Kaia looked up at Mica, too stunned to say anything else. It felt like she had just been slapped in the face.
There were more texts. Some of them included numbers. Big numbers, but Kaia couldn't read them. She suddenly felt dizzy and had to lean back against the sinks to hold her weight up.
"The headline. To an article. An Article about your engagement. The engagement that no one knows about. Except apparently Jules who thinks she can get fucking proof!" Mica explained the obvious, his voice a whole pitch higher now. He was freaking out a lot more than Kaia was.
She wasn't freaking out. No, she was furious. She was fuming with rage.
"What the actual fuck?" Seemed to be all she was able to say, her grip around the phone tightening. She felt like throwing it at the wall but that wouldn't solve anything.
"Taylor was right," Mica pointed out.
Kaia's brain paused and she looked at him with a frown. "What?"
"She was right. She said she didn't trust her, and she was right! I didn't want to believe it either, but, it was right there! How could we have been so fucking blind?"
"I—" Kaia's whole body felt like it was on fire. She couldn't string any thoughts together, let alone say anything sensical.
The phone started ringing again and when she saw that it was the same unsaved number that had sent those messages, Kaia answered the call without thinking. Her eyes widened when she realised what she had done and she quickly handed the phone over to Mica who almost dropped it with his shaky hands.
"Fucking finally! Where the hell have you been?"
They looked at each other frozen in place, both of them unable to form any words, when the handle to the bathroom door started jiggling.
"Merde, on fais quoi là?!" [Shit, what do we do now?]
Kaia only shrugged because she had no idea. It wasn't like she was thinking in the first place.
"Hello?" The man on the other end of the line shouted.
"Hey, why's the door locked?" Whoever was on the other side of the bathroom door asked. "Who's in there?"
Kaia slowly lifted the phone up to her ear, cleared her throat, and in her best American accent, she said: "Hi, who am I speaking to?"
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I asked you first," she responded childishly.
"Is Jay Bird or whatever the fuck her real name is there?" he asked instead.
"What's going on in there?"
Mica ran to the door and leaned against it to say, "nothing, we're just shagging. We'll be out in a second!"
What the fuck, Mica?
He instantly turned to Kaia apologetically, knowing he totally messed up but she didn't hold it against him. They both had absolutely no fucking idea what was even going on.
Kaia turned her attention back to the phone call, calming herself down with a deep breath but her heart rate was still through the roof. "No, Jay Bird is not here. Can I take a message?"
"Yeah, tell her thanks for nothing. The story's running in the morning with or without those damn pictures, which by the way, my boss thinks was a complete bluff and I agree. She's not getting the ten grand for no pictures, anyway."
"Tomorrow morning, you say?" Kaia asked through clenched teeth.
"Yep. It's gonna be big. Everyone loves a fucking lesbian story with a happy ending for some fucking reason."
He wasn't wrong there. Kaia loved reading sapphic books that had happy endings.
"Right... who am I talking to again?"
"Gossip Weekly. Who am I talking to again?"
"Thank you, have a lovely evening!" Kaia replied, switching back to her real accent and ending the call. "Well, I'm fucked."
"No, she's fucked!" Mica replied, pointing outside when the door jiggled again and he winced. "Okay, we're fucked."
"And they think we're fucking! Just open the bloody door!"
Mica looked like he would rather rot in there than face whoever was trying to come in but he finally did open the door, revealing a very angry manager, some poor woman who really wanted to pee, and of course, unsurprisingly, Jules, standing at the end of the hall, her expression like stone.
Kaia smiled at the restaurant's manager, murmuring a quiet apology as she let the woman walk past her.
"Sorry for the disruption," she said as politely as she could muster in her state.
