1 (jaylor) wisteria hearts and caged folk songs

chapter seven.

"You're always enough." The words echoed and swirled in Taylor's head because she didn't believe it - not for a second. She'd never believed it, she'd never believed it was possible to have such a mindset. But she found herself realising that Joe made her feel like she was. He made her feel as if she was entirely enough... as if she was truly the best version of herself.
"I wanted to apologise," Joe said, rousing her from her thoughts. "I didn't have the time to buy you a present or anything good -"

Taylor wanted to melt at the fact that this was what he was thinking about. He wasn't thinking about the fact that they'd only really known each other for such a short time, not about the fact that Taylor had wandered into his life and unloaded all of her problems onto him, or the fact that she was now living in his apartment. Instead, he was worried about the gift that he'd gotten her. She'd never had someone care so much about her in that way. She'd never even expected a gift, and the fact that he'd gone to such trouble for her made her melt a little inside.

Meredith absolutely adored Joe, and she came and jumped onto his knees.
Meredith, who hated everyone. She'd always been an independent cat, even Taylor's cuddles were sometimes too much and would result in a claw to the leg. But she loved Joe, and Taylor loved that.
"But I did have time to do a little something..." He pulled out a journal, identical to the one that was in the bathroom, the one that sat on the stool beside the bath. "It really isn't much... but I wanted..." He paused, shaking his head. "This is so stupid, never mind..."
"No!" Taylor rested a hand on his. "No, it's not. Please let me see it."
"It's really stupid, Taylor. Trust me." Joe had turned a pale shade of pink. "I don't know why I even did it in the first place." Taylor gave him a smile.
"Nothing you do is stupid, Joe."

He looked her in the eyes, watched as her eyes gained a little more sparkle, and with his heart fluttering, handed her the notebook. This was Taylor Swift. She was the Queen of the music industry.
Everyone knew who she was.
She was the Queen of beautiful words and lyrics.
Queen of knowing all the right words and writing songs that topped the charts in minutes.
Queen of teaching everyone new words that they'd never known existed before.
There was a lot of pressure - he was just a normal person that happened to be good in front of a camera, on a stage, or with a paintbrush. Her? It was like she'd been placed on earth to write songs. So of course, he was scared. Taylor Swift was about to read the words that he'd written in a rush last night, while she was asleep beside him. He was worried that he wouldn't be good enough. That his words couldn't compare to her own. Would she laugh? Would she feel like she had to fake how she truly felt? Would he be able to tell if she was lying? What if she was so good at lying that he had no idea how she truly felt?

He watched her as she untied the evergreen ribbon that tied it closed, watched her tentatively as she opened the cover as if it were her most prized possession.
"It's really stupid, and it's not much..." He said, but she just looked up at him with a smile, her eyes streaming comets.
"It's perfect, Joe."

Because he'd compiled an entire notebook full of poetry, just for her. He'd scrambled his collection of poems that he kept in a box under his bed, trying to find the perfect symphony of poetry for her. Some were about love, others about heartbreak, and some about healing. Joe had written poems about them all because he'd felt it all. He'd felt a little bit of everything, in this little lifetime of his.

On the first page, he'd written, 'two souls don't just find each other by pure, sweet, simple accident. It's serendipity.' He watched as her face broke into a smile as she read the words, as she ran a fingertip over the ink. On every single page was a different poem, written in Joe's own handwriting. Taylor bit her lip, looking up at him.
"How could you ever think this is stupid? There is not a single planet in the vast entirety of this universe, where it would ever be stupid." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "Joe, this is the kindest, most thoughtful present that I have ever received." She read the first poem and wondered why she'd even bothered to wipe the tears away because they just started to fall again.