I KNOW HOW LATE THIS IS!! I’M SORRY!!! I HAD A CRAZY DAY! I HAVEN’T PROOFREAD IT YET BUT HOPEFULLY THESE UPDATES ARE WORTH THE WAIT...
June 20, 2014
Taylor wakes up at the feeling of Karlie no longer sleeping against her and leaving the bed.
“What are you doing?” Taylor asks sleepily, seeing the model sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I have to pee,” Karlie replies, sounding even more tired than Taylor.
“Need help?” Taylor asks as Karlie stands up and begins walking to the nearby connecting bathroom. Karlie doesn’t reply, and when she makes it to the bathroom’s doorway Taylor adds, “Leave the door open, in case.” Karlie makes no reply once more but does as she is told.
Taylor turns her attention towards the napping kitten beside her, the fact that Karlie spontaneously bought her a pet finally sinking in. As lightly as she can, Taylor runs a single finger along the sleeping kitten’s body, she being so small that anything more surely would have woken it up. The kitten is beautiful with the purest white fur imaginable, and although not visible now Taylor is aware of the very rare blue eye color the cat possesses. Why would Karlie even think of doing this for her?
No sounds of struggle come from the bathroom and soon Karlie is walking back towards the bed. “What time is it?” Karlie yawns. Reaching the bed, she practically collapses facedown on the mattress before moving to rest on Taylor’s chest once more.
“9:30,” Taylor replies. Karlie mumbles a sound, acknowledging Taylor’s response. “I know you’re tired, but can you explain why I have a new kitten beside me?” Taylor asks, smiling at the top of Karlie’s head laying against her.
Karlie lifts her head to smile at the kitten. She looks back at Taylor, with a much smaller smile on her face. “I hate what I had to decide between. And I can’t stand the idea that I probably hurt you. I know we haven’t talked about it much, and I guess we probably shouldn’t, but I just wanted to do something that I know would make you happy,” Karlie says quietly, staring Taylor in the eyes. Taylor always finds it unsettling, in a good way, how direct Karlie’s stare could be even in times of intimate conversation, when it is far easier to look away while speaking.
Taylor has a small smile on her face when she begins, “You didn’t have to do this. I told you—“
“I know. Everything is okay,” Karlie finishes for her, repeating the sentiments Taylor had tried drilling into their brains a couple days ago. By the way Karlie says it with the broken voice she is still sporting from sickness, it is very clear that everything is absolutely not okay. They are both silent, staring at each other, maybe waiting for the other to bring up Karlie’s decision again. The last thing Taylor wants to be doing right now is staring into Karlie’s green eyes, but she feels as though she owes it to the model to meet the intensity of her gaze. Just when Taylor believes she can’t stand looking into her daring eyes any longer, the kitten beside them meows, giving each girl a chance to look to their sides.
The kitten stretches out her very tiny paws, opening her even tinier mouth for a yawn. Taylor squeezes her arms tightly around the model and strains between gritted teeth, “She’s so cute I don’t know what to do with myself!” Karlie begins to laugh, only setting off a coughing fit, as Taylor crushes her in a hug watching the kitchen. “Did I just squeeze you to death?” Taylor asks, loosening her hold as she watches the model both laugh and cough at the same time, eyes becoming watery.
“I’m fine,” Karlie waves her off, breathless in between coughs. Taylor reaches for a new bottle of Gatorade she placed on the nightstand, handing it to Karlie as she coughs. Karlie’s cough settles as she drinks from the bottle. She hands it back to Taylor as she wipes at her teary eyes. “Jesus,” Karlie mutters.
“How are you feeling anyway?” Taylor asks, feeling helpless at being reminded how sick Karlie remains to be.
“I haven’t felt this good in days,” Karlie replies, still breathless from coughing. Seeing how horrified Taylor looks by the statement, Karlie smiles but tries hiding it by resting her head against Taylor’s body once more.
“You know I’m going to have to beat you up for this when you get better, right?” Taylor says.
“Good luck,” Karlie laughs.
“I am. I’m actually so mad at you. What would you have done if I didn’t come over here today?” Taylor asks.
“Thank you for coming,” Karlie replies sheepishly, avoiding the question. “Why did you come over anyway?”
“Because I hadn’t heard from you and I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew something was up,” Taylor answers.
“Shit! Did you text my Mom?” Karlie says, sitting up and reaching for her phone.
“No, I didn’t text your Mom. You are unbelievably stupid about this whole thing, you know that? You should have told your Mom you were sick!” Taylor exclaims.
“Shhh,” Karlie shushes, lying back against Taylor now that she has the phone in her hands. “Damn. Seven texts and four calls from her in the last twenty four hours. Okay, I’m going to text her so she doesn’t hear me. What should my excuse be?”