The woman seemed to recognise Kaia, her eyes slowly widening in realisation. "Right, yeah. No worries— I have to ask though, for hygienic purposes— you weren't actually shagging in there, were you? It sounded like a joke. I just... I really don't wanna lose my job. It's my first week as manager and—"
"Relax, we're both gay as hell, if you couldn't already tell," Kaia laughed dryly. She did feel bad for causing her problems, but she was still so bloody angry, she couldn't stop glaring at Jules across the hallway. "Excuse me..."
She stormed down the hall, Mica walking close behind, but when she passed her friend, she simply dropped the phone in her hands and continued walking, refusing to acknowledge her any more than necessary.
"Hey! Where the fuck do you think you're going?" A very drunk Millie called out from her seat at the table when Kaia walked past without even glancing at her friends.
"I need to make a phone call," Kaia explained briefly, barely even slowing down. "I'll be back in a sec."
"Everything okay?" She heard Anna ask but she continued walking, her phone already open, until she was sitting in her car.
She put her phone on speaker and let it ring as she called Taylor once more.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up, fucking hell!"
"Hey, I'm probably writing a song or having a tea party with my daughters. Either way, I can't come to the phone right now! Leave a message after the bee— ow, Meredith— beep!"
Kaia groaned and ended the call before calling her manager next. Emma thankfully answered pretty quickly.
"Hey, love, give me a second, I'm in the middle of a diaper disaster!"
"Aren't your boys too old for diapers?"
"Yeah, I'm baby sitting my nephew," Emma explained. "Poo machines, these things. All right... and... let me wash my hands, hold on—"
Kaia rolled her eyes as she heard a baby start crying in the back and the sink running. "Emma, this is really urgent. We don't have much time."
"For what?"
Kaia explained everything that had happened, unable to restrain the anger and hurt in her voice. She ended up yelling but Emma was patient with her, listening to her rant and let everything out before asking any questions and giving her input.
"Who else knows?" Emma finally asked when Kaia had explained everything she had just found out.
"Just Mica."
It was like summoning a ghost. He appeared on the sidewalk, following Jules. It looked like they were arguing and Kaia cursed under her breath.
"Let's keep it at that, then. God knows who you can trust now," Emma said, and Kaia grimaced at the painful realisation. "I— god, I'm sorry. This must feel really shitty."
"Yeah, whatever," she muttered coldly. "I need to tell Taylor. But she won't answer my calls. I think she's in the studio."
"I'll call her publicist," Emma told her. "But, honestly, I don't think there's any point in stopping the story from running. It's just another rumour with no proof behind it based on what you've told me. If we ignore it, no one will even be talking about it next week."
"It's not a rumour," Kaia told her quietly.
"What?"
"The engagement. It's not a rumour," she said. "Taylor and I. We got engaged a few weeks ago. No one besides my family knows."
"Oh..." Emma sounded genuinely surprised which actually made Kaia chuckle. "Well, congratulations!"
"Yeah, thanks," she laughed, leaning forward until her forehead hit the steering wheel.
"How did she find out?" Emma asked. "I mean, if you haven't told anyone besides your family. Did you tell any of your friends?"
"Just Mica."
Kaia looked through the mirror for a second and saw the two of them still arguing. God, this was so fucking messy. Kaia didn't want to have to deal with any of this. She wanted to suddenly materialise in New York wherever Taylor was and just hug her for an eternity. It's all she wanted, really, even when she drove her up the walls sometimes.
"Right, well, we can investigate further into this. You can take legal actions if you want to," Emma informed her. "There's a lot of options to deal with this. Whatever you feel is necessary. What do you want to do?"
Kaia was overwhelmed. Her head was starting to pound, but at least she felt more sober than she had ever been before. This was definitely on par with an ice bath.
"Chais pas. Vraiment aucune idée," [Dunno. Absolutely no idea.] she murmured, closing her eyes and rubbing her face roughly, surely ruining her makeup. "Yeah, erm, I have to go deal with all this shit and talk to my girlfriend."
"Your fiancée, you mean?" Emma responded excitedly now.
"I don't know, anymore. I'll call you in the morning."
