The next morning, I woke up with my hair a mess and my body sprawled out all over Taylor's bed, where he was sitting up against the wall where he had fallen asleep on his computer. His alarm on his phone was going off, so I figured it was about eight thirty, or around there because he had to get up and get to the team breakfast at nine.

"Taylor, Taylor," I said, poking at his side.

"What?" he asked, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"It's eight thirty," I replied.

"Shit," he remarked, opening his eyes and moving his laptop.

"How late were you up?" I asked.

"Two," he replied, rubbing his eyes, "Maybe three."

"Damn Tay, you have to play today, what the hell were you doing?" I asked.

"Trying to figure out how your mom got out and got here," he replied, "She got acquitted, but on certain terms that said she had to enter one of a number of treatment facilities around the country. She got a week in a halfway house in Buffalo to make up her mind and she chose Aladine and I think we both know why."

"I can't believe it," I remarked, shaking my head, "Why the hell does she want to be in my life all of the sudden?"

"I don't know babe," he sighed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"You need to get going," I said after we had sat there for a few minutes.

"I know," he sighed, shutting his laptop and kissing me on the lips.

"Coach noticed the hickey on my neck yesterday," I laughed.

"Oops?" he grinned.

"You're such a dumbass," I laughed, playfully shoving him toward the wall.

"You love me anyway," he smirked, sneaking his hand to the back of my neck and firmly kissing my lips.

"Sometimes," I laughed between kisses.

"All the time," he grinned, his hands in my hair as our lips danced together and my lips trailed down to his neck.

"Maybe," I said, taking a quick breather.

"Ouch, damn Tess," he laughed, "That's going to leave a mark," he said in my ear, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand straight up.

"I know," I smirked, kissing him on the cheek, "Better get ready loverboy, team breakfast is in five minutes."

"Damn it," he said, checking the time and jumping out of bed.

"Run fast," I laughed as he pulled on his track suit pants and jacket and slipped on his shoes.

"See you later," he said, quickly kissing me on the lips before running out the door.

###

Aladine won that afternoon 5-1 and Taylor had two assists. I was waiting out in the lobby for him afterward when I saw Kayla Lewis standing near the doors into the arena. Part of me wanted to lunge at her and claw her eyes out of their sockets but another part of me just wanted her to see Taylor and I together and ignoring her. Twenty minutes after the game, Taylor managed to get out of the locker room before everyone had cleared out of the lobby.

"Good game," I smiled as he walked over to me in the middle of the lobby.

"Thanks," he said, a smile across his face as he snaked his arm around my waist and pressed his lips firmly against mine.

"Damn," I laughed as he pulled away.

"See who's here?" he asked, a grin on his face.

"Yes I did and I assume you do too," I said, a smile on my face that matched his.

"Let's get going," he laughed, letting go of my waist and grabbing my hand in his.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We have reservations down at that Italian place, what is it, Guiliani's?" he replied.

"Oh do we?" I asked as we walked out of the rink.

"Yes we do," he laughed.

"What time?" I asked.

"Six fifteen," he replied.

"Do I need to change?" I asked.

"If you want," he replied, "You've got thirty minutes until we should leave. I don't need anything from my place if you want to get ready."

"Okay," I replied, "Let's just go to my place then, I should probably wear something nicer."

"Yeah, jeez Tess," he smirked as we walked into my hall.

"Are you even old enough to make dinner reservations?" I laughed as I unlocked my door.

"Maybe," he smirked as we walked into my room.

"What's this?" I asked, taking a look at my bed where there was a long bag.

"Something for you," he replied.

"Taylor, you didn't have to do this!" I exclaimed, opening the bag to find the dress I had liked at Macy's when we went to the mall over break.

"I didn't have the money to get it for you over break so I ordered it when we got back," he replied, "Is it the right size? I just kind of guessed."

"Yeah, it's perfect. Thank you so much," I replied, checking the tag, "Seriously Tay, you didn't have to do this!"

"Yes I did," he argued with a smile, taking my hands in his, "I've been trying to get a damned reservation since we got back and I've had it all planned in my head since break. I just wanted to take you on a real date."

"Thank you," I smiled, reaching up and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"You're welcome," he grinned, "Now you should probably get changed and do what you need to do because we should get going soon."

###

Twenty minutes later, we were just approaching the restaurant downtown. It was a few blocks from the four corners in a historical building that had been renovated a few years ago, according to the plaque on the wall. It was the nicest restaurant in Aladine, one of only a handful that you had to have a reservation for. I was pretty impressed with Taylor when he told me he had made reservations at the nicest restaurant in town, I was even more impressed when he gave me the dress that I had told/him about nearly a month ago.

