Grammys After Party (Tayvin)

Grammys After Party

There was no feeling quite like holding an Album of the Year Grammy for an album I worked so hard on and fought with my label over. An album that changed my life. Made me bolder. Smarter. More resilient.
I was surrounded by friends, family, strangers. Everyone trying to congratulate me. The adrenaline made it less overwhelming, but everything was moving too fast to soak in.
I hugged my mom backstage and clung to her, knowing that she was one of the few people who truly understood how much this award meant to me. Austin and Selena were by my side the whole night, beaming at me. I just couldn't wipe the smile off of my face.
Adam wanted to be there more than anything, but he also wanted the attention to be on my career, and not my love life. We decided that he wouldn't come with, but he immediately texted me congratulations after I won and told me he couldn't wait to congratulate me in person.
He was already at the Universal after party when I arrived. I texted him right before I got out of the party bus and stepped into the storm of paparazzi.
"Is Adam here yet?" Selena asked, looking around.
I nodded slowly, spotting him in the midst of the crowd. The room was dark, with flashing lights, and there were hundreds of people between us, but our eyes locked. Our faces transformed into smiles reserved only for each other.
"Taylor?" Selena nudged me with her elbow.
I wondered how Adam and I could still get so lost in one another after a year of dating.
My eyes flashed back to her. "Adam's over there."
She smiled and shooed me away, "Go. I'm sure he can't wait to congratulate you."
"You sure you're okay here?" I didn't want to leave her alone.
"Tay, I'm fine," she rolled her eyes. "I know a ton of people here. Go find your man."
I laughed, "Okay."
I made my way through the crowd, responding to congratulatory wishes with simple "thank you"s as I tried to get to Adam as quickly as possible.
"Hey, beautiful," he stepped toward me, minimizing the distance between our lips.
"Hi," I breathed.
"So, I don't mean to brag," he leaned in, raising his eyebrows. "But my girlfriend just won a Grammy for Album of the Year."
"Really?" I spoke in an over dramatic tone as I stared up into his eyes.
He nodded, "She's a 10 time Grammy winner. It's pretty incredible."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I bet you'd like her," he was inching closer to me, letting his hand land on uncovered area of my side. "She's amazing."
His lips hovered over mine.
"Hmm... Too bad she's the opposite of your type..."
He laughed, pulling away from me slightly.
His face quickly melted back into a mixture of pride and love, "I'm so proud of you."
He slowly moved in to kiss me, but I pressed my hand to his chest. I looked around, trying to spot any cameras.
I turned my attention back to Adam, who looked mildly hurt by my rejection. "What do you say, we go to the VIP area?"
"Good call," he wrapped his arm around my waist and led us toward VIP.
"Taylor!" I felt a hand on my arm and turned.
"Oh my god, Andrew!" I turned away from Adam to hug one of my former producers.
"Congratulations on Album of the Year!" he smiled. "You really deserve it. You put out such a refreshing and sonically cohesive album."
"Thank you," I glanced at Adam, who was beaming at me. "Oh, Andrew, I don't think you've met my boyfriend. This is Adam."
Adam left one hand wrapped around my waist while he shook Andrew's hand. "It's a pleasure."
"Nice to meet you," Andrew nodded. "I'm sure you're pretty proud of your girl tonight."
"Always," Adam corrected, rubbing small circles on my back with his thumb. "She never ceases to amaze me."
"Well, you two seem very happy together," Andrew seemed pleased. "Enjoy the rest of your evening."
"You too," I hugged him again before continuing to walk to VIP with Adam.
The section was less crowded, though there were still probably a hundred people scattered around.
"C'mere," I told Calvin, my gaze set on a secluded area in the corner, where we could have a bit of privacy for a few minutes.
"Taylor!" Ella and Selena were calling me from a few feet away.
I turned to look at them.
"We were thinking of heading out for the GQ party," Selena explained.
I glanced up at Adam, silently apologizing. "Okay, so how do we want to do this? I go out with them first and you leave a couple minutes later with your friends?"
He nodded, kissing the top of my head, "See you on the bus."
Ella and Selena and I began walking to the exit.
"I can't believe you guys have been going out for a year and he still looks at you like that," Ella commented.
"Like what?" I blushed.
"Like you're the best thing that ever happened to him," Selena responded. "Like you're the only person in the whole room."
I smiled to myself as we made our way back through the paparazzi and to party bus. The bus filled up too quickly to get a seat next to Adam, but he smiled at me and he stepped in.
The bus was pounding with music and alcohol. I rarely got drunk, but this was an occasion to celebrate, so I downed two drinks before we pulled up to the second after party.
Tree was seated behind me and tapped me on the back as the bus came to a stop.
"We're going to have you get out first and then the others will follow," she told me.
"Can I just get out with Adam?" I asked. The alcohol was apparently already affecting my judgement. "It's like five steps to the door."
