Stay
Author: Diane
Pairing: Ryan/Taylor
Prompt: Stay
Rating: Teen Rated
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!
Spoilers/Warnings: This is an AU-ish future fic which takes place post Season 4.
Summary: Taylor couldn't speak due to the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. As she nervously picked at her fingernails, she tried to recall anything she might have said or done in the last few days since her arrival from Paris that had caused him to want to break up with her. She could feel tears prickling behind her eyes and she blinked them back. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him. She wasn't about to give him that satisfaction.
Author's Notes: This has been written especially for The Porn Battle XV Challenge.
Ryan sat on the side of the bed, his elbows resting on his bare thighs. Even in the dark he could see her luggage out of the corner of his eye and he tried his best to ignore it. He hated that fucking set of luggage! In less than twelve hours all of her stuff would be packed inside of it and he'd, once again, be driving her to the airport.
He wasn't sure he could do it again.
Running a hand through his hair, he sighed heavily. She wasn't even gone yet and he was already missing her.
“Ryan?”
He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips upon hearing the sleepy tone in her voice. Shifting slightly, he turned so he could see her. He watched as she sat up and brushed her bangs aside in that familiar way of hers. “Hey.”
“What's wrong?”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say that nothing was wrong but the words wouldn't come. Instead, he found himself quietly saying, “I don't know if I can do this any more.”
Taylor couldn't speak due to the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. As she nervously picked at her fingernails, she tried to recall anything she might have said or done in the last few days since her arrival from Paris that had caused him to want to break up with her. She could feel tears prickling behind her eyes and she blinked them back. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him. She wasn't about to give him that satisfaction.
Pushing back the covers, she was grateful that she'd pulled on Ryan's under-shirt before she'd fallen asleep because she felt exposed enough as it was without being completely naked. She was just about to climb out of bed when his fingers circled her wrist and stopped her from moving.
“Where are you going?”
She shook her head as she attempted to pull her arm away from him.
“Taylor, stop!” His hold on her tightened.
“God, Ryan! Make up your mind. You either want me to go or you—”
“I want you to stay,” Ryan told her. Lacing his fingers with hers, he gave them a gentle squeeze. “You continually leaving me... I can't keep doing it. That's what I meant before.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. I'm sorry for making you think it was anything else.”
The relief she felt upon hearing his words was almost overwhelming. Shifting closer to him, she brought her other hand up to his face and cupped his cheek. “It kills me, too. I know I act like my usual chipper self when it's time to leave again but... it hurts so much.”
“Why didn't you ever say anything?” he asked.
“Why didn't you?” she countered with a tilt of her head.
Ryan shook his head. “I guess I didn't want to hear you say that you wanted to leave.”
“And I didn't want to hear you say you wanted me to go.”
Gently brushing his lips over Taylor's, he rested his forehead against hers. “We make a good pair, huh?” he teased.
Smiling, she nodded. “Do you really want me to stay?”
“Yes,” he replied without any hesitation. “I want to be able to see you for more than just a few times a year.”
“You might get sick of me,” Taylor told him.
“True,” he quipped before quickly adding, “but somehow I doubt it.”
“Nice save,” she replied, sighing happily when Ryan firmly pressed his mouth against hers. Moving her hand from the side of his face to the back of his neck, she lightly ran her manicured nails across his nape; the short hairs tickling the pads of her fingers.
When the kiss eventually broke long moments later so they could both breathe in much needed air, Taylor wasn't surprised to find herself lying flat on her back with the length of Ryan's body pressing her down into the mattress.
“I'm glad you're staying,” he whispered into her ear, grazing the lobe with the blunt edge of his teeth.
Ryan had always been a man of a few words so hearing him tell her that made her tummy flip. Rubbing her palm over the warm, smooth skin of his shoulder as he nuzzled her neck, she smiled. “I'm glad, too.”
Fin