A/N: This is a VERY long one shot. This is also not 100% proofread because I just can't stare at my computer screen for a second longer. You have been warned.
WARNING: Sexually explicit content (only at the end tho)
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The week leading up to finals is always a stressful one. Taylor spends more time in the library than anywhere else, and it's not uncommon for her to pass out on top of her textbooks during study breaks. As a sophomore at her small liberal arts college, Taylor is starting to feel the pressure to be perfect. She has her academic adviser talking in one ear about internships and GPA requirements, and her parents jabbering in the other ear about how much money they're investing in her degree. They love her, but they're spending too much money for her to just be average. She has to be ahead of the curve at all times, and Taylor is starting to let the stress consume her. Her roommate, Selena, says that she needs an outlet, but it's hard to find the time to do much of anything outside of studying and sleeping.
Taylor only has three exams during the week of finals, and she's grateful that they're all relatively early in the week because it leaves her time to relax before she takes the train home to Pennsylvania. Her last final is on a dreary Wednesday afternoon, and Taylor feels completely unprepared despite the fact that she has been studying for days. She knows that she should be fine, but that doesn't appease her worries at all. Her friends say she's the biggest worrywart to ever walk the Earth, and that she'd be a lot happier if she let loose, but Taylor just doesn't have the time or the means to party. Selena is always trying to get her out of her room and down to the bars, but Taylor always has an excuse. If she's not studying then she's doing homework, and if she has no homework then she's catching up on sleep.
She ends up finishing her Economics exam with ten minutes to spare, and when she hands it in her professor shakes her hand enthusiastically. He tells her to enjoy her summer break, and that she was a pleasure to have in his class. Taylor returns similar sentiments, a smile blossoming on her face as she walks out of that class for the last time. She won't have to look at another textbook until September. No more caffeine induced all-nighters. No more eight o'clock classes. No more apprehension.
The walk back to her dorm, which has always felt tedious after a boring fifty minutes of class, is a lot different today. She walks with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. She can feel a week's worth of exhaustion finally catching up with her but she somehow manages to make it to her dorm in one piece. Selena has an exam later in the day, so the small dorm room is empty when Taylor arrives. She tosses her backpack down and makes a beeline for her bed, and she passes out the second her head hits her pillow.
She ends up not getting much rest. Selena comes barreling into the room a couple hours later, and upon seeing Taylor fast asleep she proceeds to make as much noise as possible to wake her up. Taylor ends up throwing one of her pillows across the room, hoping that it hits its intended target but knowing that her aim isn't the best. Her pillow ends up crashing into Selena's desk lamp, sending it clattering to the ground with a loud bang. She winces at the loud noise and groans softly as she tries to roll over and block out her roommate's laughter.
"I'm going to kill you," Taylor's voice lacks malice thanks to her exhaustion, but she hopes it gets the point across.
"Do it later, we're going out tonight." Selena jumps on top of Taylor, almost crushing the blonde as a result. Taylor tries to push her best friend off but Selena's a lot stronger than she is, and she knows her efforts are futile.
"The only thing I'm doing tonight is sleeping. I haven't slept in days."
"Suck it up, I promised a friend that I'd see her show tonight. Drink some coffee."
"I'm trying to cut back." Taylor grumbles.
"Oh well, we have to get ready."
Taylor rolls back over to check the time on her phone, and she feels her agitation increase when she sees that she's only been asleep for a little more than three hours. If it was anyone else asking this of her she'd probably have a few choice words for them, but this is Selena. The very first friend she made at college and the only one who can keep her sane half of the time. They're like sisters.
"Ready for what?" Taylor sighs in defeat as she sits up, running a hand through her disheveled blonde hair.
"A house party."
"No." Taylor shakes her head adamantly, already preparing to lay back down. She doesn't do parties. It's not her idea of fun, especially not in this town where everyone is young and wild and shameless. Selena goes out on weekends sometimes and she always comes home with a crazy story. People standing on top of roofs, the police being called, an excessive amount of alcohol and vomiting. It just doesn't sound like a fun time, and Taylor can't even begin to comprehend why her best friend would think she'd come along today of all days. Who has a party on a Wednesday in the middle of finals week? Certainly no one she would affiliate with.
"It's not that kind of house party, Taylor. My friend's band is playing, and I told her we'd come by and watch."
"You have a friend in a band?" Taylor raises a skeptic brow. She's known Selena for almost two years and she's never heard of any musically inclined friend.
"Yeah, you've met her before. Cara."
That just confuses Taylor even more. She's met Cara before but she never knew the British girl was in a band. "She's in a band? Since when?"
"Years, I think. They're really good and super popular around here."
"How come I've never heard of them?"
"Because your idea of a good time is sitting in the library for fourteen hours. They have a good following here, you're just lame." Selena shrugs as she starts to open the drawers of her dresser, most likely looking for an outfit to wear for the night.
"Does Cara sing or something? What kind of music is it?" Taylor's interest is piqued, and she blatantly ignores Selena's offensive words. This isn't the first time her best friend has called her lame, and it definitely won't be the last.
"She plays guitar, and I don't really know what genre they are. Maybe rock? They have a really cool sound."
"Are they good?"
"You'll see tonight."
Taylor huffs petulantly, but doesn't bother refusing this time around. She's not really a band type of girl, but she loves anything that has to do with music. There had been a time where she had wanted to pursue a career in it, but her parents always said it was a pipe dream. Something unattainable and improbable. College was safer, and Taylor eventually stopped dreaming.
"What time is the party?" Taylor asks while climbing off of her bed and stretching leisurely.
"It starts at nine but they don't play until ten."
It leaves them plenty of time to get ready, and Taylor actually has to knock down two cups of coffee just to motivate herself to straighten her obnoxiously curly hair. By the time nine rolls around, she and Selena are readying themselves to make the long walk to the party. It's a half hour walk from their dorm since the house is off-campus, but Taylor doesn't mind the walk at all. Summertime has officially fallen over Massachusetts and the night air is sticky with just the right amount of humidity for their hair not to frizz. Selena answers a few more questions about the band they're about to go see, and with every given answer Taylor's curiosity mounts. Apparently the band consists of four members – all female – and they've been together for a long time. The party is being held at the house that they all share, and the only reason it's in the middle of finals week is because none of the band is in school save for Cara.
"So what do they do for a living?" Taylor can't imagine what she'd be doing with her days if she wasn't in college.
"Sit around and play music."
"And that...works?"
"I guess." Selena shrugs.
Taylor has a billion other questions but she holds her tongue for the time being. They reach the house twenty minutes before the band is set to play, and it's immediately obvious which house is throwing the huge party. The front gate is wide open, along with the front door, and there are people everywhere. The house is situated in a relatively quiet neighborhood, but the music that is spilling out of the house disrupts the peace effortlessly. Taylor glances at her best friend warily, wondering if it's safe to go inside, but Selena doesn't look deterred. Her friend grabs onto her arm and leads her through the white picket fence that looks oddly out of place in a place like this. This looks like a place that would be home to a family, not a rowdy rock band. Taylor suddenly wishes that she had worn something a little less revealing. There's a loud group of guys hanging on the front porch, all with beers in hand and a suspicious cloud of smoke hanging over them, and their eyes immediately lock on them when they start approaching the porch. Taylor shrinks away from the looks but Selena just pushes her way through the front door, dragging Taylor along.
