Chapter 16 – One Big Fight

"I honestly don't know why I'm here. You? Why are you here Pete? I mean... why are you back? You've been gone five years, why return now?" Pete was about to answer but Taylor cut her off. "Where is your child, by the way? And... what was her name again? Jenny? Jenna?"

Taylor silently scolded herself for feeling and acting this way. She knew she had every right to be mad at him. He cheated on her. She trusted him but he hurt her.

But it had been five years. She should be over it by now. No matter how much she wanted, she couldn't help it. Maybe because she didn't have a chance to say all these things to Pete before. They hadn't really had a closure. Maybe that's the right term for what they were doing right now.

"J-Jenna is in Scotland, with her husband... and their kids. Peyton, our child is... She's sleeping... inside," he pointed towards a room nearby.

Taylor did not expect this. She thought that Pete and Jenna got married. That's what she heard before she tried to remove all contacts she had with Pete. And to know that their child was under the same roof as hers right now made her uneasy.

When Taylor didn't speak, Pete went on. "I'm sorry that it took me this long to come back. I wasn't sure you still wanted to see me after... after what happened. But... I had to try."

"What difference would you, being here, make? It's over, Peter. It's been over a long time."

"I know. But I wanted us to be okay again. I didn't expect that we would be, though. But I don't want to know that however we ended things between us before was going to be just like that... without me even trying."

"But it would've been better if it was just like that." Taylor said so softly even she wasn't sure if she said it out loud or just in her mind.

"What?"

"Nothing." She then made up her mind that it was wrong that she was here. So, Taylor stood up and headed towards the door. "This is not right. I shouldn't have gone here." Taylor started walking, fast. "I have to go."

"Taylor, wait! Please."They were now outside the door, on Pete's porch. "Please, listen to me."

"There's no point, Peter, really. I should leave."

Pete held Taylor's arm to stop her from leaving. Suddenly, they heard a sound from inside.

"Daddy?"

Then Taylor saw a little girl come out, probably four or five years old, holding a teddy bear, scratching her eyes. She slowly made her way towards them.

"Daddy, who is she?"

She was looking at Taylor with such innocent eyes. She had Pete's eyes. Taylor didn't know why but she felt like crying. She looked away because she couldn't handle the little girl's stare at her. And then she froze as she saw a familiar figure standing beside a car.

"Laura..."

-o-o-o-

Taylor was driving so fast hoping she could still catch Laura. When she saw that Taylor had seen her, she immediately went inside her car and drove away. Taylor didn't even look back at Pete and his daughter anymore. She just ran towards her car and started driving as soon as she could. While driving, she tried looking for her phone inside her bag but she couldn't find it. That's when she knew why Laura was there. She must've left her phone at home and Laura must've seen it.

"Ugh! Stupid!" she said, smacking the steering wheel of her car.

-o-o-o-

Laura didn't know what to feel. When she saw Taylor come out of that house, followed by a guy she couldn't recognize, she felt all kinds of emotions rush through her. And then he held her arm. And then a little girl came out, and Taylor looked at her. She didn't understand the look she gave her. All she knew at that time was that she needed to get out of there. That's when Taylor saw her.

She knew Taylor would be here any minute now and she wasn't ready to face her just yet. If that guy was the reason of Taylor acting so strangely for the last few days, then it meant that Taylor lied to her. And she wasn't sure how to deal with that just yet. She silently prayed that Taylor hadn't followed her here.

Then there was a knock.

She breathed deeply. She couldn't decide whether she should just open the door. But Taylor had a key, if she didn't open the door, she could still come inside. So she just went and opened it.

"Babe, please let me explain." Taylor came barging in, out of breath. But Laura did not speak and didn't even look at her.

"I was gonna tell you, okay? Earlier today, I was gonna come here and explain everything."

"But you didn't."

"Because he called me and asked me if we could meet. And I figured it best to talk to him first... before you," short pause, "...which was stupid. It was a mistake and I'm so, so sorry."

This time, Laura looked at Taylor. "When I asked you yesterday about why you were acting strange, and you told me it was because of your dad, were you telling me the truth then?"

Taylor opened her mouth but no words had come out. Then she bowed, "No."

Laura felt like someone had stabbed her right in her chest. "Please leave me alone."

"Laura, please listen to me first," Taylor went to Laura and held her hands but Laura swatted her hands away.

"Taylor, I need to be alone right now."

"I am not leaving unless you listen to what I say," Taylor said firmly.

"And what?! Have you lie to me, in my face, again?!"

"Will you listen to me?!"

"What, now you have the right to yell at me?"

"Because you're not listening! I have an explanation for this, okay? Will you stop being so stubborn for a minute and listen to what I have to say?"

"I am stubborn?! Are you fucking kidding me right now?! You lied to me!"

"Because I did not know how to explain to you that the guy I almost married, the guy I used to think as the one I was gonna spend the rest of my life with, was back!"

