Chapter Six

~~~

"Taeyeon?" The voice made Taeyeon immediately stiffen up and she sniffed up her snot and quickly wiped her tears, still sitting on the side of the road. "Taeyeon?" Taeyeon knew it was Tiffany, she just didn't want Tiffany to know it was her. But, of course Tiffany just had to get out of the car and walk over, sitting herself down next to the crying girl.

"It's kind of late to be out, especially in streets like these, don't you think?" Tiffany said with a hint of amusement in her voice. Taeyeon ignored her and continued to bury her face into her knees, wiping the tears away as she sniffed up the snot she had. Go away, Taeyeon mentally chanted in her head.

"Though, it's kind of a nice night, nice breeze," Tiffany spoke again. Taeyeon frowned, nice breeze? "Actually, it's freezing outside," Tiffany spoke again as she watched her breath turn frosty once it exits , "It's freezing, why you outside? Your skin is turning whiter," Taeyeon wanted to just yell at Tiffany to go away, but she wouldn't. She couldn't. Why? She didn't know why. She could barely bring herself to even speak to Tiffany, let alone yell at her.

"Want to go to my apartment?" Tiffany suggested. Taeyeon continued to ignore her as her body began to shiver even more due to the cold. "Fine," Taeyeon heard noises coming from her left side and she heard feet walking away. She knew Tiffany had left. For some reason, the black haired girl felt disappointed. Bad Taeyeon, you're supposed to feel glad she left! Her inner self scolded.

Taeyeon was surprised when she felt a blanket wrap around her. She looked up at the person who had done it and saw Tiffany sitting besides her, wrapped up in her own blanket. Tiffany looked over and noticed Taeyeon's red eyes and the faint trail of tears that led down to her cheeks, but she knew better than to question Taeyeon about it.

"Might as well keep warm when I'm here, right?" Tiffany smiled, pulling the blanket closer to her. Taeyeon blinked at the red head next to her. Why exactly was Tiffany doing all of this? "I just want to be your friend," Tiffany stated, connecting eyes with Taeyeon, "If you'd let me," she finished her sentence, somehow breaking down a piece of Taeyeon's wall of defense against her heart.

"I don't want a friend," Taeyeon spoke, her voice hoarse. She looked away from Tiffany and stared at the street in front of her. "You don't want a friend?" Tiffany questioned, staring at the older girl in front ofher. Taeyeon shook her head, unconciously pulling the blanket tighter. "Everyone wants a friend,"

"Not me," Taeyeon replied, hoping to get Tiffany off of her back. Tiffany simply stared at Taeyeon, trying to figure the girl out. Kim Taeyeon was indeed a puzzle. A puzzle Tiffany wanted to solve. But Taeyeon, Taeyeon knew she was a puzzle. She was just a broken puzzle with missing pieces, that's exactly what she was.

A puzzle with broken and missing pieces.

Tiffany was determined to find and fix those pieces.

~~~

Taeyeon entered Tiffany's house for the second time. She could barely feel her body, it was all numb from the cold. Her toes, cold. Her fingers, cold. Her cheeks, cold. Her heart? Cold.

Tiffany glanced over at Taeyeon and saw the girl was clenching her teeth together and was as pale as snow, "You can sleep in my room, it's warmer there," she stated and walked to her room. She stopped when she realized Taeyeon wasn't following her, "Are you coming?" 

Taeyeon wanted to desperately run away and exit the apartment, but she didn't. Her feet began follow Tiffany. The red head quickly went over and turned the heat on just as Taeyeon reached the room. Taeyeon nearly stumbled back, surprised at the amount of pink in the room. Pink walls, pink curtains, pink carpet, even a pink bed, plus a pink laptop placed on a pink desk to top it off. 

Tiffany realized the surprised look on Taeyeon's face, "I like pink," she shrugged, looking over her room. Taeyeon nodded slowly. Tiffany patted the bed, pushing the blanket away, "Well, you can sleep here, I'll take the couch. It's late, you should go to sleep now,"

As Tiffany went to the door, Taeyeon spoke, "Why are you doing this?" Tiffany paused and turned, "What do you mean?" she asked, confused. Taeyeon gave Tiffany a blank look, "Why are you acting so.. nice?" Tiffany let out a smile, "I'm not acting. Like I said before, I just want to be your friend," The two looked at eachother in silence before Tiffany spoke, "Have a nice sleep, Taeyeon," and she walked out the bedroom.

