Zac
“I want that, too,” I replied honestly. I had never really gotten romance before. I mean, I supposed I tried for it with Kate, but something always felt a little… off. After a while, it just became routine, something we did because we were supposed to or because we were angry. And so far with Taylor, it had been lust-driven. But I was more than willing to give real romance a try.
Taylor nodded and took my hand. “And tonight, whatever you want, that’s what you get.”
Hand in hand, we walked upstairs to his bedroom. Taylor closed the door behind us, and I finally found my voice again. “Whatever I want..?”
“You deserve it, Zac,” he replied, nodding. “I want to show you I would do anything for you. Anything.”
The seriousness in his voice unnerved me a bit. I could feel myself blushing, but I forced myself to be brave. I took a few steps closer to him. My voice soft, I said, “I want… umm, I want you to make love to me.”
Taylor shivered, the nodded. “Anything for you, Zac.”
He cupped my face in his hands, brushing his lips against mine. A soft moan escaped from my mouth and I wrapped my arms tightly around Taylor. Too soon, he pulled away and gave me a smile.
“Lay down.”
I complied, not even looking over my shoulder as I backed toward the bed and laid down, staring straight at Taylor the entire time. He walked to the dresser and pulled out a few candles. Placing them on the nightstand, he pulled a box of matches from that drawer and lit the candles. It seemed a bit cheesy, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. Still, I stifled a giggle as I watched him. Taylor glanced at me, and I struggled to keep from laughing.
“No, it’s sweet. Really,” I finally managed to say.
He gave me an innocent smile, then dimmed the lights and laid down next to me. I couldn’t resist the the urge to scoot closer; it seemed it just wasn’t possible for me to get enough of him.
“I like this… the candles and everything,” I admitted.
Taylor gave me a little smirk. “Not too cheesy?”
“Not at all,” I said, and it wasn’t totally a lie. It was cheesy, but I liked it. No one had ever done anything like that for me before. With a small giggle, I added, “I mean, if you pull out the rose petals, that might be overdoing it a little.”
He laughed lightly. “Fresh out, sorry. Maybe for our anniversary.”
That word – anniversary – made my heart flutter a little. Taylor didn’t seem to notice, though. He laced his fingers through mine, then brought my hand up to his lips and kissed each fingertip. With each kiss, he stared straight into my eyes. I kept my eyes locked on his as he kissed my palm and my wrist, right over the pulse point. It wasn’t a sexual sort of move at all, but it still made a tiny moan fall from my mouth.
Taylor smiled, then placed my hand over his heart. “Yours. Completely.”
I could do no more than smile and nod. Maybe Taylor was expecting more of a reply than that, because he bit his lip a little as he reached up to run a hand through my hair. I struggled to find any words at all, but all I could manage was another moan, followed by, “Tay…”
“What, baby? What do you need?”
“Nothing,” I replied. “Just, you know I love it when you play with my hair.”
He smiled, stroking my hair gently and leaning in to kiss me. I moaned again at the feeling of his lips against mine. Taking things slowly this time seemed to intensify every tiny little feeling, and my nerves seemed to already be on high alert. Taylor nudged me onto my back and leaned over me, and my hands instinctively went to his hips. I resisted the urge to pull him closer, though. It was the least I could do, after he had been so sweet and romantic.
His kisses were slow and unhurried. One of his hands found its way to my hair, stroking it a bit, before creeping down my cheek, to my chest, then my belly. I couldn’t stop myself from flinching when his hand landed there, on my pudge. I hoped that he hadn’t noticed, but he immediately pulled back.
“Zac?”
“It’s nothing,” I said. Taylor pouted, and I could tell he hadn’t bought my lie. “Don’t stop…”
“Zac… tell me.”
I sighed. “It’s just… you touched my pudge. It’s not a big deal.”
He pouted again. “Yes, I touched it. So? I told you; I love it.”
“And I don’t, so…”
Without another word, Taylor slid his hand under my shirt. I trembled at his touch but made no move to stop him. Even though I knew he was probably going to make me more uncomfortable, at least for the time being, I didn’t want him to stop. He nudged my button-down shirt off my shoulders, asking, “Can I see you?”
