Taylor sat on the sand and breathed in the warm summer air before pulling her notebook out of the bag she'd brought with her on her rampage from the palace. Honestly though, she didn't know why she was so mad. Edmund had the right to flirt with anyone he chose to do so. Even if the current receiver of his flirting was a big-chested, small-brained, pig-headed, whore of a--- No, Taylor thought to herself, forget about them. She breathed in and opened her notebook to the page with her favorite song on it. Pulling out her guitar, she began strumming and singing.

"Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky
you'll get by."

For some reason, every time she heard the song, she couldn't help but smile. The first time she heard the song was when her cat, Muffy had died. Her father had searched for it for hours while she sat curled in a ball on the couch, crying. When he finally found it, he played it in a tape player and sang along. He played it over and over until she started smiling every time she heard it. And when her father had died, she had volunteered to sing at his funeral. She refused to tell anyone what she was singing until she sang it. "This was our favorite song," she'd said as she stood on the stage, "and we were gonna dance to it at my wedding, as the father-daughter dance. But since we can't now, and I know he wouldn't want anyone to cry too much, he'd have wanted us to celebrate his life, I'm gonna sing it." And she had. And it remained her favorite song to this day.

"If you smile through your pain and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through
For you."

The damn stupid boy. Taylor dropped her guitar in the sand and fell back, groaning. Her red curls flew out around her head like a halo, and she closed her green eyes and scrunched up her small nose. She opened her eyes again and stood up, looking around for a moment before grabbing a stone and walking to the edge of the water. With a yell, she threw the stone as far as she could. It made a splash a hundred feet out and a mermaid popped her head out of the water and glared at the shore. The water lapped at Taylor's feet and she kicked the water.

"Stupid Edmund!" she cried out, kicking the water again.

"What did I do this time?" asked and incredulous voice. Screaming, Taylor spun around in the water and lost her balance. She fell into the water with a shriek and a splash. She popped her head out of the water, her now soaked curls plastered to her cheeks.

"Edmund!" she cried out angrily. She stood up, her jeans and T-shirt sopping wet and dripping. He chuckled. "There's a reason I'm out here alone!" she shouted, glaring at him "To be away from you and your stupid flirting with Elle or whatever the hell her name is!" Edmund stopped laughing and glared back.

"Well excuse me for being a king!" he shouted back. Taylor opened her mouth to retaliate but stopped.

"Wait." She said quietly, "Why are you even out here?" Edmund just stared at her as she came out of the water and shook herself, water flying everywhere. When she stopped shaking, she was completely dry.

"I'm out here because Lu said you ran off and looked really upset. I wanted to make sure you were okay." He replied.

"Yeah, well I'm all right. La-di-frickin'-da," growled Taylor, "So you can go back to macking your elf girlfriend. I don't care."

"Tay, you're obviously not all right." He replied. Taylor spun around, the Irish blood and temper in her firing up.

"I'm fine Edmund!" she shouted, "Go away!"

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be telling me to go away!" he yelled back, "Or… Crying… Taylor, why are you crying?" It took a moment for Taylor to realize that Edmund was right. She was in fact, crying. She brushed the tears away furiously with the back of her hand. When she opened her mouth and nothing came out, she started crying harder. She rubbed at her face frantically, trying to get the tears to stop falling. She was standing there, her jeans rolled up to her knees, tears coursing down her cheeks, and wiping her eyes in attempts to stop herself from crying to no avail when arms wrapped around her. She looked up through her tears to see Edmund watching her, concern etched in every line of his face. She pushed out of his arms and attempted to run away from him. She got about thirty feet away when he grabbed her wrist and spun her around.

"What?!" she shouted, more tears pricking her eyes. He glared at her.

"Why are you running?" he yelled. When she attempted to pull her wrist from his grip, he simply grabbed her shoulders. "What is with you today?! It's not like you to just run off like this!"

"Let me go, Pevensie!" she shouted, hitting his chest, "Let. Me. Go!" eventually, she grew tired of hitting him again and again. She wrenched herself out of his arms and collapsed on the sand, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them close. He towered over her, making her feel small and insignificant.

"What's the matter, Tay?" he asked gently.

"You really wanna know what's bugging me?" she challenged, looking up. When he nodded, she stood beside him and started listing off everything that had led up to her stomping out of the castle. "Well for starters, I've been here four months and still no one has told me why the hell I'm here. People keep trying to get me into dresses and skirts, your sisters are kinda insane but that's okay with me, your brother pisses me off, and you know what? So do you half the time! But the other half, you're all sweet and kind and funny, but then you go and flirt with some elf with long blond hair and those stupid big, blue, doe eyes and big boobs and I just get pissed all over again! And it makes me feel like it's me against the world, like I'm just this small little insignificant grain of sand or something. And I just wanna scream at the sky and yell and cry and—" her rant came to an abrupt end as Edmund crashed his lips onto hers. Her eyes widened, but after a moment, she let them fall shut, and she kissed him back. When they broke apart, both were breathing heavily. He watched her for a moment before he spoke.

"Taylor, don't you ever say that. You are not insignificant. To the world, maybe. But to me? Not a chance. And it doesn't have to be just you against the world. It can be us against the world." He said gently. Tears still in her eyes, Taylor looked up.

"You mean that?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied, "Taylor, I'm with those other girls because Peter says I should be. Haven't you ever noticed how they're usually only around for about a week? It's because I don't love them. Not the way…" he stopped.

"Not the way what?" Taylor urged him to continue.

"Not the way I love you," he said softly. Taylor just stared at him, gnawing on her lower lip. When she said nothing, Edmund stepped back.

"Sorry, Taylor. I guess I shouldn't have just sprung that on you. You wanted to be alone, right? I'll go." He turned and began walking away. Taylor's mind worked furiously, and she attempted to get her feet to listen to her. Say something, anything, stop him!

"Edmund!" she cried, running after him finally. They stood on the path to the beach, watching each other for a moment. Suddenly, Taylor stepped forward and kissed Edmund lightly on the mouth. "Sorry I didn't say anything. I was just kind of… in shock I guess. But… I do." Edmund just looked at her.

"Do what?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Love you!" she laughed, "You're such a boy," Edmund laughed with her and took her hand, pulling her close to him. He pressed his lips lightly to her cheek and she grinned.

"I knew what you meant." He chuckled, "I just wanted to hear you say it," Taylor rolled her eyes, and, joking, laughing, and shoving each other playfully, they made their way back to the castle.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying.
You'll find that life is still worthwhile-
If you just smile.