Two Hours Later
"So how are you feeling?" Oliver asked as we took a seat beside a window. "I heard you had quite a few drinks last night."
"Only because Miley's an idiot," I grumbled.
Getting Oliver's phone call that morning was probably the only thing that had kept me from going completely insane. There was the fact that I could have voluntarily walked out of the apartment to get away from the likes of both of them but why should I have to leave my apartment because of jackass who hadn't even been invited... properly. Just because Miley had given him the okay to stay there didn't mean I was automatically okay with it; I was insulted, really, that he would accept knowing how sore our friendship was. Besides, giving him the satisfaction of running me out of my own home was the last thing I wanted to do.
"That's why they say 'Never drink your sorrows away'," he lectured me, not that my head was pounding hard enough. Noticing the murderous look that crossed my features, he let out a soft chuckle before moving on. "How much did you end up drinking?"
"A bottle of Vodka, a couple of beers, a shot of tequila and rum," I ticked them off on my fingers.
"Hot damn," Oliver laughed. "It's a miracle you're even up."
"I'll say," I rolled my eyes, bringing my coffee to my lips. "I feel like I just ran in front of a speeding truck."
"So did it help?"
My temper flared up once again at his stupid question as I mentally smacked myself over and over again. Twenty minutes into the topic and already he was asking stupid questions that he already knew the answer to. When, in all of alcohol's history, had getting pissed drunk ever helped anyone before? If anything, it only served to complicate the situation more and considering my small run-in with Nick that morning, I took that as a confirmation.
"I woke up with the urge to kill," I hissed, resting my chin on the palm of my hand. "What do you think?"
"No?" he bit his lip to keep from laughing.
"Hit that one dead on," I replied sarcastically.
The waves were crashing against the beach, their ocean spray splashing a few people walking along the boardwalk. The wind started picking up outside, the trees lining the streets shaking. The sound it made as it whipped alongside the glass window soothed my raw nerves as I did my best to keep myself together in front of Oliver.
"I know he hurt you, Taylor," Oliver began, somewhat wiser than he had been a second ago, "and it's perfectly reasonable for you to be pissed at him. I would be too if you or Miley'd pulled this kind of crap on me. But don't you think there's the slim possibility that you might be overreacting just a little?" he asked, bracing himself for a torrent of profanities that were sure to be piling onto my tongue as he leaned back in his chair.
"I'm not overreacting," I shrugged. "I'm just ignoring him."
"Exactly," Oliver leaned forward again, moving his coffee cup out of his way. "I mean, he did come back to make things right. At least listen to what they have to say before you completely shoot him down... again. And now that Joe and Kevin are here, you might want to listen to them, too."
"I don't want to listen to anyone, Oliver," I snapped.
"Why not?"
"Why is it that everyone I talk to about this keeps defending those three?" I traced the line patterns on my coffee cup. "They're the ones who left, they're the ones who shut me out but I'm the bitch that's too cold-hearted to forgive them." Frowning, I leaned back in my chair and just watched more waves crash against the pier on the end of the beach. "Why can't you or Miley just try and see things from my point-of-view?"
Oliver remained quiet as my eyes drifted to anything that wasn't him. Maybe he genuinely hadn't thought about it like that, I told myself as he began to fidget with his own cup. It wasn't that much of a surprise considering he was a guy and guys were superficial when it came to arguments; after a while, they tended to just get over it as if it hadn't been a big deal, afraid they'd look like pansies if they shared too much emotion. But I wasn't a guy and my emotions were on the brink of exploding. I couldn't just sweep this under the rug and forget it'd ever happened while I went along with my merry life; I'd be a hypocrite.
"Nick wouldn't intentionally hurt you," Oliver finally broke the silence.
"Yeah, well, people change," I blurted out without thinking.
"You make him sound like some sort of criminal," Oliver chuckled.
"I thought we were getting coffee," I pointed out, suddenly aggravated, "not reenacting the past couple of years of my life."
"It just kind of came up," Oliver smirked. "Along what other things."
"What's your point?" I narrowed my eyes.
"You have feelings for Nick," he replied as nonchalantly as if he were discussing the day's weather. "That's why you're so ridiculously set on keeping this fight with him going. You're just scared of trusting him again, am I right?"
I rolled my eyes. "You're crazy."
"Am I?" he smirked. "Or are you just hoping I am?"
"No," I nodded. "You are."
"Just admit it," he teased.
"There's nothing to admit."
"Now you're just being stubborn," he gave me that knowing look of his.
"Am not."
"Then admit it."
"No!"
"Say it, Taylor."
"No, Oliver."
"Say it or I'll just tell him," he threatened.
"You wouldn't," I called him out on his bullshit but as he pulled his cell phone out and scrolled through his contacts, my certainty began to waver. Oliver was known for doing impulsive things, even if he regretted the afterwards. But risking this was too much. "Fine! I'll say it, Oliver!" I snatched his phone out of his hands before the finger that'd been hovering over the call button could move a single fraction closer to it. "IlikeNick," I mumbled, hoping it would be enough.
"What was that?" Oliver pestered.
"I like him," I muttered, glaring at him.
Oliver smirked, standing up and throwing his cup in the trash. "Let's go."
"Where?" I asked lividly, standing up as well and following him out the door, coffee still wrapped tightly in my hands.
"Back to your place for some real coffee."
