Brooke and Taylor - Nice

Cassmas strikes again!

Hmmm, perhaps these posts are a bit like a holiday advent calendar...

I love that people pointed out last chapter that Ellie/Mia's naughty post was not just naughty - have you met me?! Lol

Alas - Christmas in Faircombe...

------------ Brooke and Taylor - Nice -------------

Taylor had spent the holidays in so many places and had delighted in experiencing so many traditions, but she had to admit – and she was at a point where she could admit – that she did love experiencing the holidays in Faircombe.

It was one of the only things she’d always enjoyed, even if she hadn’t returned to take part in it for a long time.

The holiday party thrown in town square with baked goods and hot chocolate and the bonfire, and the Secret Santa exchange – after the people partaking in the activity picked their name out of the large Santa hat the weekend after Thanksgiving. There was something about Faircombe that really did seem… magical around this time of year. Like something out of a ridiculous movie.

Only, what Taylor hadn’t thought much about in terms of the Faircombe Holiday Event was how much work went into it behind the scenes. It truly was not all smooth sailing, easy-going smiles, and good times with some holiday cheer sprinkles on top to make it all work.

And now that she was the mayor of this town, that was very much her business.

She stood and stretched from her desk after looking over some of the paperwork she’d been designated to review for the party in two weeks.

Her designated office hours went for another hour, but… Taylor believed very strongly that as long as she was in the Town Hall building, it counted as her completing her office hours.

And one of her favorite things to do during office hours, was go and see Brooke at the other end of the floor her office was on.

She lightly ran her hand down the festive garland that had been strung up along the railing in the hall, feeling a little pep in her step as she went.

She’d only arrived back home only two days ago, after having gone on a road trip through the Italian countryside. And while she’d had a fucking blast – especially as Ben and Jo had joined her, which had been Jo’s early Christmas gift – she’d been more than ready to come home and see Brooke.

It was truly a wonder, looking forward to coming home to someone.

Taylor thought it was exciting in and of its domesticity. In fact, the domesticity of it tickled her.

And even though she’d been wrapped up in Brooke throughout the weekend, she was still wanting for a little more time with her.

Especially with the holiday music she’d been playing in her office and the fact that it was just chilly enough for her to wear one of her cozy sweaters…

Yeah, Brooke could definitely do with a little interruption today.

Taylor had already opened her mouth to greet Marisa at her post outside of Brooke’s office, only to snap her mouth shut in a confused frown.

Marisa’s desk was empty; Brooke’s faithful assistant was nowhere to be seen.

Taylor checked her watch – it wasn’t Marisa’s lunch time yet?

Odd…

Taylor tapped her knuckles lightly on Brooke’s office door – more a warning than a question, as she’d seen Brooke’s schedule this morning and she knew she didn’t have any meetings right now – before she opened the door.

Brooke was staring down at her desk, a thoughtful expression on her face as she seemed hard at work on something, scribbling down the notes on the paper in front of her.

“Hey, you’re back early,” Brooke said, without looking up. That sweet-sounding drawl she had – so at-odds with her serious demeanor – made Taylor’s lips tick up into a grin, as it often did. “Did you get them?”

“Somehow, I’m not sure you know exactly who you’re talking to…” Taylor answered, softly closing Brooke’s door behind her, as she quirked a teasing eyebrow up at her.

Brooke’s head shot up, surprise filtering over her expression. “I thought you were Marisa.”

“So I gathered,” Taylor acknowledged, amused. “What’s Marisa out getting for you?”

“Nothing,” Brooke immediately answered – a little too quickly. “Just – something.”

She mock-gasped, tsking her tongue at Brooke. “Sending your assistant out on a personal errand for you while she’s clocked in, being paid by the taxpayers of this good city… Brooke Watson, I never thought I’d see the day.”

Was it – was it Taylor’s imagination, or did Brooke’s cheeks tinge a little pink?

Fascinated, she strode forward toward Brooke.

Who quickly snapped her notebook shut in a move that made Taylor pause once more.

“What was that about?” She asked, pointing at the notebook in question.

“What are you talking about?” Brooke countered in the worst possible attempt at seeming innocent in the history of mankind.

Taylor laughed, gesturing at Brooke’s desk as she walked around it. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe whatever top-secret notes you were just taking? Possibly related to Marisa’s secret mission?”

