It Could Have Been Perfect

Well, not really sure where i'm going with this, I imagined one scene and it wouldn't go away so it turned into this: My first ever multi-chapter fic! Please let me know wot you think!

Prologue

Taylor adjusted her hair, adding more grips to hold any loose strands in place, and then checked over her make-up once more in the mirror. Perfect. She gave a satisfied nod at her reflection and stood up, smoothing out any wrinkles in her black dress. She looked great, just like she had planned to.

It was her birthday and this time, unlike her 19th birthday, she really was being given a surprise party. The only problem with this party was that she already knew about it, and therefore, effectively ruining the 'surprise' factor.

But that didn't matter anyway, she was a great actress, she'd just act surprised and no one would be any the wiser. And, if by chance someone did happen to figure out that she knew then she would just blame Ryan.

After all it was his fault she had found out about the party.

A few weeks back she had noticed that he had been acting strange. She had walked into the room a couple of times whilst he had been on the phone and as soon as he noticed she was there he hung up, and he had began to close the door to his office at home, which he never did before. She tried not to read too much into it at first, but she couldn't shake away her suspicions when he told her that he was spending the day with Seth and to not expect him home for dinner.

Okay, so that wasn't exactly suspicion rousing information.

What had caught her attention though was that when she called Summer to arrange a girl's day out, what with both their men gone, Summer had informed her that she and Seth were actually looking after Sophie for the day. They were trying to get in as much practice as possible. Taylor had laughed and said that she must have gotten mixed up, but as soon as the phone was cradled back in its receiver she had her game face on.

Ryan had come down the stairs and kissed her goodbye on the cheek. As soon as he had left she raced up the stairs and grabbed the large white and black stripped hat she had used the first time she had come back from France, and her Jackie-O style sunglasses. Her disguise good to go, she had followed Ryan's car.

The whole time following him, she had began to think the worst, not even music could dislodge the grim thoughts that this mission would end with her finding Ryan with another woman. She had tried to think back to what she could have done to drive him away, their sex life was still good. At least she thought. Had she done something wrong, had he just lost interest?

Her thoughts drifted back over the last 7 years that she and Ryan had been together. They had started out with some problems, with Ryan not quite being over Marissa's death and her French husband showing up, but they had helped each other over come all of them eventually and when Taylor got back from France the third time, it hadn't taken them long for them to move in together. They had chosen to stay in Berkeley to be close to the rest of the Cohen's and Cooper-Roberts-Atwood clan.

For over two years now she had felt like she had been floating along in a bubble of happiness, such that she had never previously thought possible. She and Ryan had been closer than ever, she enjoyed her job and had great friends. All in all, an amazing life. Now she was about to find out if her bubble was about to be burst.

She had been so distracted she hadn't even realised that she had followed Ryan to Newport. Although, she had come back a few times to visit her mother, Ryan hadn't been back to Newport since he and the Cohen's had moved to Berkley. Or at least not that she had been aware of.

She watched him pull up to the valet of the yacht club and hand his keys to the guy standing on the curb. She had to duck her head a little when she saw that he had stopped and looked around before going in. Once she had been sure that he had gone in, she got out of her car and made her way to the entrance. She didn't see him right away, but she'd heard the distinct larger than life voice of the club president greet him out on the balcony area. Keeping as out of view as possible she manoeuvred to the door leading to the outside, so that she had been able to hear everything.

Ryan asked what kind of decorations would be available, how the tables would be set up, where the band was going to go, and when Mr President asked him why he was coming all the way from Berkeley, she had been able to picture the small smile on his face when he had replied by saying that it was a place where something special had happened.

She was sure that her heart had stopped beating for a second, and she had been paralyzed by pain. She believed that all her terrible thoughts in the car had just been confirmed. Ryan had met someone else, on a trip to Newport, that she hadn't known about, and that it was 'special'. She had been so wrapped up in her distress she hadn't realised that the men had started to head back inside. Panicked, she had hid behind the only available thing- a tall, thin plant.

It was only when Ryan had said her name that she realised the plant did nothing to hide the wide brim of her hat, or, well, her. It had taken Ryan a while to calm Taylor, once the initial pain had passed, and never having been one for keeping things in, Taylor had let Ryan know how she felt. Although she had barely been eloquently expressing herself, he had gotten the gist and began laughing.

No, Ryan hadn't met someone else and no, he wasn't laughing at her pain. He had been laughing because he shouldn't have expected anything less from Taylor. He had taken her hand, and looked into her eyes, making sure she heard every word, and told her she was the special thing that had happened here. Their first kiss.

"Wow. You look…wow."

Turning around Taylor faced Ryan, dressed up in a dark suit with a shirt and tie, he didn't look too bad himself.

He held his hand out for her to take, smiling in the way he does around her, he asked,

"Shall we go?"

TBC

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