August 26, 2014
It was a late landing in New York City, even for Taylor. The plane didn't touch down from California until there were only a few hours away from sunrise. Even the New York City skyline wasn't quite as bright as it usually was, only because even some buildings would not stay lit into the wee hours of morning.
That didn't stop Taylor from softly saying in a sing-song voice, "I'm baaack," to herself. There's no traffic at all and barely anyone on the street. It is sometimes her favorite time of night to drive through the city. She can imagine that it is all hers, providing her with all the privacy she could ever need in life.
"It's this left turn up here," Taylor reminds her driver. She's taking advantage of the late night to spend with Karlie instead of returning home to her own apartment. They've been much more strict about being photographed by paparazzi, coming and going from each other's places. That meant that Karlie spent much less time at her apartment than she had been. It also meant that Taylor and Karlie have not been seen together by anyone in over a month, at the Ingrid Michaelson concert.
The SUV easily stops curbside to Karlie's apartment. Karlie's flowered gate is not quite as bright and lively as it was in the spring and earlier summer months. Fall is nearing the city, ready to take over all the colors of life for a gentler scene of decay. Fall is one of Taylor's favorite seasons, but Taylor can tell that Karlie much rather prefers the summer. There is always a tinge of disappointment in her eyes when she spots her bedroom balcony garden littered with a few fallen and crinkled flower petals.
"I don't know. We just had such a good summer. I'm sad to see it go," she had sighed softly, tossing the petals into the trash.
"We'll have an even better fall together," Taylor promised. The first thing she had done the next morning, before flying out to LA for a round of press interviews for the new album, was to have her assistant send Karlie a very fresh and very beautiful batch of new flowers.
But when Taylor steps out of the vehicle, enjoying the rare moment of being on a public sidewalk without anyone around to see her, her eyes are not on the flowered gate. "Is that wet cement?" Taylor asks in surprise. There are a few traffic cones and yellow caution tape around a slab of sidewalk. Much of the maintenance work is done late at night to keep people during the day and earlier hours of night to keep from meddling with it. The still wet cement glistens beneath the street lights, even at a distance.
It's only a few doors down from Karlie's apartment complex. Taylor shivers as she walks down the sidewalk to investigate, still wearing her VMA one piece outfit, exposing much more of her legs in the somewhat chilly summer night. She probably should have changed on the plane, but it was night to be able to just sit down and do absolutely nothing at all after an entire award show, a performance, and a short time at the after party. Besides, sometimes she liked getting done up real nice for work and coming home to look good for Karlie. Surprisingly enough, it was something Taylor was able to do a lot less than Karlie, considering she wasn't the model in this relationship. So Taylor took advantage of it when she could.
Taylor stares down at the wet cement, feeling quite foolish in her body suit with two security guards curiously watching her. It's not like she can write 'Taylor + Karlie = Forever' in the cement, for obvious reasons, but she thinks it would be a shame to not do anything at all. Karlie's initials will have to do. Taylor is quite fond of them anyway, recently finding herself absentmindedly doodling them in press junkets more and more often.
She bends down, sinking her finger into the cement. A simple KK with a heart causes Taylor to smile as she looks down on it. Taylor wonders if her security has thought she's been losing her mind ever since Karlie has become a part of her life. All the sneaking around, casual and spontaneous trips to Sweden, occasional inconvenient sleepovers at Karlie's much smaller apartment that is not as accommodating for an entire team of security, and just other normal things like that. Oh well.
Taylor has nowhere to brush off her fingertip as she stands up and then makes her way to Karlie's apartment door. Tonight will be one of those nights her security has to make do in Karlie's living room. She has a few guest rooms, but too near to Karlie's bedroom for the girls to ever feel comfortable privately.
She unlocks the model's door and rolls her eyes when the home alarm system Taylor paid to have installed doesn't begin to beep. Karlie didn't set it. Again. All the lights in the apartment are off, and Taylor is familiar enough with the place to blindly feel for a lamp by her side. A soft glow is cast over the living room. There are still boxes stacked in a corner that were meant to be unpacked in Taylor's apartment. Not here. Taylor sighs. She has tried not mention Karlie's packaged possessions since she had to break the news to Karlie that they couldn't live together, simply because she didn't want to pick at old wounds. Why remind her of the plan that went awry anymore than those packed boxes already do? But it's been two weeks now, something had to be done.
It's been five days since Taylor has seen Karlie, which is quite a long time for them. 1989's announcement and 'Shake It Off's release has changed their schedules more than a bit. But Karlie isn't expecting Taylor's return tonight, and small little surprises like this can make the days apart seem like nothing to Taylor.
