I don't own anything.
A/N: Another week another update, first off I want to thank my reviewers from last week; chaylorXtraylorlover, Aipom4, NaeNae1495, sweetchocolate26, LunaSolTierra, MermaidRam85, rkogrl3, Phelycia, and chaylorfan. Thank you and I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter I have mixed feelings about this one. Anyway please Review and tell me what you think.
Baby S
Chapter Six
Troy stepped away from the kitchen table with a small satisfied smile on his face as he looked over the work that he and Taylor had done. Releasing a sigh, he lifted an arm up and draped it over Taylor's shoulders as she came to stand by him. Ignoring the look that she sent him, he kept his gaze on the table and spoke up with a pride that parents usually held for their children. "We did good." he murmured. "We did real good." Taylor merely shook her head and smirked at his statement while ducking beneath his arm so she could move out from underneath him. Once she was free, she turned and looked over at him with a grin.
"You're crazy, you do know that right." she replied with a softly chuckle. "But I am glad you appreciate all my hard work." As soon as she finished the statement she released a cocky smile and looked over at him. Troy crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her words while raising an eyebrow at her statement.
"Your hard work?" he questioned with a scoff before looking back over at the table and then pointing a finger at his chest.
"I helped too." Taylor smirked then and walked over to him and pinched his cheek gently. Troy just stared down at her as she wiggled the little flesh of his cheek between her fingers. Thankfully it didn't hurt as bad as his aunt's pinches did.
"That you did," she finally stated as she released him and lowered her head. "But let's face it you were my kitchen grunt." She smiled as she looked at the frown that came across his features as he heard the title she had given him.
"Grunt!" he exclaimed comically as he stared at her. "I've been called a lot of things in my life but never the term grunt. If this is a new pet name for me I think you'd better forget it. I need something a little better than that." he replied with a shake of his head. "As for the food we're going have a talk about that but right now I need to go and get my mother. Just don't call me grunt in front of her." he pointed out with a grin that let Taylor know he had gotten the joke and was okay with it. For awhile there she hadn't been sure that he had gotten her teasing but she was glad he had. Troy wagged his finger at her as if telling her to behave and then quickly disappeared upstairs.
Troy bounded up the stairs two at a time as he shook his head at Taylor's little joke downstairs, yeah right like he was her grunt. As he walked down the hallway, he headed straight for his father's study he knew that's where his mother would be, it was where she always was during is tutoring sessions with Taylor. He figured she went in there now, because she thought he wasn't going to pay attention to her and what she was doing but he was always aware. He paused for a moment outside of his father's study, he didn't think it'd be a good idea if he just walked in and disturbed his mother so instead he knocked on the door.
"Troy?" his mother called out her voice holding a hint of surprise. "It was obvious that she probably thought that he'd still be downstairs tutoring.
"Mom, can you please come to the door?" he called back, he took a quick step back as his mother swung the door to his father's study open. Lillian Bolton stood in the doorway looking at Troy, studying him as if something was wrong. When she didn't see any outward sigh that he was in trouble she sighed.
"What's wrong Troy?" she asked in confusion.
"I," he paused and lifted a hand, nervously rubbing it along the back of his head. A trait he picked up from his father because he knew his father did the same thing when his mother confronted him about little things he had forgotten to do around the house. "I was, well Taylor and I cooked dinner and I was hoping that you would come down and join us." Lillian looked surprised at his words.
"Oh Troy you don't have to worry about me. I wouldn't want to-."
"It's no problem Mom. Besides I was hoping that you would join us, there's something I need to tell you." Lillian looked at her son, a flash of worry going across her face as she studied him briefly for a few seconds before nodding her head.
"Okay I'll be down in a few seconds." She leant forward and pulled Troy into a tight hug. "Thank you for dinner, I'm sure it'll be great." Troy just wrapped his arms around his mother and patted her back awkwardly before she let him go. Turning on his heel Troy headed back downstairs. As he jumped onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs, he heard Taylor fussing in the kitchen. Curious as to what had upset her, he slowly walked towards the kitchen listening to her one sided conversation. She sounded extremely annoyed with whoever she was currently talking too.
"I'll be home soon," she followed her words with an annoyed groan. "I'm just helping out a friend alright," Troy stood there just listening to the tension in her voice. Whoever it was on the other end, Troy was pretty positive that Taylor didn't like them. "Of course Wilson knows. Look I'll be home when I'm done. Why! Cause I'm not going to just drop everything and leave my friend hanging alright Mom." With that said, Taylor hung up her cellphone and turned around. Troy would have told her the little scowl and pout of her lips looked cute but he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath.
