Author's Note: So…I know: An update of LIB? WTF?!

I am well aware that this has been a looooooong time coming (ELEVEN freaking months to be exact!). This was the unfortunate consequence of a writer's block and a disinterest in writing in general. So if I still have any reader's left… I am SO sorry! You should all know that I have realized that writing is my passion and the air I breathe and that not doing it for over half a year made me miserable, so expect updates a lot more frequently from now on!

I'm aiming for about a chapter every two weeks. More often than that would just be a vain promise since I have to other stories to keep up with as well. But my goal for this one is as stated a chapter every two weeks and hopefully, I'll be able to keep that up.

Ok, so here's the next chapter, please leave your reviews at the end, because there really is no greater motivation. And also, if this makes no sense to you since it was so long ago I updated, just skim through the last chapter quickly and it will all come back to you. Thank you! (And once again, I am SO sorry!)

Chapter 8: Conversations

Taylor and Kaitlin remained in silence for a while; Kaitlin just staring at a point of the table, her eyes still flashing with anger, but not uttering a single word, and Taylor too remaining quiet, even if she on the inside was practically bursting with excitement to find out what it was that was bothering Kaitlin. She was pretty sure she knew what it was all about, because after living with the girl for several months, even if it was six years ago, she had learned exactly the way she reacted in every kind of situation. Taylor was always quick to pick up on that because she loved studying body language, and had taken several psychology classes, and Kaitlin wasn't very hard to figure out, as Taylor had learned. And if Taylor knew Kaitlin as well as she thought she did… this was about a boy.

Taylor was already drawing up a list in her mind of who the potential boy was. She had already eliminated Jake from the list since he was in Europe, and Kaitlin had only just gotten upset after opening the door. So this was most likely someone else all together, maybe someone new, and Taylor had to know who this someone was! Okay, so it was possible that it made her the craziest, sneakiest person in the entire world, but Taylor just had to know everything about everyone; curiosity was one of her most prominent virtues, and lord knows that there certainly were a lot of them! It was probably also the raging hormones within her that was making her just quite this insane, or well… at least that seemed like a satisfying excuse.

So now all she needed was for Kaitlin to start speaking… But how was she to get her to do that? Should she go with the slow, easing-in approach, or the full-frontal Townsend Tornado?

Taylor's mind was already working overtime to figure this out, so she was very surprised indeed when Kaitlin muttered something under her breath that interrupted her thought process:

"I hate him."

Aha! So she'd been right! A tiny gleam of triumph was enough to immediately put all of Taylor's sneaky-abilities to work. "Who? Jake?" she asked cleverly, knowing that the question was enough for Kaitlin to have to give her a more detailed explanation. Seth may think he's the stealth one, Taylor thought privately with a slight smile, but he really doesn't stand a chance.

"No…," Kaitlin said, heaving out a big breath of air. She was debating over whether or not to tell Taylor about the arrogant idiot that had stalked her to Seth's and Summer's… What had he said his name was? Dan? Denny? Danny? Whatever, she didn't care, the only reason she'd ever need to know his name was for court reasons if she'd have to get him a restraining order. It's not like she gave a damn about him, he just got on her nerves.

"He, um…" She found herself having words such as arrogant jerk and stalker in her head, but when she opened her mouth to say them aloud, no sound came out. It was as if something inexplicable, something she would never have been able to explain or even begin to understand, even in her own mind, was holding her back.

It was kinda funny in a way. Kaitlin was used to having guys coming on to her and since she'd had a boyfriend the bigger part of the past few years, she was also used to blowing them off completely, or letting them down easy depending on what type of guy it was. Ever since meeting Jake, she'd never even considered being with another guy, so that had never been a challenge, and her feelings had always been completely neutral to all the men she'd rejected.

And then what's-his-name's face had appeared in front of her, and she'd just been instantly overcome with hate, much to her own surprise. She wasn't used to feeling so strongly about people based on her first impression of them, but with this guy and his arrogance she'd just instantly loathed him. Yeah he was an ass that most likely slept with hundreds of girls each week, but was that really deserve the glacier-cold shoulder she'd given him?

