Coldplay - Yellow

Connor watched the houses passing by the window as the taxi made its way to Jake's house. Taylor was beside him, wrapped up in whatever world was taking place on the other side of her phone screen. She had tried to explain to him the amount of interacting she had to do on social media per day just to keep up with the incoming flood of messages, but the concept still felt abstract.

The taxi rolled to a stop, and Connor helped her out onto the sidewalk. Snow was falling, gently coating the ground and the car as it idled. Taylor shivered and kept her hand in his as they made their way up the walkway.

Jake answered the door immediately when he rang the bell, leading them inside a two-story home. Taylor had told him that Jake lived alone, but the house could have easily accommodated a large family with room to spare. He supposed that Jake, like Taylor, was also fairly rich, though he had previously claimed not to be famous.

"Good to see you, Connor." Jake offered a hand for him to shake, breaking Connor out of the temporary reverie of observing his surroundings. They shook hands, and while they did, Connor noticed that Jake did indeed seem to be nervous about something. His stress levels were at 52% and he kept glancing at Taylor as she made her way deeper inside.

Connor stepped around him to join Taylor as she stepped into the living room, expecting something, anything, but the room was empty. She didn't seem to notice the underlying tension as she flopped onto the couch and glanced around. "You've redecorated."

"It's been over a year since you've been here." Jake answered, smiling casually as he walked past. "What do you want to drink?"

"Doesn't matter. No alcohol, please." He disappeared back toward what Connor assumed was the kitchen, so Connor came closer and took a seat on the couch next to Taylor while they waited. After a moment, she reached over and tucked her hand into his, offering him a small smile.

"Taylor?" They were still looking at each other when the voice cut through the quiet, female and hesitant. Taylor's head whipped around to the entranceway, to the petite woman now standing in the spot where Jake had disappeared just seconds ago, looking at the blonde uncertainly.

Connor took in the young woman's face, her cropped black hair against her pale skin, strong jawline and slightly bumped nose. Without running a facial scan, he recognized her as Hayley Kolbeck, albeit much older than the photographs he had looked through at Taylor's house. Now she stood in the doorway, feet set apart, shoulders squared.

"Hayley." He felt Taylor tense next to him, shift like she was going to stand up. Then she reconsidered, poised directly on the edge of the couch cushion, resting on the balls of her feet. She'd pulled her hand out of his and had both palms flat on the couch, bracing.

"Oh." Jake appeared over Hayley's shoulder, glasses in each hand. He looked uncertainly between his two siblings before he resumed his path toward Taylor, setting her drink on a coaster on the coffee table. They both ignored him, and he tried to pretend everything was normal. "Taylor, Hayley wanted to see you."

"Jake!" Hayley hissed, glaring at him. She shifted on her feet, crossed her arms. Taylor finally pushed herself off of the couch and stood across from her, though she kept her arms at her sides. Her back straight, toes pointed outward.

"It's good to see you." Taylor's finger's twitched. She balled her hands into loose fists. Her voice was remarkably calm given the erratic beating of her heart that Connor could still detect, her skyrocketing stress levels.

"Is it?" Hayley gave the faintest hint of a smile. "When's the last time we saw each other?"

"It's been a while," Taylor conceded. Jake was looking between them again, uneasy, like he had orchestrated this without understanding what the consequences might bring. "Was there a reason you wanted to see me?"

"I saw what happened. To you." Hayley paused, glancing down at the bruises. For the first time, Connor saw Taylor's hand move up to cover her neck, like she didn't want her little sister to see. She stopped herself, halfway, and dropped her hand. "And I started thinking."

"About what?" Taylor sounded more hesitant than ever, like she didn't want to know, didn't want the conversation to go on.

"About when we were children. About when you went away." Hayley took a step closer. Taylor tensed.

"I left when our mother died." She swallowed. "I left because our mother died."

"You went to Los Angeles with your agent while Jake and I went to live with our aunt. You didn't see me for all these years." Hayley said, a challenge in her voice now. Her mouth became a hard line, her eyes narrowing.

"You didn't want to see me." Taylor said, defensive.

"I thought you abandoned us. No one told me the truth. No one would tell me the truth." Hayley scowled. "I didn't even come to see you off when you left."

