For the Love of - /shot

Ah - maybe he should just - no, no. This wasn't a good idea at all. What if she laughed at him? Or slammed the door on his face? If there were other people around; there were so many things that could happen that would leave him so embarassed, then Taylor would be left sorry that he had even bothered to try too...

No, no. He stopped his worrysome train of thought. She wasn't like that. In the past few weeks they had gotten a bit closer, he had learned she wasn't the type to throw someone out in the cold... But then still, why on earth was he so nervous? Well, it's not like it was too out of the norm for him to be rather skittish and shy - but this was something else. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

His breath was quick, his palms were sweaty, and there was a sharp, tightening feeling on his chest. "It's no big deal, really it's not... Just a small gift for a friend. You know, just to be nice... - Um, yeah... That's it." Taylor cracked a crooked, half-hearted smile, staring down at the small present in his hands. A beautiful, soft and vibrantly colored red rose. He had gone to hell and back trying to get this for her and he really did hope that she'd like it. It wasn't much, but maybe it'd be enough to make her smile...? That'd be nice. She had a pretty smile.

Wait.
No.
Dammit.

Just a gift for a friend, right?
He took a deep, shaky breath and held it in, knocking lightly and fervently on Wisteria's door - he realized this was his last chance to turn back, and was almost tempted to flee, but he felt glued to the ground.

Wisteria absolutely loved love. Call her a hopeless romantic, but she just loved all of those hearts, and songs, the color red and pink -- even if it did clash horribly with her fiery hair. Needless to say Valentines day was one of her favorite holidays, so there was no surprise that she was sporting an oversized pink sweater and her loose braid was seccured with a heart-patterned ribbon.

Actually, she didn't even mind being alone on Valentines day. She had a day planned out in her mind, you see the small, curtained, window looked out onto the courtyard. Thus giving her the perfect view for a day of drawing couples that were in love. Sure it was creepy, but Wisteria could care less, she had enough self confidence to not cower down when people saw her watching them hold hands and kiss. Sure, she would love to experience that herself but that wasn't going to happen any time--

Er--

Was that a knock on her door? Wist, put down her pink coloured pencil and listened again. She could hear the faint trace of nervous breathing and figured that her room mate had once again left their key and quite frankly, had it been Valentines day she probably would be a little ticked-- I mean, it happened often-- but now she was on cloud-9. Floating to put on her pink heart-patterned slippers, she shuffled over to the door and struggled to unlock it.

And then, before her unsuspecting eyes she becam face-to-face with Taylor. With the rose. With this sweet, romantic gesture and she was blown away. Quickly embarressed by the fact she was in legging and slippers out of all things, and here he was with a rose. She smiled wide at him and then taking the rose, she practically threw her arms around him. He was so sweet and such a great guy. "I can' believe you did dis fer me--" Wist told him, pulling away to give him a wide smile and pulled the rose up to her nose.

He had been too caught up in his own thoughts to notice her coming to the door. Aha, maybe she wasn't here? Perhaps he should come back later? Um - yeah, that seemed like a good idea. This was kinda stupid anyways. She probably didn't want to seem him right now. Not on Valentine's Day. Or, at least that's what he had thought. It had never particularly been his favorite holiday.

When he heard the lock struggling, the young man nearly jumped and his eyes widenened almost as much in surprise as she must have been. "Oh, h-hey Wist. I was just... Roses are nice - and I thought of you and - no, that's not right - and ah!!!" He tried to hold back a yelp as she threw herself at him. He wasn't exactly what to do or say, so he stayed still like a statue; though internally, he was freaking out. It caught him off guard, but he felt elated at the same time, her reaction so much better than what he could've hoped for.

"Um, yeah." His face was an unmistakable scarlet as he sheepishly stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down, a goofy grin on his face. "Happy Valentine's Day." Taylor let out a little cough. This hadn't exactly been his plan before, but since things were starting off on such a wonderful foot. "Wist, I was wondering if you'd want to kinda be my... Valentine-person... maybe?"

He scratched the back of his ear, trying to look casual and failing miserably. "You look real nice, by the way..." The words were muttered as he mustered up the courage to catch her eye. And her slippers, and the adorable ribbon in her hair.

Wisteria wasn't often at a loss for words, but she was --and even though it was selfish-- she was glad Taylor was too. She found it sweet how he was so gental with his words, almost like he carefully tried to string together words and she found it even sweeter how his attempts often seemed to fail him. It only made her hug him a little tighter, leaving very little space between them. Sure he was like hugging a tree (c;), but Wisteria didn't mind. Afterall, she was pushing the boundaries the closer she got to him.

