August 6, 2014
"Okay, I have to get my apartment ready for the listening party I'm having for radio DJs, tonight," Taylor says, as the SUV her and Karlie are sitting in the backseat of, along with the cats, slowly maneuvers its way through New York City traffic.
"Tonight?! For the album?" Karlie asks in surprise.
Taylor nods her head, "Promo for that starts literally this week. I feel like my summer is over."
"We haven't even gotten home yet and you're already back to business," Karlie says.
"I'm going to have to have Tree come over to help set up," Taylor says, mostly to herself as if not even hearing Karlie.
Karlie looks out the window, watching the different people walk past on the city sidewalk. Various people wearing sunglasses, laughing with friends, stopping at food carts, walking dogs...none of these people's summers are over, yet Karlie suddenly feels the same as Taylor in early August.
"Come to the gym with me," Karlie says, turning to Taylor and gripping her wrist, smiling hopefully.
"Karlie, I literally just told you what I have to do today, I haven't even started cleaning for—"
"Pleeeeeease," Karlie begs, "Your apartment is always clean, what do you mean you need to clean? If you come to the gym with me, I'll come to your apartment and help you get ready for the party."
Taylor is fighting a smile, staring at her as she slowly shakes her head, blue eyes twinkling in the way that they always do when Karlie is doing something she finds particularly amusing. "Fine," Taylor mutters.
"I'm going to make sure you get killed in the gym today for all that horrible food you made me eat these last few days," Karlie promises, as she wraps her arms around Taylor's shoulders, thanking her for joining in on her fitness appointment.
"Why am I going with you again?" Taylor asks drily, playfully trying to shake herself out of Karlie's strong hug.
"Because you love me," Karlie answers easily.
Their lips lock in the backseat behind tinted windows, both of them too consumed by each other to even hear the very unromantic sounds of taxi drivers arguing with each other, car horns blaring, tires screeching. When together, they are all each other can see.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Never. Again. Never. Again. Never. Again," Taylor repeats through gritted teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as she feels a bead of sweat begin trickling from her hairline towards her nose, as she struggles holding her plank.
"Drama queen," Karlie laughs, bumping shoulders with Taylor.
Taylor's arms are already shaking, so it's easy to get her off balance as she tries keeping her body as straight as possible with her head and hips down. "KARLIE!" Taylor warns, almost slipping completely in part because of how sweaty her forearms have made the floor beneath her.
"Karlie, keep your form. You can't be bringing her around here if you're just going to be distracted the whole time," Karlie's personal trainer says, sounding tired. It's not the first time he's had to give Karlie this exact warning today.
"Yeah, Karlie, keep your form," Taylor mutters.
"I'm in good form! You're butt is too high in the air, though, your form is horrible," Karlie says matter of factly beside her.
"Karlie, keep your head down, that's not good form either," the trainer reprimands.
Taylor shakes her head, staring at the ground. "Do you ever rest?" Taylor asks as she side eyes Karlie, keeping the question vague enough to be able to ask in front of the trainer.
"Nope," Karlie laughs.
"You're so..." Taylor trails off, rolling her eyes as she struggles to come up with the word for what exactly Karlie is this time. It's during this time that Taylor realizes just how much she's come to love going to the gym with Karlie.
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Karlie walks along the sidewalk, expertly cruising past slower paced tourists walking through West Village, as she makes her way to Taylor's apartment. She took a shower when she arrived home and had gotten changed, and then even began stacking and sorting through the possessions in her apartment. Taylor wanted to have an estimate for how many boxes Karlie thought she would need to make the move.
"I want to get you in here before things get really crazy with my schedule," Taylor had said. "Maybe tonight after the radio people leave we can go to your place and start sorting things."
"Okay," Karlie replied with an exhilarated smile, quickly kissing Taylor's cheek before jumping out of the SUV as it parked in front of her flower-covered apartment building gate. "I'll be over in a bit to help you."
And now Karlie speed walks down the concrete sidewalks of the city, that exhilarated smile not leaving her face once since getting out of Taylor's car. She accidentally bumps shoulders with a few people, and she quickly mumbles sorry as she walks past, as she distractedly keeps her head down focused on her phone.
She's refreshing the Instagram app, knowing that any second now Taylor should be posting a video hinting at the start of a new era. She said she was going to do it when she talked to Tree more about her schedule. Suddenly, Taylor's elevator video appears on her feed, and she likes it without hesitation, wanting to be the first one to like it for her own satisfaction.
"What the hell," Karlie says in surprise, seeing that she is not the first one to like it, but rather one of the first thousand to like it. Her fans are fast.
Karlie stops in her tracks, realizing she is walking past a Lord and Taylor store. I should get her a gift for the big day. Karlie goes inside, feeling more in love than ever as she walks past the home goods section, wondering if her and Taylor will ever find themselves in here picking out appliances together some time soon.
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"As quick as it is, I'd like to get her in here within the next week, just because I know my life is about to get really crazy," Taylor says, staring at the screen as she speaks with her childhood friend, Brittany Maack. She walks around her apartment, occasionally wordlessly pointing to something when making eye contact with Tree, who either removes it or dusts it accordingly.
Taylor felt bad, but the second Tree arrived Brittany had inconveniently called for their routine extensive and lengthy phone call that they had every few weeks. Taylor took the chance as an opportunity to finally tell Brittany all about her and Karlie, a quick run through from start to finish, after, of course, switching to FaceTime to be able to visually see Brittany's reaction. It had Taylor throwing back her head in laughter for minutes at a time, but maybe that was mostly the effect of just being in love.
"How much stuff are you moving into your place?" Brit asks.
Taylor's happy that she hasn't given much of her own opinion about Karlie moving in with her. She knows it's fast, anyone can see that, but no one besides her and Karlie understand what they feel for each other and how right it was. "That's a good question, Brit, we haven't even talked about what Karlie is going to do with the lease on her apartment yet or utilities— Oh!" Taylor says suddenly, hearing her apartment door open and close. Olivia races past her ankles and quickly leaves the room, a sure sign, Taylor has learned, that Karlie has arrived. "Kar?" Taylor calls out.
