sorry for the late update!! it's been a day yeesh... anyway! enjoy this chapter! kind of a long one :)
———
. Hiddleswift have a fancy dinner with friends in London!
. Waiter reports Taylor Swift tips generously.
. Here's Taylor Swift's evening in London with Tom Hiddleston and bestie Kaia Browne in pictures! Don't they look cosy? We're talking about Swift and Browne, of course.
-----------
The following morning, after having slept for a whopping three hours in intervals, Taylor asked Greg to get the car ready. She stopped at a Starbucks and stayed in the car while he grabbed her order of a Venti Pumpkin Spice latte (she needed the extra emotional support that morning) and a Tall Caramel Mocha latte for Kaia, knowing that it was her favourite coffee order, and she probably needed a caffeine boost after the previous night though she would never willingly make herself a cup.
She asked Greg to park the car right behind Delilah, Kaia's old and beloved car and sat there waiting.
It was around eight, which meant Kaia was definitely out on a run before work and sure enough, just a few minutes later, she came jogging around the corner in a pair of bright blue leggings, a jacket that was a completely different shade of blue, and a pair of glowing neon yellow running shoes. Taylor couldn't help but grin at her mismatched outfit, wondering if Kaia did it on purpose or simply didn't care or even notice to begin with.
The actress noticed the SUV immediately and came to a halt right outside Taylor's window, even though she couldn't see through the tinted glass. She rolled her window down, smiling at Kaia who looked absolutely exhausted.
"Good morning," Kaia started, trying to catch her breath.
"Hi! Good run?" Taylor asked, leaning over the open window.
Kaia nodded and hummed softly, taking a long swig from her bottle of water. "Yeah, not bad. Good morning, Greg!" She said, leaning her head inside to greet the security guard acting as Taylor's driver this morning.
"Morning, miss Browne!" He replied with a polite smile.
"You don't work for me, Gregory. Stop it with the formalities!" Kaia snapped.
"I've been telling him for years, he won't listen," Taylor sighed heavily.
"Hm, you'd get along perfectly with Spencer," Kaia chuckled. "So, how did you know I'd be awake this early— wait, why are you awake this early?"
Taylor offered her the coffee first before responding. "You had a lot of wine last night. I figured you would want to go for a run before work to cure your hangover."
Kaia smiled shyly, taking a small sip from her drink. "You know me pretty well, but you didn't answer the second question."
"I couldn't sleep."
Kaia observed her for a moment, probably taking in the giant bags under her eyes she tried to hide behind her big, ugly reading glasses.
"Do you want to come inside?" Kaia asked and then smirked a little at her. "The couch is all yours."
"Oh my god, you know I've been dreaming about your couch for months? I've never slept better than that night!" Taylor exclaimed, opening her door and stepping onto the pavement.
"You could nap on it if you like," Kaia laughed softly. "Greg, do you want to come in?"
"Oh, yes! Tea party with Greg!" Taylor said excitedly but he only laughed and shook his head.
"Maybe next time, ladies," he denied politely.
"Your loss, mate!" Kaia told him before leading the way inside. "So, how was the rest of your night, then? You never responded to my text. I assumed you went straight to bed but apparently not?"
Taylor took off her shoes at the door quietly and drank from her coffee. She didn't answer until they were sitting in the kitchen where Kaia made herself a lazy breakfast of frosted flakes and coconut milk.
"So, Tom wanted to hang out after dinner, you know, just the two of us," Taylor started, accepting an empty bowl from Kaia and filling it similarly.
"Ah... is that why you didn't sleep last night?" Kaia chuckled and if Taylor didn't know any better, she thought she might have heard a bit of bitterness and disdain in her voice.
"No, that was the fact that I'm a shitty person," the blonde responded with a dry laugh.
"You're not a shitty person," Kaia tried to reassure her but Taylor wasn't having it.
She shook her head, dropping her spoon into the bowl. "No, I am. I used a very nice man to get over my shitty ex and all of my problems, led him on even when I knew it wasn't going anywhere because it was fun for a while and the sex was good, and then I betrayed him and his trust and I dragged you into it, the same way I dragged him into the mess that is my life and then I just dumped him last night while he was trying to tell me he loved me."
Kaia visibly grimaced, chewing slower on her mouthful of frosted flakes and swallowing heavily.
"Okay, first of all, you didn't drag me into anything. I definitely had as much to do with it as you did. It was my decision to sleep with you, even when I knew all the facts already. So, if that makes us both shitty people, then so be it," Kaia started, looking pointedly at Taylor, leaving no room for arguments. "Second of all, you had to end it. It would have been worse if you would have dragged it on any longer."