After she washes her finger off of the wet cement, Taylor doesn't even try to contain her excited smile as she walks down the darkened second floor hallway with her iPhone's flashlight lit. She's surprised to see a muted blue television light pouring from the bedroom. When Taylor steps into the bedroom, Karlie is lying down on her back, slightly propped up with pillows, and an arm over her head, asleep.
Taylor isn't too gentle when she climbs into the bed, clumsily crawling all over Karlie's blanketed form to lightly knock her head against Karlie's face. Karlie had woken with a small start the moment Taylor made contact with the bed, and her arms lazily offered Taylor a warm hug when she was close enough.
"You're back," Karlie mumbles, happily squinting up at Taylor, trying to shield her eyes from the television.
"I know," Taylor smiles, quickly pressing her lips against Karlie's. "Ed and Ella want to meet you. I was telling them about you. About us."
Karlie smiles a little wider, but her eyes seem to be weighing heavy again, possibly drifting back to sleep. "I want to meet them too."
"Karlie!" Taylor says, playfully whiny, as she rocks slightly back and forth on top of Karlie. "I just got here! Wake up!"
"It's late! And I was up watching you perform at the VMA's, which was amazing but I already texted you that," Karlie says, which sparks Taylor into giving Karlie another kiss before she can continue, "And then I stayed up to see what those TV shows said about your performance and also-- Oh! You're still wearing it!" Her hands had wandered further enough Taylor's back to discover that she still donned the legless sky blue one piece. "But anyway, now I'm tired."
"No you're not!" Taylor insists.
"I am," Karlie replies. She seems to melt right into her bed beneath Taylor's body. She really does look tired, but usually she's the excited one.
"What if I just, like, kiss your neck for a couple minutes and see if you wake up," Taylor suggests, but Karlie's eyes are closed and misses Taylor's suggestive raise of eyebrows.
"Tomorrow morning instead," Karlie replies lazily. "I have it off. Do you?"
"Yes."
"A miracle," Karlie says. Taylor hates to admit that her schedule as of late, and also looking forward, their off days matching up, or existing at all, really did seem like a miracle at times.
"Karlie!" Taylor complains. She squishes an arm behind Karlie's neck and tries to pull her up, trying to force her to become a bit more lively. She's excited to see her, she wants to at least talk to her for a little bit. They could sleep in late together in the morning. Taylor has told herself she would do her best to start spending some more nights here in Karlie's apartment even if it was a bit inconvenient. Their time couldn't be so skewed in favor of Taylor's apartment, especially if Karlie would have no choice but to make this place her home for the foreseeable future.
"Baby, go to sleep," Karlie sighs. She allows herself to be pulled up by Taylor, but only to roll over on top of her, making a mess of the blanket that separates her. "Do that thing," she says, her words mumbling and blending together as she nuzzles her head in between Taylor's neck and shoulder.
"What thing?" Taylor asks in a huff as she pushes at Karlie's shoulders and body, trying to squirm free. But as usual, she's trapped beneath the much taller and stronger Karlie.
"You know, when--"
Taylor dramatically sighs and loses her hand in the back of Karlie's head, working her fingers in between locks of hair to massage her scalp. She had known what Karlie wanted, she was just frustrated that that is what Karlie wanted from her tonight. But then, Taylor is struck with inspiration. "I just did something very rebellious and spontaneous, like, ten minutes ago," Taylor mysteriously teases. "You would be very proud. It's more your style than mine."
Karlie is silent for longer than Taylor expected her to be, but after a few seconds, Karlie can't resist, just as Taylor knew she wouldn't. "What did you do?" Karlie asks. Her breath feels hot against Taylor's neck. Taylor forgot how good she smelled, how warming it was to hold her close.
"I have to show you," Taylor explains.
"Does that mean getting out of bed?" Karlie asks doubtfully.
"Yes, but it's worth it!" Taylor replies. When Karlie's silence stretches long enough to border between disinterest and having actually fallen asleep, Taylor replies, "It's actually so rebellious that it is in fact illegal. You'll love it."
That gets Karlie to raise her head, staring at Taylor with almost alert green eyes. There is always a quiet tenderness that shines through those eyes when looking at Taylor, no matter how tired she may be.
"What did you do?" Karlie asks.
"I have to show you. So get off of me."
With a very long, excessive, and dramatic groan Karlie rolls over off of Taylor, stretching all four limbs out completely in the shape of a star. She playfully glares up at Taylor. "You're annoying. This better be good."
"Or else what?" Taylor asks, rolling her eyes as she quickly gets off the bed before Karlie can change her mind and try falling back asleep.
"Just or else!" Karlie exclaims, unexpectedly slapping at Taylor's behind as she stands from the bed as well.
