a/n: Alright so what we have here is a new story. I wasn't entirely sure what else to name the story so the title was the first that came to mind. XD I don't intend for it to be very long, but I'm hoping it will keep you guys occupied and happy with what i usually write until I get started on the next Disney crossover. Like i said, that planned story is Princess and the Frog. (= Anyway, this is a story I planned for a couple of months and was just considering whether or not to start it. And i did decide to start it, it was just a matter of how to get started. So it's started off nice and slow before everything starts to pick up. XD And, today (June 14) is also Chaylorfan4eve1995's birthday and there was a request to write something for their birthday. It was either going to be a oneshot or a story, and i decided to go with story...since with everyone oneshot I start I end up deleting it and writing something else which then also gets deleted. XD Anyway Chaylorfan, if you're reading this tonight then happy birthday and hope you enjoy the story...and if you're reading it a day late, then happy day late birthday! I hope everyone who reads enjoys the story and I'd love to hear what you all think. c: ... And yes, we all know this will be Chaylor. Just being Captain Obvious up here for a minute. =P
Disclaimer: I only own the characters i named myself. I do not own any HSM characters.
A lot of things could be learned about a person in the first five minutes. And if there was anything that a person could know about Taylor right away, it was that she was a very opinionated woman. She never drove away from a debate or hesitated to speak her mind. She lived by her very strong morals and beliefs. One thing she believed was that everything happens for a reason; sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. She has seen both sides of that coin. And especially when both sides happen at the same time, it's not pretty.
However, none of those thoughts circled through her head as she rushed down the streets of Albuquerque. She didn't think about how much could change over the years. She didn't think about how much work she'd have to get done. She didn't think about her past or her future. She didn't think about what to do when she got home. Right now the only thing going through her mind was to meet her friend on time for lunch. And as short of a trip it was from her workplace to the restaurant, that didn't seem to be close enough. Being forced to stop at a crosswalk and wait for the sign to say 'walk', Taylor looked down at the watches on her wrist. 1:02. Two minutes late.
As soon as she saw the light turn green, the young woman dashed across the street and just around the corner. She made her way up to the local TGI Friday's and just managed to get through the lunch rush at the front. Asking for her friend's name, the waiter told her where to go and she obeyed. Walking to the table, Taylor took the opportunity to fix her now out of place dark brown locks. Finally, she made her way towards the back and could see her longtime friend Gabriella waiting patiently for her.
"I'm so sorry I'm late." Taylor apologized as she sat across from her friend.
Gabriella couldn't help but giggle. One thing about Taylor that has always been the same and would never change was her need to be punctual. "Taylor it's just two minutes. It's not a big deal."
"It's never a big deal for you." Taylor shook her head at the Latina as she continued to struggle fixing her hair.
Gabriella removed the scrunchie from her wrist. "Will this help?" she offered.
"Thanks Gabs." Taylor replied, gratefully taking the hair accessory. She tied her hair, which was just about shoulder length, back with the scrunchie and into a ponytail. "I don't know how I survived four years without you in New York."
"Ancient history." Gabriella shook her head. "So what should we do for lunch? I was thinking of getting the Chicken Caesar Salad this time. Troy always said how good it was but I never thought of trying it. I just always played it safe and got my usual Buffalo Wings. But they're so spicy and yet they're so good…"
Taylor giggled. Leave it to Gabriella to cheer her up, one of the few things she found herself looking forward to in the day. "You know there's plenty more things to choose from, right?"
"I guess so. I mean, it's been so long since I ate here." Gabriella admitted. "With work and the family…"
"You're not the only one." Taylor shook her head. "Aside from the fast food lunches we've been eating on a weekly basis, I've barely had time to go out myself."
"You should go out more." Gabriella suggested. "You deserve some you time."
"I can't afford me time." She replied. "You know what I've got going on right now."
"Well, you're always welcome to join me and Troy on a night out." Her friend offered. "This Saturday we're planning on going to Red Lobster. They're having a couple's special night…" Realizing what she had just said, Gabriella quickly covered her mouth. She knew how sensitive a topic that could be to Taylor. "I mean…"
"It's fine." Taylor interrupted, her voice sounding as stoic as it usually did when such a subject came up. "Look, you and Troy go have your fun. You two deserve it. And Red Lobster's your special place. And if you need anyone to babysit…"
"Troy's parents already offered to take Charity that night." Gabriella admitted, referring to the little girl she had with Troy.