Taylor ate some of her breakfast, and then looked at Kaia with a little grimace. "Oh, no, it definitely was not going to drag on any longer."
"Oh, sure. That would have just been bad," Kaia agreed with her mouth full, nodding along.
Taylor held her spoon up and watched as the milk splashed back into the bowl before she started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Kaia asked, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Last night was so bad, fuck," Taylor continued to laugh, thinking back to her conversation with Tom.
"Then why are you laughing?" Kaia was confused but she couldn't help but laugh along with Taylor.
"Because— I—" Taylor was practically wheezing now. "It was ridiculous! He— I'm pretty sure he was going to propose!" She managed to breathe out.
"Sorry, what?!"
Taylor nodded, taking a deep breath to try and stop laughing. "Yeah, I think so."
"Why? You've only been going out for like three months!" Kaia cried out.
"I know! Exactly! Less than that, even!" Taylor agreed and when their gazes met, they both started laughing again, even harder this time.
"Will you two shut the fuck up? I was having an awesome dream that may or may not have involved Chris Hemsworth!"
Taylor glanced up to find a dishevelled Mica standing in the doorway, hugging a blanket close to his chest.
Kaia looked genuinely surprised, her laughter dying as she looked at Mica with a frown. "I genuinely forgot that you spent the night."
"Yeah, you were so bloody drunk last night, you were out as soon as I helped you to bed," Mica grumbled, but he didn't sound like he was holding it against her. He was just pissed off he couldn't continue his dream.
Taylor's gaze travelled from a sleepy Mica, to an embarrassed Kaia, and back to Mica before she burst out laughing again.
"Sorry, s-sorry, I have no idea why I'm laughing right now," Taylor managed to wheeze in between each bubble of laughter.
"You doing okay, there?" Mica asked, sounding genuinely concerned. He watched her curiously while making his way to the fridge and grabbing the bottle of orange juice.
Taylor shook her head while still laughing. She waved with her hand at Kaia, hoping she would understand.
"What?" Kaia laughed, slurping on a bit of milk and cereal. Taylor motioned more frantically and Kaia just shrugged. "You want me to tell him?"
Taylor finally nodded, attempting to take deep breaths in to calm down.
"Tom tried to propose and she dumped him," Kaia told him in short. Mica was in the process of chugging the rest of his juice when his eyes bulged out and in an attempt at trying not to spit it everywhere and at the same time needing to express shock, ended up choking.
He coughed horribly, some orange juice coming out from his nose which only made Taylor laugh even harder, no sound coming out of her. Her sides were starting to hurt from giggling so hard and if she hadn't been leaning against the counter, she might have even fallen down.
"He— what?"
Taylor nodded, still in disbelief herself.
"But you only like, dated for a few months?" Mica pointed out just as Kaia had earlier and god, she couldn't take it anymore.
Taylor covered her face with her hands, taking a moment to really calm down. Her cheeks were tear-stained and her mouth hurt from having grinned so wide, but eventually, she let out a heavy sigh and drank from her latte to soothe her throat.
"Bear in mind, he knew this was just a rebound thing," Taylor explained.
"Well, he's a romantic!" Mica said, grinning widely, and mocking the poor man Taylor had hurt.
"I'm a romantic," Taylor countered. "He's insane."
"Yeah, he is," Mica chuckled, moving to grab himself a bowl of cereal just like the rest of them. "A very sexy, insane man. In any case, we are getting drunk tonight, right?"
Taylor let out an exaggerated laugh and shook her head. "Oh, no, I think we've all had enough alcohol to last us a while."
"Oh, wow, since when?" Kaia shot with a little teasing smirk.
"Wha— shut up, I don't always drink," Taylor defended herself.
Kaia laughed softly but didn't say anything else, tipping back her bowl to drink the rest of her milk.
"What are you doing today, then?"
Taylor shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm still invited to the Hiddleston family dinner so... my schedule's free!"
"Wouldn't it be hilarious if you still showed up?" Mica laughed, munching on some dry frosted flakes straight from the box.
"To you," Taylor rolled her eyes, jumping to sit on the counter.
"All right, well, I'm going to go shower before work. Do you wanna tag along?" Kaia suggested with a little raised eyebrow.
Taylor paused for a moment, opening her mouth before closing it again and blinking at Kaia. Then, she said, "You mean, to work, right?"
The brunette nodded. "Yeah, what else would I have meant— oh, get out of here!"
Taylor laughed and grinned crookedly at her though she still felt her cheeks turning slightly red.
"I'm literally standing right here," Mica muttered, flailing his arms in the air.