"Right, sure thing, love. I'll try to contact Tree Paine in the meantime. Does she know about the engagement?"
"No," she snorted dryly. "Definitely not."
Emma hesitated for a second, letting out a soft sound only, but then she asked, "is everything okay with you two? What am I looking at here?"
"I'll let you know when I figure it out. Bye, Em."
"Wait, Kaia—"
But she had already hung up.
She braced herself, taking a deep breath, and got out of the car, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest.
"You had no right to take my phone!"
"I had no right— I had no right?" Mica was shouting. Kaia was glad the streets were empty and no one was there to witness this.
"Ça vaut pas la peine, Mica," Kaia told him calmly once she was standing next to them. She was surprised by how steady her voice was when she felt like curling up into a ball and crying, but she held it together, wearing the coldest expression she could muster. [It's not worth it.]
"Kaia—" Jules started, but Kaia held her hand out, shaking her head.
"Don't," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't want an apology or a half-assed, bullshit explanation. How did you find out?"
"What?"
"That Taylor and I got engaged," Kaia elaborated with absolutely no patience.
Jules cleared her throat, and the fact that she didn't immediately say anything was all Kaia needed to know she was absolutely going to hate the answer.
She wouldn't meet Kaia's gaze and she kept stealing quick glances at Mica that he wrapped his arms around himself defensively when he took notice.
"No, don't blame me!" He snapped. "I may have been the only one who knew but you know damn well that I'd never leave a record of it anywhere. You'd find me dead before you'd ever make me say anything!"
"You didn't have to say anything," Jules told him with a little chuckle.
"What?" Mica scoffed. "So you are saying that it's my fault? How the fuck is it my fault?"
Jules went quiet once again, looking down at her shoes.
"I know he didn't tell you anything. So, how did you find out?" Kaia demanded, standing up taller. She didn't have the patience to deal with her bullshit shame. If anything, Kaia was sure Jules was only ashamed that she had been caught.
"You know, you should be more careful when you're on the phone," Jules told Mica. "You never know who might be listening from the other room."
Kaia and Mica shared a look, her eyebrows furrowed, when suddenly she remembered the day she had told Mica the news while she was on the train with Taylor. He was telling her some good news as well. He had apparently met the love of his life.
"Luca?" Kaia murmured, her heart suddenly constricting for Mica.
"No— no, it— he wouldn't..." he started to say but Jules grimaced, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. "No..."
"Don't blame him," Jules told him. "He needed the money. Modelling doesn't always pay all that well."
"So, I should forgive him for fucking using me? For using Kaia?"
"It doesn't make sense," Kaia muttered. "You said you met him at the airport?" She asked Mica before she turned to Jules, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Was that your doing?"
Once again, her silence was enough to give her the answer.
"I can't believe this," Kaia actually chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief. "You hired someone to flirt with Mica to get information about me?"
"Look, just let me explain, please," Jules said instead of answering.
Kaia let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah, please do. Why are you trying to ruin my life?"
"I'm not trying to ruin your life."
"Really? Because last time I checked, you knew— you knew how I felt about being in the headlines and online gossip and all that crap. You knew how I felt about being photographed without my consent. So, why did you use that against me? For the money?"
Jules shook her head, and if Kaia hadn't known any better, she really might have thought she was genuinely upset and hurt by these accusations. "No. No, of course not. It was never about the money. I wasn't using it against you. I was doing it for you."
"For me?" Kaia exclaimed, pointing at her chest just to be sure she had heard it right. "For me? For fuck's sake— you did all of that for me? You—You took pictures of an intimate moment between me and my girlfriend and you shared them with the whole world. Do you even realise how fucked up that was? It's bad enough that you were, I don't know, watching us from the bloody bushes or something, but you essentially painted me as the bad guy— christ, people called us both all sorts of names for months because of those fucking pictures!"
