golden [2] | TAYLOR SWIFT

25

"Yeah, don't you have like a hundred cousins on your mom's side of the family?" Taylor asked, letting out a small breath through her nose as she started to relax a little.

"Twelve, but you'll only ever really get to meet them at our wedding," Kaia joked when the realisation of what she had actually said hit her. Her eyes started to widen in panic but Taylor snorted, grinning widely. She grabbed Kaia's left hand and squeezed it before returning to her original task of putting on her shoes.

"So, not any time soon. Maybe meeting your dad's family will give me enough practice that by then I won't have to deal with anxiety poops," Taylor mentioned and Kaia deflated in relief. She hadn't sensed anything.

"Right," Kaia chuckled dryly, clearing her throat. "Have you got everything you need?"

"Yes! At least, I think so. But yes, we can get going if you're ready!" Taylor replied, pulling at her hair to tighten her ponytail and fluffing up her bangs. She grabbed her bag in one hand and opened the front door. Immediately, the temperature dropped as cold air blew in from outside. Kaia stopped Taylor before she could step outside, closing her fingers around her elbow softly. "Hm? Did I forget anything?"

Kaia smiled as she nodded and tilted her chin up, pretending to look elsewhere. Taylor immediately understood what Kaia wanted. She closed the distance between them, leaving a sweet and lingering kiss on Kaia's lips. "Love you," Kaia whispered, trailing her fingers down the length of Taylor's arm and intertwining their fingers together.

"I love you too."

Spencer drove them to the train station and they made it on board just in time with only a minute to spare before they took off to the Lake District, stopping in Lancaster where they took a connecting train to Windermere Station. It was around 06:00 o'clock when they got off the train with their luggage and met Kaia's dad outside, leaning against the door of the old, red sedan that belonged to uncle Jim.

"Ah, at last!" Georges called out, opening his arms wide as soon as Kaia was within hugging distance. He wrapped her up in a warm embrace, kissing her forehead lovingly. "Hello, my darling. Good trip?"

"Yeah, same as usual," Kaia replied, smiling up at him appreciatively as he offered to carry her bag for her. "This one wouldn't stop oohing and aahing at everything," she teased Taylor, pointing her thumb at her.

Taylor rolled her eyes as she stepped forward and embraced Georges in greeting as well. "Hi, Georges! How are you, sir?"

"I'm perfectly all right, thank you, dear. And yourself?" He responded with a sweet smile, quite similar to Kaia's. Taylor couldn't help but smile back, walking toward the trunk of the car to place her bag in there.

"Excited! Nervous! Kind of really anxious?" Taylor replied with a little cringe.

"Well, don't let the twins know. They'll eat you alive," Georges joked, knocking on the back window of the car. "Your cousins wanted to tag along," he informed Kaia just as the window rolled down and two pairs of grey eyes peered up at Taylor, a little too creepily for her liking.

"You're actually dating Taylor Swift?" the one on the right asked Kaia, eyebrows arched in genuine surprise.

"Yes, Samantha, did you seriously think I was pulling your leg this whole time?"

The teenager rolled her eyes before glaring at her older cousin. "I haven't believed a word you've said ever since you tried to drown me when I was two," she shot back, earning an elbow to the side from the other, almost identical twin. The only difference was their hair. Sam had bright green locks. "And it's Sam now, by the way. Just Sam. I've joined the dark side."