“You were dying and couldn’t make it to the phone,” Taylor says drily. Karlie ignores her and begins typing out a text to her mother. Taylor is struck by the comfortability of the moment. Lying in bed with Karlie after napping, the model lounging over her as she goes through the phone. The singer rests an arm around the model, thinking back to how she had been surprised with how cuddly Karlie was the first time they spent real time together in February. Now she can’t imagine anything else but this.
“I will deal with everyone else later, I have a headache,” Karlie says, dropping the phone amongst the blankets. Taylor places a hand on Karlie’s forehead at the sound of a new symptom developing.
“I don’t think you have a fever,” Taylor comments before taking her hand away.
“Thanks, doc,” Karlie smiles. “When do you have to go?”
Taylor pauses for a moment when she realizes Karlie isn’t expecting her to stay the night. Would Karlie not want her to? Is that crossing a line now? “I was thinking I had to stay the night…a member of my security will just be in the living room and I was going to sleep in the guest room, but if you don’t want me—“
“No, that’s not it. I didn’t want to ask, but I’m happy you’re staying because believe it or not I’m a little sick,” Karlie says.
“Yeah,” Taylor rolls her eyes, but happy to feel needed.
“I can’t breathe,” Karlie complains sounding frustrated. Taylor can hear how congested she is and can’t do much to help but try to make her comfortable.
“Lie on your side, it makes it easier,” Taylor says, softly nudging Karlie to roll over. Once again, Karlie does as she is told and lies on her side, back facing Taylor. The older girl mimics her friend’s position and lies on her own side, putting an arm over her and holding her close as Karlie contours her body to match Taylor’s.
“This is new,” Karlie laughs softly, as Taylor’s body cradles her.
“That’s because you’re inconveniently tall,” Taylor replies.
Karlie laughs a bit, and Taylor just enjoys holding her. It is usually the other way around, but Taylor finds herself enjoying Karlie conforming to her body more than she should as a friend. It is too easy for Taylor to nuzzle her face into to the back of Karlie’s head, appreciating the softness of her hair and the scent that Taylor has come to associate with happiness. She can hear each one of Karlie’s slightly labored breaths, sounding better as she lay on her side, and she is once again struck with the familiar feeling of wishing things could be different.
Karlie reaches an arm forward and pulls the sleeping kitten against her. She begins to purr as Karlie cuddles it against her. “We are going to raise this one right,” Karlie says.
Taylor does her best to ignore the rush of emotion she feels hearing Karlie say something like that, even joking, when she replies, “What’s that supposed to mean? You like Meredith!”
“I love Meredith because she’s my baby, but I’ve had to settle for her bad attitude because I’m extremely animal deprived in the city,” Karlie replies.
“I’m pretty sure she’s my baby,” Taylor corrects her, but she is smiling out of view from Karlie.
“I’m pretty sure you can share her,” Karlie replies matching Taylor’s tone. “What is this one’s name?”
“Obviously Detective Olivia Benson,” Taylor says quickly. Karlie can’t contain her laughter at how quickly Taylor replies with such a unique name. It isn’t long before Karlie’s laughter is accompanied by her coughing and Taylor can’t help but pathetically laugh along with her. “You’re such a mess,” Taylor laughs.
“Don’t make me laugh, stop,” Karlie wheezes. Taylor does her best to remain silent as Karlie tries to reign in her laughter. When she is able to breathe normally, Karlie asks, “Is that really what you’re naming her? How did you just come up with that?”
“Of course that’s what I’m naming here. And what what do you mean how did I just come up with that? You don’t think I spend every second of my free time making lists of potential cat names?” Taylor replies, as she manages to find a way to keep her arm around Karlie and pet the kitten the model is cuddling at the same time.
“You’re such a dork,” Karlie laughs softly. “Olivia,” Karlie coos, scratching the kitten behind the ears.
They each have a hand petting the small purring kitten, pretending that it is perfectly normal how often their hands gently collide. Apart from the sound of Karlie’s voice and coughing, Taylor would have forgotten how sick the model was feeling by the way she acted. Just as Taylor is about to tell her so, she hears the quiet snoring she had found so endearing earlier accompanying the sounds of a purring kitten.
Taylor holds Karlie even tighter against her than before, enjoying her new position while cuddling the taller girl. She isn’t sure what to make of today. She was sure Karlie would have accepted affection from anyone, after being sick for so long alone in her apartment, but Taylor nonetheless enjoyed the extra physical attention. Could this be their friendship? Would this make their friendship easier or harder for her? Or was this entire day completely inappropriate to begin with?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 21, 2014
Taylor’s eyes shoot open when the sound of a door bell chimes throughout the apartment. It takes the singer a moment to fully recall where she is, but the sounds of labored sick breathing coming from the model held tightly in her arms reminds her of the situation quickly enough.