"I never meant for that to happen!" Jules cried out, almost sounding remorseful. Kaia didn't care if she had genuinely meant her words and whether she really thought she was doing the right thing. It was fucked up, and she could never forgive her for any of it.
"Why did you do it then? All of it. The photographs, the articles, the— when I was in hospital last year. You were there. You took me home! Just hours after telling some magazine that we were there. How many of those instances were your fault?"
Jules was shaking her head to every word Kaia let out, but she didn't answer her question.
"Why did you do it? Why did you fucking—"
"None of this was ever meant to happen," Jules answered quietly.
Mica let out a scoff. "You mean, I wasn't supposed to see those texts. That wasn't supposed to happen. Everything else was planned, wasn't it?"
"No. That's not—" she let out a frustrated breath, but honestly, she had no reason to be. Kaia was the one who was betrayed. And Mica... she had even dragged him into it. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"But you did! You used me, and you used Mica for a little bit of money. Did you think we were never going to find out?" Kaia shot back.
"I don't give a shit about the money!" Jules insisted.
"Then what? Why did you do it? When you found me and Taylor on that balcony two years ago. Why did you take a picture and sell it? Why— I don't understand. Why go to all the lengths? As my friend, why would you do that?" She begged, her throat tight as she choked back a big lump.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Mica interrupted quietly before Jules could say anything.
"It is?" Kaia frowned at him. It certainly wasn't to her.
"Well, it's starting to add up," he said. "The pictures? The paps? They were only ever there when you were with Taylor. The fricken kiss?"
Kaia stumbled back as Mica's words sunk in. The incident that had ruined everything between her and Taylor. They were still recovering from the scars it had left behind.
"You were actually trying to break them up, weren't you? This whole time..." Mica concluded, letting out a small gasp.
"Why did you kiss me that night?" Kaia asked. "You've never done anything like that since we broke up, and we've been friends for almost a decade now."
Jules looked away, her jaw clenching. "We've never been friends, Kaia. Not really."
Even after everything she had learned just then, it still felt like a knife to the gut hearing those words. "Well, at least I thought we were. I thought we had both agreed to be friends when we broke up—"
"But we didn't break up," Jules cut her off, waving her finger frantically between them before pointing it right at Kaia's chest. "You broke up with me. Because you thought we were better off as friends, because you wanted to sleep with that girl from your English class or something. You barely even waited two weeks."
Kaia took a step back, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. "I— you agreed with me!"
"What was I supposed to say? No? Beg you not to leave me?"
This was all too much. Kaia's head felt like it was going to burst. "You never said anything. Nine years! You never moved on?"
"Of course I did!" Jules scoffed, rolling her eyes. "As soon as I saw you with that girl with the tits after you dumped me. But— you were actually starting to see me again. You were acting like... it was just like when we first met. Until—"
She cut herself off, shaking her head as though the next words physically pained her, but Kaia already understood what happened next.
"Until I met Taylor?"
"You were obsessed with her," she chuckled dryly. "It was Taylor this, and Taylor that, every single conversation! It somehow always had to be about her. She was literally poisoning you!"
"What?" Kaia breathed out. Mica actually snorted. "Poisoning me? Jules, I— I fell love! You're going to hold that against me?"
"She's not good for you, Kaia! When are you going to see that?"
"What, and you are?" Mica snorted again, but Jules ignored him and continued talking.
"You'll never be happy with her. Not really. You said so yourself! You hate being in the public's eye, and you'll never be able to truly have a normal life with her! She's controlling, and incredibly arrogant. We rarely ever get to see you anymore because of her and if you get married, we'll never see you at all."
"No, you're never going to see me again, Jules, because you've betrayed my trust and our friendship," Kaia told her, her voice shaking in both rage and hurt and the strong urge to hold back tears. "I'm sorry if I ever led you on in the past and made you think we could ever go back to what we shared in the past. I really am, but it was never going to happen. I can't even look at you anymore. I don't know how you thought any of the shit that you pulled was ever going to go well but... it obviously didn't. And to think that all this time, I was defending you! Fuck you. Just— fucking leave me alone."