Inside isn't much better. The house is definitely over capacity, with people filling every corner, and there is a thick haze of smoke permeating the air. What is truly overwhelming, however, is the music. It shakes the floor beneath Taylor's feet and for a moment she wonders if she'll be deaf before the night is over.
"You said this wasn't that kind of party!" Taylor hisses the words into Selena's ear, getting as close as possible so that her friend will hear her.
"It usually isn't!" Selena shrugs innocently, but the mischief shining in her eyes is enough to give her away. Taylor rolls her eyes and spends the next five minutes holding onto Selena for dear life while they meander through the crowd. Taylor doesn't recognize a single face, and it makes her anxiety flair up. She thought this would be a party populated by people from her small college, but she's starting to think that she has miscalculated.
"What is that smell?" The noxious smoke hanging in the air has finally gotten too thick to bear.
Selena gives her a disbelieving look, and then lets out a loud laugh that can even be heard over the sound of the music. "That's what a good time smells like."
Taylor's jaw drops, and her eyes widen in horror as she looks around at the people around them. Most of them are drinking but she can see that quite a few are smoking as well.
"They're smoking weed?! Selena are you insane? You have an exam tomorrow!"
"I'm not smoking!" Selena laughs again and then continues to lead Taylor towards god-knows-where. "But it wouldn't hurt you to try something. You're so frigid."
"You've lost your mind. What if the cops come and arrest everyone? Look at me, I won't survive in prison!"
"Chill out, no one is getting arrested."
"I'll need a prison wife, that's the only way I'll make it." Taylor ignores Selena's reassurances, still thinking about the possibility of going to prison for attending a party that she didn't even want to go to in the first place.
"Taylor, I'm going to smack the hell out of you if you don't shut up," Selena warns.
"Where are we even going?"
"The basement." Just as the words leave Selena's mouth, she reaches out and tugs open a door that Taylor hadn't even noticed thanks to her previous hysterics. The stairs leading down into the basement are steep, and Taylor holds onto Selena's hand to make sure she doesn't fall and break her neck. That would certainly put a damper on things. The basement isn't nearly as loud or crowded as the rest of the house. There seem to only be a few choice people allowed down, and for a moment Taylor wonders if she and Selena are trespassing. Her worries are appeased almost immediately.
"Gomez! You made it." Cara Delevingne all but shouts as she sits her guitar down and comes over to greet them. She and Selena hug tightly, and then Taylor gets a brief hug of her own. Cara looks genuinely surprised to see her, but that signature smirk of hers is quickly back in place.
"And you brought Malibu Barbie."
Taylor rolls her eyes at the age-old joke. The first time she and Cara had met, the girl had decided that Taylor was a living, breathing Barbie doll. It's a name that Taylor will probably never live down.
"Against my will." Taylor adds.
Cara laughs and then pulls them both farther into the large room that makes up most of the basement. It's pretty nice as far as basements go, with polished wooden flooring and painted walls. The entire band and their close friends seem to be the only ones allowed in the basement before show time, and it looks as if they've just finished setting up their instruments and equipment.
Taylor is introduced to Cara's girlfriend, Annie, and learns that they were actually in the same accounting class. They talk about the final that had taken place on Monday, and it helps Taylor withdraw from her carefully constructed shell a little. It's nice to know that there's someone else here who she can relate to, even if it's only through a shared class.
She meets Jourdan and Toni next. Jourdan plays bass and Toni is the lead singer, but she also has a guitar in hand. They both seem nice enough, but Toni appears distracted while Jourdan engages Taylor in active conversation. Everything's going smoothly until the sound of the basement door opening and closing falls on Taylor's ears. She doesn't know why the sound sticks out to her, because no one else pays it any mind, but something makes her turn her head towards the stairs. She's glad that she does, because the girl who descends the stairs is probably the prettiest human being that Taylor has ever seen. Her face is Vogue but everything about her is Rolling Stone. A band shirt with the sleeves cut off, ripped jeans, and a pair of black combat boots. Her shoulder length blonde hair is wild and beautiful, like a lion's mane, and her facial features are so sharp and beautiful that it's almost uncomfortable to look at her for too long. Taylor knows she should look away but she's incapable of doing so.
"They're destroying my fucking house up there!" The girl says as she points her drumsticks towards the stairs that she just descended. "Derek and I just threw a few out."
"Not good for the band's image." Cara points out.
"Fuck the image, they almost broke my grandma's vase! We said this would be a small thing."
"Word may have spread a little faster than I expected, but it's okay because it'll look good on camera." Cara says before her gaze flickers over to Taylor, who is still unashamedly admiring the tall blonde. "Excuse Karlie, she's always got a stick up her ass."
"Your mom likes me, though." Karlie shoots back at Cara, brushing right past Taylor without sparing her a single glance.
"Well she does have a thing for deadbeat drummers with bad judgement and awful social skills." Cara shrugs nonchalantly.
Karlie just scoffs and takes a seat behind the impressive looking drum set that Taylor hadn't even noticed until now. The tall blonde sits behind it like it's a throne, and maybe for her it is. She twirls her drumsticks between long, nimble fingers, making it look effortless despite the complexity of it, and then proceeds to produce a steady and unbelievably catchy beat. All it takes is a few taps of her sticks, and suddenly she has everyone in the room subconsciously nodding along to the beat of the drums. After her warmup is completely, Karlie sits her drumsticks down and then starts to fiddle with the cymbals on her kit.
Taylor doesn't get formally introduced to Karlie. The girl seems completely engrossed in her drum kit, and by the time she's finished the show is about to start. She and Selena get to stand with Annie and Derek on the side, away from the crowds that start to flood into the basement. Derek is an informal member of the band, in charge of taking promotional photographs and videos for the band's social media outlets. Apparently they're a little bigger than even Selena had known.
The show is hectic and loud, but not nearly as overwhelming as the scene upstairs had been. The instruments are loud, Toni Garrn's voice is beautiful, and Karlie Kloss is the foundation of it all. Taylor always thought that the vocalist was the frontrunner. The most popular, the songwriter, and the glue that holds the band together. But Karlie's drumming demands attention. Taylor doesn't know much about drums, but she knows that what Karlie does is amazing. She knows that Karlie is good. Too good to be limited to an obscure local band, too good to not be on the world stage. The band is titled Klossy, a true homage to Karlie's leadership role, and their original songs are better than Taylor expected. They're rough around the edges but Taylor, who has been writing songs since she was six, can appreciate the talent anyway.
What stands out the most is the dynamic that the band members have. They all seem to thoroughly enjoy what they do, save for Toni who looks a little out of it for most of the set. She sings beautifully but Taylor can tell that her heart isn't in it. She can tell that she's not the only one who notices, either. During a short intermission, Taylor can see Karlie pull Toni aside for a talk. The talk turns into what looks to be a heated discussion, and Toni ends up walking off with her nose in the air and an exasperated Jourdan following behind her to remedy the situation.
"If she's not back in time for the second half of the set then I'm done with her." Taylor overhears the words leave Karlie's mouth, aimed at a displeased Cara. Apparently Cara shares Karlie's frustration, and the two talk in heated whispers while Taylor, Selena, Annie and Derek look on. Annie and Derek don't look all that surprised, but Selena is as clueless as Taylor.
"What's wrong with Toni?" Selena asks Annie, who shrugs tiredly.
