I don't own anything.
A/N: Alright it's another week and that that means it's time for another update. First off I want to thank the reviewers from last time; Aipom4, chaylorXtraylorlover,traylorlove, javasmoker, sweetchocolate26,HeartsWereNeverMeantToRace, chaylorfan, and Tina. I hope everyone likes the new update and please remember to Review.
Baby S
Chapter Eight
Jordan Mitchell stood outside his downtown office patiently waiting on the arrival of Taylor McKessie, his mind kept playing back the conversation he had with the young woman nearly thirty minutes ago. She had called to tell him that she was basically afraid of her living arrangement at the moment. He knew it all boiled down to Whitney, he didn't like the woman when Taylor's father had introduced her to him and his wife and now his friend's poor judgment when it came to women was forcing his only child out of her home. Jordan pushed himself off the wall as a large black limo pulled into the parking lot. Walking out to meet them, he sent Taylor a small smile as she climbed out of the back of the limo. "Taylor." he called out and smiled as she rushed into his arms. He hadn't seen his godchild in a good while. Whitney had made it very clear that he wasn't welcome in their home and he would hate to see what she would have did if he had tried to force the issue.
"Mr. Mitchell thank so much for being able to see me."
"It's nothing really Taylor," he looked over her shoulder and saw Wilson climbing out the car. The older man walked over to them and placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder effectively pulling her back away from him. Jordan smiled and lifted his hand to the other man. "Nice to see you again Wilson though I wish it was under better circumstances."
"As do I, Jordan." Wilson replied back with a door sigh. Jordan looked down at Taylor and narrowed his eyes when he saw the cast that bandaged up her wrist. Frowning he pointed at it and looked at Taylor.
"Did your mother's boyfriend do this?" he asked bluntly as he looked at the wrist, he glanced over at Wilson who just nodded his head. Clenching his jaw, Jordan walked over to his office's front door and pulled it open. "Come on in, we have a lot to discuss." Taylor just nodded her head and slipped inside with Wilson at her back. Once they were inside his office, Jordan spoke. "Taylor I don't really know what you want me to tell you."
"I want to leave, don't make the mistake of thinking that I want to stay in that house getting abused. I called you because basically when Charles had this little talk with me about how my mother didn't care and how she was using him for his money and such, well I got the impression that he was really telling that because my mother was using his money that he could do what he wanted with me and I have a feeling that means anything." Wilson bristled at her words and turned towards her before looking at Jordan who was leaning against his desk with a look of cold fury flashing across his face.
"Alright then at least we have something to work with now." he muttered. "Look Taylor, that is quite a charge there and I believe you but if you're going to get away from him and your mother well then you're gonna have to get proof."
"Let her take a lie-detector test." Wilson replied, Jordan looked over at him and merely shook his head before focusing back on Taylor who was looking back up at him silently. Jordan crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.
"As much as I would love for it to be that simple, Charles is rich enough to hire a lawyer that will rip that test apart on the stand, besides if the man is bold enough to even hint at what he really wants from Taylor then we need to make sure that this move is actually solid. No loopholes, I don't want my goddaughter to have to go back to that house after telling on this man. His punishment may be something that will be unbearable to Taylor and to us."
"So what are you suggesting?" Taylor asked bravely though she really didn't like what Jordan was talking about. She knew that it could possibly come down to this and that scared her. Wilson reached over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"What do you need for her to do?"
"She needs to get him on tape, once we have his words. I can present the tape as evidences to the court system. It will give us good solid ground to stand on if this things goes to court." Wilson looked at the man for a second before sighing.
"And what will you be doing while Taylor plays undercover agent?"
"I'll be researching Charles, I'm sure he has skeletons in his closet and some that could eventually help us with this case." Taylor tapped her foot on the floor as she looked over at Jordan and slowly nodded her head.
"Alright I'll do it." Jordan slowly nodded his head and sent her a smile he hoped encouraged her. He didn't want her to think he didn't believe in her when he in fact did. Wilson turned to look at her for a brief moment before shaking his head.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked bluntly.