“Karlie? Someone just rang your bell,” Taylor says, squeezing her arms more tightly around Karlie as she tries easing the model awake. Karlie hadn’t even stirred in the slightest at the sound of the bell. With Taylor’s arms tightening around her slim frame and the singer’s voice breaking the silence of the morning, Karlie’s cradled body becomes alert.
“My doorbell?” Karlie asks, sounding surprised and incredibly exhausted as her voice slowly drawls out her question.
“Yeah. My security is in the living room, I should probably get up and see who is at the door,” Taylor says into Karlie’s hair. Taylor knew the moment the bell rang throughout the apartment she should get up to get the door, but the last thing she wanted to do was let go of the girl she had held throughout the night. The older girl has become so used to being held by Karlie throughout the nights, now when Karlie was conformed to the shape of her shorter body the last thing she wants to do is let go.
“It won’t be Josh, he is still in L.A.,” Karlie mumbles, sounding as though she is seconds away from slipping off to sleep once more.
Taylor hadn’t even thought of the prospect of opening the door up to a worried boyfriend, and she finds herself feel incredibly thankful that it isn’t a possibility. She wouldn’t have been able to stand it. When she hears Karlie’s quiet snores, Taylor struggles separating herself from the younger girl without making much of a ruckus. When Taylor has freed herself, she adjusts her dress and walks quickly down the hallway.
“Ms. Swift, I think there are a couple of teenagers outside,” a security guard says in greeting.
“What?” Taylor asks, sounding confused. She peeks out the window and instantly recognizes the two young girls standing impatiently in front of the door. Taylor quickly opens Karlie’s front door, just as the doorbell is chiming throughout the apartment once more.
Kimby and Kariann Kloss’s faces instantly change from showing annoyance to complete shock, at the surprise of being face to face with not their older sister, but rather international superstar Taylor Swift. Their eyes are wide and their mouths agape, staring at the smiling blonde singer. Taylor can immediately notice each of the sisters’ own individual likenesses to Karlie.
“Hello!” Taylor says happily, hugging each of the girls as she ushers them inside. They halfheartedly return the hugs, still obviously in shock at Taylor’s presence. “I’m Taylor!”
They continue to stare at her in silence, and just as Taylor is about to attempt at some small talk to make the teenage girls more comfortable, Kimby speaks.
“Where’s Karlie?” Kimby asks, her tone suspicious as she studies Taylor.
“She’s in the bedroom, come on,” Taylor replies as she leads the two down the hallway. She doesn’t offer the younger sister an explanation right away, thrown off by the girl’s suspicion. A protective younger sister. When they have arrived back in the bedroom, Karlie is still fast asleep. Taylor fights a smile seeing the younger girl had shifted her position, lying in the space Taylor had just occupied. Having experience as the one usually being held, Taylor knows that when Karlie had to leave her in the mornings she would often to move to Karlie’s position on the bed and pillow, enjoying the last of the body heat and scent left by the model. Karlie may have done the same thing. “Karlie, look who is here,” Taylor says loudly, as she approaches Karlie’s bedside. When Taylor reaches a hand down to the model she wakes up, and her green eyes find Taylor first and then her younger sisters.
“What are you guys doing here?” Karlie croaks as Taylor cringes at the sound of her friend’s voice.
“What’s wrong with her?” Kimby asks, looking at Taylor. The singer is surprised by the intensity of the stare, almost accusatory.
“Easy,” Karlie smiles at her sister, beckoning both of them over to her. Kimby and Kariann don’t wait for more of an invitation than that, and within seconds are crowded by the top of Karlie’s bed. “I’ve been sick,” Karlie explains, warding off the younger girls from coming too near her.
“For the past four days?” Kimby asks, referencing how long it has been since last hearing from her older sister.
“Yeah, and Taylor came over yesterday,” Karlie explains. Kimby quickly looks at Taylor before returning her attention back to Karlie.
Taylor begins, “She didn’t tell anybody she was sick. I came over here just to see where she was and found her completely…”
“I was a mess,” Karlie finishes.
“What do you mean you were a mess? Why do you look and sound so bad still if it has already been four days?” Kimby asks.
“Oh, thanks,” Karlie replies rolling her eyes.
“I told you we should have came sooner, Kimby,” Kariann says, and it is the first time Taylor has heard from the shyer of the twins. “I said something was wrong and Kimby threw a party at our house because Mom and Dad are on vacation for Father’s Day still,” Kariann adds quickly.
