Taylor was shaking. Literally. Her leg was bouncing up and down uncontrollably, and she could feel her nails digging into her palms. She knew what she'd just done was extremely rash. Inviting someone she just meant to spend the night with her in her hotel? Gabi had literally turned her careful self into a bit of a rebel!
Gabi, seemingly picking up on Taylor's nerves, hesitantly took her hand, squeezing it three times to try to comfort her.
"It-it's okay if you aren't comfortable with me staying over. Like, I know we just met, like, a few hours ago," Gabi said.
Taylor immediately turned towards her, saying, "No! It's totally fine. I'm just, like, not sure how my mom will react. She's been traveling on the road with me, so..." Gabi nodded. "Also, so my room only has one bed, but, like, I can just sleep on the floor or in a chair or something if you're uncomfortable with sharing a bed or something 'cause, like, you know, we just met, and-"
Gabi cut her off, "Taylor Swift, you will not be sleeping on the floor in your own room. We can just share the bed if you're fine with it. I don't really care." Taylor smiled slightly and nodded.
"Okay. If you're sure."
The driver spoke up from the front seat, "Ms. Swift, Ms. Lewis."
"Thank you," Taylor said, getting out of the car and leaving the door open for Gabi to get out. She shut it once the girl had gotten out and led her inside the hotel. "So, this is it. We're on the thirteenth floor. Room 1313."
"Cool," Gabi said. Hands still gently linked, the two girls took the elevator up to the thirteenth floor. They got out the elevator, and Taylor suddenly gasped. "What?"
"Taylor! Who's this?" a woman asked.
***********
"Mom!" Taylor said, clutching Gabi's hand. "I-I can explain."
"Don't worry. I trust you. You wouldn't bring back a serial killer. It's fine," her mom interrupted. Taylor sighed in relief. "Well where are your manners? Introduce us!" Taylor rushed to introduce them.
"Right, sorry. Um, Gabi, this is my mom, Andrea. Mom, this is Gabi."
"Hi, Ms. Swift," Gabi said, holding her right hand out (Taylor was holding her left, thankfully).
"Hi, Gabi. Andrea's fine," Andrea said, bringing Gabi into a hug. Taylor let go of Gabi's hand, incredibly relieved that her mom had taken this so well. Gabi's face after Andrea let go was absolutely adorable in Taylor's opinion.
"Gabs, you look really surprised," Taylor whispered to the girl. Gabi just stayed quiet, still too surprised to respond.
"Well, you girls can go into Taylor's room now. Room 1313!" Andrea said.
"We know!" Taylor replied, taking Gabi's hand once again to lead her to the hotel room. "You okay?" she said quieter.
"Yeah. Just wasn't really expecting that," Gabi replied.
"You looked shocked. Like you'd seen... seen... like a cat you didn't know had just leapt onto your lap!"
Gabi gave her a look. "...Okay. Cat references aside, I'm just not the most used to being hugged. That's all."
"Oh," Taylor said. "Well, I can tell her to maybe not hug you too much. She's-we're a very huggy family..."
"NO!" Gabi practically shouted. Taylor's eyebrows raised. Gabi started to blush. "Er, sorry. I-it's nice. I-I don't mind. I kind of like it. I just... wasn't expecting it."
"Ohhhh," Taylor said. "Well, all it'll take is a couple days with us, and you'll be so used to hugs you won't know how you survived without them!" Taylor wrapped an arm around Gabi, emphasizing her point. Gabi smiled, leaning into Taylor's side slightly.
"That sounds nice."