What she couldn't figure out at all, was why the hell she was still thinking about him?! He was just some guy, and it wasn't as if she was ever going to see him after the way she'd just killed all his possible hopes. So there was no reason to even give him a second though now that she had her purse back, and therefore there was no reason to tell Taylor all about his stalker-ish ways and cocky smile, and stealing her purse…right?

"Yeah, it's Jared," she concluded after the sight of her baby brother chasing Sophie around in the living room had caught her attention. "I kinda hate him. I mean, he's been waking me up at like 7 am every morning since I've gotten home, and that's, like, totally inhumane. So yeah, he's driving me crazy. And then there's my mom with her overprotective supervision and midnight curfew, and I'm 22, you know? So I reeeaally need to get my own place."

Taylor gave her a slight smile, knowing perfectly well that she had managed to avoid what was actually on he mind, and that Kaitlin by no means hated her little brother. But she decided to let it slide, figuring that Kaitlin would tell her when she was ready to talk about it. Whatever that problem was about, it would have to wait and until then, she'd have to put her own curiosity aside. But Taylor realized she could help Kaitlin with her other problem; the family issue that had kept her complaining all evening, even before the door bell had rang. "Oh my god! You could totally move into my apartment!"

Kaitlin gave her a startled look, partly because the suggestion caught her totally by surprise, but also because she knew the guy she considered a brother, and she knew he was no fan of change. "Really? You think that would be okay with Ryan?"

For a fraction of a second, Kaitlin could've sworn she saw a gleam hesitation in Taylor's eyes, but the next second, it was as if it had never been there.

Taylor flashed her another brilliant smile and continued in a very fast, excited pace: "Of course! I mean, I practically live at Ryan's anyways, and with the baby coming, it's not like we have any need for two apartments, so I don't see why that would be a problem. I'd just have to get my stuff out and you could move in, like, next week or something."

"Okay, sure. That sounds totally awesome. Thanks!" Kaitlin smiled, now excited about the prospect of living on her own again. So what if she wouldn't get the dream apartment she'd just visited, but she'd been to Taylor's place before and it was a nice apartment. Just big enough for one person, and not too far away from campus, it was a really great option.

"Glad I could be of some help!" Taylor said, once again flashing all those pearly whites. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll head back to the party and do some mingling! I am the hostess after all," she added with an excited wink. In one swift motion she rose from her chair and skipped away with steps that just seemed too light for a woman who was bothered by rock-around-the-clock morning sickness.

--

"So how was the honeymoon?" Ryan asked the newlyweds, eager to take his mind off of the subject that was occupying his mind at the time.

"Oh god Ryan you wouldn't believe how much it sucked!" Seth exclaimed dramatically. The way he stressed the words believe and sucked indicated that he'd been holding off the topic during the entire time of the party, just waiting to thoroughly explain every detail of it. Which, knowing Seth, was probably the case.

"Okay, now I'm soo out of here!" Summer said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "Living through his whining the first time was bad enough, I think I would have to kill him if I heard the repeats."

"You wouldn't do that, you know you love me!" Seth called after her as she started walking away.

"Yeah, maybe a tiny, tiny bit, hidden deep within me." She turned around scolding, but the corners of her mouth still twitched in a mischievous grin.

Ryan raised an eyebrow, but Seth just smiled. "It's just this little thing we do," he assured his brother casually.

"You know, with you two, nothing surprises me anymore," Ryan said with a shook of his head.

"Yeah okay, about the honeymoon, though…," Seth began, by now feeling he'd been patient enough and started rambling away. Ryan just nodded, welcoming the distraction, as he for the first time in his life felt thankful for the way his brother could blabber on forever about nothing.

--

While Kaitlin exited the kitchen to join Julie playing with Jared and Sophie, Taylor decided to do some mingling and made her way over to Kirsten and Sandy in an attempt to be the best hostess she could possible be.

