Sam's P.O.V

I tried to calm her down, and I knew for a fact that something was just utterly wrong, and she didn't want to admit it to me. Why else would she have exploded like that..? I felt so awful, for making her cry like that. It was my fault.

With a frown, I led the both of us over to a nearby bench outside the park, allowing her to sit down first, as I sat next to her, firmly keeping my hand on her shoulder to try and reassure her as she calmed.

Finally, she stopped crying. But the look on her face was a little worrying and scary. Almost as if a smile had never been set on it once.

I couldn't bear seeing her like this. I didn't want to force out whatever she was hiding from me, but... The thought of not doing something, and just leaving someone, with what I can only assume, their misery, it's just not right. It doesn't sit well with me, and I just can't take it anymore, pretending things are okay when they're not.

"I'm so sorry for making you cry..." I repeated, trying to keep my voice normal and calm. She exhaled, covering her face with her hands as she did. There was a long pause of silence between the both of us, before she finally started talking again.

"I should have seen this coming... I knew someone was going to find out I was a fraud eventually. I mean, I thought I was good at hiding it... But I guess not."

"Taylor... What's going on... You can trust me, I promise. I'd never want to hurt you."

"That's what MacKenzie said." She spat.

"Eh?" I rose a brow, confused as to what she meant.

"Me and MacKenzie used to be friends, a few years ago. I told her a lot of secrets, one I thought I could trust her with. But... She told people and they... Made fun of me for it." Taylor admitted, gazing down at the ground.

It honestly shocked me that they were once friends. Taylor and MacKenzie, really? Well, they do say highschool can change people. It's not like there was a zero percent chance that MacKenzie was nice beforehand. But, still...

"Yeah but, that was MacKenzie, Taylor. I'm not her... Look..." I paused, a small frown on my face. "I know you probably think I don't care, or that I'm just trying to find out stuff about you, so I can go and bitch about you to others. I'm not like that. If I had known you didn't want people knowing you were in hospital, I would have stayed quiet."

"But you didn't."

"I know... And I'm sorry, Taylor. I'm so, so sorry... I want us to be friends. I really, really do... So, please... You have to trust me..."

"Why?" She asked, looking right into my eyes. "I've never put my trust in anyone since MacKenzie betrayed me. Why should I start again now?"

"Because I genuinely care." I responded, causing her to look away from me for a moment, before turning back towards me.

"You're too nice, Sam..." She murmured, her eyes starting to water again. "Especially to such a broken person like me..."

"Taylor..."

Silence.

"Sam..." Taylor started, avoiding my eye contact. "I... I'm... Sam, I'm suffering... From depression." She whispered, once again breaking down into tears in my arms. I held her close, a sullen look on my face as I heard her sob into my shoulder.

What a poor soul... She seemed like such a lovely girl, someone who deserves friends, someone who deserves to be happy... Why was life treating her so unfairly, and the only thing I could do, was try to comfort her as everything screamed at her. Oh, Taylor...

"It's okay, Tay..." I sighed, holding her close. I noticed a few people staring as they walked past, but took no notice to them. "I'm here, alright? You don't... You don't have to suffer alone anymore, okay? I'm here..."

"Sam... You probably have your own problems to deal with. I can't expect you to be there for me all the time..." Taylor murmured into my black and white striped jumper. I shook my head, a small grin on my face.

"Don't be silly, Taylor. I will. I will be there, whenever you need me to be... Tell you what?" I paused, as Taylor pulled back from the hug and I found a convenient pen in one of the pockets of my old jeans. "Hold out your hand." I said. She did as I said, and I gently took hold of it, writing a series of numbers on her hand.

"What's this?" She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her free hand.

"This--" I started, finishing writing it onto her hand and putting my pen away. "--is my phone number. You can call me whenever you want, whatever time. I promise I'll be there."

She paused, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"Even at 3am?" She joked, still looking back and forth between me and the number on her hand.

"Sure, even at 3am, you can call me. Hell, I don't care if it's 5am and all you need is some ice cream." I jokingly replied, causing her to giggle in response.

"Sam... Thank you... Thank you so much..." Taylor whispered, tearily smiling. I smiled back.

"It's fine, Taylor. It's okay, really.... Look," I paused again, looking around me, taking my gaze to the sky, before glancing back at her. "I know things may seem like they're difficult now, I get that. But there's always the possibility that things could become so much better in the future. After all, no one really knows what the future holds... And I promise I'll help you through anything, if you feel like you can't fight it alone."

"You promise...."

"Pinky promise." I grinned, holding out one of my pinkies towards her. Again, she giggled, before happily hooking her pinky with mine and we shook on it.

That smile, was probably the most real one that I had seen on her face since I had met her. I can't believe I never noticed just how forced the other ones seemed. But I swear, I'll make sure that she continues on smiling for real all the time now.

I've always felt the need to be there, to make people's days brighter and to just be able to make people laugh and smile. It's what I've always loved doing and what I will continue on doing.

I feel it's my purpose, after all.