"I'm here," Karlie answers.
"Oh! Good!" Taylor exclaims, smiling at Brittany on the screen. "Come here, please," Taylor says.
Karlie walks into the billiards room, and the first thing Taylor notices is the Lord and Taylor bag.
"What is that?" Taylor points suspiciously.
"I got something for you, it's—"
"No. No. No more gifts. Bring it back. Return it," Taylor says, shaking her head. She turns to the screen, looking at Brittany, as she says, "See? I told you. She always does this."
"Who are you talking to?" Karlie asks, realizing now that Taylor has someone on the phone.
"My childhood friend, Brit. I told her everything about us from March to now in a condensed and fast forty five minute session and I'm sure she's very confused but nice enough not to say it!" Taylor says very quickly, before holding the phone up higher and saying, "Say hi!"
Taylor laughs at Karlie's dropped jaw and reddening cheeks, as she awkwardly waves at the phone, looking impossibly adorable in Taylor's expert opinion.
"Um— Hi! It's nice to meet you...well, kind of meet you," Karlie says, looking at Taylor for some guidance as she softly laughs at herself, her cheeks still growing redder.
"You too, Karlie, I'm—"
"Not to cut you off Brit, but I have a really busy night planned and I'm not ready for it at all and my publicist is currently playing housekeeper and that's not what I pay her for, and I also sort of ambushed you onto Karlie, so I really got to go! Love you!" Taylor says, hanging up once Brit has said similar goodbyes along with plans to fax over a NDA.
That's when Taylor quickly turns around to give Karlie a kiss in greeting, before separating and looking downwards to admire the tight, thin, grey dress Karlie has on. "You're wearing a dress!" Taylor says in surprise.
"So what?" Karlie asks, lightly putting her arms around Taylor's waist.
"I don't know, I feel like it's been a while since I've seen you wearing a dress," Taylor says, shrugging her shoulders before craning her neck to give Karlie another kiss.
"Oh, great, my best friend is here," Tree says, when she stops short in the doorway.
Taylor quickly takes a step back, shyly wiping her lips with her thumb, as she tries not to smile, waiting for Karlie's reaction.
"Ha. Funny," Karlie finally says, her lips pinched together, seemingly just to avoid giving Tree the satisfaction of a smile.
Taylor laughs, pulling Karlie nearer to her by grabbing her elbow. She looks between Tree and Karlie, saying, "You two need to cooperate and play nice today to help me get ready, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," Karlie breathes, rolling her eyes. "Let's just do it."
"I think I'm going to arrange a playdate for you two so you can work out your differences," Taylor says drily.
"Well, I guess since we're both not going anywhere any time soon," Karlie says grudgingly.
"Might as well," Tree says.
"Good, now let's clean," Taylor says, clapping her hands together. "You're going to have to get used to cleaning if you're going to live with me," Taylor adds, turning to Karlie.
That causes Karlie to smile the smile she had been fighting.
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"Alright, fine, she's just going to have to leave," Tree finally says, staring at her watch. "One of the stupid radio people must have told the paparazzi something was going on here tonight, I don't get what they're waiting for."
"Aren't they going to have to get used to me coming and leaving here anyway?" Karlie asks, as her and Taylor stand up from the couch, finally getting the go ahead for Karlie to leave before the 1989 listening party.
"I still want you to avoid being photographed as much as possible. It's not like I'm going to make a press release saying you're moving in, maybe no one will figure it out for a while," Tree answers.
"Eh, whatever," Karlie shrugs her shoulders, completely uninterested as Taylor leads her away by the hand.
They pause by the doorway, Taylor holding both of Karlie's hands as she gently presses her body against her. "So I'll come by once everyone clears out of my apartment, okay?" Taylor says. "And help sort your stuff. I need to tell my parents that this is a thing that's actually happening, too."
"That sounds good," Karlie says, smiling as she leans nearer to Taylor's lips.
Taylor doesn't reciprocate, continuing by saying, "Maybe give your landlord a call today while it's still early enough to do it. See what your options are with the lease. Hopefully you can have your electricity and water and everything shut off."
"Okay, okay, I'll figure it out," Karlie says, sounding impatient when leans even closer, Taylor finally closing the space between their mouths.
They kiss briefly, but more passionately than usual for a goodbye kiss, before Taylor is the one to pull away. "Okay, you really got to go!" Taylor laughs, lightly pushing at Karlie's chest. "I'll see you soon. And...don't get changed out of this dress," Taylor adds with a small smile, her cheeks growing pink.
"No?" Karlie asks with a small laugh, slowly leaning in for another kiss.
Taylor shakes her head no, biting on her bottom lip, cheeks crinkling from a smile she won't allow to form. "You got to go! They'll be here soon! You have things to do," Taylor says.
"Okay, fine," Karlie groans, settling for a quick kiss on the cheek instead. "I'll see you later, good luck," Karlie says, crushing Taylor in a big hug.
Taylor squirms with Karlie's arms around her before Karlie releases her, leaving with a last smile.
"Hey! Wait! Nice try," Taylor says suddenly, spotting the Lord and Taylor bag by the door.
"Taylor, keep it! Today is a big day and you got me so much for my birthday and—"
Taylor pulls open her apartment door and throws the bag out into the hallway.
"Taylor! That's a Marc Jacobs bag!" Karlie says sternly, rushing out to the hallway after it.
Taylor slams the door and locks it, calling out, "Okay, bye! Go return it! I love you!"
"You know I have a key, right?" Karlie laughs.
"Pretend you don't and go away," Taylor replies, leaning her back against the door in case Karlie tries pushing it open to force another gift on her.
"Whatever, I'll see you later," Karlie laughs, and Taylor can practically see her eye roll through the door.
Taylor returns to Tree, smiling a little larger than she ordinarily would be right before a nerve-wracking promotional meeting.
