A Swift Rescue

Chapter 8

The next morning, Taylor woke up to soft meowing.  One of her cats was sitting in a loaf on her chest.

She sighed as she got out of bed.  Her phone vibrated, so she picked it up.  A txt message from Damien had appeared.

"Good morning, honey.  Just got off the phone with Hiddleston.  Wants to meet at your house to discuss battle plans related to the stabbing and the pie.  Expect us.  Be over soon.  I love you."

Taylor smiled, realizing last night had been real.  She showered, got dressed, fed her cats, and waited.  Soon, there was a knock at her door.  She opened it to see Damien and Tom, and let them in.

"Hey," she said.  "Can we get settled first?  I'm not quite awake yet."

They sat down, and Damien smiled as Taylor's cat jumped into his lap.

"Hello, sweetheart," he cooed, petting the cat lovingly.  "Are you soft?"

The cat, who was now purring, flopped over with a happy meow, exposing his belly.

"It's a trap..." warned Taylor.  "You'll get claws."

Damien petted the cat a bit longer, and when he stopped, the cat batted at the hand with a paw, meowing softly.

A few moments later, Taylor sighed.  "Okay," she said, bringing out some coffee, cream and sugar.  "I'm ready."

Everybody poured themselves a cup, and Tom spoke up.  "Right," he said, "So Karlie and I did some digging.  Turns out your ex did, in fact, tell his girl he wanted you gone.  That would be Joe."

"According to Lautner, Styles also wants you gone.  So does Harris.  Now, Lautner's  sure they're working together, and were brought together by Gyllenhaal.  So that would mean four of your exes want you dead.  They might have different motives, but they share the goal."

Taylor started to feel sick.  "God... they're working together...?"

"We've got Taylor Lautner gathering intel.  He's gone undercover as one of what we'll call the Pilgrims.  Damien came up with the name.  Said this feels like Scott Pilgrim."

"Okay.  So... here's what's happening on my end.  Damien and I just started dating.  I'm sure he's gonna be in these guys' crosshairs if they find out.  I'm not going public with it yet, but probably soon.  I've got an interview in three days on Kimmel.  I'm ready to say that I'm dating, but not who yet."

"Good call," said Damien.  "Pilgrims'll be watching, though, so be careful."

"They're using their friends to do their dirty work," said Tom.  "That pie was probably poisoned by some hanger-on or Taylor Swift hater who sympathizes with the Pilgrims."

Taylor sighed.  "Why...?"

"Lautner's trying to figure that out."  Damien leaned back on the loveseat as Taylor leaned against his shoulder.  "What do we tell the Swifties?"

"I'll tell them to watch for anything suspicious or nasty."  She closed her eyes as Damien stroked her hair.

"I love you," he murmured.

Taylor smiled as another knock was heard.  She answered the door again.

"Hi," said the newcomer quickly.  "Look... you're not gonna like this."

"Calm down," said Taylor evenly.  "What's happened?"

"I tried to tell him to get rid of those pictures, I really did, but he..."

"Are you that guy from last night's friend?  I saw him running off."

The man handed Taylor a magazine and nodded.  "I'm so sorry...". He walked away.

Taylor's heart sank as she looked at the magazine.  One of the pictures from last night was on the cover, along with the headline "Taylor in Love... for Now!"  She opened the magazine and gasped.

"Music sensation Taylor Swift has found her next breakup song?!"  She shook her head.  "She can't decide on a music genre... or a boyfriend apparently... said a source?!"  She flopped down next to Damien on the loveseat.  "Can I please just be happy for five minutes?"

He held her trembling frame close.

"Tabloids... I never read the things," said Tom.

"Well now I have to go public don't I!"  She sighed.  "And you decided to date a celebrity?"

Damien stroked Taylor's cheek and smiled.  "Taylor... what part of 'I love you' don't you get?"  He rocked her gently to calm her, sighing inwardly.  They'd stop those exes... one way or another.