Chapter 8:
The plan was set. Taylor was going to stay away from the hotel for the rest of the day until Mason got there later that evening. When she arrived, she would see if Isaac and Zac were still waiting and would distract them if they were, or give Taylor the green light if they were nowhere to be seen. He would then get to the hotel, pack up his things, and run off to Mason's apartment, leaving no trace of his presence at the hotel. Luckily, Mason had inside access to the hotel's computers and could completely delete Taylor's reservation history, truly making it as if he had never been there.
Leaving him with a free afternoon on his hands, Taylor decided to catch up on his New York sightseeing, blending himself into the crowd. He figured his brothers were either still at the hotel waiting for him, or checked into a different hotel themselves where they were busy communicating with people about his whereabouts. Which left Taylor feeling pretty certain he wouldn't run into them and therefore comfortable enough to go out alone in broad daylight.
It was around six-thirty that evening that he got the call from Mason.
"Your brothers checked into the hotel," she said. "Apparently, whoever was here before me told them that a Jordan Hanson did have a room here even though we're not supposed to give out that information. But they just walked out, saying something about going to dinner. So if you're close, I can sneak you in through the back employee entrance."
"Yeah, I'm right around the corner. I'll be right there," he said.
He met Mason on the side of the building in a small, deserted alley and she showed him to the employee stairwell. There was no chance of his brothers crossing paths with him this way, even if they did return from dinner at that very moment. As quickly as he could, Taylor packed up the room he had been staying in for what seemed like forever. Mason called him a cab, and Taylor snuck back out the employee exit, no brothers in sight.
During the ride over to their apartment, the whole situation became very real. Up to this point, he could dream about hiding out in New York forever, thinking he was invincible, and that the city was too big to be found in. Clearly his brothers had some professional help - probably a private investigator tracking his credit card or something. Therefore, he was going to have to figure out when to talk and exactly what to say when they eventually came face-to-face. His brothers wouldn't give up and they would find him again. He was certain of it.
Alexa greeted Taylor with a smile when she answered the door. "Well, if it isn't the runaway."
"Thank you so much for letting me crash here," he said as he walked in, pulling his suitcase behind him.
"It's our pleasure," Alexa said. "Hopefully you're safe here."
She closed the door and stepped into the living room with him.
"I doubt it. I'm sure they'll find me again, but hopefully by then I'll have things figured out."
"Let me show you to your room," she said, heading for the hall.
"I get a room? I thought I would just be crashing on the couch. Aren't there only two bedrooms in this place?" he asked as he followed behind her.
"Yeah, so?"
"I don't want to kick anyone out of their room. I really am fine on the couch," he said.
"No worries, you aren't kicking anyone out. This is our extra bedroom," Alexa said, opening the door to the room at the end of the hall.
Taylor walked in behind her, trying to understand what she meant.
"Wait...where does Mason sleep?" he asked.
"In the other room," Alexa answered, clearly confused as to why he was so confused.
"And you?"
"In the same room as Mason," she said.
Complete bewilderment took over Taylor's face and Alexa's eyes lit up in realization of what was going on.
"Mason told you that she and I are together...didn't she?" she asked carefully.
Taylor's jaw dropped and words were not even possible. He didn't even know how to digest that information.
"Oh, shit," Alexa said. "Clearly she didn't fill you in on the whole story. I'm really sorry, I thought she told you."
"I wasn't...wait...what?" he asked, finding his voice but still unable to form a sentence.
"Mason is my girlfriend. We're not roommates - we're in a relationship. I thought you were aware of that this whole time," Alexa said, concern creeping into her voice.
"Um, no."
"Did you not know that Mason is bisexual?"
"I think she may have mentioned something about it in passing years ago, but I just chalked it up to her being young and experimenting. She always was a little on the wild side. But I never thought she would end up being in a relationship with another woman," Taylor managed.
"Look, I really blew it here, but I just assumed she had told you. Hopefully it's okay and you still want to stay here. I'm sure you two can sit down and talk when she gets home tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, we're definitely going to have some words," he said.
Alexa gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, let me leave you to get settled in. I'll be in the living room if you need anything."
With that, she backed out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving a completely dumbfounded Taylor standing in the middle of the room not even sure if he was awake or dreaming. He needed time to process the information he was just given. He had a million questions running through his mind and zero answers.
* * * * * * * * *
"Morning," Mason greeted when Taylor emerged from his room and into the kitchen the next morning, "Coffee?"
Taylor nodded with a yawn. Sleep was hard to come by the night before. He couldn't shut his brain off.
"How did you sleep?" Mason asked, handing him a mug of steaming black coffee.
"Why didn't you tell me that you're with Alexa?" he blurted out as he took the mug.
Mason froze, knowing perfectly well that she'd kept a huge piece of information from him for much longer than she should have.
"Um..." she began and took a deep breath before sighing in defeat. "I don't know."
"Don't you think that is the kind of thing I should hear from you, my friend, not out of the mouth of your girlfriend that I've known for what? A week?"
"I know! I should've told you, and I had every intention of telling you. But every time I thought about it, it just didn't seem like the right time."
"Oh, so you just waited until I was stuck, until I moved my stuff over, until you could have your girlfriend do the dirty work for you."
Mason sighed, her guilt evident in the way she hung her head and stared at him with apologetic blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, Tay. I can't imagine how shocking it must be for you, but I never hid the fact that I like girls from you. I just tended to date guys, until recently. Alexa is kind of the first real relationship with a girl I've ever had. It felt weird to tell my ex-boyfriend that. I didn't want you to feel worse than you already did. I didn't want you thinking that this had anything to do with you."
"I'm trying not to think that, but it's really hard. You were so not a lesbian when we were together. Trust me, I vividly remember the things we did," he said.
Mason couldn't help but laugh, "So do I, and you're right. I'm not a lesbian. I very much enjoy being with men, but I also enjoy being with women. Alexa is the same way. We just kind of found each other and it fits."
"So she can't make up her mind either? Good to know."
Mason sighed again. "I don't want this to change anything, Tay. We still want you to stay here. You knew all along that we lived together, and that's still the case. Nothing has really changed that much."
"Yeah, except the small fact that you guys sleep together."
"I really am sorry, Tay. I should've explained it to you sooner. I don't know how to remedy it. I will totally understand if you decide you don't want to stay here anymore. There won't be any hard feelings."
"I just need time to think about it," he said and then turned to leave the kitchen.
But the same question was running through both of their minds: how much time would he need?