“Kimby! You had a house party the second Mom and Dad trust you guys alone in the house?!” Karlie says, sounding angry as she attempts to sit up on her elbows in bed. Taylor is amused to see the older sister in Karlie come out, but realizes that a three way fight between the sisters may be about to take place.
“Okay, well why don’t you worry about yourself. You weren’t all that upfront with your parents this week either,” Taylor cuts in. All three Kloss sisters turn their attention towards her. Kimby looks especially grateful, which is a welcome change from the suspicion she has mostly faced from the girl. Karlie, however, looks unamused. “Don’t give me that look, you acted so stupid,” Taylor says to her friend.
“Yeah, you were stupid,” Kimby agrees, poking Karlie in the cheek.
“I don’t talk to you for four days and you destroy the house?” Karlie asks as she swats away Kimby’s hand. The quick motion causes Karlie to cough.
“I’ll tell Mom how sick you are if you tell her I had a party,” Kimby replies without missing a beat.
Taylor does her best to stifle a laugh as Karlie and Kimby wordlessly stare at each other. Karlie has been outsmarted. When the model hears her friend clearly being entertained by the standstill, she looks over at her, doing her best to seem annoyed but Taylor recognizes the lightheartedness in her eyes.
“I wish I could get you like that,” Taylor says smiling. Kimby laughs as Karlie just hums an unintelligible response as she continues to staring at her friend.
“Why is there a kitten beside you?” Kariann says as she notices the very tiny Olivia cuddled up against Karlie in the bed.
Karlie scoops the sleeping kitten up and hands her over to Kariann, saying, “That’s Taylor’s new kitten Olivia.”
Kariann looks overjoyed to be holding such a small kitten in her hands. She shyly looks up at Taylor, quietly saying, “She’s so cute.”
“I know, I just got her yesterday. I still can’t believe it,” Taylor replies smiling. She doesn’t plan to be the first one to mention that Karlie bought her the kitten. She was pretty sure most friends don’t do that for other friends.
Karlie smiles at the singer until Kimby has grabbed her phone. “Hey, what are you doing?!” Karlie exclaims, trying and failing to sit up in the bed as she begins coughing because of her sudden outburst.
“Let’s see who was worried…” Kimby says as she easily enters the passcode into Karlie’s iPhone. “Definitely Mom. She called you so much. Me and Kariann count as one person because we were together when we called. Taylor called you the most after that,” Kimby replies, looking up at Taylor. The singer thinks Kimby appears to be thankful in the second that she makes eye contact with her. “Derek, obviously. Wow, does Josh not even realize something is clearly wrong?” Kimby asks, disdain spewing from her voice.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Karlie says, reaching for her phone as her face begins to turn a shade of red having nothing to do with her illness.
“No, are you serious? That’s bullshit,” Kimby replies, as Kariann looks at the phone’s screen as well. “He’s your boyfriend and he isn’t a little worried that he hasn’t heard from you in four days?”
Karlie, her voice seething with anger, begins, “Kimby, shut the fuck—“
“Girls, do you want to help me make some soup? It is probably going to be mostly broth though for Karlie, but we can make something for ourselves after,” Taylor interrupts quickly. Kariann looks at Taylor, nodding her head as she begins leaving the bedroom still holding the kitten, obviously thankful for Taylor trying to dismantle the fight that may still be inevitable. Kimby and Karlie are still glaring at each other, when Taylor tries again, “Kimby? Do you want to help? I’ve wanted to meet and spend time with you for so long now.”
Kimby finally looks away from Karlie and silently nods as she leaves the bedroom following her twin. Taylor remains standing beside Karlie’s bed, unsure of what to say. Karlie is lying on her back staring up at the ceiling, not speaking. Taylor studies the model’s face, looking for a hint as to what she should say, if anything at all. She then realizes her friend is doing her best to blink back tears from her green eyes.
“Karlie, he must be so busy, don’t think about it too much,” Taylor says, easing herself back onto the bed until Karlie reaches a hand out to keep her from getting too close.
“Stop. Go with them,” Karlie says, the pain in her voice ringing clearly despite how scratchy from illness it is as well. She is still staring at the ceiling, doing her best to avoid Taylor’s probing eyes.
Taylor lies on her side next to Karlie, putting an arm over the younger girl’s abdomen. She stares at the side of Karlie’s face so intensely that there is no way it can go unnoticed by the model.
“Stop looking at me,” Karlie says, doing her best to force a laugh as she quickly wipes at her eyes.