"Yeah I'm sure. . .if I need to get him saying something to me. I can, he does practically everything he catches me alone and-."
"No-." Wilson replied with a shake of his head as he looked at her. "That isn't going to work, you being alone with that man are you out of your mind." he looked over at Jordan for help and found the man nodding in agreement with him.
"I don't think that's safe Taylor. You're young and there's no way that you can just-" Taylor held up a hand and shook her head for a minute as she looked at the both of them. If they didn't want her to do this alone, then that was okay. She knew of someone who could help get the dirt on Charles.
"I can handle it and I also have a friend that can help me get the information while keeping me safe. Don't worry alright I'll get the information and then that bastard will be out of my life for good." she stated with a brief smile as she thought about being free of not only her mother but of the man that she had brought into her life. Jordan gave her a look for a moment before slowly nodding his head and pushing himself off his desk.
"Alright then, all I can say to you is be safe and when you get that information bring it to me and I'll get you out of there that night." Jordan stated firmly, Taylor just nodded her head and stood up from the chair with Wilson on her heels. As they walked outside, Wilson cleared his throat and placed his hands behind his back as he looked down at Taylor.
"You know I don't approve of this right." Taylor slowly nodded her head and looked up at him for a brief moment before releasing a sigh.
"I know but I trust Mr. Mitchell," she declared softly as she looked up at Wilson. "If he thinks this is the way to truly get rid of them without them coming back at me for round two then I'm all for it." Wilson just looked at her for a brief moment before shaking his head.
"Alright then, just let me know when you decide to go ahead with this plan and I'll be there for you alright." Taylor looked at him briefly as he opened the back door of the limo. Climbing inside, Taylor looked up at Wilson and slowly nodded her head.
"Don't worry I'll tell you what's going on and when I decide to go ahead with the plan."
"Good." Wilson replied as he closed the door, as he walked around to the driver's side all he could think about was his promise to Taylor's father. He told the man that if anything ever happened to him that he would protect Taylor and that's exactly what he planned to do.
Troy Bolton was lounging around in his room, just staring up at the ceiling. Lately he had been thinking about why he seemed so focused on Taylor. He knew he cared about her and everything like that. Every since the tragedy of his father's death, he had been absolutely miserable and he hadn't truly smiled until she entered his life. Sometimes he felt like he was doing his father a disservice, like how could he be happy when his mother was without her husband. Tossing an arm over his eyes, he took a deep shuddering breath and sighed just as his phone went off. Reaching out blindly, he picked up his phone off the nightstand and pulled it to his ears. "Hello?" he asked gruffly through the speaker.
"Troy?" he sat up then as he heard Taylor's voice floating through the speaker of his phone.
"Is everything alright?" he asked quickly hoping that, that bastard Charles hadn't done anything else to her. "Taylor is everything alright." he asked again not liking the silence he heard over the line.
"Everything's fine, Troy." she breathed out softly. "I'm just calling you because I wanted to know if you'd be open to having a few tutoring sessions here at the house." Narrowing his eyes at her question, Troy pushed himself over to the side of the bed so that his feet were touching the floor. Lifting his free hand to his hair, he quickly rubbed his hand through.
"Why? Are they trying to keep you in the house?"
"No, I just-I was just wondering if that would be okay." Troy sucked his teeth and looked down at the floor.
"I'm not a fool Taylor. . . tell me what's going on right now." he grunted out angrily as he tapped his foot on the floor, trying his best not to get up and start pacing at any moment.
"Fine, I went and talked to my father's attorney and well he told me that I needed some type of evidence on Charles in order for my leaving the house to stick-" Troy frowned at that for a moment before shaking his head.
"Hold up, are you serious. He wants you to do all that."
"No, not really but if I have to do this in order to get evidence then I will. I want you there just in case something happens at the tutoring session and-."
"Would he actually be bold enough to do something with me there."
"I think so," Taylor admitted with a sigh. "He might want to try and show me that even with you there, he's the man and stuff like that. I just need you there in case something happens." Troy rubbed a hand over his face and slowly nodded his head. Of course, he'd help her. She helped pull him from the bitterness that had slowly enveloped his life so now it was his turn to return the favor.
