6

"I'm open! I'm open!" Laurens shots as he runs closer to Dave, his chest heaves and sweat prickles down his face. "Come on Dave!" But the brunette doesn't pass, he keeps dribbling the ball and tries to make as many fake as many moves as he can. He's good but he has no sense of sportsmanship. "Damnit," Laurens mumbles as his teammate is tackled on the ground and the ball is successfully stolen. They have a go at it for a few minutes before the referee blows the whistle and signals the end of the game. 1-1.

Taylor sat on the bleachers with Jas and Romee, both were cheering their boyfriends on. The lonesome brunette tried to look interested and cheer on for their school but it was a bad game. Inaccurate passes, more fouls than shots attempted, and there was the lack of sportsmanship.

The blonde was out of her seat the second the game ended, she stood close-by to the front of the bleachers. Taylor watches her closely with a wide and proud smile on her face, it was so infectious. She felt the corners of her mouth tug up at the sight of her, she was like sunshine. Her face drops when she sees Laurens frustratedly walk over to his girlfriend who offers him water. He gulps it all down in a few seconds and leaves without so much as a thank you or goodbye.

Taylor feels sorry for the blonde who stands there dejectedly. Jas, on the other hand, was attacked by a sweaty embrace from Oliver. "Oh my god, babe," she says incredulously as she playfully pushes him away. "You smell like a locker room of used football socks!"

"You are so rude."

"Hey," Romee smiles softly as she nears them. "So Laurens isn't coming with us, says he's gonna get an early night." Oliver doesn't blink an eye and suggests they head over to the dinner now, Taylor on the other hand doesn't miss the smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "Let's go?" The blonde gestures to the brunette who stands up without further protest.

"Ahh," Romee playfully opens her mouth from in front of her and gestures to the fries Taylor was greedily munching on. She smirks and picks one up, the blonde was already preparing herself before feeling the fry land on her forehead. "That's unfair! You totally did that on purpose you jerk," Taylor is in fits of giggles and she can't help herself.

"Okay fine, another one," she gestures and dips the fries in mayo. Romee opens her mouth again and catches the fry successfully in her mouth. She makes a show of it and flexes her arms playfully. Taylor reaches for her own drink and bites on the straw, clearly enjoying the view of the blonde's toned arms on full display. She notices some of the mayo on the corner of Romee's lips. She doesn't think twice when she reaches up to cup the blonde's chin with her left hand, forcing her face on the brunette. She then gently runs her thumb across the corner of her lips and she suppresses a deep exhale when she feels just how soft her lips and skin are.

"Thanks babe," Romee grins and even leans her face towards Taylor's hand. To the blonde, it might have just been friendly but the gesture sure did tug at Taylor's heartstrings.

From the corner of Jas' eye, she sees the exchange between the two as she listens to Oliver explain the scoring system of the football league again. She can't help but be curious when she sees a blush form on Taylor's face, eyes casting down bashfully. Romee doesn't seem to notice but Jas wasn't blind. She knew that look. That smitten look Taylor had on her face, she wasn't the first one who wore it for the blonde.

"Thanks you guys," Jas says from the backseat with Oliver and leans in to give them both a hug. "See you!"

Romee was the designated driver whenever the three went out so after dropping the dark beauty home, she drove them over to Taylor's without asking for directions. The whole car ride was silent and Taylor decides to break it first, "Do you mind if I turn the radio on?"

"No, go ahead," The brunette reaches for the radio console and realizes she actually doesn't know which button is which. "Uhm," she voices out and hears her friend laugh at her amusedly. Romee wraps her fingers around Taylor's hand and moves it over to the far right of the console. Taylor wants to know if the blonde felt the jolt of electricity she did when their fingers came in contact, her mood dampened when she realized she probably didn't. Their hands hover over the button for a moment before Taylor snaps out of her daydream then clicks.

She pulls her hand away and leans towards the door. Head resting on the window, Taylor allows her eyes to close for a moment. She should really stop making a big deal over the little things that happen between her and the blonde. She didn't want it to be weird for her. They were friends now, and friends don't freakout at every embrace, or every smile thrown their way, especially when they're taken.

Taylor feels a soft hand comb through her hair before ruffling her dark and thick locks. "We're here missy, don't get too comfortable now. You won't like the stiff neck that'll give you," Romee says warningly. Taylor groans and opens the door and melodramatically forces herself out of the seat.

Romee shakes her head at her and leans towards the wheel, "Well you can go on and have your beauty rest now," Taylor places her arm on her hips thoughtfully. She didn't want to part ways just yet and the night was still young.

"Do you want to get in?" Taylor suggests. Romee raises her perfectly shaped eyebrow and the brunette adds, "I mean I haven't invited you in before. I'm sure my siblings are still out,"

"And why do you think I'll be more inclined to accept if your siblings are out?" The brunette puts a hand on the top of the car and steadies herself. Romee's smirk grows deeper and Taylor can't help but pick up on her tone, was she flirting? She wouldn't know considering flirting wasn't actually one of her expertise.

The brunette coughs and says rather defensively, "I mean, there won't be any kids to bother and pester you. What, don't you have a younger sister?"

Romee doesn't reply for a moment and Taylor begins considering asking in the first place a bad move. The blonde eases her worries when she pulls her keys out and tells her to close the door. "Okay," she gestures for the brunette to lead the way.