She took note of his red face and grinned a bit wider, her eyes searching his features to make sure he wasn't miserable. He didn't seem miserable to her, he just seemed nervous and Wisteria like that. "'appy Valentines Day," She repeated to him quietly, staring up at him in attempt to make him meet her eye. It was all she could manage to say before he knocked her off her feet again.

"Oh Taylor..." She said breathlessly, staring back up at him to make sure he wasn't pulling her leg. "Of course! I'd love to!" She reached out to hug him again, only this time more meaningful and heartfelt. She rested her head on his shoulder, hoping he couldn't feel her cheeks heat up.

And when she pulled away, she had to hold herself back from hugging him again. She didn't care if he tensed up again, he was being so sweet to her and honestly deserved more than jusrt breif hugs. "T'ank yeh'! I--," And she laughed as she looked down at her fluffy slippers. "I mean it does'n scream beauteh queen, but tis comfeh!"

"Yeh' look loveleh too!" She told him, bouncing slightly on her heels, before pushing the door open and looking back at him. "Please, come in~"

The second time around, when the hug seemed much more controlled and relax, Taylor found himself easing slightly into her embrace; bringing his hands up and returning the hug gently; it wasn't really something he was used to, but it was something he figured he should sooner or later. It was true he moved up to complete light-headedness - and was he even remembering to breathe right now? - but it was really nice. And the young man realized he was perfectly content staying like that for a long time... Wrapped around each other, her head digging into his shoulder. However, the moment came and passed fairly quickly. He couldn't help but feel a tad disappointed.

Taylor smiled gently at the hot pink and black apparel, "No, it suits you just perfectly." The bright colors. The little white hearts. She completely owned it. Admittedly, he couldn't help but notice how the sweater did nothing well to hide her bust and the leggings held back none of her curves - hey, he was human to notice, but he instantly felt shamed when he did... Though how could he avoid it, every time she drew him in for a hug... Oh - she turned around. God, did she notice him looking? Was it possible for him to turn a brighter shade of red? Only heaven knew.

Still, there was a childish giddiness in the air that he found he loved. "Yeah, thanks..." He said and walked in, shutting the door behind him quietly - or was she going too? ... Oh no, was that rude? Getting nervous over nothing, He was afraid to move much anywhere after that, or to sit down. "I-I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Breathe in. Breathe out. Uhm. Wait. Was this a date, kinda sorta now? Should he try to hold her hand or something? Well, they weren't out walking, they were just alone in her room and - wait... ;A;
"I can't do this. I can't. I'm dead. I've died. I'm dead."
No, really. He forced himself to take a deep breath. This is why he came here. To spend his day with his friend, one of the nicest girls in school, and that's what he was going to do. Though he still wasn't exactly chill, he flashed Wist a warm smile anyways.

Wisteria couldn't help but grin into the hug as Taylor slowly eased into a slightly more relaxed stance. She knew, even though they had become really close over these past two months she still made him blush and freeze by only the slightest touch. She doubted it was due to trust, but more to the fact that she was a girl, a girl who was blessed in certain areas. Wisteria knew that Taylor had noticed, more to the fact she wasn't stupid, a blind person would've noticed, especially when these areas were often pushed against them.

With a swift grin she looked down at her outfit and twirled around, emphasizing Taylors point. While, at the same time, oblivious to the fact this probably didn't help Taylor's guilt when he had found himself checking out her assets. Oh well, when you got it, flaunt it.

Despite being oblivious to most things occuring around her, she could sense his tense movements and put a reassuring hand on his arm. Feeling that maybe that wasn't the right thing to do with his flighty moves, she moved it away and walked to the almost kitchen-like area. Setting the rose down on the faux-marble counter beside her she opened up a tall cabinet for an old glass vase she had brought from home. "Don' worry, yeh not interuptin' anyt'ing."

Only the vase was on the top shelf, two full heads taller than her and although she out stretched her arms and was on her tippie-toes, she just couldn't reach it. Not even a little luck could help her. After jumping and reaching, she finally tasted the bitter remains of defeat and turned to Taylor. "Would yeh' mind gettin' t'at fer me?" She asked him sheepishly gesturing to the crystal vase and then to the rose to her right. Something like that deserved to be kept and preserved.

Wisteria walked across the hard floors, hidden under a blanket of old, hotel-styled, carpet, to the mediterranian blue sofa a few steps away from the window. Taking a seat on a faded cushion, she grinned at Taylor and patted the seat beside her. "Dun' be shy! Make yehr self at home!"

