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She's just finished yet another dance rehearsal; it seemed like the brunette had little else going for her lately. Though, then again, they were practicing for a show coming up. That generally meant having to practice morning 'til evening. It was a good thing too, that she studied dance at the academy and could use the hours she spent in rehearsal instead of actual class.
Some classes, anywho.
Stepping through the doors and into the chill January air, Eleanor hoisted her bag over her shoulder. Her entire body ached. A group of the girls she rehearsed with barged through the doors, loud laughter filling the cool night air which made more than one head turn in their direction. It had the brunette rolling her eyes.
Turning to the side, she was immediately stopped in her tracks. Brown eyes landed upon the face she'd sworn she'd avoid with all her might. He was standing with a group of people she could only assumed he worked with and since luck was never on her side, the sound of the bubbling laughter had attracted the group's attention, too.
"Oh, you've gotta be fucking shitting me." She breathed.
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
Rookie hazing aside Taylor did have to admit there was something about the level of camaraderie he found within the military that seemed to be present in law enforcement. He found it comforting in a strange way, despite how much shit everyone tended to give each other. It reminded him of the relationship many siblings had where they may have been at each other's throats 24/7 no one else was allowed to start anything with them. So as expected, Taylor took his lumps for his recent traffic stop misstep and promptly accepted an invitation to go out with some of the guys.
Of course he wasn't going to be allowed a night away without something going awry.
"Son of a bitch." Taylor muttered the moment his attention was drawn to a familiar face in the crowd. He hesitated, eyes flicking back to the group of cops he was with before exhaling. He shouldn't bother. It wasn't as if he and Ellie had been anything in the first place and it'd been years since they'd seen each other. He wasn't the same person and he assumed she wasn't either. The smart course of action would be to cut his losses and move on. Live and learn.
Which was exactly why he broke away from his group and started toward the brunette woman.
The moment he drew towards her, she swirled around. Couldn't he just leave well enough alone? She was doing just fine at keeping her distance and here he was stomping all over like a damn ogre. Pulling the bag closer to her side, she started down in the opposite direction.
But of course, her walking away didn't stop him. It never had, so why did she think it would work now?
Again, the brunette swirled, this time stopping. "Could you not?" She hissed at him. It was like being stalked by an annoying puppy so desperate for attention it'd go through flames to get it. She might have exaggerated a bit, of course.
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
Taylor expected her to turn and walk away. It wasn't the first time she'd reacted this way and he'd be surprised if it was to be the last. Naturally he was undeterred. He was nothing if not stubborn and more than a little foolhardy. Ellie, for some reason, tended to bring out the worst in those two qualities even after all this time.
"Ellie, wait." He called, quickening his pace a bit to catch up. No matter how their initial meeting after he'd returned to the States had gone he felt she at least owed him five minutes to explain himself. "I just want to talk."
She stared at him, eyes narrowed. A wise man would have left her alone a long time ago. Of course, most people that ever met Taylor would never claim him to be very wise. And that clearly hadn't changed over time. "Well, I don't." She fired back.
It probably would have been easier if he'd just stayed away, like she'd thought he would. She'd never expected to see him again, and she'd come to terms with that. She'd gone on about her life, and she assumed he had too. It would have been better, of course, if things could have just stayed that way.
She continued walking again. "Just go away."
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
"Why?" Taylor presented the question stubbornly. He left, yes, but it wasn't as if he had done so under dubious circumstances. He was honest and straightforward with her. The two of them hadn't ended on bad terms despite the ambiguity carried by their relationship from the very beginning. Even now he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened should circumstances had been different.
"What is so wrong about talking?" He asked defiantly, still keeping pace with her.
He was far too stubborn to give up. She knew that. She knew that by heart and yet, giving in felt like an impossible task. Perhaps it was her pride getting in the way. She could have been reasonable and let him talk and maybe it would have been over with.
Reason wasn't something that came easy to the brunette, though.
"You're annoying, that's what's wrong with it." She stepped to the side, entering a small alley way; her private shortcut. She rarely, if ever, saw anyone else using it. It was rather nice. Or rather, it would have been nice had she not been followed.
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
Another frustrated sigh escaped at Ellie's reply. They were both insufferably stubborn and it was apparent neither of them wanted to give in to the other. This would be no exception. Taylor persisted, now moving up alongside Ellie as she walked. His hands went to tuck into the pocket of the dark blue hoodie he wore and he exhaled slowly, regaining his composure after the initial rush that came with seeing her again.