Brooke scooted out from her desk a bit, as if wanting to put careful distance between herself and the notebook in question. “It’s – nothing. Just… some ideas I was jotting down for the holiday party.”

Taylor walked closer, humming under her breath, filled with disbelief. “Riiight. And so, if that’s the case, there should be no problem with me seeing the notes? Since, you know, I am the mayor of this town and all.”

Brooke sat up straight in her chair, endearingly alarmed, as she shook her head. “No. They’re not important. It was just an idea.”

Though Taylor was curious – Taylor was always, unfailingly curious – she had more important matters on her mind right now.

She gripped the back of Brooke’s chair, before she straddled her in it, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she settled into Brooke’s lap.

Brooke exhaled sharply, her hands coming to grip Taylor’s waist – easily slipping under her sweater – and mhmm, this had been exactly what she’d been hoping for when she’d come on her mission to see Brooke.

“You, technically, still are supposed to be working your office hours,” Brooke murmured, her gaze falling heavily to Taylor’s mouth from mere inches away.

Taylor slowly, deliberately traced her tongue over her lip, delighted by the way Brooke followed the motion so closely.

Occasionally, she almost missed the times where Brooke used to pretend she wasn’t staring at Taylor all of the time. It made the teasing aspect so… satisfying for her. Like a little game.

And then Brooke’s hands tightened around her waist and Taylor shivered, and – yeah, immediately, that thought dissipated.

The teasing game may have been fun. But this was far better.

“Do you want me to go back to my own office, then?” She asked, and was much better than Brooke at playing innocent.

In answer, Brooke arched up and captured Taylor’s mouth with her own in a kiss Taylor was all too eager to throw herself into.

She slid her hands up Brooke’s arms, tracing over the lithe muscle in them, before sliding around to toy with the soft, little hairs that escaped Brooke’s always professional twist.

Brooke hummed against her, pushing up intently against her as Taylor could feel her shiver. Taylor shuddered in response, pressing herself down firmly into Brooke’s lap.

“I missed this,” she murmured against Brooke’s mouth, before drawing Brooke’s bottom lip between her own. She sucked on it, in the way she knew Brooke fucking loved, before releasing it, and –

A surprised, breathless laugh escaped her when she felt Brooke’s hands slide down and grip tightly under her thighs, before Brooke surged forward and stood up, taking Taylor with her.

“Fuck,” she groaned, tightening her hold around Brooke’s neck, for stability and wrapping her legs around Brooke’s waist.

She was a little shocked at just how much it aroused her – every time – when Brooke did something like this. When she hoisted Taylor up and had Taylor hitch her legs around her in a way that seemed to drive Brooke crazy.

Like having Taylor wrap herself around Brooke was precisely what Brooke wanted, and that was absolutely fucking wonderful for Taylor, because she wanted to be wrapped around Brooke just as badly.

Brooke took two steps forward, lowering Taylor onto her desk. One of her hands stayed on Taylor’s thigh, massaging Taylor through her leggings and making her shiver in anticipation, as the other came up to grip a handful of Taylor’s hair, tugging.

She willingly moved with Brooke, dropping her head back and giving Brooke the access to her neck that they both wanted her to have.

When she rolled her hips, though, she shifted back an inch or two, and felt something on the desk poke sharply into her right thigh.

Frowning, panting for breath as Brooke’s mouth moved along her throat, she blinked her eyes open and looked down at whatever it was that was poking into her.

That freaking notebook.

She slid one of her hands down from Brooke’s back, reaching for the notebook to move it.

And then, they both froze at the sound of a knock on the office door.

Brooke’s mouth – much to Taylor’s disappointment – left her neck as Brooke lifted her head to the door. “Yes?”

Taylor, despite the heat and the disappointment at being interrupted mixing together inside of her, found herself grinning at how breathless and throaty Brooke sounded. God, it was a good sound.

Brooke seemed to know exactly what was on her mind, as she shot Taylor a look and cleared her throat.

“Sorry – yes?” She called out again, a little clearer.

The disappointment was clear on Brooke’s expression, as she took a deep breath and eyed Taylor once more… before she made herself take a step back. It was truly fascinating to see the way she was trying to slip into work-mode right in front of Taylor’s eyes. She tilted her head, content to remain right where she was for the moment.

“Hey, Brooke?” Marisa’s voice sounded on the other side, before the doorknob turned, and the door opened.

