a sound she hadn't heard before

twenty-five.

"Taylor, I'm home." She hears the all too familiar British accent speaking as the front door to his apartment creaks open. Normally, the familiar voice brings her joy, but today... she's dreading this discussion with Joe.

"Hey," Taylor says, smiling weakly. It has been a few hours, but she is still extremely shaken up by the mere sight of Adam. She never thought that she'd have to deal with this.

Ayla, still engrossed in the TV, looks up to see Joe holding two boxes of pizza, which makes her smile. "Joe!" she exclaims, hopping off of the couch to run over to him.

"Hi Ayla," he laughs. "Can you help me bring the pizza to the table?"

"Yep," she nods. He hands her one of the boxes and she carefully walks across the living room to the dining table, where she sets the pizza down. Joe follows. "Come on, T. You've gotta eat."

Taylor doesn't know what it is, but something about that comment hits her deep on the inside. Suddenly, the tears that she has been fighting back all day come flowing out. Blake pulls Taylor into a hug, but she doesn't know quite what to say as Taylor's whole body shakes in her arms.

"Did I... what-"

"No, it wasn't you," Blake says tells Joe. "Today has just been hard."

"Why is Mommy crying? Don't cry, Mommy. Remember, you don't get ice cream when you cry."

"Ayla, sweetie," Blake says, "Mommy doesn't really want any ice cream right now." She has a feeling that she knows where the tears are coming from. She knows the state that Taylor was in when she was in a relationship with Adam. She knows that, as hard as it was, the breakup between the two of them was one of the best things that could have ever happened to Taylor because it gave her the time to work on herself. In the few months that she had before getting settled in New Jersey and having her baby, the first thing that she did was work to recover from her eating disorder. The events of the day have sent Taylor back to the mental state that she was in before that recovery, and Joe unknowingly telling her that she had to eat just pushed her over the edge.

"T," Blake whispers to her best friend, who is still crying, "you really will feel better after a glass of water and a piece of pizza. Remember how good it felt back then? When you were finally able to bring yourself to eat without feeling guilty?"

"I know... I know... it's- it's just..." Taylor can't seem to form a coherent sentence at this point.

"It's so yummy, Mommy!" Ayla says, taking a bite out of her first slice.

"For her, T. Please."

Taylor rubs her eyes, knowing that Blake is right. "I'm sorry," she whispers in a small voice, standing up and walking over to Joe. "I don't know what that was. I just..." Her voice trails off as she searches for words o say, but finds herself speechless.

"It's been a hard day. I know. You're okay," Joe assures her. "Can I get you anything?"

"Just... a glass of water?"

"Absolutely."

Taylor really does feel better after getting some food in her stomach. She feels terrible about the outburst that she just had, and isn't sure if she's more embarrassed that it happened in front of her daughter or still relatively new boyfriend.

After they all eat together, Taylor sends Ayla back to the sofa to play on her iPad. She knows that the adults need to talk. She owes explanations to Joe. Explanations about a lot of things.

"I'm sorry," she starts with. "Just... ask away. Anything that you need to ask. I'm an open book," Taylor says. It's hard for her to say this. She knows that they'll reach topics that she hasn't talked about since the day that they occurred, things that are the last thing she wants to tell anyone about.