"You were only six." Taylor's voice had gotten smaller. It was unclear which question she was trying to answer.

"Well, it wasn't hard to figure out now. I made Jake tell me." Taylor paled, her gaze shifting to Jake, but he was staring at the floor, unable to look at either of them. "You know the funny thing about sealing police records, Taylor? By law, Anthony still had to register as a sex offender."

There was a minute of silence. Taylor turned back to Hayley, wide-eyed, her face blanching of color. They stared at each other. Hayley's expression remained hard, frowning. The blonde seemed to come to terms with what she heard, for she finally said, "And?"

"And?" Hayley repeated, her voice an indignant shriek. Taylor shifted on her feet again, but her hands relaxed at her sides. She took a deep breath, in her nose.

"You've learned the truth. What is it that you hoped I would say?" Taylor fixed Hayley with a perfectly blank stare and waited. Hayley's face contorted through a myriad of different emotions in the span of seconds, her mouth opening and closing with the struggle of speech. She seemed to be fuming, and the feeling she settled into was anger, her posture shifting to match her furious expression.

Connor was watching Taylor with concern. Her stress levels were still wildly fluctuating, but outwardly she was the picture of calm. He had never seen her quite like this, detached from the situation.

"I want you to explain yourself!"

"I don't understand." Taylor's composed inflection only seemed to rile Hayley more, but she really did appear puzzled. "Explain what?"

"Why did you do it?" Hayley took another step closer, then another, her own hands balled into fists at her sides. Taylor didn't move away, didn't move at all, but Connor felt himself tensing on the couch. "Why did you stay quiet? Why did you talk? Why did you leave us here?"

Taylor waited to see if there were more questions, but Hayley just stood there, shaking in her fury. Eventually, she spoke, "I stayed quiet because I was afraid. I spoke up because I was afraid for you. I left because it was too hard, staying here in Detroit."

There was another beat of quiet, and Taylor tilted her head. "What is it you really want to know, Hayley? Do you think that there is something I can tell you that is going to make it make sense for you? I haven't been able to make sense of it for almost twenty years."

"Why did you do it?" Hayley repeated, her anger persistent, clawing for an answer that would satisfy her.

"I did it to protect you. Is that what you want me to say?" Taylor kept her face carefully neutral, even as her words renewed Hayley's rage. "I knew Anthony was going to do the same thing to you. It was only a matter of time."

"That wasn't your job!"

"You're probably right about that." Taylor smiled then, even in the face of her sister's wrath. "Can I ask you something, Hayley? Have you been happy?"

"What?" Hayley faltered then, almost stumbling backward.

"These past years, in Detroit, without me. You graduated high school. You're attending university. You have friends, a somewhat normal life. Are you happy?" Taylor kept her gaze steady on Hayley's face while the other girl worked her jaw, her brow furrowed.

"I...I guess so." She said, reluctant.

"That's why I did it." Taylor raised her hands, palms outward, a half shrug. As if it were simple. "When I was twelve, sitting alone in the emergency room, I kept thinking to myself, 'Hayley is going to be okay'. And you are. And I'd do it again, knowing all of the consequences."

Hayley took the final step forward and threw her arms around Taylor's neck, her angry veneer finally crumbling into sobs. The blonde's pretense of poise slipped away as well, her face a mask of surprise. Slowly, she placed her arms around the shorter girl, returning the embrace carefully. On the other side of them, Jake breathed an audible sigh of relief.

When Hayley finally pulled away, Taylor managed an uneasy smile. "Am I really going to get dinner or was this just a not-so-elaborate ruse to get me here?"

"Yes, dear sister, I am going to cook for you." Jake gave her a cavalier smile, tense around the edges still.

"I'm not sure if I should be delighted or terrified." Taylor sent him an amused glance as he headed back toward the kitchen. Hayley paused before she also followed after him, throwing one more furtive glance over her shoulder.

With the two of them alone in the living room, Taylor seemed to deflate, her shoulders slumping. Connor stood, and she turned to him immediately, pressing her face against his shoulder. He placed his arms around her, his hands sliding gently down her back. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she said quietly. Then she laughed softly, shakily. "I'm really glad I asked you to come."