"You really don't have to ask, of course I'll be there to help you." he whispered over the line softly. "So when am I'm suppose to come over to your house?"
"Tomorrow. We start doing this tomorrow and we'll see where that takes us." she stated softly. "Look I need to go to sleep so I'll see you tomorrow, Wilson and I will pick you up after school let's out." Troy slowly nodded his head.
"That sounds fine, I'll see you then." Hanging up the phone, Troy sat it back down on his nightstand and leaned back on his bed. He hoped Charles screwed up soon enough cause he couldn't wait to see Taylor get out of there.
The next day, Troy found himself sitting down in the living anxiously awaiting Taylor's arrival. He glanced up as his mother entered the living room and sat down next to him on the sofa. "Where are you headed off today?" she asked as she looked down pointedly at his bag and then over at him. Troy glanced over at his mother and sighed.
"I'm headed to Taylor's house to study. There's been a change of plans and well she needs to move our tutoring sessions to her house for a little while." Lillian looked at her son for a brief moment before slowly nodding her head.
"Is everything okay?" she asked with concern. The truth was Lillian had gotten use to Taylor's visits and after the dinner that she shared with Troy and Taylor, she had started coming downstairs during the tutoring sessions and spending a little time with them. She joked with Taylor on occasion and she had to admit that their little dinner session with her and lifted her spirits a bit. The pain of missing Jack was still there but she didn't feel like it was swallowing her up like before.
"Yeah mom, everything's fine." he said just as the doorbell rang, hoping up off the sofa Troy quickly picked up his bag and walked over to his mother. Bending down, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you when I get home."
"Can you make sure it's at a decent hour?" she asked as she stood up as well, Troy paused at her question and sent his mother a small smirk.
"How about if it isn't I stay behind and spend the night with Taylor." At his words, his mother just tilted her head back and laughed aloud at his words. Troy smiled as well, as he looked at his mother before sighing and shaking his head. "Fine I'll make sure I'm back by a decent hour." With said he walked over to the front door and pulled it opened and stopped as he saw Wilson standing on the other side.
"Hello Troy," he paused and glanced over Troy's shoulder. "Mrs. Bolton how are you this evening?" he called out with a nod of his head. Lillian pushed herself off the sofa and walked over to the door and smiled up at the man.
"Oh I'm fine," she replied with a small smile. "Thank you for asking, Troy was just telling that he and Taylor had decided to start studying at her house for a little while." Wilson looked over at Troy for a moment before nodding his head.
"Yes it's only for a little. Taylor's mother wants her at home for a few days and well this is the only way Troy can still study and keep up with his work." Wilson stated. "Don't worry I'll have him home at a decent hour."
"I already told her that." Troy replied with a small smirk as he quickly ducked his head to avoid a playful slap from his mother. Stepping out onto the porch, Troy looked back at his mother and sent her a small smile. "See you later Mom."
"Alright see you." Lillian said before stepping back inside and closing the door. Wilson waited till he heard the door click shut before turning to look down at Troy who was standing beside him.
"Come on you can put you things in the trunk and then you can ride in the back with Taylor," Wilson said as he marched down the walkway to the limo that was parked in front of the Bolton house. Opening the trunk, he watched Troy place his bag inside. Reaching out he laid a hand on Troy's shoulder.
"You've never ridden in a car with Taylor before," he paused and released a sigh. "Riding in cars for her now is quite an experience, she doesn't like it at all." Troy looked up at Wilson and frowned for a moment before looking towards the back window of the car.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I'm letting you know what to expect in the car."
"I would never make fun of her." Troy stated sharply as he looked at the man before him. Wilson merely raised an eyebrow and slowly nodded his head.
"I figured that already, however I had to make sure." Placing a hand on Troy's back, he pushed the boy forward and limo. "Come on let's go." He watched Troy climb into the back of the limo and then walked up to the door on the driver's side. He paused for a moment and thought that maybe this would be the first car ride since her father's death that Taylor wouldn't almost have a panic attack. He glanced one last time into the back of the limo, before opening his door and climbing inside and pulling off.
