Chapter Sixteen: Collin's Crash Course

Jeff's POV:

The next two weeks were hard between me and Taylor. When I was home she barely spoke to me. It wasn't easy for me and a few times I almost caved and let her off her grounding. I felt like a hypocrite in some ways. Matt and I were off doing crazy things during high school, but Dad knew what we were up to when we did and he would have skinned us alive if we skipped school like she did. He was telling me I was being too soft on her. Matt told me that I was doing the right thing, and considering we were still walking on eggshells around each other because of Amy, it was nice to have him backing me up. Still, Amy and I had our hands full.

It wasn't an easy decision for me, but I decided to go see Andrea at the school. Maybe she was right the first day I brought Taylor in for school. It might not be a bad idea to at least consider outside help with her. As much as my family tried to help Taylor, we were barely more than strangers to her, having only known her for a few months.

"So, Jeff, you decided to come back in?" Andrea said as she led me into her office.

"Look, I'm sorry about the way I acted last time I was here. I didn't like you telling me how to raise Taylor. She's a smart kid and I think she should have a say in what's going on in her life. Until she came to live with me, she had no say in her life, so I was really pissed off that you were trying to act like I'm stupid because I left that choice to her. She knew more about where she was in school than I did, I wasn't prepared to make that choice, she was. I knew what I was doing, Andrea, whether you understood that or not," I explained.

She looked at me and her face softened.

"I'm sorry. So many parents, especially parents who are new parents to teens with issues like Taylor don't typically know what to do with them. But you've never been conventional, so I shouldn't have taken your approach for incompetence, but just your way of dealing with it. You're right, and I'm sorry," she said to me.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that."

"So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm sure you were told that Taylor cut school last Monday."

"Yes, I was. I tried to talk to her last week, but she said she didn't want to talk about it, that it wouldn't happen again and she was already grounded so to leave her alone. Honestly, I was surprised by her disrespect, but moreso her saying you grounded her."

"I may not be a perfect father. I'm still learning how to handle her and I don't give her a lot of rules, but that's because I feel that as long as she's honest with me, there's no need to try to restrict her with rules. That's not who I am. If she's keeping up with school, staying safe, and being honest, there's no need we can't be friends as much as we are father/daughter in my opinion."

"But teenagers do need some rules, Jeff. You know that, right?"

"I do, but I hadn't really thought of any specifics I needed to outright tell her. Up until last week, if I asked her to do something she did it. If I asked her a question, she was honest with me. But the Friday night before she cut school I went back to work. I took her with me for the weekend because the shows were all here in North Carolina and we made a deal, she could travel with me on the weekends as long as her schoolwork was done by the time we got home on Sundays."

"Something happened when you went back to work, I guess?"

"Something really bad, Andrea."

"Tell me."

"Well, before I explain that, I want you to know that I didn't just bring her on the road with a bunch of strange wrestlers she'd never met. The Wednesday before I went back to work, I invited a bunch of my co-workers over for a barbecue. She was kinda shy at first, but after Collin Deveraux texted saying he was upset she had him come over and with him there she opened up more. She seemed to have fun around everyone."

"It's good you tried to bring them into familiar surrounding for her before you brought her to them in unfamiliar territory. It's even better Collin ended up there. Collin and Taylor have become good friends. It's a bit of a scandal around here. She's the antithesis of the jocks and cheerleaders and yet she's quickly become one of his best friends."

"I noticed. I was upset at first that he texted because Taylor and I agreed none of her friends because of my co-workers, but he was in a bad way. Apparently his girlfriend broke up with him that night. Him coming over seemed to be a good thing for both of them," I agreed before going back to that night with Nick. "When I went back to work, right after I finished getting ready, I was asked if I would meet with a Make-A-Wish kid. The kid has stage four lung cancer. Of course, I agreed, but as the kid was described, Taylor seemed to be trying to melt into me. When the kid was brought into my dressing room she freaked out completely."

"Why?"

"He's been one of her best friends in Texas for years. He was diagnosed about a month or so ago. Taylor didn't know. They lost touch after Tamara's death."

"Oh my goodness. No wonder she's acting out."

"Exactly. Thankfully, Collin was in Raleigh for the event and Rockstar Spud had given him and his friend Mika backstage passes so Taylor had Collin that night, too, but the weekend got worse."

"What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath. I felt like I was betraying Taylor telling Andrea everything.

"What do you remember about Tammy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Her eating habits."

"What eating?"

"Taylor inherited her mother's diversion to eating, Andrea. Amy and I have been getting her to eat, and she's been doing really well. She's been keeping a food journal and even though she doesn't eat a lot, she's been eating a little more every day. At least until I grounded her. She's still eating, just not as much and she's not keeping the food journal right now."

"That's both alarming and good. At least you and Amy are dealing with the situation."

