Runaway Autumn

Chapter 1- Friends to....This

Taylor inhales deeply and smiles to herself. She wishes she could stay in this position forever. She knows that she can't, but it's so comfortable. Lying here, her head resting against Joe's chest, his fingers twirling her hair, coffee cups in both of their free hands- it all feels so right. Like this is exactly where she's supposed to be. Lying in bed with Joe on a slow Sunday morning.

Taylor finally brings herself to sit upright. She puts her steaming coffee on the cluttered bedside table and props herself up against her headboard. "So," she drawls. "I got to thinking that maybe it'd be a good idea for you to meet some of my friends sometime today? That way it's less awkward when we all hang out at the concert next week."

Right after she makes this suggestion, Taylor immediately feels anxious, worries that she's scaring her boyfriend of nine days, away by already asking him to meet her friends. "Only if you want to, of course, no pressure, we can take it slow," she slurs.

Joe smiles brightly and takes one of Taylor's hands in his. "I'd love to," he says, giving her cold palm a gentle squeeze. "That'd be really nice."

Taylor instantly feels her heartbeat steady and she relaxes into Joe's embrace. It's still so new to her: being with someone with such a calm demeanor. Someone who's warm. Someone who's actually interested in her little world and its occupants. Someone who wants to spend time with her and go places with her for the right reasons.

"This makes me so excited," Taylor breathes. "You have no idea. They're all super eager to meet you."

"I hope they've heard good things," Joe murmurs.

"Oh baby, don't worry. I promise you, I've told them how amazing you are," Taylor assures him, fully aware that she's just called him 'baby'. They've slowly been sounding out pet names for each other. Yesterday at breakfast Joe called her 'love' for the first time- second if you count the time he let the pet-name slip out when they were on FaceTime a month ago. Taylor felt her heart explode that morning, but tried her best to brush it off as 'no-big-deal'.

"I appreciate that," Joe murmurs. "You'll have to give me a rundown of who I'm meeting today."

Taylor pauses for a moment, thinks back to everyone Lilly said was attending the concert. She feels oddly protective of her relationship with Joe, doesn't want to share it with just anyone. "I have to text and make sure they're around, but you should meet Martha and her boyfriend Jason. They're going to the show. Lilly will obviously be invited, who you've met and Cara too..."

Taylor stops talking, notices that Joe's stifling a laugh. She joins in, knowing that he's most likely giggling about Cara. Taylor had invited Cara to stay with her back in August after she had broken up with St. Vincent. They had planned to rally together as single ladies. Needless to say, Cara, in good humor, of course, was upset that Joe's dick had thwarted this plan.

"I hope she doesn't have a vendetta against me," Joe breathes.

"She has threatened to cut your balls off," Taylor teases. This earns a defeated look from Joe, which makes Taylor laugh even harder. "In all seriousness, my friends that have met you- Cara included- like you. Maybe not as much as I like you, but that's probably a good thing because I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot too," Joe grins.

***

Eight hours have gone by. Somehow Taylor and Joe managed to crawl out of bed, out of their secret oasis. Now dressed and freshened up, Taylor in a maroon sweater dress and Joe in a navy jumper, they rummage through the wine cellar, searching for the perfect bottles for the evening.