5 (jaylor) forever fearless nights and a mirrorball spotlight

chapter three.

Joe felt his heart sink. Why today? Why now? That fucking asshole just couldn't let things be.
He watched as Taylor bit her lip, kicking the sand beneath her feet.
"So? What do we do?" She asked, finally looking up at Joe. She wanted to go back to the morning, to when she hadn't gotten out of bed yet and didn't know what was going down.
It annoyed her that she just couldn't escape it. And it was different now that she had a family. It was so different because now, everything that was said about her... tended to be said about her family.
"It's not going to reach the media until tomorrow," Tree told her.
Taylor was glad for Joe's hand intertwined with hers, it kept her grounded. It kept her breathing.
"So we have some time to think."
Taylor looked over at Joe, her eyebrows furrowed together in concentration.
"If it's not true, then we have nothing to worry about. At the end of the day, it's his word against yours, and he's the one in prison. He's the one that no one trusts now. Quite frankly, I don't know what he thinks he's achieving." Tree remarks.
"Exactly," Joe speaks, and Taylor closes her eyes in relief that he has spoken. "We've got nothing to worry about. Should we make a statement? Like we've done before?"
"Something to lessen the blow of what he's accusing."

Taylor and Joe hadn't spoken of that night since it happened, but that doesn't mean either of them has forgotten about it.
"Okay." Taylor sighed. This was going to be a birthday sat away from the kids, sat in front of her computer, her phone while she tried to figure things out. She couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe that he'd done this. All of these long years later, all of the memories that had faded into oblivion, he was still trying to destroy her. "What should we include?"

After she'd spoken to Tree, she phoned Patrick, letting him know that the walk would be a little longer than either of them planned, and asked him to look after the kids for a little longer.
He was more than happy to, supposedly he'd gotten them all into listening to Disney music while they helped clear the table from breakfast.
"Is everything okay?" He asked subtly because the kids were all around him. "How's the beach?"
"Hmmm," Taylor gave a cold laugh as she and Joe sat down on the rocks, and she is reminded of all the times they'd take Thea here. To the mermaid rocks. "It's a long story, but we're currently just trying to avoid accusations against us in a media release tomorrow. Adam got in contact with his mother, again, and has stirred up what happened in New York many, many nights ago." Patrick was involved in that night, Joe phoned him, and Taylor remembered Patrick's panicked state on the phone as he told her what his brother planned to do. She remembered it all too well, and she just wanted to be able to shrug it off.
"Oh, that's no good. That's so sparkly clean, Luca!" Patrick said, and the reminder of their children that were waiting for them when they returned was enough to bring tears to Taylor's eyes. "Elena, feet are NOT allowed on the table! Sorry. Take as long as you need. I've got everything under control - Nora, don't fight-"
"Okay, Patrick, thank you." Taylor said before hanging up.
"There's never a dull moment around here." She sighed as Joe took her hand.
"We'll put out this rumour as we have with every single one of his plans." Joe leaned in and kissed her temple. "We'll figure something out, I promise."

The wind picks up about an hour into sitting outside. Taylor is distracted. This wasn't the birthday she thought she'd get, this wasn't how she thought things would happen.
"What if they don't believe us." She couldn't stop thinking about how this was going to affect the kids, how it was going to make them feel. "What if everyone decides to take his side over ours?"
"They're not going to, my love. They've never taken his side in the past, and I don't know why things would be any different." Joe squeezed her hand. "Whatever happens, we'll sort it out."
"We have kids now, that makes all of this a million times harder. Everything that affects us, affects them too." Taylor bit her lip. "Do we tell them? Do you think that we have to tell them right away? Elena, Nora and Luca won't understand it properly, and I don't want to tell Thea just yet. She has a test tomorrow... if we tell her about it now... I don't want her to be in that situation." Taylor sighs. "She's been so good at studying for it... I don't want to tell her something like this that tears it all down."
"We'll tell her as soon as she gets home, then. You're right."
"What if my time is over? Every single thing that happens is just closer and closer towards people not wanting me anymore. What if my time in the spotlight is over?"
"It's not over, Taylor. It's really not. They haven't had enough of you, and I am one hundred per cent sure that if you asked them, they'd never, ever have enough of you. Would they be begging you for another album if your time in the spotlight was over? Would they be begging for concerts, and photos, and signatures? Would they have loved the re-records so much if your time was over?" Joe nudged her. "People like you are timeless, Taylor. People like you don't fade into the curtains. They're always there in the spotlight. People don't get tired of you. I don't actually think that would be possible."
Taylor gave him a small smile. "They really are always begging for a new album."
"See?" Joe grinned. "They're not going to believe him."