three - you're so shy when you wanna be.

Hayley lived 3 blocks away from Taylor. It had always been convenient when she would come up with a song in the middle of the night and they'd have emergency band meetings to jot her ideas down before they disappeared with the night, or times when she would drop her camera and come to his window in a panic, hysterical, begging him to fix it. There had been a few nights where she had simply spent the night, because it had been far too late for her to walk back home. Those had been the nights when Taylor had sat up and watched her sleep, thinking, "How am I so lucky?"

But then he would remember that she wasn't his, and the thought would fizzle away.

Taylor was just about delve into a whole new round of aimless thoughts when he heard the familiar peck on the window. He turned around quick to see the girl slipping her fingers underneath the bottom of the window. He learned to keep the window unlocked and cracked a bit, for times when she would come unannounced.

He moved over the window quickly as she climbed her way over the sill. She was in all black; black skinnies, a black hoodie zipped up to her neck with the hood pulled over her blonde hair, and black Chucks. When she landed on both feet on the floor and straighted up to face him, her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks and nose were tinted pink. She had been crying. A lot.

Taylor immediately pulled her into a smothering hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and using one hand to stroke her hair softly. She immediately began crying again, wrapping her arms around his waist in a vice grip and soaking his shoulder. In the back of her mind, she remembered her plan, the whole reason for her coming over, but it was quickly forgotten as a new wave of sorrow washed over her.

Taylor's hugs had always had the power to make her spill whatever heavy emotions she was feeling, and right now, all she felt was sorrow. Pity for herself. Josh had been the first real, close thing to her heart, since her dad had died. Well...Josh and Taylor.

And then the plan was back in the forefront of her mind. She pulled back out of the hug slightly, and didn't even waste time gauging his facial expression before she was smashing their lips together and pushing Taylor towards his bed.

Taylor had been too surprised by the action to initially do anything. But once he realized that, yeah, the girl who he was crazy about, who had just been dumped by his best friend was kissing him, he was conflicted as to what to do. But when he felt her tongue run over his bottom lip and then felt a tear hit his cheek, he pushed her back and grabbed her shoulders, holding her at arms length so he could look at her.

She was standing there gnawing her bottom lip, looking like a child who had done something wrong, hands still in fists from where they had been clutching his tshirt. She refused to make eye contact with him.

"Hayley," he said. And he hadn't meant for his voice to sound so rough, but he guessed that maybe it had been too harsh for the girl, because she burst into a fresh bought of tears. She tore her shoulders away from his grip and turned around, heading back for the window.

"I shouldn't have come here," she said through her tears. "I'm stupid. I'll just...go."

Taylor moved quick, reaching to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back to his chest. "Don't go. Nicky, just talk to me. Please, just talk."

Hayley froze in his grip. Had he just called her what she thought he had? Nicky. The girl hadn't heard that nickname in years; since she was 13.

"Nicky, I'm leaving. Last chance to give your old man a hug," Mr. Williams had chuckled out. He didn't think he would make any progress though; he and his wife had been trying for almost a full day to get the girl to leave her room, and to no avail. The only sign that she was still alive in the room was the sound of music blaring from her iHome.

"Nicky, come on," the man sighed, running a rough hand over his face. "Just talk to me."

The song changed, but that was the only indication that someone was in the room.

The man sighed and turned around to face his wife. "She doesn't want to talk to me, hun. Just...just, whenever she does come out...remind her that I love her."

He could see the glossy look of his wife's eyes before he had even finished. And with the last three words the tears were spilling over and she was hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her hair. "I love you too. Always. Forever."

Hayley turned around and pulled herself out of Taylor's grip. He looked stricken, like maybe he had said the wrong thing and she would leave for sure now. But she walked around him and sat down on his bed, kicking her chucks off and pulling her legs up so they were crossed underneath her. She looked up and made eye contact with him for the first time since she arrived. Her eyes looked sadder than before, and Taylor hadn't thought that was possible.

"Josh thinks we've been fooling around," she said simply, playing with a loose fray on his bedspread. "He's, um...heh, he's convinced we've been fucking behind his back. So I figured...why not prove him right? I mean, it's...only a matter of time before I lose you too. I should make the most of it."

Taylor had been shaking his head from the moment she started speaking. He moved to kneel down in front of her, putting his hands on her knees so he could catch her eyes, and she looked scared. Like she wasn't even sure what she was talking about.

"You're not going to lose me," he said. "You don't...have to do this. We both know Josh was wrong. You don't need to give him the satisfaction. Look, I...want to be there for you. I want to be whatever you need; a shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh with. Hayley Nichole, I love you. And you don't need to rush into anything because I'm not going anywhere."

And of all the statements Taylor had ever made in his life, he meant that one with every fibre of his being.

Hayley's eyes were glossy again, and she moved a hand to grip his tightly.

"Can we just...sleep?" she asked, voice thick.

"Whatever you want," he replied.

She moved to lie down, not even bothering to get up and pull the bedspread back. Taylor walked to the bench at the foot of the bed and grabbed a blanket to drape over her tiny body. She pulled it up to her chin and balled herself up, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Taylor grabbed a pillow and was about to lay himself down on the floor, like he always did when she would spend the night, when he heard her barely audible question:

"Lay with me?"

Taylor hesitated, but only for a second before he climbed in next to her, laying on his back while she continued to lay in a tight ball on her side. She was tensed up, he could tell, because all of her weight wasn't pressed down onto the mattress. He sighed to himself and reached over, coaxing her over to him until her head was resting on his shoulder and he had an arm securely around hers. Only then did she relax and get anywhere near sleep. And with her safely tucked away into his shoulder where no one could hurt her or confuse her further, Taylor was a few blinks away from sleep himself.