With that, both Laura and Taylor froze. Taylor realized what she just blurted out, so she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Laura calmed down, too. But it was a different kind of 'calm'. It was the dangerous one.

"I would've handled that, you know. But you, lying to me? That's what I don't think I can understand right now... or ever." She looked at Taylor with pain in her eyes. "Leave. Please. If you don't, I will."

Tears were starting to form under Taylor's eyes. "I'm really sorry." With that, she went out.

-o-o-o-

"How many days have you been ignoring her? What, you think that's better than talking about it?"

Natasha and Laura were at the set of Orange, taping another episode of the show. They were having a lunch break and Tasha found it as a good time to talk some sense into Laura about what's going on with her and Taylor's relationship.

"How sure am I that she's not gonna lie to me again? Or that she's not gonna go off with some guy that she used to want to spend the rest of her life with, huh?"

"Well, that escalated quickly," said Natasha, rolling her eyes. "And about your question, I think... pretty sure. You said so yourself, 'used to'!"

"You don't understand. That's not my point."

"Then what is? What is your problem, really? You're worried that she's gonna leave you for some guy because deep down, she still prefers men over women? Well, I hate to break it to you, dear, but she has that same problem, too. You know what your difference is, though? She trusts you enough to feel secured that she's still the one you're going to choose over any other people at the end of the day."

"Easy for you to say, I don't have a guy I almost married, whom I labelled as the guy I wanna spend the rest of my life with."

"Yeah. True," Tasha nodded. "You only have a guy you've been with for seven, probably even eight, years, who gave you a fucking horse, and who's still very much your friend up until now. I mean, it's not even a question as to who should be worried more."

"She shouldn't be worried about Chris, we're just friends," Laura said nonchalantly, missing Natasha's point.

"And you shouldn't be worried about Pete, either. Come on, she hates the guy, for crying out loud."

"How many times do I have to say that he's not the problem? He's the proof of the problem!"

"What proof are you talking about? Look, I know that this is not easy for you. She lied to you, fine. I get it that you're scared she might do the same thing again. But you have to understand her, too. What she went through with that guy, it's not as easy to talk about to anyone as you might expect... even with you... hell, especially with you."

"What do you mean what she's been through with that guy?"

"See, you don't even know. Go talk to her, okay? Fix it... before it's too late."

-o-o-o-

It had been days since Taylor last talked to Laura. She couldn't forgive herself for lying to her... and for being so stupid about not telling her everything before going to Pete's. It had been a wrong move on her side and she didn't know how to make up for it that's why she hasn't gone to her yet.

But she missed her so badly and she couldn't take another day without talking to Laura. So she grabbed her purse, and went to the door. She had to see her now. But before she could even open the door, there was a knock. She opened it. It was Pete.

"What are you doing here, Pete?" She was disappointed to see him at the door. She really hoped it was Laura.

"I really need to talk to you. Is it okay if I come in? Please?"

Taylor didn't move away from the doorway. "No, it's not. What is there left to talk about, Pete? Haven't I told you that this was over?

"Yes. But I was hoping, that... that maybe there was still a chance-"

Taylor laughed, but it wasn't a happy one. "A chance? For what? For us? Are you kidding me? After what you did, you think I'm gonna give you another chance to hurt me again? Wow, Pete. I can't believe you thought that you coming back, apologizing and asking for another chance was gonna work."

Pete just stood there, looking dejected.

"Look, okay, maybe at first I was confused. That's why I even agreed to see you. Because I thought that there was still something to talk about. But you know what? I was stupid. I didn't need to see you to know that it really was over between the two of us. You cheated on me! There's really no need for anything other than that for me to know that it had been over for so long." She smirked.

"But there is one thing that you being here made me realize. It's the fact that I'm with someone really amazing right now... and that there's really nothing in this world that I would trade for her. And that she's someone I can't live without, because I love her so, so much. So thank you, for being the ass that you were. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be with her right now. So please, I think this should be the last time you should show your face to me. Have a great life, Peter. Thank you for everything."

And she closed the door.

A/N:

vauseman24, so sorry! I have a thing for cliffhangers, lol. But none of that this time! =)

Guest from Amsterdam, Aww, thank you! That really means a lot because there are a lot of awesome Laylor fanfics out there :" here's the new chapter, hope you like it. And don't worry, no more Pete until Chapter _ lol =)))

moanzs, ahhh you're slowly becoming my favourite reviewer :" thank you! So sorry for the cliffhanger though =)

lookingforflowers, THANK YOUUUU! And this is the end of the Pete era (almost!)

king09, sorry for the confusion but this is the first time I'm posting chapter 16 so I don't really know what happened =(

jo michael, Aww, thank you! I feel luckier that you're reading it and that you love it! =)

Another round of thank you, you guys! Virtual hug to everyone! Xoxo - jen