"Taylor, it's crazy out there," she glanced out the tinted windows. "If you go out with Adam, they're all just gonna go insane."
I nodded. My friends and I began scooting toward the door.
As I passed Adam, I laid a hand on his shoulder and bent down to his ear level, "I'm gonna go to the photobooth. Meet me there."
My friends and I took at least 20 pictures at the photobooth before I caught Adam's eye and he tilted to his head just slightly, indicating he wanted to steal me away for a bit.
"Hey, guys, I'm gonna go, but have fun," I smiled at my friends. "I'll meet up with you guys later."
"Don't have sex in the bathroom!" Este called out, noticing me walking toward Adam.
I gave her a look, silently screaming at her to shut up. Adam just rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around me, leading me away.
We found a dimly lit area towards the back of VIP and he sat on a couch and pulled me onto his lap.
"Have I mentioned how proud I am of you?" he mumbled into my neck, sucking on the sweet spot behind my ear.
I leaned back against him, the alcohol in my system allowing me to not worry about showing too much PDA. "You may have mentioned it a couple times."
"Well, I'm very proud of you," he pulled me off of his lap to sit next to him, so he could look into my eyes. "And you look gorgeous tonight."
I tried to memorize the passion in his eyes, but realized that I would hopefully not have a need for the memory. I would continue to see that look on his face for years to come.
I threaded my hand in his hair and pulled his lips to mine. He let his hands roam my body. He instantly made me forget everyone surrounding us and the music blasting. It was just the two of us, for once not caring what anyone saw us doing. Adam was too absorbed in pride and I was too absorbed in him.
"Adam!"
We pulled away from each other to find an intoxicated Dillon standing over us.
"Dude, could you like, give us a minute?" Adam's voice was coated in lust.
Dillon burst out laughing and launched into an unintelligible story, slurring his words together and giggling hysterically.
Adam and I looked at one another and sighed. He rubbed my thigh, which had somehow scooted its way over one of his legs at some point in the past few minutes, and we stood up to give Dillon our attention.
Adam and I laughed as we tried to decipher what he was saying and Adam pulled out his phone to put it on Snapchat. At some point, the three of us sat back down on the couch and a photographer came up and got a few shots of us. I silently thanked God that he hadn't come while Adam and I were making out.
At some point during the night, I had turned away from Adam and his friends to talk to some of my own friends, and I felt familiar hand on my back. "Can I put you in my Snapchat?"
"Putting me in your Snapchat," I turned to him and raised my eyebrows. "I don't know, that's a pretty big step. You sure we're ready for that?"
He chuckled and pulled out his phone. I rested a hand on his abs and kissed his cheek, feeling Emil and Dillon photobombing beside me.
"Are we going to continue this party at your house?" Emil asked.
I nodded, "Whenever people are ready to head out."
We took the party bus back to my place. My house was already set up for the party, with blasting music and drinks and snacks displayed on tables when we arrived. Once everyone got there, Adam and I split up and talked and danced with our friends.
"Hey, Taylor," Ellie called over to me from a few feet away. "Do you have any more dip for the chips? We're running out."
"Of course," I headed to the kitchen.
Adam was already there rummaging through the fridge.
"Hey, babe," I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head onto his back. "What are you doing in here?"
"We're running out of dip," he explained, finding the dip towards the back of the top shelf. He turned around as he closed the fridge door.
"You know, you don't have to refill it," I told him. "You're not the host."
"I mean, I kind of am," he shrugged. "I basically live here."
I smiled, pleased with his response, and kissed him, needing to stand on my tip toes to reach his lips after having taken off my heels. The kiss quickly grew heated and he led me to the counter, setting the dip down and pulling me up to sit on it. I entangled my fingers in his hair as his hands wandered around my body, from my thighs up.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt your make out session, but can we please get some more dip?" we heard Ellie's voice from the doorway.
I blushed and looked away from her, embarrassed, as Adam pulled away from me and handed her the dip, mumbling an apology.
Ellie shook her head at us. "It's been a year and you two still can't keep your hands off of each other. Either I'm a damn good matchmaker or you two are just sex addicts."
I laughed, hopping off the counter and intertwining my fingers with Adam's. The three of us made our way back into the room full of people.
The party didn't begin to dwindle down until nearly 7am. Everyone had either gone home or passed out in one of the guest bedrooms.
"Wanna head up?" Adam asked, rubbing my back.
I nodded, following him up the stairs.
I took off my outfit and he tossed me the T-shirt he had been wearing. I slid it over my head as he stepped out of his jeans.
"What a night," he smiled at me through the bathroom mirror, leaning against the doorway as I removed my makeup and brushed my teeth.
"I know," I shook my head in disbelief.
We walked back to bed together and I cuddled up into him.
"I love you," I whispered, letting my heavy eyelids shut.
"I love you, too," he breathed, kissing my hair. "And I am so incredibly proud of you."