"Damn, Bro. And what made you so depress that you ended up-"
"Just shut up, Tim," Taylor blurts out with a mad tone, frustrated at the cheesy boy for talking so much when Joey's terribly drunk. Besides, she didn't  thought of Joey's dad to return his mind, hence gonna make him even more in a bad mood.
Taylor sighs, which made Tim glance at her with an awkward look as he continue to drag Joey who is now silent.
"Now is not the time to talk about that. Let's just get Joey to bed first," Taylor adds. This time, her voice sounds more calm.
"Ok," Tim states in a casual tone, knowing that he needs to get his friend to bed instead of talking too much. Upon reaching the guest room, Tim drags Joey to the bed and covers his body with a blanket.
"If you need anything else just let me know, Brother," Tim states at the now badly drunk Joey, who didn't bother to let out a word.
"Let's just leave him," Taylor whispers to Tim.
"Ok," Tim answers.
A few minutes later...
At the living room...
Taylor sits in the brown couch as Tim walks back from the kitchen with two cups of earl grey tea. He places the two cups on the small table, before taking a seat next to Taylor. After the two of them left Joey alone in the guest room, Tim had asked Taylor regarding Joey's condition, which she agreed to tell him. Of course, he insisted that they talk over a cup of tea, which he thought would be more relaxing.
Tim sighs, "Before you start judging me, I'm not here to waste your time. I just want to know what's going on with Joey."
Taylor sighs. She was a bit surprised that Tim wasn't actually behaving annoying at this point. It's sort of a miracle. In fact, other than that she starts to think that she was the one who behaved too rude at him when he kept asking about Joey.
"I understand. And...sorry for being rude earlier," Taylor says, her vision still looking at the ground.
"Don't sweat it. I understand," Tim says in a chill tone, which surprised Taylor even more. Usually, Tim Anderson would always put up a drama every time someone apologizes. Yet, this time, he had behaved so calm, it kind of felt weird for her.
A moment of awkward silence fills the air. Taylor grabs her cup of tea and sips it silently, before actually telling Tim the whole story regarding Joey.
"Joey saw his dad with another woman," Taylor says, her heart already felt heavy just by the thought of how broken Joey's heart is.
Tim's eyes slightly widens out of surprised, while his thin lips remains sealed since he became speechless.
"Oh, umm...sorry to hear that," Tim says out of surprise.
Taylor sighs, "They were making out at home. His dad was suppose to be at the hospital looking out for his mom."
Shock and speechless, Tim couldn't let out a simple answer upon hearing that. He felt incredibly bad for Joey, knowing that he had to face such bitter reality of his dad cheating while his mom is sick. It feels like the whole world is against him.
"Damn, that's bad," Tim says as he takes his cup of tea and sips it.
"Yeah," Taylor says. "That's why, he ended up getting drunk and called me. He didn't want to return home since he refuse to see his dad, by that he asked me to take him to your place."
"I see," Tim says.
"I hope you don't mind," Taylor says, the sound of anxious could clearly be heard in her voice.
"Of course not," Tim says. "Joey's my brother. It's ok if he needs time to rebuild himself."
Taylor turns her head to Tim's direction. For the first time in her life, she was actually touched with Tim's empathy towards Joey. Knowing that he usually behaves like an annoying, spoiled brat who brags and flirts with women all day, seeing a more sensitive and calm side of him tonight is something surprising. Yet, Taylor liked it, way more than when he behaves like his usual self.
"Yeah," Taylor answers.
Tim sighs, "One's mental state needs time to heal and rebuild. Believe me, I've been there."
"What happened?" Taylor asks, wondering about what sort of story Tim has about himself.
"My parents divorced when I was only 6," Tim says. "I grew up moving back and forth between staying with my mom and dad."
Taylor became shock. She didn't know that Tim's parents divorced when he was very young, since he never tell anyone about it. He always portrays the happy-go-lucky kid, creating an image as if he has the perfect life.
"That is, until I eventually had a fight with my step-mom and step-dad. My dad told me to stay with my grand-parents," Tim says. "And well, I did. Until both of them passed away. I continued to stay at there house, which is well, this place."
Hearing Tim's story, Taylor could feel her heart felt sorry for him. Behind his cheesy smile, Tim's only a young boy with a bitter past, trying to look ok even when he's not.
"That's why, I understand how Joey must have feel. Family matters are complicated," Tim states.
"I'm sorry, Tim," Taylor says with an apologetic tone.
"No need, Tay. The bitter things that happened will shape us," Tim says.
Taylor sighs. In this moment, she's the one who feels awkward at the situation. Other than feeling sorry for Joey, she now also feels bad for Tim after hearing his bitter story. All these years, she viewed him as nothing more than a spoiled jerk who craves dramas and attention, not getting even a small clue that deep down, he's just a kid from a broken-home family with lack of attention from his parents. Hearing his story tonight, Taylor thought there might be more about Tim Anderson than what he often portrayed.
"Yeah, you're right," Taylor answers.
Tim then turns his vision to Taylor. Her shoulder lenght, messy brunette hair falls below her chest. Her eyes looked exhausted, in which he assumed she must have been tired of dealing with Joey who's drunk. She's only wearing a baby pink t-shirt and pajama pants, in which he thought looked cute on her.
Looking at the girl, Tim realized that her looks always remains the same through out the years. She might be growing up, but her fashion sense remains the same, which he thought was a charm point of her. Between the two twins, Tim had always found Eleanor to be the more attractive one, due to her bold personality. Yet, he couldn't lie that there were times that Taylor's calm nature tempted him.
"Hey, umm...Taylor."
Taylor turns her head to face Tim, who is now in the middle of staring at her. The two's eyes lock to one another, trying to read each other's mind through the eyes.
"What?" Taylor asks.
Tim sighs, "Honestly....I like you."
To be continue...