"What a day," Taylor sighed as she crawled back into bed. They'd gotten up for a few hours to eat something and Taylor played with the cats for a while. "I never would have seen it coming. It's just not like me. None of this is like me. Like damn... I never even knew that I could punch someone!"
"It was... unexpected," Joe answered with a smile as he joined her in bed. "But you were angry. People usually are different when they're mad... and when they've been forced into darkness for a long time... people change. Hopefully, you'll never have to do anything like that again." Taylor smiled at him.
"Yesterday it felt like I was kind of on a high, you know? Like I just... I was so wrapped up in everything that I didn't feel anything else. Like I actually did that? God, who knew." Taylor cringed, laughing.
"At least he seems to have listened," Joe kissed her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "At least now you can try and forget about it all. No one's going to know what happened."
She wasn't sure why he sounded so sure of that... she was so worried that she'd be ruined. The worst part of it would be that if it was discovered- she knew that there'd be more consequences for her than Adam, even when she only did what he'd been doing to her for three years. The music industry was a cruel place and she'd experienced that first-hand several times.
"I just can't believe it - it's like something out of a movie," She giggled, kissing him. She couldn't stop laughing when she thought about it, about Adam standing there with Joe, about her running in screaming for them to stop, about the words she'd murmured to Joe in the car. "I love you," she said between kisses.
"I love you to the moon and to Saturn," Joe told her softly, and she loved that phrase. She grabbed her phone and put the little line into her notes. She'd use it one day, she was sure of it.
"I wish we could just go back to when we were seven," she sighed as they lay beside each other, hands laced together beside them. "And we didn't know the big problems... we didn't know that there was a bad side to being alive. I wish that we could go back to making forts and actually believing that we'd be able to live there forever." She looked over at him, and he smiled. "We didn't have to worry about fighting an abusive ex in an abandoned New York building." She laughed. "We didn't have to worry about any of it."
"Did you used to make forts a lot as a kid?" Joe asked her, turning to face her.
"We did. Dad used to make them for Austin and me under the dining table. It was so fun - after dad had built it, mom would string fairy lights on the roof and we'd get every single available blanket and pillow to make it comfy. It used to be so cool to wake up and go downstairs to find it." She smiled as she thought about it. "Did you ever have a fort?"
"Our house was too small for that - but we had a treehouse that we'd made completely waterproof and that basically counted as a fort. Mum went out and brought blankets for us to have in there and we'd keep puzzles and all sorts of stuff out there."
"Wow!" Taylor exclaimed. "That sounds amazing."
The moon was beginning to rise over the ocean, and she yawned. "I'm so tired."
"Let's sleep," Joe snuggled down and Taylor smiled as she watched him close his eyes. He opened one of them with a smirk, and she almost fell out of bed in surprise.
"Goodnight," Joe told her as he kissed her. She giggled against his lips. "I love you."
"I love you too," she rested her head down on the pillow. "To the Moon and to Saturn."
Joe lay in bed for about an hour before he knew what he had to do. Taylor was asleep quietly beside him, with Meredith resting between them and Olivia at his feet. He had an idea, and he wanted it to be absolutely perfect. Olivia meowed as he got up, and he gently told her to be quiet. He wanted Taylor to stay asleep.
He left the bedroom and went to investigate where the perfect place to build a fort would be.
There were so many different places, but he decided on the living room. Taylor had a collection of beautiful armchairs that would be perfect for building a fort. He just had to find where she kept the sheets...
It took him a while, but he finally found them. He loved this woman so much. He couldn't even believe how much he loved her, and he'd never felt like this before. He'd never felt a love that was completely and utterly overwhelming. He loved her with everything he had and all that he was.
He'd do anything for her, he'd realised over the past couple of days. He would do absolutely anything to ensure that she was happy and safe.
It was five in the morning before he'd finished. It had taken him a while to find Taylor's Christmas decorations, where he'd found more fairy lights than he knew how to use.
It was perfect. He felt like it fit the description of what she'd told her. He hoped that she'd like it...
he went back upstairs and crawled into bed.
He managed to sleep for three and a half hours until he felt Taylor waking up beside him. If he had to give a time that she looked the most beautiful, he'd say the morning. She turned to face him with a sleepy grin. "Good morning," she leaned over and kissed him. "Did you sleep okay?"
"I did," for the few hours he did manage to sleep... he did. "Did you?"
"It was a very good sleep. Although I did have some strange fighting-related dreams, which were a first." She laughed. "I love you, Joe."
"I love you too." He smiled at her. "To the moon and to Saturn."
"I have to have a shower today." Taylor groaned. "And do things like an actual human being." She added.
"No you don't," Joe smiled. "There aren't any rules about what you have to do... you can do whatever you want." She kissed him again.
"I'm going to make a coffee, would you like one?"