“I guess.” He seemed so shy suddenly that I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. I shrugged the shirt off the rest of the way, then slowly untucked the t-shirt I wore underneath and pulled it over my head.
Taylor watched my every move, smiling. His voice soft and sweet, he said, “So beautiful…”
“If you say so,” I replied, blushing. I remembered how Taylor had responded to that phrase earlier and I bit my lip. “Sorry.”
He didn’t complain about it this time, though. Instead, he touched my cheek, then trailed his fingers down my body, his eyes following. A small sigh fell from my lips and I felt myself almost unconsciously leaning up into his touch even as it moved. Taylor repeated the movement with his lips, kissing my neck, then my chest, coming to rest just above my stomach. He looked up at me for approval and I found that I couldn’t deny him.
“Tay… please, don’t stop.”
With one small nod, he kissed my stomach gently, running his fingers trough my happy trail. He flicked his tongue out a bit, the motion so small that I was almost unsure it had actually happened. The whole time, he didn’t take his eyes off mine and I was powerless to look away. I moaned softly, and that encouraged Taylor to keep going. He kissed lower and lower, finally reaching the waistband of my pants.
I ran my fingers through his hair. “Please…”
“Anything for you,” he replied with a smile.
We worked in tandem to remove my pants; Taylor undid the button and zipper and slid them down my legs, and I kicked them off into the floor. He pulled back just enough to remove his own shirt and pants, then leaned over me again. He ran his hands up and down my thighs, his lips pressing against the front of my boxer briefs. It didn’t even matter that there was a layer of cotton between his lips and my dick, I still moaned. He pressed another, harder kiss, to the material and let out of a moan of his own.
“God, Tay,” I gasped out. He tugged at the waistband of my underwear, pulling them down, and licked his lips. I let out a tiny laugh. “See something you like?”
It was a cheesy line, but he just smiled and nodded. “Yeah. You.”
He climbed up and laid next to me, kissing me deeply. There was something about the kiss, combined with what he had said, that made me blush. I wrapped my arms around him, tangling one hand in his hair as I kissed him back. Taylor pulled back from my lips, and kissed all over my face – my cheeks, eyelids, forehead, even my nose. At the last, I giggled. Staring deeply into my eyes, he brushed his fingers against my dick.
“Tay,” I moaned, then chuckled softly. “You are such a tease.”
“I just want this to last. I told you, you deserve romance.”
“I know,” I replied, nodding. “I guess I’m just impatient.”
Taylor laughed softly, then gripped my dick a bit more firmly. I gave him a crooked smile and said, “Now that’s more like it.”
He shook his head, and I wasn’t sure if he was disagreeing or just laughing at my eagerness. Either way, he leaned down to kiss me again, his tongue running along my lips, making me moan and my lips quiver. His hand continued to stroke me as slowly as possible while we kissed. It still wasn’t remotely enough to satisfy my need, and I nudged my hips ever so slightly closer to him.
He chuckled against my lips. “Patience, baby.”
“I’m trying,” I replied, running my fingers through his hair.
Taylor squirmed a bit. “You’re not the only person who likes having their hair played with, you know.”
“Oh really?” With that new knowledge, I couldn’t resist the urge to give his hair a little tug.
He sucked in a breath, then said, his voice taking on a warning tone, “Zac…”
“Yes… Taylor?” I said carefully.
A dark smirk passed across his face, but it quickly softened. He bumped noses with me and I couldn’t help giggling.
“If you keep trying to up the roughness, I’m just going to have to be even cuter to balance it,” Taylor said, giving me an eskimo kiss to show he was serious – seriously cute, that is.
I giggled again and squirmed. “That’s just not even fair.”
Taylor leaned down again, and licked the tip of my nose. I blinked, and he stared back down at me with this ridiculous grin on his face.
“Really?”
He giggled and did it again. “Mrew?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You are such a weirdo.”
“And yet you love me…” he replied, grinning.
“Yeah, imagine that.”
He licked the tip of my nose yet again, giggling like mad. I couldn’t even take it. It was ridiculous, cute and more than a little absurd.