"Of course." Taylor nodded. She nonchalantly opened her menu and skimmed through the meals, trying to get any other thoughts out of her mind. "You know, you could always get something simple like the chicken fingers."
Gabriella shook her head. "You need to stop doing that."
"Stop doing what?" Taylor responded as though she were playing innocent.
"Changing the subject. You do that every time something sensitive comes up Tay." She sighed.
Taylor tilted her menu to lock eyes with her friend. "Can you blame me?"
"Not really, no." Gabriella admitted. "But can you blame me for worrying about you?"
Taylor sighed and slowly set her menu down. "No, I guess not. I'd do the same for you."
"I know you would, without a doubt." She nodded. "But you've been in New York for almost five years. You're back home now, with your friends and family."
"I had my family back in New York, too." Taylor pointed out.
"You know what I mean." Gabriella said. "I'm just trying to look out for you, like you always did with me." She then sighed and reached for her friend's hand. "You know you're more than my best friend. You're my sister. And as much as I love our weekly lunches together, sometimes I just get worried about the way you act. I know the last few years have been hard, but is there any chance I could suggest a fresh start someway somehow?"
Taylor looked at her friend warmly. Gabriella did mean the world to her, she really did. And she knew how much her friend cared. When it came to these girls, Taylor was always acting as the bigger sister. She would give Gabriella advice when she needed it; sure sometimes it would be the wrong advice or Taylor would get carried away, but most sisters do at some point. Likewise, Taylor would never go to Gabriella for advice out of pride; Taylor always assumed she could handle everything on her own. And even now she still believed she could. As much as Taylor wanted to deny Gabriella's love she knew she couldn't. Not to someone who meant so much to her. But that still didn't mean she couldn't argue against Gabriella's suggestions.
"Gabs you can suggest all you want." Taylor easily agreed. "But I'm still not going along with any suggestions on getting a fresh start. As far as I'm considered, I've already got it. New home, new job…"
"You're less than ten blocks away from where you lived in high school." Gabriella pointed out.
Taylor playfully rolled her eyes. "I appreciate you trying to help. And I'm sorry if it ever seems like I don't. But I'm a big girl, Gabriella. I can take care of myself. And I'm not the only person I'm taking care of."
Gabriella nodded knowingly. "This is the part where we skip to the hugging and go back to trying to figure out what to order before our lunch breaks are up."
"Exactly." Taylor replied with a smile. The girls then shared a brief, friendly hug before returning to their seats and looking back through the menu. "So…Chicken Caesar Salad, huh?"
Before Gabriella could respond, one of the waiters came over to take their order. "Good afternoon. I'm Sean and I'll be your waiter today. Can I start you ladies off with something to drink?"
"I'll just have a diet soda." Gabriella responded politely.
"Water for me, please." Taylor nodded.
The waiter nodded and wrote down their requests. "Would you like more time in choosing an appetizer?"
"We're just here for lunch, thanks." Taylor answered. "And yes, some more time would be great."
Sean smiled and leaned a little onto the table. "You know, we're having a special today. Buy food, get me free." He told them smoothly.
Gabriella and Taylor exchanged irritated glances. About half the time they went to a sit-in diner, something like this would happen. They knew what to do. Turning back to the waiter, each woman flashed one of their hands and showed him their ring finger before answering simultaneously, "We're taken."
With a rejected face, the waiter sighed and left to fetch their drinks.
Taylor sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I hate it when that happens."
As much as Gabriella hated to say it, she just felt the need to make yet another point. "You could always use a guy around the house."
Taylor glared at Gabriella, though not meaning to sound so harsh with her reply. "I had a guy. I have a little guy. I might be getting a furry guy. And I don't need another one around the house."
Luckily Gabriella had anticipated that, so she easily knew how to change the subject to a lighter mood. "What kind of furry guy? Dog? Cat? Hamster? Ferret?"
"No rodents." Taylor shook her head, getting distracted by the topic quite easily. "It would be so much easier to get a cat. The only place to take them to is the vet's. But you know how somebody's always wanted a dog."
Gabriella nodded in response as she saw their drinks come. She took a sip of her diet soda before responding. "He does know blue dogs don't exist right?"
"He'll know when he takes Biology and the most common blue pets are fish." Taylor stated.
