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[if you have rapidly declining mental health and your happiness relies on fictional characters you probably shouldnt proceed]
There was a crash. He was on his way home from the set, and got sideswiped. There were flashing lights and sirens heard, and through his blurry vision he could see the plebians crowding around him.
"Call Taylor," he whispered as he was raised into the ambulance on a stretcher, barely strong enough to keep his eyes open. Soon, he fell into a dark all-encompassing abyss, where there was nothing but darkness welcoming him. In the back of his mind, he could still hear The National playing on the AUX, and instead of lyrics, the only thing ricocheting around his brain like a ping pong ball was her name.
—
"...Your kiss, my cheek," Taylor said, "And then something in between. Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees. Or something like that. I don't know." Taylor bit her lip, nervously looking at Jack.
"Sounds great to me," he replied. "I have a haunting ghost eerie tune situation that could fit the effect you're going for."
Before Taylor could reply, her phone rang out, and she hurried to take it out of her bag and accept the call.
"Hello?" she said, unable to recognize the phone number.
"Is this Ms. Swift, spouse of Mr. Joe Alwyn?"
"Yes," Taylor's voice quivered, worried about the inevitable.
"I'm sorry to say this, but Mr. Alwyn has been in a car accident. He asked for you before he turned unconscious on the road."
"Oh my God, oh my God," Taylor repeated, her brain in circles. "Is- is he okay?" she asked quietly, digging her fingernails into her thigh nervously.
"His condition is stable, although he suffered a couple of injuries that will have him at the hospital for a few weeks. A dislocated shoulder, and deep cuts on his cheek and leg. We're also monitoring his blood loss, and so far it's not urgent, but if it exacerbates overnight, we might have to consider a blood transplant."
"Shit," Taylor said, her mouth forming words for her mind. "Could you send me your address? I'm heading over right now."
"Alright."
Taylor heard a click and a pause, then soon an automated audio repeated the address to her, which she scribbled down onto a random piece of paper that had some lyrics on it.
She hung up and gathered her things swiftly, dabbing the tears from her eyes. She didn't even realise she was crying, her mind was just spiralling out of control.
"Jack, sorry, Joe has been in an accident and-" she rushed out.
"Go! Don't worry about it! Send him my warm wishes," Jack smiled softly at her, having grown fond of Joe.
Taylor nodded as she ran out of the studio, walking as fast as her legs could carry her. She would have preferred hailing a cab or taking the bus, but she simply couldn't afford it, knowing that Joe's hospital bills were going to pile up.
The couple had gotten married earlier that year, in a simple, elegant wedding involving only their closest family and friends. With both their careers only taking off, they were short of money, so they agreed to move in together and split the rent. Between knocking on record labels' doors begging for deals and getting rejected again and again from casting auditions, life wasn't easy, but they were as happy as they could be.
Taylor ran slightly out of breath as she reached the hospital sliding doors, having run the whole two miles. She reached the receptionist's desk and explained who she was, fidgeting nervously.
She was then led to a room quite far into the building, where Joe was resting quietly.
"Oh love," Taylor sighed, hurrying to his side. "How are you feeling?"
He grinned cheekily, before wincing at the pain from the cut of his cheek. "Ow. Could be better."
"What happened?" she asked, grasping his right hand.
"I got sideswiped, and next thing you know I'm on the ground." Joe pouted like a child.
"Oh love," Taylor sighed again, brushing the hair out of his face.
"You look gorgeous," he gave her a lopsided smile, wary not to irritate the cut again. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, I'm glad you're okay." she whispered. "What would I ever do without you?"
"Find a new husband, I think." Joe said playfully.
"No one else would love the National as much as we do," Taylor said, "They're going to think it's weird."
"Our band," he said, his eyes sparkling.
Taylor snuggled into Joe's hoodie, inhaling the comforting scent of his. He had lent it to her while he went to an audition. "Something to remember me by," he had smirked, kissing her head.
"You're not dying, you're going to come back for dinner in like, two hours, babe." Taylor had rolled her eyes. "Even for an actor you can be so overdramatic."
She went to the kitchen to start preparing their dinner for the night. It was their two year anniversary, and she was going to prepare a romantic dinner for them, even if they were a little short on money and couldn't afford to go full out.
As she reached up to the cupboard for a measuring cup, something fell out of the pocket and onto the counter. It sounded relatively heavy, and her eyes widened in fear.
Climbing down the step stool, she looked on the counter and realised it was Joe's ipod. Examining the screen, she saw no cracks or damage, and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way she could make it up to him had she broken it.
Curiously, she swiped the ipod open, guessing his password on her first try— her birthday. She skimmed through the playlists, until she found one that caught her attention. The title was simply her name, and clicking into it, they were all her favourite songs.
She grinned as she started to play it, dancing around the kitchen as her beloved 'The National' songs blasted from Joe's ipod. Singing along, she lost track of time, and before she knew it, Joe was home.
"Oh hi love," Joe said, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he watched his then girlfriend dance around in his hoodie, baking treats, lost in her own world.
"Babe! You're back!" Taylor's eyes lit up. "Shoo, I'm almost done, I promise. I just need to pop these in the oven."
She shoved a pan into the oven then got up, dusting off her apron. She walked over to Joe and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his lips.
"How was the audition?" she asked, brushing his hair back.
"I got a part as the dead body," Joe grinned.
"What? Seriously?" Taylor nearly screamed, hugging him tightly. "Congratulations, I guess we're celebrating two things tonight."
"You don't have to act that excited for me, love," Joe said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "But I'm glad you find corpse Joe hot."
" A perfect match for zombie Taylor," she smiled softly, pecking his lips again. "I'm so proud of you."
And there they were, in the kitchen on their anniversary, The National playing in the background, a home cooked meal in the oven. And they knew what it was, they were in love.
a/n: hiii so this is part of a series i wrote, and there are three more (already written!!) parts ready. this one's really sad, and honestly i cried a bit writing it, which is so out of personality for me.