“I’m your best friend,” Taylor says. They are both quiet for a moment, before Taylor continues, “If Josh knew you were sick I bet he would fly back right now. He would be over here taking care of you. Guys are just…they’re just dumb. Maybe he should know something is wrong, but he probably really has been so busy, Karlie.” Taylor hates defending Josh. She is just as mad at him as Kimby is. He should have known something was wrong, Karlie never should have been here alone as sick as she was. He doesn’t deserve her at all, and Taylor hates him for it. The only thing she hates more, however, is seeing Karlie hurt. If defending Josh can ease the model’s pain, that is exactly what Taylor will endure for Karlie.
Karlie finally shifts her head to look at Taylor. “Thank you,” Karlie says softly. Before Taylor can reply Karlie adds, “Thank you for coming over here and helping me so much. I’m sure taking care of me hasn’t been fun. And thank you for just being understanding about…everything. You’ve been so amazing to me. Better than I deserve.”
“You don’t have to thank me for any of that. I’m supposed to do all of that, you’re my best friend,” Taylor says, matching Karlie’s low volume. Karlie just nods her head instead of replying. “I’m going to have to steal some of your clothes. Do you have extra toothbrushes?” Taylor asks.
“I think there is a package of a bunch in the bathroom closet,” Karlie replies.
“I will be right back,” Taylor says, quickly rubbing Karlie’s arm before getting out of the bed.
Once Taylor has brushed her teeth and changed, however, Karlie has fallen back asleep. Taylor watches her sleep for a bit, enjoying the little luxuries that come along with the unfortunate sickness the model has found herself with. It is difficult to tear her eyes away from the bed and to head towards the kitchen, where the youngest Klosses await her, but finally Taylor tells herself she can’t stare any longer.
As Taylor walks down the hallway towards the kitchen, she can hear the twins’ conversation more and more clearly.
“He was really nice when I went to Karlie’s sunglasses event,” Kariann says.
“That doesn’t matter to me, I barely know him. He doesn’t even realize something is wrong even though he hasn’t heard from Karlie in days. He’s called her like twice in the past four days,” Kimby replies.
“Well, we should have come here earlier too. We knew something was wrong and didn’t do anything either,” Kariann reasons.
“You don’t think I realize that we were stupid? At least we knew and tried calling her—“
Conversation abruptly stops once Taylor has entered the kitchen. The twins stare at Taylor, hints of their surprise from when they first arrived returning now that Karlie isn’t present to be a mediator.
“Isn’t she so she cute?” Taylor smiles, gesturing to Olivia. The twins are sitting at the corner of the granite counter-topped island in Karlie’s kitchen, with Olivia sitting on the top between them. She thinks it’s best not to acknowledge what she has heard as she travelled to the kitchen, but she feels ashamed at the whispers of satisfaction she feels when hearing Josh spoken of negatively. It hasn’t taken Taylor long to realize Kimby is a fiery younger sister.
The twins each smile and nod their heads, but remain silent.
“Do you guys like cooking and baking, too?” Taylor asks, as she begins taking out ingredients from Karlie’s cabinets.
Kariann simply nods her head again but Kimby replies, “I like eating what Karlie and Kariann cook.”
“Fair enough,” Taylor laughs. “Me and you can just handle it ourselves then,” Taylor says to Kariann, The girl seems frazzled by the attention, but Taylor is determined to get each girl to warm up to her.
It may be harder than she thinks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh, now you wake up,” Taylor says once seeing Karlie’s green eyes open as she just settles into the bed beside the model.
Karlie feels dazed as she begins to fully wake up. “Are you going to sleep?” Karlie asks, sounding very confused.
“Your voice sounds a lot better,” Taylor says, handing Karlie a bottle of water before she can even ask for it. “And yeah, it is like eleven.”
“What?!” Karlie exclaims, quickly taking the bottle away from her lips.
“Yeah. I kept coming in here a little worried, but I just figured it was what your body needed,” Taylor replies.
“Where are the girls?” Karlie asks, noticing now herself that although her voice is still hoarse it sounds leagues better than it did even this morning.
“They drove him before it got dark,” Taylor replies.
“They were here that long?” Karlie asks.
“We had a great bonding day, of course they did. We don’t need you in our lives for our friendship,” Taylor teases.
Karlie eyes Taylor and smiles, waiting for her to elaborate. “Okay, what did you guys do?”
“You should’ve been there. Sorry,” Taylor replies, sounding bored.
“Did you get Kariann talking?” Karlie asks, ignoring Taylor’s statement.
“Easily. No problem,” Taylor replies quickly, sounding satisfied.
“Wow,” Karlie says, allowing herself to sound impressed. “So Kimby must have been fine, too,” Karlie adds.
“Better than fine. I already told you we don’t even need you, we all love each other,” Taylor teases again.
“Aren’t you a little smug,” Karlie observes, but with a large smile on her face. She loves the idea of Taylor and her sisters getting along so well. She regrets having slept right through them meeting.