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"Nope. Not happening. There is literally no room for all of this in my apartment, and I have a really big apartment," Taylor says in measured awe, as she stands in the middle of Karlie's small guest bedroom. "Why the hell do you have so many products?" The entire bedroom is filled with foundations, concealers, mineral powders, hairsprays, hair gels, mascaras, eyeliners, lip glosses, lipsticks, expensive shampoos and conditioners, hairbrushes, hair straighteners and curlers, primers, perfumes, —
"Because, after every shoot or whatever I always get thank you packages!" Karlie explains, as she nears one of the makeup tables in the room and examines some of the unopened beauty products.
"Karlie, this is an entire bedroom filled with mascara," Taylor says carefully.
"It's not just mascara! Come on," Karlie laughs.
"Okay, either way, this isn't happening. You need to, like, fill a box or two and take that over—"
"A box or two?!" Karlie asks in disbelief. "I could probably fill fifty boxes with all this stuff!" Karlie complains.
"Karlie, how long have you had some of this stuff for? You're never going to use it. It's not possible," Taylor says, standing firm. "Okay, three boxes."
"And so it begins," Karlie says playfully. "We're just not compatible to live together. It's the beginning of the end."
"I wish you had told me that you were a massive hoarder before I started dating you," Taylor says drily. "That's really something you got to let a girl know about. It could probably affect a lot of decisions."
"That's enough out of you," Karlie laughs, and she's still laughing when she presses her lips against Taylor's, trying her best to keep her teeth from being a part of their kiss but her smile makes that difficult. "Is this the first time we've been alone in 4, 5 days?" Karlie asks, placing her lips to the side of Taylor's mouth.
"Well, my security's downstairs in your living room," Taylor answers, but she sounds slightly breathless, and her grip is strong on Karlie's sides.
"We can just be really really quiet," Karlie whispers, and Taylor can feel her smiling teeth being dragged along her jawline and neck. "We've never had sex here before."
Taylor laughs softly and rolls her eyes, but she turns her head to the side to better help Karlie's lips to find a rather sensitive area of her neck.
"And you like this dress," Karlie adds as an after thought.
"Oh, I do?" Taylor asks, sounding as though this is news to her, but at the reminder she finds it incredibly difficult not to lean her head back to fully take in the sight of Karlie in this skin tight grey dress.
"Liar," Karlie grunts as she tightly wraps both of her arms around Taylor's hips and leans back, lifting Taylor off of the ground as she begins walking out of the room.
"Karlie! I'm not a toy!" Taylor laughs, wrapping her arms tightly around Karlie's neck even though she knows Karlie would never let her fall.
"Yes, you are," Karlie answers as her walk begins to slow, unable to keep Taylor airborne for too long. She allows Taylor to slowly slide down her body, until her feet are on Karlie's feet, and she begins walking forward quickly. "This still counts as me carrying you," Karlie laughs. "You're not on the ground."
"You're going to knock me over!" Taylor laughs, as she does her best to adjust to the oddness of her legs being walked backwards by Karlie's own footsteps.
They giggle their way down the hallway, occasionally pausing as they struggle against each other to find their balance, Karlie's bedroom is the destination in mind.
"I finally understand what foreplay is," Karlie says when pushing her bedroom door open.
"Sometimes I really hate you," Taylor says, rolling her eyes.
"I've had enough of your lying tonight," Karlie declares before lifting Taylor off the ground in the way she had before and bringing her to the bed.
As gently as she can manage, she guides Taylor onto the bed before lying down on top of her, lightly placing her hand on Taylor's cheek as she leans in for the first kiss of many on this bed for the night.
"We have to be quiet," Taylor reminds her, putting a finger on Karlie's lips before she's able to connect their kiss.
Karlie competitively smiles, saying, "Let's see who can stay the quietest."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor closes her eyes and leans her forehead against Karlie's shoulder. Karlie's bedroom is surprisingly not entirely familiar to her, but she still feels right at home here as she relaxes beside Karlie twisted up in the bed sheets. The bed, no, the whole room, smells overpoweringly of Karlie's vanilla scent and Taylor can't help but wonder if, or hope that, sometime soon her apartment will smell similarly.
That's when the thought occurs to her. "Karlie?" Taylor asks, as she lifts her head, checking if Karlie has fallen asleep.
"Mhm," Karlie hums, keeping her eyes closed as she answers, but gently circling her fingers along Taylor's bare back to encourage her to speak.
"Do you want to stay here tonight? We can stay, it must be weird to be moving out of your home. If you want to stay for the last couple of nights we can. Or just you can stay if you want, I don't know," Taylor says.
Karlie opens her eyes and her green eyes look more alert than expected as she looks at Taylor. She seems to deeply contemplate something as she remains quiet for a moment before answering with a small smile, "I'd actually much rather go back to your apartment."
"Our apartment," Taylor corrects her with a smile of the same size. She lightly kisses Karlie's jaw before saying, "We have to get out of bed and get dressed. I want to bring some boxes back to our place. Life's about to start moving really fast so I want to get you settled as soon as we can."
"But what if I'm really tired?" Karlie asks with a slight groan in her voice as she props her head up on her elbow.
"You're always tired," Taylor says doubtfully.
"I'm a busy person! You're the one who has been on vacation for months," Karlie replies.
"Yeah, well you just watch how busy I get now," Taylor replies, sitting up now to kick the blankets off of her and swing her legs off the bed. "Get up. We have boxes to finish packing. I'm telling security to bring both SUVs over so we can sneak the boxes in tonight."
"See, now you're getting bossy. I told you it's the beginning of the end," Karlie teases as she mimics Taylor's action. Their bare shoulders and legs clumsily bump against each other as they sit on the side of the bed as they look to each others' sides smiling at each other.
"I told my parents," Taylor says suddenly. She runs a hand down the dip of Karlie's spine, staring at her girlfriend in as tender a way as any.
Karlie looks surprised when she nervously asks, "What did they say?"
"I mean...at first they said it was fast. I mean, they said it nicely, but..." Taylor trails off as she leans into Karlie's shoulder. "But then my mom said 'You know what? You worry about absolutely everything all the time, so if you're not worried about something for once, maybe I shouldn't be either.'"
