A:N I was meant to update last night but the internet crashed so i'm posting now :))

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.


Chapter 8

The What That Turned Out To Be A Who

TPOV

At first I didn't see the relevance of the blonde girl who was standing a few yards in front of us or why Mallory was staring at her.

She seemed familiar; her piercing blue eyes sparked a long forgotten memory in the back of my mind.

A name came forth in my head, it matched with the face and it dawned on me why Mallory was staring at her.

Ally.

I looked back at Mallory who was still fixated with looking at her. Ally appeared to have not spotted us yet, either that or she simply didn't remember us which was certainly a possibility.

She was standing to the side, looking across and watching a small group of musicians busking.

Mallory's hand slipped into mine and dragged me forward. When we walked in front of Ally she squeezed my hand then kissed my cheek.

We passed Ally, "I don't think she was looking," I told Mallory.

She looked at me blankly, "I don't what you're talking about Tyler."

I snickered, "Yes you do, you're jealous even though the only thing I know about that girl is her name."

"I am not jealous," she stated and stopped walking, crossing her arms angrily across her chest.

I laughed at her, "Yes you are."

"No I'm not!" She squeaked, only to cause me to laugh again.

"Stop laughing!" She poked my chest and I caught her hand in mine. I held it tightly when she tried to break away.

"Let's finish our run." I said.

She looked at me sulkily, but then gave up and started to jog beside me again.

I took a quick glance over my shoulder, but Ally was no longer there.

We ran for about 20 minutes more before returning home.

"How was that?" I asked as I unlocked the door.

Mallory traipsed in out of breath "...Okay," was all she managed to say. She collapsed onto the couch.

"You better play the guitar for me after that!" she said, "Oh my god I'm dying."

I got her a drink of water and went to sit with her, "You're not dying," I gave her the drink. "You just forgot what I said about breathing, that's why you're so out of breath."

She waved her hand in the air signalling for me to shut up and gulped the water down.

"I'm going for a shower," I said and walked to the bathroom.

She nodded and then laid her head back.

I closed the door behind me and started to undress. I switched the shower to the hottest temperature it could go and then climbed in once the water had heated up.

The hot water felt particularly good as it splashed over my skin. I was tempted to just stand there until it ran cold, but I wanted to get back to Mallory.

I washed the last of the soap suds off me and then turned the shower off.

I searched for a towel only to find nothing.

I opened the bathroom door and peered round. I was just about to shout Mallory for a towel when I noticed what she was doing.

She was curled up on the couch holding a guitar in her lap. Not just any guitar, my brother's guitar. One of her hands was wrapped around the neck of the guitar and the other was plucking experimentally on the strings.

I gazed at her a while longer, dripping water on the floor whilst I stood in the doorway.

She was so fascinating to watch. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she tried to depict something resembling a tune on the strings.

I didn't want to interrupt, so I tried to creep out as silently as I could.

She seemed completely immersed in the sounds of the guitar as I managed to collect a towel from the cupboard without disturbing her and return to the bathroom.

I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist. When I opened the door this time Mallory's head snapped up to look at me.

I didn't say anything and continued to my bedroom to put on some clean clothes. When I came back a few moments later, I found Mallory to still have the guitar on her lap, but she wasn't playing it anymore.

I sat down beside her. "Don't let me disturb you, carry on." I said, adjusting the position of the guitar in her lap so she could play it.

She looked down at it unsure, "I don't know how to play." She said. "You said you would play for me." She put the guitar in my arms.

There was no way to get out of this, she'd kept her half of the deal- it was only fair that I kept mine too.

I thought about what to play and ended up settling on the first thing that came to my mind.

I started strumming the chords.

Nights in white satin, never reaching the end,

Letters I've written, never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before.

Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore.

As I advanced into the chorus I took one last glance at Mallory before letting the music totally absorb me.

Cos I love you, yes I love you, oh how I love you.

Gazing at people, some hand in hand,

Just what I'm going through they can't understand.

Some try to tell me, thoughts they cannot defend,

Just what you want to be, you will be in the end.

And I love you, yes I love you,

Oh how I love you, oh how I love you.

I sang the last verse absolutely oblivious to my surroundings.

I'd forgotten how much I loved playing music , though I definitely hadn't forgotten why I'd stopped playing.

I let the final chord hang and looked back up at Mallory.

Her eyes were wide and framed with tears that were threatening to fall.

"That was beautiful," she whispered.

"Thanks," I smiled and put the guitar carefully back in its case.

I opened my arms and she crawled into them and snuggled up to me.

"Thank you for playing to me, it really was great."

"It was only fair that I kept my side of the deal when you kept yours first." Memories of the events from earlier on flooded back to me.

"Do you think she saw us?" Mallory asked. She mentioned no names, but I immediately knew who she was talking about.

