"Okay, so details," Anna said sitting down next to Taylor at a table in the food court of the mall.
"Details about what?"
"Do not play dumb with me Taylor. I know you had a date with Ryan last night and I want to know what happened."
"Is that why you wanted to have lunch? I thought we were here so you could gross me out about your plans for Seth and the empty house he has tonight. By the way, I am not going lingerie shopping with you."
"I know. But since we're here and we have some time, I'd like some details to make up for the fact that you won't help me pick out something to try and knock Cohen's socks off."
"Ew," Taylor made a face. "Fine, I will give you some details just please stop with that talk about you and Seth and-" Taylor couldn't finish her sentence. "I feel sick just thinking about it."
"You've never thought about Seth in that way? Not once in all the time you've known him?"
"No. For always and forever, Seth is just my best friend. Not to mention, he's been like my brother for years, so getting involved with him romantically at this point, would kind of be like incest and that is just so not a turn on for me."
"I wonder," Anna mused with a smile.
"You wonder what?"
"I wonder if Ryan had grown up here with you and Seth and you'd known him from the time you all were kids if you'd feel the same way about him that you do Seth."
"I don't know. It's an interesting theory."
"You know Seth is worried about you."
Taylor sighed as the two girls got up from their table, "Yes, I know. But he doesn't have to be. Ryan's not the type of guy to push and I'm not going to just hop into bed with a guy I've only really known for about two months and have had exactly three dates with."
"Which brings us back around to the details I want of your most recent date."
"Okay. You win. I will tell you. We had dinner in the pool house made by me and my own two hands. We talked."
"About?"
"I gave him some family history when I was explaining why I wasn't a disaster in the kitchen like so many of the women in Newport."
"Oh. Okay, then what happened," Anna asked as the girls walked the halls of the mall.
"Well, like I said, we talked, we ate, and after dinner we decided not to rush things and then I asked him if he was ever going to kiss me or if I had to keep kissing him."
"And?"
"He kissed me," Taylor smiled.
"And," Anna encouraged her to continue.
"It was a really good kiss," Taylor smiled.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I mean it wasn't like on New Year's, where it quick and a tradition and it wasn't like in Santa Monica-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Anna said stopping and turning to Taylor. "You kissed Ryan in Santa Monica? Where was I?"
"About a foot away."
"What?"
Taylor shook her head, "Don't feel bad, you were sleeping at the time."
"What? You and Ryan kissed in bed?"
"You and Seth sound way to much alike," Taylor said. "It wasn't a dirty, sex thing. It was just a kiss goodnight."
"And?"
"It was nice."
"Just nice?"
"Okay, it was a little more than nice," Taylor admitted.
"And last night's kiss?"
"One word."
"And that word is?"
"Damn," Taylor said with feeling.
"Hmm. Okay," Anna nodded. "Any other plans?"
"We're going to a movie while you and Seth do whatever it is you're going to do tonight in a completely empty house."
Anna smiled, "Good. That way Seth and I can be loud if we have to."
"Ew!"
OCOCOCOCOCOC
"Hey man," Ryan said when Seth entered the pool house. "There's some cupcakes left over from last night in the fridge if you're interested." Ryan was currently on his bed reading a magazine.
"Maybe later," Seth said, taking a seat in the armchair. "I think we should talk."
"About," Ryan laid his magazine aside and sat up a little more.
"You and Taylor."
Ryan rolled his eyes, "Seth, we're keeping things quiet so that Marissa doesn't realize that we've started to date."
"While I'm glad to hear that, I'm not here about that."
"So, why are you here?"
"This isn't the most comfortable of subjects for me, but I think we should talk about your intentions toward Taylor."
"My intentions? Seth, we're fifteen. It's not like we're gonna run off and get married or something."
"Thank God for small favors," Seth mumbled under his breath.
"I heard that."
"Anyway, that's not what I'm talking about either."
"So, what are you talking about?"
"You and Taylor and s- um," Seth looked vaguely nauseous. "I want to know what you and Taylor are planning to do with regards to, uh," Seth looked at Ryan. "You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?"
"Yes. Consider it your penance for butting in where you don't belong."
"Fine. Are you and Taylor planning to have sex anytime soon? There are you happy? I'm probably going to have nightmares for a month after this," Seth looked disgusted at the thoughts that were currently dancing around in his head.
Ryan rolled his eyes, "Seth, as you're so fond of telling me, Taylor is your best friend. You should know her well enough to know that she's not the type of girl who is going to just jump into bed with a guy she's been on exactly three dates with. Then there's me. You should know me well enough by now to know that I would not force a girl into anything she didn't want to do or didn't feel a hundred percent comfortable doing."
Seth put his hands up in a 'forgive me' gesture, "I know. It's just Taylor doesn't have a lot of experience and I know you do if what I saw with Marissa and hear about with Theresa are any indication."
"Seth," Ryan gave him a look.
"I just want you to be careful with her, okay? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you and she are together, I do. It's a little weird but I think you two will be good for each other."
"Thanks."
"I just wish you had realized you liked her before you went anywhere near Marissa."
"Me too. But I'm not going to let Marissa hurt her, okay? If I have to, I will go to Sandy about the rohypnol."
"You think he'd believe you?"
"He may tolerate Jimmy due to his past relationship with Kirsten, but he hates Julie and, as we're all fond of pointing out, Marissa is Julie all over again, along with some Jimmy mixed in for good measure, and for some reason I could so see Julie drugging someone she perceived as the enemy and I think he could too. So, yeah, I think he'd believe me."
"I just wish we had something other than our 'Marissa is evil' theory to back us up," Seth said.
