Fool's Gold [Jaylor Fanfiction]

The Elephant in the Room

Five Days Later
August 2nd; 2023
Taylor Swift's Point of View
Joe and I were supposed to be meeting for sessions the last couple of days but we decided that we needed some time to process what we did. Today is the day we go back to work. It's going to be awkward. I hope he doesn't notice what I did to try and get through it. I technically didn't break any of the rules we set up. Sleeping with Joe was a mistake-well it was good-I mean. Sex is very vulnerable and you must trust the other person. I don't regret trusting Joe. I'm okay with my vulnerability around him. I don't feel dirty or regret what happened necessarily. I feel bad for Joe. I just get really horny when I get drunk. I finally stumble through the door and look at the clock.

"Hey, look at that. Only 58 minutes late!" I exclaim proudly while pointing to the clock.

"Why are you sweating? Did you run in here?" Joe asks me. I did sprint in here from the car. I'm completely out of breath and I have a light coat of sweat on my face.

"Yes." I collapse on the couch and feel my heart pounding in my chest. "I ran."

"Are you going to take off your sunglasses?"

Taking off my sunglasses is always the first part of my routine and I've yet to fling them anywhere. "No. I'm keeping them on."

"What are you high on? Oxy?" Joe stands up and towers over me.

"Alwyn, I'm not high. We made rules."

Joe rips my sunglasses off and shines his phone on my eyes. "Then why in the hell are your pupils constricted? They're a fucking pinpoint." He tosses my sunglasses across the floor and sighs. "What are you on?"

"Vicodin."

"Your nose...you snorted it. I can see some powder."

"I hate chewing them. Every once in a while I just have to snort it." I see it in his face. The anger just building up in him. He wants to scream at me. I wait for the tongue-lashing but he just takes a deep breath and sits next to me. He puts my head on his lap and lays back on the couch.

"When did you take it?"

"Two hours ago."

"Okay. How much longer until it goes away?"

"The high? Three hours probably."

"Okay." Joe takes his hand and lightly runs it through my hair. I've always had a thing for that. It's comforting. I could just melt.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?"

"Yelling at you hasn't done anything in the past. So I'm just going to keep you safe for the next couple of hours. Is that okay?"

"Yeah."

I've regretted getting high before but those were regretted because of the consequences. Like when I got arrested or when I totaled my car. Never have I regretted getting high because of someone else. No one has ever made me feel bad for taking pills like this before. The guilt is eating me alive and I just want to turn back time. Why does guilt feel like nausea and I'm going to throw up? Wait a minute.
I quickly grab the small trash bin next to the couch and vomit. Joe holds my hair back and rubs my back gently as I empty my entire stomach. The acid stings my throat and I continuously cough.

"Just breathe." Joe tries to get me to relax and catch my breath. I set the trash can down when I know I'm done but still have a labored breath.

"That happens sometimes."

"When you get high?"

"Yeah. I can get nauseous. One time I threw up on the street while on oxy. My team spent a lot of time and money covering that up." I sigh extraordinarily ashamed and cross my hands over each other.