"She and Karlie hate each other, plus she's starting to slack off, which makes Cara mad. Jourdan's trying to fix it because she's closer to Toni than the rest of us, but it's not looking good." Derek answers the question, and Annie shoots him a grateful look. She looks like she's tired of the entire thing, leaving Taylor to wonder how long this has been going on.
"Why do she and Karlie hate each other?" Taylor asks.
Derek and Annie exchange a weighted look, and then Annie clears her throat and shrugs again. "Let's just say that sex between band members shouldn't happen."
"Karlie and Toni had sex? Ew." Selena's nose wrinkles in disgust, and for some reason Taylor finds herself agreeing. They're both undeniably beautiful but the thought of them doing anything sexual makes her stomach turn.
"It was just sex to Karlie, but Toni wants more." Derek murmurs.
"Bands have broken up over less." Annie adds, the worry evident on her face.
There are murmured agreements but they quiet down when Karlie and Cara join them. People who had gone upstairs for bathroom and smoke breaks are starting to return, and the second half of the set is almost upon them. Toni is nowhere in sight, and when Jourdan comes back without her a sense of doom hangs over the group.
"Where the hell is she?" Cara spits out.
"She fucking left!" Jourdan looks like she's at the end of her rope. "I said we still had a set and she said 'fuck the band'."
"I'll kill her." Karlie looks ready to bolt upstairs, but Annie grabs the back of her sweaty shirt and keeps her in place.
"We're already one member short, we need you here." Annie is obviously the voice of reason in this dysfunctional group.
"We can't play without Toni! We have to cancel anyway." Karlie says through gritted teeth.
"We can't cancel, there's too many people here." Derek shakes his head.
"How the fuck are we going to play without our vocalist?" Cara looks like she's about to punch something, and Karlie doesn't look far behind.
Everyone is quiet for a long beat, and then Selena nudges Taylor in the ribs with her elbow. Taylor winces at the sharp pain, and is about to ask Selena what her problem is but the words die in her throat when her best friend opens her mouth.
"Taylor sings!"
Every eye lands on Taylor despite the fact that the words left Selena's mouth. She gapes at her friend, who has literally just thrown her to the wolves, and just stands there in a stunned stupor while Karlie Kloss's intense green eyes take her in for the first time. She doesn't look convinced at all.
"We're not playing anything off the Top 40." She says, already dismissing Taylor as an option. It rubs Taylor the wrong way, and in that moment Karlie Kloss isn't all that attractive to her. She hates when people judge her based off of how she looks. She hates being written off as something generic.
"I know a few songs." Taylor says, interrupting Karlie's next words. "I can't learn your original work in time but I know a few classics by heart."
"Yeah?" Karlie laughs, still not taking her seriously. "Like what?"
Taylor lists every song that she can think of from all sorts of bands that are similar in style to Klossy's. Blondie, Joan Jett, The White Stripes, The Wombats, and anything else that comes to mind. Karlie's mocking smile has long since fallen away, and even Selena looks surprised by Taylor's list.
"Have you performed in front of people before?" Jourdan asks, her voice now laced with excitement.
"Do middle school talent shows count?"
The three band members exchange heavy looks, and then Karlie nods minutely. "For tonight, yes."
The next thing Taylor knows, she's suddenly being prepped to go up and perform in front of what is easily eighty or so people. She borrows one of Jourdan's band tees since they're of similar height, but when Toni's rhythm guitar is handed to her she hesitates.
"Can you play?" Karlie asks.
"I can but it wouldn't sound good. I don't know chords by heart." Taylor admits, wondering if this will ruin everything. Karlie shrugs, takes the guitar out of Taylor's hands, and puts it in Annie's. Cara's girlfriend doesn't look phased at all, and it's apparent that this isn't the first time that she's filled in as rhythm guitarist.
It's all whirlwind for Taylor. She's scared shitless for the next half hour and she's pretty sure everyone can tell. The crowd is confused when she's standing in Toni's place, with the leader singer nowhere in sight, but everything is forgiven when nostalgic favorites are played. Taylor tries her best, and luckily she doesn't forget any words and doesn't fall flat on her face. She finds comfort in the sound of Selena's cheering, the crowd's rowdiness, and Karlie's drumming.
She sweats through the shirt that Jourdan loaned her, and by the time the second half of the set is finished her voice is a little hoarse, but at least she helped. At least she got up the courage to go out and do it in front of complete strangers.
Cara loudly closes them out, which is usually Toni's job, and she makes sure the entire crowd knows Taylor's name before they sign off. Derek and Annie start to direct people back up the stairs. It's their job to make sure everyone clears out without leaving anything broken or stolen, and it leaves Taylor and Selena down in the basement with the rest of the band.
"You were fucking awesome!" Cara enthuses loudly, looking as if she can hardly believe it. "I didn't know you had it in you. I mean, I wasn't a bitch about it like Karlie but I still had my doubts."
Taylor laughs softly at that, and then her eyes land on Karlie when the tall blonde nudges Cara aside. Taylor looks up at her, waiting for an apology, and she is not disappointed. Karlie rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, and Taylor can almost see her swallowing her pride.
"Cara's right. You were great. More than great, actually. The crowd loved you, and you didn't have to do this for us, so thanks for being cool. Also, I'm sorry for misjudging you earlier. That wasn't cool of me, and you were just trying to help."
Taylor stands there in a stunned stupor for a moment. In truth, she didn't pay attention to a word that Karlie said, because she had been far too busy staring at the girl's lips. Karlie Kloss has a face made for magazines, and Taylor can do nothing but gape like a moron.
"Um..." She clears her throat quickly, panicking a little when she sees that Karlie expects a response in return. "It's okay?"
Karlie's green eyes light up a little, and there's a mischievous spark in there somewhere, but she just gives Taylor one more appreciative smile and turns away. Karlie looks discernibly smug while she does so, and Taylor can't help but think that the girl knows something that she does not.
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Karlie is curious about Taylor Swift, but she hardly has the time to give the girl a second thought because she's too busy trying to keep her band from falling apart. They call an emergency meeting the day after the party, and when Toni shows up you can practically feel the frigid tension in the air. Karlie can hardly look at her without wanting to lash out, and the only thing that keeps Cara grounded is Annie.
Sometimes Karlie is jealous of her best friend. Jealous of the connection that she and Annie share. It's almost as if they are both on the same wavelength, and Karlie has yet to find something like that with anyone. She thought she could have found it in Toni, but she had been sorely mistaken.
"I assume we all know why we're here." Karlie says as she looks around at the people who make up this band. Annie and Derek are in attendance because they've been here since the beginning. Just because they don't perform doesn't mean they aren't in the band.
"Yeah, Toni's a cunt. Nothing new." Cara grumbles.
"Fuck you, Cara. Every time Karlie and I have an argument I'm suddenly the bad guy. Why is Karlie never the bad one, huh?"
"Because she didn't leave in the middle of our fucking set last night! You bailed on us when we needed you, and if it were up to me we would've already started packing your shit up." Cara shoots back vehemently.
"I'm sick of the band. No one listens to my ideas, my songs don't get played, and I'm not appreciated." Toni folds her arms across her chest petulantly.
A quiet falls over the group, and Karlie turns her head and glances at her other two bandmates. They both give her similar looks, and it's all the approval that she needs.
