Coney Island

Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter is long. I rewrote it so many times, and I'm still not 100% happy with it 🫤 This was supposed to be the last chapter, but I've decided to continue writing :) Also Thank you for the comments. They mean so much 💙
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'You can do this, Taylor,' I murmured to myself as I stood in front of Karlie's parent's front door, trying to pluck up the courage to knock.

All morning I had been coming up with reasons why it was a bad idea for me to come and try and get her to take me back. She was about to go through a very messy divorce which would probably also consist of a custody battle between her and Josh. Did she really need someone to confess their love for her in the middle of that? I didn't think so. Joe, on the other hand, thought I was being ridiculous and making up excuses because I was scared. He had practically shoved me out of the door, after which he then drove me to where my Jet was and made sure I got on it. At one point, I actually thought he might have come with me, but luckily, he didn't. I didn't think Karlie would appreciate that.

I guess I was a little scared that she would turn me away, that us sleeping together didn't mean anything to her, and that when she left yesterday, it was because she was done with me, not because it would have been too hard for her to say goodbye. I was worried that if we did get back together, Josh would somehow find a way to destroy it again.

What if my fans didn't accept our relationship? What if her fans didn't? No one apart from our very close family and friends knew the extent of our relationship, and even then, we had kept it a secret from everyone, including our families, for the first few years. It wasn't until we decided that we didn't want to play games anymore that we told the people closest to us. However, only my parents, Austin, Joe and Selena, knew how deep things between us actually were; everyone else just thought we were having fun together. They had no idea how in love we were or that we planned to get married and have a family. My fans thought I had been in a happy relationship with Joe for ten years, and I just didn't want marriage or children. Of course, people had suspected that Karlie and I were more than friends, but the majority of the world was under the impression that we were both one hundred percent straight.

'Taylor,' I heard a little voice excitedly shout my name; spinning around, I saw Hugo sprinting towards me. I only just managed to open my arms in time before his little body crashed into mine. 'I knew we would see you again. Momma told me not to get my hopes up, but I just knew it,' he told me as he hugged me tightly.

I looked over his shoulder to see Karlie standing awkwardly in front of us, her face sporting the most adorable look of confusion I had ever seen. She was wearing a red and grey plaid fleece and black jeans with a pair of boots. It brought back a lot of memories. 'I missed you,' I said while looking straight into her eyes.

Hugo, of course, thought I was talking to him and grabbed my face in his hands, so my attention was on him. 'I missed you too, and so did momma. She cried on the plane all the way here-'

'Hugo, why don't we go inside and let your mom and Taylor chat for a little while?' Tracey, Karlie's mom, interrupted him from behind us, where she stood in the house's doorway.

Hugo let go of me and nodded. 'Okay, but do you promise to come to find me when you're done?' He asked me, seemingly worried I would leave before he got to spend time with me.

'If it's okay with your mom, then I promise,' I said before I lowered him back onto the floor.

Karlie was still eyeing me like she was trying to figure out precisely what was happening, but I could see a ghost of a smile on her lips, which gave me hope.

Tracey stepped out and took hold of Hugo's hand before she leaned into my space and kissed my cheek. 'It's nice to see you again, Sweetheart. We've missed you around here,' she said with a warm smile once she pulled back.