dates are set. We are leaving in a couple weeks. Finally." He thought he saw sadness in her eyes for a brief moment, but she quickly covered it. "That's great, Tay. I am happy for you. I heard the single the other day on the radio, too." she tried to be excited for him, he'd been waiting so long to get back out on the road and play, but she couldn't squash the ache in her heart his looming absence was already causing. "I hope I can catch you again before we leave, but we're going to be so busy..." he did not finish his sentence, Jacy was gaping at him. "What?" he asked, truly dumbfounded. "Taylor. I do NOT expect you to drop everything to take a minute to come here and listen to me whine. Music is your life. You live for this. Go do it. " she told him. "I am seriously happy that it's all worked out for you. Maybe you'll get some sleep now." she said, smiling. Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe." he answered and sipped his coffee, then played with the styro-foam lid. "But I will miss this, Jacy. I will miss you." he told her. "I'll miss you, too, silly. But you know you're geeked." she grinned and he had to smile. "I brought you something. And I wanted to know if maybe we could still talk, you know, like in e-mail or on-line sometimes?" he pulled the flat box out of the inside pocket of his jacket and slid it in front of her. "What is this?" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise. "Duh. Open it and find out." he teased. She gave him a wicked grin and tore the paper off the box. Her eyes filled with tears she fought to hold back when she saw what was inside. "Tay... th-this is too much..." she gasped, hands shaking. She ran her hands over the leather cover of the journal, with a lock and key, and a red satin page marker sewn in. He watched as she moved her long thin fingers, pick up the pen that matched the journal, his spirit soaring, knowing he'd chosen the perfect thing and that she appreciated the gift so much. "No it isn't, Jacy." he told her. "I'd be in pretty bad shape if we hadn't got caught out in that storm together. I juts wanted to thank you for hanging out with me all the time. And to stay on your case to finish that damn book. I wanna see your name in print." "It is TOO." she argued. "But thank you, Taylor." she ran her hand over the leather again and replaced the lid on the box, telling herself she'd think about the safest place for it later. "So would it be all right, Jacy?" he asked, staring intently into her eyes. "Would what be all right?" she asked, honestly confused. "Can we still hang out? I mean like on-line, or through e-mail. I wasn't kidding when I said I'd miss you." he said. "Oh. Duh." She rolled her eyes at her own absentmindedness. "OF COURSE, Taylor. Just cause you're gone, doesn't mean we're not friends. You can write me any time. I am not going anywhere. But I doubt you'll have time." she told him. He leaned across the table and took her hand in his, making her tremble. Again, she hoped he couldn't tell she was holding her breath. They almost made it a point not to touch, ever, and the feel of his hand on hers was exciting and frightening all at once. She pressed her lips together and waited to hear what he had to say. "Jacy, you have been a better friend to me this last couple of months than I have had in years. I am not about to ditch the only person that talks to me like I am human because my schedule has gone insane." he told her. "Then I will be here." she said, her voice low. "Anytime, Tay." They looked into each other's eyes and Taylor quickly released her hand. Both took great pains to shove the feelings that surfaced in that moment aside and returned to light conversation and jokes, to feel more normal. Taylor waited this time while Jacy stuffed her notebook and her new journal back into her bag with all her other writing paraphernalia, then slung it over her shoulder. He held the door open for her and followed her to her car. "If I don't get a chance to come in for coffee, Jace..." he began and she cut him off. "I am not going to count on it Taylor, I know you are going to be busy and all." she smiled up at him and tossed her bag on the passenger seat of her car, then leaned on the open door. "Have a safe trip." Jacy moved the stray curl the breeze blew into her eyes away and tucked it behind her ear. Taylor could not resist the urge to pull her into his arms and hug her. Her body was so soft, her hair smelled just like he'd imagined it might, when he let his mind take it that far and he really only wanted to kiss her, to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled. Jacy gave him a light squeeze back and looked up at him. "Be careful and write soon, okay?" she pushed gently away from him. Her head was spinning and her heart raced, she was fighting hard for control when all she wanted to do was feel his lips on hers and stay in these safe, strong arms. "We better get going..." she said, looking at her feet. "Rock 'em off their feet, Tay." she told him, shielding her eyes from the setting sun and hopefully him from the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks any second. "I'll write as soon as I can, Jacy. Drive careful home." he said, stepping away from her car. "Okay. Bye, Tay." she said as he closed her door. "Bye, Jacy." he answered. He stood and watched her pull out of the parking lot before he went back into the bookstore, grabbed a couple of books without looking at the titles, paid for them and headed home. |