“Well, I deserve to be. When Kimby first got here I swear she thought I gave you the plague or something. If looks could kill it would be all over for me,” Taylor says, as Karlie laughs. “And Kariann isn’t too easy either.”
“They both can be tough in their own ways,” Karlie nods, smiling as she thinks about her younger sisters.
“It’s so cute that they drove down here like that,” Taylor says.
“You basically did the same thing,” Karlie dismisses.
“Well, I live a lot closer,” Taylor counters. “Look,” Taylor says, handing Karlie her own phone.
Karlie sees multiple selfies of the three on her screen as she looks through the phone. “Aww!” Karlie exclaims. “I can’t believe I missed this!” she says, dramatically pouting her lip.
“I told them all four of us have to go out one night in the city this month. And go to Rhode Island. I still need to meet Kristine and your parents though,” Taylor replies.
“You guys are already making plans?” Karlie asks, sounding more and more pleased with what she hears.
“I told you already. We. Don’t. Need. You,” Taylor emphasizes.
“Oh, be quiet,” Karlie laughs rolling her eyes.
“You are looking a lot better too. You aren’t so pale anymore,” Taylor observes, as she rests the back of her hand against Karlie’s forehead. “No fever either.”
“I feel really good, even though my voice still doesn’t sound right. I mostly just feel tired, not too sick,” Karlie says. It is a greatly welcomed relief to feel so great after spending the last four days deliriously and severely weakly ill.
“Do you want some soup we made earlier?” Taylor asks.
Karlie hesitates before asking, “Weren’t you just about to go to sleep?”
Taylor rolls her eyes and replies, “Yeah, great timing.” Nonetheless, before Karlie can protest, Taylor gets out of the bed. “She’ll keep you company,” Taylor says, placing Olivia on Karlie’s chest before leaving for the kitchen.
Karlie relaxes against her pillow, gently stroking the small kitten as she purrs. The model can’t keep a small smile from her face as she thinks about all the possibilities of how today went with Taylor and her sisters. Even as family oriented as she is, Karlie is unsure why it means so much to her that Taylor and the girls got along so well. It just makes her feel incredibly happy.
She can hear the sounds of Taylor readying her bowl of soup from the kitchen, and a sense of peacefulness washes over her as she thinks about the hot meal Taylor would be handing her before crawling into bed beside her. She didn’t have the energy to hate how natural it all felt, or to feel guilty about how simply content it made her feel to have Taylor here for her in this way. Despite having just slept an entire day away, Karlie finds herself looking forward to falling asleep once more, especially if it meant Taylor’s arms would be around her for another night.
A couple minutes later, Taylor is slowly walking back into the bedroom as she balances a bowl of soup, crackers, and a glass of milk in her hands.
“It’s mostly broth, I didn’t think you would be ready for too much. You can put some crackers in it though,” Taylor says as she hands Karlie the bowl. She adjusts the pillows behind Karlie so she can be more comfortable sitting up in the bed and she rests another pillow on Karlie’s lap for the model to balance the bowl on top of. Finally, Taylor returns to her place in the bed, taking Olivia onto her lap.
“Thank you,” Karlie says simply, as Taylor turns on the television and begins flipping through channels. She acts as though she didn’t even hear Karlie thanking her. Karlie finds herself enjoying Taylor taking care of her like this far more than she should.
They are side by side in the bed as they silently watch the episode of Law and Order Taylor has put on as Karlie eats her soup. Their legs gently graze each other under the blankets, softly and tentatively, as if each of them are convincing each other that the contact is occurring by accident. However, the contact doesn’t cease.
When Karlie has finished with her meal, she sets the dishes on her nightstand by her bedside. Just when she turns back to face the television, Taylor is pushing a Gatorade bottle into her hands.
“I’m not thirsty,” Karlie says, gently nudging the bottle away from her. “And that is just a weird combination of food.”
“I don’t care, you slept all day and didn’t have any fluids. And who knows how little you had before I got here yesterday,” Taylor insists.
Karlie exaggeratedly sighs and settles lower into her bed as she leans against Taylor, who is still sitting mostly upright. The model still makes no move to take the bottle Taylor is still holding in front of her, hoping that she will give up on her command as Karlie cuddles into her.
Taylor exhales a sigh that rivals Karlie’s before taking the bottle away. “I still plan on beating you up for this when you feel better,” Taylor says as she lifts her arm to put around Karlie, holding her closer.
“And I still wish you luck on that,” Karlie laughs softly.
They go back to watching the episode on the television, Karlie, however, becoming increasingly exhausted as the minutes wear on. When Karlie can’t help but yawn, Taylor says, “Karlie, watch this part. I feel like it will be important.”