"Hey!" Taylor says in surprise, quickly turning around to shield herself as she exits the bedroom, smiling at Karlie who now seems to be more aware than she has been. I knew not getting changed on the plane was a good choice.
They giggle their way down the hallway and down the stairs, then do their best to contain themselves when they get to the first floor and enter the living room, where Taylor's security team is still settling in for the night.
"You need to use this alarm system," Taylor reminds Karlie, pressing the code into the keypad so that she can open the front door without the alarm sounding.
"I lock my door," Karlie yawns.
"Not enough," Taylor replies. Once realizing just how more frequently paparazzi seem to follow her about the city than before their friendship, she had absolutely insisted this was installed. "Okay, go outside, take a left at the gate, and look at the sidewalk," Taylor instructs.
"You're not going to show me?" Karlie asks.
"In case there are people, I just don't want to--"
Karlie leaves the apartment a bit briskly before Taylor can explain herself. Taylor exhales and leans against the open doorway, closing her eyes and cursing their situation for about the billionth time in her life as she feels the familiar pang of guilt she only ever feels when related to this type of complication. Karlie is just overtired, she normally wouldn't have been so overtly frustrated with something as simple as this.
But when Karlie returns, wearing a matching pajama top and bottom, she is all smiles, flashing that signature all-teeth baring smile at Taylor with reddened cheeks.
It's absolutely impossible not to return such a smile, and Taylor reaches out her hands grabbing at the air before Karlie is close enough to settle into and return her hug. Taylor would have walked out to greet her, if only just to hug her a second sooner, if she were wearing shoes. Karlie's hugs were just that good, just that loving, that even having to wait a second longer than necessary seemed like far too much.
"I love you," Karlie says quietly, so as to not have much of a security team audience. "I'll get to see it every time I go out to jog. And no one will ever know you wrote it."
"I love you too," Taylor smiles, rocking back and forth in their hug. Taylor thinks her favorite thing about Karlie's hugs is just how small they can make her feel when enveloped in them.
They break apart sooner than Taylor would have liked, only because they're not exactly alone, but there will certainly be more where that came from in the bedroom.
"We'll have to take care of those boxes tomorrow," Taylor takes the moment to say, as she nods her head in the direction of the cardboard boxes she had spotted earlier. Karlie's smile no longer meets her eyes as she leads Taylor out of the room by the hand. "Don't be sad, babe," Taylor says softly. "I have stuff to bring over here to unpack, too," Taylor reminds her. Karlie had made too much of Taylor's apartment her own home, without Taylor doing much of the same to Karlie's apartment. That had to change, even if it was a more difficult change to make. Taylor didn't want any of this to be unfair to Karlie-- Well, no more unfair than it already was to her.
"I know," Karlie replies, but it sounds more placating than understanding.
We'll have to take care of that tomorrow, too. "Don't forget. Communication," Taylor says, as quiet as can be. It's not a conversation she wants to have right now. Karlie has been a lot better with it than she originally was anyway. Even Tree agreed, and the lunch they had one on one together last week apparently went well. That's what Tree said anyway.
Before Karlie can reply, though, Taylor gently places her hands on each side of Karlie's waist when they arrive to Karlie's bedroom door. She walks Karlie forward to the bed, gently nudging her forward to lie down.
"I, like, just discovered this band and a lot of the songs remind me so much of you," Taylor tells her as she grabs her purse from the floor to take out her phone. "They're called The 1975."
Taylor doesn't play the song 'Robbers' until she's lying pressed closely against Karlie, able to stare down at her green eyes as the lyrics softly sound from the phone. Taylor starts kissing her neck as she whispers, "Babe, stay, stay, stay, stay..." in time with the music.
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August 27, 2014
Taylor didn't have the heart to tell Karlie that she already knew 'Shake It Off' was the number one song on the Hot 100. Stuff like that is just tweeted out these days, and Taylor has known she's accomplished the feat for hours now.
But Karlie, of course, was unaware of it. They'd been baking cookies all afternoon with the radio countdown playing in the background. With each song that wasn't number one being announced as a song that wasn't 'Shake It Off,' Karlie grew more and more excited.
"I think it's going to be number one," Karlie assures her. "I know it's going to be number one. Especially because you did ballet in the video."
"Oh, yeah, that's exactly what that was," Taylor says drily.
Baking at Karlie's apartment was nice. Nice in a way that it wasn't at Taylor's apartment. Of course baking at Taylor's apartment was nice, but this was different in its own way. Whether Karlie knew it or not, but she had a familiarity in this place as she worked that Taylor had yet to see in her kitchen. That wasn't a bad thing, given the circumstances. She liked watching Karlie excitedly work in a room surrounded by pictures of her family and friends. The childhood pictures of her and her sisters were Taylor's favorites she decides, as she eats the raw dough when Karlie isn't looking.