Marisa came to a halting pause, blinking widely at them in obvious surprise, even as she very clearly tried to bite back a smile. “Um… well. I was just coming to let you know I got, uh,” she shot Taylor a look, the smile slipping from her expression. “The – stuff.”

Taylor grinned over her shoulder at Marisa. “Hey.”

“Hey, Mayor,” Marisa returned with a wave of her free hand.

Her other hand had some sort of envelope?

Taylor latched onto it, arching her neck to try to get a better look.

Only for Marisa to seem to realize what she was doing, and she quickly put her hand behind her back, shielding whatever she was holding from Taylor’s view. Rude.

“Thanks Marisa; I’ll grab everything from you later,” Brooke’s tone was anything but subtle, and it made Taylor snort from sheer amusement.

“You got it, boss,” Marisa returned, saluting Brooke with that mysterious envelope, before she realized what she was doing and quickly darted it behind her back again. “I’ll… leave you two to it.”

With that, she backed out of the office, aiming a cheeky grin at them at the last minute, before she closed Brooke’s office door again.

Before Taylor could turn to look at Brooke again, she felt Brooke almost leap forward, seizing the notebook that Taylor’s hand was resting on.

Brooke clutched it to herself, frowning. “This – you can’t see this, yet.”

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows, looking from Brooke’s face to the notebook, then back. And just like that, the curiosity she’d managed to put to the side for this rendezvous returned with a vengeance.

***

If there was one thing Brooke B. Watson wasn’t, it was mysterious.

That was, actually, something Taylor very much loved and enjoyed about her partner. She loved that she knew what Brooke was thinking, what she was feeling, just by a minute expression on her face.

It was so entertaining when Brooke was ranting about someone in town or something stupid that came across her desk.

It felt like such a wonderful connection to have now that she was mayor, and she found herself sitting across the table from Brooke during meetings. Even without a single syllable uttered, Taylor could lift her gaze to Brooke’s and read her expression like a book. They ran meetings like a well-oiled machine, without needing to say a single word to one another.

Then there were the moments when they’d be at home together, and Taylor would be playing with Gremlin or cuddled up on the couch working on a post for her website, and she’d be able to feel Brooke’s eyes on her. And when she looked up, she could see the love in them. And, sometimes, the disbelief that this was her life.

When Brooke had picked her up at the airport after Taylor’s latest trip, she’d been able to see the raw anticipation and excitement on Brooke’s face.

And that night, when they’d gotten home and Brooke had gone down on Taylor like she’d never had a drink of water in her life and Taylor was an oasis, she’d looked down and met Brooke’s gaze – because she knew she’d never been desired like that in her life.

Which was saying something, because Taylor had been with possibly more than her fair share of women, and she’d always felt wanted.

But not like that.

It really was something. To be so… in-sync with someone. To be so connected.

Taylor had experienced a lot in her life, but she’d never experienced this. Though she hadn’t felt like she’d been missing anything… well, she’d never known that a feeling like this existed. A feeling of being rooted to someone else, but in a good way.

With that warmth buzzing through her, she exuberantly marched toward the den, where Brooke was sitting.

“I found them!” She announced, barging through the doors with excitement.

And – huh. That was strange, she thought a moment later, turning to quirk her head curiously at the double door entry to the den. They almost never shut those doors.

As she turned back to Brooke, she was able to catch Brooke scramble – yes, it was the only word for it. Brooke scrambled – to shove something behind the cushion.

Only after whatever she’d been doing was out of sight did Brooke blow out a breath, and look up at Taylor. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright, as she asked, “What did you find?”

Narrowing her eyes, Taylor looked from the couch cushion that Brooke had not-smoothly-at-all put something behind, back to Brooke. “What?”

Brooke cleared her throat, nodding intently at Taylor. “You said you found something? In the basement? Where you, uh, said you were going to be for at least a half hour?”

Suspicion curled through Taylor, so heavily, even as she blankly nodded. “Hmm… yeah. Right.” Shaking herself into the moment, she recalled her triumph. “I found the stockings!”

She presented them, proudly, to Brooke, and absolutely adored the way Brooke’s dark eyes widened, and the way her sweet smile curled over her mouth in surprised joy.

“Where?” Brooke asked, standing up and walking over to her to reach out for the stockings in question. “I swear I went through every bin of holiday décor in the basement.”

Taylor looked down at the stockings in her hands, at the soft, reverent way Brooke ran her nimble fingers over the knitted material.