"Well, after she found out about her friend, she refused to eat for the weekend. When we got home on Sunday, she went over to Matt's house and attacked him because Matt and I had been fighting about Amy. We started dating and Matt was pissed off. She passed out from exhaustion when Matt restrained her to keep her from hitting him and after Matt apologized to me and Amy we decided it would be best to just let her sleep in her room at Matt's for the night."

"So what happened?"

"She got up and left before Matt did. Ran off with Shannon for the day."

"He shouldn't have…"

"Don't, Andrea. You and Shannon may have your issues, and I may have been mad at him for helping her ditch school and even for giving her a tattoo…"

"He did what!"

"After she tattooed him."

"He's insane!"

"That's why you loved him once."

She shut up.

"Regardless, I was mad at him too, but I couldn't stay mad at him for more than a few minutes."

"Why not? I have it in me to go have some words with him over this."

"Because when Taylor came home that night with him, she was smiling and laughing, which she hadn't done since she found out about her friend."

"That's not a good enough reason to excuse his behavior, Jeff."

"What about the fact that he saved me from having to put her in the hospital to get her to eat?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how he did it, but Shannon got Taylor to eat not once but three times while she was with him that day. She hadn't eaten in more than two days by the time she ran off with him. Amy and I had already decided if we couldn't get her to eat on Monday we would take her to the hospital, but he got her to eat three times, Andrea. Shannon got through to her in ways nobody had been able to that weekend."

"I guess that would be a reason not to kill him," she conceded. "So what can I do to help?"

"I'm not sure I want to do this yet, but I wanted to know if you could help me find some therapists she might be able to see. In case it gets to that point where I think she needs someone to talk to."

"Sure. I know this is hard for you to ask for."

"Thanks, Andrea," I said as the bell rang. "I gotta get outta here. If I'm seen in this school who knows what will happen with Taylor."

"Well, it's a good thing you still dress like the kids here, you can pull your hood up and blend in on your way out. I'll be in touch when I have the info for you."

"Thanks again, Andrea," I said as I got up and snuck out of Union Pines.

Taylor's POV

"You don't get it Collin. He's been all like just be honest with me since the day I met him and I was honest with him last Monday and I'm still grounded for another week."

"You got off easy, Tay. Be honest. Any other parent would've kicked your ass for skipping school and getting a tattoo. Jeff just grounded you for skipping school, not even the tattoo."

I sighed. Collin was right, but it didn't make me any less mad.

"Maybe you're right, but complete lockdown?"

"Tay, you beat on your uncle, snuck out of his house in the middle of the night, skipped school, and came home tattooed. Two weeks is nothing," Collin said, laughing. "Besides, it's almost over."

"It can't be over soon enough."

"Hey, at least Shannon's been going over to see you."

"Yeah. That's cool. Shannon's really crazy. I still can't believe he let me tattoo him."

"You have an awesome life, Taylor. Stop fighting it. Bad things have happened. I'm not saying your life is perfect. I know your life has been hard. But your father loves you, anyone who looks at him when he looks at you can see he would do anything for you. You are his number one priority. Embrace the Hardys. They are notoriously crazy and awesome."

I looked at Collin, the boy who was comforting me even though his girlfriend left him because of me two weeks ago. He had been comforting me almost that whole time. Suddenly I felt selfish.

"I'm sorry, Collin. How are you feeling? You've been so busy taking care of me since everything with Nick that I haven't asked how you've been handling things since the break-up."

"Nick is a bigger issue than my petty ex-girlfriend. I don't mind being here for you," he said. "I'm okay. Being here for you has given me something other than her to focus on, so helping you has helped me, too."

"You're too nice for a football player."

"Must be the track runner in me."

We both laughed.

"I'm going to the vending machine. Want something?"

"No, I'm good."

"Taylor, you haven't eaten lunch."

He was right. I had stopped eating lunch since I got grounded. I also stopped eating breakfast, opting to take the school bus in to school instead of letting anyone drive me to school.

"Did you at least eat breakfast?"

I shook my head. I didn't want to lie to Collin. Not with how much he'd done for me. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the cafeteria. After getting a second lunch for himself and a tray for me, he led me out to the tree we usually hung out by.

"Eat, Taylor."

I looked at the food. It was a lot of food. He loaded the lunch tray with pizza oozing grease, salad drenched in dressing, chocolate cake, and brownies. With it, he got me a soda. The thought of it made me queasy, but I didn't want to disappoint him. I broke off the edge of the pizza and started nibbling it.

"Come on, Taylor, eat."

"I am eating, Collin."

"Barely."

"Barely is still doing it."

"You can eat more than that. It's just you and me here."

