t & j [one shots]

toast of the town

"I love you," Taylor pants. "There's no one that deserves this role more than you."

***

"I think I'm going to send her an email and thank her..........Oh Gosh, could you imagine?"

Taylor smiles to herself. It just fills her heart with so much joy to hear Joe on the phone with his mum, rambling on with excitement. She pours the blue icing into a piping bag, her eyes still trained on Joe. He's pacing around the conservatory in his favorite Stella McCartney track pants. Taylor takes a mental picture of this moment: Joe laughing into his iPhone, the pan of brownies cooling on the stove.

Still grinning ear to ear, Joe retreats back into the kitchen. "My mum said seven sounds good," he murmurs.

"Lovely," Taylor effuses. She inches closer to Joe and wraps her arms around him, suddenly craving his touch. "She sounded really excited."

"Oh, yeah, she is. It's sweet," Joe beams. "She thinks she manifested this because she recommended the book to me."

Taylor laughs. "She's gonna die if she meets Sally because of this."

"Not if I die first. I think I'd perish if I met Sally in the flesh," Joe says dryly.

"Oh, same," Taylor chuckles. "I don't think I could handle it."

Joe tilts his head to plant a deep kiss on her lips. His tongue picks up a chocolatey syrup and he laughs quietly. "You taste like chocolate," he croons.

Taylor blushes. "It's from the brownies," she explains, gesturing to the pan.

Joe nods and then his breath hitches. Blue frosting is piped into thin loopy letters that spell out Congratulations Joe!

He just stares at Taylor wordlessly, fresh tears springing to his eyes.

"I wanted to make a chocolate cake," Taylor sighs, "but I knew it wouldn't bake in time for your parents, so I had to settle for brownies."

"I-I don't even know what to say," Joe mumbles. "This is perfect. You're perfect. I just, I don't-"

He slumps into her arms and lets everything he's feeling so intensely flow into a kiss. Sometimes Taylor'll do something so thoughtful, so romantic that no words could even begin to reciprocate that kindness.

Standing here, nestled in her embrace, wafts of chocolate clouding the air- it's such a powerful reminder of how steadfast and unconditional Taylor's support has been.

***

Taylor leans her head on the door frame. A part of her is hoping that she'll find Joe busy reading or chatting with friends in London. But he's exactly where she found him an hour ago. Curled up on his side, still in his favorite white tee and tracksuit bottoms. He's not even looking at his phone or a book, he's staring blankly at the beige wall.

Taylor approaches their half-made bed carefully. She doesn't want to disturb him, knows from nearly four years of practice that Joe needs gentleness in times like these.

She slithers into bed beside him, wraps her arms tightly around his chisled shoulders. He's amped up his lifting regime in the past six months or so and it shows.

Taylor just lays here, chin digging into his bicep. She doesn't want to speak just yet, wants to wait and see if Joe'll say anything without prompting.

But he remains still and silent. Taylor thinks for a moment that nothing he could say would be louder than this silence. It's practically deafening.

"Hi," Taylor finally whispers, pressing a kiss onto the nape of his neck.

"Hi," Joe breathes back.

"I made brownies," Taylor offers weakly. "I used the Mary Berry recipe your mum uses."

"Oh?"

"I thought we could have a little picnic in the living room," Taylor continues.

"That'd be really nice," Joe murmurs, but his attempt at masking his gloominess is feeble. Taylor can detect the artificial enthusiasm in his voice. He even throws in a smile for good measure, but it won't fool Taylor. It's not the dimpled cheeks, glowing blue eyes smile that she knows and loves.

It pains her to see him concealing his struggles like this, because she knows that he's trying for her, doesn't want to let her down or be a burden.

"Baby..." Taylor breathes. Her tone is soft enough to dislodge some of the dejection Joe's got buried inside. She gives him an encouraging back rub, and he starts to relent, his lip visibly quivering.

"I just don't understand," Joe says shakily. He pauses for a minute, and Taylor's careful not to interrupt. "I don't know why I feel like this," he heaves. "I shouldn't feel like this because I have you and I'm healthy and I don't have to worry about losing my house or not being able to eat. I'm not the only one that's not working, so I don't know why I feel so bloody lousy. I just....hate this. And I'm scared. What if I never work again and every day is like this? I don't know if I could do it."

Taylor's lip starts quivering too, and before she knows it, she's blinking away salty tears. "Oh, baby," she sighs, "come here."

Joe's already in her arms, but she grips him even tighter, vowing to never let go. "I love you," she says forcefully. "And I will always love you. I'll love you if you never work another day in your life and I'll love you when you're 87 and filming shitty Netflix movies. I know these past few months have been rough, but I'm here for you, okay? We're a team, love, and we're gonna get through this together."

Joe nuzzles his head into the nape of her neck. He swears her embrace has healing powers, because he already feels significantly better, if that's even possible.

"I love you," he whispers laconically. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

***

Taylor and Joe are lying in bed, unclothed, drunk on Richard's mulled wine and sex induced endorphins. Taylor's playing with Joe's hair and he just lets her. Secretly he loves it when she runs her fingers through his golden locks. It's here when she's talking about the difference between a french braid and a dutch braid and how if he lets his hair grow a little, she can attempt a fishtail, that it dawns on Joe that nothing will ever be as exhilarating and satisfying as loving her.

"Sometimes I worry that you'll never know how much I love you or how much your support means to me," Joe blurts out. "I don't even know how to articulate something like that or say thank you because it's just...impossible. That probably doesn't even make sense, but I love you," he adds hurriedly.

Taylor's cheeks pink and her eyes get twinkly again. "No, I know what you mean. It's like no melodies or words or brownies or blow jobs would ever be enough to show you how much I love you. It's kinda scary, isn't it? Loving someone that intensely."

"I suppose. But like a good scary."

"Yeah," Taylor laughs. Their faces are so close together that her laughter tickles the hairs on his beard.

I'm proud of you," Taylor murmurs after a few moments of peaceful silence. Joe doesn't interject, or shut-down this time. He lets her words settle in his brain for a moment.

"The cats are gonna have so much fun in Belfast. Gosh, I can't wait," Taylor smiles.

Joe thinks about the two of them hauling guitar cases and boxes of kitty litter into their Irish rental home and it almost brings him to tears. Something about having his own family, warms his insides, coaxes his anxieties.

AN: this story feels different from what I typically upload, but I hope you all still enjoyed it! I started watching CWF over the weekend (still haven't finished it) and when Joe described his reaction to being cast in one of the promo videos, I suddenly had a headcanon. this story is the product of that lol. if i have any more random story ideas unrelated to RA or CSS, i'll publish them here. thanks again for reading babes! i love you all!