1 (jaylor) wisteria hearts and caged folk songs

chapter ten.

Joe was on the phone in the lounge, and he smiled when he saw her come in. She gave him a little wave, before getting Meredith and Olivia their breakfast.
"I'll be there in a minute!" Joe called out to her, and she just smiled. She had a plan for what she was going to do today. She had to organise their trip. She wondered when the best time to go would be - and concluded that January would be nice. It was the start of a new year, the start of a new time.

After she fed the cats, she disappeared into the bedroom with her MacBook. She had bookmarked a bunch of pages on her phone last night and began to make plans. She didn't want to stay in different hotels - that wasn't the kind of trip she was planning. She didn't want to only have one room and feel as if they had to hide away. She looked up the Lake District again and decided that the place that she wanted to look for somewhere to stay was Windermere.

She was blown away by the beauty of it all. It was a sort of peace and beauty that she just couldn't find here, in America. She then began to search for different Air BnBs. She was excited by the whole idea of renting a car, of moving from place to place for an entire month. Perhaps she could be invisible in Windermere, perhaps she wouldn't have to have security with her the entire time. A lot of the cottages were so beautiful that she didn't know how on earth she'd be able to choose one. There was one in particular that caught her attention. It was called Windermere Cottage, and it looked like something she'd expect to see in Wuthering Heights. It was perfect. It wasn't near any other houses, and the views were so breathtaking.

She bookmarked it and moved on to arranging her private jet. She booked a car and felt excitement stir within her as she started to plan all of the activities.
"You've been in there all morning," Joe called out once he was off the phone. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Taylor called out, her voice happy. She thought that this trip was going to be so much fun. She'd booked the cottage, booked a private boat trip, figured out which day they would go and wander around Beatrix Potter's cottage house, and several other attractions. They'd get to Heathrow airport on the morning of the eighth of January so that they could drive the four and a half hours to Windermere. They'd stay in Windermere for 10 days, and then they'd go and stay at an Air BnB in Kent so that Joe could see his family, and then they'd go to Ashdown forest. She'd also made a list of different walks to do in each place they went to. She was so excited. Although, she didn't know how exactly to present this to him. She didn't know whether to print out a photo of the lakes and put it in his card, or whether - she could write a song. Just like his poetry that he'd made just for her.
"Are you sure?" He peeked his head around the door and smiled when he saw her with a grin on her face.
"I'm just looking at different hikes we can do over Christmas." Taylor couldn't keep the mystery from her voice. She couldn't stop her upward smirk.
"Is that so?" Joe asked with a laugh.
"Okay, okay. It's secret stuff that you can't know about - because it's a surprise." Joe came into the room, and Taylor shut her computer lid as he sat down beside her. He pretended that he was looking, and Taylor gently swatted his hand away. "No peeking!"
Joe chuckled, kissing her cheek. He gave her a breathless smile.
"I need to start packing." Taylor sighed. "I hate packing so much. It's always okay when I go to one of my other homes, but when I'm going to my parents, I have to pack so much more - and fit in all the Christmas presents."

Joe rested a hand on her leg. Usually, this would scare her. Anytime that Adam did this to her, which he tended to do in interviews, made her feel scared. It made her feel like she had to protect herself. But this time, it didn't. She didn't need to be scared of Joe. "Sorry that I haven't been with you this morning - I had to sort out a few things with my manager and a frustrating client, but I'm finished now. I mean, William Bowery had to do all of those things. Joe Alwyn would have much rather sat and read through the scripts I have to learn for a few auditions next year."
"It's alright," Taylor smirked. "It gave me time to do my secret things."
"I hate surprises." Joe smiles, exasperated.
"It's - trust me. I can't say anything because I don't want to give anything away, but it's a nice surprise. It's worth the wait." Taylor hated keeping secrets. She was relieved that she had always had to keep her albums a secret as it had helped her to keep her mouth shut about surprises like this. When she was a kid, she couldn't keep anything to herself.
"I guess it's a good thing that I really do trust you," Joe said as Taylor leaned into him and pressed her lips to his. "I can help you pack if you want." He offered.
"Hopefully it won't be too hard - most of my stuff is still left in suitcases anyway, but still. I always end up overpacking."
"That doesn't sound like you at all!" He chuckled and Taylor laughed with him.
"You just can't trust the weather these days." Taylor shook her head seriously. She looked over at Joe and the two of them burst out laughing again. "Literally, I swear that half the time I could tell what the weather was going to do better than the actual weather people."