Sorry this took so long! I will try and update soon! Please review!

Listening Now

The first thing that registered in Taylor's mind was that she was warm, very warm, and comfortable. When her eyes came into focus, Taylor saw that an arm was thrown haphazardly over her waist. She tilted her head to the side slightly and saw a peacefully sleep Chad. Taylor smiled at him; he looked so innocent while sleeping.

Chad mumbled something in his sleep and the grip on her waist tightened slightly, in a possessive manner. His eyes fluttered slightly and then opened up slowly. When he saw Taylor lying next to him, his eyes shot open completely.

"Taylor?" Chad asked, his voice slightly husky.

"Hmmm?" Taylor mumbled as she faced him.

"Are you okay?" Chad asked, sitting up slightly, but not moving his arm from around her waist. Seeing her questioning look he continued, "About you know, what happened last night…" Chad trailed off as he thought about what had happened.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have been if you hadn't saved me though." Taylor said with a smile.

"I'm glad your okay." Chad replied.

"Why did you stay with me?" Taylor asked suddenly.

"Because you asked me to." Chad answered, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"No, I mean why?" Taylor asked again.

"You lost me there Taylor." Chad said confused by her question.

"I don't get why you stayed, you hate me, don't you?" Taylor asked sadly.

"I could never hate you Taylor." Chad said as his arm tightened around her waist.

"But we broke up, and I hurt you more then I ever thought possible. I hurt you Chad. And all this time I thought it would be you would hurt me, not the other way around." Taylor explained.

"Yes you hurt me, but after what I saw last night, I don't think it was your fault. And as for getting hurt…that's not very nice you know." Chad pouted.

"I didn't mean it like that, I meant that I thought you would leave me for a cheerleader, eventually figuring out that I'm not good enough for you." Taylor said with her face downcast.

"Taylor, I love you, I wouldn't leave you for a cheerleader!" Chad exclaimed.

"I love you too, but we're over, you said so yourself!" Taylor explained loudly.

"Well-" Chad began.

"No! I came to the conclusion last night that with us, love wasn't enough. And even if we did get back together, it wouldn't be the same, we would have some trust issues." Taylor said as tears came into her eyes.

"Love is always enough Taylor, you were the one that taught me that! What made you believe differently?" Chad asked.

"Life Chad, life." Taylor said sadly.

"And yes our relationship wouldn't be the same as before, but it would be stronger Taylor! We may have some problems, but when we get through it, it makes us stronger as a couple. I love you Taylor, and I want, no scratch that, I need to be with you." Chad said with such an amount of passion, that Taylor was momentarily speechless.

"I need to be with you too." Taylor whispered.

"Then what's the problem?" Chad asked her.

"I'm scared!" Taylor yelled finally.

"Scared? Scared of what?" Chad asked as he held her hand in his.

"I'm scared of being hurt again." Taylor whispered.

"I won't hurt you." Chad whispered back.

"You can't promise that Chad." Taylor replied.

"I know I can't, but I can try not to Tay." Chad explained.

"I love you." Taylor said before she hugged him tightly, crying softly into his chest.

"I love you too, so much." Chad whispered as he ran his hand through her hair.

"So are we back together?" Taylor mumbled into his chest.

"Yes Taylor, we are." Chad said with his first genuine smile in a week.

"Good." Taylor mumbled before kissing his passionately. Chad was more then happy to accept the kiss, and the two continued with their kissing for a few moments before Chad suddenly stopped.

"What wrong?" Taylor asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"We need to figure out what happened to Alex." Chad said as he stood up and pulled Taylor with him.

"But I don't wanna!" Taylor whined like a three year old.

"Come on baby." Chad whispered in her ear.

"Fine." Taylor grumbled.

"I love you." Chad said sweetly as he pulled her down the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah." Taylor mumbled as she was dragged.

"Hi Mrs. McKessie!" Chad said happily.

"I see that you stayed the night Chad." Mrs. McKessie said as she examined the two, clearly amused by their red faces.

"Nothing happened Mom, he was just comforting me." Taylor explained as she tried to hide her face in Chad's chest.

"I know, I just had to tease you two!" Mrs. McKessie said happily.

"Well, we came down here to ask you a question." Chad said as he hugged Taylor closer to his body.

"Ask away." Mrs. McKessie said as took a sip of her coffee.

"What did the police say when you called them?" Chad asked as he sat down across from Mrs. McKessie at the kitchen table. Taylor took that opportunity to sit on Chad and bury her head in his neck.

"Well-" Mrs. McKessie began before she saw Taylor sitting on her boyfriend. "Taylor, what are you doing?" Mrs. McKessie asked with a small laugh.

"Trying to go back to sleep." Taylor mumbled from Chad's neck. Chad laughed and pulled her tighter to his body, wrapping his arms around her, holding her in place.

"As I was saying, they are going to send him to jail for five years for sexual assault. And then we are getting a restraining order, he will not be able to come within one mile of you Taylor." Mrs. McKessie explained.

"I'm glad he's in jail, because if he wasn't, I would have beat the crap out of him." Chad said seriously.

"My hero." Taylor mumbled from her spot on his lap. Chad started to tickle her and Taylor started to squirm.

"Stop!" Taylor yelled between giggles. "I love you and you are the best boyfriend in the whole wide world!" Taylor said. Chad, happy with the answer, stopped tickling her.

"I love you more." Chad whispered in her ear.

"You guys are so cute!" Gabriella gushed as her and Troy walked into the kitchen.

"How'd you guys get in here?" Chad asked as he turned his attention from his girlfriend to his friends.

"Mr. McKessie let us in. Hi Mrs. McKessie!" Gabriella said as she hugged Taylor's mom.

"Good to see you Gabriella. I'm going to go and water the garden, have fun kids, just not too much fun." She said with a wink at the four teens.

"So, you guys back together?" Gabriella asked with excitement.

"Yeah." Chad said dreamily. He kissed Taylor in the cheek after he hugged her from behind.

"What brought about this change of heart come about?" Troy asked.

"Well, last night Alex tried to kiss me again, then he hit me a few times." Taylor began when Gabriella gasped. Taylor gave her a reassuring smile before she continued. "Then my knight in shining armor came and saved me, and the rest is history." Taylor finished.

"Knight." Troy snorted.

"You got a problem with that?" Chad asked.

"Nope, knight." Troy said with another laugh. Gabriella hit him on the back of the head before she turned to Taylor and smiled.