"Me too," Ryan said. "Hey, in the interest of honesty, I have a date with Taylor tonight."
"Really? I guess that's a good thing considering Anna's coming over tonight and the 'rents won't be around."
"Do you need the sex talk? I mean you and Anna have been on more dates than Taylor and I have."
"Anna and I are not planning on having sex tonight."
"Empty house. Two teenagers. Lots of hormones. Anything could happen," Ryan grinned.
"It's not going to happen tonight. I'm not giving into hormones just to get rid of my virginity."
"Good for you," Ryan said quietly, thinking of the fact that Seth's description was pretty much how and why he'd lost his virginity. "So, what are you and Anna going to do tonight?"
"Watch a movie," Seth shrugged as he got up and went to the fridge. He found the cupcakes and took one for himself and one for Ryan before he walked back over, "What about you and Taylor?"
Ryan took the offered treat with a nod of thanks, "We're going to a movie, too. I think she said something about that Jack Nicholson movie."
Seth raised an eyebrow as he sat back down, "Something's Gotta Give? She's taking you to a chick flick?"
"It's not a chick flick," Ryan protested. I don't believe that Nicholson would ever do a chick flick."
"He's getting old, Ryan. There aren't a lot of choices for him anymore."
"It's not a chick flick," Ryan said firmly.
"Okay, whatever you say."
OCOCOCOCOCOC
"I am really sorry," Taylor apologized as she drove them home. "I didn't think Nicholson would do something so schmaltzy."
Ryan just looked at her, "You do realize that Seth is going to rag on me for weeks for this, right?"
"You can pick the next movie. We'll go see what ever blow 'em up, shoot 'em up, the hero dies in this one, movie you want, I promise. Or if gunplay and bombs aren't your thing, we will go see something so scary, I won't be able to sleep for three weeks," Taylor promised with a small smile.
Ryan raised an eyebrow at her, "You have experience with the last part of that?"
"Seth made me watch all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and all the Friday the 13th movies one Halloween. I don't think I slept through the night until Thanksgiving."
"Nice."
"Hey, in my defense, we were only ten at the time," Taylor parked her car in the driveway. She took a look around them, "Sandy and Kirsten still aren't home."
"Anna's still here though," Ryan pointed to the car next to them.
"So, I guess me crashing in Seth's room tonight isn't going to happen," Taylor frowned a little.
"You don't want to go home?"
Taylor rolled her eyes, "Veronica's making her monthly visit."
"Monthly visit?"
"Yeah. She shows up once a month so Neil and I can't claim abandonment. It's kind of like getting your period only the visit from Veronica's more painful."
"Sounds fun."
"Brooke's parents pull the same thing. We're used to it."
"Oh. Well, you can crash in my room if you want," Ryan said quietly.
"Um, huh. Ryan, I appreciate the offer but," Taylor started.
Ryan interrupted, sensing why she was hesitating, "Not like that. I mean, like in Santa Monica. You on one side of the bed, me on the other."
"And never the twain shall meet," she asked, smiling.
"Not unless you want it to. I told you, Taylor. I'm not pushing."
Taylor looked at him for a moment before she leaned over, putting her right arm around Ryan's neck and her left hand on his shoulder, and kissed him. For his part Ryan cupped the left side of her face as he kissed her back.
When the kiss broke, she smiled at him, "Do you have something I can wear to bed?"
OCOCOCOCOCOC
Taylor pulled her hair back as she left the bathroom with a yawn. It was nearly midnight and she and Ryan had spent the last couple of hours talking and playing video games. Not the wildest way for two teenagers to end a date, she knew, but fun and comfortable for two people who were just beginning a relationship, especially since one of them wasn't the most experienced person in the world.
Ryan was sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her. She smiled and quietly got on the bed, moving to kneel behind him and slide an arm around him from behind to rest lightly on his chest while her chin rested on his shoulder.
"Hi," she said into his ear.
She felt rather than saw his smile when his head tilted back and turned slightly towards her, "Hi. Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks for the shirt."
"No problem."
"What are you doing?"
He held up his cell, "Seth texted me. He saw your car and was wondering where you were."
"Text him back and tell him I'm in your bed for the night," Taylor smiled. "And just to make him really crazy, let's lock the door."
"You're bad," Ryan smiled.
"What can I say? I just feel like torturing Seth a little."
"Me too. Go lock the door."
Taylor giggled as she got off of Ryan's bed and locked the door, "All set."
Ryan hit a button on his phone and nodded, "Me too."
"Turn it off."
"What?"
"The phone," Taylor said. "Turn it off. That way if Seth decides to call while outside the door, he won't hear it and he'll think we turned it off for a reason.
"Driving him crazier," Ryan nodded as he turned off his phone and set it aside. Then he smiled at Taylor, "I had a good time tonight."
Taylor smiled back at him before she sat down next to him, "So did I."
Ryan kissed her gently. "We should go to sleep."
"Yeah," Taylor said quietly before she kissed him again. Then she turned so she was kneeling on the bed and knee walked her way over to the side of the bed she'd be taking up for the night. She got under the covers as Ryan turned off the lamp and did the same.
"Fair warning?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm a cover hog."
"I know. It's okay, though. If I get cold, I have you to keep me warm."
Taylor was suddenly very glad for the dark. It helped hide the blush that spread across her face at Ryan's words.
Okay, I love Something's Gotta Give. I just don't see it as a type of movie Ryan would've liked. I love the replies I've been getting. Obsessed, I just saw that you posted and am on my way to read. Schlaubi, sorry I didn't thank you for your correction on my German. Blame AltaVista's translation skills. Okay, reply peoples.