A/N:

Thank you guys so much ;_; You are all gorgeous and awesome and I wish I had more to offer you -bows down- Thank you to each and every single one of you who took time to read, comment or subscribe. *throws love*

Well, this is the last part of this fic... I hope everyone enjoyed it, I know I did. It was a joy to write, even though it's starting to become a long time ago now, haha. And I hope this is an ending you were hoping for 8) Oh and I might make a longer version of this sometime, my real life "Tiffany" is nagging me to haha~ So you never know! Maybe it isn't over 8)




Taeyeon couldn't understand how it was possible that everything always turned out the way she didn't expect.
The night after she confessed should have been their last night.
And after the night under the moon, something should have happened. All of a sudden it felt like Tiffany only did things if she knew they would confuse Taeyeon. When one week had passed since they fell asleep holding each other, Taeyeon and Tiffany had spoken once.

Taeyeon guessed that Tiffany had taken what she wanted, but now it was definitely over.
Compared to the first time it was supposed to have been over, this time hurt a million times more. Taeyeon had got a taste of what she could have had... and what she had lost. And she didn't know what to say, or to who, that could make her feel better.
She found the solution was to...not say anything at all. To imagine Tiffany's warm arms around her when she fell asleep at night. To wake up every morning with a smile, and a heavy feeling on her heart when she realised that she didn't actually have Tiffany with her anymore.

The physical thing called love seemed to be on a constant overload inside her - aching, making her heart race like crazy, swelling up a million times when she got lost in her fantasies... and eventually making her want to disappear.

Somehow she found comfort in the fact that the summer still remained, even if it was starting to come to an end. She spent most of her time out on the porch. Writing. Imagining things she could say to Tiffany, and writing down all the things that she would never tell her. Or anyone else.
Sooyoung suspected something was wrong with the girl, of course. She would ask her several times a day why she was so quiet, why she didn't text, didn't call, but Taeyeon didn't know what to say.
Would Tiffany have stayed with her, she would gladly have told Sooyoung. But now...
Everything was harder than before.
And as she closed her eyes and faced the sun, she tried to convince herself that nothing lasts forever. Those feelings would go away.
She didn't doubt that they would, one day. But there was still a question that kept burning inside her, a thought she just could not push out of her head...
What was the point?
And sometimes the anger came by to visit.

With Tiffany, it was always about destiny. She was a strong believer in fate and that everything happened for a reason. She also had an enormous obsession with fairy tales and Disney movies, where there was just no escaping that the two people who were meant for each other would always end up together in the end.
Taeyeon laughed at the thought... how many times had she put her arms around Tiffany when the latter had started to tear up when they were restlessly watching The Beauty and the Beast?
She wanted to foget her love for Tiffany, but she wouldn't trade their memories for the world.
The smell of her hair, the sound of her voice, her smile and laugh.
They were everything to her. And it was the only thing from Tiffany she had left.




Of course she had contemplated calling Tiffany many times. She was held back by her own fear of being a burden for Tiffany, cursing herself for her confusion and trying to decide what was the right thing to do.
Fight for her? Respect her decision and just let her go?
She didn't think she had ever been so confused in her entire life. The suddenness of Tiffany's change of mind left her without knowing how to relate to anything about her.






The cellphone on her nightstand vibrated loudly and Taeyeon woke up with a start. Hating the sound, she glared at the clock.
1 PM.
Fantastic.
She reached for her phone. Sooyoung's name shone on the display.

Taeyeon~ What are you gonna do today?

She sat up on the bed, trying to remember what day it was. And if she was going to do anything at all.
She slowly stood up, and felt the headrush overwhelm her at once. She sat back down and pulled a little at her grey sweatpants.
Saturday.
One of the more pleasant days of the week.

I don't know... what about you? ...thanks for waking me up by the way, I think I needed it

Taeyeon stood up again, relieved with the lack of a headrush, and made her way out to the hallway.

Sleeping until now? Oh bad Tae... And oh...I don't know, I think Hyoyeon might come here... Would you... maybe... wanna join?

She thought about the offer as she walked up the stairs. Would it feel good to see the two love birds trying to hide their relationship?
...well, actually, yeah.
But witness the love they thought they weren't showing?
A different question.
The reached the top of the stairs and found the second floor to be empty. She walked into the kitchen, where she, like every morning, was blinded by the brightness of the room.
White walls. White ceiling. White curtains. Grey floor.
She rubbed her eyes and put the phone down on the table, forgetting about Hyoyeon and Sooyoung for a minute. She walked over to the window and absently looked out to the front door, outside which their car was missing. Her family seemed to be...
She jumped when her phone vibrated with a loud, dark noise on the table. She put her hand over her heart.
"Well, that's Sooyoung texting me again, asking if I'm ignoring her..." she thought and walked over to the table.
She picked up her phone, and was close to dropping it a second later.
Tiffany
Immediately, her heart started pounding heavier than she could stand. She fiddled with the buttons until she finally managed to open the message, feeling her hands become sweaty.

