| Taylor shivered as he wandered through the park. There was a light snow falling and there was a bit of a breeze. He stuffed his gloved hands in his coat pockets and kept walking. There was NO WAY he was going home now. Not when he knew what was waiting for him there. He continued to walk until his face was frozen, his lips felt numb, and yet, he could not make himself head home. This was better, this was peaceful, no demands being made from all angles with no time left for him to think. How could he write, when he was not allowed to think? He kept walking, looking around as the city slowly became darker and the bright lights began to blink, making the falling snow seem to glitter, like in a fairy tale movie. He shook his head slightly. If his brothers could hear his thoughts, he'd never hear the end of it, and she would just belittle him. He felt chilled to the bone and decided a break would be okay, when he spotted a small cafe a few feet ahead. He shook out his hair, and pulled his gloves off, breathing the smell of vanilla flavored coffee and sweetened cinnamon in deeply. Yeah. Caffeine. Warmth. And NOT home. Just what he needed. He did not notice the woman at the corner table, watching him as he tossed his gloves on the table closest to hers and headed for the counter to order. Lexi shook her head as the beautiful blonde Hanson ordered his coffee, sipped it, managing to burn his tongue in the process, then made his way to his table by the window. He was careful about the way he took his coat off and hung it on the back of his chair. He sort of slid his body into it, then rested his chin on his hand as he stared out into the sparkling white land of make-believe. the same land of make-believe she wanted to escape to at the moment. Lexi bent her head back to her notebook and decided that whatever this Hanson was running from, would only make her sorry she asked. Taylor soon grew tired of watching all the "shiny happy people" racing by, their arms full of packages and overloaded bags. When did Christmas get so commercial anyway? Wasn't it about love? "Yeah. A lot YOU know about love." he muttered under his breath. He hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud until he noticed the dark-haired girl, with a thick notebook lying open on the table in front of her, staring at him. "Sorry." he told her, raking his hand through his hair and trying to smile. "Thinking out loud." "It's okay. I needed to look up...actually I need to get out of this chair, before they have to surgically remove it from my..." she hesitated when she saw him bite his lip and try not to laugh. "Yeah, well.." she put her pen down and stood up slowly. "I needed to get out of the chair." She looked directly at him, giving him a sheepish grin. He couldn't help but return the genuine smile. She was beautiful. Her hair was the same steamy color of the coffee that poured out of the carafe, her complexion creamy, but not pale, and her eyes sparkled with the reflected twinkle lights that framed the picture window of the coffee shop. He was surprised to find himself disappointed that she was obviously gathering her things to leave. "What did I interrupt?" he asked cautiously. He smiled again when she stared directly at him, no expression at all on her gorgeous face. "Nothing really..." she murmured softly and quickly closed the notebook. "Sorry. It's just that...well...you looked like you were writing...are you a student? I though exams were over by now..." he continued, wanting to keep her in his line of vision. Here. Talking. With him. "Not anymore." she said, her voice barely audible. "I just scribble. I suck. I write to clear my head." she said. "Wish I COULD." he said, his tone equally defeated. He stepped aside to let her out, but she stopped directly in front of him. "Block sucks." she told him, looking directly into his crystal blue, sad gaze. "Probably worse for you. I'd hate to think my bread and butter was coming from the junk floating around in my head." She smiled up at him and tilted her head. "Wanna walk?" she asked suddenly "I mean, there's nowhere else you need to be is there?" "Nowhere." His heart pounded loudly in his chest and he quickly grabbed his coat off the back of his chair. He almost knocked it over, trying to get out the door with her, afraid she'd somehow disappear with the snow that melted as it hit the street. |