T A Y L O R ' S P.O.V

I sat down next to Bella. She had stopped crying a while ago, but judging by her crooked frown, her pale face, and the hitch in her breathing, she was still upset.

"You remember that time when we snuck out of our house to go to the circus carnival a year back?" I asked her. Hesitantly, she nodded.

"We had so much fun. I remember you nearly threw up on the merry go round after you had too much cotton candy. Do you remember going on the Ferris wheel with me, and we were gazing at the entire carnival from dozens of metres up?"

She flashed a smile, before returning to her frown. "That was a fun day."

"And," I continued, "when we got home, you threw every single excuse you could think of at your parents but only I knew the truth?"

"Yeah. I still can't believe that they fell for it all."

I smiled reassuringly. "Bella... I've heard so many stories from so many people as to why you've been doing this. Blackmailing Darko, threatening Owen, lying to Lyra, and manipulating Stefan. You've always been truthful to me, no matter what it was about. Can I know why you've done all of this? The real reason?"

She rocked her head back, resting it on the wall behind her, closing her eyes. "Everything I've said to other people is a lie. I lied to Nicole when I said I wanted to date you because you'd become famous. It's all lies."

She turned to me. "It's been a reoccurring thing in my life, Tay. I've lied to my parents since as far as I can remember. I've never had any friends, and my last relationship, the one with Trent, is based on false statements as well. I don't know, I just get a thrill from doing it. It's a great feeling convincing others."

She looked up at the sky. "Then you came along. For some reason, I couldn't lie to you. You were and still are the sweetest, kindest boy I've ever met. All my life I've been manipulating others and telling others what to do to live. When I'm with you, I didn't have to do any of that. I felt so free."

"Somewhere along the way, I... I fell in love with you."

"I thought I had a chance. I genuinely thought I did. Then you came out to me and told me that you were head over heels over Darko. Of course, I became resentful of Darko because his presence was a threat. I became scared. I didn't want to lose you. So, I became ruthless. Stopping at nothing until Darko's reputation was destroyed and you were all mine again."

She wiped another tear from her face, smearing her makeup. I placed my hand on her hand, causing her to flinch for a moment. She relaxed when I lightly squeezed it. "That... that all changed tonight though. I heard your song, then you told me off on stage. I realised two things."

"What were those things?" I questioned. She smiled.

"The first thing was that I needed to stop being so angry about it. I let vengeance consume me. I was so afraid of losing the one person that let me be happy, that I ended up losing myself."

"The second thing was that I realised you and Darko really do love each other. I feel so terrible to have gotten between you two."

She faced me again, tears streaking down her cheeks once more. "Taylor, I know my actions were horrible. Blackmailing, manipulation, exploitation and threatening to out someone is some of the worst things you can do. I'm a bad person."

Her voice cracked. She hastily wiped her nose. "But I am pleading for one more chance. I know everything I've done is wrong. I don't want to risk losing you again, Taylor-"

Cutting us off, her phone rang. She picked it up, and groaned loudly, angrily hanging up. She let out a sigh before looking back at me.

"I... I gotta go."

I nodded. We both looked at each other. There was a glint in her eyes. You could see the sorrow she was feeling. The sadness. The regret. It was wrapped around her entire face.

I opened my arms, gesturing for a hug. Bella, confused at first, realised what I was doing and reciprocated, hugging me tightly.

"I'm sorry Taylor, for everything," she mumbled into my chest. I hugged her tighter as a response. After a few moments, we broke apart.

"I can't forgive you, Bella. Not right now. Things have changed and I don't think things can go back to the way they were immediately." I said. Bella looked down, nodding sadly.

"But, that doesn't mean we can't try and make things better."

Her head shot up immediately. Her eyes widened. "What?"

"Bella, I'm giving you one last chance. One final chance. I want to be your friend again. But not immediately. We need to fix everything you've done. Starting tomorrow."

For the first time tonight, she smiled. For the first time in a long time, her smile was genuine. Full of happiness. No snide remarks hiding behind those lips, nor any catty insults or fake expressions. Pure happiness.

"Okay. First thing tomorrow."

Her phone buzzed again. She looked at it, then looked back at me.

"I really need to go now," she said.

"Don't let me keep you."