I'll be at your place in 10 minutes

What?
Taeyeon spun around. Did she forget something? Had they talked? Had they decided to meet today?
Or was Tiffany just being her regular self?
She let her hand fall down to her side as she looked around in the silent room.
What the hell am I gonna say?
She tried to think of some way to get out of it - any excuse, tell Tiffany she wasn't home, or sick, or busy, or...
And it suddenly occured to her that if Tiffany was going to come by just out of the blue... there must be something she wanted. Wanted to say.
Taeyeon's heart didn't want to slow down. For a second, she felt as if she had frozen, but her heart was still warm.
She looked down.
She was standing there in her pyjamas with her hair in a mess.
She shrieked and ran as fast as she could, downstairs, to get some clothes.
I am so glad nobody's home right now




Getting dressed, fixing her hair and brushing her teeth didn't take as long as she thought it would.
I never noticed 10 minutes actually take this long
When she was ready to meet Tiffany, there was still 5 minutes left.
Torture.
She walked around in her room, trying to sit down on her bed, but it was impossible to stay still.
Time, I hate you
She ended up jumping up and down on the spot, trying to think of other things, like... movies, or...
Tiffany
...music, or...
Tiffany
...Sooyoung, or...
Tiffany
...her family, or...
Anything that had to do with Tiffany.

The doorbell rang. And Taeyeon ran.
She stopped in front of the door, regaining her breath, not wanting to look as though she'd seen a ghost...
and pushed the door open.
She was actually there. The last sliver of doubt that she was gonna turn up disappeared from Taeyeon's mind as she looked out at the beauty in a light blue jacket.
"Hi."
Taeyeon managed to find her voice.
"Hi."
Neither of them moved. Taeyeon wasn't sure if she should hug her, or ask her why she was there, or yell at her or let her in...
"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
...myeah.
Taeyeon smiled awkwardly and looked down.
"No, I'm fine."
And silence. Always so silent. Tiffany shifted her weight between her feet. Taeyeon looked at Tiffany's shoes, before letting her gaze follow Tiffany's darkly jeans-clad legs up to her jacket.
"You look hot."
Taeyeon resisted putting her hand over when she realised what words had just come out of it. Tiffany tilted her head.
"I mean... that jacket... looks hot. Warm."
Well, we're off to a good start
"No, not really, it's okay" Tiffany said, smiling at Taeyeon's verbal clumsiness.
And silence again. Taeyeon swayed a little where she stood.
"Do you... wanna come inside, then?" Taeyeon asked finally. Tiffany just looked at her.
"No, actually, I was wondering if we could go for a walk."
"A walk?" Taeyeon raised her eyebrows.
"Yes, a walk. In the forest." Tiffany smiled with a slightly pleading look on her face. Taeyeon leaned out the door and looked towards the distant forest. She wondered what had gotten into Tiffany.
"Alright... Well, sure."
They walked off in silence.