Kaia cleared her throat and pushed past her to head back inside and grab her things.
This was going to be an awkward exit.
As she made her way back to the table with all her friends, they all turned around quickly, pretending they hadn't been looking outside and watching the whole argument unfold. Kaia was at least glad they couldn't hear any of it.
"Hey... you okay?" Anna asked, following Kaia with her eyes as she rounded the table to her seat and grabbed her purse.
"Uhhhh, yeah. Yes. I'm good. Everything's just fucking peachy," she muttered while slipping on her coat. "Millie, I'm really, really sorry. I shouldn't have caused a scene. It's your day and I..."
She didn't have it in her to explain anything. She simply dropped her hands to the side and smiled apologetically at her friend.
"No, I understand. That sounded pretty serious," Emilia answered. "Are you guys— what happened?"
"I'll let Mica fill you in," she answered quietly. "I'm really sorry, Mills. I'll make it up to you. I promise, but I can't... I can't stay. I'm really sorry. I love you!"
She gave Emilia a quick hug goodbye and waved to her friends before storming out of there. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to hold off her breakdown any longer.
She ran into Mica while he was coming in and he grabbed her by the elbow to stop her, placing his hands on her shoulders to get a better look at her face.
"Hey, hey, hey... are you okay?" He asked her quietly.
Kaia sniffled and nodded. "Yeah. I'm— I need to try and talk to Taylor. I'm going home. Just... just tell them everything. I don't care. The engagement, the whole fucking thing... they're going to find out anyway."
"Do you need me to come with you?"
Kaia just shook her head and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I'll be okay, but thank you."
"I was just asking because you were my ride..."
"Fuck you," Kaia laughed, squeezing him tighter. "Are you okay, though? Shit, Mica, I swear I could strangle that son of a bitch—"
"Well, when I'm less drunk, I think I'll do just that," he told her, leaving a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you though."
"You're not...?" Kaia trailed off, her gaze softening as she saw how saddened he truly looked for once.
"Heartbroken? Officially swearing off men for the rest of my life? Yeah, what else is new? I'll just go ahead and drink my sorrows."
"I— I can stay if you need me to. Or we can go back to my place and get plastered if you like?" She offered but Mica just shook his head, wrapping her up in another hug once again.
"You need to call Taylor and tell her everything. Do you want me there with you?"
Kaia thought about it for a moment but then shook her head. "Where's, uh..." She said instead, waving her hand in the air, refusing to say her name.
Mica only shrugged. "She left, I guess. Probably off to plan some revenge scheme, I don't know."
"Fucking hell. All right. Well... I'm heading off before I break down right here in the parking lot."
He walked her to her car and made sure she drove off safely before going back inside.
Kaia waited until she was back home before calling Taylor. Once again, she wasn't answering and Kaia was starting to get worried. But as she was changing into her pyjamas after washing up, her phone started ringing and she rushed to answer when Taylor's name appeared on her screen.
"Hi! Sorry I missed your calls, I just finished a song!"
"And it's a fricken banger!" Kaia heard Jack call out from the other end of the phone followed by Taylor's giggles.
"It really is. I think you're going to love it!" She said, the smile evident in her voice. "What's up? How was dinner?"
Kaia hummed softly in response, suddenly unable to form any words. She knew as soon as she tried to sound out her thoughts, she would start crying.
"Hmm?"
"It was Emilia's birthday tonight, wasn't it?" Taylor asked her.
Kaia only hummed back in response, slowly slipping on one of Taylor's sweaters. "Mhm-mm."
"Kaia?" Taylor chuckled softly. "You there, babe?"
"Yeah," she responded while settling down under the bedsheets. She rolled on her side, hugging Taylor's pillow close and sniffling softly. "'M'here," she mumbled, her words muddled together incoherently.
Taylor was quiet for a moment but Kaia could hear a little bit of rustling and a door creaking shut.