“You are so fucking cute,” I said, giggling.
Taylor gave me a smile, then kissed me – on the lips this time. “So are you.”
I blushed, but for once I didn’t argue with him. He kissed my neck and sighed happily, and I ran my hands up and down his back.
“I love you,” he said, kissing my shoulder. “So much.”
“You know I love you too,” I replied.
He stared into my eyes, as if he were searching for proof that I was telling him the truth. I stared back at him, hoping that whatever he was looking for, he would find. I guess he did, because after a moment, he kissed his way down my chest again, stopping to pay extra attention to my pudge. I sighed, but made no move to stop him, instead just tangling my hand in his hair.
Taylor glanced up. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah…”
“Are you sure?” He asked, punctuating the question with a kiss to my happy trail.
“I’m trying to be okay with it. That’s the best I can do, okay?”
“Zac…” he said, his eyes willing with sadness as he kissed my stomach again. “I love you. All of you.”
“I know…”
“…But?”
I forced a weak smile. “But nothing.”
“Okay then,” he replied with a smile. He moved lower and lower, kissing further down my stomach. He flicked his tongue out at my lower abs, barely even inches above my dick.
I whimpered and squirmed. “Okay… I could get used to that.”
“You think so?” He asked, planting a few small kisses there and earning an enthusiastic nod from me. At that, he licked at my happy trail. “Even this?”
I moaned loudly. “Definitely that.”
Taylor laughed, but he finally seemed persuaded that I didn’t mind what he was doing at all. He moved down slowly, pressing a few kisses to my thigh. I trembled, but tried to still my squirming so that he wouldn’t pause again. He switched to the other leg, barely nipping at the skin of my inner thigh.
“Tay…” I breathed out, hoping it sounded like an encouragement. It was the most exquisite sort of torture ever, and I didn’t mind at all. He breathed down my length, his lips so close but not quite touching me. Yes, this was definitely torture. “Oh god…”
At that, he gently flicked his tongue out against my sac, still just barely touching at all. I moaned softly, and this seemed to encourage him to ease up a little on the teasing. He gave another lick, his tongue washing over my skin. I tangled my hand in his hair and he sucked one of my balls into his mouth, swirling his tongue all around it.
If it didn’t feel so damn good, I would have felt really pathetic for how quickly Taylor was able to turn me into a blubbering mess. Within seconds, I was moaning and saying his name over and over. When he finally began to suck harder, one hand reaching up to wrap around my dick, I was trembling so hard I could barely keep my grip on his hair. “Taylor… fuck…”
It wasn’t a question or even a complete sentence, but it seemed to spur him on regardless. Taylor stared up into my eyes as his tongue washed over every inch of skin in front of him – except, of course, the one spot I wanted him to touch. Finally, when I thought I might go insane if he didn’t, he swirled his tongue around my head and then, ever so slowly, took my dick into his mouth.
I gasped and my hips bucked up almost entirely on their own. For a second I worried that would make Taylor stop yet again, but it didn’t. Instead, he moaned, the vibrations of it making me tremble, as he worked his way down my length. He bobbed his head up and down, sucking harder, and I couldn’t stop myself from tugging on his hair.
He smirked up at me and for a second, I thought I had really screwed up. But instead of stopping, he put his hands on my thighs and eased my legs further apart. Trembling, I smiled down at him. With one last, lingering suck, he moved back down to lick my balls and I couldn’t contain my moan. His grip on my thighs tightened as he moved down to flick his tongue against my entrance.
“Oh god, yes,” I said, moaning. I hadn’t known for sure when I asked him to try that – rimming, it was apparently called – if I would like it, but it sounded pretty damn nice when we “did” it during our chats. As it turned out, I fucking loved it. He pressed his tongue harder against me, one hand moving up to stroke my dick again. My hips bucked of their own accord and I moaned out, “Yes, Taylor… fuck.”
I was really glad that it seemed we didn’t really need words to communicate with each other like this, because god knows I turned into an incoherent mess when Taylor touched me. And when his tongue got involved? Then it was shocking if I could even form full words, let alone sentences. But Taylor knew what I wanted. His tongue washed all over me, his other hand creeping down to press one finger against my entrance.