Troy settled back on the seat and looked over at Taylor who was clutching the handle of the door tightly while sending him a few quick glances. Finally after a few minutes of this, she spoke up her voice soft and quick as if she didn't want to spend to much time talking in the car as if she had to pay attention to something. "Why don't you have your seatbelt on?" she rushed out quickly before looking back out the window. Troy followed her gaze, and saw her seize up as the car rolled by a side street with a car slowly coming to a stop at the edge. Deciding that it would be best to put on his seatbelt to at least but her at ease, he reached over his shoulder for the belt and carefully pulled it over his body. Taylor turned towards him at the sound of the seatbelt being put into place. Troy smiled at her and wiggled the strap at her and sighed.
"My seatbelt is on now." he stated smoothly as he looked at her.
"Good, you really shouldn't be getting into cars without your seatbelt on." Taylor whispered to him on a sigh.
"I'm sorry for that," he paused and reached over for her hand, the one that was balled up in her lap. "Come here." he said softly as he latched onto the first and slowly pulled her hand open and gently threaded his fingers with hers. Taylor looked at him for a moment before closing her eyes as Wilson turned the car. Troy just sent her a gentle smile as he felt her squeeze down on his hands tightly tucking her head down in fear. "It's alright we're just turning." he whispered as he gave her a slight nudge. "We're fine." Taylor kept her head down only because now she was to embarrassed to look at Troy. As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, he leaned over to her and whispered. "No need to be embarrassed, we all have things that make us fearful-this car ride doesn't change my image of you. To me, you're still smart, beautiful and strong. This is just something you're struggling with at the moment, and just so you know I'm here for you." Taylor nodded her head in agreement as she allowed Troy to pull her into an one armed embrace. They rode like that for the rest of the way, with Troy holding her tightly as Wilson drove them back towards the McKessie Manor.
As Wilson pulled the limo to a stop, Troy sat back and slowly released his hold on Taylor while sending her a small encouraging smile. "We're here." he replied with a sigh as he unbuckled his seatbelt and looked over at her. Taylor looked up at him and graced him with a small smile as well.
"Thank you." she whispered as she looked Troy who merely nodded his head and smiled at her.
"Not a problem, come on let's go in here and deal with this," he hopped out of the limo and reached back inside for her hand. He smiled as she settled her little hand with his palm. Stepping back he carefully helped her out of the car and closed the behind her. "I hope this guys messes up tonight so we can get you out of here."
"Let's not do anything crazy-just play things cool." Troy gave her a look before nodding his head, Taylor was pretty sure he was anything but cool but she didn't want to call him on it. As long as he at least acted civil towards Charles things would be okay she didn't want to see them fight. Troy looked pretty strong but then again Charles was a huge guy and she didn't want to see anything happen to Troy if he tried to step to Charles.
"Hey what's that look for?" Troy asked as he tucked his finger beneath her chin and forced her to look up at him.
"Nothing, just be cool in there. All I need to do is tape him saying some things that's it-." Troy nodded his head and looked over at Wilson who at the moment was getting their bags from the trunk of the car. Placing his hand on Taylor's back, Troy gently pushed her forward and then walked over to Wilson to grab hold of the bags.
"I'll be outside waiting to take you home," he leant forward then and spoke quickly in Troy's ear. "If there's any problem at all you two get out of there and I'll handle Charles." Troy stepped back and nodded his head.
"Sure." he replied with a swift nod of his head as he took the bags from Wilson and quickly headed after Taylor. She paused outside the door and dug through her purse for her keys, Troy tapped his foot on the ground slowly as he waited for her to open the door. Finally she found her keys and opened the door. Troy stepped into the house and found it hard to not to look around with awe, his eyes drifted over to Taylor who was silently smiling at him.
"I know right, this place is huge. My father built the house because he thought he would have a lot of kids but my mother wasn't really up for that." she whispered just as they heard footsteps making their way towards them. Troy watched as an older African American couple stepped into the small foray.
"Taylor who is this?"
