1 (jaylor) wisteria hearts and caged folk songs

chapter sixteen.

For the rest of the day, Taylor baked. She baked cookies, cupcakes, and truffles. She kept scrolling through Pinterest and with any recipe that she liked, she saved the recipe and made it. It was nice having people to bake for.  Joe kept her company, he sat watching her. Every so often she'd exclaim that she just couldn't believe what had happened. She let out a deep breath, she'd shake her head and try not to cry.

She'd already purchased a new phone because she didn't want to be tied to her work while they were on holiday. She needed to get away from it all - not just pack it all up in a suitcase and take it with her. She didn't want all of these people to have her number, and simply blocking them didn't give her the peace that she longed for. So she'd ordered a new phone which was being dropped off at Joe's apartment in a few days.
Karlie kept trying to phone her, and that really, really annoyed her. Because she didn't have to answer her. She shouldn't answer. So, she took a screenshot of Karlie's phone number before blocking it from her phone. She didn't want to hear her voice or see her again. She wouldn't deny the happiness that Karlie had brought her, but now all her memories were stained grey, and they weren't happy. Because Taylor couldn't help but wonder if all the time they'd spent together... how much of it Karlie spent making mental notes of things to tell Scooter.

After Taylor had finished baking, night was beginning to fall. She knew that she had to reply back to Tree, they had to decide what they were going to do about this. Taylor knew that she wouldn't mention Karlie to anyone that didn't need to know. She didn't want to open herself up in that way. She knew how much people loved Karlie. She knew that her fans loved their friendship, that they had captivated people. She wouldn't hurt Karlie in the same way that Karlie had hurt her - that's not the sort of person she was.

She didn't want too many people to know about this great act of betrayal. Because even though she was hurting, she wouldn't add to the fire by hurting Karlie like this. She made her way up to the piano, sitting down and finally feeling herself breathe again.

She didn't have a clue what she wanted to play, but just sitting down at the piano helped her to feel better. She was just about to play when she got a text from Joe. It was a poem about the fact that betrayal never comes from your enemies, and she could have cried at how true this was. She hadn't even thought about the fact that any number of her friends might betray her.

She'd never even considered the fact that she shouldn't tell people things because they might change their mind about their friendship. She replied to Joe, telling him thank you, and that she really needed to hear it. Because it had set her alight, and as she pressed record on her phone, she started playing a soft tune. This was how most of her songs started, her and a piano. She hadn't even added any words yet but she already felt so much better. She couldn't get the image of herself standing on that cliff edge, Karlie's voice in her ear, but knowing that it wasn't the woman she'd do anything for anymore. She thought of how she'd stood up for herself. She really did hope that her voice haunted Karlie. She really hoped that every single time she heard it, she'd think about the fact that she'd killed Taylor. She'd taken the dagger and she'd slammed it into her chest herself. It went deeper than any wound Adam could have possibly given to her. It hurt more than any bruise, cut or scar she'd ever felt. It hurt more than the words Adam would use to hurt her, it hurt more than anything she'd even been through.

She was thinking about what she said, and the words stolen lullabies sprang into her head. She couldn't believe that she was sitting right in the middle of this.
This time, when Tree phoned her, she picked up. Tree didn't know about Karlie. She didn't know that it was true.
"Taylor," Tree said to her. "Good evening."
"Yeah," Taylor almost laughed. "It's a pretty great one. It seems like we're always having to address drama at this point."
"Now, I've sent you a rough copy of what I believe, and the lawyers believe should be posted onto Instagram after all of this. There are some rumours that I haven't discussed, particularly the ones involving Karlie... I don't know if these are just rumours, or whether they're true, but-"
"We're not going to address it." Taylor paused. "There's nothing to address. It's not something I'm okay with having plastered everywhere." Taylor had always been the bigger person, and this time was no different.
"Okay, well if you've got your laptop there, you can have a look and see what I've sent you."