"Okay?"

The blonde nods, "Yeah, sure." Together they walk up the porch and enter the Monroe's residence. It was pretty modern and looked so spotless. Romee was afraid of dirtying anything considering most of her furniture and walls were marble white. "Beautiful," she examines the photos on the wall. They were family pictures. She focuses her attention on a older photo. Taylor looked really young there, maybe 6 or 7. "You were so cute," Romee coos looking at the disheveled locks threatening to come loose from the brunette's supposedly tiny ponytail. Her hands were dirty, presumably with mud.

"What, am I not cute now?" Taylor asks jokingly and pokes her own cheek for emphasis. The blonde rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the photo. She sees her younger siblings being held by her very attractive parents. Behind Taylor was a young girl, maybe a few years older than the brunette. She sported a blinding smile and looked a lot like Taylor. She too had mud on her arms.

"Who's that?" She points to the unknown girl curiously. She patiently waits for a reply and when she hears none, she looks back to see Taylor stare intently at the photograph with an unreadable look on her face.

"That, is Rae. My older sister." Taylor smiles and pulls her eyes painfully away from the photograph, her heart warms at the events of that day. It had been her and Rae's birthday, they celebrated it at their aunt's beach house in Italy.

"Oh, I haven't seen her around. Is she in uni?"

"Uhm, no," Taylor draws out and starts tugging at the blonde's wrist and they ascend up the flight of stairs. When they reach the second floor, the brunette lets go of her hand, "She passed away sometime ago."

The Monroe siblings rarely had friends over. They didn't like being asked about the other unfamiliar sibling and having to explain that oh, she's gone. Whenever her parents had friends over they made sure to put the photos down. Nobody had to know. Which is why inviting Romee into their home was a very big step for Taylor, she was the first friend of hers who's ever entered their household. It showed just how comfortable she was with her, she trusts her.

Taylor is pulled into a warm embrace by Romee, and the blonde just barely touches the skin of her neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," the brunette feels herself relax, lean into her touch and crave her embrace more than ever.

Once the hugging fest was over, Taylor led Romee to the far end where her room was. She allows the blonde to get in first and examine the space. The way Taylor's room was arranged complimented her personality. There weren't any wallpapers on her wall or messy clothes on the floor like every other teenager. Everything was kept neat and tidy, it was pretty spacious too.

"There's not much to see," Taylor says and sits on the foot of her bed. "I prefer lesser things in my room."

"I can tell."

"Do you mind?" Taylor asks for a moment and stands up. "I'm just gonna change for a bit. Make yourself at home."

Once Taylor is out of sight, the blonde approaches the desk just adjacent to the door to the balcony. Above it was a medium sized bulletin board where Taylor put up post-its and a calendar. No polaroid or photos. She was a pretty private person. She takes a seat on the chair and shifts her foot, feeling something brush on her toes. She looks down and sees a crumpled piece of paper.

Curiously, Romee bends down to retrieve it. She smoothens it on the desk and sees a sketch of two eyes. The blonde was pretty impressed, it looked very realistic. To the side was a quote about the author's admiration for blue eyes. Romee quirks her brow at the sign below. TM. Taylor Monroe.

"Hey," Taylor says as she combs throw her hair with the use of her fingers. She slows her pace down to a stop when she sees the familiar sketch on Romee's hand. "Where did you get that?" She asks nervously.

"Oh, I just found it on the floor-"

"Yeah, it was meant for the trash. Here give it to me," Romee thought her friend looked very jumpy but she hesitantly gives the note away to Taylor who tears it up in shreds before disposing it on the bin.

It was quiet for a moment but the blonde stands up and goes in for a canon ball on the bed which makes Taylor giggle. The brunette follows her in a second but instead of landing on soft cushions, half of her body lands on Romee.

"Ohh my god," the blonde grunts as she looks down. Her shirt has ridden up and Taylor's elbow was pressed painfully on her skin.

"Holy crap I'm so sorry," the brunette says worriedly as she pulls her body away from Romee to inspect the side of her rib cage which was where her elbow had landed.

"You're good," Romee says unconvincingly but winces when she tries to raise her arm. "It's nothing serious don't worry."

"I'll go get an ice pack," Taylor begins and pulls away. The blonde pulls her down hard by her shirt, too hard and Taylor ends up pressed chest to chest against the blonde.

The brunette gasps inaudibly and her glasses come loose from her face. Romee absentmindedly flicks the entire black frame off and it's discarded somewhere behind them. She notices first the forest green eyes that stared intently at her, then the thick lashes above them. Taylor was beautiful even more so like this.

The brunette was screaming on the inside. She was literally on top of Romee and having her baby blue staring intently on her face put her on fire. She was afraid of moving just one bit, heck she was even afraid of breathing or too deeply. Soft fingers graze up towards her hips and she stifles back a moan but it's only for a moment. She realizes she's being pushed softly away from her and they both sit up.

The rest of the evening, Romee acts as if nothing had just happened. Something did happen there, right? Taylor wasn't being a delusional freak, right? She was't imagining things. She was positive there were lingering glances being shared back there. Not once does it come up as the blonde shares the story about how she and Laurens had met.