"This is Troy Bolton the person I've been tutoring and-." Whitney scoffed at her daughter's words and looked Troy up and down before raising an eyebrow.
"I see what I said that night over dinner was correct." Troy noticed Taylor narrowing her eyes at her mother's words and mentally made a note to ask Taylor about that conversation later on when they were alone.
"If what you said over that dinner was something about Taylor being the smartest person down at East High and how I should be thankful for her help then you're correct." Troy stated smoothly as he looked over at Taylor and winked. She sent him a little shy smile and Troy looked up as he heard a little grunt from Charles who stood silently to the side. Troy watched as the man's cold brown eyes shifted back and forth between him and Taylor. He didn't like what he saw in the older man's eyes but his attention was immediately drawn to Taylor as she gave him a little nudge.
"That's sweet Troy," she murmured as she sent him a thankful smile before she turned her attention back to her mother who stood silently next to Charles frowning as well. "Mom, we're here to study. You've been complaining about me getting home late so Troy suggested maybe he should trade places with me and I thought it was a great idea. Besides his mother doesn't really think it's a bad idea."
"Yeah she just wants me to get caught up." Troy stated as he sent a look at Charles before focusing on Taylor's mom. Whitney merely nodded her and released so sigh and then pointed over her shoulder.
"You two can study in the downstairs study and-."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Charles said finally speaking up, he sent Troy a look before focusing his full attention on Whitney who was now giving him her full attention. Charles crossed his arms over his chest and sent a look over at Taylor before speaking. "I just don't think that-."
"We promise not to go through your personal stuff, especially any papers lying around unless their about World War II." Troy stated with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. Charles stared Troy down for a moment before shaking his head.
"Boy I don't need your jokes."
"Charles!" Whitney exclaimed in shock as she looked over at him.
"Boy?" Troy spat out angrily as he looked over at Charles who just glared at him for a moment before shaking his head.
"Just giving you a little history lesson, that's what your people used to say to my people." Charles snapped out as he quickly dismissed Troy and looked over at Whitney. "I don't think they should be in some inclosed space not alone at least."
"Then we can go to the dinning room." Taylor said as she reached out and placed a hand on Troy's arm. She could literally feel Troy's rage coming off of him. She almost jumped out of her skin when Charles sent her a harsh look before shaking his head.
"How about in the living room or?"
"We don't need any distractions," Troy replied coolly, dismissing Charles, Troy looked over at Whitney. "I think the dinning room will be just fine, you can sit in there if you want." he suggested, Whitney eyed their bags and the shook her head.
"No you two go right on ahead." Troy shifted his gaze towards Charles who looked like he wanted to say something else but didn't. Instead he sent Troy one last glare and then followed out behind Whitney. Releasing a sigh, Troy sagged a bit and looked at Taylor.
"Well, I can see already that he's a bastard and the both of us haven't even had a proper conversation yet." Taylor looked up at him and slowly shook her head, she didn't like the way Troy had egged Charles on. The look in Charles' eyes seemed to promise that Troy would regret messing with him. Instead of saying something, Taylor turned and headed towards the dinning room with Troy on her heels. As they entered the room, that Whitney had told him to study in, Troy sat down the bags and reached out for her arm. Taylor paused and turned to look at him, moving closer to her Troy lowered his voice and spoke up quickly.
"Taylor what's wrong?" he asked softly, Taylor turned to face him fully and glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Charles or her mother had ventured back after them. After making sure the coast was clear she looked up at Troy and released a soft sigh.
"I didn't like that you were egging Charles on like that out there." Troy furrowed his brow together and slowly shook his head.
"I wasn't egging him on. I was just talking," he paused for a minute and reached back down to pick up their bags and walked the rest of the way to the table. "I don't like the way he looked at you." he admitted softly. "I don't know what it was," he paused and shook his head. "Or maybe I just don't want to see what it is that I saw in his eyes out there but he really puts me on edge especially when it comes to you."