"You're always late to practice, the songs you want us to sing are awful or have zero stage appeal, and it's obvious that you our band's dynamic is suffering with your negative energy. We're sick of you, too, so I guess we can go our separate ways." Karlie shrugs, ignoring the sting of sorrow in her chest. The smug look on Toni's face has completely disappeared, and part of Karlie wishes she could take her words back, but she knows she won't.
"We've put our blood, sweat and tears into this band, and we're not going to let you ruin it. So pack up your shit and go." Karlie adds.
"You can't...you can't just kick me out!" Toni stammers indignantly, her bravado all but gone.
"This is my house. I let you guys live here rent free because anyone in the band is family. You're not in the band anymore, and I don't like freeloaders." Karlie gets to her feet, suddenly in desperate need for a drink and her drums. "Don't take anything that you didn't pay for."
With those parting words, Karlie walks out of the living room and heads out back. She stops in the kitchen to grab the bottle of Jack Daniels that she keeps on top of the fridge, and she doesn't even bother grabbing a glass before stepping out onto the patio. She sits down on one of the lounging chairs and kicks up her feet, twisting the cap off of the bottle and then taking a large swig of it. It burns going down but Karlie has long since grown accustomed to the harsh taste. It used to taste like rubbing alcohol to her, but now she craves the burn. It makes her forget her troubles, at least for the time being. Now she's got to figure out what she's going to do with a band that has no vocalist and no rhythm guitar. She hopes she'll find the answer at the bottom of this bottle.
She's four swigs in when the back door slides open and Derek walks out. He looks exhausted, and Karlie figures that they all must be. It takes a few days to recover from intense parties, plus they've all been stressed over the Toni situation. Sleep had not come easy last night.
"Long day," Derek sighs as he sits in the seat next to Karlie's.
"Yeah."
"Are you gonna share that?" Derek nods towards the Jack Daniels.
"Nope."
Derek nods understandingly, and silence falls between them for a moment. Karlie takes one more sip, sighs, and then hands the bottle over to Derek. They finish half of the bottle off by passing it back and forth, and when Karlie starts to feel the warm buzzing in her chest, she twists the cap back on.
"What the hell are we gonna do, Derek?"
"Find a new vocalist."
Karlie snorts at the answer. As if anything is ever that simple for them, or for any other band. "And how are we going to do that?"
"We already did."
Karlie gives Derek a weird look, wondering if it's the alcohol that's preventing him from making sense. She's about to open her mouth and ask him what he means, but then her mind sluggishly flashes back to last night. Cara's friends. Selena and Taylor. The blonde who surprisingly had a set of pipes on her, and could hold her own on stage despite the fact that she was definitely out of her element.
"She's not exactly the rocker type." Karlie murmurs, still unsure about the whole thing. She appreciates Taylor coming to their rescue when they were in a tight spot, but that had been temporary. Just something to get them through last night's show.
"Exactly, she brings something fresh to the table. She's got that All-American varsity cheer captain thing going on. It's a little frightening but she seems nice enough. At least ask her." Derek presses her.
Karlie purses her lips and contemplates her friend's words for a moment. She can't find anything wrong with Derek's logic, so she just nods and stares up at the clouds overhead. "Alright, I'll ask her." She relents.
"Cool." Derek gets to his feet, swaying a little from the alcohol. "Oh, one more thing."
"What?"
"If she does agree to join the band, for the love of God, don't fuck her. Don't even think about fucking her. In fact, you don't even think she's attractive, got it?"
"She's my type." Karlie smirks.
"Inter-band relationships don't work. Just look at The White Stripes, Fleetwood Mac, Smashing Pumpkins, and so on. It's the forbidden fruit, Karls. Don't eat it, it's not worth it."
"Alright, alright." Karlie waves a dismissive hand.
"Say you won't fuck Taylor Swift if she joins the band."
"I won't fuck Taylor Swift if she joins the band."
"Swear on the rock gods." Derek continues.
"Derek..."
"Swear on them."
"Fuck. I swear on the rock gods, okay? Will you fuck off now?"
Derek nods and then walks back into the house, leaving Karlie alone with her brooding thoughts. She may have promised her friend that she would put an end to the inter-band relationships, but she's still curious about Taylor Swift, and she doesn't think that will change.
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Taylor doesn't know how it happens, but she ends up staying in Massachusetts for the beginning of her summer break. Karlie and her bandmates reach out to her and ask her to be their new vocalist, and some irrational voice in her head tells her to do it. It'll give her something to do for the summer, she tells herself, but she knows that this isn't just some typical summer job. This is a fulltime commitment, and she can't just quit when classes start up again in the fall. She tells herself that she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it, and she ends up moving into Toni's old room for the summer. Selena goes home to Texas as planned, but even she is set to return to Massachusetts in late June to assist the band by taking control of their social media outlets. With a major in Communications, that sort of thing is right up Selena's alley. Taylor still isn't sure when she and Selena went from simple partygoers to full-fledged members of the band, but it's the most exciting thing that's ever happened in her life.
The first week is strange. Karlie, Cara, and Jourdan are up all night and asleep for most of the morning. Getting up before noon is an accomplishment and none of them seem to know how to upkeep a house. Taylor, whose sleeping schedule is still relatively normal, spends most the first few days cleaning up the house that Karlie's grandfather left her in his will. It's a beautiful house when you wipe away the grime and pick up the liquor bottles, and one day Karlie mentions how different looks.
"What's that smell?" Karlie's mouth is stuffed with Chinese food, but etiquette doesn't seem to exist in this band either.
"Bleach and other cleaning supplies." Taylor says as she breaks apart her second egg roll and hands half of it to a grateful looking Cara.
"You cleaned?" Jourdan looks stunned.
Taylor nods, not really giving the situation much thought. She hates seeing dirty things, plus it's not like she had much else to do with her morning. She lives here rent free, so a few chores doesn't seem like much. Karlie, however, looks moved. She's staring at Taylor with a peculiar look on her face, and she clears her throat lightly after swallowing her food.
"Thanks for that. You didn't have to." She mumbles, sounding uncharacteristically bashful. "You're here to sing, not to clean."
"It's okay, I didn't mind." Taylor smiles widely, and Karlie matches it with a lopsided grin of her own.
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They have a paid gig to play on June 15th. Apparently those are hard to come by, and they spend a week and a half preparing. Taylor also spends a significant amount of time with Karlie as the two of them put their heads together to write new material. They have varying styles when it comes to songwriting, but neither of them are too proud to listen to what the other has to say. Karlie treats her like an equal despite the fact that this is her band and her dream. She doesn't write Taylor off as some lost cause who's better off with her nose in a book. Taylor has creative freedom, and she takes advantage of it.
"Alright so I was thinking something like..." Karlie trails off and starts to tap on her cymbals, nodding along to the made up beat. When she finishes, she twirls her drumsticks absentmindedly and then looks to Taylor for approval. "Something like that for the bridge that you wrote. I mean it's obviously rough but we can flesh it out."
Taylor nods, chewing on the cap of her pen as she continues to jot down potential choruses for this untitled song that they've been working on for a week. They want to unveil it at their gig but at this rate Taylor doubts it'll be finished. Karlie insists that there is no rush but Taylor still wants to get it finished within a timely manner. Apparently new material has been hard to come by as of late due to the tension between Toni and the rest of the band. Toni and Karlie had been the primary songwriters, and now the torch has passed on to Taylor.
