Amount of words: 1 934

Author's Note: I decided to update since it's my birthday :D This is just a short filler chapter about Tayla, Larissa's best friend from South Africa.

I decided to update since it's my birthday :P

Previously on If You Could See Me Now: "Dude, what the hell?"

My whole body froze. I knew that voice.

"You haven't been gone for even a month and you're already drunk!" Tayla laughed.

Shit.

Chapter Six
Tayla's POV

The last two and a half weeks without my best friend Larissa had been hell. You see, Larissa was the one person who kept me sane all these years with the crap going on in my life. She was there for me when my parents divorced, when my mom gave me hell… she was there for everything, until then she suddenly wasn't. She left without as much as a goodbye. I had to find out through friggen Gabriel Louw (my stupid ex, who just also happened to me my other best friend) of all people!

It hurt, I had to admit. Larissa didn't even show up at either of my parties, and she'd promised to come. And when I'd stormed to the Nieuwoudt family home to demand to see Larissa, her moody brother Nico had told me to go do something not very nice. Luckily Mr Nieuwoudt was there, and he'd calmly told me that Larissa moved far away.

Like, what the hell? She moved overseas, friggen overnight? What was up with that? It sounded really dodgy to me.

So I phoned her, only to get really upset.

I'd waited anxiously for her to pick up.

"Hello, this is Larissa?"

It had been amazing to hear her voice, but instead of being nice, I was angry. "Where in the name of all that is holy are you?!" I demanded into the phone.

I could practically hear her wince all the way from where ever the Hell she lived. "Tayla…"

I cut her off. "Don't Tayla me! Do you know how worried we all are? And Gabriel won't even talk to me anymore! He just said you weren't ever going to come back! Is that true? Aren't we ever going to see you again? This is BS, Larissa, and you know that! I am your best friend, you can't just abandon me! This isn't how it works. You're practically my sister, and family doesn't abandon each other." My voice shook. I was really upset with my so called best friend, and I wanted her to hurt, too.

"I had to leave," she said softly, slowly. "I couldn't stay there anymore."

I could hear her pain over the distance, but I was too angry to care. She abandoned me, even with everything going on in my life. So instead of being the nice, understanding person I usually was, I turned into a bitch. "No, you were just selfish. If you wanted to get away from your family, all you had to do was ask me and you could've moved into our house immediately. But no, you just had to run away to who knows where? You always run away from your problems, Larissa. You need to grow up and get some balls."

I hung up immediately after that. I'd then proceeded to cry my eyes out for the next two hours, which was how my older brother Gareth found me.

After explaining everything to him, he seemed deep in thought. "Go to her, then," he said simply.

My mouth gaped open. "How am I supposed to do that?" I asked. "I don't know where she lives, nor do I have enough money!"

He smiled gently at me and said, "I know where she lives. Remember Janco Ebersohn? He text me and told me he flew to Mystic Falls, Virginia with your blonde friend. Larissa is there, Tay, and that's where you and I are headed first thing tomorrow."

And that's how I ended up in Mystic Falls two days later, on Friday night. I was dead tired but determined to find my best friend.

"We need sleep," moaned Gareth. "It's 3am, for goodness sake!"

"I don't care, Gareth!" I snapped. "I need to find her, and I need to find her now."

We stumbled into a place called The Grill, and I sank down gratefully at a table. "I'm tired," I grumbled. "And hungry."

"I'll get you something," my brother replied and went to the bar. He returned with a strong coffee and a plate of slap chips. "Janco's on his way," Gareth said.

I nodded and munched on the plate of slap chips happily. [Slap chips are French fries]. Footsteps approached our table and I looked up to meet the eyes of Janco. "My favourite dude!" I yelled and threw my arms around him. I haven't seen him in years.

He laughed and stumbled as he caught me. "Nice to see you too, Tayla." His breath smelled strongly of alcohol. He looked me up and down and said. "Aw, Little Tayla's all grown up now."

I playfully hit him. "So, tell me where I can find my best friend," I demanded.

"Bossy little thing, isn't she?" Janco stage whispered to Gareth, who laughingly agreed. I huffed and stuck out my tongue at them.

"Wow, so mature," Gareth said mockingly. At my glare he quickly shut up.

"Larissa just left twenty minutes ago, actually," Janco said casually.

My mouth dropped open. "What? It's after 3am!" I yelled, causing the few drunks in the Grill to glare at us.

"She came to have fun with some friends," Janco said, somewhat defensively. "She deserves to enjoy herself."

I fumed but nodded mutely. "Where does she live?"

Janco mumbled the address. He stopped me on my way out and handed me a camera. I recognized it as the one Gabriel had bought her all those years ago. "Please give this to her, and tell her I'm sorry for sending the wrath of Tayla to her."

