1. shimmer (a taylor swift au)

-chapter four-

Taylor wrapped the little girl in a towel and led her to her bedroom to dry her hair before she let her get changed into pyjamas.
"I didn't know baths could be warm," Ellie shrugged. "That was nice. I liked the bubbles too. They were so much fun. Do you always have bubbles in your baths?"
Taylor shook her head. "I don't have baths very often," she admitted. "I like to have a shower better."
"I don't like showers." Ellie shivered. "They're scary."
Taylor tried to decide if it was a good idea to ask why it was scary.
"What makes them scary?" She asked as she went into her own bathroom to get her hairdryer and detangling spray. She also left so Ellie could get changed on her own if she wanted to - Taylor was so relieved that she had a few pieces of clothing she'd gotten for Inez. Blake's children often spent the night with Taylor, so Taylor had gotten used to ensuring she had everything they needed here, too.
She heard Ellie sigh from the bathroom. "Back home we had one of those box showers where it's just a glass box. The water was freezing cold and Daddy wouldn't let me out until I was clean. He'd stand in front of the door, holding it shut. If he thought I was especially grubby then he'd scrub me really hard with a brush." Taylor spent a couple of moments processing what she'd just been told - feeling honoured that Ellie was beginning to feel like she could trust her enough to tell her about these big feelings.
"Or sometimes Mummy and Daddy wouldn't even be home for ages and I had to have a shower all by myself. Or they'd make me have a burning hot shower, which really hurt."
Taylor took a deep, shaky breath before she went back into her room.
"Those memories must be really, really scary." Taylor nodded, plugging in the hairdryer. "Thank you for telling me about them."
Ellie gave a small smile. "I've never had someone wash my hair for me." She looked like a completely different girl now. Her hair was wet but it was smooth, her cheeks were scratched but they had a rosy glow in them that hadn't been there before.
"Are you okay if I dry it for you?"
Ellie nodded, sitting on Taylor's vanity chair. The vanity wasn't something she actively used, but right now, Taylor was glad she had it.
It meant that she could see Ellie watching her, the way her eyes followed her every move.
"Taylor?"
"Yes?" Taylor turned off the hairdryer.
"I'm really really really, a million really's... worried that you're going to send me back." The little girl admitted with a hint of sadness. "I really don't want to go back."
Taylor shook her head, placing her hands on Ellie's shoulders. "I'm not going to send you back. Even if you're cheeky, or even if you have bad dreams every night. Even if you don't like bath time. I'm not sending you back, Ellie."
"What if I make a mistake and I'm naughty? What if I get dirty and don't want a shower? What if I break something of yours?"
Taylor smiled. "We all make mistakes, and sometimes you just have to be naughty. I've made a lot of mistakes, Ellie. So many. More than you, more than a lot of people."
"But you're perfect," Ellie sobbed.
Taylor shook her head before she wiped one of Ellie's tears away with her thumb.
"Perfect people make lots of mistakes too. But no one is perfect, no one can be perfect. We'd all be super boring if we were all perfect. There'd be no room for any fun," Taylor smiled. "I pinky promise you, that I will not send you back. And even once this whole thing has ended and your parents come back from getting help, if there's any proof that they've not changed, or that they're going to hurt you, then I'm not leaving you there. You're not going to have to face it all alone anymore, Ellie."
The little girl stood on the chair and turned around, throwing her arms around Taylor. Taylor held her tightly and wondered if Ellie had ever been at the receiving end of a hug like that.
"How about we get your hair all dry, I'll pop it in a couple of braids so that your hair doesn't bother you, and we'll climb into bed," Taylor whispered in her ear.
"Okay," Ellie agreed, sitting down. "Do you have a husband?"
Taylor almost choked at the question. "No,"
"That's good because boys suck," Ellie told her seriously. "I think I'm never gonna get married or even think about boys. I just wanna be me. I don't want a smelly boy."
Taylor laughed. "Really?"
"Yeah," Ellie nodded. "Boys are mean."
"Some boys are nice," Taylor corrected her. "I know some nice boys."
Ellie shook her head. "I just wanna travel the world, and be super duper rich and famous and pretty and be a queen all on my own."
Taylor loved her attitude. Loved it so much that she figured it was something she'd include in her own life too.
"We can both be Queen's together." Taylor smiled.