While Taylor continues to scribble out words, Karlie starts to freestyle on the drums. It's something that she does often, most likely to keep her muscles loose and to pass the time, and Taylor actually finds comfort in the steady beat that she produces. She makes sure not to look over at Karlie unless she has to, though. Living with the band is a lot different than Taylor thought it would, especially since she grew up without sisters in her house. Apparently walking around with nothing on is commonplace here, and Karlie doesn't like wearing a shirt. She prefers sports bras and shorts in the summer, especially when she's drumming, and Taylor is still getting used to that. She doesn't think she ever will.
Cara and Jourdan do it too but it's different, for some unfathomable reason. Maybe because Taylor's not necessarily attracted to them. They're beautiful, of course, but there's just something different about Karlie. The way she carries herself is attractive all in itself, and then when you take her actual physical appearance in account you're a complete goner.
Taylor gets lost in her thoughts, and her eyes accidentally flicker up and glance in Karlie's direction. She catches sight of tan arms and a long swanlike neck, and then she quickly averts her eyes before lowering to Karlie's barely covered chest.
Taylor knows that crushing on a bandmate is probably one of the dumbest things you can do, but she tells herself that it's okay because the actions will never be acted upon. She heavily doubts that someone like Karlie Kloss would want anything to do with anyone like her. Karlie probably likes confident, no-nonsense girls. Girls who can knock back a bottle of whiskey and clear a bong in the same go. Girls like Toni Garrn.
The thought leaves a bitter taste in Taylor's mouth, and she turns back to her writing with a sour feeling twisting in her stomach.
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The gig on the 15th is Taylor's first real performance with the band, and she's a nervous wreck for most of it. When she's on stage it's easy to forget about the people that are in the crowd because the overhead lights reduce them to moving silhouettes, but the cheers and applause don't go unheard. Taylor's denim shorts are so small that she's pretty sure her ass is hanging out, and the tight Cheap Trick crop top that she's wearing is sticking to her like a second skin. It's the most skin she's ever exposed in public, and her father would probably blow a gasket if he knew, but Taylor is starting to embrace her body. At first glance, it would almost look as if Taylor fit in with the demographic of the band, but Cara insists that she still has that Malibu Barbie look about her.
The whole band takes a shot of Jack before the show, and when their set is over they stick around and have a few more. Annie disappears to go collect their pay from the club owner, and they all swarm the bar while they wait for her to return. Annie is kind of like the mom of the group, despite the fact that she and Taylor are the youngest ones at the age of twenty. Taylor technically shouldn't even be allowed to drink, but the guy tending the bar doesn't even ask her for identification. He just smiles admiringly, tells her she has a pretty voice, and sits her shot of tequila right in front of her while declaring that it's on the house.
Taylor, who's already two shots in, knocks her tequila back without much of a hitch. It hasn't hit her yet, but she knows that when it does she'll be screwed. She's much more of a wine person, but this definitely isn't the kind of place that sells it. Taylor decides to take it easy on the alcohol after that, and just sits back and talks with Jourdan and Derek while Cara and Karlie race one another to see who can consume more shots of Fireball whiskey.
Derek is the only one among them who hasn't had a drop of alcohol, and that's because he's driving them all back to the house to make sure they get there safe and sound. There's always one designated driver, and it's usually Derek or Annie.
By the time Annie gets back, Cara and Karlie have cleared almost an entire bottle of whiskey between themselves. They're both drunk, and Cara wraps her arms around Annie to prevent herself from falling. Taylor thinks that Derek is going to be the one to help Karlie to the car, so she's surprised when Karlie leans against her instead.
"I won." Karlie flashes a crooked grin as she drapes an arm around Taylor's unsuspecting shoulders.
"Congratulations, you're going to feel it in the morning." Taylor laughs and wraps an arm around Karlie's waist to keep the taller girl steady on her feet.
"Mm, nope. I don't get hungover."
"That's a lie, right?"
"Nooope, I really don't. Body of steel."
Taylor rolls her eyes and then starts to move them both towards the exit, trailing behind the rest of the band. They all pile into the large van that they use for road shows, and it's a tight squeeze because of the equipment taking up the entirety of the back. Taylor ducks her head and ends up having to sit on Karlie's lap because there's just no space, and she tries not to think about her compromising position while Derek puts the key in the ignition.
"We need a bigger van," Annie grumbles as she wrestles Cara's seatbelt on for her.
"A few more shows like this and maybe we can afford one." Taylor says while she tries to find a comfortable position on Karlie's lap. There are murmured agreements, and then Derek turns the radio on and starts to drive. There's less talk on the drive home than there was on the way to the gig. Jourdan falls asleep with her face pressed up against the window, Cara and Annie are talking quietly amongst themselves, and Karlie is uncharacteristically quiet.
"Did you think the show went alright?" Taylor asks her, just trying to start up light conversation because it's awkward sitting on the girl's lap and saying nothing at all.
"Yeah, it was good. You really held your own." Karlie's words only slur a little, which is impressive when you take into account how much she drank.
"You think so?" Taylor's voice is laced with doubt.
"Yeah. You fit right in."
It's the best compliment that Karlie could ever give her, and Taylor smiles softly for the entire ride home.
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Taylor cuts her hair in July. Selena, who has been back in Massachusetts for a week or so, helps her with the tedious process of chopping off her long blonde curls. It ends up turning into a huge deal for the band, and they all obnoxiously cheer every time another piece is snipped off by Selena's practiced hands. It's a two hour process, and when it's finished Taylor hardly recognizes herself.
"Oh god, this is so weird." She breathes out as she looks at herself in the mirror. Her hair now stops an inch or so above her shoulders, and she's surprised at how good it looks. She had always thought that she didn't have the facial features to pull off a shorter look, but she doesn't mind this at all.
"You look hot," Selena declares, looking and sounding like a proud mom. There are loud agreements from the others, and Taylor smiles bashfully and ducks her head, unused to the barrage of compliments. She's always considered herself as someone who is 'cute', and maybe even pretty if the truth was being stretched, but she's never considered herself as someone who was capable of being 'hot'. Maybe things are changing.
Everyone files out of the upstairs bathroom soon after that, bickering amongst themselves about what to order for dinner tonight. Taylor thinks that she is alone once she hears everyone going downstairs, but her assumption is cast aside when she hears a throat clear.
She takes her eyes away from the large mirror hanging over the bathroom sink and glances towards the door. Karlie, who had been observing the proceedings silently from the back, is still leaning up against the wooden doorframe. Her sweatpants are hanging low on her lips and the muscle shirt she has on has their band's name stamped on the front.
There's a strange look on Karlie's face, and Taylor has trouble placing it. She's about to just come out and ask Karlie what's wrong, but the girl opens her mouth before she can formulate the words.
"You look nice." Her voice is soft and calculated, and there is a strange glimmer in her eyes. "Really nice, actually."
"Thank you." Taylor smiles widely, pleasantly surprised by the compliment. They're not easy to come by where Karlie is concerned. The girl always seems so unimpressed with everything happening around her, so to get a genuine compliment means a lot.
"I didn't think I could pull it off." Taylor admits.
"It looks great. You've got a nice...face." Karlie's face heats up when she trips over her words, and she clears her throat uncomfortably. Taylor just smiles again, although this time with confusion marring her features, and then watches as Karlie mumbles a soft curse and walks out of the bathroom.
