Sage’s POV

“I know the past 3 weeks have been hard for you and I haven't been making it any easier by bringing Shawn around and I’m sorry for that. You are the most important thing in my life and I didn’t meant to hurt you.” Taylor mumbled trying to hold back the tears that were in his eyes.

I looked away feeling tears sting my eyes and tried to blink them away but knew I was failing miserably. He was right, losing my mom and having Shawn back in my life were the most stressful things that I could possibly deal with. I’d managed to ignore all of Shawn’s attempts to talk to me with an excuse of hanging out with the guys or having to work or just ignoring him but I knew that’s what Taylor was getting at. The look in his eyes told me that he was doing something that was difficult for him and I was sure it was about Shawn.

“Taylor, I love you. But I cant forgive him right now, after everything that happened, I don’t know if I ever will.” I played with the edge of the kitchen table trying to hold on to the little bit of courage I had. “He hurt mom and hurt us. I wont just push that aside. I’ve made it without a dad for a long time and I’m not ready to just jump back into his arms for comfort. That’s what I have you, Cleo and the guys for.”

“I’m sorry I brought it up.” He stood up with a hurt look on his face and walked toward the door.

“I understand you wanting him around, I want him too but I’m too stubborn to give up. You and him have always gotten along better than we have so I get it.” I followed him to the living room as my anger grew because he wouldn’t even stop to listen. “Hey!”

“What?” He turned around with a tear running down his cheek. “What am I supposed to say? I forgave him because he’s all we have besides each other. You can be angry or just ignore him or do whatever you want but I’m going to keep him in my life. You don’t have to agree with it, all I ask is for your respect.” He was pissed.

“I do respect you. That’s all I wanted to hear, I wanted your side of it.” I reached out and touched his cheek. “I love you bubba.”

“I love you too sissy.” He wrapped me in a hug and held me close to his chest. “I really need to get going, Cleo and I have dinner plans and I have a long drive back.” We pulled back from the hug and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Okay, drive safe.” I knew it wasn’t true but I didn’t care, I actually did have plans for the night. “Text me when you get home.”

He nodded and turned to the door. I watched him walk outside and to his car. Everytime he left, I felt lost. When he was gone and I was alone in the big house, I felt tiny and lost and left alone to face the world but I was pulled out of that by the guys usually.

I’d been spending a lot of time with them since the Oregon trip. Things between Zayn and I were getting better, we got along but it wasn’t like before. I always made some sort of flirty comment toward Niall and Louis just because that’s how we were with each other and Louis always took it a little too far but nobody seemed to mind. And Harry, we started flirting again and talking about getting back together but always settled with “if it happens, it happens” we never wanted to push things and I was okay with that. He was always there when I needed someone and I was there for him.

And I’d been dealing with the loss of my mom. I went to therapy every Tuesday evening to talk through my feelings and was actually doing pretty well. Between my friends being there for me, family understanding how I felt and my therapist helping me, I was learning to deal with how I felt without shutting everyone out.


“Can you do me a favor?” I asked looking over at Liam who was sitting on the counter across the kitchen.

“Sure” He shrugged standing up.

“Can you get me the chocolate chips please?” I asked hearing the tv turn off.

Liam smiled and went in the pantry to grab them. He can back to me with a smug smile and I knew he understood why I couldn’t get them myself. I looked down at the batter feeling my cheeks turn pink.

“Here shorty.” He mocked setting them next to me.

“It’s not my fault you and Harry are giants and think it’s smart to put stuff on the top shelf.” It was stupid of me to make them put the groceries away but I didn’t want to do it.

“We aren’t giants.” He always acted offended when I talked about this height but I knew he was kidding.

“Compared to me you are.” I giggled adding in the chocolate chips.

“Compared to you everyone is.” He chuckled leaning against the counter next to me, still wearing that smug smile that was adorable.

“Shut up.” I frowned.

He kept laughing as he kissed my cheek. He knew that I wasn’t that short but loved to bug me about it anyways. I looked up at him as he sat on the counter and smiled when he started singing along to the music that came from the living room. Harry and Louis walked around the corner from there and looked at me with a pleading look.

“Sagggeeee?” Harry looked like a puppy begging for a treat as he walked around to stand behind me.

“What?” I asked shyly when his arms wrapped around me.

“I love yooouuuu.” I knew he wanted something when he said it like that.

“Spit it out, what do you want?” I almost laughed.

“Will you come out with us tonight?” He knew I didn’t want to go.

“Do you not remember last time we all went out together? Let me remind you, where’s Niall so I can show you his broken hand?” I really didn’t want to go, I was nervous something would happen between us again and I didn’t want that to happen.

I stopped what I was doing to turn around. He was watching me with intensely green eyes that were mesmerizing and I couldn’t get away. I knew he understood my fear but I also knew that it wouldn’t happen again.

“Please Sage?” He begged, both with his words and his eyes.

“Fine.” I was a sucker for his green eyes and cheeky smile, those dimples were my kryptonite and he knew it.

“Yay! Thanks babe.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

I didn’t know how to react since we hadn’t kissed in front of the guys and I wasn’t sure how they’d react but I stopped fighting it and let my lips move with his. He pulled back after a few seconds and opened his eyes slowly.

“Ew.” Louis mumbled with a grossed out look on his tanned face.

We both laughed and flipped him off before kissing again. He shivered and walked away while Liam shook his head and laughed.

“He’s so childish.” Liam chuckled walking out of the kitchen loking down at his phone.

“I can’t believe you did that in front of them.” I was still surprised but he didn’t look affected by it.

“Why not? They're going to have to get used to it.” He smiled and looked into my eyes.

“What?” I seriously didn’t get it.

“You're so blonde.” He chuckled. “Sage, can we just make it official so I don’t have to try and explain our relationship to them? You know we both feel this in our hearts and I’m tired of acting like we’re only friends who sleep together.” He was right, I could feel it in my heart but I wanted to give him a hard time.

“Only if you ask me right.” I demanded with a smile on my face.

“Fine. Will you be my girlfriend?” He sighed.

“No.” I shook my head and crossed my arms but saw a confused look take over his face. “That’s not how you ask a girl out, dinner and a movie is the proper way to do it.”

“You’re so difficult.” He said tiredly as he touched my cheek lightly. “But you’re worth it.”

I could feel my cheeks burn red when I leaned up to kiss him. He laughed into me and wrapped his arms around my waist. When we pulled back he fixed the back of my shirt and kissed my cheek before helping me with the cookies I was attempting to bake.

Notes

They're adorabe! Thank you for reading, even you silent readers. I'm thankful for all of you!