There was nothing Taeyeon hated more than when people kept things from her. When she knew they knew things, and they just wouldn't tell her. When she asked something she really, really wanted to know and the person was slow to answer her.
And yet, walking in silence with Tiffany on an old, small road through the forest, when she knew Tiffany was going to tell her something, seemed to make perfect sense.
Something was really going to happen. If Tiffany didn't tell her anything, she would ask. She couldn't let this opportunity slip away.
She was surprised when Tiffany came to a sudden stop. She looked up the road and realised, to her surprise, that she had no idea where their destination was.
"We should sit down here." Tiffany looked around for rocks to sit on.
"Here?"
"Yes, here."
Taeyeon looked at her.
"But we're in the middle of the road."
"Taetae..."
Great, just kill me, why don't you
"There's grass actually growing on the road. You do the math."
"...Oh."
Tiffany laughed, and Taeyeon couldn't help but join in. She watched Tiffany sit down on a rock at the side of the road, and Taeyeon chose one that wasn't too close to her.
Silence fell again. Taeyeon picked up a piece of grass and started pulling off little bits of it at a time.
"So has Sooyoung told you about Hyoyeon yet?" Taeyeon was almost surprised to hear Tiffany speak.
"No. She keeps doing this thing, like, in the movies, where she says my name in a dramatical tone, makes this long pause, and then finishes with 'what do you wanna eat?'"
"I see" Tiffany laughed, and looked down to her lap. Taeyeon picked up another piece of grass from the ground. She carefully looked at Tiffany, but the other girl was still looking down, with a thoughtful look on her face.
Taeyeon ripped the grass into little pieces. Listening to the calm breeze in the trees, she felt herself become more and more restless. She shivered a little and wished to go out of the forest where the sun couldn't be hidden by the trees.
She let the grass fall to the ground and didn't bother picking up a new one. She looked up in time to see Tiffany take a deep breath.
"Taeyeon..."
And with that, Taeyeon didn't want to hear Tiffany's shooting-her-down speech.
"That's a pretty good impression of Drama Sooyoung, actually."
Tiffany didn't say anything. She stood up and walked over to Taeyeon, who didn't look up.
"Can I sit with you?" Their eyes met. Tiffany looked hopeless and Taeyeon felt a little guilty.
"I guess so." She moved over to the left side of the rock, and Tiffany sat down beside her. Taeyeon heard her take a deep breath.
"I understand if you're mad at me."
Taeyeon played with her own fingers. Somehow she hadn't expected an apology.
"Can you?" she asked.
"Yeah. I don't know what I would do if I were you. When the person you're in love with keeps you in the dark... about everything."
Taeyeon nodded. She closed her eyes and remembered the night on the beach: the breeze, the both of them sitting pressed against each other on a rock, talking in low voices and not looking at each other. Just staring out in empty space... wasting time.


"I was so close to kissing you that night at Sooyoung's."
Taeyeon lost her breath for a second. Her pulse sped up again.
"You... you were?" She turned her head to look at Tiffany for the first time.
"I was."
"So why didn't you?"
Tiffany lowered her head.
"Because I knew I was going to hurt you."
Something like relief flooded through Taeyeon's body, from Tiffany finally having said something. Something that actually meant something. And still, she was terrified of where it was going.
"Believe me" she said, "you kissing me isn't what would hurt. Being that close to you and not kissing you, that's what hurts."
Tiffany looked at her again and Taeyeon could almost see a hint of tears in her eyes.
"Really?"
"Yeah" Taeyeon said and looked down. Tiffany's eyes were too much for her.
Not a second passed before Tiffany's hands were on the sides of her face, turning her head and pushing their lips together.
Frozen.
In exstasy.
She didn't believe she could be happier, but then Tiffany's tongue met hers and it was so much more than everything
She could feel Tiffany turning her body and move closer to her, and Taeyeon followed her lead and put one leg on each side of the rock they were sitting (floating) on.
And there it was, the warmth of Tiffany's body that she had longed for, the warmth that she had considered to be a treasure to even dream of... And she felt Tiffany's hair fall down on her arm, she was struck by the sudden thought
I can't wait until I get to breathe in the smell of that hair again
and she didn't know where it came from, or why it even mattered, and --
And then it was over.