"Speaking of fish, I see a nice big order of fish right here." Gabriella noticed. She turned her menu to Taylor and pointed at one of the pictures. "What do you say we split it?"
Taylor smiled and shook her head. "As delicious as that looks, you know we can't afford it with our lunch money. We agreed no more than fifteen dollars each."
"But Troy and I do share a credit card." Gabriella smirked playfully, pulling it out of her wallet and flashing it.
Taylor shook her head once more. "You know that goes against all marriage morals either of us believe in and stand for. Besides, it's wrong to use that outside of an emergency."
"It's emergency enough for me. My stomach is craving food right now." Gabriella responded. She then added with a wink, "After all Troy does owe for after he kept me up all night with his insane snoring."
Taylor shrugged her shoulders. As level headed as both of them were, even they were still allowed to bend the rules once in a while. Plus sometimes it did a really good job of distracting them from things they didn't want to think about. "Then let's not wait any longer." She called the waiter back and gave him their order. The girls then handed their menus to him and returned to their constant shifting conversation.
"You know what else we need to do?" Gabriella asked.
"What's that?" Taylor inquired as she sipped her water.
"We need to get CJ and Charity together for a play date." Gabriella replied.
"That would be a good idea." Taylor agreed. "What day is good for you?"
"Definitely a weekend. We don't want to pull them out of school." She responded.
"How about Sunday?" Taylor suggested. "Is your house ok?"
"Yeah, definitely." She nodded. "After lunch, say around two?"
"Works for me." Taylor replied.
It was true; not only did Gabriella have a child, but Taylor did as well. The children were only about a year apart; Taylor's being the elder one. First there was Charity. She was three years old and in nursery school. While a bit too young to see whether it was Troy with his athletic skills in golf and basketball or Gabriella and her brains that Charity took after, she was a total daddy's girl. As soon as Troy got home from work the little girl would be all over him. One thing was for sure about her, however; she had Gabriella's looks and Troy's heart.
CJ was Taylor's son. He was four years old and had just started kindergarten, which was one of the reasons why Taylor had decided to move them back to Albuquerque. CJ was born in New York, but Taylor knew that once he started school they would need a big support group, making her old hometown the perfect candidate. CJ wasn't book-smart nor athletic; he was a shy little kid and quite clingy to his mother. He almost never wanted to leave her side.
As for Taylor and Gabriella, they had been best friends since high school. They were both incredibly brilliant young women with a love for math and science. Both were now in their late twenty's. Having just moved back, Taylor took a simple job as a cashier. It was one of the last jobs that she had ever wanted to do, unless it was a part-time job but it was the best that she could do for the time being. Within time she was hoping to find something much better. Gabriella, on the other hand, had lived in New Mexico since high school. The only time she had left the state was to go to college. Troy was her high school sweetheart and local teen heartthrob. They had married after graduating college and were together since. Charity was their only child, though they were planning to have more, and was named after a close friend of theirs.
As their lunch arrived, Taylor and Gabriella continued talking about how their week was going and what they were doing with work. They then went on with the typical small talk and occasional girl talk. And once the waiter returned he once again tried hitting on them.
"Listen ladies, I'm sorry about earlier. How about I make it up to you?" Sean asked them smoothly. "Dinner on me. And let's not tell your husbands."
Gabriella got out of her seat and picked up the bill. "I think I'd rather pay for this with another waiter." She said before leaving the table.
Taylor nodded and stood up as well. She sent an icy glare Sean's way. "If my husband were here, you would be so sorry." She warned. "Don't even think about pulling something like that on either of us again." Then she turned on her heel and followed her friend.
"Wait…does that mean no tip?" he called just before the girls paid for their food and then left the restaurant.
"What a jerk." Taylor rolled her eyes.
"I know, right?" Gabriella agreed. "Hey, how much time do we have left before we need to get back to work?"
Taylor took another look at her watches. "Not much time. We need to be back in less than five minutes."
"Do you want me to give you a ride back?" Gabriella offered.
"No, it's alright." She shook her head. "I can walk back. Besides your place is further away and it's in the opposite direction I'm going."
"You sure?" Gabriella couldn't help but ask.
"I'm sure." She nodded. "But do you want to call later?"
"Of course." Gabriella responded. "We'll talk after dinner. And I'll let you know if anything comes up for Sunday instead."
"Alright." Taylor replied. "See you later." The girls then exchanged one last hug before rushing off in opposite directions to get back to work in time.