red velvet - sweeran

I - intro

"Are we out of the woods yet..." I sang quietly under my breath, "...in the clear yet, good." I was walking through New York City, dressed in a royal blue short-sleeved dress, looking for a good bakery to celebrate the success of Out of the Woods. Just like for Shake It Off, I decided I wanted a one-woman party. Read: a dozen cupcakes, Law and Order, and Mere and Olivia. Call me a crazy old cat lady. I won't deny it.

A girl that couldn't have been older than thirteen ran up to me. "Taylor?"

I took my headphones out and smiled warmly. "That's me."

She turned around for a moment, screamed, and then faced me again, enveloping me in a tight hug.

I wrapped my arms around her. "What's your name?"

"Oh, um, Alexa."

"Hi, Alexa! I love that name."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"Do you want a picture?" She nodded quickly and took a selfie with me.

"Hey, before you go, do you know of any good bakeries around here? I'm not really in my neighborhood."

Alexa smiled. "Yeah, my friend Jenna Barrens' mom owns a bakery." She pointed to the left. "It's just around the corner and it's called Red Velvet."

"That sounds great, thank you!"

"While you're there, would you mind saying hi to Jenna? I'll text her and tell her you're stopping by. She's a huge Swiftie, and, um, she's kind of going through a hard time right now. She just got out of the hospital a few days ago for a suicide attempt. It's kind of tricky because her family doesn't exactly have enough money to afford a psychiatrist and depression pills and stuff. Or the hospital bills, to be honest. Her dad is an alcoholic."

I noticed that she was crying, and I hugged her again. "By the way, I love your shirt," I said with a smile. She was wearing my favorite of Ed's tour shirts.

She looked glad to change the subject. "Thanks! I absolutely adore Ed."

"Me too." I giggled. "Do you ship Sweeran?"

Alexa squealed. "Oh my God!! Is it real?"

I scrunched up my nose. "Nah. But, just between you and me, I wish it was." She looked happier than a kid on Christmas morning. "But you really can't tell anyone," I said quickly.

She swore she wouldn't and then skipped off to rejoin her mother.

I put my headphones on and started playing Tenerife Sea, one of my favorites from Ed's album. When I was listening to it, I liked to close my eyes and pretend he was singing it to me.

I walked down the street to Red Velvet and opened the door, breathing in that comforting bakery aroma as the bell jingled.

A girl around Alexa's age clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle her scream. "I thought she was joking."

"So are you Jenna?"

"Oh my God." She hugged me tightly and started crying. "I just...I just got out of the hospital and it was, um, my second attempt and now I'm so, so glad I didn't die."

That was one of the saddest things I'd ever been told, but also one of the most incredible. I immediately tightened my grip on her and whispered into her ear, "I'm so glad you didn't die, too, Jenna. You're so beautiful and I love so much, and you deserve the world."

Jenna sobbed into my shirt. "I can't believe this is real."

"Well, do you want a picture?"

She nodded and dried her eyes. We took a few selfies and then called her mother over to take a picture for us.