“Rose? What’s wrong?” he asked, trying to smile.
“I can’t do this,” she said.
“What?” Taylor asked, confused.
“I can’t be with you,” Rose said.
Taylor felt himself freeze. He had never thought he was so repulsive to Rose that she wouldn’t even be willing to consider him.
“I am sorry,” Rose said, and ran away, leaving Taylor standing there, devastated.
∞∞∞
Taylor was hanging out with his friends in their favourite hangout spot. Lucas had brought his recent girlfriend, Brittany, and she had brought her entire friend group. Normally, Taylor would be charming the pants off the prettiest girl, but today, he just sat there, drinking.
In fact, he was well and thoroughly drunk right now. He didn’t understand why Rose had rejected him like that. They have been growing closer and closer for the past few days. Taylor had been trying to change himself, drink less, party less, and be less cocky. Now, he wondered why he even bothered with it.
He didn’t know why Rose affected him so much. He had never been the kind of guy who lays down flat and lets the girl walk all over him. Yet, he had done it for Rose. He changed his ways, he had changed himself, for her. He didn’t know why his heart was hurting so much.
He had done his best to change for her, in what little ways he could. He stopped drinking and spending all night partying. He had stopped mating with random girls. In fact, he had been trying to concentrate on training and reading books. He didn’t know what else he could do. This alone was hard for him. It meant changing his lifestyle completely, and what made it harder was that he had lived like this since he was young. Yet, he was still trying to give up his bad habits.
“Hey, man. All okay?” Jacob said, coming to sit down next to him.
“Yea. Fine,” Taylor said, trying to fake a smile.
“You sure? It’s Rose, isn’t it?” Jacob asked. “Look man, I have had my fair share of problems with Christina. I can tell when a man is moping about a woman.”
“Yea, alright. Man, I don’t get it. I have known her for years. Why do I feel this way?” Taylor said.
“Yea, the feelings really fuck you up. All your life you have been living without this person, and suddenly you find your mate, and within a few days, you can’t imagine life without them. This mating stuff drove me crazy. Look, I always liked Christina, and I had always been insanely attracted to her. But I never really paid these feelings much attention. Then when we found out we were mates, it took me less than a week to fall madly in love with her,” Jacob said.
Taylor took a swing of his drink and said, “I guess. I kissed her today. I thought things were going well between us. We were friends. We had fun when we hung out. We had deep meaningful conversations. I tried to change for her, man. Then I kissed her, and she pushed me away, and said she can’t do this.”
“That’s harsh. I am sorry. Things will work out though. This mating stuff messes with your head. Sometimes I feel like it’s some joke the moon spirit plays on us. Things do work out though. Maybe you should talk to her,” Jacob said.
“Nah, man. I am done. I tried my best. I changed for her; I made her my priority. I respected her dreams and wishes and tried to help her. I can’t do it anymore,” Taylor said.
“Taylor, buddy. You want to be with her. You will be miserable without her. Trust me. When Christina and I broke up for a while, I was severely depressed. Your mates are a part of your soul. You lose them, and you will never recover,” Jacob said.
“I tried, man. She doesn’t want me. What can I do, force her into it?” Taylor said.
“Talk to her, ask her why. Maybe the way your feelings are confusing you, her feelings are confusing her. She must be feeling torn, if her feelings towards you suddenly changed. She probably just needs time to think and sort out her emotions,” Jacob said.
Taylor sighed. “Maybe. But this relation feels very one sided, right now. Like I am the one doing all the effort.”
“Yea. It feels like that at times. At least talk to her. Then you will know if there is something bothering her, or if she is genuinely not into you at all,” Jacob said.
“The opening ceremony is tomorrow. The championship officially starts,” Taylor said, trying to change the topic.
“Did you hear? Bellatrix is back,” Jacob said.
“Really? Dominque’s sister?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Jacob nodded and Taylor took a swing of his Sayor.
“She is here for the opening ceremony?” Taylor asked.
“She is. Who knows, she might stay this time,” Jacob replied.
“I don’t think so. She still hasn’t gotten over the loss of her parents. Whenever she comes back, this forest reminds her of it,” Taylor replied.