“Haven’t you already seen this episode?” Karlie asks.
“Twice. Which is why you should take the hint,” Taylor quips back.
Karlie laughs and shakes her head. “Dork.”
“Shh,” Taylor shushes.
Karlie does her best to stay awake as she leans against Taylor, but once the episode is about halfway through she can barely keep her eyes open. She sits up from Taylor to lie on her side, facing away from the singer so as to be able to fall asleep in peace while the show is on.
“Do you want me to shut it off?” Taylor asks.
“No, I can fall asleep with it on,” Karlie replies. She isn’t lying, she knows she will be asleep in minutes, and she knows that Taylor really wants to watch it until the end despite having already seen it. However, she would much prefer falling asleep wrapped in Taylor’s arms as she did the previous night, but she knows it is a request she can’t make when she thinks about her loyal boyfriend currently on the west coast.
As if reading Karlie’s mind, however, the sound of the episode is abruptly stopped, and the light overhead the bed is turned off. Karlie doesn’t even protest for Taylor to continue watching without her when she feels the older girl’s arms wrap around her from behind. Karlie inhales deeply and contently as Taylor’s body connects with her entirely, and the model allows herself to go limp for Taylor’s shape to contour her however she wishes.
Karlie falls asleep peacefully and happily, feeling Taylor’s hold over her and her face nestled into her brown locks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 22, 2014
“I’m actually starving to death,” Karlie whines.
“That’s because you haven’t eaten in, like, roughly a year,” Taylor replies drily.
“Now is not the time for your sarcasm,” Karlie replies, laughing nonetheless.
As they often manage to do, they each woke up at around the same time, despite the early hour of the morning. They remain cuddled under the blankets, passing the purring kitten between each other.
“Why am I still lightheaded when I sit up?” Karlie whines. “I’m sick of this.”
“Your body is exhausted and you haven’t eaten real food in so long,” Taylor replies. She sits up and stretches her arms over her head as she yawns. “Do you think you can eat today? Should I make a big breakfast?”
“Yes, please,” Karlie replies sweetly.
“I think you’re getting a little too used to this,” Taylor says as she gets out of bed.
“Thank youuu,” Karlie replies goofily, smiling as she stretches out the word. Taylor can’t help but return the smile as she leaves the bedroom.
“I will be back with your breakfast, your highness.”
Taylor arrives to the kitchen still smiling, happy to have woken up to an almost completely recovered Karlie. The singer happily hums to herself as she opens Karlie’s fridge, looking for some inspiration as to what she should make for breakfast. When she spots the carton of eggs she quickly decides upon omelets. She takes out all additional ingredients to put into the omelet and sets them on the counter top. Seeing some grapes and strawberries in the fridge as well, Taylor decides to wash them and bring a bowl into Karlie as she waits for the omelets.
When Taylor begins cutting up the rinsed strawberries to mix them with the bowl of grapes, the doorbell chimes throughout the apartment. Taylor sets down the life and smiles, surprised that Kimby and Kariann have returned once more, but pleased nonetheless.
She walks quickly down the stairs to the front door, and swings open the door with a smile on her face.
In an instant, her smile falters. “Oh,” Taylor says deadpan in greeting.
“Um, hello,” Josh replies, eyes darting to and from Taylor’s, as he is caught off guard to be face to face with her instead of his girlfriend. Taylor continues staring, shocked by his presence. “Can I come in?” Josh asks uneasily.
“Oh, right, sorry,” Taylor mumbles, stepping aside to let the tall entrepreneur in.
Josh glances at the watch on his wrist before asking, “Did you stay the night?” He is running his hand through his hair and Taylor can tell that he wasn’t prepared at all for her to be here.
“Yeah. Karlie is sick,” Taylor replies in a monotone. Maybe if she had been prepared herself to face Josh she would have managed to be friendlier, but right now her sense are in shock.
“Sick?” Josh asks, sounding surprised. “Is she okay?”
“I didn’t hear from her for days so I knew something was wrong,” Taylor says, sure to include that important detail to Karlie’s loving boyfriend. She pauses before continuing on, as Josh suddenly becomes interested ins studying the floor. “So I came over and I found her… She was… really bad. I thought we were going to have to go to the hospital. She didn’t want to ruin her parents’ vacation so she didn’t contact them at all. She didn’t contact anybody. But I don’t even know if she could have used a phone anyway. I’ve been here the last couple of days.”
“Shit. What was it? Where is she now?” Josh replies, sounding worried. At the description of Karlie’s condition he met Taylor’s stare steadily.
“The flu. She was having stomach problems along with a really bad cold, basically. She’s still really weak. She’s in her bedroom,” Taylor replies.