"Trouble at home?" Troy asked as he met her gaze, not really sure what he should say to her. Taylor just shook her head for a moment as she looked at him before sighing.
"There's always been trouble at home even before my-." she paused not really sure if she should finish that statement since Troy was dealing with the lost of his own father. There's just always been trouble at home." she finished as she tucked her phone back into her pocket. "Don't worry about it, Troy."
"I'm not worried about it. . . I'm worried about you. If you need to go home-." he started to say as he walked over to her but stopped when Taylor merely shook her head and looked at him.
"I'll go home when the dinner is over. Wilson won't be here for another hour, so I'm sure the dinner will be done by then." she stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "My mom is only doing this because she wants to control me or something."
"Alright then. I guess I better drop this. I don't want you upset during dinner it might upset your little tummy." he replied as he walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Taylor looked at him slowly absorbing his last comment before playfully knocking his hand off her shoulder.
"My little tummy."
"Well," he paused and gave her the once over. "Well yeah. You're little tummy. Let's face it Taylor, you're a little on the short side."
"Are you calling me a midget?" Troy just smirked, glad he had been able to get her thoughts off of whatever it was that was currently causing to be upset. He didn't like her upset and seeing the little smile on her face now made him feel better.
"Well if the little shoe fits." she gasped and smacked his arm lightly just as a throat cleared behind them. Turning around, they both saw Troy's mother standing there watching them with an amused expression on her face.
"Troy are you harassing the young lady kind enough to cook for us." Lillian asked as she glanced at her son.
"Hello Mrs. Bolton and yes he was harassing me but I'm afraid I can't take all the credit for this lovely meal." Taylor stated as she lifted her arms and turned towards the table. "Troy helped as well." she glanced over at Troy who seemed to be on the edge of his seat wondering if she would in fact call him her grunt.
"Oh really he helped." Lillian replied as she looked over at her son with a bright smile on her face. "Well this is certainly going to be interesting." she stated with a smile, as she moved towards the table. Troy quickly pulled out her chair and helped her sit down before moving over to Taylor to do the same.
"Thank you, Troy." Taylor stated softly as she looked over at him. He grinned and gave her a brief head nod before moving to a seat by her side. As soon as he sat down, they all started to eat. Calming passing around the food and filling their plates. They all eat and calmly talk about about Troy and his work or Taylor and how she got into tutoring. Finally as the dinner died down, Lillian looked over at her son.
"Troy now would be a good time to tell me what it is that you wanted to tell me?" Troy who had his fork poised in the air, paused and looked over at her for a moment before sharing a glance with Taylor who gave him an encouraging nod.
"Well Mom, Taylor here told me that East High was going to have a tribute ceremony for Dad and they wanted us to come and be the guests of honor-." he paused as he saw the look in his mother's eyes. "They just wanted to know if we would come." As he finished the sentence he looked over at Taylor who just nodded her head at them. Lillian placed a hand on her chest and gave him a look before lifting a hand and wiping a tear from her eye.
"Of course we're going, Troy." Lillian finally said as she looked at her son. "This is a good thing, your father would be honored." she admitted with a sigh as she reached across the table and grabbed Troy's hand. "He would be so honored." Troy looked at his mother and slowly nodded his head, as he watched her.
"So you're okay with that."
"Of course I am. I know I'm still," she paused and waved her hand in the air not really wanting to say the word grieving out loud but Taylor and Troy got it. "well you know, but I'm not going to miss out on Jack getting honored. He would want me there and that's where I'll be." Troy just nodded his head then and looked over at Troy.
"I also wanted to ask you if it would be okay if Taylor sat with us." Lillian looked between her son and Taylor for a brief moment, her eyes seemed to be calculating something before she just sat back in her chair and smiled over at Taylor.
"I don't see a problem with that. She's a family friend now." Taylor blushed at the statement just as a knock at the door sounded. Troy looked surprised, but Taylor simply pushed her chair back and looked at them both.
"I'm sorry but that's probably my ride." she pointed out. Troy quickly pushed back his own chair and stood up as well.
"I'll walk you out." he quickly said as he moved over to her side. As they exited the kitchen, Lillian turned and watched as they went into the living room.
"Taylor." she called out.
"Yes ma'am." Taylor called back as she looked back at Lillian Bolton who was now standing and walking over towards her. The older woman pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly. Taylor was so overwhelmed by the gesture that she hugged the older woman back just as tightly. Lillian slowly pulled away from Taylor and smiled down at her.
