"What happened?" Taylor asked in a hoarse voice. Mark ran his fingers through her tangled hair. She closed her eyes, and leaned into his soft touch.
"I was hoping that you could tell me," Mark replied.
"I don't know," Taylor said quickly. Mark looked into her eyes, and could easily tell that his girlfriend was lying. "What?" she asked.
"Tell me the truth. I want to know who did this to you." Taylor got up, and wrapped a thin blanket around her shoulders. Ignoring her throbbing headache, she stormed outside without replying. Mark sighed as he followed her out onto the fire escape.
Taylor was huddled in the far corner of the fire escape. Mark sat down next to her, and pulled her close to him. He gently stroked her hair as they sat in silence for a few minutes. Taylor broke the heavy silence with a slightly stronger voice.
"I can't tell you who did this to me," she said quietly. Mark looked at Taylor with a confused look on his face.
"Did you not see his face or something?" Taylor shook her head.
"No I saw his face, but I can't tell you who did this to me. He said that I'd live to regret it." Mark kissed the top of Taylor's head.
"Tay, we have an idea as to who did this to you; all you need to do is tell us." Taylor cried into the front of Mark's sweater.
"I can't Mark, I just can't. Please don't make me."
Mark wrapped his arms around Taylor's shaking form, and held her close to him. After several minutes, he carefully picked her up, and carried her to her own room. Taylor curled up on her bed with her back to Mark. Mark gently rubbed her back.
"You don't have to stay in here with me," Taylor said quietly. "I'm a big girl." Mark kissed her cheek softly.
"I don't mind, baby," he replied.
"Mark, I'm fine. I'm really tired, and don't want company." Mark gave Taylor a final kiss on the cheek before retreating to his own room for a few hours of sleep.
A week later, Taylor was back to normal, but refused to tell anyone who had attacked her. One night, Taylor was washing dishes when she felt a pair of arms around her waist.
"Roger and Mimi are downstairs for tonight," Mark whispered in her ear. "Giving us a chance to do this-" He slid the strap of Taylor's spaghetti strap tank top off her too thin shoulders, and kissed the soft skin tenderly. Taylor moaned softly.
"Mark, let me finish first." Mark spun her around, and captured her lips in a passionate kiss.
"They're thinking about moving downstairs permanently, so they're giving it a test run tonight," he murmured in her ear. His warm breath tickled her skin. "That gives us a chance to do something along the lines of this." Mark gave Taylor another passionate kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." The couple barely stopped kissing. Taylor slid her hands under Mark's shirt, and up his chest. They broke the kiss just long enough to rip the shirt over his head. Slowly, Mark and Taylor worked their way over to Mark's room where they fell onto the bed ready for the long night ahead of them.
Roger and Mimi arrived at the loft around eleven the next morning. Roger began to make coffee while Mimi looked for Taylor and Mark. She gently opened the door to Mark's room where she found the couple asleep. Mark was asleep on his back, while Taylor was asleep on her stomach with her head resting on Mark's bare chest. The sheets came up to their waists; it was clear that they weren't wearing anything. Mimi quietly closed the bedroom door, and joined Roger in the front room.
"They still asleep?" Roger asked from his seat on the couch. Mimi sat down next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Yeah, it appears as if they had a busy night last night like us." Mimi could sense Roger scowling, so she sat up. "Be happy for them, they're in love."
Roger replied, "I know, and I am happy for them. Only to think of my twin sister doing what we did last night…with my best friend no less!" He shuddered while Mimi laughed.
"Just think about something else baby," she told him.
Half an hour later, the phone rang, shattering Mark and Taylor's sleep. Taylor heard her brother playing the guitar in the other room, so she let in ring.
"Taylor! Angel's on the phone!" Mimi called. Taylor muttered a few cuss words as she sat up. She held the thin sheet to her chest with one hand, and answered the beat up phone next to Marks' bed with the other.
"Hey," she said sleepily.
"Have you seen the newspaper yet?" Angel asked quickly. Taylor was confused about her friend's question.
"No, why?"
"I'm standing outside; I'll be up in a minute. Mimi said that Roger spent the night at her place, so get some clothes on please. Bye." Before Taylor could say anything, Angel hung up the phone.
"What did Angel want?" Mark asked sleepily.
"I don't know," Taylor replied. "But it sounded important."
A/N: I have good news, great news, and bad news. Okay, great news: tomorrow is my last real day of school (I have to go in on Wednesday to sing, but that doesn't count). Bad news: the next chapter is the last one. Good news: there will be a sequel, with a visit from Taylor and Roger's past, oh, and a surprise for Mark and Taylor. It will be written after Who's Felicity (which is my next project), and maybe the sequel to Off-Camera (I don't have a lot of ideas for that, so any and all are welcome!). Much love!
Tina101