Keeping A Straight Face | ✔

30 | A New Beginning

T A Y L O R ' S P.O.V

Friday Evening, February 15th 2014.

I sat down next to Bella. She had stopped crying a while ago, but judging by her crooked frown, her pale face, and the hitch in her breathing, she was still upset.

"You remember that time when we snuck out of our house to go to the circus carnival a year back?" I asked her. Hesitantly, she nodded.

"We had so much fun. I remember you nearly threw up on the merry go round after you had too much cotton candy. Do you remember going on the Ferris wheel with me, and we were gazing at the entire carnival from dozens of metres up?"

She flashed a smile, before returning to her frown. "That was a fun day."

"And," I continued, "when we got home, you threw every single excuse you could think of at your parents but only I knew the truth?"

"Yeah. I still can't believe that they fell for it all."

I smiled reassuringly. "Bella... I've heard so many stories from so many people as to why you've been doing this. Blackmailing Darko, threatening Owen, lying to Lyra, and manipulating Stefan. You've always been truthful to me, no matter what it was about. Can I know why you've done all of this? The real reason?"

She rocked her head back, resting it on the wall behind her, closing her eyes. "Everything I've said to other people is a lie. I lied to Nicole when I said I wanted to date you because you'd become famous. It's all lies."

She turned to me. "It's been a reoccurring thing in my life, Tay. I've lied to my parents since as far as I can remember. I've never had any friends, and my last relationship, the one with Trent, is based on false statements as well. I don't know, I just get a thrill from doing it. It's a great feeling convincing others."

She looked up at the sky. "Then you came along. For some reason, I couldn't lie to you. You were and still are the sweetest, kindest boy I've ever met. All my life I've been manipulating others and telling others what to do to live. When I'm with you, I didn't have to do any of that. I felt so free."

"Somewhere along the way, I... I fell in love with you."

"I thought I had a chance. I genuinely thought I did. Then you came out to me and told me that you were head over heels over Darko. Of course, I became resentful of Darko because his presence was a threat. I became scared. I didn't want to lose you. So, I became ruthless. Stopping at nothing until Darko's reputation was destroyed and you were all mine again."

She wiped another tear from her face, smearing her makeup. I placed my hand on her hand, causing her to flinch for a moment. She relaxed when I lightly squeezed it. "That... that all changed tonight though. I heard your song, then you told me off on stage. I realised two things."

"What were those things?" I questioned. She smiled.

"The first thing was that I needed to stop being so angry about it. I let vengeance consume me. I was so afraid of losing the one person that let me be happy, that I ended up losing myself."

"The second thing was that I realised you and Darko really do love each other. I feel so terrible to have gotten between you two."

She faced me again, tears streaking down her cheeks once more. "Taylor, I know my actions were horrible. Blackmailing, manipulation, exploitation and threatening to out someone is some of the worst things you can do. I'm a bad person."

Her voice cracked. She hastily wiped her nose. "But I am pleading for one more chance. I know everything I've done is wrong. I don't want to risk losing you again, Taylor-"