golden [2] | TAYLOR SWIFT

21

okay so.... hopefully you won't hate me after this one? im sorry about the last couple of chapters 😭

they're together in this chapter so yey!

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On the seventy-eighth floor of the five-star rated hotel, there was a series of paintings on the walls in the hallway that depicted a sort of metamorphosis that was quite unappealing. Kaia could not understand why anyone would think it was anything short of repulsive. It was sure to give her nightmares for the next week.

And yet, she couldn't look away from the moth that was climbing out of its cocoon horrifically. She forced herself to turn around and stare straight ahead at the door to Taylor's suite.

She could hear music coming from one of the rooms down the hall but she was certain that Taylor's room in particular was sitting completely still. She raised her fist and rapped her knuckles against the door once more.

A whole minute passed but no one opened the door. It was almost eleven in the evening, but she was sure Taylor was not asleep yet. She went for the bell this time and a few seconds later, the door to the room on the right opened.

Kaia stepped back in surprise, glancing at the other door. She smiled when she saw Kamilah and took a step toward her, but before she could greet her, the singer was throwing herself at Kaia and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, thank god! She's been moping all day! Save us!"

Kaia raised her eyebrows as she was dragged into the room. She glanced back at her luggage standing there in the hallway and then back at the Kamilah. She spotted some of the other singers that toured with Taylor and waved at them but the blonde herself was nowhere to be found. Her eyes searched the room until she found her scrambling up to her feet from behind a blanket fort.

She stood in front of Kaia and gave her a tired smile. She didn't lean in to kiss her as she normally did, and neither did Kaia. She heard a muffled snort that sounded a lot like Jeslyn's but Melanie didn't even try to hide her laugh.

"All right, get out of here, you two. We'll play the music even louder."

Taylor turned around and flipped her off. "Oh, shut up!"

Kaia managed a little smile and took a step toward Taylor.

"Hi, how are you?" She started at the same time as Taylor said, "you wanna...?"

Taylor trailed off and pointed with her thumb toward the room next door. Kaia nodded, grabbed Taylor's hand, and started toward the hallway outside.

"Sorry guys, I'm just gonna steal her for a second," Kaia said, waving at the other girls who were watching them amusedly.

"Don't worry, we won't miss her tonight," Kamilah called out.

"Have fun, you guys!"

Taylor's hand felt heavy in Kaia's as they walked down the hall toward her suite. She pulled the keycard out of her pocket and pushed the door open, moving aside to let Kaia in first. She rolled her bag in behind her and left it on the side by the door as Taylor turned the lights on and locked the door behind them.

"So, how was your flight?" Taylor started, kicking off her slippers and sitting down on the bed.

Kaia slipped her backpack off and left it on one of the chairs in the room before slowly turning to look at Taylor, exasperated. "Are we seriously going to start with the small talk?"