"I didn't do anything." He said, his brow creasing. She pulled away a step, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"But you were here." She leaned up to kiss his cheek, then slid her arm through his and tugged him in the direction of the kitchen. She grabbed her drink on the way. "Come on, before they come back looking for us."

They followed the noise of pots and footsteps down a short hallway that opened up into a large kitchen. Jake was at the island, chopping vegetables. Hayley had taken a seat at the table and glanced up when they entered. Neither of the two were talking, but Taylor shrugged it off as she also made her way for the table.

"By the way, Hayley this is Connor. Connor, my sister Hayley." She made the introduction hastily as she took her seat. Connor offered his hand to the dark-haired girl, who was now looking up at him with interest. She obliged him with a handshake, arching an eyebrow.

"You're an android." It was a statement, not a question. Connor hesitated, but nodded, releasing her hand. He took the chair on the other side of Taylor while she smiled. "Nice to meet you."

They lapsed into silence. Hayley folded her hands together in her lap, tapping her thumbs against them as she turned her eyes between Taylor and Jake. Connor watched her folded hands with interest, wondering if Taylor's hand tic was a shared family trait.

"Hey, Taylor?" The blonde had been watching Jake cook while pretending not to also be sneaking glances at her younger sister, but she turned her head now. "What do you remember about mom?"

Taylor stilled. She blinked rapidly. Jake paused where he was chopping, knife hovering over a chicken breast, but when Taylor glanced his way, he immediately went back to what he was doing.

"I mean, I thought I remembered her." Hayley looked up, her blue eyes on Taylor's face. "But you look so much like her. You sound like her."

"When you were little, I was really busy with filming, ballet, school, and everything else." Taylor smiled softly. "Whatever you remember about mom, it was probably her."

"She used to sing to me." Hayley said. They stared at each other, and Taylor pressed her lips together. "At night, before I went to sleep. As long as I could remember." Taylor lifted her drink in her hand, bringing the glass to her lips, taking a large swallow. "Tell me that wasn't you."

"That wasn't me." Taylor sat her glass back down, fingers tight around the edge. The corner of her mouth twitched, but she didn't break gazes with Hayley. Still, it was enough for Connor to know she was lying. Hayley stared back with her eyes narrowed. After a moment, however, her shoulders relaxed, and she leaned back into her chair.

"Okay." A sharp sizzle sounded from the other side of the kitchen. They both glanced over at Jake, dumping all of the things he'd chopped into a wok.

"She was a good person." Hayley turned back to find Taylor smiling at her again, though this time it was tinged with sadness. "One bad thing shouldn't erase everything else in your life."

"She was supposed to take care of us." Hayley protested. She didn't sound angry, or upset, just baffled.

"She did. The best that she could. No one is perfect." Taylor glanced down at the table. "She loved us."

Hayley turned away. A few minutes passed in silence before Jake arrived at the table, setting plates before the two of them. "Dinner is served. Chicken stir fry."

Jake crossed the kitchen to grab his own plate before rejoining them. He glanced around the table before saying, "You could try some less heavy conversation topics, you know. Most people who haven't seen each other in fourteen years start with small talk."

"Oh, piss off." Taylor speared a piece of chicken with her fork and rolled her eyes at him. "Since when do you know how to cook, anyway?"

"Since I live by myself. Eating takeout every night isn't practical." He smirked at her across the table, arching an eyebrow. "We can't all waste money on personal chefs."

"Very funny." She stuck the chicken in her mouth and chewed. After she swallowed, she said, "Well, it's not terrible."

"Oho, lofty praise!" Jake started laughing. Hayley was eating in silence, her eyes darting back and forth between her two siblings uncertainly. She froze when Taylor turned to her suddenly.

"Is he this insufferable all of the time with you?" Hayley swallowed the bite of food in her mouth. There was a moment of tension where no one said anything.

"I thought being insufferable was a Kolbeck family trait." Taylor blinked, and then started to laugh. Jake joined in, and the tension around them eased. They lapsed into conversation. Taylor asked Hayley about school. Hayley asked Taylor about the work she was doing with deviants. Jake watched them talk, throwing in an odd comment but mostly staying quiet.

Taylor tried to pull Connor into the discussion where she could. He could tell she was still nervous. Her hands were hidden under the table, but he imagined her fingers persistently tapping her knee.