"Welcome to Giuliani's, can I get your name?" the hostess, an older woman with silver hair, asked as we entered the lobby.

"McCarthy," Taylor replied.

"Right this way," she smiled, leading us into the dimly lit restaurant, "Here we are," she said, leading us to a table in the middle of the restaurant, "Your waiter will be with you momentarily."

"Thank you," Taylor said before she walked away, "I'll take your coat," he said with a smile as he pulled out my chair for me.

"Thank you," I smiled, slipping out of my coat and handing it to him before sitting down.

Taylor McCarthy, believe it or not, had manners, he just chose not to exhibit those manners sometimes and act like a moron. Somehow he ended up a pretty good guy, despite the fact that his parents were assholes who didn't pay attention to him growing up because they were too busy arguing. I always knew that Taylor was polite and chivalrous, no matter what the girls at school had to say about him. He had always held the doors, pulled out chairs, opened the car door, for me whenever we went somewhere, something that not a lot of guys had done for me, even on dates.

"What are you going to get?" he asked as we looked at the menus after ordering drinks.

"I'm not sure yet," I replied, "Everything looks great. You?"

"I think I'm going to get the alfredo," he replied.

"You look like such an adult," I said, cracking a grin.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself," he grinned, "You clean up nice, sometimes."

"Back atcha McCarthy," I winked.

"Stop it, I'm trying to adult," he remarked, trying not to laugh, "I feel like they're going to kick me out if I make too much noise."

"I'm afraid to touch anything," I snickered, "Think you can adult for a little while longer?"

"I'll try," he laughed.

###

Our little excursion to the fancy restaurant while trying to be adults for a little while lasted for about three hours. Afterwards, we went back to Taylor's, where my dress was soon found on the floor as I rummaged through his drawers to find something to wear that wasn't a dress.

"Would it have killed you to wear that thing for five more minutes?" Taylor laughed.

"Yes, it just might have," I laughed.

"But you looked so hot," he smirked.

"I'm standing here in my underwear, how is that not hotter?" I laughed as I grabbed a pair of his sweatpants and a sweatshirt from his drawers.

"I could probably live with you staying in your underwear," he remarked.

"Well you're going to have to live with me not being in my underwear because it's cold," I laughed.

"Those are a little long," he snickered as I put on his pants, which were about six or eight inches too long.

"I know, but they're warm," I retorted.

"Want to watch a movie?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied, jumping in his bed next to him.

We spent the next two hours watching some kind of cheesy action movie on Taylor's laptop, I fell asleep twice but ended up waking up after twenty minutes each time because the volume was so loud on the movie.

"Let's go to bed," I groaned as the final credits played.

"You sound like such a baby," he laughed.

"Well I'm tired," I retorted.

"Fine then, let's go to bed," he said, shutting his computer and setting it on his desk that was behind the headboard thing on his bed.

I pulled the covers up to my shoulders and buried my head in Taylor's chest and soon dozed off to sleep.

###

"Tess, Tess, wake up," Taylor whisper yelled a short time later.

"What the hell, it's like two thirty," I groaned, not even opening my eyes.

"I know, come on we're going on an adventure," he said, pulling on my arm.

"No," I groaned as he pulled me out of bed.

"You'll thank me later," he laughed, picking me up and carrying me out into the bitter cold and setting me in the passenger seat of his car.

"I swear on my life that if you're going to Taco Bell I will kill you Taylor Matthew McCarthy," I warned, rubbing my eyes as we drove out of the city.

"We're not going to Taco Bell," he laughed.

We drove about ten minutes out of town into a parking lot of some storage facility ten miles out of the city limits.

"Where are we?" I asked as he put the car in park and turned it off.

"The middle of nowhere, where there aren't any city lights," he replied, getting out of the car and grabbed a couple of blankets from the backseat, "Come on, I have a surprise."

"I'm not having sex with you on the hood of your car if that's what you're trying to make happen," I remarked as he laid a blanket over the hood and windshield.

"Nope," he laughed, "There's a meteor shower tonight and we happen to be in the perfect place to see it and I know you've always wanted to watch one."

"That's so thoughtful," I said with a genuine smile on my face.

"Don't mention it," he grinned, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as we laid there on the car, waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dark.

We sat there for hours, watching the thousands of meteors fly through the sky. I'm not sure how long we were actually there, I fell asleep after a while. I was about 10% awake when we got back to campus, awake enough to open my eyes and try to unbuckle my own seatbelt, but Taylor reached across and undid it for me before getting out and carrying me back up to his room.

"I love you Tay," I remarked, my voice hoarse and groggy.

"I love you too Tess," he said, kissing me on the cheek as he laid down next to me.

###

***