Kaylor: The Timeline

Chapter 13.1

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Taylor takes a steadying breath as she applies the last of her makeup in her bathroom mirror. Her signature red lip today looks far too perfect on a face that was so obviously overcome with sadness before the touches of concealer, mascara, and eyeliner.

She had been crying on and off all morning and early afternoon. It took her longer than she would like, but finally she was consumed with thoughts of only Karlie. The worst part of last night's fight was that Taylor didn't necessarily regret it. She realized they needed this, they needed this time to think and evaluate what they had. But that need for this time apart terrified Taylor. They shouldn't need this in the first place.

And now, where should she go from here? How should she feel about the fact that she hasn't heard from Karlie? Should she really expect to hear from her if she told her to think? Taylor surely can't be the one to call first since she is the one who provided this instruction. But just how long can Taylor go without hearing from someone who has become her whole life?

She doesn't want to think of it now, as she breezes out of her apartment with a mildly sullen look on her face. Her security guards flank her without a word as she walks down the flights of stairs, into the lobby, and out to the SUV that awaits her on the city street, all with only a single and barely-there glance towards the paparazzi that wait outside. They yell an the cameras flash, and perhaps for the thousandth time since the road trip to Big Sur, Taylor wonders just what life for her and Karlie would be like if those cameras weren't apart of Taylor's.

She's going shopping for Karlie's birthday. She knows she has plenty of gifts for her, but she feels a need to do it anyway. Maybe to make amends with her own psyche that is plagued with guilt, or maybe just to remind herself that as of now, Karlie is still a part of her life.

She just hopes she won't give the paparazzi any chances to capture a teary eyed Taylor Swift as she shops, unsure if she is shopping for a birthday she will even be able to celebrate.

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Karlie had known Josh's call would come, she just hoped it wouldn't be sooner rather than later. She tentatively licks her bottom lip, staring at her cell phone screen, knowing that she owes Josh an explanation. He deserves one.

But she lays in bed, mid afternoon, still in her pajamas, unable to bring herself to do much else of anything. She doesn't feel like herself, and she doesn't know where to begin with correcting the very many wrongs she has somehow managed to make recently.

Yes, she owes Josh an explanation, and also an apology, but right now she doesn't have it in her to construct either of those. When the phone stops ringing, it comes as a welcome relief. She slumps back against her pillow, not feeling entirely cozy or at home in her own bed, prompting her to wonder if she'd be able to return back home to Taylor at some point soon.

The fact that she even has to harbor some doubts about this brings tears back to her green eyes.

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Taylor isn't even aware that Karlie has gone through with posting a Josh-related Instagram picture until Tree calls her.

"This wasn't written into his NDA. We don't have anything to do with this, is he going to expect some sort of compensation?" Tree asks, sounding worried.

This is the last thing Taylor is going to worry about today. "I don't know. He doesn't want money, he has enough of that. I don't know if there's anything else I could give him that he would want. But we don't owe him anything anyway," Taylor replies dully, mindlessly fiddling with a couch cushion as she speaks.