Love Story (Taylor Swift x fem!OC)

Chapter 31

A/N: WE HIT 12K!!!! THANKS Y'ALL!!! Also, sorry this took so long! I've had a lot going on for the last few weeks. But here's the next part :)))

***********

 The next day, Gabi walked back over to the stadium at 11:50, getting there at 11:58, and knocking on the same door to Taylor's dressing room at exactly 12:00pm. The singer answered the door.

"Hi! You're right on time! Come on in," Taylor said, letting Gabi into the room. She gave Gabi a hug until Gabi pulled away. "Um, I know this is really hypocritical of me, and I'm all for cryptic messages, but, uh, was there a reason your message was... vague?" Gabi laughed awkwardly.

"Er, I wasn't sure if it was actually you, so this was my way of making sure it wasn't someone trying to, like, murder me or something," Gabi responded. Taylor's lips formed a silent oh.

"Wait... that's actually, like, really smart!" Gabi smiled. After all, it wasn't every day your celebrity crush complimented you. "So... sorry, is it okay if we just, like, hang here? I can't really... go out..." Taylor trailed off. Gabi immediately nodded.

"Yeah, totally! We can just, like, DoorDash something!" she said with a smile, sensing Taylor felt a little bad about the situation. Of course, it wasn't her fault, but she knew the singer probably couldn't help it.

Taylor let out a sigh of relief. "Great!" She paused before adding, "So... how've you been? It's been... a while since we... talked. Like, for real talked." Gabi chuckled softly.

"Yeah, I guess last night doesn't really count, does it?" Taylor shook her head slightly. "I've been..." Gabi paused, thinking about the happenings of the last fifteen years, "good. Er, how 'bout you?"

Taylor smiled. "Well, I've been better... but it's getting less... painful every day, at least." Gabi nodded.

"That's good! I, um, I read what happened... in the..." Gabi switched to a whisper as she said, "tabloids." She added at her normal volume, "I'm... I'm sorry everyone found out about it. I know you probably wanted to keep it all private..." Taylor's smile faltered.

"Thanks... I guess I would've preferred to tell people myself instead of them finding out about it through headlines, but... I can't change the past. I've... had to learn that the hard way." Gabi nodded.

"I mean, I won't really understand it... but if you need to just rant to someone who won't be overly judgemental or something..." Gabi trailed off, hoping Taylor understood what she was trying to say.

Apparently, the singer did because she gave a tiny smile as she said, "Thanks... I might have to take you up on that. People can just be a little... overbearing. That first day was the worst. It felt like a real life 'Champagne Problems' type of situation."

"Yeah... that doesn't sound... fun. Like, you'd just been through it. It doesn't take a genius to know you probably don't want to be interrogated about it..." Gabi hesitated, praying she hadn't overstepped.

"It definitely wasn't my favourite experience..." Taylor said, rubbing her neck slightly awkwardly. Gabi figured the pop star was probably done with the topic, and immediately changed it.

"Okay! Well... what should we order?" Gabi asked, pulling out her phone to open DoorDash. Taylor smiled gratefully. She wasn't sure how much longer she would've been able to keep from falling apart. She'd save the emotional breakdown for the next hangout maybe. Well, if there was a next.

"Uhhhh, I'm not sure..."

"Well... do you still like sushi?" Taylor nodded. "There's this really cool sushi-burrito place I can order from! It's called "Sushirrito!" It's, like, a really long sushi thing. Their shrimp tempura one's my favourite. It's pretty good!" Taylor nodded.

"Sure! Let's try from there!" Gabi nodded, and ordered on her phone.

"Great! It'll be here in... thirty minutes!"

"How much was it?" Taylor asked instinctively. Gabi raised an eyebrow.

"Uh- what?"

Taylor suddenly seemed nervous. "Oh- um, I was just gonna... pay you back..."

"Taylor, you don't need to. It's all good!" Gabi said, smiling. It was sweet of the singer to try, but there was no way Gabi would let Taylor pay her back. It was a weird thing she had. Taylor seemed surprised.

"Oh- okay! Thanks, Gabs!" Gabi just nodded, trying very hard not to blush when she heard the nickname. She wasn't used to people shortening her (already shortened) name. "So... while we wait for the food... Oh! I wanna show you a picture!" Taylor pulled out her phone. "Look! It's the cat painting from a really long time ago! Mere and Dibbles and Benji love it! I think they think it was made for them." Gabi laughed.

"The children don't need to know the truth," Gabi joked. "We'll let them dream." She added, "I can't believe you kept it. Although... cats... so I probably shouldn't be surprised. It's very... in-character of you to keep it." Taylor nodded.

"Of course I kept it! I love that thing! It's traveled with me on every tour. Except for the first bit of Fearless, for obvious reasons. I make everyone pay their respects to the cat painting on the tour bus! It's got its own little shrine and everything!" Taylor said, completely serious.

"That's adorable!" the brunette laughed. Taylor smiled. She couldn't quite explain it, but something about seeing Gabi smile made the blonde not be able to help a slightly goofy grin cross her face. Probably just seeing people look happy. Yeah. That's what it was.