"Thank you for the dinner, it was absolutely delicious." she replied, she gave Taylor one last squeeze before she headed out of the living room. Taylor turned and looked over at Troy who had been watching the scene silently.
"She's right you know. Thanks for the help." he stated sincerely as he studied her. They both looked up as the doorbell sounded. "Geez, Wilson sounds quite impatient tonight." Troy replied as with a shrug of his shoulders.
"My mother probably called him complaining about me and what I'm doing." Taylor replied with a shrug. Troy just gave her a look, wondering just what type of mother Taylor really had. Taylor didn't come off to him as some type of rebel child hellbent on making her mother's life miserable. No in fact the way Taylor talked it seemed to be the other way around like her mother was hell bent on making her life as miserable as possible. Pulling open the door, he smiled at Wilson who stood crowding the doorway with his hand raised to knock on the door again.
"Hello Wilson."
"Hello Mr. Bolton." Wilson stated stiffly as he looked over at Taylor who was merely rolling her eyes at Wilson's manner. Troy tilted his head back and gave Wilson a look of wonderment.
"Wow, Mr. Bolton. . .really man. I wasn't really expecting anyone to call me that for about maybe ten more years." Troy stated with a smirk. Wilson merely crossed his arms behind his back and gave Troy a look.
"I see, well sorry to disappointment Mr. Bolton."
"It's Troy. Just like you told me to call you Wilson, call me Troy." with that said he handed Wilson, Taylor's bag and smiled.
"Very well Mr. Troy," he stated as he turned to look at Taylor who was trying her best not to laugh at the current expression on Troy's face. "Ms. Taylor I will be waiting by the car and we can leave after you have said your good-byes." With that said, Wilson sent Troy another nod and then walked out of the house with Taylor's bag.
"Is he serious? He called me Mr. Troy." Troy muttered as he followed Wilson with his eyes. Taylor just released a soft giggle and shook her head as Troy turned to look at her. He smiled briefly for a moment before sighing. "What? I'm just asking a question."
"Oh it's nothing. Wilson does that with everybody even me. Do you know how long it took for him to call me Ms. Taylor. For the longest time he refused to call me anything but Ms. McKessie but after I ignored him a few times he switched to Ms. Taylor and that's just what he calls me." Troy shook his head and just sighed.
"Well I guess I'll have to ignore him until he calls me Troy." he pointed out. "Thanks for helping me talk to my mother tonight."
"It was no problem I was happy to help." Troy smiled and walked over to Taylor and pulled her into his arms. He wrapped her up tightly and just held her to him for a few minutes. Taylor carefully lifted her arms up and wrapped them around him as well. They stood like that for a minute before Troy reluctantly pulled away from him. "You're a good friend."
"So are you. I guess I should be going now. Tell your mother that I said good-bye." Troy walked her to the door and nodded his head.
"Do worry I will. Um, are you going to be at the group therapy session this friday." he asked nervously as he looked down at her.
"I'm there every friday Troy. Will you be there?"
"Yeah I will." he stated smoothly as he looked down at her and then nodded his head towards the car. "I guess you better go, Wilson is looking mighty anxious right now." Taylor turned and looked at Wilson before quickly heading to the car. The look on Wilson's face said it all her mother had called and fussed at him about her. "Bye Taylor." Troy called out with a smile, as Taylor rushed down his walkway she turned around and waved back at him.
"Bye Troy."
When Taylor finally got home that night she was once again greeted by her mother and her boyfriend, both of them were sitting in the living room waiting on her. Taylor who had been rushing through the house to get to her room slowed down as Charles stood up and blocked her path, while her mother remained seated with a scowl on her face. "Do you know what time it is?" Whitney asked her daughter as she put aside the magazine that she had been pretending to read. Taylor not really sure if she should take her eyes off of Charles just spared her mother a quick glance before looking back at her mother.
"It's 8:30."
"Exactly and a school night. Why are you just now getting home?" Whitney asked coldly as she looked at her daughter. Taylor narrowed her eyes at her mother's words and turned to look at her no longer caring about Charles.
"I was doing my job. I was tutoring," Taylor snapped out tired of this act her mother kept trying to perform for her boyfriend. "I really wish you would stop doing this. I've been doing this for the longest time alright."
"You never came home at 8:30 before." Whitney stated with an all-knowing nod that did nothing except piss Taylor off. Setting her bag on the floor, she glared at her mother and shook her head angrily before pointing an accusing finger out.
