Daylight - Taylor Swift

Chapter 33

June 2nd, 2017 / June 3rd, 2017

Jo stood up and walked inside. She found Taylor at the sink, washing out her mug and scrubbing it beyond need, her mind obviously elsewhere as Jo wrapped her arms around the girl from behind, hearing the instant crying.

The brunette snugly fit around Taylor's shoulders, placing her face down and leaving kisses on the hem of her shirt, half on her sticky skin, "It's okay."

"It's not," Taylor cried, letting herself fall into the slow rhythm her girlfriend moved them in. Jo shushed her, keeping them steady until Taylor nudged to spin around, when she was guided around with swollen eyes.

"We're already out," Jo pressed another kiss, this time to Taylor's forehead, "People know already. I know it's scary now that they'll have proof and your fans who were in denial, they can't really deny it anymore... but it's okay, Tree said it wasn't that bad, so did Nicole. We're okay, you are okay."

Taylor hummed and mumbled something inaudible, her fingers clutched onto the fabric of Josephine's ash shirt. She slowly calmed down in Jo's embrace, her tears leaving stains on the girl's shoulder. A minute or two later she said, "Things will never be the same."

"Isn't that good?" Jo tried to flip the script.

"I— I don't know," the blonde admitted softly.

"Won't know until we try it."

Jo ended up in Los Angeles that night, her hair still wet from the sweat she'd made during her workout. Her trainer had pushed her hard after her time off, and she felt her face flushed in the backseat of the car back to the house.

She was almost home when she saw a woman on the corner, she looked tired and she had a cardboard box on the ground with her. The little heads popped up from it, a few different shapes and sizes.

"Can you pull over?" Jo asked Gabriel, tapping his shoulder quickly so that they didn't pass it.

"We're in the middle of traffic," he said, "Where do you want me to go?"

"I need you to get out of the car with me," she sighed, and waited until he pulled into a street parking spot a quarter block ahead. She briskly made her way towards the woman, Gabriel hot on her trail as the singer practically sprinted.

"Hi!" Jo smiled at the woman, shielding her eyes from the light, "Are your puppies for sale?"

"Oh no," the woman shook her head, and Jo realized she was homeless by the way she had a cart of things with her, "The only shelter I can get to right now is a kill shelter, found them in a dumpster. Was hoping someone would take them home, they're not checked or anything... fleas and what have you."

"Oh my," Jo bent down, frowning at the three assorted puppies. She was probably being scammed, but a dog in need was a dog, right?

"You don't need a dog," Gabriel chimed in from behind her, pinching the bridge of his nose in disapproval, "You have two cats. She doesn't like dogs."

"She'll live," Jo picked up one, and it was in rough shape. She peeked at the dog's downstairs region, realizing she was holding a little boy, "I can— I can take them to a shelter. It's not really a problem, I don't want them to die or go to a bad home."

"Would you?!" The woman looked almost relieved.

"Yeah. Where did you find them? They don't even look like they're from the same litter, that one looks like a chihuahua."

"Just behind the diner here, they were crying this morning," she pointed to the dumpster in the alleyway, shaking her head.

"You poor little guys," Jo pouted, looking down at the other two that were barking in the box, "We'll get you somewhere safe. You're sure I can take 'em?"