almost | taylor swift au

chapter 6

Taylor's parents aren't home until late that night- too late to have the talk that Taylor and Austin are anticipating with anxiety. Andrea and Scott Swift go straight to bed upon their arrival home. That leaves Taylor and Austin in the living room to form a game plan.

"Mom told me she'd make waffles for breakfast tomorrow," Taylor tells Austin. "We'll all sit down at the table and we'll have the talk then."

Austin nods, his face pale. She can tell that he really wanted to get this over with, instead of having the night to build it up in his mind, worrying about what could come of their discussion. Of his coming out.

As nervous as Taylor is to tell her parents about Jett, she knows that the stakes are much higher for her younger brother. She's a smart girl- she realizes that she probably isn't going to marry Jett. He probably won't become something that's permanent about her. He's not going to alter the course of her life.

Austin can't say the same thing about his coming out. There's going to be some people who will just never be able to wrap their heads around the fact that who he loves truly isn't a big deal- and that's something that he's going to live his whole life dealing with.

"Aust, don't worry," Taylor says. "It's all going to be okay. We're going to get Seb the help he needs. Mom and Dad are going to love you just as much tomorrow as they did today. I know that for a fact."

"They're gonna look at me completely differently," he says in a small voice. "Those dreams they've had, for me to marry some sweet girl and live in a house with a white fence and a perfectly manicured lawn, working an office job to provide for my family... they're not going to happen."

"Hey," Taylor tells her little brother, "they only wanted that for you because that's what they thought that you wanted. You've always loved kids, been so great with them too. That's why they figured you'd want one. And a wife... there's the implication that to make a kid..."

Austin wrinkles up his face. "I know, I know."

"Of course, if you do want kids, you could always go through adoption or surrogacy. Or maybe they'll have come up with some kind of amazing new technology by then... I don't know. It doesn't matter. All that does matter is that if their vision for your future is something that sounds great to you, just with a husband instead of a wife, then you could still have all of it. And if that's not what you want, you'll just have to show them what it is that you want. And they'll love to see you following your dreams."

"But when you told Mom and Dad that you weren't going to go to college-"

Taylor cuts him off. "That was totally different. They weren't upset about me not choosing to go down the route of college. They were upset about the fact that I didn't have a plan for a stable income."

After graduating high school, Taylor spent about two years living at home, working at the local YMCA. She worked at the front desk, organized summer camps, and even taught a few swimming lessons. She didn't quite love the swimming lessons, but her absolute favorite part of that job was teaching a music class for toddlers twice a week. The job helped her to save up enough money to take a risk and pursue her dreams- which had always been the plan. As soon as she had enough money to hire Anthony, she did. The two of them made a game plan together of how they were going to help Taylor to succeed in the industry, and before she knew it, she was going out on tour with The Unprompted. The rest is history.

"You're already all committed to go to Penn State. Your business major is going to get you a great job and-"

Taylor is cut off by her brother shaking his head. "My business major isn't... it doesn't exist. It isn't happening."