"What's going on?" She asked eventually, the fear evident in her voice. "Kaia?" She whispered when Kaia didn't answer. "Are you okay...?"
Kaia shook her head, choking back a sob. "I'm sorry," she croaked out, wiping the first tear with her sleeve.
She heard the hitch in Taylor's breathing, cursing herself knowing Taylor was probably jumping to the worst conclusions now. "What?" She faltered.
"You were right," Kaia continued, speaking just barely above a whisper.
"About what?" Taylor asked, her voice trembling. "What are you talking about? You— you're not agreeing to the shit I said last week, right? Cause you know it was dumb. I know I fucked up but I can't—"
"No, it's not that," Kaia cut her off, wiping her nose with a tissue. She didn't want her to start spiralling. "I'm still pissed about that because it was so stupid."
"So, you're not leaving me because you suddenly realised I'm too much?"
Kaia paused for a second, registering Taylor's insecurities before letting out a laugh.
"God, Taylor. No, I'm not leaving you. You are too much, and I love you for it."
"Oh, thank god!" The blonde breathed out in relief. "What was I right about, then?"
Kaia shook her head, clearing her throat but her voice still came out hoarse as her tears continued to stream slowly down her cheeks.
"Everything," she breathed out, hugging the pillow closer. "I'm sorry I didn't want to listen to you. I didn't want to believe that— shit, she's such a fucking bitch!"
"Who are you talking about, babe?" Taylor asked her softly. "Anyone I need to secretly murder?"
"Maybe not murder, but we're probably going to need your best lawyers," Kaia muttered, the anger bubbling up once again in her chest.
"Oh— wow, okay, wait, so we're filing a lawsuit? Against whom?"
"Maybe. I don't know if it's worth it," Kaia told her.
"Babe, I'm so confused right now. Did something happen tonight?"
Kaia closed her eyes tightly, knowing Taylor was not going to react well to what she was going to tell her next. She braced herself for whatever reaction she was going to get.
"There's a story that's going to run in the morning," she told her quietly. "About us. That we're engaged. We can pay a shit ton of money and stop it from running but... yeah, Emma says it's not worth it. She's going to talk to Tree, I think."
"How... how did they find out...?" Taylor uttered out the question. "How do you know it's happening?"
"Jules," Kaia spat bitterly. "Christ, she's been... she's Jay Bird."
Kaia listened to Taylor's heavy breathing on the other end of the line. It was quiet for a whole minute maybe before she finally spoke up. "Are you okay?"
"You can say 'I told you so.' You did tell me so. You didn't trust her. I didn't want to believe that someone I cared for would ever stab me in the back and... Taylor, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have trusted you. This whole time, she's been driving this wedge between us, and I should have seen it. You tried to tell me and I didn't want to hear it, but you were right. You were right all along."
"But are you okay?" Taylor asked once again. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine. I'm fucking furious, and hurt, and I just, I'm so angry at myself!" Kaia exclaimed, wiping the tears from her eyes roughly. "And I don't know what to do. It's just a big mess and... I just... I want you back. I just wanted you there with me, all night long. Can you come home? Please? Can you—"
Kaia's words got stuck in her throat right under a big lump that wouldn't go down no matter how hard she tried to swallow it back.
"I can be there," Taylor told her softly. "I can be there in the morning."
"No, god— don't— You don't actually have to. I know you're busy and you're working and you can't just jump on a plane any time I start crying over something stupid—"
"Doesn't matter. I've made up my mind. I'm getting on the first available flight to London," Taylor cut her off and Kaia knew there was no arguing with her. Not that she was going to. She really wanted her there. "And it's not something stupid."
"Okay," she sniffled softly. "Thank you."
"Don't worry about it, baby," Taylor murmured in response. "Get some rest. I'll be there tomorrow. I promise."
Kaia nodded, letting out another cry. "I love you, Taylor. I really, really do."