Taylor’s mom had knit these for them so long ago that Taylor couldn’t quite recall having a Christmas without them. Well, without hers. A couple years into Ben’s friendship with Brooke – when it became undeniably clear that she was a mainstay around their home – she’d made Brooke her own family stocking.

It was something – a small thing – that Taylor hadn’t thought about in a long time. Her hand-knit stocking with her name across the top and a little reindeer design on the front. But when she’d spent her first Christmas back, Ben had given it to her, after having kept it along with all of his holiday decorations over the years.

“I believe you went through every bin,” Taylor agreed. “However, did you root behind the Halloween decorations, because that’s where the smaller bin with these and the holiday tablecloth had fallen. Likely with the help of a little Gremlin.”

“How did she even get in the basement?” Brooke muttered with exasperated affection in her tone.

Taylor shrugged, grinning at the idea. She’d truly come to absolutely adore all of Brooke’s cats, but… Gremlin was special.

She slid her gaze back to where Brooke had been sitting, focusing on that couch cushion – truly what a terrible place to try to hide a gift! – that was askew.

“So… what were you doing in here?” She asked.

Brooke blinked up at her. “Um. What?”

She gestured at the couch, then at the doors. “You thought I was going to be downstairs for a specified amount of time. You shut the doors to the den. You hid something over there – obviously.” She repeated, locking her stare onto Brooke’s. “So, I repeat: what were you getting up to while I was in the basement?”

Brooke’s eyebrows lifted high on her forehead as she shook her head. “Nothing.”

Taylor arched Brooke a look. “So, if I were to wander over to the couch, and reach behind the cushion…” She started to do just that, taking a few steps in the direction –

Only for Brooke to leap forward, looking adorably and uncharacteristically flustered – yes, she’d made Brooke flustered many times, but it was always because of something romantic or sexual or flirty. Not something that seemed so innocuous?

“Stop! Stop. It’s – I’m working on a gift, all right? So, you can’t see it.”

Interest absolutely piqued, Taylor slid her gaze back to Brooke’s. “A gift? I thought we were continuing our agreement about no gifts?”

Granted, she’d bought Brooke a gift – just some clothing, but she knew Brooke would love all of it. It was absolutely her style, and Brooke had her surprisingly large wardrobe upstairs. Taylor had carefully selected all of the pieces while she’d been in Italy. And had also purchased some hand-crafted and uniquely painted kitchen utensils from a local artist.

She’d just assumed she’d wait a week or two after the holidays, and then gift it to Brooke, as to make sure she was following their no Christmas gift conversation.

“It’s not – it’s just… it’s nothing huge,” Brooke settled on saying. “But it is a surprise. And it’s not done yet.”

Taylor landed her eyes on the couch, eyeing the cushion with interest…

“No snooping,” Brooke commanded, drawing Taylor’s attention once more.

Her expression was serious and exacting, and Taylor frowned at it. “I wouldn’t snoop!”

What a ludicrous suggestion!

***

“You’re a huge snoop,” Savannah affirmed the next day as Taylor recounted Brooke’s holiday surprise and how suspicious she was acting about the whole thing.

Like. What in the world had she needed to send Marisa out to get for her? What could she possibly be working on in the middle of her work day, and again at home almost a week later?

Taylor wanted to know.

In fact, Taylor wanted to know the answer quite a bit.

Something she was only now realizing was that while she loved a surprise – giving them and receiving them – she really didn’t love knowing that she was going to receive a surprise, and then having to wait for it.

Taylor’s mouth fell open in offense at her sister. “Excuse you?! When have I ever snooped through presents?!”

Savannah’s laughing blue eyes locked onto hers from across the counter at the bakery. She was working on the final touches to the assortment of pastries that had been ordered for the kids’ holiday party that was set to start in an hour.

It was the official first day of winter vacation, with Christmas only five days away now, and there was a Polar Express themed celebration that had been approved at the last city council meeting.

Taylor bounced her nephew on her hip, letting him wrap his cute, chubby toddler fist around her index finger as she shook her head at him. “Don’t believe the lies, Henry-boy. Your mommy is being a fibber.”

“Hey!” Savannah cracked back. “Don’t tell him that!”

“Don’t tell me I’m a present snoop!” She shot back in defense.

Savannah opened her mouth to respond only for both of their attention to be grabbed by the jingle of the bells on the front door to the bakery.