---
"Remind me again why I let you idiots drag me into this?" Joe sighed, his head resting on the back of the couch. It had taken almost an hour of persuading from Miley to convince both his brother and himself to come over and wait with Nick for Taylor to get back from wherever she'd gone, but now, even though he'd been all for it in the beginning, he was starting to doubt how shrewd the plan really was.
"You were already part of this," Miley rolled her eyes.
"What exactly makes you think she's going to listen to us anyway?" Joe questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "I mean, you said so yourself, she's been avoiding Nick all morning and he's her favorite. It's only going to be bloodshed with us."
"I'm not her favorite," Nick muttered.
Miley shook her head, too worked up to listen to Joe complain. "She's not really going to have a choice, is she?" she asked them, giving them a look. "Ignoring Nick is one thing, but ignoring Nick and you two is borderline impossible." As certain as she'd sounded, her answer did little to reassure the three guys sitting across from her along the large, white couch. Fortunately, though, Joe seemed to be handling his agitation then Nick and Kevin were.
"What if she just leaves?" Kevin piped up.
"I sincerely doubt that," Miley retorted, her foot's tapping to the beat of her heart. "Just make sure you ease into the conversation, alright? The last thing we need is you pissing her off more than she already is and wiping out the rest of the liquor cabinet."
"Since when does she wipe out liquor cabinets?" he questioned, mildly amused.
"Since New Years," Miley shot a glare at Nick.
"Thanks to your big mouth," Nick spat.
Her jaw clenched at the comment and instead of lunging at him and clawing his eyes out like she wanted to, Miley resorted to smoothing out her floral skirt and taking a deep breath. He could play stupid for as long as we wanted but Miley knew just as well as he did that it had actually been something else that had triggered such alcoholic behavior from Taylor. When she met the younger boy's eyes, she tried her best to keep her tone charming and gentle.
"Blame me all you want," Miley breathed, "but it wasn't my face that set her off."
---
"You should ask him out," Oliver teased.
Pulling out my keys, I rolled my eyes at his comment, the thought lingering in my mind for a fraction of a second as I unlocked the door. It was only natural for the harmonious smile on my lips to flat out disappear when my eyes landed on the two new guests sitting across the couch, along with one I'd been hoping would've been gone by midday.
"You're still here."
As I dropped my keys on the side table, I tried to ignore the surprise on Nick's face. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting me to acknowledge him so quickly, much less speak to him. Now that I had, all I was waiting for was for the four of them, counting Miley, to get on with their horse and pony show. I knew them all too well to know that walking in on this little bittersweet reunion was anything but a coincidence; they'd all planned it. While my eyes took in the guys' anxious expressions and Miley's hopeful one, I couldn't help but wonder if this had been the reason why Oliver had called me up and asked me to meet him at the coffee shop.
"Yeah," Nick finally replied. "I am."
"Just so you know," Miley spoke up, sensing a change in the brunette, "this was my idea. Not Oliver's." Oliver froze when he heard his name, his eyes wide with confusion. "We lucked out when he called you today."
"How wonderful for you," I feigned a smile.
"Don't be like that," the lighter brunette sighed.
"Like what?" I asked. "Annoyed? Sarcastic?"
"Both actually," Miley challenged, raising her eyebrow to indicate how irritated she was. "Just hear them out, Taylor. You've got nothing to lose."
"And nothing to gain," I replied flatly.
"Quit being so unbearable," Joe piped up, growing uncomfortable with the conversation. "Apparently, answers are all you've wanted since we left and now that you have a chance to get them, you're blowing us off? I mean, we came all this way for you."
"Who asked you to?" I shot back.
Joe immediately grew silent, catching on quickly. It wasn't that I was mad, because in all honesty, anger was the last emotion I was feeling at this moment. All I felt was anxiety and discomfort being so close to them again; it'd taken me a good amount of time to get used to the idea that they were gone for them to just pop back into my life like it didn't have any sort of negative repercussions. In the end, when they left again, all the progress I'd already made would have been for nothing.
"You didn't have to," Kevin helped his brothers out.
During the entire conversation, I tried my best to keep my eyes vacant of emotion, not wanting to give anything away so soon in this little episode. Obviously, after Kevin had spoken up, I couldn't hold the mask I'd been hiding behind up anymore, my will to hide everything from them shot to hell. Mystery had been my partner in crime for the longest time and everyone in the room knew it except maybe for Oliver who just seemed to be oblivious to details; even though every fiber in my being told me to just drop the act and throw it all out on the table, the desire to keep everything in was too strong and in the end, succeeded.
"What do you say?" Miley asked, a soft smile gracing her pink lips.
Everyone's eyes darted to my face, only accomplishing to intensify the feeling of being placed under a microscope for me. By the look on their faces, everyone was either expecting me to breakdown and just accept their proposition or storm out of my own apartment, cursing and spewing fire out of my mouth. The truth was, had my reputation not been in jeopardy by these three nuisances, I probably would have done just that; I just couldn't let them run me out of my own place for something as irrelevant as whether or not they meant to hurt me when they'd packed their shit and taken off the day after our best friend's funeral and intentionally kept me in the dark for two years.
"I say," I deadpanned, "maybe next time, you might want to plan your ambush a little more carefully." Raising my phone to look at the time, I couldn't help the peeved smirk that appeared on my face as I shook my head. "I have work in the morning."
"Shit," Miley groaned, slapping her forehead. "I completely forgot."
"As much as I'd love to keep on discussing such a useless topic," I forced a smile as I backed away towards my room, more than aware of the five pairs of eyes watching my every step, "I don't really want to, so... good night."
Anyone have romantic ideas?