"So you guys enjoying the party?" she asked with a polite smile, only now grasping that she was holding her breath in anxiety. Suddenly, her palms were a little wet with moisture and she realized that she was very nervous about talking to her unborn child's grandparents. She had barely exchanged more than a few sentences with them since her return from France and feared that things would be awkward. She wanted so desperately to fit into the clan, for them to start seeing her as part of the family, even though she and Ryan had only been together officially for three weeks. Her insecurities got the best of her and she broke out in a nervous ramble before either of the Cohen's had the chance to answer her question. "I mean, I know it's not a real party or anything, and that it was very last minute, so I barely had any time to cook or bake anything special, so I just threw some stuff together really quickly, and-"

Kirsten gave her a warm welcoming smile. "Everything's great, Taylor. It was a really sweet thing of you to do."

Taylor exhaled in relief and flashed her a grateful smile, never getting the chance to continue her nonsense blabber as Summer came to join the group.

"Ugh," she said, her face crinkled up in an unpleased grimace. "I just had to get away from Cohen a little. He's over there giving Atwood the load down on our honeymoon, and he's like more excited about talking to him than he is normally around Chrismukkah, so I thought it best to give them some alone time. I mean seriously, you should have heard his whining on the plane home about how long it'd been since he'd talked to Ryan face to face. If I didn't have the pictures and the legal documents to prove it, I think I would forget that I'm the one he's newly wedded to and not Atwood."

She finished with a dramatic eye roll, making everyone laugh. They all looked in the direction of the two brothers, Seth happily illustrating a story with big hand gestures and odd facial expressions, but all Taylor could see was the man she loved standing next to him.

Ryan was just shaking his head and laughing along, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. Seeing him like that; so happy, made it impossible for Taylor to even sense the fear and confusion that had been bothering her over the past couple of days. All the anxiety over the rush and dramatic changes that their relationship had been thrown into and with all the changes that were to come… what was there to worry about? They were both getting everything they had ever dreamed of; true love, a family, so what could possibly be wrong with that? What did it matter if the circumstances weren't the best, and if everything around them was a mess when all their dreams were coming true?

And surely that was the way Ryan had to feel too, so why should she bother him with her own pathetic and shallow concerns? Everything was okay. Right?

--

"… and it wasn't as if I was ever really threatened, I mean, Zach shaves his chest, and well I might not have a whole lot of chest hair to show off with, but at least I'm not gay enough to shave it away. I am a man now after all and men just don't do that…"

Seth kept rambling on, and Ryan was doing his best to laugh at all the right places and occasionally, when possible, he tried to put a few words in to let his brother know that he was listening. Yet, even though his brother's storytelling rant per usual was so overwhelming in speed and details that it made Ryan's ears bleed, he still couldn't quite shake what was on his mind. And for some unexplainable reason that Ryan would never understand, even his brother in all his self-absorbedness, seemed to notice.

"Hey, Ryan, are you okay?" Seth suddenly asked, interrupting himself in the midst of a sentence. "You look kind of… broody."

Ryan raised a skeptical eyebrow in surprise, as if this was supposed to be a change in his behavior of any sort.

Seth seemed to catch on. "Not that that's not normal for you…," he continued quickly, "… I just figured you seemed so happy when Taylor was talking about the ultrasound and showed the picture and everything, and then all of a sudden you are in broody-Ryan mood once again. So is there something going on with Taylor that you're worried about?"

Ryan cursed under his breath. Since when during the 10 years that he'd known Seth had he EVER paid attention to the thoughts and emotions of anyone other than himself? Why today of all days, was the day that he decided to take notice of that stuff?

"Look, Seth there's nothing going on," Ryan announced with a sigh. "Taylor and I are fine," he finished with an irritated look, stating he was done with the topic.

"Okay, so I know that look; it conveys that you don't want to talk about it, which okay, I can understand since it's very… you. But just in the spirit of being a man now and everything, I'll leave you with a little manly advice…"

Ryan scoffed at this, a hint of a smile on his face.