Karlie smiles and kisses the side of Taylor's head. "I hope my family has a similar reaction," Karlie mumbles against Taylor's blonde hair.
"They probably won't," Taylor says with a small laugh as she leans away from Karlie. "But it doesn't matter. We'll prove them wrong. We have nothing but time to do it."
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Karlie does a final scan of her bedroom, never having seen it look so empty since she first moved in. Sure, her bed was still in the room, along with her bureau and night stands and television, as well as her comforters and many pillows, and her closet area has slowly been dwindling since March as the majority of her clothes have naturally ended up at Taylor's anyway, but now the photographs and keepsakes were gone.
Taylor had gently packed Karlie's grandmother's jewelry box into a small cardboard box and the care with which she did it made Karlie fall in love with her even a little more somehow. They stood side by side, as both her and Taylor grabbed different framed photographs to pack them into boxes.
Now her bedroom looks just like any other generic bedroom, it could even pass as a luxurious hotel room. Karlie knows it isn't like she's never going to see the bedroom again, more than likely she will have to stay out the lease she has, and many of her assorted knick knacks and older clothing and beauty products will remain here as a sort of storage base, but there is something oddly captivating about looking at a bedroom she has so many memories in look so empty.
She's gripping a stack of photographs in her hand, ones she had fished out of her bureau drawer when Taylor said she would start working on the kitchen, sorting through different food to decide whether to throw it out or move it to her apartment. They're all photographs of her and Josh, ones that had accumulated for the year and a half of their relationship. Karlie surprises herself by how young she looks in some of them even though it wasn't all too long ago. Right after the breakup Karlie had taken down all photographs of her and Josh, of course, but something felt wrong about just throwing them out. She doesn't have any doubts or second guesses about the current status of her relationships with Taylor and Josh. She truly believed that everything was just as it should be right now. But Josh was a major portion of her life, she grew up while with him, he was her first serious relationship.
Even now she can't bring herself to throw out the photographs, to throw out those memories. There was just something that seemed so wasteful or immature about it.
She places the stack right back into the bureau drawer that she had taken them from as she tells herself this is nothing to feel guilty about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have never seen my fridge look so clear," Karlie says. "The inside and the outside."
"You had a lot of pictures and magnets on the outside," Taylor agrees. "I put everything in the box with the other photos. Most of the food I threw out, you didn't have much in there anyway."
"I sort of realize I've been slowly moving out for weeks without even realizing it," Karlie replies with a laugh. "I barely have any clothes here."
"Security already put the clothes you packed into the cars. They also put a lamp and a chair from your living room into the car that I decided I wanted," Taylor replies.
"What's mine is yours, I guess," Karlie says with a dramatic eye roll as she grabs an apple out of a bowl of fruit and jumping up to sit on her counter top.
"Tomorrow morning we're going to have to say bye before you go to work. I have meetings to figure out some packaging stuff and then I have more DJs coming over. Then I need to leave for LA to go to the Teen Choice Awards," Taylor informs her.
Karlie's mouth drops, she had been totally unaware Taylor was planning on leaving any time soon. "Wait, what?"
"But I'll be back late on Sunday night. It will just be four days. I have to go to The Giver's movie premiere and do press for that even though I'm only in it for, like, five minutes. But that's all in New York City," Taylor assures her.
"An award show and a movie premiere?" Karlie asks in disbelief.
"I know, but it will be—"
"Why didn't I know I was dating a movie star?" Karlie asks with wide eyes and a smile.
"Oh, shut up," Taylor laughs.
"Can I be your date to the Oscars?" Karlie asks as she takes a bit out of her apple.
"You're so ridiculous," Taylor says shaking her head. "Okay, come on, we need to take boxes out with security, I want to go home," Taylor says, tugging at Karlie's arm to get her to slide off the counter.
Her and Taylor make a couple trips back and forth carrying boxes out to the SUVs. Late night West Village is always quiet and no one is around to see the different security members assisting with the heavier boxes, as Karlie and Taylor manage to find something to giggle about as they carry their own boxes.
Karlie doesn't even think to look back and around her apartment as she closes the door behind her to go home with Taylor.
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August 7, 2014
"That's so weird," Karlie mumbles over her toothbrush as she points to a framed photograph of her family beside a framed photograph of Taylor with her family. Karlie leans against the bathroom doorway, brushing her teeth as she watches the morning news while Taylor stays in bed.
"Good weird?" Taylor asks, as she shifts her attention to look at the combination of photographs in her room. It's an even mixture of Karlie's family and friends along with Taylor's family and friends.
"Mhm," Karlie says as she turns to go back into the bathroom and finish getting ready.
She rinses her mouth and ties her hair into a bun as she gets ready for the gym. She's actually on time this morning, a rarity for her. Taylor always somehow manages to get her out of bed earlier than Karlie usually does for herself, even though it is impossibly harder to leave a bed with Taylor in it than an empty one. But this morning it was a little easier, as she woke up and immediately looked to the other side of the bedroom to see all the photographs her and Taylor organized last night together, as if to remind herself that this way really happening.
Karlie's smiling at herself in the mirror as she pulls a tank top on over her sports bra. She goes back into the bedroom, avoiding the cardboard boxes that remain unpacked simply because there wasn't enough time to unpack them just yet. She stretches her long legs to walk over a stack completely before leaping back into the bed with Taylor.
"Keep those sneakers off the blankets! It's a white blanket!" Taylor warns as Karlie crashes against her.
"I have very clean sneakers, Nike always gives me new sneakers," Karlie replies, but she keeps her neon sneaker-clad feet hanging off the bed as she lies on her stomach, nuzzling her nose against Taylor's cheeks and neck.
"You're going to be late, you have to go," Taylor replies.
"I'm not! Look, I'm ahead of schedule!" Karlie says proudly.
"I'm sure you'll find a way to be late anyway," Taylor laughs as she wraps a loose arm around Karlie's neck.