Taylor stands there on her own for a while, trying to put some sense behind the weird interaction she just had with the drummer, but no plausible explanation is within reach.
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They're playing at a pool party in Boston, a two hour drive away from home, and it feels like just another gig to them. They're getting paid decently for their time, and it's a little exhilarating to know that people in Boston have heard about them. They all don bikini tops and shorts because it's one of the hottest days of the summer, and nothing out of the ordinary occurs. They introduce themselves, Taylor tells a joke that is so awful that it warrants laughter, and then they play a couple songs for the partygoers. What comes after is different, though. They're packing up their equipment, preparing to load it back into their van for the ride home, and then a guy approaches them out of the blue. He's soaking wet and donning a pair of swim trunks, most likely having just climbed out of the large pool that dominates most of the backyard, but he looks determined as he waves to catch their attention.
He introduces himself as Josh Kushner, and proceeds to tell them that he works for Geffen Records, a big record label based in New York City. They don't take him seriously at first, because people are always coming up to them and talking about starting up record companies, but when he hands over a business card things start to fall into place. Karlie passes the card to Cara, who passes it Jourdan, and then the card gets to Taylor. She looks down at it with a skeptical eye, trying to see if it's the real deal or not.
"I'm not a talent scout, but I know some people. We're always looking for new bands that have the classic grunge sound, while putting a fresh and modern spin on it. You guys have that, and I think my bosses would like to hear it."
"Could you give us a moment?" Annie chimes in. Josh nods understandingly and proceeds to wait patiently while Taylor and the rest of the band huddle together.
"Is this guy serious?" Jourdan whispers.
"He looks serious, and his card looks legitimate. Do you guys know how many legends were signed to Geffen?" Cara's voice is already laced with excitement. She's the volatile one of the group, always ready to jump in feet first without thinking things through.
"What are the odds, though? We almost didn't take this gig because we didn't want to make the drive, and now we get this break?" Karlie shakes her head in disbelief. "I don't buy it."
"Save the brooding rocker cynicism for another day, Kloss. We've been waiting for this for how long?" Cara's voice has taken on a serious edge, which is strange considering how carefree she typically is.
"Three years." Karlie sighs.
"Right, three years. Three years of building this band up, three years of hearing our parents say that this shit is a dead end. That we're not good enough. And now we're staring opportunity in the face and you want to bail?"
Every eye turns to Karlie, who truly is their leader, and they all wait. Taylor silently prays that Karlie will make the right choice, and for a second their eyes meet. Taylor nods minutely, hoping that it will tip the scales, and it does.
Karlie lets out a long, exhausted sigh and then gives a resolute nod of her head. "Okay, fine."
They take Josh's business card, and take his words at face value. Derek swaps email accounts with him so that he can send Josh videos for him to show the higher-ups, and then they all part ways. Josh goes back to enjoying the pool party, and Taylor and her bandmates finish packing up their equipment.
On the drive home, all they can talk about is how their pipe dream might not be so crazy after all, and later that night, Taylor dreams of New York.
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A week passes by with no word from Josh Kushner. The band continues to practice and write and set up shows, but they grow disheartened with every passing day. Taylor's sleep schedule is still a lot better than her bandmates', and she wakes up on a Friday morning with a weird feeling. She doesn't know what it is, and she tries to ignore it as she gets up and starts her day. She stumbles out of her room and locks herself in the upstairs bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, and then she migrates downstairs to put tea on the stove. It's only a little past nine, so the house is still quiet. Her bandmates don't wake up until one, and that's on a good day, so she basically has the house to herself until then.
She turns the living room TV on, boots up her laptop, and puts a kettle on the stove. She has a steaming hot cup of tea ten minutes later, and sits down on the large leather sectional that dominates a good portion of the living room. She flicks through the channels absentmindedly, not really in the mood to watch much of anything, and ends up just Good Morning America. She lowers the volume until it's little more than background noise, and then she pulls her laptop onto her lap and begins to browse through the band's social media outlets. They have a pretty decent Twitter and Facebook following, but Selena is starting to build their Instagram account up in preparation of advertising band merchandise.
It's just another normal Friday morning, but when she hears a throat clear and feels a dip in the couch, she almost spills her tea on her laptop's keyboard.
"Jesus Christ!" Taylor pushes her laptop aside just to be safe, and then leans over and sits her mug of tea down while Karlie chuckles. "You scared the hell out of me!"
"You didn't hear me in the kitchen?" Karlie holds up her bowl of cereal, raising two expressive eyebrows in the process.
"No. Why are you even up? The sun hasn't set yet."
Karlie laughs at the joke, and just shrugs while shoveling a huge spoonful of cereal into her mouth. "Couldn't sleep." She mumbles.
"Thinking about the Josh thing?"
"Yeah. We should've heard back from him by now, right?"
"I don't know how those things work." Taylor says lowly, trailing off for a moment. "But...I assume a company that big gets flooded with people who claim they're the next big thing. Maybe we got lost in the pile."
"That's bullshit. We deserve this."
Taylor smiles sadly, shrugging her shoulders noncommittally. "Everyone thinks they deserve something. Josh seemed like a genuine guy, though. Give him time."
Karlie nods dejectedly, and then kicks her feet up on the coffee table and glues her eyes to the TV screen. Taylor goes back to drinking her tea, and they sit there in companionable silence for a while.
"I don't know if I've ever told you, but...I'm really glad you joined the band. Things weren't looking good after Toni left and I thought I had thrown three years of my life down the drain so...thanks. For being cool, I mean."
"You think I'm cool?" Taylor's certain that she has misheard.
"Yes," Karlie laughs. "Very cool. We needed someone like you and I'm glad you came along. Plus you're exactly hard to look at, either."
Taylor rolls her eyes at the suggestive joke, and ends up knocking Karlie on the shoulder because she's too shy to say much else. A few more minutes pass, and Taylor silently berates herself for not complimenting Karlie in return. Nowadays it feels as if Karlie is always saying something nice to her, and Taylor is far too meek to step up and say something back.
"You're pretty too." The words are quiet and timid, but at least Taylor managed to say them out loud this time round. "And really cool."
Karlie flashes a toothy grin, probably the widest that Taylor has seen from the drummer, and then she turns back to the TV.
"I know, but thanks."
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Josh Kushner vouches for them personally, and Karlie feels bad for doubting him when he tells them the good news. Apparently Josh is a lot more important than he had previously let on, and a quick search on Google shows that his dad is one of the current chairs of the label. Josh gets their band videos to his father, and his father must've been impressed because he flies the band down to New York to play a show. It's undoubtedly the biggest gig of their life, playing for a group of record label higher-ups and their friends at a popular New York club.
Karlie, who has long since stopped getting nervous before shows, has to drink two shots just to calm her nerves and loosen up. In fact, Taylor seems to be the only one who isn't scared shitless. She is their voice of reason for the entire flight down to New York, and she keeps them all grounded right up until show time.
They put on the performance of their life. Karlie, Cara and Jourdan have been together for almost four years, but they've never been more in sync than they are that night. They perform two new songs, both written by Taylor, and when their set is finished they get a standing ovation.
Karlie doesn't know what happens next, because this is all new territory for her, but the band mutually agrees to be on their best behavior in the presence of these important people. After a gig they would usually head straight for the bar, but instead they just focus on packing up their equipment and pretending to look busy until someone approaches them. Luckily, they don't have to wait long.