The photographs were the first thing Taylor had insisted Karlie hang back up on the wall. Taylor had to re-decorate the kitchen herself, though. Karlie hadn't wanted anything to do with it. Besides, she had to focus on her NYU application. Someday sooner than Taylor ever originally imagined, she'd be taking a break from her career, and Karlie might just do the same. They'd take their break together. Given the year and a half they have ahead of themselves, Taylor knows they'll deserve it. We already deserve it.
"This is it," Karlie says nervously, biting on her bottom lip as she grasps one of Taylor's hands with both of her own. She really does seem nervous, perhaps worried about whether or not Taylor will take it hard if 'Shake It Off' isn't announced as the number one song or if it will dampen their laid back afternoon. The number three song on the charts ends. The next song will be the number one song, as they skip the number two song from playing so that the suspense and guessing game won't be ruined for number one.
And then those distinguishable horns sound to the beginning of 'Shake It Off.' Oddly enough, Karlie's ears seem to recognize it even before Taylor's do, because then Karlie's arms are around Taylor in a tighter hug than ever.
"I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" Karlie exclaims, kissing the top of Taylor's head as she lightly jumps up and down, still hugging Taylor.
Taylor had planned on telling Karlie that the news was tweeted out hours ago right when Karlie heard the announcement on the news, but seeing, hearing, and feeling Karlie's excitement and love for her right now makes her realize that is a terrible idea.
"I'm so happy for you!" Karlie yells, spinning Taylor around in an overpowering circle. Taylor has possibly heard hundreds of people share similar sentiments with her for various reasons, but she doesn't think she's ever heard someone mean it so much.
I'm so in love with her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What?!" Karlie exclaims on the phone with Cara. Taylor is in the shower, so Karlie figured it was a good time to call Cara back, after missing her call earlier.
"Why are you so surprised?" Cara laughs. "Did you really not know?"
"What? What is that supposed to mean? Because of me and Taylor?" Karlie asks in a confused rush of words. The news is shocking to her. "Why do you think I would know Toni is bisexual because of that?"
"Oh, that's totally what I meant," Cara replies sarcastically.
"Waitwaitwait, what?!" Karlie replies, shaking her head as she tries to process the new information about one of her longest industry friends. "So she's just casually telling people? She just randomly told you?"
"Um...you may be unaware of this, but, yes, Karlie. That's a thing people actually do from time to time," Cara replies. "You know, like remember when I was like 'Hey, Karlie, I'm bi' and you were like 'okay'? It's not an overly complicated process."
Karlie ignores the implications surrounding the reply. Cara is typically the very understanding one, even the voice of reason when it came to relationship advice for Karlie. But after the whole moving in debacle...Cara has sounded a bit bitter. Not when Karlie had cried to her on the phone, of course...but after.
"Okay, but..." Karlie begins to trail off, her thoughts wandering back to that whole situation. Taylor unpacked the last of her boxes today, putting everything back where they belong. Even if they didn't seem to belong quite so nicely as they did before.
"So, yeah, Toni," Cara replies, redirecting the conversation. She sounds apologetic, as if realizing she had crossed a line earlier without doing so in very many words.
"Oh, yeah! So what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to act like I don't know? Are you supposed to tell me?" Karlie asks.
"It's not a big deal, Karlie. She's just out now. It's how it works. I mean, she's not about to tweet an announcement out or anything, but all our friends know it now. Don't overthink it," Cara replies.
"Wow. I'm so...I just never would have known," Karlie replies.
"Really?" Cara asks doubtfully. Karlie can just picture her smile even through the phone.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Karlie asks. Why is she being weird?
"Nothing, nothing," Cara sighs.
Karlie hears the water shut off in the bathroom on the floor above her. "Cara, I have to go. Me and Taylor are going to watch a movie in a few minutes."
"Alright. So me and Jourdan are still coming over for dinner at Taylor's apartment this week, right?" Cara confirms.
"Yup. I'll see you then."
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It's back :)
Don't expect the EXTRA lengthy updates that I was writing in Part Two. They completely burn me out and make me hate writing this fic. I need to keep the updates short and sweet just so I won't dread writing it... HOWEVER they'll definitely be typically longer than this update. They'll definitely be long enough to develop some plot points and development. I figure they'll be about as long as the Collateral Damage updates typically were!
This update was purposely short, just sort of cute, setting up a few things, etc. just to get back into the swing of things!
With shorter updates, there will be more frequent updates.
Make sure to like/comment just so I actually know that people are STILL interested in The Timeline :))) And as always, you can send messages to my Tumblr (of the same name as my Wattpad) as well!!
And stay tuned for info on an original novel and how to read/purchase.... :)