They made it through dinner. Taylor hugged Jake goodbye and, after a moment of hesitation, hugged Hayley as well. She pulled Connor outside, back into the snow, smiling as she got into the taxi.

"Why did you lie?" Taylor knew Connor was watching her while she sifted through her suitcase. Sorting clothes into piles, she had one to wash and one she was carefully repacking so that she would be ready to leave in two days. Now her blue eyes jumped up, to where Connor was perched on the edge of the bed.

"About what?" Of course he knew she had lied. She threw the last few scraps of dirty laundry into the pile unceremoniously, moving on towards the bathroom.

"When Hayley asked you about your mother." He clarified, tilting his head. In his curiosity he was always determinedly persistent. She continued collecting her things that were scattered around the hotel room, sorting between things she might need before they left and things she would not.

As she stepped closer to the bed, he reached out to grip her arm, his fingers circling her wrist gently to hold her in place. Taylor looked at him then, a sigh escaping her lips. "You know, you could pretend not to notice when I lie. People do it all the time."

A frown puckered his lips, but he didn't release her. He didn't back down either. "I want to know more about you."

Taylor huffed through her nose, almost a laugh. But then she suddenly remembered that first day they met, his searching the internet for information about her. Her simple request that he didn't. He had stayed faithful to that request all of this time, even after she'd told him that it hadn't been an order. Even when he was greedy for all of her secrets.

She had selfishly grasped on to that, his ignorance of her. The novelty of someone who didn't just know her as a celebrity, who hadn't watched her every waking moment on social media or the news. Someone who didn't have preconceived notions of who she was supposed to be.

Now he did know her, the ugliest parts, the parts the cameras never got to see. Every terrible lie and anxiety, every monstrous secret. Still, here he was. She had said that she felt safe with him, but were they only words?

"I told you that my father died when Hayley was born," she began. Connor's eyebrows raised in the slightest show of surprise. Clearly, he had anticipated her dodging the question further. It made her feel more guilty than before.

"It changed my mother. There was a distance between her and Hayley. I don't know if Hayley just reminded mom of everything that happened, or if she was just too consumed by her own sadness. But she stayed away, almost as a point."

She glanced down, to where Connor's fingers were still twined around her wrist. She concentrated on the warmth of his touch while she spoke. "I was enamored with her, though. She was the only one in that house who laughed. She was the only thing that was happy. I did everything in my power to make sure she stayed that way."

Connor loosened his hold, slid his hand down and laced his fingers through hers. "When she asked, I lied because I thought it was too sad, if Hayley only remembered the bad things about mom. I didn't want her to waste time being angry. I wanted her to have one happy memory."

"Were you angry?" She glanced back up. His eyes were focused on her face, soft, intent, as he brushed his thumb along her knuckles. "At your mother?"

Taylor sighed, deep, trying to dispel the ache in her chest. "Once. A long time ago. I thought all of the things that Hayley said. Mom was supposed to take care of me, to protect me. It was her job to take care of Hayley. It was her fault." Her lips pressed into a hard line, eyebrows drawing down over her eyes. "I'm sure she thought the same things, at the end. But it was Anthony's fault. Not hers."

She hadn't realized she started to cry until Connor stood, gently thumbing at her tears with his other hand. But it was no use. All the emotion of seeing her sister again, rehashing the guilt and anger around her mother's death, just came spilling out.

She let go of his hand and slid her arms around his middle, pressing her face against his chest. His arms came up to circle her, tightening, pulling her against him. Moments passed while she regained control of herself, but as she stood in his embrace, surrounded by his warmth, his hands rubbing slow circles into her back she knew that it was true. She felt safe here, and she would have told him anything he asked.

"You should rest." He pulled away, brushing at the remnants of tears remaining on her cheeks. "You've looked tired all day long."

"Nice of you to point out." She smiled at him. But she hesitated at the earnest look on his face, the persistent touch of his fingers against her cheeks. In a smaller voice, she added, "I had a hard time sleeping. Without you here."

He stilled. The deep brown of his eyes darkened, and her heart quickened in response. Then he slowly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'll stay. If you want me to. If you'll have me"

"Oh." The tips of his fingers were pressed just below her earlobe, on the rapid fluttering of her pulse. "Sure. Of course."