Marisa stepped in, already wearing a sweet little smile on her face.

One that froze as soon as she saw Taylor, her cheeks flushing.

Taylor grinned brightly at her – all right, maybe a little more brightly than she normally did, with the way Marisa’s eyes lingered on Savannah. “Well, well, well, Ms. MacDonald.”

“Hello, Vandenbergs,” Marisa greeted with a little wave. “I’m just here to grab the desserts for the Polar Express thing.”

“Doing my love’s bidding, as always, I see,” Taylor mused, playfully.

“I’m just boxing them up, now,” Savannah informed Marisa, ignoring Taylor. “Just give me a minute.”

“No rush,” Marisa was quick to say. Of course.

Savannah gaze Marisa a quick smile of appreciation, before she rolled her eyes back to Taylor. “Just so you know, snoopy snooperson, one of my most formative childhood memories at the holidays was you snooping through the house! Because I started following you around, and we both got in trouble for it! Sorry, sis, but Brooke wins this one.”

Opening her mouth to disagree, Taylor was hit with the memory Savannah brought up. She snapped her mouth closed, tilting her head in thought – huh.

She hadn’t thought about that in a long time.

Still, with the wheels spinning in her head, she turned to face Marisa fully, and used Henry’s little hand to point at her. “You. MacDonald. I know you know what Brooke’s cooking up.”

Marisa’s dark eyes widened, before she tightly rolled her lips. “I’m not saying a word.”

“Leave Marisa alone; if there’s anyone she’s loyal to in this town, it’s Brooke,” Savannah cut in, exasperatedly snorting out a laugh.

Taylor shook her head, turning her attention to her nephew, play-whispering, “I’m the Mayor in this town, little guy; you’d think people would show me a little more respect.”

“Besides, if it’s something she’s going to such great lengths to keep a secret, it’s probably worth waiting for,” Savannah mused, carefully putting the Savannah’s Sweet Tooth sticker on the box to seal it shut.

Gasping, Taylor turned to her sister. “You know!” She accused. “You know what Brooke is putting together!”

Savannah merely lifted her eyebrows at her, giving nothing away, as she gestured for Marisa to walk over to her to grab the desserts. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

She didn’t miss, however, the look between Savannah and Marisa, and that clawing need to know what Brooke’s gift was for her only dug in deeper.

***

By the time Christmas morning rolled around, Taylor was on pins and needles.

She laid in her and Brooke’s bed on her back next to her sleeping partner, patiently – or not – tapping her interlocked fingers against her stomach.

Fine. Maybe Taylor was a snoop.

She enjoyed surprises! She loved the unexpected!

But… she’d also gone for so much of her adult life not being on the receiving end of holiday and birthday gifts. Mostly because it hadn’t made sense for her to collect so many physical items. But also because even when her family did buy her gifts for the holidays, Taylor didn’t receive them until months after the day had passed, due to her own schedule.  

She’d only recently, since settling into having a home, come to see that there was a beauty in having some material possessions.

She liked seeing her belongings around the house. She liked having a place for all of her stuff, even if she was still selective about what she liked to own.

And knowing that there was something Brooke was painstakingly working on, that everyone seemed to be aware of, to give to her…

Well, it was impossible for Taylor not to think about it.

As the sun was starting to rise and the shafts of light started coming through the window and into their bedroom, Taylor’s anticipation reached its height.

She rolled onto her side, propping her head onto her hand as she looked at Brooke’s sleeping face.

So… sweet, as always.

Though she normally took her time admiring sweet, sleepy Brooke when she had the chance – that wasn’t on the table today.

She leaned in, nuzzling closely into Brooke’s cheek, planting soft kisses against the skin there. Then on her nose, her temple, at the corner of her lips. Until Brooke sleepily murmured, and her long lashes fluttered as her eyes opened.

With her face still smushed against the pillow, Brooke looked at Taylor. “Hmm?”

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered, kissing Brooke’s cheek again, inhaling her scent as she did.

This kiss was less about rousing Brooke from her slumber, and more about taking in the moment. That this was Christmas, and she was snuggled warmly in bed with Brooke.

“Merry Christmas,” Brooke whispered back, her warm breath puffing against Taylor’s jaw, making her shiver.

Before Taylor could even open her mouth to approach the topic that she’d been patiently waiting for, Brooke softly groaned before rolling over onto her back. She saw up, stretching her arms above her head, and Taylor was momentarily distracted from her Christmas morning mission, letting her gaze rove over Brooke’s exposed abdomen.