"It's going to be weird to be staying here in the apartment while you're away," Karlie says.
"Good weird?" Taylor asks again.
"Of course."
"Do you want to rearrange rooms and stuff downstairs when we have the time to do it? I don't want you to feel like a guest here, it's just as much your apartment as it is mine now. Should we redecorate everything so it feels new to both of us?" Taylor thinks out loud.
"Taylor, I already did decorate this apartment with you, remember? I had as much to do with putting together this place as you did," Karlie reminds her with a smile. "It's already perfect we shouldn't change anything."
Taylor smiles and stares at Karlie silently before finally saying, "We were never just friends, were we?"
"You're still my best friend."
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August 9, 2014
"Um. Okay. So that's the craziest and longest story I've ever heard," Selena says after there's finally been a lull of silence in conversation. Selena has always been an excellent listener and always easy to talk to, so Taylor didn't give her the abridged version of her and Karlie's journey, unlike the plans she has for the rest of her friends. She talked for almost two hours, telling Selena everything. From meeting Karlie at Victoria's Secret, to suddenly hitting it off via text message and phone calls, the visit to LA, the road trip, the kissing...and then of course the move to New York and all that meant for them, all the smiles and laughs and tears and fights and memories they shared. "How did I not know at the Met Gala? I just can't believe I didn't know. I mean, I knew you guys were incredibly close for just meeting, but I was so happy because I knew she was making you happy. Why didn't I realize that wasn't friendship happy?"
"I don't know," Taylor says with a smile.
"And now...now she's in your apartment? Living with you, like, right now?" Selena clarifies. "After all of that?"
"Yup," Taylor says nodding her head. She suddenly feels exhausted just because she recounted her and Karlie's stories, she has no idea how she managed to live through it.
"I mean...I know you said you think it's fast, but it's really not, is it? After everything you went through with each other there's so much more there than just being official for about a month," Selena replies.
"Yeah...it just feels right, I don't know," Taylor replies. With all that talking, her In n Out order still sits in front of her mostly untouched and now cold.
"I mean, it sounds right to me," Selena says with a smile. "I'm really really happy for you."
Taylor smiles, realizing just how much she loves to talk about Karlie. "I sort of wish we could sit down with her family and just tell her everything like this, just so that they'd understand it better. But obviously things are a little more complicated because of Josh and everything," Taylor replies.
"How'd they handle Karlie telling them about the move?" Selena asks as she begins picking at Taylor's untouched fries.
"Well, Karlie just told them yesterday. They took it about as well as you'd expect," Taylor sighs.
"Even Kristine? I figured after everything that just happened she'd be—"
"I don't mind that they're skeptical. I mean, it makes sense that they're skeptical, you know? It's a lot. And it seems extra fast to them because they're just finding everything out at once. And I know that I will prove them wrong eventually, it just takes time. I think it's obviously just a lot harder on Karlie because she just doesn't take it as well," Taylor explains. "I mean, I could tell on the phone that she was disappointed even if she didn't want to talk too much about it. It's still better than her not telling me anything at all ever."
"She's totally overprotective over you," Selena laughs. "She'd rather self combust than tell you things that would make you worry."
"Yeah or physically fight her sister instead of vent to me," Taylor answers wryly.
"I mean, it's a little tragically cute, you have to admit," Selena says.
"I think it's a bit cuter when she acts like an oversized little puppy instead of an angry pitbull," Taylor replies drily.
"You're dating a puppy?!" Selena laughs.
"Yes, I am in fact dating a puppy," Taylor replies drily. "And I'm leaving the Teen Choice Awards the second after I present the award to get home to her."
"I'm really happy for you, I could seriously listen to this stuff all night," Selena says with a smile, as she quickly wraps an arm around Taylor's shoulders beside her on the couch to give her a squeeze. "I wish you didn't have to use NDAs though."
"There's no other way," Taylor replies.
"Honestly, you're probably right. It still sucks though," Selena says.
"I know it does," Taylor sighs. "I'm glad that my friends know now though. I will have people to talk to when I need to. So will she. I told Ella today. I was going to tell Ed but I sort of want to be in person for his reaction," Taylor laughs. "Ashley, Abigail, you, Ella, and Brit know. And my family."
"Nothing will ever get as bad as it was for you guys this spring," Selena assures her. "Everyone will be there for you guys if it ever comes down to it."
Taylor smiles and nods her head in thanks.
"So when do I get to hang out with her again, actually knowing that she's your girl this time?" Selena asks.
"The second I actually get to drag you to New York City," Taylor says, her eyes lighting up.
"Not this again," Selena laughs, rolling her eyes.
"New. York. City. New. York. City," Taylor chants, slapping her legs in time with the beat of her chant. "It's the greatest place on earth. You need it in your life."
"You're just in love," Selena says with a pointed laugh.
"Well, that too."
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August 11, 2014
Past three in the morning and Taylor's black SUV pulls up to the curb outside of her New York City apartment. She's still in full makeup from the Teen Choice Awards, still wearing the green crop top and skirt combination, her hair brushed perfectly. She's in a bit of a daze when she gets out of the SUV. Even though she left the Teen Choice Awards as soon as she presented the award, the time change and flight time didn't get her to New York as early as she would've liked. Now she's perfectly ready for bed.
As if in a trance, while flanked by security carrying cat carriers, she enters her building, climbing the stairs to her floor without realizing it really. Before she knows it she's in her apartment and she releases the cats, who take off at a run towards the staircase, seemingly as ready for bed as she is.
Taylor follows behind them and walks into her dark bedroom and flips on the light with a yawn, before her eyes go wide with a soft gasp of, "Oh!" As tired as she is, she forgot that for the first time ever her bedroom would be occupied on her arrival home. She quickly turns off the light when seeing Karlie lying on her stomach and head turned to the side so she can only see her blonde waves of hair. But in the darkness, while Taylor opts for her iPhone's flashlight to maneuver her bedroom, she can't stop smiling a goofy and loved up grin because of the feeling she has at coming home to Karlie, waiting for her in bed.