Taylor just watched the ground awkwardly, still rather light-headed, and didn't pull himself out of it until he heard Wisteria call and ask him for his help. He was still a tad on the slow side, so he couldn't chuckle a bit when he noticed her jumping and reaching up desperately for something up on the top shelf. "You sure?" He called in a guarded, light tone. "I don't want to offend, but how'd you get it up there in the first place?" Whatever it was. The young man walked behind the counter and looked up, seeing the pretty, fragile vase. "No, problem - um..."

Really, it should've been a simple task. Reach up and get it. Not that complicated. No problem, right? Then again, this was Taylor we were talking about. He reached out and grabbed the vase with one hand and - ... he got it down from the shelf. Alright, maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. He turned the item in his hands, appreciating the details and all the hard work that must have gone into it. "This is real nice - and it's yours...?" He looked at the rose at the counter, then up at her. She was smiling at him, inviting him to the seat next to her. Taylor put on a sheepish smile, looking away and not watching what he was doing.

With the slip of his hand, the vase went flying out - a sudden panic ran through his body. Thankfully, it didn't go far, just crashing in the sink and creating a loud, unpleasant echo through the entire room. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Taylor immediately apologized and quickly scooped it back up. He looked for any cracks or chips. It looked alright. Lucky him. He let a deep sigh of relief and filled it with water, taking much more care this time around to set it gently on the counter. "Really..." He muttered, feeling rather badly now.

Taylor had Wisteria's complete trust, because not once had he given her any reason not to trust him. So she didn't think twice before asking for his help, because she knew he would help her-- or at least try. "Yeh'! I mean yeh dun have to." She reassured him, flashing him a half-smile that ended up turning into a laugh as he asked his next question. "Well, I do 'ave roommates yeh' know?" Wistie answered him, subconsiously watching his arm flex as he reached for the Victorian-vase.

See, while he had tooken note of her body shape Wisteria had found herself watching his muscles flex and forced herself to snap out of it. It was just weird, right? I mean, sure he was her Valentine, but in a best-guy-friend kind of way, right? I mean, there wasn't anything else there... right? And actually the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous they got, to the point where she was wondering if he liked her like that. Letting out a slightly visable shudder she forced herself back into the present, back into reality.

"Yeh', it's me great grandmums. I got it when I left, to remind meh' of home." Wisteria told him grinning, in a welcoming way. She forced her eyes to the empty cushion beside her, which was when she had becconned him toward her. The only thing was, this seemed to distract Taylor and then...

It was like in slow motion, and Wisteria couldn't help but let out a small, helpless yelp and jump up. Clatter, running over to Taylor, she approached the vase slowly. By then, Taylor had inspected it for any scratches and chips, but only after he found none did Wisteria find herself releasing a gasp of air she didn't even know she had taken. She watched helplessly as he filled it with water and the rose; and gently placed it on the counter. But she was still shaking as he appologized again, and she could only muster a sheepish nod. Right now, all Wisteria needed was to be comforted, but knowing Taylor, she figured he was to shy to ever comfort her with a hug or a gentle gesture-- although, she had been wrong before.

After finally regaining her composure and her color, Wisteria took her seat on the couch and beckoned him back with a warming smile. "I'm sorreh' for freakin' out." She told him quietly, looking over at him gently. And after that, she felt a few awkward seconds pass by and looked over at him, suddenly realizing she barely knew about him, what kind of friend was she? "Taylor, what was yehr' 'ome like?" Wisteria asked him slyly, softly pleading for him to open up to her again, but not pushing him to far. She liked to think she knew how to handle the shy boy, but like I said earlier, she had been wrong before.

Wisteria's reaction to the entire thing did not help one bit and he couldn't bring himself to look at her while she ran over, though she seemed to be okay after he had inspected it. Still, even when she sat down, he found himself avoiding her gaze. Though the vase was okay, the fact that he near broke something so precious to her - ... Well, to put it simply, he was internally banging his head against the counter. Stupid, Taylor. Stupid. Scolding himself inside, he promised not to touch anything else while he was here.
"Yeah, sorry..." Taylor called again, not feeling as if he could apologize enough. The young man took the rose he had given her and placed it in the vase before leaning back and stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. He started to walk behind the counter, trying to look casual, but his head was down and he was moving way too slow. "No, no. It's okay." He quickly said, "I'd probably freak out too, I mean -." He shook his head, telling himself to just stop talking. He was probably making it worse than it already was.

Biting his lip gently, he took a seat down next to her. It was almost comical, though, how he looked. His back was up straight, not touched the cough. Both feet firmly on the ground, his arms crossed in his lap as he tried to muster up the courage to even look at her again. Awkward really is the best word I can come up for it. "You're losing your accent." He tried to joke lightly, but it was something that he couldn't help but notice - or maybe he was just more used to the ring in her voice.