“Mmm, Tay, please,” I begged, and he complied, sliding his finger in slowly. I moaned again, and he slid his finger almost all the way out before pushing it back in. When I cursed and cried out for him again, he only sped up his motions. Struggling to find my voice again, I just barely managed to gasp out, “Feels so good, Tay…”
He kissed my stomach and abs as he continued to pump his finger in and out, earning another loud moan from me. His eyes locked on mine, he slid a second finger into me. I mumbled something that kind of sounded like “yes,” and he licked at my happy trail as he thrust his fingers in and out.
“Oh god, Tay…” I said, eyes locked on his. “God, I love you so much.”
His hand slowed and I could see his eyes watering, and although my heart leapt, I knew I hadn’t said the wrong thing for once. Staring up at me through his tears, Taylor said, “I love you, Zac.”
The sweet moment passed quickly, though. He added a third finger and resumed his former pace, and I growled loudly. “Fuck!”
“You okay?”
“God yes,” I replied.
Taylor pouted. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”
“No,” I said. “God, if you stop now…”
I punctuated the statement with another growl and Taylor chuckled. He stroked my chest, his other hand slowing. “Easy there, tiger.”
“You just feel so good, Tay,” I said, pouting. He gave me a shy smile, and I added, “Sorry for wanting more of you.”
At that, I stuck my tongue out at him. He pounced up and caught my tongue in his mouth, sucking on it, his hand finally picking up speed again as he did so. I guessed flattery really would get me everywhere with him. I could definitely handle that, though. I moaned into his mouth, thrusting back against his hand, past even caring if I was being too needy and rushing things.
Luckily, it seemed Taylor was past that as well. He moaned, then asked, “Are you ready for me?”
“God, yes.”
He pulled his fingers out and reached down to give himself a few strokes before lining up. The entire time, he stared straight into my eyes and it made me tremble. No one ever stared at me with that kind of intensity. “Taylor…”
“I love you, Zac,” he said, his voice shaking.
“I love you, too. So much.”
At that, he slid inside of me. We both moaned, and we weren’t in perfect harmony, but it was close enough. Taylor didn’t move at all. He was shaking all over and his eyes were still locked right on mine. I tangled my hands in his hair and pulled him down for a kiss, and that seemed to do the trick. Slowly, almost excruciatingly so, he began to move his hips.
I pulled back from the kiss and moaned against his lips, once again losing the power of speech. Taylor leaned his forehead against mine, his eyes never leaving mine, as he continued to thrust into me slowly and gently. His eyes watering a little, he mumbled, “So beautiful… love you so much…”
“You’re beautiful,” I said, my whole body trembling. I needed more of him, but I didn’t want to ask. Instead, I wrapped my legs around him, settling for that little bit more closeness. “So beautiful…”
He shook his head and blinked back a few tears. I couldn’t believe he was still debating this, even now.
“Yes. You are,” I replied, my voice as stern as I could manage. He shook his head again and I felt a few tears welling up in my own eyes. “So beautiful, Taylor. Love you so much…”
It wasn’t my most eloquent moment, but I could still see Taylor’s resolve faltering. A few tears escaped and began to fall down his cheeks as he said, “Love you, Zac… so fucking much…”
I leaned up and kissed the tracks of his tears, causing him to shiver. I didn’t even know where I got the idea to do it, but it just seemed right. Sex like that, sweet and gentle but still mindblowing, was so different than anything I was used to. As strange as it sounded, I didn’t think it could be like that with anyone but Taylor.
Taylor took my left hand in his and placed it over his heart. Tears still pooling in his eyes, he stared down at me, and in a trembling voice, he said, “Y-yours.”
I fought back tears of my own and smiled at him. I lifted his hand to my lips and kissed each fingertip before repeating his gesture over my own heart. “Yours.”
He laughed lightly, as though he almost couldn’t believe what I had said, then nodded. I wiped his tears away, even as my own began to fall. Taylor leaned his forehead against mine and let out a shaky breath. “Yours… f-forever?”
Without even giving myself a second to think about the implications, I nodded. “Yes. Forever, Tay.”