"No," I said, "And even if she did so what?"

She sighed, "I guess I am the jealous type."

I stroked her hair, "I knew you were, it just means you love me."

"I really do," she said softly.

"I know," I replied.

"I'm going to take a shower now." She got up.

"Alrighty, I'll be here, waiting for you." She kissed me and then went to the bathroom.

Once the door had closed behind her I put the guitar back behind the couch. I took her glass which had had the water in it back to the kitchen and then sat back down.

Bored.

After a few more minutes of agonizing silence, I heard someone at the door. Probably just Aidan.

I went to answer it.

"Ally?" I jumped.

"Hi." She said. She stood in front of me, eyes sparkling and a smile playing on her lips.

"How the hell did you find me here?" I asked in surprise.

"Um, I may or may not have followed you back." She replied sheepishly.

"Why?" I asked slowly.

"I...I just felt a little guilty. I mean, I know nothing ever happened between us, but I saw the way your girlfriend looked at me and I wanted to let her know that I'm not interested in you. Like, at all. You're all hers." The words ran out of her mouth almost too fast for me to comprehend.

True; I wasn't interested in her either, but still, this was a weird situation I'd found myself in.

"She's just in the shower at the moment actually, but you can come in if you want," I offered.

She nodded politely and followed me through.

I watched as her eyes looked around, I felt like she was scrutinizing every inch of my apartment.

She spotted the guitar, "Is that a guitar? Do you play?" she asked.

"Um, yeah I do." I said embarrassed.

"You do? I play as well!" She glowed with excitement.

"That's great." I feigned my enthusiasm. My brother's guitar was special to me- I didn't get it out for just anyone.

We stood awkwardly. "Can I offer you a drink while we wait for Mallory to finish up?" I asked.

"I'm good thanks," she smiled.

"So..." I hurriedly thought of something to say, "What brings you to New York?"

"Oh I go to college here, I was just down in Vegas on break."

"That's cool." I said, "I think I'll just go see where Mallory's up to, please, take a seat," I gestured to the couch.

She sat down and I went to knock on the bathroom door. "Mallory? Can I come in?" I called.

I heard some shuffling and then the lock unlock.

I took this as the go ahead to open the door. I stepped in and closed it behind me.

Mallory sat bent over on the toilet seat wrapped up in a towel. Mascara was smudged all over her face.

"Are you okay?" I was immediately by her side.

"No." She mumbled.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I hurt. Bad."

I placed my hand on her back, "Where does it hurt?" I ran my hand up and down gently.

"My stomach." She keeled over even more, rubbing her stomach.

"Do you think you're going to be sick?"

"No- it's not that kind of pain."

"What kind of pain is it?" I lifted her hair up so I could see her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut as though she was in pure agony.

"I don't know." She said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, I know this is an awkward time but there's someone here to see you."

"Who?"

I paused, I knew she wouldn't like what I was about to say, "It's Ally."

"What the fuck does she want?" she asked still kneading her stomach.

"She just wants to explain something to you." I said quickly, "Let's get you dressed and then into bed, maybe you can sleep this thing off."

I helped her dress and then took her through to Ally who was still sat on the couch.

"Oh hi! Sorry, is this a bad time?" She asked when she saw Mallory bent over in pain.

I talked for Mallory, "She's feeling a bit ill at the moment, can we make this quick?"

"Sure! Um, so I just wanted to clear some things up - nothing has happened nor is happening between me and your boyfriend..." she rambled on.

"...So yeah, sorry for following you guys here, but I really didn't want to get in between you, you seem perfect for each other- I mean, I understand how weird this whole thing is coz I don't even know you but—"

"I understand," Mallory interrupted, desperate to get to bed.

"Thanks for clearing things up, I appreciate it." I told her.

She looked relieved, "Great!" she smiled, "I'll go now, nice meeting you."

I showed her to the door and then quickly ran back to Mallory who was staggering to the bed.

I held her up for support.

She flopped down onto the mattress and wrapped herself in the duvet. She groaned into the pillow and I felt helpless as all I could do was watch her endure the pain.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked eager to help in some way.

She patted the bed next to her indicating that I should lie next to her.

I did so willingly and held her in my arms. She curled up again, still clutching her stomach.

I started to hum Nights In White Satin in her ear. I saw a smile creep onto her face and smiled myself.

She turned around in my arms and buried her head in my chest.

I continued the song until the last chorus when I head Mallory's breathing grow steadier and heavier.

She was asleep.

I wasn't tired myself as it was only about midday, so I gently rocked her in my arms, not wanting to disturb her by getting up.

I heard her murmur something about pandas in her sleep and quietly laughed to myself.

I thought about what Ally had said earlier on, a few words stuck in my head and repeated over and over again in my mind;

You seem perfect for each other.


The song Tyler sang: /watch?v=dROSy-RElq0