He'd never turn down a coffee. "Yes please," she got out of bed and put on a pair of cat slippers and found an oversized hoodie to put on.
"It's cold today." She shivered. Joe got out of bed too and followed her down the stairs. "It's days like today where I could almost be tempted to buy a house in Australia." Everything about her seemed freer today. It was almost as if she'd cut all of the strings connecting her to Adam. She moved less tense, her voice was lighter, and she hadn't stopped smiling all morning.
She paused when she got to the bottom of the stairs, turning around to face him with a wide smile.
"Joe, you didn't!" She flung her arms around his neck.
"I did."
"Really?! How long did that even take?" She was glowing. She was radiating warmth and love and light, and Joe would never get tired of seeing her like this.
"Not that long. I hope that it's okay..." he started, but Taylor stopped him by kissing him.
"It's perfect. I love it! You listened to what I said..."
"I listen to everything you say, love." He kissed her forehead. "I listen to it all and I could listen to you for the rest of my life and still not get tired of it."
He could see the happiness written all over her face, and seeing her like that was priceless. He loved her so fucking much.
She kissed him again, before going over to the fort. "Wow, Joe. You have outdone yourself!" She spun around again to face her. "And it's facing the ocean, too!"
"It's not much..."
"Hush." Taylor placed a finger to his lips. "I don't want to hear it. It's perfect. This is perfect." She cupped his cheeks, kissing him again. She smiled a dazzling smile as she kissed him, and Joe swore that he could see an angel standing in front of him.
They made coffee, before retreating into their fort. Taylor had brought her laptop in and together, they cuddled and watched movies. She loved it. It had put all of the events of the week out of her head because she could only focus on the warmth and love she felt while snuggled into his chest. There wasn't a place in the world she'd rather be.
It was lunchtime when they finally went to have breakfast. Taylor was frustrated because even though she was having such a lovely morning, she couldn't get her eating disorder to be quiet in her head. It kept telling her that she wasn't really hungry, that she could wait until later. She knew deep down that she was hungry. She needed to eat and she knew that.
She'd gotten into the habit of saying all of these things out loud, and Joe would reassure her that it was okay, that she needed to eat to keep healthy and healing.
"I need to eat." She said as she made herself a bagel. She prepared it slowly - anything to prolong the eating process. "It's good for me to eat."
"It is. It's going to help you feel better, and your body wants to eat food, my love. If it wants to eat, then you should eat." He took a bit of his own bagel, and Taylor sighed.
"Nothing bad is going to happen if I eat this." It was so hard to speak against the eating disorder, and she was often left feeling tired after each meal.
"That's right," Joe said, and she forced herself to take a bite of the bagel. It tasted so good. She was proud of herself for eating it - the old Taylor wouldn't have been able to convince herself to eat it. But here she was, thriving.
The two of them spent the rest of the day in the fort watching movies, they were halfway through watching Tangled. Taylor had told Joe that his all-time favourite Disney scene was when Rapunzel finally gets to see the lights, and she particularly loved that song.
Meredith had joined them and was purring on Joe's chest. Taylor had moved her head for a split second and Meredith had taken the opportunity to claim Joe as her own. Taylor loved how much Meredith loved Joe because Meredith really didn't like anyone.
They spent the evening making dinner together, Taylor had put on some music, and they were both singing and cooking together.
"You should sing more," Taylor said as she cut up garlic. "You have such a lovely voice."
"No... no way." Joe smiled. "I don't like singing in front of people - and especially when you've got such a beautiful voice yourself."
"I think you're just as good as me. I love your voice and I would love to hear it while you're playing the piano."
"Maybe one day." Joe smiled. "You'll have to write me a song to sing."
"You're literally the most poetic person I have ever met! You definitely don't need me to write you a song." She softly nudged him. "You're like a walking poetry book. Not only are you an undercover artist, but I swear you should be an undercover poet, too. Perhaps William Bowery needs to extend his brand a little..." She laughed. "Literally ninety percent of the time you speak, you say something so beautiful that I have to sit and process it for a while. Like, when you said I love you to the moon and to Saturn. That literally just flowed out of your mouth and you didn't even seem to think about it! I think that you definitely would be a good songwriter."
Joe hadn't even thought about a lot of the things he said to her, because most of the time they just came so naturally that he didn't even have to think about it. "We'll write a song together one day," Joe told her. "Who knows - we might make an excellent team."
Joe had been on the phone with Patrick in the evening, and Taylor was so surprised that she hadn't heard any shouting. She didn't think that he should be mad at him, because Taylor had told Joe several times that she was grateful for Patrick telling her what had been going on.
She couldn't have imagined how it would have turned out if no one had told her and she'd been left to wonder why Joe was gone, or why his cheek was bruised.
Taylor was cleaning up after dinner when she got a text.
hey, it's Karlie. I know you said you didn't want to hear from me again but I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry that Adam did all that to you.