Suddenly I started thinking about the other kids watching me. I started looking around, feeling like they were all watching what I was doing. I put the little bit of food I had in my hand down, grabbed my backpack and ran. Unfortunately, Collin was faster. He caught me pretty fast and dragged me under the bleachers where nobody would see us.

"What was that, Taylor?"

"I couldn't eat all of that. I'm sorry."

He looked at me, confused.

"What's wrong with you?"

I laughed. "Loaded question."

"I'm serious, Tay. It's just lunch. Why'd you try to run away from me?"

"You wouldn't get it."

"Get what?" he asked frustrated with me. "What's so hard about eating?"

"I'm anorexic!" I yelled at him in frustration, turning away from him and trying to run again.

I got slightly farther this time. It was a little bit of a relief to say those words. I had never said them before, but I was terrified to face Collin, like he would treat me like a porcelain doll now. He caught up to me and held me close to him. I cried into his chest, realizing my mother made me like this and my father was trying to help me but I was reverting back to her ways. It made me feel like a screw-up. I tried to pull away from Collin, but he wouldn't let me.

"You're not pushing me away," as he held me close.

In the distance I heard the bell ring. We were both supposed to be in Trig in a few minutes.

"We need to go to class."

"Not with you like this."

"My dad will flip out if I skip class again."

"Let's go."

Collin took me and led me away from the school. I didn't want to fight him, but at the same time I was afraid of making Dad madder. Still, I followed Collin.

Jeff's POV

The doorbell rang ten minutes after I got back from the school. I looked out the living room window and saw a car I thought might be Collin's and went to the front door. Sure enough, he was there, with Taylor cradled in his arms, asleep.

"Mr. Hardy, sir, I'm sorry, but I made Taylor skip her last couple of classes to bring her home," Collin said to me.

I took Taylor from him.

"Come in. We'll talk after I put her in her room."

Collin went towards the living room as I put Taylor in her bed. She felt warm and I was worried she might be sick. I covered her and left her door open in case she woke up and needed anything before going back downstairs to Collin.

"Knowing why Taylor is grounded, why would you make her cut class, Collin?" I asked.

"I was worried about her."

"What happened?" I asked, getting more worried about her.

Collin started ringing his hands. He looked nervous.

"What happened, Collin?" I asked again.

"She kinda freaked out when I tried to get her to eat lunch. I wasn't trying to upset her Mr. Hardy, honest, but I noticed she's stopped eating lunch since you grounded her so I called her on it and asked her if she ate breakfast and she told me she hadn't. So I tried to get her to eat lunch. She started to act weird and ran off. When I caught her she freaked out and told me she was anorexic and started crying and trying to push me away. That's why I made her cut school. I didn't want anyone to see her freaking out like that. They already spread rumors about why she was in the hospital before she came to Cameron and I was worried about her and wanted to take care of her so I thought the best thing to do would be to bring her home. She tried to argue with me, but I don't think she had the energy to do it," he rambled.

I knew she wasn't eating breakfast, but was hoping she was at least eating lunch at school. She had stopped using the food journal since I grounded her. This poor kid was just trying to get a friend to eat lunch and got so much more than he bargained for. He looked scared out of his mind.

"Do you want a drink or something, Collin? We need to talk," I asked him.

"Sure."

"Sit down. This might take a bit. And while you're at it, you might want to let your parents know where you are. Tell them I'll call them later if it will help."

"Thanks, Mr. Hardy."

"Call me Jeff."

I went to the kitchen and came back with a couple of sodas for us. I gave one to Collin and sat down across from him.

"Did she say anything else to you other than she's anorexic, Collin?"

"No. She started freaking out. First she kinda curled into me then she tried to pull away and run again. I wouldn't let her. I kept hold of her and seeing how upset she was I knew she couldn't go to her last classes so I brought her home. She was worried you'd be mad she skipped, but it's not really skipping if you go home to your parents, is it?"

"Not really. I'm not mad. I think you did the right thing, bringing her home. Taylor can be fragile emotionally sometimes. Not all of the time. Sometimes she's tough as nails and can be as hard as diamonds, but there are some things that she's not as tough with."

"I've seen it. She's handled everything about moving pretty good. I was surprised that me trying to get her to eat was what made her flip out," Collin said taking a drink of his soda. "Was it the gymnastics that did this to her?"

I took a deep breath and started explaining the complications of Taylor's anorexia to Collin. I explained it wasn't just the gymnastics, but her mother and grandfather, and how I had tried to help her mother when I was his age. It was a lot to put on his shoulders and it wasn't anything I would have ever told him, but Taylor threw this at him and he needed to know what he was dealing with. I would deal with her if she got mad at me for telling him everything later.

Taylor's POV

When I woke up, the sun was setting and I was a little confused. Last thing I remembered I was in Collin's car… On my way home. Shit! Dad was gonna be so pissed I missed my last two classes. As I was trying to think of how to explain this to him, I heard laughing coming from downstairs, not just Dad and Amy, but a few other voices. After going to the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face and brush my hair, I went downstairs because curiosity got the best of me. I wasn't expecting what I saw.

