Snow On the Beach (Taylor Swift x Reader)

The Great War

Souls.

"I love that idea," Taylor said. After a night of scribbling down ideas and sketching concepts, I had rushed into the studio the next morning and presented my idea to her, describing each and every detail strewn across the page. "It's a beautiful album name. And it matches perfectly with the songs we've written for the second album." So far, we had produced whimsical and light-hearted songs for Souls, a collection of stories inspired by both evermore and folklore, perhaps their long-lost, younger sister. It took place just at the start of spring, glimmers of the cruel winter behind found in some of the music we had written but laced mostly with new hope and evergreen. A journey weaving between light misted pine trees, rays of sun slipping through the leaves as the chatter of a brook whose ice had just melted rushed past.

"Do you have any ideas for the first album?" I questioned. Taylor shook her head. The songs we had created thus far were dark and dramatic, pain carved into each realm we had explored through our lyrics. But nothing we had thought of captured the true, haunting beauty of the album. We would just have to keep thinking about it. "Honestly, I'm really hungry. Want to eat lunch now?" I said, reaching for my bag.

"Uh, sure," Taylor said, coughing a little before setting her lunch onto the table. We pushed things out of the way so we had a clear space to eat. I was feeling lazy today so had bought a meal deal for my lunch. But I honestly wasn't complaining, I loved meal deal pasta.

I noticed that Taylor seemed to be slow organising her lunch and eventually opening her food container. Her hand was shaking as she clutched her fork in her hand and I frowned.

"Taylor?" She shook her head, dropping her fork and burying her face in her hands. The temperature of the room plummeted in seconds and I rushed up to her, kneeling by her side and slipping an arm around her shoulder. Her sobs were muffled by her hands and I held her tight, hundreds of thoughts rushing through my head. It was all happening so quick. Had I done something? Was it something I said? Then I thought back to the way she had got out her lunch. Her attempt to start eating it. My heart thumped against my ribcage. Please let it be something else. Please. "Taylor?" I repeated, a little more desperate this time.

She dropped her hands into her lap, tears slipping down her face. She leant into my touch, her body trembling.

"I don't know why," she said, "it's just been so hard." No. This couldn't be happening. Not again.

"What's been hard?" I said, the last trace of hope leaving my voice. There was silence.

"Eating." My heart seemed to stop. I bit down on my lip, my eyes beginning to burn slightly before I reminded myself who this was about. My feelings could wait. I stood up and pulled her into my embrace, her head resting on my chest and her arms wrapping around my waist. I let her cry into my jumper for a few minutes as I held her, playing with her baby hairs to calm her. "I promise I'm happy with my weight and how I look," Taylor said after her sobs had dwindled away, "I don't know why this is happening. I don't want this to happen again. I don't know if I could go through it all a second time."

"Listen," I said, cupping her face and lifting it so she was looking up at me, "it won't be like last time. You've told someone, that's the biggest step you can take. You can talk to your therapist and we can take it day by day together. It'll be okay. Remember, healing is never linear. This might just be part of the process." That's what I had to tell myself. That it would all be okay. She'd be okay. She got onto her feet and hugged me, burying her face into my shoulder.

"Can we finish early today?" she whispered, pulling away, "let's go do something fun. Just us."

"Of course," I said, intertwining my hand with hers. "Let's go." I hoped this would keep our mind off things. If I got lost in my thoughts now, I had no idea what state I was going to spiral into. There were already unpleasant memories starting to stir at the front of my mind and I didn't know what else this situation was going to awaken if I didn't distract myself. And God knows what mental turmoil Taylor would go through if I left her alone.