Nine Months Later
Nine months ago, when Taylor left Karlie's Saint Louis home, she somehow knew that she wouldn't be hearing from her all too much. And somehow, she had wished for nothing more, yet also wished for it to be entirely different. Karlie had some soul searching to do, some growing up to do, and she could only do so much of that with Taylor so nearby. Taylor had definitely given her the right start though.
She knew Karlie was still seeing a psychiatrist regularly, as she had promised. Taylor was still being charged for each visit. She seemed to skip one here or there, but Taylor had let it slide. Karlie was still trying for both Taylor and herself, all the way in Saint Louis.
Sometimes they would text a bit, mostly when Taylor would have a drunk night out with friends and not have the resolve to resist texting Karlie a simple question. "How are you?" The conversations never lasted long, yet they always managed to make Taylor's heart swell and break at the same time. God, how she missed her.
Karlie had called her one night, the anniversary of her brothers' deaths. It was an odd phone call, a phone call that made Taylor long for Karlie more strongly than she had in months, as they sat in mostly silence on the phone for hours. Taylor was still the person Karlie wanted to be around when things were truly difficult, even if it was just in so subtle a way to remind herself that Taylor really was there, and that Taylor really would answer the phone for her.
Miraculously, just when Taylor's friends had begun side-eyeing her, sometimes bringing over a man or woman around her age, hinting, "Taylor, I think you and so-and-so have so much in common," Karlie had texted her.
Do you want to come visit me?
Of course Taylor did.
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Taylor breathes a shaky breath as she quickly pulls and straightens her dress, staring at Karlie's now mute yellow painted door. The house looks a lot nicer than it did when Taylor saw it last. Karlie paid for a lot of work to be done, Taylor didn't even know.
The door swings open, and Taylor is face to face with a complete stranger.
"Oh! Oh my god! Hi!" the girl says excitedly, coming face to face with Taylor Swift, now blushing red. "I'm sorry, we ran a little late. Thanks for the book, Karlie! I'll see you next week!"
She rushes past Taylor with a textbook under her arm, but Taylor barely notices because finally at the door is the girl she came to see, smiling at her as big as can be. Taylor is so blown away by that smile that hasn't seen in months and months, and possibly never having seen it so look so pure and full of life, that she stands frozen by the doorway.
Karlie hugs her first, wrapping her arms strongly around Taylor and rocking her back and forth, laughing, "I'm so happy to see you."
Taylor doesn't know how Karlie is laughing, even if the sound is still music to her ears, because Taylor feels as though she could cry. She was finally back in Karlie's embrace, and Karlie was smiling, and Karlie was laughing, and she was holding Taylor.
"Do you have a friend now?" Taylor asks, nuzzling her head in Karlie's chest. Yup, she's crying. And her voice can't even hide.
"She's in one of the classes I'm taking, she needed a book," Karlie says, pushing Taylor's shoulders lightly away from her. "Why are you crying?" Karlie says with a small laugh. The last time she had asked Taylor that was when Taylor had been overcome with emotions upon seeing Karlie so injured. Karlie hadn't understood why her being in such pain and danger could make Taylor feel anything at all.
