2. mirrorball (a taylor swift au)

-chapter eleven-

Ellie slipped out of the room, desperate for a cuddle with her Mom.
"Mom?" She called out, trying to stop herself from falling apart. She hadn't cried in a wee while - and she was disappointed that she'd ruined her winning streak. She saw her Mom, her back leaned against the wall with the biggest smile on her face that Ellie had ever seen. Margot's dad was standing beside her, and if Ellie hadn't been so upset, she'd have turned back around and decided that she wouldn't ruin this moment for her Mom. But she just wanted her Mom.
"Mom?" Ellie sniffled. Taylor noticed her immediately, walking towards her with her arms out.
"What's wrong?" Taylor's laughter, her smile and her happiness faded away the moment she saw Ellie. "What happened?"
Ellie embraced her Mom, not even caring that Margot's Dad hadn't left the room yet.
"Miles made a really mean comment to Gracie about her perfume being too strong and I tried to tell her that it wasn't too strong and that he was the only one who thinks that and then she said that I didn't get it because I wasn't a grownup and she got really mad at me and I'm not silly and I might not be a grownup but... but I've lived most of my life in a house with no love and I know what that looks like but she still got mad at me." Ellie was hysterical- Taylor hadn't ever seen her this upset. "Am I not good enough for her anymore? Does she hate me? I'm a bad kid..."

It had been a big day for Taylor and quite frankly, she felt like breaking down too. It had been a big day with big feelings and she was overwhelmed. She was ready to go home, back to Nashville. But she was a Mom first, and making Ellie feel better was her biggest concern.
Taylor pulled the child into her arms. She was sitting with her back against the wall, and Ellie in her lap.
"Sometimes," Taylor started, unsure of how to best approach this. "When grownups like me, or like Gracie, are in relationships with people that they think they love..." she sighed. "Sometimes we don't even realise that they're stealing our sparkles. But the trick is, we can be so sure we love them, so sure that we're still sparkling... but we just haven't noticed them slipping away yet."
"But I don't want Gracie to not have any sparkles," Ellie sobbed. "Gracie's always had super lots of sparkles forever. I don't want Gracie to love Miles if he's mean to her."
"She'll get them back again, little bee. She just has to be the one to realise that she's lost them." Taylor kissed Ellie's forehead, the little girl was finally calming down enough that she was breathing properly.
"But I don't want her to be unhappy," Ellie whispered. "And I don't want Miles to treat her-"
"Ellie?" Gracie's head popped around the doorframe, and Ellie curled up into an even smaller ball, pressing herself even closer to Taylor's chest.
"I'm really sorry for snapping at you," Gracie spoke, and Taylor could see how distraught she was.
"I think... I think that we are going to head home," Taylor glanced down at Ellie, deciding that this evening had been too much, and what Ellie needed was a bedtime story and pyjamas.
"It's just been a big day for everyone." She was trying to keep the peace, trying to make sure she validated Ellie's feelings, while comforting Gracie.

Gracie hated herself.

Ellie was her favourite little kid in the world and she'd been so mean. How could she have done that? Said that? Ellie was just a kid, and Gracie had snapped at her like she was a grownup? She glanced at Taylor with wet eyes, nodding.
"I... I love you, superstar." She bit her lip, before turning and going to tell Derek that Taylor was leaving.
She slipped into the room, and told Derek that Taylor was leaving. She knew that he'd probably want to leave with her.

Derek grabbed Ellie's little bag of stuff they'd brought to keep the kids entertained, and led the girls into the hallway.
"Where do your shoes go, Magpie?" He muttered as he realised that his oldest daughter had no shoes on. It was late, the girls were tired.
"Dad, I've told you," his daughter yawned. "It's the pixies. The shoe-stealing kind. Oh, and they steal my vegetables too."
"This next bit is probably going to be overwhelming," Taylor told him. "My team has got umbrellas - we're going to hide underneath them, and make our way to the car." He could tell that Taylor was stressed. The moment of quiet they'd shared had slipped away. "I... I've got earmuffs for the girls. I don't want them getting scared. I thought we'd be leaving later than this but..."
Derek nodded. "They'll be okay, won't you, Magpie? Besides, Violet can practically sleep through anything." He glanced down at the curly haired child asleep in his arms. Ellie was in Taylor's arms, her arms wrapped around her neck. He didn't know what had made the little girl so upset, but he knew that it will have made Taylor extremely worried.
"I'm really sorry about this." Taylor told him.
He just smiled, his eyes warm and bright. Comforting. Reassuring.
"It's the next big adventure."