1 (jaylor) wisteria hearts and caged folk songs

chapter nine.

"You did so well today. You've come so far, and I am so proud of you." Joe told her as they walked through the doors. She blushed, looking down at the floor as she put the bags she was carrying down on the ground. "Come here," Joe said when her arms were empty. He pulled her into his arms and gasped. "God, your cheeks are so cold!"
"Sorry!" Taylor pulled away, but he pulled her back in for more. She didn't mean to hurt him with her cheeks and felt herself throwing up those internal walls of hers.
"You don't have to apologise for that, love. It's alright, mine are probably just as cold as yours." Joe could sense her panic, sense the way she withdrew, and took her hand, bringing it up to his cheek. She laughed warmly as she felt his freezing cheeks. She nodded. "See?" He smiled.
"Yup, they're just as cold as mine," Taylor answered in reply, her panic gently fading, although it was hard for her to let it go.

When she was with Adam, there was no room for mistakes. There was no room to be anything other than perfect. But with Joe... he didn't punish her, didn't tell her to be better. She was still getting used to that.

While Joe unpacked a few things he'd brought, Taylor turned on the oven because she was going to make cookies. She hadn't baked in months and wanted to at least give it a little go. She used to love baking until Adam said that it was a waste of time. She could never do anything right for him - usually, he'd complain about the texture of the cookies, or about how unhealthy they were. Then she never did it again. She felt like by doing all of those things that Adam had hated, that he'd told her to stop doing, it was her own little piece of revenge. It was like she was beginning to get back all of those things he stole from her.
"Do you think I should put the tree up?" Joe asked her as he came into the kitchen. Taylor was scrolling through her saved Pinterest recipes, and she felt his arms wrap around her. She was surprised when this didn't make her jump, because usually, anyone's touch made her flinch. But not Joe's. He kissed her cheek, and she smiled.
"I can help you if you want." She turned to face him, and he rested his arms on her hips. Every time he looked at her, Taylor felt herself glow. She didn't think she'd ever get used to that feeling.
"No, no! You bake. Anyway, I've heard a lot about your baking skills." Joe told her softly, and she smiled.
"All good things, I hope." Another widely known fact about Taylor Swift? The fact that she was an amazing baker, and a great cook. If you ever got the chance to have her cook for you, you were absolutely crazy if you denied it.
"Most definitely. I think everyone was a little obsessed when you released your favourite cookie recipes or that time you released your chocolate cake recipe, oh! Or that time you posted about your favourite pizza recipe. Ever since you said that you put on olives, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, feta and spinach on yours, and how you often put sundried tomato and olive chutney on the base... I never turned back. And the tip you gave? About cooking the base for five minutes before you put the sauce on? So you can absolutely load it with toppings and the bottom will be cooked? Amazing." Joe grinned. "But no one makes cookies as good as you. I'll... start putting up the tree. We can play Christmas - or any kind of music if you want, you just have to connect your phone to Bluetooth." Joe smiled. "If we really want to feel festive."
Taylor nodded. "Do you have any requests?""No, you can choose. I'm sure there are plenty of Christmas playlists already." He kissed her, before moving to start unboxing the Christmas tree. They'd gotten a pretty large tree, due to the fact that Joe's apartment had a very high ceiling.

Taylor scrolled down to one of her favourite cookie recipes and remembered the last time she'd made them. She hadn't shared an apartment with Adam yet. She hadn't completely lost herself yet. She held onto that memory, remembering that night. She didn't feel tired, and so at three o'clock in the morning, she'd decided that she was going to bake cookies.
That was back before she got worried about making noise, back before she was worried about making a wrong step and getting hit. It was back before it all. She felt like she was so young back then, she hadn't realised how dark and cold life could get. But here she was. She was on the other side of the storm, she'd made it through. She might not be in one piece, but she was here. She made it.
"Would now be a good time to say that I've never put up a fake Christmas tree?" Joe asked her, looking down at the box of different pieces. Not being able to help herself, Taylor laughed."Really?" She laughed. "You have to get them all out of the box, and there should be a tree stand in there. There will be a different colour for each tier of branches, put them all in groups and then follow the instructions of which colour goes where." She smiled. "And then we can spray the Christmas tree spray we got!" They'd brought a room spray that supposedly smelt like a Christmas tree farm, but Taylor would be the judge of that. She used to work on a Christmas tree farm on the weekends when she was a teenager.
Joe just nodded, before tipping the box upside down and shaking all of the pieces out of it.