That was the last straw, I guess. Taylor’s tears fell openly now; he didn’t even try to hold them back. He covered my face and neck with kisses, mumbling, “Love you so much, Zac.”
“Love you, too,” I replied. As always, though, I could only handle so much romance. With a tiny whimper, I said, “Tay… touch me.”
Taylor gave me a nod, his eyes flashing with lust. He kissed me deeply and slid his hand down to stroke me to the same rhythm as his thrusts. I moaned his name and he increased his pace, moaning my name as well and saying, “God, you’re amazing.”
I didn’t really know what was so amazing about me just laying there whimpering and moaning, but I didn’t feel like debating it. Instead, I just said, “So are you, Tay.”
That was, evidently, the right thing to say. His ridiculously blue eyes – why didn’t I compliment him on those earlier, anyway? — still staring right into my eyes, he began thrusting harder, his hand speeding up its pace as well. A loud moan fell from my mouth, along with his name.
“Yes, love?”
“Feels so good, baby,” I replied, the statement punctuated with another moan.
“Yeah, you do.”
I blushed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know,” he replied. He shifted the angle of his hips, and I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do until this amazing wave of pleasure rolled through my body.
“Fuck!” I cried out. “Tay…”
A smirk on his face, he rolled his hips again and again, hitting that same spot each time. Like everything the two of us did, I’d had a theoretical knowledge of how awesome it would feel. But actually feeling it was entirely different, and there were no words at all to describe it. Each thrust of his hips sent another wave of pleasure rolling through my body, and I cried out again. “Oh, god…”
“Yeah, baby? Is that it?”
“Yes, fuck,” I gasped out. “That’s it.”
He leaned down and kissed me hungrily, thrusting impossibly hard, his hips still angled to hit that spot with each and every thrust. I moaned into his mouth, feeling myself growing closer and closer to the edge with each thrust. Finally, I pulled back and gasped for breath. “Tay.. I’m gonna..”
Taylor whispered in my ear, “Come for me, Zac.”
“Oh god,” I cried out, shuddering as my orgasm hit me. Something about that little command, combined with his precise and unrelenting thrusts, was just too much for me to handle. Still shuddering, the last few aftershocks reverberating through my body, I gasped out, “Fuck, Tay…”
Taylor’s pace increased to the point that I found myself panting and gasping again, even though I was already spent. I could feel his orgasm all the way through my body, from the way he trembled above me to the way he pounded into me. As he shot his load into me, he cried out, “Fuck, Zac!”
Completely sated and just this side of overstimulated, I stared up at him and smiled. “God, you’re beautiful.”
Tears welled up in his eyes again. “Not half as beautiful as you.”
“Nope,” I replied. “Twice as beautiful as me. At least.”
To my relief, Taylor didn’t argue with me. He just laughed and carefully slid out of me, grabbing a few tissues from the bedside table to clean me up. I blushed a little as he did it; I still hadn’t gotten accustomed to the awkwardness of that particular part of sex with him. I’m sure he noticed, but he only gave me a smile before getting up to throw away the tissues. Seconds later he was back, crawling into my arms and giving me a gentle kiss.
“Tay, that was…” I sighed. “Amazing.”
He nodded. “Yeah. You were.”
I giggled and rolled my eyes. I was beginning to think there was nothing I could say to him that he wouldn’t disagree with or turn around on me. Poking him in the side with each word, I said, “Not. What. I. Meant.”
He giggled and squirmed. “Careful where you poke there, buddy…”
“Where do you want me to poke you?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.
Taylor smirked, then shook his head. “Tonight is all about you.”
Chuckling, I replied, “I don’t think I could, anyway. Gotta have time to recover.”
“Yeah,” he replied, wrapping his arms around me and snuggling into my side. “I like this better, anyway.”
“You like cuddling?” I grinned. “Such a woman.”
Taylor pouted, and I felt my heart absolutely melting.
“I like cuddling with you, too,” I admitted. “Guess that makes me a woman, too.”
Taylor shook his head. “Just makes you mine.”
“I can live with that,” I replied with a grin.
The smile Taylor had worn for the past few minutes began to falter. “Zac…”
“What?”
