Page 16 of Survivor
Chapter Ten
Taylor
Summer 2015
Throwing the sheet back and climbing out of bed, Taylor shuffled into the kitchen where he knew a fresh, steaming pot of coffee would be waiting for him. He could probably navigate his way from his bedroom to the pot blindfolded, but he peeked through one eye just to be safe. Leaning against the cabinet, he savored the first cup, taking his time to enjoy it before pouring another and heading into the bathroom to shower. The graduation ceremony was later that day and he was uncharacteristically nervous for some reason. Perhaps because this would be the last time he’d walk across a stage and accept a piece of paper declaring that Taylor Langford had achieved his Master’s degree in Social Work. Or perhaps it was the fact that he was going to see Frank for the first time since spring break when he’d driven home to Dallas for the week.
Leaving his entire support system in Dallas when he’d decided to attend college in Austin had been hard on Taylor for the first year. Going from his foster parents’ home in Highland Park to a small apartment just off campus in Austin was a bit of a cultural shock. Had it not been for Frank and his best friend Bradley driving up with him and spending a week helping Taylor get moved in and settled, he might not have lasted very long. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fend for himself or live on his own. No, it was going from being constantly surrounded by people that made him feel loved and safe to a campus full of strangers that threatened to hold him back that first year.
Something he’d learned about himself during all those torturous years of psychiatrists and therapists was that he was afraid of being alone. But then, having your parents murdered while you slept in a crawl space in the attic of the only home you’d ever known…waking up to find that everything you knew was being taken away from you…being forced to move in with a family that wasn’t yours…well, that could make anyone a bit mental.
A loud bang caught Taylor off guard and pulled him from the memories of those early days with the Stones. It took him a minute to focus and recognize that the banging was actually someone knocking at his apartment door. “Just a sec,” he called out, jogging into the bedroom and pulling on a pair of sweat pants.
He was almost to the door when there was another series of loud bangs followed by a familiar voice. “This is the Dallas Police Department responding to an un-noise complaint!” Caleb Knight, Frank’s partner and best friend was waiting on the other side of his front door. And if Caleb was there, that meant Frank was not far behind.
Taylor jerked the door open and grinned at the man he thought of as an uncle. “An un-noise complaint? What the hell is that?”
Caleb grabbed Taylor’s arm and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. “That’s a violation of college boy party rules is what it is, Taylor. It’s entirely too quiet around here.”
“Which is why I like it,” Taylor was quick to respond.
“Okay, step aside, Knight, and let a girl get some love.” Justine hip bumped her husband out of the way and literally jumped into Taylor’s arms, her legs wrapping around his waist. Her curly, black hair tickled Taylor’s nose when she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tighter than her husband, if possible.
“Good lord, I leave you two alone for five minutes to park the car and find your wife clinging to the kid like a spider monkey,” Frank called out as he climbed the stairs and came up behind Caleb.Goddamn, but the man looked good, Taylor thought.And that smile could light up a small village, bright and welcoming.He was so happy to see Frank that he didn’t even mind being called Kid. There was a brief flash of emotion in Frank’s eyes, something Taylor had seen occasionally over the past few years. It was like he was seeing the want and need he felt mirrored in Frank’s stare, but it was gone in a flash, Frank blinking and looking away for a moment.
It took both men to extricate Justine so they could all get into the apartment. “You guys are early. I’m not even close to being ready.”
Frank stood and walked over to him, reaching up and gripping his shoulder with a firm grasp. They stood there, eyes locked on each other without speaking for a few seconds. One corner of Frank’s mouth lifted to form a lopsided grin. He turned Taylor around and gently pushed him toward his bedroom. “You go get ready and I’ll see what you’ve got in the kitchen as far as drinks and snacks while we wait.”
“And Taylor?” He stopped and turned back when Frank spoke. “We’re all very proud of you.” He nodded once before stepping into his bedroom and closing the door behind him.
Taylor fought the urge to go back out into the living room and ask Caleb and Justine to leave him and Frank alone so he could tell Frank the truth, tell him how he felt about him. But that was a conversation best saved for later. This weekend was about his graduation and not his infatuation. Besides, the Stones had put a lot of effort into making this weekend amazing for everyone Taylor loved.I’ve waited this long; what’s a couple of days more?
His apartment was already mostly packed, and the moving company was due to arrive the following day to load and carry his belongings back home to Dallas. His foster parents had rented a suite at a local hotel that weekend for Taylor, Frank, the Knights, and Frank’s father, Hubert. On Sunday morning, they were all either driving or flying back to Dallas and then on Wednesday, they were headed to Frank’s family home in Martha’s Vineyard for three weeks. That was where Taylor would make his move, make the man he longed for his. Much like the lighthouse on the beach across from the cottage at Martha’s Vineyard, Frank had been a beacon of hope for Taylor the past ten years.
The beach held so many happy memories for Taylor, so many firsts: Charlie taught him how to drive a car on the long, winding road they had to drive down to get to the Moore home. He’d learned how to sail under Hubert’s watchful eyes on his Catalina 380. Valerie and Justine more made him, rather than taught him, how to bake a cake for his fourteenth birthday, his first birthday at the Vineyard. His very first kiss was with Billy Scranton in the boat house.
Once Taylor was old enough to really grasp the concept of gay versus straight, he felt sorry for all the people that were shunned by their families, ridiculed by their peers. He’d come flying out of his nonexistent closet at fourteen one night over dinner when Valerie had innocently asked if there were any girls at school he might be interested in.
“Ewww, no! I don’t like girls. I like boys, like Frank,” Taylor stated very matter-of-factly.
As he grew older and began dating, sowing his wild oats, so to speak, there was never anyone he liked enough to get serious with. Shannon was a contender for a while there, but ultimately, he wasn’t the man that had captured Taylor’s heart.