I glared and stormed to Gareth's rental. We drove around until we finally found the house. From the outside it was huge and modern, and I could practically feel myself drool. Talk about wealthy people! Which I actually found strange, since back home the Nieuwoudt family wasn't really well off.

I climbed out of the car and walked to the front door. "I won't be long," I called over my shoulder to Gareth. I tested the front door and was surprised to find it unlocked. I shrugged and entered the house as softly as I could. It was dark inside and I carefully made my way around the house. I froze when I heard someone come downstairs. I watched as the dark figure entered a room to my left and the light got switched on. I heard a groan and then a dull thud. Alarmed, I made my way to the room. It was a kitchen. And on the ground was the blonde girl I'd been looking for.

"Dude, what the hell?" I asked, concerned.

I noticed her body tense up.

"You haven't been gone for even a month and you're already drunk!" I laughed. Ah, this was hilarious. Larissa wasn't exactly someone who enjoyed drinking, but sometimes she did to have a little fun. All my fault, really.

Larissa groaned from the ground. "Shhh," she hissed. "My head, genius."

Oh right. "Sorry," I mumbled. I left the kitchen and found my way to the downstairs bathroom. I raided the cupboards and ventured back to the kitchen. I filled a glass with some water and handed it to my friend.

"Drink this," I told her. She accepted the pills and water without hesitation.

"Thanks," she mumbled, looking everywhere but at me.

I took the time to study her. Her long blonde curls were all over the place, giving her a wild look. The makeup around her eyes was smudged, as was her lip gloss. She looked terrible. Larissa was dressed in only a t-shirt and a pair of Nico's boxers. "You look horrible," I told her bluntly.

She snorted. "Always one with the compliments," she muttered. She shakily stood up and took a seat at the little table.

I copied her movements and sat down opposite her. I handed her the camera Janco gave me and she gave me a grateful smile.

Larissa's tired, stormy-gray eyes met mine. "What are you doing here, Tayla? It's not that I don't want you here or anything, I'm just curious."

I shrugged and played with my fingers. "I missed you, 'Ris. I worried about you every minute of every day, wondering where you were and if you were okay," I said softly.

Her eyes filled with regret. "I'm so sorry, Tayla. I did want to leave, that's true…but I didn't want to leave you or anybody else behind."

"Then why did you?" I asked, genuinely curious. All she had to do was tell me and my brother and I would've taken her in.

Larissa grimaced. "It's…complicated," she muttered. "Look, I'm still a little bit drunk and in no mood to talk about depressing shit. Can we talk about it later? Like, tomorrow or something?"

I nodded. "Sure," I said gently. I perked up and asked. "What were you up to all night?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Janco told me you were at The Grill until way after 2am," I replied.

A fire suddenly lit up in her blue-gray eyes. "Janco told you where I lived?" her voice was calm, scary calm.

Crap that slipped out. "Um, yes?" it sounded more like a question. I expected her to be mad, but instead Larissa just groaned.

"Some friend he is, to send someone to my house at…wait, what time is it?"

I laughed and said helpfully, "Half past three in the morning."

She nodded. "Right. What kind of friend sends someone to my house at half past three in the morning?"

I shrugged and simply said, "Janco, no one else."

Larissa rolled her eyes. "I'm really sorry for leaving, especially without saying goodbye. But did you at least get your presents?"

I grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "I loved the books, thanks!" I replied. "Though some of it... it's unsettling."

Larissa winced sympathetically. "Yeah… So listen, where are you staying? And better yet, how did you get to Mystic Falls?"

I gave the blonde a look and she snorted. "Gareth paid, didn't he? Gosh, you have the best brother in the world."

"Hey, your brother isn't that bad."

"Nico?" she asked. "Yeah, we haven't even talked since I moved."

I frowned. That was so unlike Nico. "He'll come around," I promised.

Larissa didn't look convinced.

My phone buzzed with a text from my brother. Frowning, I told the blonde, "I really need to go now. Gareth's tired. But I'll see you later, okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess. It was good to see you again, Tayla. I missed you."

I smiled sadly and gave her a tight hug. "Sleep tight," I told her and left the house.

When I climbed into the car, Gareth mumbled, "Finally." We sped off in search of a hotel.

The one we stopped at was called The Mystic Hotel. "So flipping original," I told Gareth as we grabbed our bags and made our way inside. I left the talking to Gareth, and instead just stared blankly into the distance.

I was glad to see my best friend again. Even though I'd been scarily angry with her, she was still the girl who's been there for me practically our whole lives. Larissa was the most loyal friend a girl could ask for.

Gareth tugged on my arm and led me to an elevator. We stood inside until we reached our floor, and we entered the room. It was nicely decorated, but I didn't really care for the details. I plopped down on the first bed I reached and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Jet lag was a bitch.

~IYCSMN~IYCSMN~

Thanks for my lovely beta Real Emma Gray (who is amazing, btw), and thanks for all the favourites and follows :D