Cliffs Edge [Kaylor]

twelve

Taylor is silent for a beat and then her voice is a little clearer as the sound of the shower fades out a bit.

"Where'd you go? Security said you just asked to get through the gate and left." Taylor sounds concerned, and it makes Karlie feel a little guilty. She hadn't even thought about how Taylor would have felt waking up to an empty bed. Karlie is not sued to caring about others, not in this way. 

"I went for a run and lost track of time. Is there another bathroom around here?"

"Um," Taylor sounds timid, hesitating for a moment. "Yeah, but you could just use it in here, I won't look or anything."

"I was actually just going to shower." Karlie feels her heart rate pick up when her words are met with a long pause of silence.

"You could do that in here too."

"Really?" Karlie is certain that it is too good to be true.

"Yeah, it'll save water and it's quicker."

Karlie rolls her eyes at Taylor's rationalization of the situation. The blonde is obviously far too shy to admit the ulterior motive she has. She's bold, but not fearless.

Karlie takes her time getting undressed, and doesn't bother responding to Taylor just to keep the singer wondering if Karlie is actually going to take her up on her offer. Unable to delay the inevitable any longer, Karlie steps into the bathroom quietly. A cloud of steam is hanging in the air, fogging up the mirrors and the glass walls of the large shower dominating the far right corner. Karlie can make out Taylor's silhouette, and she tries to keep her heart from jumping out of her chest as she opens the shower door and steps inside quickly.

It's a literal sauna inside, with the water cranked up a few notches hotter than Karlie is used to. It's also the largest shower Karlie has ever been in, and she wonders why Taylor needs all of this space.

Taylor turns to face her the second she hears the door slide open, and they just stand there and stare at one another for a moment. Taylor's hair is wet and sticking to the sides of her face, and her skin is flushed pink from the heat of the water. Karlie's eyes widen when she catches sight of the large bruises on Taylor's neck and chest, and she steps forward and reaches out. Her fingers brush against Taylor's blemished skin and she feels guilt rip through her chest. She knows Taylor goes through a lot to hide her personal life, and hiding these marks are going to be hard, even with the help of makeup.

"I'm sorry." Karlie breathes out as she lets the water from the showerhead hit her back, still caressing Taylor's neck with an unprecedented amount of gentleness.

"It's okay," Taylor smiles up at her, and brushes a hand against Karlie's collarbone. Karlie knows that there is a pretty sizable red mark there. "I think we both got a little carried away."

"Tree's going to kill you." Karlie has yet to meet Taylor's fiery publicist, but she does know that the woman controls Taylor's media image down to the very last detail. That article disappearing off the face of the Internet had been Tree's doing, and apparently she is responsible for a lot of things behind the scenes. Karlie doesn't know what that means, but she doesn't particularly care, either. All she knows is that Taylor tries to make Tree's job as easy as possible when she can, and a dozen or so hickeys littering her neck isn't going to make her publicist happy.

"I'll deal with it when I get back, right now it doesn't matter."

With that, Taylor closes the distance between them and Karlie's argument dies in her throat. She tilts her head until her nose is placed in the best possible position against Taylor's to prevent awkward bumping. It is a little unnerving to think about how easy kissing Taylor has become. They fit together like puzzle pieces. They are always perfectly in sync, as if Karlie's body has been waiting to cross paths with Taylor's for years.