"Look." He said, his voice calm. "I know it's been a long time. I don't expect anything, I just want to talk, catch up, see how you've been." Taylor's gaze shifted sideways, casting a glance in her direction. His features were softened, less frustrated and intense as was common when the two of them were together. "Is that really too much to ask?"
She rolled her eyes. It felt natural at this point, as if it happened by instinct. She tossed a glance his way before shaking her head. "I don't care." Still, she stopped. The bag dropped to the ground and she turned to face him, arms crossed over her chest.
"You can't just come back and expect me to drop everything to listen to you spiel about your life." She raised her eyebrows at him. Irony hit her then as her eyes dropped to her bag. She quickly picked it back up again, as if it hadn't already ruined the point she'd been trying to make.
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
Taylor stopped when Ellie turned to face him, his brows furrowing in confusion. He was used to her escalating the situation far beyond reason but this was unlike even her. She was putting words in his mouth and alleging intentions he didn't have, let alone had voiced. Usually it took very little for Ellie to go off on him, but in the passed she at least needed a reason.
"What are you talking about?" He countered, eyes dropping to follow the bag as it landed upon the ground only be to hastily scooped up. "I never asked you to drop anything, I only wanted meet. You're acting like I did something to make you hate me." The frustration was returning, though it remained tempered by a newfound calm that felt strange coming from Taylor. "After everything I didn't think talking would be such a big goddamn deal."
"You're following me even after I told you I didn't want to talk. What do you call that?" She countered back. She was acting like a child and she knew it. She wasn't about to admit to it, of course, but she knew. "I have nothing to say." She had plenty, of course. She always had something to say. It rarely was what Taylor seemingly wanted to hear, though.
Fingers curled around the handle of her bag, knuckles turning white. Even after all this time he still made her blood boil. It was ridiculous and unwarranted. She knew that too. There was plenty of insults rolling on her tongue. Plenty of things she could have said in an attempt to push him away - or piss him off. Instead, she just stared at him.
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
Another exhale accompanied the every growing frustration that was most commonly associated with attempting to open a door by bashing one's head repeatedly against it. In many ways talking with Ellie mirrored this analogy and, quite frankly, Taylor was beginning to tire of it already. They had played this game endlessly and it was obvious little had changed over the years. Taylor's head shook, hands coming to rest upon his hips as he glanced down to take in every word she spoke.
"Fine." The abrupt answer came after a long pause. Taylor shrugged and threw his arms up dismissively. He wasn't going to do this. Not here, not now and not again. "You've made your point." And with that he turned on his heel and started for the entrance to the alley.
"What?" Her expression changed from annoyance to blank confusion in an instance. Never, during any of their encounters, had she ever experienced him giving up that easily - or at all. And for once, Eleanor had absolutely nothing to say. No quick remark, no witty insult or even something that could even be considered remotely insulting.
"That's it?" She asked, more so to herself than to him. He wasn't putting up more of a fight? "O-okay, then." Blinking, her free hand came up to scratch the back of her neck awkwardly. "What the fuck." The voice came out in a breath, barely audible.
Now what?
Taylor McCarthy
I gave you the last word, and that's the last thing you'll take from me
Taylor was done. He was truly done. All this going back and forth wore on him years ago before he'd gone home and he wasn't in the mindset to go over it all again. The two of them had walls that took months of collective head smashing to bring down even a little bit and for it to seem as though they'd gone backwards was more than he could handle. He didn't know what he'd expected. Ellie had always been aloof and infuriatingly stubborn. He didn't know what he'd done while away to make her suddenly hate him again but he was damned if he was going to put up with it.
"Yeah, that's it." Taylor shot back with more malice lacing his words than intended. He didn't stop or turn around. He wasn't calling her bluff. She'd said her piece and made her thoughts on the matter startlingly clear. "What'd you expect? You've been pretty fucking clear about all this, so... yeah." He had nothing left to say. An arm went up, dismissing the entire situation with a wave. "Bye."
If anything, he was the one being stubborn. He was the one being childish. She narrowed her eyes at him as he walked away. He walked away. She'd be damned if she allowed him to have the last word. Reaching down, slender fingers curled around one of her flat shoes. And then, without thinking, she hurled it at him.
"At least I didn't leave."
She grabbed at her other flat shoe, lifting her arm in the air to throw that at him, too.
