But now i'm bleeding.

part2

It was barely three o clock and she was already sat in the corner of her favourite LA bar. She had chosen the corner seat so that her back could face the world. She was nursing several drinks.  Her legs were crossed under the table, her eyes unfocused. There were couples in the seats all around her, sharing secret glances and quiet touches. Some even stole a few glances at her but she knew that this corner was relatively dark. No one would truly recognise her. Her phone buzzed again in her trouser pocket. She grabbed at it so quickly it almost fell. The screen lit up, she punched in her password. No new notifications. But she should check instagram just in case. Nothing. Just the usual videos of her friends on holiday, making cupcakes and partying a bit too hard for a thursday. She herself was nursing a killer hangover. With more drinks. She slid the phone carefully back into her trouser pocket.

'Sorry it was dad, he was going on and on about that game last night. Couldn't get him to shut up.' Her brother slid back into his seat before warily asking 'Taylor? Are you alright, you've been a bit far away today?'

She didn't look up as she replied a mumbled 'mmh?' at the same time as her pocket lit up again. Her brother had never seen her move that fast, and that was saying something since she was the sort of girl to transform into a bouncing puppy when something got her excited, which was just about everything. Not today though as he watched her physically deflate at the sight of whatever was on her phone.

His heart sunk for her too as he noticed the dark rings around her eyes and slightly crumbly makeup. Leaning over their wooden bar table he caught a glance at his sister's phone. Blonde hair, a white dress, and a smile that seemed too big for one girl's lit-up face.

'Shit. I'm sorry Tay, I didn't realise it was today. Why didn't you say anything?'

She tried to pull a sad smile but it looked more like a grimace in the dark light of their corner booth.

'I... can we just go home now?' She replied, already getting up from her seat and signalling her bodyguard to follow. She didn't want to be rude, didn't want to cut her time with Austin short but she couldn't take that pitying look from him one second longer.  She had seen it too often these past few months from everyone because, for the first time in her life, she was well and truly broken. She was the kind of girl to pick herself up, dust herself off, learn from her mistakes  and carry on even better than before. Everyone commended her for it, it was how she got so far in her career. She was proud of it. And she had been hurt before, of course, but not like this. It wasn't just her heart that was broken this time, it was her entire soul. And that look was a suffocating reminder of it.

'Ill get the bill' Her brother said to her back as she hurried out of the bar to no one in particular. He would call their mom, maybe even move back home for the summer, anything to get the happy Taylor he knew back.