taylor wilkinson

Pania raised a brow but passed the phone over. “I’ve thought about it, but I’ve decided to be the bigger person.” She said, with no small amount of pride. “Last thing I want to do is sink down to their level.”

“I don’t think you could, honestly. His dick isn’t that big.” She stated with a smile.

Despite Seth putting his medical career behind him, it didn’t stop him from helping people out here and there, or even getting the impulse to want to help someone. As left Limelight - the karaoke bar he bartends at - he looked over at a random stranger. Maybe something was off with them, or maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see by missing the part of him that wanted to help and treat patients. “Is everything okay?” he asked, gesturing toward them.

The tip of her finger circled around the rim of the glass. It’d been sort of cathartic to grab a drink for herself after a long shift. Just her, some alcohol and her own little world. A voice caught her attention and she looked over quickly. “Huh?– Oh. Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. Do I look upset or something? The day just dragged on forever. You’re welcome to sit if you want, though.”

Even though she bounced around, unsure of what she wanted, she finally decided that she deserved some sort of good. Making out under the influence of shots seemed like a good idea at the time. She was even happy. And everything after? That was good too. It was hard being confused around someone who knew you so well. Maybe that’s why the two of them worked.

She slipped out during his morning run. The fact she was even awake so early was surprising. Going from cozy warm to strangely alone, no body heat near her may have been the reason. Shooting off a ‘be right back!!!!’ text so he wouldn’t worry, it wasn’t long until cold hands grasped paper cups. Taylor sipped on her chai latte, slipping through the door of Ollie’s apartment.

“Hi,” She smiled, handing off a caramel brulee to him, all the while running fingers through his hair as she passed him. Taylor sat on his bed, curling back up into blankets. “Come here.” She patted the spot in front of her. “I want to talk.”

Pania rolled her eyes as she deleted yet another DM. “Just cause I cam that doesn’t mean I want random dick pics.” She grumbled. Her ex roommate had warned her how people would hound her in her DMs because of her job, but it was still annoying.

“Ooooo, let me see!” Taylor wiggled her fingers out for the phone. “You know, you should collect them all and feature them when you’re online. Payback's a bitch.”

As much as he wanted to say that the East Coast was better in every single way, Sam couldn’t deny that Bellevue was wonderful in the fall. Washington State was a lot prettier than he was willing to admit. And a lot of people seemed to think the same thing, especially with all the decorations and seasonal themes to quite literally everything around him. He sat in a heated coffee shop when he spotted a couple of young girls taking a selfie together across the street, casually obstructing pedestrian’s way, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He turned to the person closest to him, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket. “It’s a little funny to me how they say that young people are too self-absorbed with their selfies, but the Ancient Romans literally made life-size statues of themselves. They loved themselves so much they were willing to pose for a sculpture… for months. Gotta cut the kids these days some slack, no?”

Taylor watched the same view, smiling to herself at the annoyed pedestrian. She’d been there before. Her chuckle was matched with another and she looked over to see a tall man who she had to literally look up to. “Oh, thank god. I thought you were going to say something like, about how millennials are ruining this planet or something.” He had a good point, though. “Paintings too, yeah? In like, medieval times. I don’t know. Science is more my thing.”

It felt like free falling, the world crashing and fading to a halt around him as she reached up to kiss him. It wasn’t a dream this time, wasn’t some hallucination meant to hurt and wound and remind him of things he’d never grasp. Because she was here now, in his grasp, one sliding down to her hip to anchor her to him while the other tangled into her hair. Ollie kissed her back like it was what he’d been born to do. Hell, sometimes it felt like it was. Their lips pressing again and again, the male doing nothing to hide the soft groan at the sensations. It hadn’t happened since her birthday and after the mess of it all he’d truly thought he’d never have it again.

         It wasn’t a mistake.

His smile could have blinded someone with how brightly it shone, his eyes never leaving her as he stared down into her face and took it all in. Her words, her hands on him, it didn’t feel real. “God, I fucking love you.” Ollie breathed against her lips, no longer caring what it cost him to say. In that moment consequences paled in comparison to the way his heart rabbited in his chest. There was no stopping as he spun them, pressing back against the wall and pulling her to his lips once more. He’d been given all the permission needed, and so he took. Kissed her with everything he’d ever held back, the want and longing and need to hold her to his body. Only when he broke for air did he trail lips down her neck, the effect soon ruined by the kisses he placed over her cheeks, eyes, nose, ending on her forehead in the softest of touches.

The cold night air was seeping in though, and with it came the clarity of where they were and what it all meant. Fuck. Could they even…did this even mean? He let them catch their breath, unable to release her from his hold just yet. What if once he did, she vanished? Another dream he’d wake up from alone in his bed and chest aching at the reality lost. No, he’d hold her until she asked him to let her go. Never again.