"How in the world do you know what I did before, when you were out at all times of night. You do know that I've never seen you in the house this late before right. You used to come into this house drunk and stumbling all over yourself. Dad knew you were cheating, but he foolishly probably tried to stay with you for me. Cause he knew you just bitch enough to try and take me away from him just so you could get some money and-." Taylor couldn't finish her tirade as Charles stalked over to her and grabbed hold of her wrist. It felt like he was trying to crush her bones.
"You need to watch you mouth little girl." he snarled into her ear as he continued to squeeze her wrist so hard that Taylor was literally bending down from the pain. "Apologize?"
"I won-," she paused again as he continued to squeeze her hand tightly until finally Taylor rushed out a quick apology. Once she said the desired words, Charles picked up his foot and kicked her in the back. He stood over her and watched as she fell to the floor, injuring her wrist further because she instinctually used her hands to braced her fall. As Taylor released a soft hiss of pain as she scrambled up and looked over at Charles who was still standing over her looking like he wanted to do more damage. She looked down at her wrist and saw that the skin had become inflamed and swollen.
"Charles doesn't like it when you disrespect me." Whitney stated calmly as if she hadn't just seen her daughter being manhandled by her own boyfriend. "If you keep that little disrespectful streak up I won't be able to stop him from wanting to teach you some manners." Taylor looked at her mother in shock.
"Now I don't want to have this type of conversation again. You better be home at a decent hour, Taylor or else." Taylor's eyes immediately drifted over to Charles who was still standing over here looking like he wanted to get to the 'or else,' at that very moment. Cradling her wrist in her hand she slowly pulled herself up. She could feel tears at the back of her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "Do you understand me."
"Yes." Taylor said, just wanting to go to her room and get away from her mother and Charles. Whitney eyed her for a few more minutes before giving her a nod. Taylor quickly went to her bag and picked it up with her uninjured hand and rushed by Charles who kept his eyes locked on hers. Whitney followed Taylor with her eyes.
"Taylor!" Whitney's cold voice stopped Taylor cold, turning around she looked at her mother who sat watching her from the same position.
"You're right. I did cheat on your father and do you want to know something else. Do you want to know why he never left me?" Taylor remained standing still looking at her mother in fear. She truly didn't want to hear what she had to say. "Cause he knew if he took me to court he'd lose you mainly because you might not have been his and what court would give a child over to a man that isn't even her father. There's enough courts already that won't give a child to their own fathers. You go upstairs and you think about that." Whitney replied as she glared down at her daughter. Whitney turned to walk away but paused and turned back around to look at Taylor. "What are you waiting on, go upstairs it's pass your bedtime little girl."
The next day Taylor was in a world of pain not only physical but emotional as well, her mother's bombshell had blown her entire world apart. She didn't know what she'd do if she wasn't a real McKessie. All her mother cared about was hurting her, she sat back in the car as Wilson drove to the Bolton house. He had taken her to the hospital earlier that morning and had gotten her wrist checked out. Charles had actually given her a hairline fracture on the bone and now she was wearing a mini cast. She didn't want to think about what her mother or Charles would do when they saw that she had been to the hospital and had gotten her wounds taken care of. Wilson had been furious when he saw Taylor that morning and had always walked into the McKessie manor with the intention of teaching Charles a lesson. It had taken Taylor a lot of pleading to get him to stop, she didn't want him to lose his job one she knew he needed. "Perhaps you can go over to one of your friends' home. I'm sure if they knew the situation."
"Gabby and Shar would tell their parents and then this whole thing would be taken to court and-." she trailed off and placed her forehead in the palm of her good hand. "Look, I'll figure something out Wilson."
"They want something. . .maybe that's why Whitney is inserting herself into your business. She never cared before about what you did so this doesn't make much sense." Wilson muttered as he tried to figure out why Whitney was doing all of this.
"Well, she'll give herself away sooner rather than later." Wilson looked into the rearview mirror and nodded his head slowly.
"I'm sure she will." Wilson muttered as he pulled up outside the Bolton household. Turning off the car, he got out and quickly helped Taylor from the car before rushing to the trunk and getting out her laptop bag. "I wish you would at least stay with me and my family for the night."
"That is only going to cause more problems." Taylor pointed out softly as she looked at the older man. "My mother would never go for that and she would try to get you fired and who knows what type of lie she would use to get that done."
"Do you think I care?" Wilson snapped out as he looked down at the girl he considered a daughter. "I can't stand by and watch as that woman allows that man to hurt you." he stated angrily. "At least consider it, Taylor. I don't need you to protect me." he added on as he placed his hand on her back and led her up to the front door. He knocked on it and stepped back and waited for Troy to open the door. When Troy opened the door, he looked at the somber faces of Taylor and Wilson and knew something was wrong. He allowed his eyes to shifted fully over to Taylor, he looked into her eyes and saw that they were dull with pain.