"And I'm leaving," Kaia stated, holding her hands up in defeat as she walked out of the kitchen.
"What are you doing today?" Taylor asked Mica who was busy yawning and scratching his back at a very awkward angle.
"Uhhhmmm... binge-watch the latest Game of Thrones season, buy a bunch of new clothes for our trip next week, probably play some Nintendo," Mica counted on his fingers and then grinned holding his empty hands out. "You can tell, my life is very busy at the moment."
"Oh, me too!" Taylor chuckled, giving him a smile. "Hey, you know what? We can binge Game of Thrones together and I promise I won't spoil anything, and then we can go shopping together!"
"Oh my god?"
"What?"
Mica looked at Taylor like she was insane. "Shopping with Taylor Swift?"
"Not as fun as you might think!" Taylor told him, thinking of all the times she had been ambushed in stores and had absolutely no privacy in fitting rooms.
"Doesn't matter. Your outfits are always on point, so, you're going to help me anyway, yes?"
Well, she couldn't say no to that. "Yeah. We'll get to bond and you'll tell me all the best stories about Kaia from high school."
Mica snorted, shaking his head lightly. "Sorry, I love you and I would love to make fun of her with you, but I do not have a death wish!"
Taylor rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, she's not that scary! She's like a big ball of mush! Have you met her when she's half-asleep? Human-sized teddy bear!"
"Yeah! You haven't met Dark Kaia," Mica said in a warning tone.
Taylor blinked at him, refusing to believe the same girl who had forced her to be her human pillow and who refused to consume anything with the slightest bitter undertone could have a dark side.
"So... are we obsessing over the mother of dragons, or what?"
"Yeah... you're gonna watch it here?" Taylor asked, looking around Kaia's home.
Mica shrugged nonchalantly. "They've got a bigger telly," he said, which was pretty fair.
So, they set up the TV in Kaia's living room, Taylor taking a very comfortable position on the super comfortable sofa and Mica flopping down on the armchair with his legs dangling over the side.
Kaia walked in a few minutes into the episode, raising her eyebrows at the scene before her.
"Oh, don't you two look comfortable!"
Taylor beamed up at her and nodded. "Very... do you have a blanket?"
Kaia scoffed. "Do I have a blanket— are you insane? Of course, I have a blanket. I have blankets!"
Taylor watched in amusement as she walked over to a large cupboard on the other side of the room and opened a bottom drawer that was filled with a bunch of different covers.
"Take your pick!"
Taylor sat up just enough with her neck craned so she could peak at the drawer but it really didn't matter to her.
"Your favourite one," she said instead and Kaia came back a moment later with an old, plaid blanket with red and white squares.
The brunette unfolded it and draped it over Taylor's legs with a small smile playing on her lips.
"Oh, sure! Don't ask if I'm cold!" Mica grumbled from his seat with his arms crossed over his chest.
Kaia rolled her eyes at him. "Go get one yourself. You know where everything is, idiot."
Mica stood up and shot Kaia a glare. He looked like he had a lot to say but instead chose to swallow his words and stormed toward the drawer to grab the first blanket he found.
"Pour ta copine lá, tu ferais n'importe quoi, mais pour moi, ton meilleur ami, non. Tu penses pas a moi. Shui comme un fauteuil, moi. Une sale pantoufle— ta poubelle—" [For your girlfriend over here, you would do anything, but for your best friend, nope. You don't think of me. I'm like a sofa. A dirty slipper— your garbage bin—"
"Mais, bon, ça suffit, non? Tu es insupportable!" Kaia interrupted Mica's mumbling with a slightly angry edge to her voice. Taylor really wished she understood French at that moment. "Et c'est pas ma copine!" [All right, that's enough, no? You're insufferable! And she's not my girlfriend!]
Mica held up his hands in surrender and focused his attention back on the screen.
Taylor smiled a little awkwardly up at Kaia and patted the spot next to her.
"I really need to get to work," Kaia said and still, she walked over to the couch and sat in the small space between Taylor's head and the arm of the sofa.
Mica scoffed from his spot but didn't say anything else when Kaia glared at him.
"Haven't you already watched this?" The brunette asked Taylor, who nodded.
"Yeah, but I also worship the Starks so, here we are."
"And not the Targaryens?" Kaia gasped softly.
"Uh, yeah. Like, I love Daenerys, but come on! They're horrible! The Starks deserve the world," Taylor explained, letting her head rest against Kaia's shoulder. The younger girl moved so they were sitting more comfortably, leaning into one another, with her arm wrapped lazily around Taylor.