"You guys were great." Josh's eyes are wild with excitement, as if he's the one who has just finished performing on stage. "Everyone loved it, and we'd love it if you guys stuck around for a few days. Come by and check out headquarters and things like that."
Relief pools in Karlie's stomach immediately, but it quickly dissipates when Josh talks about staying in the city for a few days.
"We don't really have the money for a hotel..." She points out.
"We'll pay, of course. You guys are under our wing while you're here, we take care of our own."
Our own.
No offers have been made and no contracts have been signed, but it's definitely a good sign. It's definitely a step forward, and Karlie just nods and then turns to celebrate with her friends while Josh walks off to make the necessary arrangements.
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Everyone gets drunk that night in the comfort of their swanky hotel suite. Taylor only has two small drinks because she wants to keep her wits about her, and she's surprised when she notices that she's not the only one taking it easy tonight. Karlie only has three beers, which might as well be nothing, and the drummer just sits back and watches as their bandmates get shitfaced. Taylor keeps a close eye on Selena, who has a tendency to throw up before passing out, but her best friend seems to be in good company beside Annie and Cara.
Music is blaring from the expensive entertainment system in the sitting area of the suite, and everything is suddenly far too loud for Taylor's liking. You'd think she'd be used to it by now, but sometimes she just needs some peace and quiet. Both are hard to come by in a band like this, and Taylor decides to go out on the balcony while she nurses her third drink. The hotel that Josh's father put them up in is a nice one, and it has a perfect view of the New York City skyline. Taylor leans against the railing of the balcony and stares up at the night stars, not even caring about how sticky the air is with humidity. She sips at her drink slowly, and almost spills it when she hears someone else step out onto the balcony.
"It's hot out here." Karlie murmurs, frowning in distaste as she pulls her hair back into a messy bun.
"It's quiet out here, too." Taylor adds.
"Do you want me to tell them to shut up? Because I will."
"No, let them have their fun. We've earned it, right?"
"I guess." Karlie's shoulder brushes against Taylor's as she leans against the railing. "I'm not really in the drinking mood, though."
"That's a first." Taylor teases softly.
"I want to explore the city." Karlie admits.
"Right now?"
"Yeah."
Taylor is quiet for a moment, and then she glances out at the skyline again. She hears that the city can be dangerous at night, but she knows that Karlie would keep her safe if need be. She knows that they'll be fine out there, and it'd only be for an hour or so.
"Let's go." Taylor says, reaching out to grab ahold of Karlie's arm.
"Seriously?" Karlie smiles slowly as Taylor starts to drag her back towards the door that leads back into the hotel room. Taylor nods excitedly, and they end up walking back into the sitting room hand-in-hand.
"We're going for a walk, don't trash this place while we're gone." Karlie announces, raising her voice so that it can be heard over the music. They don't get much of a response, save for a 'be safe!' from Annie, and suddenly Taylor finds herself walking down to the lobby with Karlie by her side.
New York City seems more alive at night than it is in the day. She and Karlie keep close to make sure they're not separated, and they end up exploring for quite a while. Taylor takes pictures with her phone, and Karlie steers the conversation effortlessly.
"My sisters are going to be so jealous when I tell them about this." Karlie says as she sips at the cup of coffee that she snagged from a little café that they passed.
"You have sisters?"
"Mhm, three of them. The twins are three years younger than me but I have an older sister too."
"Where are they?"
"Back home in St. Louis. That's where I'm from, but I moved up here when my granddad died because he left me a house."
"You don't miss it? St. Louis, I mean?" Taylor's never really gotten a chance to see what lies underneath Karlie's beautiful and cold exterior, and she's desperate to learn more.
"Hell no," Karlie scoffs indignantly. "I hated that place. Small town, small minds, and nothing but dead ends. Massachusetts has been good to me, but New York is the goal."
"I've always wanted to live in New York." Taylor admits, her shoulder brushing against Karlie's arm as they prepare to cross the street. "I love Pennsylvania but I don't think there's anything left for me there." They're quiet for a long while, letting the silence fall over them while they walk and take in the city lights.
"So are you happy with the band?" Karlie asks after tossing her empty coffee cup in a nearby trashcan.
"Of course, you guys have become my closest friends."
Karlie ducks her head for a moment, her shoulders sagging a little before she breathes out a quick sigh. "Good, I just thought I'd ask. Can't have you getting unhappy and bailing one day."
"I'm not Toni."
They share a laugh, but then a weird look flashes across Karlie's face, and the moment is gone. "Yeah, I guess you're not. You work hard, and you actually care about the band. Toni just cared about me, and when she couldn't have that she stopped focusing on the music."
It's the first time that Taylor has heard Karlie talk about Toni. The former vocalist is kind of a taboo subject among the band now, and she's not often alluded to anymore. Taylor can sense a serious conversation looming on the horizon, though, and she's determined to face it head on.
"So you two dated?" Taylor inquires softly, knowing that she needs to tread lightly on this sensitive topic.
"Not really. We had a lot of sex, and we had a good connection for a while. But she always wanted more."
"You didn't?"
"I'm not built for healthy relationships. I love sex, because I'm good at it and it's great, but anything else is just out of my league. She didn't get that." Karlie fidgets nervously while Taylor scrutinizes her, and it's the first time that Taylor has seen the drummer so vulnerable.
"I get it."
Taylor purposefully avoids Karlie's intense stare for as long as humanly possible, but eventually her blue eyes glance up at the drummer. She's not prepared for the look that Karlie is giving her. It makes her knees shake, and she feels the arousal tug at the bottom of her stomach mercilessly. Dark green eyes bear down on her relentlessly, and Taylor wonders when they had stopped walking. She hadn't even noticed until now, and suddenly there are far too few people around them. They are practically alone on this quiet New York sidewalk.
"Do you?" Karlie murmurs as she shuffles a little closer.
Taylor barely has time to breathe out an affirmation, because suddenly Karlie's mouth is on hers. She tastes like black coffee and temptation, bitter and sweet all in one, and Taylor feels as if her chest is about to cave in because of how fast her heart is beating. Karlie demands attention in all things, and that extends to kissing. She holds Taylor in place by keeping a firm hand on the back of her neck, and her other hand gets lost in Taylor's blonde tresses. Karlie's tongue seems to be everywhere at once, and Taylor takes a shuttering breath through her nose when Karlie bites on her lower lip and tugs at it teasingly.
It's probably indecent to be making out in public, but they do it anyway. They lean up against whatever can support them, which just so happens to be someone's car, and they get lost in one another for quite some time. Taylor's body presses up against Karlie's, and her legs start to shake when one of Karlie's legs slips between Taylor's. A powerful thigh presses against the stifling heat that is building up at the apex of Taylor's legs, and for a moment Taylor thinks she's going to fall. The only thing that prevents her from doing so is Karlie's strong hold on her.
Taylor starts to move her hips against Karlie's thigh, and she doesn't even truly notice her actions until she feels Karlie's hands grasp at her hips. For a second she thinks that Karlie is trying to stop her, but a laugh bubbles up when she notices that Karlie is just trying to encourage her to move a little faster. To press against her thigh a little harder.