She walked off. I smiled, knowing that Bella won't harm Darko again.

~~~

"What happened?"

I walked towards Darko, kicking a bit of dirt on the way. "I talked to Bella and got her side of everything. Long story short, she's going to leave you alone and she's never going to threaten my friendship with her again."

He shook his head. "So, she's not going to out me to my parents?"

I nodded. He grinned, before crying out in celebration. Surprisingly, he picked me up and spun me around, earning him a joyous laugh from me.

"I'm free! I'm free!!" He chanted gleefully before setting me down.

"She's also really apologetic about everything. She's going to try and be a better person – she's going to start fixing things with everybody she's hurt. I want to fix things between me and her too."

He nodded. "That's fair. I can't see you cutting anybody out of your life. You're too sweet for that."

I smirked. "That's what she said."

He wrapped me in a hug, his strong arms making my heart ache.

"So, what do we do now?" Darko asked, mumbling into the groove in his neck. I smirked.

"Come on," I began, grabbing his hand. "Let's go home. I wanna spend the rest of the night with you."

He laughed. "Just the rest of tonight? Ouch."

Snorting, I lead him to the car park, hands linked. I took him to Owen's car. Owen stood there, frowning over his broken phone until he noticed us walking toward him. He quickly crammed the machine into his jacket pocket, before flashing us a smile.

"There are my favourite lovebirds," he said, sticking his hand into his pocket. He fished out his keys before handing them to me, smiling.

"I'll come by tomorrow to get my car. Just tell me the address before you go - here's my home phone number," he said to both of us, giving me a tiny slip of paper. "Darko, could you give me and Taylor a moment alone?"

Darko nodded, climbing into the car. Owen turned toward me, before fishing out his phone. He looked at me, clearly upset.

"Look, I'm sorry Tay. Tonight was meant to be perfect for you and Darko, but fucking Bella had to do ONE thing to ruin it..." he said. He shook his head, laughing mockingly. "I'm sorry about Darko's parents. Can you remind him for me that if things get hard, my place is still open to him?"

I smiled. "Bella didn't call his parents."

Shocked, he furrowed his brow in confusion. "Come again? Bella was nice?"

"Yep," I stated. "She's about to get a hell of a lot nicer too. Expect a new phone sometime this week from her."

He grinned. "Sweet!!"

"I'm gonna go head back to the gym and help the staff clean up. I'll see you on Sunday?" He said, beaming. I nodded.

"Of course, Owen."

He leaned in closer, his voice a whisper. "Don't forget about the gift I gave Darko."

He smirked before walking off. I completely forgot about the gift. He waved to Darko before disappearing back into the school.

I got into the car, sitting in the passenger seat. Darko switched on the ignition, before turning to face me, eyes expectant.

"Let's go to my house," I suggested, "Ana's sleeping over at her friend's place, and mum's out with a therapy group. It'll be just us."

Perfect.

~

We finally reached my house. Climbing out of the car, we headed for the front door.

"We should talk about everything that's happened," I said, fumbling with my keys. "We haven't sat down for a long time and talked about it. Hell, we haven't talked about a lot recently."

He nodded in response. Finally unlocking the door, we walked inside. Darko lingered in the hallway as I locked the door behind me.

"What should we talk about first?" He asked. I turned to face him, throwing my keys on the table next to the door. He walked closer to me, his eyes flickering to my lips.

"Because I don't feel like talking right now. I want to do something else."

Feeling my face flush, I playfully pushed him away. "No, not yet."

He frowned, his expression mirroring a sad puppy. I laughed at him, before walking past him, sitting in the lounge room. "That ain't going to work against me."

"Please? Come on, Tay. That's not fair."

I shook my head. Although all I wanted to do was tear that suit off of him, I needed answers, and what's a better time than the present?

Darko sat down, grumbling. "Fine, I'll do it, but I'm only answering one question."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. You ask first."

"How did you figure out I liked you?"

I smiled. "That's easy. Owen told me the truth about the birthday card. Your birthday card."

His expression turned quizzical. "The hell? He told me you didn't see it yet."

A moment passed, and Darko was dumbstruck. "Damn, he's good."

I laughed. "What you said was very sweet, by the way."

He smiled. "Anyway. It's your turn. Only one question."

I stroked my chin. "Owen told me he gave you a gift at the dance. What is it?"

A smirk slowly spread across Darko's face. He got off of the couch, and before I could register what he was doing, he was on top of me, sitting on my lap.