"Okay, sure, sure, I hear you, but... Daenerys Targaryen," Kaia exclaimed, turning to look at Taylor fully, and holding her right hand way up in the air. "And all the rest of the Starks," she finished, bending down to hold her left hand against the floor.
Taylor scoffed, shaking her head at the actress. "You're wrong on so many levels."
"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Kaia on that one, sorry, T," Mica said, pointing at the screen as the mother of dragons herself just appeared. "Just look at her. So ethereal!"
"I'm not saying she isn't! It's— gah, never mind! I'm not getting into this argument. I'm not rested enough," Taylor huffed.
Kaia laughed softly, moving to stand up again. "All right, I really have to go. I'll see you guys later."
Taylor froze when Kaia had leaned down and kissed her cheek. She watched, completely shocked, as the younger girl walked out of the room and a few moments later, the front door shut behind her.
Mica seemed unfazed, too focused on the show to have noticed.
But Taylor couldn't focus anymore. It was definitely an accident... right? Kaia couldn't have meant to have done that.
Or maybe it was just a friendly thing. It was European, she reasoned. Mica and Kaia always greeted each other with friendly hugs and kisses. It was probably just a habit.
"Tayyyyyloooooor?"
"Huh?"
Taylor looked up to find Mica staring at her expectantly. "Where did you go?" He asked with a little laugh.
"Oh, sorry, I kinda zoned out," she cleared her throat. "What's up?"
"I was just asking how long you're staying in London for," he repeated himself, his focus shifting back to the television screen.
"Oh, till Saturday morning."
"Okay, great! So, you'll be here Friday!"
Taylor frowned at him. "What's on Friday?"
"I'm throwing a party," Mica told her.
"What's the occasion?" Taylor chuckled, failing to remember any important dates coming up. She would have remembered if anyone's birthday was coming up.
Mica shrugged. "Nothing, I just haven't had a good party in a while. And I'm sure Kibs would love for you to be there."
Taylor hesitated as she thought about making an appearance at a party. She didn't want to be in the media any more than necessary. But if this was all a lowkey thing...
"How big is the party?"
"Not too big. Just a few dozen people. Kaia's inviting some of her castmates. A few of our friends from school and uni," Mica explained.
Taylor nodded, thinking it probably wouldn't hurt. She didn't have anything planned for that evening anyway.
"Follow up question," Taylor said carefully, watching Mica who continued watching the screen.
"Shoot."
Taylor fumbled with the blanket around her, playing with a loose thread on the corner. "Do you know if— well, is uh... is Kaia bringing..." she cut herself off, blushing at how stupid she was sounding.
Mica slowly turned to look at her, eyebrows raised in slight surprise. "You mean Andy?"
Taylor looked away, remaining quiet.
"You didn't like her, huh?"
Taylor frowned and shook her head, not wanting to be that person and cause any trouble. "I don't know, I barely even got to meet her. She seemed nice enough... except that, I'm pretty sure she hates me."
Mica seemed to have found that funny, throwing his head back as he laughed softly.
"What? It's true, isn't it? Wasn't she burning holes into my face the whole time?" Taylor exclaimed and Mica nodded because they both knew it was true.
"Yeah, but can you blame her?" He said, turning around so he could look at Taylor properly.
"What? Am I not likeable?" Taylor asked with a little frown.
Mica instantly shook his head. "No, no, of course not. That's not what I meant."
"All right... then why can't I blame her for disliking me?" Taylor inquired, still very lost and bothered by the whole ordeal.
Mica grabbed the remote to pause the show and sat up straight, leaning forward on his knees.
"How shall I put this— well, you see, anyone with working eyes can tell that you two are... well, pretty close. Andy's bound to feel threatened by you," Mica explained simply, locking his hands together over his lap.
Taylor frowned, holding the blanket up to her chin. "I mean, we're good friends. Just like you two are. And I was there with Tom..."
Mica snorted at that. "Okay, you see, the difference between your friendship with Kaia and mine is that she and I don't have this weird sexual tension going on."
"What? We don't!" Taylor scoffed, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous notion. "Especially not last night. It was too awkward."
Mica had a weird smile on, twisting his thumbs around each other. "Taylor, I say this because I love you and I have the great honour to call you one of my good friends now... you couldn't keep your eyes off each other all night. I know Andy noticed. I don't know how Tom didn't."
Taylor grimaced. "I think he did. He just didn't put two and two together until I broke up with him."
Mica was nodding along before he looked up at Taylor suddenly, eyes wide open. "So, you admit it?"
Taylor knit her eyebrows. "What?"