He blushed. “Umm, about what you said… I know, people say things, in the heat of the moment… and that’s okay.”
“Tay… what are you talking about?” I asked, just wanting to be sure before I said anything else.
He blushed more. “Umm, nevermind.”
I decided to take a guess, even though I was pretty certain I knew what he meant. “When I said… forever?”
He bit his lip and looked away, and I knew my guess had been correct.
“Taylor. Look at me, baby.”
He turned his face back to me, but his eyes were clamped shut, tears pooling in the corners.
Hesitantly, I reached out a hand to touch his cheek. “Taylor… Please look at me, baby.”
Taylor opened his eyes slowly, his breathing rapid and shallow. It was worrisome and frustrating to see him so upset by my words, when I knew I had said the right thing for once.
“Tay… talk to me?”
“I just… I understand, if you didn’t… if you didn’t mean it how it came out,” he stuttered out, blinking back his tears.
“Taylor… shut up. I did mean it,” I replied. He blinked, and I added, “Exactly how I said it.”
He blinked again.
“Words, Tay. Use them.”
He only stuttered again, his eyes boring holes into me.
“Tay… please,” I said, unsure what I was even begging him for. Anything at all, really. Any sort of response.
A tear fell from his eyes. “Are… are you sure?”
I nodded. “I am.”
“But… but we…” he stuttered out.
“I know,” I replied, trying to save him the trouble of continuing to struggle for the right words. “I know we can’t really…”
He took a trembling breath and seemed to collect himself a bit. “F-forever… is a lot, Zac.”
“Yeah, it’s a long, long time,” I replied, giggling. I thought my sense of humor had abandoned me, but there it was, inviting itself into yet another serious moment.
Taylor gave a nervous laugh and said, “I wouldn’t blame you…”
Before he could say anything else, I replied, “The thing is, you’re kinda stuck with me. I’m still your drummer, your business partner, and oh yeah, your brother.”
“I know,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “But this is different. Zac… are you really willing to… to commit?”
Without a second’s pause to think, I said, “To you? Absolutely.”
“This is as real as it gets…”
“I know,” I said. “I know, before, I talked about wanting to be able to tell the world… but I can live with that. If I have you.”
A few more tears fell from his eyes and he nodded.
“I really don’t care about anything else,” I said, then bit my lip. That sounded wrong. “Well… you know what I mean.”
“Yeah…” he said.
“It’s not that simple, but it kinda is,” I added.
Taylor nodded again. “Zac, I… I love you so much. So much more than those words can express.”
“I know,” I said, nodding. “I feel the same way.”
“God, the things I would do if we weren’t…” he trailed off, pouting. He didn’t have to finish the sentence for me to know what he meant.
I sighed. “I know, baby.”
“I would, too,” he said. “I would, umm…”
Although his worse held conviction, he blushed and stammered. I was dying to know what he meant. “Tell me… please?”
Taylor took a deep breath and reached a hand out to touch my cheek. “I would commit to you… if I could.”
“You mean…” Words failed me again. I should have anticipated that he was going to say that, but I hadn’t. I had never even thought about what I might do if we weren’t brothers. Maybe I should have; obviously, Taylor had thought of it. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the thought. It just took me by surprise, somehow.
I glanced at Taylor and found him pouting. “Zac?”
“Yeah?”
“I didn’t… upset you, did I? By saying that?”
“No, you didn’t upset me,” I replied, but my voice threatening to give away that he had taken my breath away. Luckily, my sense of humor was there to save the day yet again. “Just trying to picture you in a white dress.”
Taylor’s cheeks went red and he slapped my arm. I couldn’t help giggling, but his face stayed serious and he stroked my cheek. “I would, though. I would… leave. Nat, I mean.”
I felt myself trembling, and I prayed that he didn’t. “Tay… do you really mean that?”
He bit his lip and nodded. “That’s… that’s really fucking serious, Tay.”
“I know,” he said. “I would do anything, if you wanted me to. I’d leave Natalie. Hell, I’d quit the band if you asked me to.”
I gasped. “You mean… I could finally be the lead singer?”