Taylor doesn't know what sets the car alarm off. Maybe Karlie's knee bumps against the front hood too hard, or maybe it's the fact that they are kind of dry humping against it, but it scares the shit out of her nonetheless. She lets out a surprised yelp when the car's alarm pierces through the heated moment, and suddenly she is being pulled away from it by Karlie.
"What do we do?!" Taylor asks as she looks around anxiously, half-expecting a SWAT team to appear out of nowhere.
"Run." Karlie laughs, tugging on Taylor's hand quickly.
They run for an entire block, and they hardly slow down even when they're out of earshot of the blaring car alarm. Taylor notices that they are heading back in the direction of the hotel, and she silently ponders what that kiss between her and Karlie means. She wonders if it changes anything, and then she immediately chastises herself.
Of course it doesn't change anything. Karlie made sure to stress the fact that she doesn't do relationships, and that sex is just sex, so why would a kiss be weighted heavily? There had been a point in time where Taylor wouldn't give Karlie Kloss the light of day after learning about her whimsical outlook on sexual relationships, but a lot about Taylor has changed recently. She's always been raised to think that sex had to be about love and nothing else, but maybe sex can just be about mutual attraction and a desire for passion. She doesn't see what's wrong with putting sex before love, not anymore at least.
When they get back to their hotel, they're not surprised to find the others passed out all over the sitting room. Cara and Annie are cuddled up on the loveseat, Derek is fast asleep in the reclining armchair, and Jourdan and Cara are both sharing the couch.
"Lightweights." Karlie laughs lowly as they take in the chaos of the sitting room. Empty alcohol bottles litter the coffee table and the floor, and it looks as if they had ordered more room service after Karlie and Taylor left for their walk.
"They'll all feel it in the morning." Taylor shakes her head disapprovingly, but she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't glad to have Karlie to herself for the rest of the night.
"Better them than us."
Taylor agrees quietly, and then she and Karlie share a weighted look. Taylor knows that Karlie is leaving the unspoken decision up to her, and she answers it by taking ahold of Karlie's hand and leading her towards one of the three bedrooms that make up the suite.
"Are you sure?" Karlie whispers as they creep towards the room,
Taylor doesn't answer vocally. She turns and presses a hard kiss against Karlie's pliant lips, and then she proceeds to pull the stunned drummer into the bedroom. Karlie closes the door behind them, and the sound of the lock clicking into place is music to Taylor's ears.
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Karlie has had sex countless times before. One night stands, long-term hookups, and everything in between. Only a few things come naturally to her, and sex and playing the drums are at the top of that list. She likes to think that she leaves no woman disappointed afterwards, but she wants to be better for Taylor. She wants to be better than anyone who happened to come before her.
It's a whirlwind at first. Clothes are thrown every which way, hands are tugged on, and suddenly Karlie is pressing Taylor up against the headboard. There isn't an inch of space between them, and Karlie finally gets the chance to marvel at Taylor's body in its entirety.
Taylor is soft in the best way possible, and the subtle contrast between them is beautiful. Karlie is lined with lean muscle thanks to a dedicated workout routine and a life of drumming, but Taylor is soft in a way that is hard to explain. Everything about her is the exact opposite of Karlie, who has long since hardened herself from the world surrounding her. Taylor still has that soft naivety about her, and Karlie finds it endlessly compelling.
They get tangled up in the expensive sheets that are strewn over the bed, and Karlie takes her rightful place on top after pushing Taylor down against the pillows. Taylor lifts her legs up a little, a silent invitation for Karlie to take her panties off, and she does so quickly. She's not surprised that Taylor is a white lace kind of girl, either. Innocent to the very core, even after being surrounded by debauchery for an entire summer.
She doesn't know how experienced Taylor is, but the confusion that flits across the girl's face when Karlie's mouth moves lower tells her all that she needs to know. Karlie slowly opens Taylor's legs, running her hands over the length of the girl's thighs but making sure to avoid the heat between her thighs.
"What are you..." Taylor's voice is shaky and uncertain, but it is abruptly cut short when Karlie's mouth is on her. Taylor's next breath is more of a squeak, and Karlie reaches up and cups her breasts just to give her hands something to do.
"Oh." The word falls from Taylor's lips in the form of a gasp, and it's accompanied by reverent hands getting lost in Karlie's mane of hair.
Karlie gets lost in the all too familiar process of eating a girl out. Sometimes it feels like a chore, especially back when she and Toni had been hooking up, but she finds Taylor delightful in every possible way. The little sounds that fall from the girl's lips are the best part, and Karlie finds herself pushing boundaries and trying new things just to garner another reaction from the singer. Somehow their positions end up switched, with Karlie lying on her back and Taylor's knees on either side of her head. Karlie's grip on Taylor's hips is tight to keep her in place, and Taylor has long since found purchase on the large headboard. Her hips jerk down against Karlie's tongue at sporadic intervals, and every thrust sets Karlie aflame.
Karlie ends up getting lost in it again, so she doesn't really notice the signs of Taylor's release approaching until it's too late. A squeeze of the thighs, a tightening of abdominal muscles, and a loud, harsh curse that sounds far too pretty in Taylor's melodic voice is all the warning that Karlie gets. She can feel the shudder run through Taylor's body like a jolt of electricity, and Karlie doesn't take her tongue away until Taylor starts to push her head away and wiggle out of her grasp.
Taylor collapses on the spot beside Karlie, her hair splaying out across the pillow and her mouth still hanging open from blatant surprise.
"That's...never happened before." She says through winded pants, sounding as exhausted as she looks.
"There's more where that came from."
Taylor lets out a quiet giggle, and then snuggles up to Karlie's side and presses a shy kiss to her cheek. It's sweet, and completely unexpected, but Karlie certainly isn't complaining. She wraps an arm around Taylor's body, and a tinge of worry flashes through her when she notices that the girl is still shaking.
"Are you okay?" She asks, wondering if she put Taylor through too much.
"Yeah I'm just tired and I'm still feeling it." Taylor murmurs sluggishly, her words dragging a little. "I can, like...return the favor but I need to catch my breath."
If this were anyone else, Karlie would just nod and wait for round two, but this is Taylor. Sweet and innocent and far too good for Karlie, if she's being honest. For once, Karlie doesn't care if she gets off or not. There will be other nights. This is not the last chapter for her and Taylor Swift.
"Go to sleep, we have time." Karlie says.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." To prove her point, Karlie presses a kiss to the top of Taylor's head. It's all the reassurance the singer needs, and blue eyes finally slip shut and succumb to sleep. Karlie is left there mulling over her own thoughts for a while, shaking off sleep because she knows that in the morning she and Taylor will have to break away from one another. Karlie fully plans on keeping this night between her and Taylor. Cara and Jourdan would kill her if they found out that she was jeopardizing the band again, and she had made a promise to Derek.
Karlie almost feels bad for breaking that promise, but her guilt dissipates when Taylor softly grumbles in her sleep and cuddles closer to Karlie side. How can she feel guilty over something as wonderful as this? Taylor has already proven that she's a lot different than Toni, and Karlie really can't see this impacting the band negatively. If it does then she'll cross that bridge when she gets to it, but right now all she wants to do is wrap Taylor in her arms and sleep for a good twelve hours. Maybe the rock gods will give her a pass this time around.
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A/N: If you actually read this monstrosity all the way through then you're the real MVP, I love you. Also, All Too Well is Taylor's best song (the requester asked me to add this into my author's note, idk).