"You said he put two and two together when you dumped him... that you two were staring at each other all night because you have this weird-ass will they, won't they? thing going on that's been driving me insane for so long now."
Taylor shook her head, moving her gaze to the squares on Kaia's blanket. "It's not a will they, won't they? situation. There's nothing there."
"Sure... and Celine Dion's my mother," he exclaimed sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
"No, seriously," Taylor chuckled flatly. "It's just a won't they situation. She made it very clear there won't be a will they."
Mica's mouth turned into a small O, and he leaned back in his seat, watching Taylor with an unreadable look on his face.
She wasn't exactly sure why she was currently trusting Kaia's best friend with all of this but Mica was pretty nice about it all.
"Do you want to keep watching the show?" He asked instead and Taylor was grateful for the change of subject. She smiled at him and nodded enthusiastically.
"Yep! This scene is amazing!"
—————
Kaia walked out of the house, barely processing anything besides the fact that she had just leaned down and kissed Taylor goodbye.
Okay, it was just a kiss on the cheek.
It wasn't that big of a deal. She always kissed her friends on the cheek. That was how she greeted a lot of people.
But this was Taylor.
It didn't feel... casual.
She hadn't even noticed that she was doing it until she had done it. She didn't even know why she did. It didn't make sense. She could have just gotten up and walked away.
With a little shake of her head, she got into her car and started the drive down to the set. She connected her phone to the AUX cord and shuffled her usual playlist for when she was driving.
Of course, the song that just had to play first was Taylor's song, Wonderland.
She hit the skip button because she couldn't bear to hear the blonde's voice without zoning out and thinking back to that split second moment earlier. Taylor probably hadn't even noticed or thought of it as a big deal. And yet, here Kaia was, absolutely unable to stop thinking about it and at the risk of getting into an accident because she couldn't bloody focus on her driving.
Somehow, she made it to work safely and in one piece. She went through the motions, going to her trailer, getting her hair and make-up done, putting on her costume. Waiting for them to call her to set.
The rest of the day was a blur to her. She had no idea how she got on with her lines or through entire scenes but eventually, Kate yelled cut and they were free to go.
On her way back to the trailers, Will caught up with her, a small frown on his face. "Hey! Kaia! Wait up."
She slowed down a little, turning her head to glance back at him as he jogged over, with difficulty in his pantaloons. "What's up?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," he chuckled, finally walking in step with her. "You seemed a little distracted today. Is— is everything okay?"
Everyone on set by now had a fairly good idea about Kaia's mother when Emma had tried to ask to get her some more time off. They were all pretty sympathetic about it usually. What they didn't know was that her foul mood that day had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Kaia offered Will a light smile that never quite reached her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, yeah. Everything's great. I'm just a little tired. I was out with friends last night and had a lot to drink. Didn't quite sleep it all off."
"Oh, okay! Nothing a nice cup of tea can't fix," Will reassured her softly. He gave her shoulder a small squeeze before going ahead and jogging to his own trailer.
Kaia walked over to hers with a sigh and got out of her costume as fast as possible. Back in her car, she texted Mica, casually asking about his day, but really, she wanted to know if Taylor was still there with him.
Which of course he caught on to pretty fast.
Kaia: heeeey how was your day? did you end up going shopping?
Mica: lmaooo nope. still with Taylor tho, except she's snoring on your couch and im playing on the Wii
Kaia: oh! that's cool then. she needs her sleep
Mica: looked like it. I didnt wanna leave and have her wake up alone at your place but like she fell asleep at around 1 and it's almost 9 now?? help
Kaia couldn't help but laugh, thinking of how awkward Mica must have felt that whole time, debating on leaving her there or staying.
Kaia: you know Greg's outside right? or u could wake her up lmaoo
Mica: Yeah Greg and I are besties now. He knocked on the door a while ago for some water which scared me at first btw i didnt recognise him immediately but then taylor wasn't waking up so we're just sitting here eating pizza and playing wii sports together
Kaia: UR PLAYI G WII WOTH GREG?
Mica: YEAH AND HES BEATING MY ASS AT BOWLING UGH GET ME OUT OF HERE
Kaia: KSDJSJSJ dude yeah no worries omg im on my way
With another laugh, Kaia started the engine and drove back home. As she was coming to a halt right outside the house, she received another message.
She pulled the key out of the ignition and grabbed her bag and her phone, checking the text quickly before heading inside.
Andy (from the park): want to hang out tonight? lazy night in... maybe watch a movie or something? ;)
Kaia peered up at her window that looked into the living room and texted her back. With the curtains down, you couldn't see a thing besides a few shadows but she knew Taylor was probably still on that couch and Mica was probably still getting beaten by Greg at bowling. She didn't have to go in. But she wanted to.