The red-head's question had caught him off guard. The look of surprise on his face made that obvious. "My home?" His blue-green gaze finally caught hers. Should he tell him? Well, he didn't see a problem with it - it's just, ... why did she want to know? "Oh, well - um. I grew up on the Jersey Shore." A bit of color returned to his face. It was something he didn't brag about - especially since how the media made it look like some outlawish land of endless partying and drinking and fighting... Nothing at all like Taylor. "We didn't like on the beach, but we lived pretty close. My dad is a mechanic, so I used to help him out a lot... And then you could go surfing - that was fun too..." Without any specific questions, he had no idea what to really say.

He blinked, noticing that she still looked kinda shaken. Maybe he should do something more than apologize a million times? She was obviously more of a contact-kinda person, so... A hug or something? He started to move his hand twords her, but got nerves and quickly retreated to his stiff position.

It was the gental way the he had handled the situation that had left Wisteria's heart giving a soft pang of some strange feeling she never had felt before. She had never had anyone, much less a boy, care so intimitely about her stuff and feelings. Wisteria couldn't help but feed off of his guilty energy and her insides began to tingle with guilt herself. Only not in the same way as him, she felt guilt for making him feel so poorly, in fact, she almost wanted to through the vase on the floor and call it quits. But, it was a family heirloom and she wouldn't go that far.

Tilting her head sideways, she watched as he made his way over to the couch. But as he sat down, his rigid stance was about to send her into a frenzy of giggles, but she had already embarrassed him enough and tried to lighten the mood by dramatically going along with his joke. "I know, it's like totally- rad... Dawg." She said, mimicking her best attempt of a gangster American she had seen briefly on TV. But just in case that didn't work, she tucked her legs up near her chest and turned so that she was semi-facing Taylor. Stretching of a fuzzy, slipper covered toe and gently nudging him on his arm. Hopefully he didn't have some foot-phobia.

As her friend informed her of his home she nodded every now and them, generally interested and completely unbiased on the whole "Jersey Shore" thing that Taylor was apparently wary about. In fact, growing up in the country side, it wasn't often she could sit down and enjoy TV, because there was no time. Besides, when she did have the time she wouldn't dare spend it on some silly American TV show. "T'ats cool! I wish I knew 'ow to surf, grow in' up in t'e country side yeh don' usually go to t'e beach." Wisteria told him, a slight edge of jealousy could be detected too. "Was it crowed on t'e beach? We're yeh' ever loneleh'?" Okay, so she wasn't asking the easy questions, but she figured by now, it would be okay to bring up their families, of their homes.

Wisteria was in fact a person that expressed her emotions through physical body language. And if her shaking hands and flighty eyes didn't scream shaken up, than nothing did. Only when Taylor looked like he was getting closer she couldn't help but inwardly smile. But, suddenly he had stopped moving and was like he had seen a ghost and she felt almost disappointed, yet quickly snapped herself out of it. They were just friends after all.

For a few moments, all Taylor could do was stare and blink briefly at her; that is, before the corner of his mouth twitched into a smile and he couldn't help himself anymore - grinning and letting out a hard bit of laughter. "That was just..." He tried to get out, bending over and covering his face. He didn't want to laugh in case that he embarrassed her, but trying to stop it was just made it all worse. That was about as bad as the time he had tried to intimidate her Irish accent - and he couldn't understand why he found it so funny. "Uhm... That was really nice.." He forced himself to try to calm down, snapping back into it when he saw her nudge him with her little pink booties.

Taking in a deep breath, and sadly having to wipe a comical tear out of his eye, Taylor finally relaxed a bit and leaned back on the couch. "Er.. Yeah... I love surfing. I used to do it a lot." He explained, "Where I lived, there were people on the beach... but not too many. Just a few little kids or people selling rice necklaces... Walking their dogs... It wasn't never that busy. Except for the boardwalk. There, it was a packed carnival every night." He picked up the jealousy in her tone and was a bit confused. He lived on a small island, right? She must have gone there sometimes. He shook his head, trying not to think too hard into it. "And, not really. I always had my big sister, until she moved again... I didn't have much friends, but it's alright. I'm used to being alone." He smiled and shrugged. Figures, with his shy, anti-social demeanor that things wouldn't have been too much different there from the academy.

"What about you?" He asked, quickly throwing the subject on her. He gazed from the side at her again and noticed her body was still trembling, even if she had a smile on her face and a light tone in her voice. There was still something wrong with her. Taylor felt instantly guilty again - and he really did want to make it better. The young man held his breath this time and moved his hand again until his fingers lightly grazed hers. He near flinched, feeling a circuit of strange, cold sparks from the contact.