But there was a time and place for this and even Oliver West had lost all semblance of cool when presented with the one thing he’d always wanted. His smile was sheepish, voice a low whisper between them. “Can I walk you home, sunshine? I’ll take you back inside if you want but honestly being surrounded by strangers is about the last thing I want right now.”

He loved her. That she knew. But hearing him say it out loud again was something she couldn’t return. At least... Not yet. Even if she knew. She rarely even said it to her brother or parents. She was sentimental, sure. But she’d rather give gifts or time than say how she felt out loud. Taylor let out a giggle as he spun them around, holding onto him tight with the trust he wouldn’t drop her. He never did. She only got a moment of a break when his lips were back onto hers and she accepted them with utmost care, sliding fingers near the back of his hair. Her head hit the back of the brick wall lightly as lips touched her neck and she shut her eyes, forgetting the world around them for a moment.

Opening her eyes as he pressed kisses elsewhere, this was what she wanted. She wasn’t sure until recently and back in California, she made her first mistake rushing into things in the wrong way. This was right, though. It was simple. She gave a small smile and nodded, bringing her hands down to lace fingers in between his. “Wow, such a player...” She slipped under his arm, keeping hold of his hand and dragged him in the direction to her apartment. Her gaze looked at him from over her shoulder. “You know, you’re lucky we made out in an alley. Paparazzi would have made it official before we did.”

It wasn’t like Taylor didn’t have a point because she did. Veronica knew that Taylor hadn’t asked to be put in this situation any more than Ronnie had. For this relationship to move forward, the ball really was in Veronica’s court. Taking a deep breath, the blonde ran a hand through her hair, before quickly moving her arms to cross over her chest. “I don’t have a favorite color,” she began, moving to walk around the front of her car and sitting down on the hood. “I guess if I had to pick one I’d say black or gray, but I’d hardly consider those colors.” They were pretty much the only ones that made of a majority of Ronnie’s closet. “Do you have a favorite kind of music?” Probably a lame follow-up, but it was something.

She met her toward the front of the car, hesitant to sit next to her but she finally did. “You don’t have a favorite color? Yeah, no, those are definitely hues.” Managing a laugh, she smiled to herself. It was nice to talk to a stranger. Sure, they were forced to start some type of relationship but that didn’t mean it had to end badly or be awkward. “Uh, yeah, I guess so. I like a lot of pop stuff or like... indie beach music. Seems kind of predictable.” Twirling a piece of finger around her hair, she turned to her. “I didn’t mean to get angry with you. There’s just a barrier of understanding.” Veronica was smart. She knew that just as well as Taylor did. “I demand a do-over.” She smiled, holding out a pinky finger. “From now on, we are sisters. Even if I find out that my mom’s been sluttin’ it up with a bunch of other dudes and we’re not blood related.” Moving her finger closer, she looked Ronnie in the eyes. “Promise?”

                  Shrugging her shoulders, Kenna checked the time on her phone. There were a lot of things Kenna didn’t know how to do, swimming or riding a bicycle were only a few of them. With no one to teach her how to when growing up, it only made sense. “That’s true.” She responded and nodded, following Taylor towards the parking lot. “Thank you. I don’t mind taking the bus, but there are times when I think I’ll be swept away by the rain.” 

“No need for all that.” She responded with a smile as they got in the car. When they arrived at Kenna’s, she turned to her. “I’m so excited to see the cat. I’ve been thinking about getting one myself, actually. Are you going to keep it?”

She seemed out of place to Taylor; it would be rude to voice anything of the likes out loud but with most people, he could see and feel their impact. Not that it wasn’t hard enough to earn any kind of respect from Taylor but, clearly, younger and without an apparent name to the face? The only upside to his arrogance was the carefree (as much as Taylor could be such) attitude with which he continued to talk to her without any worries of serious repercussions. “ It is, and not my first one at that. But clearly, none of them impressed me much… yet I’m here. ” His smile matched the mask, once again, as he turned his body to face the red-headed girl. “ I’m not from New York, so I can’t really verify if the schools there actually do this. They do if you are shipped off to boarding schools, though, so that kind. Less out of a tv show, more to keep anything self-organized of the likes off. ”

He seemed... rich. And she wasn’t amused or impressed. Though, she didn’t think he was trying to impress in the first place. “Why are you here if you hate it so much?” She asked out of curiosity, taking a sip of her beverage in the process. “I’m very much a public school girl. Though, I’m not from here or New York. I’m from California. We don’t do anything like this in my hometown. Think more... beach. Bonfires on sand and cheap beer.” That was her home. She already felt weird here, no shame in making it worse. “Taylor, by the way.” Switching her glass to her other hand, she held out a hand for him to shake. Did people shake hands at these things? It seemed like the thing to do.