Kaia: Hey! Just got off from work. Im exhausted tonight. Rain check for tomorrow?
Andy (from the park): Okay! tomorrow night it is :) sleep well!!
Kaia pushed her phone into her pocket and walked up to her front door, keys in hand. She could hear the sound of the Wii theme song from the telly, confirming her suspicion that the two men were still playing Nintendo. With a little smile, she kicked off her shoes and locked the door before heading toward the living room.
Greg and Mica were playing a very intense game of tennis now. They barely even noticed her arrival.
"If I were a murderer, you'd all already be dead by now," Kaia said with a light laugh, taking a glance at Taylor who was still fast asleep on the couch, hugging a pillow close to her chest.
"Yeah, whatever, take that!" Mica exclaimed through gritted teeth. Greg was unfortunately as alert as ever, hitting the ball back and beating Mica who had only scored once.
"Nope, I've got this under control, miss Browne," he replied with a smug smile. He placed the controller on the coffee table and extended his hand to Mica who shook it but with a bitter grimace. "Good game."
"Yeah," he muttered and threw himself into the armchair.
"She really slept through all that noise?"
Greg stole a glance at his boss and nodded. "Yeah... frankly, I don't think she has slept properly in a while. I doubt anything's going to wake her up now that she's passed out."
Kaia frowned, her gaze softening as she watched the peace that had washed over Taylor's face while she slept soundly.
"All right, well, since you're here, I'm going to go. I have a shoot tomorrow to prepare for," Mica announced, pushing himself back up to his feet. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Kibs— oh, and I invited Taylor for Friday."
Kaia slowly dropped her bag to the ground. "Oh, yeah. Of course. I'm sure she'll have fun."
Mica nodded, finding his phone and wallet on the table and slipping them into the pockets of his sweatpants. "Yeah! Is Andy coming? You never said."
"I'm not sure, I haven't asked her yet. It completely slipped my mind," she admitted, going to sit down at the edge of the coffee table.
"Right, well, just tell me when you know," Mica responded. He stopped in front of Kaia for a moment, observing her funnily before leaning down to give her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "There's leftover pizza in the fridge for you, in case you're hungry. See you, babe."
"Thanks, Mica. A toute à l'heure [see you later]," Kaia called back as he slipped out into the hall to get his shoes and a few moments later, the front door closed behind him. "Hey, Gregory?"
"Yes?"
"I don't think Taylor's going to be waking up any time soon," Kaia said, keeping her voice quiet. "And this place's pretty safe. No one knows she's here. You should go and get some rest. She'll be okay."
"You know I can't," he chuckled. "It's my job to stay around."
"Greg."
"Miss Browne."
"See? Just for that, I'm kicking you out of my house and making you go back to the hotel to sleep!"
"Kaia..." he said which made her grin widely at him.
"See? That wasn't so hard. I'm serious though, mate. You should go and get some rest."
"I'll be out in the car!" Greg told her, already on his way outside.
"No— Greg, if you're gonna be waiting up, at least stay in here," but the stubborn bodyguard who was too good at his job was already out the door.
With a shake of her head, Kaia pushed herself up to her feet and turned the television off. The room fell much darker with only a small lamp turned on in the back.
She grabbed her phone and went to text Andy. Might as well ask her about Friday.
Kaia: hey btw Mica's throwing a party on Friday night. Will u be free?
Andy (from the park): Oh no /: i have that press thing for that footballer. but u have fun!!!
Kaia: oh )): that sucks!
Kaia yawned softly, leaving her phone on the coffee table, her gaze falling on Taylor. With a little smile, she moved to sit on the arm of the sofa right by the blonde's head. Taylor stirred lightly, her face tilting toward Kaia. She couldn't stop herself from reaching down and brushing Taylor's bangs back. Her touch was featherlike, her fingers running through Taylor's golden locks, gently grazing her forehead.
Her thumb moved a little lower, tracing Taylor's small nose, her defined cheekbones, the smoothness of her cheeks. She looked so angelic sleeping.
Taylor's eyes suddenly fluttered and as Kaia moved her hand back to her lap, her eyes met a pair of electric blues.
Her mouth spread into a smile as they looked at one another upside down.
"Good morning," Kaia whispered with an amused chuckle.
Taylor frowned, her hand running down the side of her face. She looked pretty confused and disoriented as she tried to sit up. "What's going on?" She asked, her voice raspy and heavy with sleep. She cleared her throat, looking around with a squint in her eyes until she spotted her glasses on the coffee table.