Taylor felt her heart sink. She'd actually forgotten what Karlie had done to her. She'd forgotten all about her. And here she was, trying to get forgiveness. Taylor wasn't ready for that.
Her phone rang. She didn't want to answer it, because she knew that it would be Karlie. Knew that she'd be trying to make herself feel better for betraying her best friend. She didn't want to answer it, but a tiny part of her wanted to know what Karlie had to say for herself. She sat down on one of her barstools and picked up the calls.
"Hello?" She answered quietly.
"Taylor? I'm so glad you answered-" Karlie's voice used to make Taylor smile, and laugh. It used to lift her up. She thought of all the summer days they'd spent lounging about the pool together, drinking wine and laughing. Telling each other their secrets. Once upon a time, she would have been able to tell Karlie about what happened between her, Joe and Adam and she wouldn't have feared it being spread any further. But now, she couldn't ever dream of telling her anything ever again.
"You don't get to do this, Karlie." Taylor bit down on her cheek.
"Taylor I need-" Karlie sounded distraught, and it hurt Taylor to hear her sound like that. She wished that she could go back in time, wished that she didn't know what she did. There was beauty in the unknown. But now, the colour had been stripped from their relationship.
"You don't get to do that to me... and then phone me up a month later and apologise." Taylor wasn't going to let people walk all over her anymore. She was tired of it. It was exhausting. She was worth more than the ways that they treated her.
"I know, Taylor. But I didn't know that he was doing that to you-"
"Well it's good that you didn't, isn't it? Because you would have told everyone all about it." Taylor snapped. "I don't know what you expected, Karlie. Did you expect me to fall down in front of you and forgive you?" Taylor wasn't even sure that she would be able to find it in herself to forgive her.
"I don't know what I expected... I just want it to be the same as it was. I'm sorry, Taylor." Karlie was crying on the other side of the phone. "I didn't want to hurt you..."
"No. It's never going to be the same as it was." Taylor paused. "Nothing is going to stay the same, but that's all your fault, Karlie. You did this to us. We can't ever be like that again. I can't tell you anything ever again." Taylor sighed, getting emotional. "I can't keep doing this. I showed you a side of me that only one other person has seen." A tear rolled down her cheek. "You used to make me really happy, Karlie. But there will be happiness after you. There was happiness because of you, I won't deny that. You were there for me when others weren't. You were the one that stayed when I had no one else. But I don't think that I'll ever be able to be what we were." Taylor paused, and Karlie tried to talk, but Taylor wasn't finished. "I know that you want me to forgive you. I know that. And fuck, I haven't even met the new me yet, but I think she will. She'll forgive you. But it won't ever be the same. I still don't want to be close to you. What we had is over. So yes, Karlie. I forgive you. Don't call me again, don't text me. I've forgiven you so that I can let you go." Taylor sighed. She hung up the phone. She couldn't believe that Karlie had done that - but she also couldn't believe that she'd forgiven her. Because what she'd said was true. She hasn't met the new her yet. The her that was bathing in golden daylight and the her that had a voice that she wasn't afraid to use anymore. She wasn't going to let people walk over her again. She deserved more than that.
"Hey-" Joe said as he walked into the kitchen. "Are you okay?" He wrapped his arms around her and she smiled through her tears.
"It was Karlie..." Taylor told him softly. "She phoned me and wanted me to forgive her."
"Did you?" Joe asked as he kissed her cheek.
"Yes." Taylor sighed. "Yes, I did. I told her that I forgive her but things would never stay the same as they were... and that I was letting go." Joe squeezed her tightly and she felt at home. "Because I deserve better than her."
"That's right, Taylor! You deserve so much better than her." She spun around so that she was facing him, and kissed him. "I love you. I'm so glad that you can see how much you're worth." Joe hugged her tightly and she never wanted to leave.
"I love you too." She could stay here forever. "I'd never have made it to this point without you," she murmured. "And if I had to walk every step of it again, I would. Over and over again. You always say that it was me that got me here, but that's not true, Joe. You took my hand and you didn't let me go, no matter how hard things got." She cupped his cheek. "You didn't let go when I fell apart, or when I made things difficult. You didn't let go."
"Of course I didn't," Joe gave her a radiant smile. "I'd never let you go. And I've had threats from Patrick about what he'd do if I ever broke your heart." Taylor laughed. "But in all seriousness, love, we helped each other. You took my hand too, remember? You didn't let go either. You're the one that held on even though you were scared. We didn't let go. We held onto each other and now we're here."
"I'm always one for the universe showing us that what we're doing is right - and Joe, it's so sunny outside." Taylor grabbed his hand and pulled him out the kitchen door. "See? It's daylight!" She spun around while laughing, and Joe caught her, pressing his lips to hers.
"A single thread of gold was tying us together this whole time," he whispered between kisses. "It was meant to be. We were meant to be."