"Uh, Darko, what are you-"

He reached into his jacket pocket, before fishing out a condom. "This is what he gave me."

My eyes flicked between the condom, Darko's seductive smirk, and his body that sat perfectly on my lap. Biting my lip, I struggled to think of anything other than Darko using that with me.

Darko leaned forward, closing the distance, and gently kissed my lips. Not a heavy, passionate kiss like the one in the parking lot at school. His lips barely graze mine, only allowing contact for a few brief moments before he pulled away.

"Have you got any more questions?" he asked me, his tone teasing. I shook my head.

"Fuck the questions!"

I leaned forward and kissed him again. My lips grew hungrier as they fervently brushed against his, the kiss deepening as Darko explored my mouth with his tongue. I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, pushing him closer to me. My fingers tangled in his brunette hair.

After a few moments, my hand moved away from his neck, trailing down his suit jacket to the buttons keeping it together. I undid it without breaking away from his lips, and he managed to take it off without pulling away either.

I started unbuttoning his undershirt as he started undoing my suit jacket. We broke apart for just a second to tear our shirts off. Darko's bare chest almost glistened as the moonlight shone on him through the tiny slits in my blinds. My jaw fell at the sight of him.

Muscly, but not brawny. Fit, but not skinny.

Snapping me out of my gaze, Darko unbuttoned my undershirt. He threw it across the room.

I pushed him off, causing him to sit on the couch spot next to me. Before he could recover, I was on his lap now. He wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing my body closer to him. I dipped my head into his neck, kissing his skin tenderly.

Pulling away to catch my breath, Darko slipped his hand around my back, kissing my neck with his warm lips. I let out a moan as he travelled down my bare skin, his face meeting my chest. He delicately kissed one of my nipples, earning him a moan.

"Darko... I need you so badly..." I said to him, my mouth centimetres from his ear. Hearing him laugh, he lightly pushed me off of him and laced his fingers into mine.

"Let's go to your room."

~

D A R K O ' S P.O.V

I woke up to the light chatter of morning birds outside, and the soft snores from Taylor. Light bled through my curtains, filling the room with a hazy golden colour. Taylor's sprawled like a starfish next to me, belly down, the blanket barely covering him.

Last night's events came rushing back to me, and I'm filled with happiness. Pure happiness. Everything went so right.

Turning my body to him, I roll onto my side and wiggle closer to him. I watch as his shoulders rose and fell with every breath he took. I lifted my arm, stroking his back's bare skin.

"Wake up, my good sir," I mumbled to him, tracing lines with my thumb around Taylor's shoulder blade. After a moment, I felt him stir underneath me. With a small moan, he turned his head to face me, his eyes opening ever so slightly.

"Good morning," Taylor said, yawning. After a quick stretch of his arms, he lifted himself toward me and planted a tender kiss on my lips.

"How are you feeling? Last night was..."

He pressed a finger to my mouth, shushing me. "It was good. It's still good. I can't believe we went that far."

I smirked. "I can't believe everything that's happened. I mean, everything."

A soft chuckle filled the space between us. "Me too."

The air seemed to swell to a stop, nothing but the warm morning sun, birds, and neighbourhood traffic filling the room. Taylor's with me, in ways I couldn't have ever imagined, and I'm glad. Blissful. Peaceful.

Both of us can hear our phones going off, but those worries were far from us. Sure, Bella told Taylor that she won't tell my parents about us, but that's one person compared to the hundreds that were there at the concert. Either by rumour, social media, or something else, my parents are going to find out, one way or another, and... well, I dunno. Plus, Taylor did just out himself, so bullies are going to be on him like sharks.

Beyond these bedroom doors, hell's waiting for me. For us. But, I don't really care anymore. And, judging by Taylor's expression, he doesn't either.

I only care about the boy that's wrapped in my arms, softly smiling at me, the morning sun glinting in his eyes. My good sir. One look at his face and nothing else seemed to matter. Plus, we have Lyra, Owen, and Stefan in our corner. Bella will come around as she promised. As long as we have each other, we can survive anything.

"I love you," I said. Taylor shuts his eyes and buries his face on my chest, my skin warming up instantly. A soft hum reverberated against my heart.

"I love you too, Darko."

=====================

Woah. It's over. It's finally over.

Final QOTC: how much do you love Darko and Taylor? ;)

Please don't forget to comment, vote and share!

Much love,

J.S x