Brooke reached over, opening her bedside table and pulling out a wrapped gift before turning to face Taylor in bed.

Delighted, Taylor sat up as well, sitting opposite Brooke. “You slept with the gift in your bedside table?!”

Brooke’s sleepy, dark eyes rolled at her, as she reached up and ran a hand through her tousled hair. “Yes, because I know you. And I had an inkling that I was going to be woken up fairly early for this.”

Taylor, unashamedly, smiled widely back at her.

She’d been extremely curious about this gift, and she hadn’t made a secret of it.

Then again, “I mean, you weren’t that great at hiding it,” she pointed out. “If you’d wanted it to be a surprise, maybe you shouldn’t have let me walk in on you working on it multiple times!”

Brooke’s mouth dropped open in offense. “The first time, we were at work – how could I have known you were going to come into my office?”

Taylor incredulously shot Brooke a look. “What else did you expect me to do after I’d returned from a trip only forty-eight hours earlier, and we were only fifty feet apart from one another? Stay in my own office, when I had no meetings?”

Brooke shook her head, but Taylor saw the way her lips ticked into a cute little smile. “Fine,” she haltingly allowed.

Surprised at the acquiescence, Taylor’s mouth fell open. She’d expected a little bit of Brooke-grumbling at the very least!

Brooke clearly read her as well as Taylor could read her, and she rolled her eyes. “I can’t tell you that I know you so well, and then say that I’m surprised by you seeking me out to hook up during your city hall office hours.”

Pleased, Taylor nodded. “Thank you very much.”

Brooke’s smile faded a bit, as she bit her bottom lip and smoothed her hands over the gift. “Well… here you go.”

She presented it to Taylor, a hint of nerves in her eyes.

And Taylor accepted the gift, buzzing with the need to tear into it, but holding herself back. Letting the anticipation build a little bit more, as she studied the package.

It was obviously a book, from the look and feel of it. But, a large, square one?

Brooke released a long, low breath. “Open it,” she urged, exasperatedly. “You’ve been trying to figure out what this is for weeks, now.”

Heeding Brooke’s command, Taylor unwrapped the gift.

And stared down at the book in her lap.

“A scrapbook?” She asked, quizzically. She shot Brooke a baffled stare. “Since when do you scrapbook?”

A pink blush tinged Brooke’s cheeks. “Just this once,” she muttered. “And it obviously took me a while.”

Excited by the prospect of Brooke scrapbooking, Taylor dropped her gaze back down and actually looked at the cover.

Which... was about her.

More aptly, the cover featured her TaylorMadeToTravel logo, styled with an intricate map design in the background that Brooke must have created.

“I love it,” she murmured, so sincerely, as she looked back up at Brooke.

Who pushed out a laugh. “You haven’t even really looked at it.”

Taylor shook her head, stroking her fingertips over the cover. “I already know I love it.”

Because – she did.

No matter what exactly was inside, no matter how artfully – or not – it was done, Brooke had spent hours working on making her a scrapbook.

And she melted at the very idea.

Brooke coughed, gesturing at it. “So… go ahead, then.”

Both excited and reverent, Taylor flipped the cover open.

The first page was her first ever post on her website, long before she’d become popular. When she’d just been posting for herself. The pictures she’d taken from the trip had been printed out from her site, and so had some highlights of her blogs about it.

God, that felt like both forever ago and just yesterday.

She eagerly flipped through the pages, realizing that the entire scrapbook was full.

And that it was incredibly well-done. Every picture, every graphic, every piece of writing was artfully and deliberately placed. It didn’t shock her; whatever Brooke dedicated herself to was always done immaculately.

She didn’t quite understand why, but she felt breathless. Her heart aching, in a perfectly full way as she scoured through her own memories.

Even though she’d kept her website as a way to preserve the memories of her travels – of her life – it felt different than being able to really see it all laid out in front of her. To hold it in her hands.

“This is… my life,” she breathed, swallowing thickly, as she lightly traced her fingers over one of the final pages – the page that was centered around the Hidden Gems of the American South list she and Brooke had done.

The page that had changed everything, that had altered her world.

There was a love in this, she realized. Brooke’s love for her was in every page, in every photo, in every carefully designed placement. She felt it echo through her, and when she looked up to face Brooke, the backs of her eyes burned.