"What's wrong Taylor? Did something happen?" he asked in rapid succession as he looked at her. Taylor just shook her head and stepped into the house while Wilson handed her bag over to Troy with a tired sigh. Wilson looked over at Taylor for a moment before turning around and walking away. Troy closed the door and set her laptop bag down and looked over towards Taylor.
"Alright do you want to tell me what's wrong now cause believe I can wait." he stated as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. Taylor looked at her for a moment before shaking her head and turned on her heel. Troy quickly rushed across the room and grabbed a hold of her wrist but dropped as Taylor released a painful hiss. "What in the hell?" he asked as he gently picked up Taylor's arm and pulled back her jacket sleeve. He took in the small red inflamed hand and the small cast and then looked back up at Taylor his blue eyes dark with rage. "What is this? Who did this to you?"
"Troy don't worry about it we need to study."
"To hell with studying. . . are you telling me that someone hurt you and you want to just forget about it. Was it some bully at school," he paused and shook his head for a moment. No way would Zeke and Chad let some guy get away with hurting her. "I hope Zeke and Chad got him. . . but you need to show the principal or something." he muttered as he looked back at her his eyes glued to the small cast on her wrist.
"It wasn't some bully."
"Then who would-." Taylor watched as Troy paused and his eyes widened in utter shock and she knew he was remembering the conversation he had walked in on last night right before they had dinner with his mother. "Oh God no." he muttered softly as he looked over at her. He couldn't believe it, a parent had did that to their own child.
"I guess you figured it out." Taylor deadpanned as she looked at Troy. "So now can we get to studying."
"Do you actually think I'll be able to study knowing that your mother did this to you." Taylor looked at Troy and then down at her wrist which was still throbbing from the way he had grabbed it earlier.
"She didn't do it. Her boyfriend did because I was disrespecting her last night." Taylor admitted as she looked at Troy.
"So he figures that it's okay to touch a girl in a rough manner like that." he snapped out angrily as he looked at her wrist. He could feel his blood boiling in his veins as he took in Taylor's appearance. She looked so down. "You've got to tell someone."
"And go where. I don't know what my mother is trying to do but I'm not about to let her win." Taylor stated firmly as she looked at Troy. "She's not going to scare me off from Charles, she just isn't going to do I won't let her."
"So you're willing to stay there and get hurt," he paused for a moment and then spoke up his voice soft. "Your father wouldn't have wanted that." Taylor felt her heart seize in her chest at the mention of her father and what he would have wanted for her.
"Please Troy let's just study alright."
"I already told you that I can't study. Not knowing all of this." he admitted truthfully as he looked down at her. "Come on." he said softly as he placed his hand on the small of her back and urged her towards the front door.
"Where are we going?" Troy however didn't answer, instead he grabbed his jacket and led her out of the house, closing it up behind him. He led her down the sidewalk and it wasn't until they were a little bit away from the house that Taylor realized where he was taking her. "Troy?" He walked her over to a picnic table over near the swings. He helped her sit down and then straddled the bench and faced her. "Troy why did you bring me to the park?"
"Because you looked like you needed some peace." he answered simply as he turned his head and watched as a little girl jumped on the swings and started pumping her legs so she could go higher. He returned his gaze back to Taylor and reached out for her uninjured hand. "You told me this place brought you some peace and gave you good memories. Things I think you need at the moment." he whispered as he looked at her.
"Thank you then." Troy only nodded his head as he looked at Taylor for a moment and then sighed.
"I don't think you should stay there." Taylor raised an eyebrow at his words and shook her head as if he had was speaking absolutely nonsense. "I don't know what else to tell you."
"Where would I go?" she asked bluntly. "That has always been my home, Troy. There's good memories there as well. My mother and Charles will leave me alone if I just go by their rules." Troy narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head.
"For someone that's suppose to be so smart, you're certainly acting dumb right now." he replied sharply. Taylor jerked her head up and glared at him.
"Excuse me."
"You heard me, why would you want to stay in a house where you mother allows a stranger to hurt you. I don't know what or who you're protecting but I seriously don't think that your father would have wanted you to suffer this way, would he?"
"No he wouldn't." Taylor answered softly as she looked over at Troy who sat on the bench just looking at her.
"Then don't do it. You can leave."
"And go where, I'm not eighteen I'm a minor Troy." Taylor pointed out with a sigh. "I'm trapped in that house for another four years." Troy thought over her words for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
"No you aren't trapped there, there is something you could do."