It shouldn’t have surprised him that he ended up flat on the beach with her, waves flooding around them as her giggles broke through the sounds of the water. “Fuck, that’s cold.” Oliver whined, even as his laughter joined hers. He rolled towards her until he was just above her where she lay, the blonde staring down into her face and taking her all in. This was the image that haunted his dreams at times. Taylor with waves every which way, sand clinging to skin that smelled of lotion and saltwater. Like this, she was an angel. “I know you are.” He mused, brushing a wet strand of hair from her face. “And i’m soaked, both are things we already know.”

“I could drown!” She exclaimed, overdramatic and annoyingly whiny. In a swift motion, she placed both hands on his shoulders and moved him off of her before her face could be swallowed in waves. There were moments of clarity in her life when she knew she was truly happy and it was always reminiscent of this; Her and him on the beach. That’s all she really needed. In a drunken daze, she looked over his body, covered in salt water and she reached forward to run fingers back through his hair. Her blurry vision and hazy head began to see Oliver in a different way - something that made her far too curious. Leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to his neck, tasting everything good: skin, salt, her best friend. Slow at first, she hesitated but eventually put a palm on the side of his neck, going in for another. No words and barely any air, she was curious. 

“Ain’t that the truth.” She replied with a soft laugh. “I guess you’re right. It’s just so weird for me, you know? I always watched over them, and now they’re at a point in life where they don’t need me all the time anymore.” She said before shaking her head. “Graham has always been stubborn, though. When his mind is made up, it’ll take a lot for him to change it. Guess he’ll have to live and learn with this one.”

She could relate. One of the things that stopped her from moving originally was her younger brother and he was the one who ended up telling her to go. “My brother takes care of me most days now. It sucks I’m away from him. So, I don’t blame you for wanting to always be there for them.”

He didn’t think he could have avoided coming at all and had not planned on it either; any kind of annual event would have been marked in fluorescent yellow in his calendar from the first day of the year on and nothing had changed about that in the last few months. Yet, he still found little consolation in it. Attending a ball was one thing, attending a ball with a mask just seemed like an attempt to mock Taylor, himself, but still, he stood there seemingly proudly in the Meydenbauer center like every year of his living here before with both masks (one in gold one being the persona that he had to play up at these kinds of events) perfectly set. And that’s how Taylor spent a good hour of his attendance alone as his companion, Oscar, had left him to mingle among people he certainly shouldn’t be speaking to – greeting exactly those folks politely, engaging in short small talks and networking. It was like every event he always attended on the regular… but still, some kind of new impatience itched at the back of Taylor’s mind and made him susceptible to a longing for change. “ You’d think that fully grown adults would know better pastimes than throwing a worse pre-Halloween costume party than high schoolers. “, he commented, letting one of his masks drop for a moment as he reached for a new glass of champagne from one of the waiters, while also addressing nobody in particular it seemed. “ Not to say that the planners are capable of such. “

Sure, this was an event for the entire town but she still felt a bit of prestige linger through the crowd of people. Maybe it had to do with everyone wearing some sort of mask, including herself. She’d never been to a formal event. In fact, most events she partook in were just parties or get-togethers. While Oliver went off to mix and mingle, she took it upon herself to grab some punch and look at masks. Nobody could judge her. Everyone was wearing one and half the time, you couldn’t tell where people were looking. Vision seemed to be focused on a gold mask that seemed expensive. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was heavy on the man’s face and for once, Taylor was caught in her act when he began speaking to her. “Isn’t this an annual thing?” She smiled, taking a step closer to him. “Not sure what high school you went to but masquerades are typically only in shows like Gossip Girl.” And that’s exactly what this event felt like.

              “Really? I can’t exactly say I’m a fan of sharks, but dolphins are kind of cute.” Kenna commented, grabbing her phone and bag. “I never had a pet, I fed some strays around my place back in New York but my dad didn’t really let me have any at home.” Heading towards the door, the blonde waved goodbye to the manager before exiting at last. “I went to throw the trash after work yesterday and she was right there, crying. I couldn’t really..yanno. Walk away..” 

“Yeah, no sharks.” She laughed with a shake of her head. “More like... fish and starfish, things like that. I was a marine biology major so if I actually took a job in it, I would have been studying a lot of cute lil’ guys but such is life.” It didn’t really bother her, just was a fun fact to share. “Oh, you’re from New York? I’m from California.” Funny how different happenings brought people together. “Well, that’s great that you saved her. Right place, right time. Are we taking my car?” Taylor asked, jingling keys.