Seth however ignored his brother's disbelief, and lowered his voice as he said: "…But if there IS something that worries you concerning your relationship with Taylor, and I'm not saying there actually is since that look basically said it all, but if there is… Just talk to her, man. If there's one thing I learned from this crappy honeymoon with Summer, it's that in a relationship, things are always easier to figure out when you do it together."

Ryan couldn't deny that he was in a bit of a shock: Seth interrupting one of his rambles in concern of someone else, not pressing for details when realizing something's not right, and then offering grown-up advice in the spirit of Sandy Cohen… "Huh, maybe you really are becoming a man," Ryan stated finally, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Thank you! Now, if I could just convince Summer of that…"

--

Just talk to her…

Seth's advice echoed in his head as he and Taylor were driving home. All during the drive, Taylor had been gushing over her conversations with the girls, and how much she adored Jared and Sophie, and even Ryan found it difficult not to be affected by her enthusiasm and found himself smiling on more occasions than one.

But regardless, he still couldn't shake Seth's words that seemed to be permanently etched into his mind. This was possibly because it was probably the first thing his brother had ever said that had made any sense whatsoever, but it just seemed like the logical thing to do. In theory it sounded so easy; just string a few words together into a coherent sentence and tell her what's on your mind.

Of course, theory and reality are rarely the same thing. And the biggest problem he was struggling with was that he didn't know what to say. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure what he was concerned about in the first place since he was certain of the fact that he loved Taylor, and the family and life that they were building together. He still wanted all the things he'd ever dreamt of and he wanted them with her- of this he was certain.

Yet, he still couldn't help feeling of overwhelmed because everything had happened so quickly. And then there was the doctor's words; "He's what made you change your mind?" What did that mean?

"So are you going to your place or mine tonight?" he asked her, suddenly realizing he'd automatically driven halfway to his own apartment.

"Um… I was thinking my apartment actually," Taylor said in a wary voice, carefully monitoring his facial expression to see his reaction.

"Oh, okay," he nodded.

"Yeah, you see, I need to clean it up a little. Because tonight when Kaitlin and I were talking, she mentioned she'd been looking for an apartment, and well… I told her she could move into mine," she finished with a nervous exhale.

Taylor studied Ryan's face, but it remained unreadable in the few seconds of silence that laid between them. And as he didn't say anything, Taylor spoke again, her words picking up in both speed and pitch as she continued: "I mean, we've talked about moving in together officially for quite a while, and I practically live at your place anyways, so I told her that it would be okay for her to stay there, and that she could move in as soon as I just got my stuff out of there. I know I probably should've told you first, but she just got so excited, and I figured it wasn't that big of a deal, 'cause I mean you were all cool about finding out you were becoming a dad, so then this definitely shouldn't be too weird. It's not like we'd want to raise our child at two different places anyways, and my apartment isn't even that big, and…-"

"Taylor, it's fine," he told her finally, interrupting her nervous breakdown.

"Really?" Taylor wondered cautiously, exhaling after what had been a gold medal's worth of verbal diarrhea.

"Yeah, I mean it makes sense," Ryan concluded, rationalizing it out loud. "Like you said, you practically live at my place anyways, and by having Kaitlin stay in the apartment it saves you the trouble of having to find a new tenant and stuff, so it makes sense. I understand, it's fine."

It wasn't exactly the reaction she'd hoped for when she'd decided to tell the love of her life that she thought it was time for them to officially begin their lives together, but it would have to do. "Guess I'll have to tell Kaitlin that it's okay for her to move in, then."

Ryan just nodded, praying that Taylor couldn't see how ghostly white his knuckles had turned from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

Note: I'm sorry about this chapter. It's a pretty boring filler-chapter and I'm sorry if the characterization fails and if there are a lot of mistakes in this chapter. I don't really like this myself. Honestly, I was just tired and figured it was better to get this much delayed chapter up and running so I can continue this story, rather than trying to make this chapter perfect. I promise I'll try harder for the next installment of the story and that you won't have to wait very long! Now, whether good or bad, please review and tell me what you thought of this.

Review!