Taeyeon laid herself down on the bed slowly. It's been quite a long time since she's slept in a real bed, it was quite comfy. And the bed smelt of strawberries. Then, Taeyeon frowned. Why would someone like Tiffany want to be friends with someone like Taeyeon? It just didn't make sense to her. But, Taeyeon eventually felt the exhaustion take over her as she fell asleep, warm and comfortable.

~~~

Taeyeon woke up with the chills. She felt the warm blanket wrapped around her and the warm air circulating in the room, but she still felt cold. Taeyeon sat up suddenly, remembering she was in Tiffany's apartment. That's when Tiffany walked in, medicine in hand, "Oh, you're awake," she stated, walking closer. Taeyeon stiffened as Tiffany sat on the edge of the bed.

Tiffany handed Taeyeon a glass of warm water and a pill, "Here, take this, I'm pretty sure you're sick," she said softly as Taeyeon took the pill from her, placing it on her tongue before gulping it down with water. Tiffany took the glass from Taeyeon after the girl was done drinking and placed it on the side table, "Do you need to shower? You can use mine," Tiffany asked.

Taeyeon stared at Tiffany, looking for any signs of fakeness of amusement on her face, but, to Taeyeon's surprise, there were none. "You can borrow some clothes too," Tiffany stated, looking to her closet before looking back at Taeyeon. The older girl blinked, was it even possible to be this nice? Taeyeon had no clue why Tiffany was so nice to her.

"Let's be friends, Taeyeon," Tiffany smiled after a moment of silence. Taeyeon didn't respond, only becuase she didn't know how to respond. The red head nodded, "Then, we are friends. Don't forget that, Taeyeon," she smiled before going to the closet, fetching extra clothes for Taeyeon.

"They might be a little big, since you are smaller than me. But it'd fit good enough," Tiffany explained and placed the clothes in Taeyeon's arms. "Well? Go on, we have classes in a couple of hours," Tiffany stated. Taeyeon widened her eyes and immediately rushed to the bathroom. "Extra towels are in the cabinet under the sink!" Tiffany called out as she heard the door close and lock.

Taeyeon entered the shower, it's been a long time since she's showered, believe it or not. It felt nice to be under warm water. She glanced at all the different bottles of shampoo and conditioner Tiffany had. Taeyeon sighed, not knowing what to do. So, she just used the bar of soap to clean her body and rinsed her hair with water. It was more than enough for Taeyeon. It was better than the quick washes of soap and water that she had to do in a public restroom.

Yep, this was definitely enough for Taeyeon.

~~~

Tiffany watched as Taeyeon took no longer than ten minutes to wash up in the bathroom before hurrying out, dressed in Tiffany's clothes. A pair of jeans that clung to her legs and a slightly over sized black shirt with a white tanktop underneath. Tiffany couldn't hold back a grin as she saw Taeyeon dressed in her own clothes, it was much better than the clothes she was wearing before.

Taeyeon put her shoes on and looked up, seeing that Tiffany was looking at her. She turned her head sideways in confusion. The small movement made Tiffany's heart warm up, Taeyeon seemed so cute at the moment. "Okay, let's go," Tiffany smiled and walked out the door, Taeyeon following behind her.

Arriving at the university, the two walked to their first class together. As Tiffany walked in, Jessica noticed that she was walking with Taeyeon. Jessica whispered into Tiffany's ear as soon as the red head sat down, "You walked with her?" Jessica asked, nodding her head over to the black haired girl who sat down, pulling out a pencil.

Tiffany looked to Jessica, connecting eyes with her. "Yeah, I did,"

~~~

Taeyeon frowned at the problem on the board. Usually, she would be able to do these problems without a sweat but recently, something's been on her mind. Or rather, someone. And that someone, as most of you may have guessed, was Tiffany Hwang.

The fact that Tiffany wanted to become her friend was more than enough for Taeyeon to get suspicious. For a girl like Tiffany, nice, pretty, warm, to want to become a friend of Taeyeon, someone who wasn't as nice, pretty, or warm, was complete nonsense to Taeyeon. Taeyeon frowned as the question kept replaying in her mind, why does she want to be my friend?

Taeyeon didn't have anything to offer Tiffany. Nothing. Because that was exactly what she had. She had nothing. The girl barely had any money, nor did she have any friends or family. Hell, Taeyeon had no home.

"Hey," Tiffany greeted as she sat next to Taeyeon. The older girl glanced over in awknowledgment of the other girl's presence. Taeyeon stared at the blue orchid. It shows striving for something that's unreachable, for the infinite. For the infinite. Taeyeon had plenty of things that she wanted that was unreachable for her, though she didn't exactly strive to get it.

For example, something unreachable to her was her family. Becuase, they were, in fact, unreachable to her. Considering Taeyeon was only a young girl when they left her, she wouldn't know where exactly to reach them and here, at an older age, Taeyeon still had no clue where to find them.

But Taeyeon just wanted to know one thing, why exactly did they leave her? Did they not love her? That can't be the answer. Were they ashamed? No, that's not it. Then something hit her. Money. Of course, how had she not seen it before? Money was always the problem.

The stupid cash, the thing the world based itself upon. Money was the ultimate reason for her parents leaving her. Money had broken up plenty of families before, it's possible.

Then, Taeyeon's gaze floated over to the petunias. Love and awareness. Well, Taeyeon was perfectly aware of the fact that she'll never feel love towards anyone, if that counts.

"Here," Tiffany spoke, holding something out to Taeyeon. Taeyeon glanced over and saw the box in Tiffany's hands. Raising an eyebrow, Taeyeon stared at the box. "Take it," Wearily, Taeyeon took the box and opened it, revealing a new pair of shoes. Taeyeon felt like throwing the box over the side of the building.

She frowned, "I don't need your pity," Tiffany frowned as well, "Who said I'm doing this out of pity?" Taeyeon kept silent for a moment before speaking so lowly, even Tiffany, who was sitting right next to her, could barely hear, "Of course it's pity, it's always pity,"

Tiffany froze and stared at the older girl, who was now staring at the box in her hands. She spoke again, "Why do you want to be my friend?" Taeyeon asked straight forwardly, turning her head to lock gazed with Tiffany. "Is it a crime to want to be your friend?" She countered. "No one wants to be friends with me," 

"Well I do," Tiffany retorted. "Why?" Taeyeon asked. "I don't know why, that's like asking why you breathe air, it's an unanswerable question," Taeyeon stared at Tiffany, scanning the girl's face, "Don't bother trying to get close to me, it'll just cause you more trouble,"

"Then I'll go through the trouble," Tiffany answered, "Besides, I'm already your friend whether you like it or not," Then Tiffany left.

~~~

The next day, Tiffany smiled when she saw Taeyeon enter the class.

She was wearing the shoes.