Without another word Josh instantly spins around and rushes towards the bedroom in the back of the apartment. Taylor is caught off guard and races to keep up with him, for some reason feeling unhappy at how comfortable Josh is in the apartment. She isn’t even happy seeing him genuinely worried about her friend. It is so much easier for her to imagine Josh as heartless and undeserving and uncaring.
When each of them rush into the bedroom together, Karlie appears to be even more shocked than Taylor was at Josh’s arrival.
“Josh? I thought you weren’t supposed to come back until tomorrow,” Karlie says. Although sounding surprised, Taylor is pleased when she doesn’t detect much happiness mixed with the surprise.
“Yeah, well, I’m here now,” Josh replies, sounding distracted as he goes towards the bed. He puts a knee on the mattress and leans down towards Karlie.
“No! Stop, you’ll get sick,” Karlie says, placing both hands on his chest to ward off his advance, quickly looking at Taylor as she does it.
“I don’t care,” Josh says, sounding annoyed, as he pushes through and leans in for a kiss. Karlie quickly turns her head and Taylor holds her green stare as Josh kisses her cheek and hugs her. “You sound horrible,” Josh comments as he pulls away.
“This is the best I’ve heard her sound,” Taylor replies, her voice sounding cold. Josh doesn’t seem to notice as he continues asking questions, but Karlie eyes shoot back and forth in between Taylor and Josh, obviously stressed out about the dynamic. Taylor stands leaning against the bedroom door frame, feeling useless and unwanted for the first time in days. She watches Josh fuss over Karlie, days too late, as she feels like an outsider on the boundary line of the bedroom.
“Thank you so much for coming over here when you did,” Josh says, turning now to face Taylor.
Taylor is surprised, not expecting to be addressed by either one of them so soon. “It was no problem. I was glad to do it. I had to do it,” Taylor replies, looking past Josh to Karlie. The model offers her a small close-lipped smile.
“I can take over from here,” Josh says. Is he dismissing me?
“Oh, okay,” Taylor replies, feeling as though a day with Karlie has just been ripped away from her. She walks forward to hug Karlie goodbye.
“Thank you so much,” Karlie mumbles into Taylor’s shoulder when the older girl leans over to hug her. The model hands Olivia over, the original reason for Karlie buying the kitten pressing on Taylor’s mind.
“Don’t thank me,” Taylor replies as she separates from the hug. Taylor clutches the kitten in her hand, realizing just how much she has needed a new distraction at home. “This coming weekend you two should come to Rhode Island. I’m sure you’ll be feeling a lot better, and you must have the weekend off at least since you’ve just been traveling,” Taylor says, addressing the two, She finds herself hoping that Josh will begin to explain why he won’t be able to make it.
Unfortunately for her, Josh replies confidently, “We’ll be there. That sounds great.”
Taylor stiffly nods her head in response, doing her best to smile. “Well, I hope you feel better Karlie.”
“Thank you for everything,” Karlie says again.
“I will walk you out,” Josh says, leading the way out of the bedroom.
They walk down the hallway silently, until they near the kitchen when Taylor remembers Karlie’s hunger.
“Josh, wait. She hasn’t been eating really at all in the past, like, five days, so come here,” Taylor says, breaking away from him to go towards the kitchen. “I was just about to make her a big breakfast. I was going to give her this fruit before I started cooking though, just to hold her over,” Taylor explains, gesturing towards the bowl. “And I made some soup yesterday. It is in the fridge. It isn’t too heavy so I don’t know if she will want to have it anymore. Also, I had security pick up a lot of Gatorade for her, that’s in the fridge too.”
“Okay, I can run down to Starbucks a couple blocks away and get her a bagel or a breakfast sandwich or something,” Josh replies.
Taylor is quiet for a moment. “Well there are eggs right here and I already started taking out all this for an omelet or something.”
“It will be better off for Karlie if I don’t try cooking her eggs,” Josh replies laughing. Taylor forces herself to laugh along with him.
“Alright, well, here is the bowl of fruit anyway,” Taylor says, handing the bowl to Josh. “You can bring it to her now, I can walk myself out.”
“Alright. I will see you this weekend. Thanks for everything.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If anything like this ever happens again, you need to call me and let me know. I would’ve come back to New York right away. I can’t read your mind, Karlie,” Josh says, as he changes into his pajamas.
“Before you get into bed can you get me a drink?” Karlie asks, ignoring his statement.
Josh nods and leaves the bedroom.
It felt strange to Karlie having to ask for something from Josh. She had gotten used to Taylor handing her everything she needed before knowing she needed it. Funny how Josh explained that he couldn’t read his girlfriend’s mind, when just last night Karlie felt as though Taylor could.