But she hears rustling of the blankets, and she even hears a meow, and then she hears Karlie's voice hoarse with sleep greet her with a, "Hey."
"I'm sorry, I forgot you'd be here for some reason and I turned on the light," Taylor whispers, as she begins looking through her drawers for pajamas with the help of her flashlight. Things are a bit more difficult to find now since more of Karlie's stuff than ever has been crammed into the drawers as well. All of Karlie's stuff is on top of hers so she decides to just settle for some of Karlie's pajamas.
"I think Olivia's paw to the face is what woke me up anyway," Karlie says.
The bedroom is dully illuminated by the nightstand lamp Karlie sits up to turn on, as she stares at Taylor with squinty eyes adjusting to brightness before beginning to roll around beneath the blankets and stretch out her limbs, humming softly as she presses her face against her pillow.
"You're so cute," Taylor laughs softly, watching her as cuddles herself deeper into the still empty bed.
"Me?" Karlie asks in surprise as she stops squirming around in the large king sized bed, her voice still sounding huskier than usual.
"Yes, you," Taylor says, thinking about how much more she gets to enjoy sleepy Karlie when she comes home late like this.
"You look beautiful," Karlie says suddenly, sitting up on her elbows as if just looking at Taylor for the first time.
"An hour and a half in a makeup chair," Taylor replies, but with a pleased smile.
"Probably twenty minutes," Karlie replies, staring at her up and down. "I can't believe you look this beautiful just for the Teen Choice Awards. Green looks really nice on you."
"I think you just like the push up bra I'm wearing," Taylor laughs, as she walks over to the bed to lay out her pajamas on the bed before undressing.
"Well...and your hair," Karlie replies, sounding stumped and tired.
"Go to sleep," Taylor laughs, softly pushing Karlie's head back to the pillow before undressing. Taylor slips out of her award show outfit and pulls on a t-shirt without looking at Karlie, but she feels her watching her. As Taylor climbs into bed she says, "Enjoy this makeup while you can because in the morning I'm going to look like a melted Barbie doll."
"You will not," Karlie laughs. Taylor lies her head down right beside Karlie, smiling at her while Karlie reaches a hand over and pats Taylor's head. Taylor can tell just how tired Karlie still is by the feeling of clumsiness her hand seems to have against her hand. "Your hair is as soft as it looks."
"Did you just pet me?" Taylor asks, laughing as she intertwines her legs with Karlie's under the blankets.
"I pet Olivia and Meredith and now you because you all are home again," Karlie explains, as she slips an around over Taylor's waist and pulls her a little closer. "You do look really beautiful though," Karlie adds, as she gently finds Taylor's earlobes to take her ear rings out for her. While Karlie reaches over Taylor to put the ear rings on the nightstand table she shuts the lamp off, plunging the bedroom in darkness once again.
Taylor loves coming home to Karlie, she has decided. Climbing into bed that's already all warmed up by the person you love after a long day is just about as close to perfect as life can get she realizes.
"I love you," Karlie says.
"I love you too," Taylor replies.
Before Taylor can even nuzzle her head beneath Karlie's chin, she feels her girlfriend drift back to sleep with an arm loosely hanging over her and their legs a tangled mess of limb beneath the warm blankets.
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August 12, 2014
"How is it that I've seen less of you in the last few days than I ever did before moving in here?" Karlie asks, as she hands Taylor half of her cookie. They're sitting on Taylor's carpeted den floor, going through different additional boxes that Karlie has brought over from her apartment.
She got home at about four in the morning the previous day, and Karlie didn't wake her when she got up a few hours later to go to the gym and then a photoshoot along with a few business meetings. By the time Karlie had returned from her day of work, Taylor was gone again, off to The Giver movie premier. She came home late again, Karlie was already asleep along with the cats who stretched out at the foot of the bed. She woke up for a few minutes as she had the night before, thinking that Taylor looked even more beautiful than last night somehow.
Once again, Karlie woke up for her early gym session without waking up Taylor. She had an early day of work, but even when she came back mid afternoon, the apartment was empty except for the cats. Taylor was out to lunch with an interviewer for the album promotion and then she had an evening of press interviews. Finally, at around eight, Taylor had returned.
"I'm sorry. And tomorrow will be another busy day because I have to film Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. I won't be home too late though, I think around ten," Taylor replies. "This is a really extra crazy week, it's not...completely like this." Taylor breaks of a piece of the cookie and puts it in her mouth as Olivia comes purring over and huddles on her lap.
"You're doing too much," Karlie says shaking her head with a small smile. Taylor in her sweat pants and glasses already looks like the epitome of worn out.
"It's been six days of promo. Six days out of a year and a half long era," Taylor says with a smile.
That wipes the smile off of Karlie's face. Maybe she hadn't fully realized just what Taylor's schedule was really going to be like.
"Hey, no. Don't worry," Taylor says softly, reaching out and putting a light hand on Karlie's. "These past couple of days have been a little crazy. But it won't be like this, even the rest of this month won't be as crazy even though I'm announcing everything. I promise."
Karlie nods her head with a smile, trusting Taylor as she grabs her wrist and pulls her towards her. Karlie leans her back against the couch and spreads her legs to make a space for Taylor to lie back against her as she stretches her long legs out on the carpet. Karlie wraps an arm around her chest and firmly kisses Taylor's temple as she says, "I love you so much. I'm so comfortable here with you."
"That's what it is, isn't it? It's just comfortable and relaxing to have you here," Taylor agrees.
Karlie nods as she kisses Taylor's ear, while the singer grabs the TV remote off the floor to put something on.
"This is the longest period of drama free days that we've ever had I think, unfortunately," Karlie says, holding Taylor tightly against her as she watches Taylor slowly click through the TV channels.
"A little more than a week of no fighting. When's the last time that happened? The road trip to Big Sur?" Taylor asks with a laugh.
"Oh boy," Karlie groans, laughing at themselves as she finally rests her chin on top of Taylor's head to watch what Taylor has chosen.