“I love it,” she whispered, her throat tight with emotion.

Especially when she thought about how back in the beginning of this – of them – Brooke hadn’t even followed her, hadn’t actually even really looked at Taylor’s website. And now… now, Brooke had spent hours dedicating herself to it.

To learning Taylor inside and out. To learning about all of the things Taylor had experienced out in the world when they hadn’t been in close contact.

“I just – I thought it might be nice. To be able to look through everything, like this. And to be able to keep it in our house,” Brooke murmured, looking adorably self-conscious, as she gestured at the book Taylor was clutching tightly. “And I really liked doing it. I mean. I’ve already gone through every post you’ve made on your site, but… it was different, doing this.”

“It is nice. It’s the nicest gift I’ve ever gotten,” she swore, meaning every word. “I love you, Brooke. I love you so much.”

And it was one thing to know how much Brooke loved her, which Taylor did. But… it was another to be holding the physical evidence of how much effort Brooke put in to understanding her.

“I love you, too,” Brooke returned, digging her teeth into her bottom lip as she darted her eyes back down to the book.

Taylor looked back down as well, grinning all over again.

She reached out and tapped her index finger against a little black star in the bottom corner of the page she was on. Currently, that was from her time on Waiheke Island in New Zealand. “What’s this part?” She asked, noting, “It’s not on all of the pages.”

And she knew it had to have a meaning, because Brooke wouldn’t have put it there, otherwise.

Brooke drew in a deep breath. “Those little asterisks mean that those are the places I’d like to go to with you, someday. If you’d want to go back to them.”

Taylor’s mouth opened as the shock rushed through her, and her hold on the book went limp as she stared up at Brooke. Speechless.

Brooke shrugged, biting at the inside of her cheek. “I know you don’t necessarily love revisiting the same places a lot, which I understand. I mean, you’d never have been able to go to all of those places if you just kept going back to the same ones all of the time.”

“Brooke,” she murmured, her heart pounding in her chest.

Brooke continued, her eyebrows furrowing. “And you’ve already gone back to revisit some. Obviously, you took me to Greece and to France, and you just got back from Italy with Ben and Jo.”

“Brooke,” she stated again, more firmly.

“And we obviously don’t have to go to all of them; I know I marked down a fair amount–”

Unable to stop herself, Taylor carefully set the scrapbook down onto the bed next to her.

Before she launched herself at Brooke, pressing her down against the bed, tangling their legs together.

She pressed her mouth to Brooke’s, kissing her deeply. Needing to just – feel her in this moment. To feel her body against Taylor’s, the soft give of it underneath her. To feel the softness of her lips, the way she kissed Taylor back so eagerly, despite having been caught totally off guard.

She gentled the kiss after a few seconds, though, feeling… overwhelmed, really, by this deep, sweeping affection welling up inside of her.

Taylor managed to pull herself away – well, to break their kiss at the very least – as she stared down at Brooke, only inches from her face. “I would love to take you everywhere that you marked in that book. Anywhere,” she promised. “You just tell me when.”

Brooke’s fingers walked gently up her spine, as she blinked up at Taylor. And there it was, that raw, unguarded, and open love Brooke had for her, as she whispered, “You faced all of your fears and put down roots here. You’re the fucking mayor,” she let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head where it rested against the mattress.

Taylor ate up every expression that slid over Brooke’s gorgeous face. “Don’t you forget it.”

“I never do,” Brooke said, softly, her smile fading into her trademark serious expression, that little, thoughtful line appearing between her eyebrows. “I think I’m ready to face down some of my own. More than going somewhere with you once a year or less. I think… it’s probably time to grow, a bit more.”

Taylor carded her fingers through Brooke’s hair behind her ear. “And you want to grow with me.”

Which, she already knew. But… it felt like a marvel, still. Brooke wanted to see the world with her. She wanted to grow.

“I want us to grow, together. In the same direction. Where we can both do everything we want, and do it together,” Brooke elaborated, and her voice was so soft, so vulnerable.

And Taylor felt it, right in her chest. It wasn’t easy for Brooke to voice those soft, vulnerable moments aloud. But she’d been working on it in the last few years, and now…

Well, now they were here.

Having the best Christmas Taylor could have ever imagined.

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spoiler prevention

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who will come next? That's a secret I'll never tell (until 2-3 days from now, of course)