"Do you really have to go Baby?" Roger asked as they stood in the hallway of the building.
"Yeah, I have to get back to my job and my mom is about to go to the FBI to report me missing." she said looking up at him.
"I love you Taye." he said quietly as he caressed her face.
"I love you too Roger." she said smiling up at him.
"I wish you would let me take you to the airport." he said smiling down at her.
"No, it's OK. This is hard as it is. I'll just take a cab. It's fine Roger. I'll call you as soon as I get home, OK?" she said leaning up to kiss him long and tender.
"I'll see you in a couple of weeks, OK? I love you Taye." he said holding her in his arms.
"OK. I love you too Roger. I really do." she said squeezing him tight.
"Bye Baby." he said as she let go of him and started down the stairs.
"Bye Roger." she said holding back tears. He watched her go down the stairs before going back into the loft.
"Did Taylor leave?" Collins asked sitting on the couch.
"Yeah, she's gonna call me when she gets home." he said softly before going into his room.
"This is gonna be fun." Mark said sitting at the window watching Taylor get into a cab.
"He can't help who he loves, you know." Collins said looking back at him.
"I know. It's just gonna be really hard. I mean, how long do you see this lasting with them hopping planes every month?" he asked getting up and going to the couch.
"They're in love Mark. They'll make it work." he told him looking over at him.
"I hope they can handle it." Mark said staring at Roger's closed bedroom door.
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"How did I know there was a guy involved?" Mrs. Kelly asked as Taylor began unpacking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Taylor asked looking over at her mother.
"Well you go on tour for the record company and you were supposed to be back last week, but you went to New York and I had to threaten to call the FBI to get you to come home." she said sitting on Taylors bed.
"Mom, I didn't plan on falling in love with this guy. It just happened. He's coming in a couple of weeks, so you'll get to meet him." Taylor said smiling at her.
"And how long is he gonna want to do this? I don't think you're being rational Taylor Ann. Aren't there enough guys in California for you to date? You have to date one who lives in New York." she asked as Taylor sat next to her.
"Mom, he loves me. It's gonna be fine. He's really amazing. You're gonna love him." she said looking over at her mother.
"Does he treat you well?" she asked seeing the smile on her daughters face.
"He treats me like a princess mom." she said smiling at her.
"Do you have a picture of this lead singer?" Mrs. Kelly asked looking over at her.
"Yeah, I have a bunch." she said getting up to go to her bag and take out the pictures they took on tour and in New York.
"He's very handsome Taylor." Mrs. Kelly said smiling as she flipped through the pictures.
"Mom, we know it's gonna be hard, but we love each other. We want to be together." she said smiling at her.
"Are you moving to New York?" Mrs. Kelly asked looking up at her.
"No. I have my job here and I have you guys. It's complicated mom. But we'll make this long distance thing work." Taylor said putting her arm around her mothers shoulder.
"Taylor, we just want you to be happy. And from what I see from these pictures Roger makes you happy. I haven't seen you smile like this since high school." Mrs. Kelly said hugging her daughter.
"I know mom. But you and dad need me here. I'm not gonna leave you guys. Not with dad sick the way he is." she said looking into her mothers blue eyes.
"Sweetie, you deserve some happiness too you know. Just because you're the oldest, it doesn't mean you have to give up your life to take care of me and daddy." she said as Taylor's phone rang.
"I know mom. That's Roger. I'll be over for dinner, OK?" she said smiling at her as she got up to go to the phone.
"OK sweetie. I love you." Mrs. Kelly said smiling at her.
"I love you too mom." Taylor said picking up the phone. "Hi Baby." she said with a huge smile on her face. Mrs. Kelly was happy to see her daughter smile that way. Taylor hadn't been that happy since her father got sick 3 years earlier. Taylor did everything she could for her parents. She helped her mother take care of her father while he was going through chemo therapy, which was hard on all of them. That's why when the record company callled her to fill in for the east coast designer, Mrs. Kelly convinced her to go. She knew Taylor needed time away just to be herself. She never dreamed her daughter would fall in love with the lead singer of the band she was on tour with. But if Roger made her daughter this happy, she was all for their relatoinship. She just worried about the long distance aspect of it. She watched Taylor on the phone with Roger. She was laughing and smiling like she did when she was in high school. She put the pictures of Taylor and Roger down on the end table before leaving the apartment.
"I told my mom about you." Taylor said laying on her bed.
"Oh yeah, do I meet mom's approval." he teased laying on his own bed.
"Well she likes how happy you make me. She's not thrilled about the long distance relationship thing, but I told her we'll make it work. I told her that we're in love and we're willing to do anything to make it work." she said looking over at the pile of pictures her mother left on the table.
"I do love you Taye and I'll do anything to make this work with us." he said smiling at the picture of him and Taylor Andy took during the tour. It was after a show and Taylor was sitting on Roger's lap in a diner off campus. They were feeding each other french fries. It was Roger's favorite picture of Taylor.
"I know, I love you too Roger. Everything'll be OK. We'll handle it. I miss you." she said sitting up in her bed.
"I miss you too Taye." he said quietly as he lowered the picture to his side.
"I have to go. I gotta get ready to dinner at my parents house and I still have to unpack and stuff." she said looking at ripped Slayer t-shirt that was sitting on top of her clothes in her suitcase that Roger gave her.
"OK Baby. Call me when you get home. I don't care what time it is, OK? I'll be up." he said sitting up himself.
"OK Roger. I love you." she said smiling thinking about Roger.
"I love you too Taye. Bye." he said before they hung up the phone. When Taylor hung up the phone, she grabbed Rogers t-shirt out of her suitcase and put it to her nose. It smelled just like him. She held it close to her and laid down on her bed thinking about him and began to cry. She missed him so much and they had only been apart less than 24 hours. She had gotten in late the night before, so she called Roger when she got home and they were on the phone for hours. She didn't get to sleep until 4 in the morning and when she got up, she called her parents to let them know she was home and then went into work. She was running around all day, so she didn't really have time to dwell on missing Roger until just then. She looked over at the clock and realized she had to start getting ready to go to her parents house, so she got up and began to get ready.
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"You two seem very happy honey." Mr. Kelly said looking at the pictures Taylor had brought over to show him.
"We are daddy. We're in love." she said happily.
"You look it. Good for you Taylor. Does he treat you good?" he asked sitting in his chair.
"He treats me the way you do daddy." she said smiling at the picture Mr. Kelly had just handed her. It was of her and Roger at the Life Cafe that first night in New York. Maureen had taken it. Roger had his hands tangled in her long blond hair and she had her head on his shoulder. They were both really tired but they wanted to hang out with everyone. Roger was smiling down at her and she was laughing at one of Collins' many stories.
"Well good. Then I like him already. When do we get to meet this lead singer of yours?" he asked continuing to flip through the pictures.
"In a couple of weeks. He's flying out to see me. And then next month I'm going to New York for the weekend to be with him." she said sitting back on the couch.
"I can't wait to meet him honey." he said smiling at her.
"Neither can I daddy." she said smiling back at him.