Taylor didn’t seem to find that funny. “Zac…”
“I’m sorry,” I said, giving him a sheepish smile. “I’m not good at serious. You know that.”
“I know… I just hope I’m not scaring you off.”
“You’re not. I promise.” And I meant it. Even though the thought of being free to marry him took my breath away, I did like it. I sighed. “God… if we could, though…”
Taylor nodded and echoed my sad little sigh.
I lowered my voice a little, “I would leave Kate, too, you know.”
He gasped. “You… you would?”
I nodded. He really had to ask? If I could, if we were truly free to get married, of course I would. Nothing could keep me from him if that were the case. The fact that it wasn’t… well, it didn’t change how I felt. It just meant that, while the feelings were real, the conversation was purely hypothetical.
A few tears fell from Taylor’s eyes. “Zac…”
“Yeah?”
He leaned in to kiss me, then whispered against my lips, “Zac… would you marry me?”
Trembling, I whispered back, “Yes.”
In spite of his tears, Taylor laughed. He kissed me again, and I swore I could feel every ounce of his love pouring from him to me in that kiss. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and tried to kiss him back the same way. We both laughed and cried through the kiss, and Taylor whispered over and over how much he loved me.
Still laughing and crying, I replied, “Love you so fucking much, Tay.”
He kissed away my tears, holding me so tight it almost hurt. But I didn’t care.
“Forever, Tay. I mean it,” I said with a sigh, and he let out a trembling breath, like he was finally accepting that I really did mean it. “Forever.”
“Forever,” he repeated with a nod. He gave me a sweet smile, then leaned down and licked the tip of my nose. “Mrew?”
I giggled. It seemed my randomness was becoming infectious. “So I purr and you… meow?”
He tilted his head for a second as though he were giving my question serious consideration, then nodded.
“A couple of weirdos, that’s us.”
“I guess so,” he replied, then gave me a shy smile. “Just makes us that much more perfect for each other.”
“Yup, exactly,” I replied, returning his smile.
Taylor’s eyes softened and he lifted up my left hand, holding it in front of his face and staring at it. He locked eyes with me, then kissed my ring finger at the base. I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word. It was obvious what he was getting at, and even though it made that same nervous feeling bubble up in my stomach, I kind of liked it. He kissed my finger again.
“Trying to tell me something there?” I asked.
He laughed. “Well, you did already say…. yes.”
“Yeah, I did.”
Taylor shivered and his eyes fell closed. I tried to think of what I might have said wrong, but could come up with nothing.
“Tay…?”
He opened his eyes. “Yes, love?”
“What are you thinking?”
He smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“No, I asked because I really have no desire to know,” I replied, sticking my tongue out.
He reached up and grabbed my tongue between a finger and thumb and raised an eyebrow, as though he were daring me to speak again. My eyes went wide and I tried to stutter out something, anything, but it was kind of impossible. He tugged on my tongue, pulling me closer until finally we were close enough to kiss.
We tangled our hands in each others’ hair, but the kiss was pretty gentle by our standards. Still, a small moan fell from my lips and into his mouth. Taylor pulled back and sighed happily, running his hand across my cheek. I stared back at him, and finally my disbelief at everything that had passed between us seemed to fade away. A slight chuckle fell from my lips, earning me a confused look from Taylor.
“What?”
“I was just thinking,” I replied. “I should have known the perfect guy for me was here all along.”
His eyes went wide, filling up with tears again and his bottom lip began to quiver. I knew if I continued, I would probably only make him cry again, but they would be good tears. And anyway, it was hard to stop myself once I started talking.
“I mean, I met this guy and he was so amazing I thought there was no way he could even be real. Not only was he real… he was you.” I was pretty proud of myself for the way I had put that. It wasn’t as eloquent as Taylor might have said the same thing, but he still nodded and let a few tears fall. “It’s kinda funny, though. In a good way.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Like… fate.”
“Exactly,” I said, sighing contentedly.
That was exactly how it felt, and of course with just one word, Taylor could say it better than I had. But that was just Taylor, I supposed. And it was just how we were together. We were better together; always had been. So it only made sense that we were even better still as a couple.