Kaia reached for them first and handed them over. Taylor put them on, blinking a few times in the darkness.
"It's almost ten," Kaia told her. "You fell asleep."
"Oh... ten in the morning?!" Taylor sat up fast, looking around the room anxiously.
"In the evening, relax," Kaia laughed softly, slipping next to her. "According to Mica you fell asleep at around one."
"Oh," Taylor mumbled, stifling a yawn. "How long have you been here?"
"Just a few minutes," Kaia told her and then she chuckled, fighting back an amused smile. "You know what's funny? You slept through an entire Wii Sports battle between Mica and Greg, but you woke up as soon as the house went quiet."
Taylor raised her eyebrows at Kaia. "What?"
"Yeah," she nodded, settling down more comfortably in her spot. "You looked so peaceful while they were screaming murder."
"Huh..." Taylor looked in front of her at the dark television screen and scratched her cheek gently. She then leaned her head on Kaia's shoulder, yawning again. "How did I miss that?"
"You must have been really tired," Kaia murmured, letting Taylor melt into her side and wrapping her arm around her. "Are you hungry, by the way? You slept through lunch and dinner."
To her surprise, Taylor nodded. "I'm still so tired though. How is that even possible?"
Kaia shrugged, staying right there in her spot. She did want to eat, but she also didn't want to move. "According to Gregory, you haven't been sleeping much," Kaia chastised her playfully, she was still pretty concerned though.
"Ugh, that snitch," Taylor grunted, her pink lips twisting into a smile.
"Come on then," Kaia sighed, getting up and holding her hands out for Taylor. "What do you want to eat? The boys had pizza, apparently, and left some in the fridge."
Taylor scrunched her nose. "No..."
The blonde took Kaia by the hands and let her pull her up to her feet and walk to the kitchen, their hands still entwined.
"I'm kind of in the mood for a grilled cheese sandwich," Kaia told her, walking over to the fridge first.
"Oh! That does sound great, actually. Yeah!"
Kaia grinned and nodded approvingly. "Great! Do you like anything specific in yours?"
Taylor just shrugged. "Cheese?"
Kaia laughed and grabbed the slices of cheese and some butter from the drawer in the fridge they were kept in. As the sandwiches were left on the griddle to cook, Kaia leaned against the counter while Taylor sat at the table with her face smushed into the white table cloth.
"How was your day?" Taylor asked, still in the same position.
Kaia smiled, leaning to the side to see Taylor's face at the right angle. "Pretty good... I think. I don't know, it was kind of a blur."
"Hm, fair enough," Taylor sat up slowly and glanced down at her nails, picking at her cuticles. "Is Mica upset that we didn't end up going out?"
Kaia shook her head, carefully flipping the sandwiches to grill the other side. "Nah, he's fine. He's a grown man, anyway. I've bailed on him way too many times but he still loves me. So, I think you're good," she reassured Taylor who nodded in relief.
"Can we make some tea?" Taylor asked, leaning against the table again.
"I was going to ask," Kaia chuckled. "Green tea sound good?"
"Mhm, thank you."
Kaia nodded in acknowledgement and went to fill the kettle with some water. She placed the two sandwiches on a plate as the water boiled and cut them each in half only for Taylor to gasp rather loudly.
"Stop it right there," the blonde said, getting up and walking up to Kaia. "Did you just cut the bread into a rectangle?"
Kaia paused, holding the knife up in her hand and frowning at Taylor. "Yeah... why?"
"Has no one ever told you that that is a crime against humanity?" Taylor exclaimed, stealing the bread knife from Kaia's hand and using it to cut the second sandwich diagonally.
Kaia shrugged, looking at Taylor weirdly. "What's the difference? It tastes the same!"
"I— are you serious? You can't— it's just not— it's not okay!" Taylor huffed, stumbling over her words as she struggled to explain to Kaia why it wasn't okay to cut a sandwich from side to side as opposed to cutting it from one corner to the opposite one.
Kaia bit back a grin, nodding along to Taylor almost mockingly. "Okay, I hear you... am I going to "grilled cheese" jail now?"
Taylor nodded. "Yup. You'll have to suffer the consequences by never eating an awesome grilled cheese sandwich ever."
Kaia grunted dramatically, feigning pain. "Oh no! Whatever will I do?" she cried out, going to grab two mugs and placing a teabag in each one. "Sugar?"
"Yes, please."
Kaia walked back a moment later to the table with the two mugs while Taylor grabbed the sandwiches. They sat down and ate in comfortable silence, too tired to engage in conversation, but they didn't need to.