"And he puts me on edge with the way he was looking at you." Taylor admitted as she looked at Troy. "Now let's just forget about it and study." Troy just nodded his head and began to get their books out. They studied for a little over an hour, until Troy sighed and pushed himself away from the table. Lifting her eyes up from her book, Taylor looked over at Troy. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." he replied with a shake of his head as he released a tired sigh, "Unless you wanna count the fact that my head is killing me at the moment." he replied with a small smile. Taylor just looked at him before pushing her chair back. Troy followed her movements with his eyes and sighed as he saw her pushing herself up from the table.
"Where you going?" Troy asked.
"I'm going to get you some Advil or something." Taylor replied as she looked back over at him. "I've never seen you like this before- what I mean is, you've never gotten a headache before." she said with a sigh.
"That's cause I've been over here grinding the hell out of my teeth." Troy admitted as he rolled his teeth, "However a Advil does sound pretty good right about now so let's go."
"You don't have too."
"Please, I have too-especially with the likes of him running around this house." Troy said with a shake of his head as he too stood up from the table and stretched his arms out above his head. Taylor looked over at him and shyly looked away when she noticed she could see his abs peeking out beneath his shirt. Troy lowered his arms and looked over at her before smiling.
"Sorry about that."
"Yeah right." she murmured as she turned on her heel and headed out of the dinning room with Troy jogging to keep up with her while laughing quietly to himself. As they entered the kitchen, Taylor immediately walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a glass for Troy to drink some water before searching around for some Advil, unfortunately she couldn't find any in the kitchen. Turning around, she looked over at Troy and released a sigh.
"I can't find any in here." Troy massaged his temple while shrugging his shoulders.
"That's fine."
"No, I'll go and get it." she replied with a sigh as she headed down the hall, the bathroom was only a few steps away and she was pretty sure that there had to be Advil in the downstairs bathroom, her mother spent far to much time bent over a toilet throwing up after a hard night of partying and drinking. "I'll just be a moment." she called as she headed down the hall, she took a quick turn and opened the bathroom door and stepped inside heading over to the medicine cabinet just as her hand settled
"So are you and that boy together?" Jerking around, she froze as she saw Charles standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, he looked at her with cold dark eyes. Taylor turned and pressed herself against the sink while looking at Charles who seemed to get quite angry at her lack of words. "I asked you," he paused and lowered his voice as he realized he was yelling. "I asked you a question."
"If we're together why does that have anything to do with you?" she asked and flinched as Charles bristled at her comments. He glared at her and took another step into the room and looked her directly in her eyes.
"Because you're mine." he snapped out on a whispered. "Mine to do with as I please, if you don't believe me ask your mother." he finished his statement with a smile as he looked at her, "I don't want you messing around with that boy not now, not ever and-."
"Taylor!" Charles paused at Troy's voice and stepped back from her, he looked down the hall and saw the boy slowly walking down the hall. "Just remembered what I said." stepping out fully into the hallway he looked towards Troy and sent him a grim look.
"I hope you weren't planning a little secret with Taylor in the downstairs bathroom," he moved towards the boy with a frown. "That would be completely classless." Troy eyeballed him as Charles roughly pushed by him and disappeared down the hall. Troy turned back around and looked at Taylor who was peeking out of the restroom, her face holding a look of utter shock. Moving quickly he was by her side in the blink of an eye.
"What did he say to you?"
"I'll play it for you later." she whispered as she shoved the Advil bottle into his hand, "Come on let's go back to the dinning room before he comes back down here." Troy looked up at her in surprise for a moment before leaning closer towards her.
"Alright but did you really get him on tape?"
"Oh yeah, it's been running since I got up from the table." she whispered with a smile as she patted him on the chest. "Oh yeah, I got him good." she replied with a wide smirk as she looked at up him. Troy slowly nodded his head and then turned and led Taylor back towards the dinning room wondering the whole time what Charles said to Taylor. He certainly hoped it was good enough to get her out of the house. That was all he wanted besides an excuse to beat the living crap out of Charles for ever putting his hands on her.
A/N: I don't know if this is of interest to anyone but I will be posting a Mercedes (Glee) fanfic either today or next week so please go and check it out and tell me what you think.
Baby S