Tiffany pulled back slightly and put her hands on Taeyeon's shoulders. Tiffany looked into her eyes and Taeyeon's mind was filled with fog. She let her hands rest in Tiffany's lap while she composed herself.
"See, now... that didn't hurt."
Tiffany smiled at her. Taeyeon could help but wonder how that kiss had felt on her lips.
"Definitely not."
Tiffany let her hands slide down over Taeyeon's arms before locking their fingers together.  She looked down. Taeyeon stopped her thoughts for a moment to just see how adoreable Tiffany looked when she was embarrassed.
Tiffany looked up.
"Taeyeon..."
"No." Taeyeon stopped her. "If you're still not going to be with me, then don't drag it out. If you're gonna shoot me down, do it fast. Just say it, and we'll leave it at that."
She felt her body relax a little just from saying those words. There would be no more waiting.
Tiffany looked at her, but Taeyeon couldn't read the expression on her face. Confusion, determination, sadness, some anger.
"I didn't come here to shoot you down."
Taeyeon just looked back at her.
"You didn't?" She was hoping again, but a part of her kept waiting for signs that this was a joke.
"No." Tiffany let go of Taeyeon's hands and stood up. Taken aback, Taeyeon watched her pacing forward and backwards on the road. "See... I... You... Okay."
Tiffany stopped for a second and turned towards Taeyeon.
"I've been in love with you for about four years, which is the scariest thing I have ever done, by the way." She started pacing again. "Everyday was based on the same question: if you could ever, somehow, feel something for me. But I walked around imagining what it would be like living the rest of my life without you, because I knew... well, I knew that you would never actually like me back."
Taeyeon smiled.
"So I never really thought about what would happen if you someday just stopped, turned around and said that you wanted to be with me! And all of a sudden, you just start dropping all these obvious hints, and instead of becoming as happy as I should be, my whole world falls apart."
Taeyeon blushed a little at "obvious hints", but kept quiet.
"At the moment when I started thinking about what it actually would be like to be with you, I could all of a sudden hear all my friends' voices in my head, talking about gay people, making jokes, being idiots... I freaked out, okay? I freaked out."
She stopped for a second and looked down at Taeyeon.
"Yeah" Taeyeon whispered, not knowing if Tiffany wanted an answer. She started pacing again.
"But then, you tell me you're in love with me, and when I tell you the truth, you tell me that I'm the one living my life, not all of them... And of course I knew that already, but when you said it, it was like... But I was still scared to death, so I couldn't just leave all of that behind.
But with those words, you got me doubting all those fears I had. I realised that they were the ones doing something wrong - judging. Not me. And I just wanted to meet you one more time to see what it was like, and I realised just how much I wanted to be with you."
Taeyeon felt as if someone had hit her with a sledgehammer.
Am I really awake?
"And now..." Tiffany continued, oblivious to Taeyeon's daze. "I realise this doesn't exactly put me in the top pot on your people-to-trust list, but..."
Taeyeon stood up. Tiffany fell silent and stopped on the spot.
"Tiffany..." Taeyeon walked up to her.  "Tiffany, I love you."
And Tiffany just looked back at her, her eyes slowly filling up with tears.
The breeze grew a little stronger around them, making the forest sound endless.
Taeyeon couldn't do anything but look back into the beautiful, tear-filled eyes in front of her.
"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that."
Her tear-filled eyes were smiling. Taeyeon wrapped her arms around the taller girl, and felt the physical thing called love swell up bigger than ever before. A wonderful, desperate need to make Tiffany feel better than she'd ever felt.

Taeyeon pulled back from Tiffany, but didn't let her hands leave the other girl's waist.
"Look..." Taeyeon whispered to her. "I understand that you're afraid. I'm not gonna push you."
Tiffany held onto Taeyeon's arms.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that, we don't have to tell anyone yet. They have nothing to do with this."
They looked in each other's eyes, trying to read what the other person was feeling.
"Can you do that?" Tiffany's whisper was full of worry.
"It might be hard to hide, but the only thing that matters is that we are happy."
Another cool breeze pulled at the trees and blew in between the two girls on the road. Taeyeon's hair blew up into the wind, and Tiffany smiled. Her hands travelled up to Taeyeon's face and stopped at her neck.
"But... when... when do we tell them?"
Taeyeon could tell that this was the part that scared Tiffany the most. The biggest problem.  She took a deep breath.
"When we feel strong enough to let everyone know."
She looked up at Tiffany and smiled shyly. The taller girl looked back at her for a moment, her face showing clearly how she went from fear to relief.
They kissed again.

"I'm just, if my father finds out about me I don't know what..."
"Hey" Taeyeon interrupted the frightened ramble. "He doesn't find out about you, he finds out about us. You and me. Okay? Cause we're together in this."
Tiffany's smile was merciless. Taeyeon's heart was about to explode.
"How do you do this? You tell me things I already know, and make me understand what they really mean."
Taeyeon's turn to smile. She pulled her in for another hug, and whispered in her ear
"I know you better than anyone."

She held her in silence. They swayed slowly from side to side, letting each other warm them up. A mutual feeling of belonging had fallen around them, and though neither of them spoke about it, they both knew the other felt it too.
"Taetae..."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
Taeyeon let her hands slowly caress Tiffany's back.
"Anytime." She laughed.
They swayed together, hearing the wind slowly subside around them.
"Do you believe this is really happening?" Taeyeon asked, almost trying to make sure it wasn't just a dream.
Tiffany answered with a giggle.
"I love you, Taeyeon."
And Taeyeon breathed in the scent of Tiffany's hair again.

She was going to spend her whole life in Tiffany's embrace
and nothing could stop them now.




In another life,
maybe we'd see everything
in a different light
Like an endless summer
And in the years from now,
we'll all be living the same old certain dream
that we imagined would be somewhere high,
Somewhere high above the clouds
We could live there safe and sound
Far away from where we are
Yeah, we'll find our star
But maybe, that's another world

In another life,
we would fall in love, you see
And the sun would shine
for you and me, yeah
Chasing the storm from the sky
Altogether, love would come and save us
and we would let it take us somewhere high...

(Westlife - Another World)