I had this idea back in May and ran it past my best friend, who told me to go for it. And then... I forgot.
There will definitely be at least one sequel because I had so much fun with this one.
As exes, they had parted on pretty good terms. If the breakup had fazed Taylor she didn't show it, and she'd always been supportive of Ryan and Chad.
Then she'd gone to Yale as she'd always planned and promptly forgot that her last relationship had ended because her then-boyfriend had come out as bisexual.
At Yale she met the new love of her life and now, two years into that relationship, she wasn't expecting any more curveballs.
And Chad wasn't expecting a phone call from his ex.
"Taylor? Is everything okay?"
"I need your help."
"Yeah? What's up? What can I do for you from Albuquerque?" Actually, he was in New York visiting Ryan, but that wasn't important right now.
"I just need someone to talk to," Taylor explained, feeling a little bit uneasy. "Someone who understands things."
Chad laughed a little now, also feeling uneasy, "Well, I'm not exactly your smartest friend."
"Yeah, but I don't think that Gabriella would understand what I'm going through."
"Okay, yeah, sure. I'm here for you, Taylor, whatever you need."
"I need to give you some background details."
"Okay."
"I've been dating this guy for two years, right?"
"Congratulations?"
"Yeah, thanks, it's been great, love of my life and all that."
"But?" Chad guessed.
"But something happened. And now I need to reevaluate how I feel because I really love this person and I don't want to lose that just because I couldn't handle that things were changing-"
"Tay, slow down, what's going on?"
"My partner just came out as a trans woman."
"Oh, shit. That's a lot, I'm so sorry, Taylor."
Taylor laughed in disbelief, "Sorry? Why would you be sorry? This is exactly what I was afraid of, Carol just did something incredibly brave and incredibly terrifying having no idea how I would react and I'm the one being apologized to? I don't think so."
"You're right, that was stupid of me to say. How did you react?"
"Well, obviously I'm happy for her. I want Carol to be herself just as much as I wanted you to be yourself with Ryan. I just… I love Carol more than I ever loved you."
"Ouch," Chad laughed.
"I'm serious, Chad. You were my high school boyfriend, our breakup didn't break me. But I've been with Carol for two years and I thought we were going to get married."
"But now Carol is a woman."
"She told me she'd felt that way for a while, and that she knew transitioning might change things between us, but that she couldn't hide anymore. And I told her that I would never want her to hide who she is but I would need to take some time to figure out where we were going to go from there."
"Good. Diplomatic."
"I just… I'm not like you, Chad. I'm not bi, I'm not a lesbian… I'm just in love."
"That's enough, Tay. You don't have to have a label to have a person. Carol is your person."
Chad could hear the smile in Taylor's voice when she spoke next, "Yeah, she is."
"I think that Carol is lucky to have you as her partner. And I think that you love her enough to weather any storm with her."
"You're right. I think I knew that when I called you, but I needed to hear someone else say it."
"You've always been there for me, Taylor, I'm glad I could finally return the favor."
"If you're ever in Connecticut, I'd love to introduce you to my girlfriend." It was the first time that Taylor has ever said that word out loud and it still felt a little strange, but Taylor knew that this was the right thing.
"I look forward to it. And you know… You can call me anytime about this kind of stuff. I know sometimes it's just nice to have someone to talk to."
"Thank you, Chad."
"You're welcome. You've always had my back, I'm glad I could return the favor."
"You won't tell anyone else about this, right?"
"It's not my place to tell people about your relationship. But I know our friends would understand."
"Yeah, it's not our friends I'm worried about." Her parents had met Carol before she was Carol and Taylor was not looking forward to explaining things to them. But that was something to worry about later, something she would handle in time with her partner by her side.
"Well, I'll always support you, even if some people don't understand," Chad said, catching her drift. He'd been lucky that his parents were supportive but not everyone in his family was, and certainly not everyone in Ryan's family.
"Thanks. And I'll always support you."
As exes, they'd parted on pretty good terms. But now they were more than just exes, now they were confidants, stronger and better than ever because they knew they had each other's backs.