"I love you too, sweetheart. More than you know."
When Taylor landed in London late in the afternoon the following day, Kaia was still in bed, still dressed in the same pyjamas she had slept in the night before. Taylor wasted no time in sliding right next to her under the sheets, wrapping her tightly in her arms.
Kaia buried her face in Taylor's chest and as soon as she smelled the familiar mix of her perfume and fabric softener, she couldn't stop the tears she had been holding back all morning long. Taylor held her close, pressing her lips along her forehead in soft kisses. She held her until she was all cried out. Even when her arms started cramping, she continued to hold her tightly, caressing her back comfortingly until she had finally calmed down.
"What are we going to do?" Kaia asked eventually but all Taylor could offer was a shrug.
"Whatever you think is right."
"I don't want to think. Let Tree and Emma deal with it. I never want to even think about her ever again."
Taylor nodded and kissed the top of her again. "Okay, baby. We'll let them deal with it."
"Did you read the article?" She asked instead but Taylor shook her head.
"No. Did you?"
"No," she told her. "I don't want to. I don't want to know what people are saying."
"I kinda wanna know what my mom thinks," Taylor admitted softly, earning a quiet laugh from Kaia. "She probably won't take it seriously."
"Maybe you should call her," she suggested.
"Good idea," Taylor agreed, rolling them
around so she was spooning Kaia. "Maybe after we're done cuddling. I missed you," she told her, leaning down to kiss her neck.
Kaia grabbed Taylor's hand and dropped it around her waist to make her hug her, pushing herself into her until they were all tangled up. "I missed you too, Tay. So much."
"Promise me something?"
"What's that?"
"Whenever we fight," Taylor told her, drawing hesitant shapes on the back of Kaia's hand. "I know we're going to fight again. Probably sometime soon. But whenever we do, can we have a... like a timeout? Can we call timeout, you know, just to hug it out? Just to reassure each other we're okay. That we're not walking away, no matter how difficult it is."
Kaia nodded, lacing their fingers together now and squeezing Taylor's hand. "I promise. We'll always hug it out."
"And also, whenever something happens, and you wanna tell me about it, can you not start with I'm sorry? It's always going to instantly make me worry a lot more than I should."
Kaia smiled sheepishly and nodded again. "I promise, I won't make you worry unnecessarily," she said, leaving a kiss on the back of Taylor's hand.
"And also, lastly, will you do me another favour?"
"Anything."
Taylor turned Kaia around and moved so she was hovering on top of her. She cupped her cheek, gently caressing it with her thumb and staring deeply into her eyes.
"Will you please marry me?"
Kaia shook her head, smiling softly while Taylor's face immediately fell.
"That's not how you do it," she answered, her smile widening.
"You're going to make me get out of bed and get on one knee?"
"No, I'm going to make you go through the whole process of planning a real proposal before doing it," Kaia told her with a big, cheeky grin.
She expected Taylor to groan or to roll her eyes but instead she nodded in determination. "Okay. I'm going to do it right. The whole romantic cliché."
"I'll be waiting," Kaia replied, reaching up to wrap her arms around Taylor's neck.
"You better say yes."
"I can't make any promises."
This time, Taylor did roll her eyes. "You're going to be the death of me, Browne."
And with that, she leaned in and kissed her fully until she was unable to form any meaningful thoughts that did not revolve around the taste or feel of Taylor's lips against hers.
She wasn't really complaining. This was heaven.
—————
one of my friends told me to make you guys wait longer but i think i've tortured yall enough and plus i need extra brownie points for all the pain ive put u guys through KDJDJS
anyway so i got a tattoo the other day and i personally think it looks flipping great !!! kaia tattoo era one of these days? LMAOOO
I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AND ARE HAVING AN AWESOME WEEKEND !!!!
** UPDATE **
here's my tattoo for those who asked in the comments LMAO
it's on day 3 right now!
i think it's very on brand for me as a musician tbh!!