"You wanna stay over?" Kaia asked later as she placed the empty plate into the sink. She would wash it tomorrow when she wasn't so exhausted.
"I don't think I should," Taylor said, stretching her long arms over her head. "You're probably exhausted, and I probably won't be getting any more sleep any time soon," she continued just as a yawn interrupted her words halfway through.
Kaia chuckled softly. "Are you sure about that?"
Taylor rolled her eyes, a small blush creeping along her cheeks.
"Wanna go see that poster of you I have on my wall?"
That seemed to pique Taylor's interest. "You mean, I get to finally see your childhood bedroom?"
Kaia stood up, cup of tea in hand, and nodded shyly. "Unless you really have to go."
Taylor tilted her head, pretending to be deep in thought but eventually shook her head. "Not if you don't want me to."
"I don't," Kaia admitted without a second thought.
"Okay, then! Lead the way!"
Kaia turned off the lights downstairs as she led the way toward the bedrooms, Taylor right behind her. Her door was left open, and she walked inside, keeping the lights off before she set the mug down on the end table.
"Are you just not going to let me see it? Was this a trap?"
Kaia rolled her eyes at Taylor, smiling amusedly as she reached behind the bed frame and pressed the small button that turned on the fairy lights.
"Admire your teenage self," Kaia said, waving her hand up in the direction of the poster.
Taylor let out a little laugh, walking over toward Kaia's bed and setting down her own half-empty cup of tea next to the other one.
"Oh, it's just the Fearless Tour promo shoot," Taylor noted, sounding a little disappointed. "I was expecting something more fun. It's not even a good picture!"
"It's cute! I found it in a magazine. It was the best two pounds I'd ever paid." Kaia retorted, pulling her dresser open and picking out a pair of shorts and a shirt to sleep in and another set for Taylor.
"The room's cute," Taylor said, accepting the clothes from Kaia. "Can I use the bathroom?"
"No," Kaia responded sarcastically, already unbuttoning her jeans.
"All right then, I'll just pee my pants," Taylor exclaimed with a dry laugh.
"Down the hall, last door to the right," Kaia finally told her, smiling teasingly.
Kaia took her time while changing into her pyjamas, still too tired to even lift her arms over her head. When she was done, she padded down the hall and found the bathroom door left ajar as Taylor washed her face, now in Kaia's clothes. She patted her face dry with a small towel and opened the door further to let the brunette in.
Kaia stood behind her, her hands hovering lightly at Taylor's waist as she pushed past her, ignoring the way the slight contact made her feel and busying herself with the bathroom cabinet where she brought out a new toothbrush and handed it to the blonde.
"Now you get to keep one here," Kaia mentioned and grabbed the only toothbrush left in the ceramic cup on the counter near the sink.
"Yay," Taylor laughed, grabbing the toothpaste from Kaia when she was done with it.
It was quiet for a few minutes until their eyes met in the mirror and for some reason, Kaia had absolutely no idea why, they both burst out laughing.
"Can you move? I don't wanna spit on you," Kaia said, her words muffled by the minty foam in her mouth.
Taylor took a few steps back, giving Kaia space to rinse and wash her face before she went ahead and rinsed her own mouth.
They walked back to Kaia's room and the actress stood near the door for a moment while Taylor sat down on the edge of the bed to remove her socks.
"You can have my bed. I'll go sleep in my parents' room," Kaia said but Taylor shook her head.
"What are you talking about? There's enough room for the both of us," Taylor replied, folding her socks into each other.
"I— yeah, but... yeah," she sighed eventually, walking over to Taylor. "You're right."
"We can share a bed innocently, Kibbles," Taylor said with a chuckle that sounded a little forced.
"Yeah, I know," Kaia murmured, slipping no into her own side of the bed.
Taylor crawled under the bedsheets next to her, keeping a good distance between them. Eventually, Kaia reached behind her and turned off the fairy lights, the room turning pitch black.
Though she couldn't see Taylor, Kaia knew she was still awake. They both were for a good while, lying absolutely still in bed. But Kaia couldn't stop herself from yawning, and her eyes were fluttering closed on their own. She turned around, her back to Taylor and her hands resting under her head.
"Goodnight, Kibbles," Taylor whispered into the dead of night.
"Night, Tay," Kaia mumbled back sleepily. She was just about to slip into deep slumber when she felt Taylor shift behind her and the weight of her arm resting around her waist.
Kaia didn't move away. Instead, she let herself slip into Taylor's side like a puzzle piece, resting her own hand on top of the blonde's.
Her breathing slowed down on its own, despite the flutters in the pit of her stomach, and she found herself falling asleep faster than she ever had.