"See, this is much better. We should just never fight ever," Taylor replies.
"Yeah, I think we've finally figured that out."
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August 13, 2014
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Taylor says as she jumps into the backseat of her SUV with Tree Paine. She had greeted fans and couldn't wipe the smile from her face, the excitement of a new era finally setting in. The fans seemed just as excited as she was as they camped out and waited for her appearance on Fallon and Meyers.
"The interviews went well," Tree replies, nodding her head as she refers to her calendar on her month. "We got a long few months ahead of us. Very busy."
"Tell me about it," Taylor replies. "But it's not too bad. So much of it is in New York. Me and Karlie just set up this huge calendar in our living room so we can write in our schedules and compare them to each other's. She actually does more traveling than me even if I'm the busier one."
Tree sets down the phone on her lap and stares at Taylor with a slight frown on her face.
"What is it?" Taylor asks. The SUV is cruising along the city streets quicker than usual. The traffic isn't so bad since it's later in the night.
"I didn't want to tell you about it before doing these interviews. I didn't want you to be nervous. I blacklisted any questions about it of course," Tree replies hesitantly. Her eyes dart away from Taylor's and it's just about the worst feeling Taylor could ever get from her publicist, who never has any trouble facing Taylor with anything.
"Tree—"
"I caught it quick, but even though I caught it quick it still blew up pretty good. I already denied it. Gawker wrote an article with the headline 'Is Taylor Swift Living and Maybe In Love With a Woman?' It was about you and Karlie," Tree says coldly.
Taylor's mouth drops and her heart truly freezes, she can't look away from Tree. She doesn't know whether she wants to scream or cry or yell in anger, but it doesn't matter anyway, there was no way she'd be able to produce any sound. Her entire body has gone cold, has gone numb. She gives a minute shake of her head, as if saying it can't be true.
"I don't know. I don't know, Taylor. We either had a leak or some Internet trolls got really good at guessing," Tree replies in frustration. "I can't believe it started with Gawker. If it was like...Hollywood Life it would be so much different. I mean, I denied everything and everyone seems to be believing it but...but that headline is always going to be there now."
"Tree," Taylor whispers, tears pricking at her eyes now. Her heart is racing, throat burning, ears thudding as blood races through her whole body at an abnormal speed. "A leak?"
"I know, sweetie," Tree says sympathetically. "But listen, we caught it, okay? No one believes it. There might be some different Internet forums who theorize on it, but the general public didn't catch on with it. But Taylor...Taylor we lost control of the narrative. I wanted to ease Karlie into the role of roommate, there's nothing odd about two friends in their twenties being roommates in New York City. But now...now if one half of that headline is true then...then..."
"The other half could be too," Taylor finishes for her as her voice catches in her throat. She wipes two tears that have fallen down her cheeks now. She can't decide whether to be angry, sad, or afraid, but regardless tears are flowing.
"Now isn't the time for Karlie to live with you. If anything, now is the time for Karlie to spend an extra amount of time at her own apartment. All eyes are going to be focused on you from now until December for sure. This album is going to be huge," Tree replies.
"It's not worth it."
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"Don't say that to me," Karlie says, as tears fall from her own green eyes. "You can't be serious."
Taylor swallows a lump in her throat as she squeezes both of Karlie's hands tightly as they sit on Karlie's favorite couch together. She arrived home two hours later than she should have, simply because she made her security drive around the city as she sat in the backseat, doing her best to feel whatever it is she needed to feel before having to be the one to console Karlie through this very same pain. "Babe," Taylor's voice cracks, "I love you so much. I love you. But you can look it up, the article is right there."
"So what?!" Karlie says stubbornly, but her tears look anything but fiercely stubborn. "We can still live together, who cares? It doesn't mean anything!"
"You know that's not true," Taylor says sadly.
"I just...all of my stuff is already here!" Karlie says in a high pitched voice, wiping at her cheeks as she pulls away from the hug Taylor tries to give her. Taylor can't help but think she looks like a trapped animal, and the realization brings tears to her own eyes, even though she had thought she had cried all of those out in the car. "I already told my family! My friends!"
"Babe, do you think maybe...Kimby could have—"
"NO!" Karlie yells, as her face contorts as if in pain. "Maybe it was one of your friends! Why are you putting that on my side of—"
"Okay, shhh," Taylor says quickly, realizing the mistake she has made just out of the pure shock of the ordeal. She lifts her legs up to the couch and crosses them beneath her to sit on her knees as she forces Karlie to allow herself to be pulled in for a hug. She holds the younger girl tightly against her chest as she says, "That was rude. No one leaked anything. It was a lucky guess." Taylor doesn't know if she believes that for sure, but now certainly wasn't the time to debate it.
"Please, Taylor," Karlie cries. "We can't back out of this now. How am I supposed to tell my family that I'm actually not moving in? And my friends?"
Taylor drips a tear into Karlie's blonde hair as she holds her close, saying, "You're going to say it's my fault, and they're going to hate me for a little bit, but we're going to get through it."
"No, Taylor, we can't do—"
"Babe, we don't have a choice. You know we don't have a choice, it's too serious this time," Taylor says, her throat burning as she constrains a sob of her own.
"I just want to live here with you," Karlie says, pressing herself more tightly into Taylor's embrace.
Taylor wants nothing more than that too and it's why it breaks her heart. "I want that too, I want that so badly. I know it's only been a few days with both of us being in here, but I love coming home to you, Karlie. I'm supposed to be coming home to you," Taylor cries, losing the majority of her control now too.
"Then why are we doing this?" Karlie asks hopelessly through her own tears.
"It's just the way it has to be," Taylor says, as she leans away slightly to stare Karlie in the face. She cups Karlie's face with both of her hands and thumbs away some of the moisture on her cheeks. Somehow with tears in her eyes, they look even more magnificently and hypnotically green. "I hate this. I hate this so much, I really do. We could have made this work, it would have been hard, but it could've worked. Tree was already telling me stuff to say during different promo interviews about us being roommates. It would've worked," Taylor says, shaking her head.