Sitting in the living room with Dad and Amy were Uncle Matt, who I had avoided since I had hit him and snuck out, Mr. Deveraux and Collin. Knowing I wasn't supposed to have company I tried to go back upstairs before anyone saw me.

"Come on down, Taylor," Dad called to me. "We need to talk to you."

I walked into the living room and sat next on one of the recliners. Collin had a photo album in his lap and was looking at me with a guilty look on his face. I wasn't sure what to think about what was about to happen.

"Hi, Mr. Deveraux," I started, "Collin."

"Taylor, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Collin said before Dad started talking.

"Taylor, do you remember what happened earlier today?" Dad asked me.

I nodded, not sure what to say to him, but looking at my hands instead of him.

"Collin and I had a long talk while you were asleep. He's really worried about you, Taylor. You scared him at school today. He didn't understand what he did wrong…" Dad was saying when I cut him off, looking at Collin.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Collin. I did. I'm all messed up and it's not your fault. It's not any of your faults. It's me. Don't think you did anything wrong, Collin. You have no idea what made me like this…" I was saying when Dad cut me off.

"Actually, he does. After you and Collin left school early you fell asleep in the car. I put you to bed before talking to Collin to find out why you weren't in school again. When he told me what happened and what you told him, I told him everything about it. He needed to know what was going on and this boy here was so desperate to figure out what he did when he didn't do anything."

"You told him?"

"Yes. If you want to be angry, go ahead, but since you started to bring him into what we tried to keep in the family, I felt he deserved to know the truth."

I didn't know what to say to him. Part of me was mad, but part of me was relieved. Now I didn't have to be the one to explain all of this to Collin and he would understand why I act so weird sometimes.

"No. I'm not mad. I guess it's better."

"We decided to let Collin stay for dinner tonight because he was so worried and he wanted to make sure you were okay," said Amy speaking up for the first time. "Your father called his father over so he could talk to him about Collin skipping his last classes to bring you home. It turns out that Grant, Jeff, and Matt used to play little league together. That's why we invited Matt over. Besides, it's time for you to stop avoiding your uncle, Taylor."

"Darling, I'm not mad at you. You're going through a hard time and I understand that. I remember when our mother was dying. I lashed out at everyone for a while. I'm not saying it's okay to do it, but I get it. Don't push me away. Right now you need your family," Matt said. "Besides, apparently I needed to get beat up by my niece to see what an asshole I was being to my brother. You were right about that. Your father, Amy and I made up after I put you to bed that night. Thank you for making me see how stupid I was. I need to be reminded sometimes."

Matt started laughing and I couldn't help but crack a smile at him.

"Come here and give me a hug, Sweetheart," he said to me and I did.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Matt," I said as I hugged Matt.

"Shhh, Taylor. Don't apologize," Matt said. "But next time, how 'bout I just teach you some moves in the ring? 'Cause you throw a decent punch."

I started laughing and so did everyone else. At that moment, the bell rang. Amy got up and answered the door.

"Anyone order pizza?" I heard as Shannon came in.

"Shannon!" I exclaimed as I ran over to him.

Amy took the pizzas from him. He hugged me.

"Hey, Kid. Heard you had a bad day."

I just nodded into his chest.

"It's alright. Pick yourself up and move on. It'll get better tomorrow," Shannon said to me.

Amy put the pizzas on the table in the living room and brought paper plates, napkins, plastic cups, and sodas from the kitchen. Everyone started digging in. I looked at the pizza and wanted to run away, but everyone was watching me expectantly.

"Please, Taylor?" Collin said to me. "You haven't eaten in a day."

"Come on, Kid," Shannon said, putting a slice on a plate and giving it to me. "Eat it or I'm gonna sit on you until you do."

I started laughing and took the plate from him. Slowly, I started picking at it. I ultimately ate almost the whole slice before I couldn't eat anymore. When I got up to go to the bathroom not long after Collin got nervous.

"Collin relax," I said to him. "I'm not bulimic. I'm not gonna go throw up. Promise."

Mr. Deveraux hugged Collin to him, but Collin still looked nervous.

"It's okay, Collin. She's not gonna do that," Amy said, trying to make him feel better. "She'll either eat or she won't, but if she eats, she doesn't force herself to get sick."

Collin looked a little better and I relaxed a little bit. I realized then the affect I was having on him. Collin was now worrying about me the way I was worried about Nick. The difference was that Nick had no control over what was happening to him. I was doing this to myself, worrying everyone who cared about me. I felt guilty all over again, but knew I had to try to start eating more again if, for no other reason, than to keep Collin from having to worry about me like that.