"Please, let's just try it, Taylor," Karlie pleads. "Maybe we can hide this too."
"You know that's not possible," Taylor replies. Every single solution Karlie comes up with are solutions Taylor had hopelessly come up with the car, only for Tree to say the exact same realistic responses to her as she is now saying to Karlie. "Babe, it's going to be okay. It will just be like how it was before. Everything will be okay, we just won't be living together."
"Nothing will be like how it was before! Because now we know we want more than that!" Karlie cries, staring at Taylor with watery eyes and a furrowed brow looking tragically disbelieving.
"Babe, listen to me, okay? This is serious, you have to say yes or no to me," Taylor says suddenly. It was the idea that had come to while she sat in the backseat crying. She said the idea out loud to Tree. It was the last thing Tree ever expected to hear. Taylor had just hired the brand new publicist after all to completely reboot her career, for the long haul. "Life moves fast with albums. Before I know it, a year and a half will have passed and I'll be working on a new one, just like I've always done. You have no idea how quick it feels. I release the album, I promote the album, I rehearse for a tour, I go on tour, and then I write and repeat. And it's fast, I know nearly two years doesn't sound fast, but it is. Babe, you got to tell me if it's too soon for this, okay? But...but maybe I won't plan to continue that cycle this time. Maybe this is my last big album, I'll go big and then...then I'll go home. I'll take time off, I'll go hide from everything. Or maybe I'll just stay here and be a hermit in my apartment since you probably need to be in New York. Or maybe I could get a house in upstate New York, like your family. And then...and then people won't pay attention to me and we can be...we can tell them about us. And just see what happens. And we can be together and we can just relax and be happy together. I'll write another album eventually but I can't...I just want to take a break with you. I want to be with you. I know it sounds far away but it's not."
Karlie stares at her with still watery eyes, but they don't seem to be producing any new tears. She seems to be barely breathing as she stares at Taylor. She hasn't made a sound so Taylor decides to rush forward in a slight panic.
"This will be it, okay? This era, this album. This is the really big one. I'll...I'll meet as many fans as I can this era, more than I've ever met before, in case I go away for a long time. I'll...me and Tree were talking, maybe have them come over to the houses. Meet them like that, let them see pictures of us together on the walls. Just meet as many of them as I can in case it's a while before I ever plan on doing that again. And just...promote it way bigger than I've ever promoted an album before. My last big album before I might not release one for a while. I'll try to have as many number one's on the radio as I can, I'll try to break as many records as I can. I'll try to make this the biggest I can make it, just to get everything out of my system so I can just relax without having another album on the brain. So I can just be with you in peace," Taylor says. "I know this is a lot and it's way too soon to say this but just...just say yes or no. I know this doesn't fix what's happening now, but...but..."
"I won't sign on with Victoria's Secret again this year. My contract's up with them this year. I know they'll offer another to me, but I won't sign it. I'll apply to school, I'll focus on that so we can just stay here. I can do other things like...like focus on my Kookies and coding, and...and I've had ideas to do a YouTube channel or something. Things I won't have to travel for. We can just...we can just be together. Just sit at home and be together," Karlie says quietly.
"You don't have to do all of that. I've been working for a long time, you don't have to take a break like me and—"
"I've been working for a long time too. It's two years away, right? I just want to be with you without all of this bullshit," Karlie replies.
"Are you saying yes?" Taylor dares to ask in a whisper.
Karlie nods her head, her green eyes staring intensely into Taylor's blue eyes.
"Babe, I love you so much," Taylor says with a sob as she crashes into Karlie and embraces her in as tight a hug as any. "Tree says as long as we get to December without any incident, when the album's promotion ends, we'll be okay. After December I won't be doing interviews or anything any more, we won't have to be so careful while I'm rehearsing and touring. We can even start being a little more open in different ways. We can even go on a vacation together in December maybe. Some place warm, tropical. And then...and then I'll tour and I'll go on a hiatus for the first time and we'll tell everyone about us and while everyone loses their fucking minds we'll just find a house somewhere away from everything for a while. I'm sorry if all of this is too soon, I just—"
"It's not too soon," Karlie assures her. "We can get through this."
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IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTES:
If keep up with my Tumblr (kaylorfanfiction*tumblr*com) you would know this is the last Chapter of the Timeline before a hiatus. I just haven't been as excited to be writing The Timeline lately since it's been about a year of doing it.... HOWEVER during this hiatus I am writing a Kaylor AU called COLLATERAL DAMAGE and the first FOUR chapters have already been uploaded here on Wattpad!!! (Also I know this chapter doesn't do a whole lot of essential plot forwarding stuff and it's pretty short and kind of a filler chapter for me, and yes. You're right. It was sort of filler chapter for me because I just thought it would be more aesthetically pleasing to go on hiatus with Chapter 15 since I intend to write Part Two to Chapter 30. Perfectly halfway.)
I am going to schedule a re-reading sort of thing for The Timeline. When I return to writing The Timeline I will need to re-read it for myself just to organize my thoughts and some plot things, and while re-reading it I plan on editing the Timeline with all sorts of Kaylor pictures and candids and gifs and videos and whatever else with this super awesome new Beta version I get to test out!!! So if you'd be interested in following along with chapters of The Timeline as a re-read type of event watch out for that. I think it will happen late December or early January.
ALSO THIS IS REALLY WEIRD BUT TODAY I SAT RIGHT NEXT TO A GIRL ON THE SUBWAY WHO WAS READING THE TIMELINE LITERALLY BESIDE ME WHILE ON THE WATTPAD APP. I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING TO YOU BUT hello. You had long straight blonde hair and a canvas backpack and leather boots and dark blue jeans and a floral flow-y top with a military-green jacket. I hope you read this update and are like......huh. Because same, that was one of the weirdest moments of my entire life and you weren't even aware of it.
Anyway, thank EVERYONE for reading I can't believe how many readers The Timeline has these days and I can't believe how supportive everyone always is!!! Thank you very much :)