almost | taylor swift au

chapter 10

Taylor smiles as she looks around her, observing all of the people dancing and singing along to the songs that are being played on the stage in front of her. She loves live music, and this is how she fell in love with it. At a country music concert when she was just a child. She felt a sense of magic as she was dancing around to Shania Twain. Something overcame her, a feeling that she'll never forget. She was hooked.

It's no surprise to anyone who knew her growing up that she's so happy working on this tour. Really nobody could keep her away from concerts. She was always asking her parents to drive her into Philadelphia to see her favorite artists. After graduating high school, she would frequently take trips up to New York with her friends to see whatever she could catch at the Mercury Lounge or Bowery Ballroom. It doesn't matter to her whether there's 100 people in the crowd, or 10,000. She just loves the connection, the energy that comes from a concert.

But she never thought that she'd be shouted out in one.

"So, there's this wonderful girl who has been in my life recently," Jett says, gripping the microphone as he smirks, the crowd erupting in cheers, "and yesterday, the guys did something really wonderful for me. They agreed to an extra rehearsal for a song that I wrote recently that she's got no idea about... but she's in the crowd tonight, so I guess she knows now. And we're gonna play it for her tonight. And this live performance will be available for streaming and digital download at midnight."

Jett pauses, his eyes meeting Taylor momentarily. He can see the way that she's blushing. She can see that the smile on his face is genuine. He really did want to do something sweet for her.

Her heart melts. It explains why she hadn't heard from him since getting to San Francisco- he didn't want to ruin the surprise. The way that he looks at her heals every wound that was still there from the various things that have happened between them recently.

For just a moment, everything is perfect. In the room full of screaming fans, it feels like they are the only two that exist. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, wanting to always remember this moment and the feelings that come with it. The scents, the sounds...

And then, the band starts playing the song that they put together. The song that Jett wrote about Taylor. The song that Axel learned the guitar part to, that Maverick learned on the drums, and Archer on the bass.

It's a bit of a slower song, which Taylor thinks is perfect- it really lets Jett show off his voice, smooth and rich as he sings the words he has penned. The words that he created when he thought about her, a girl from nowhere, with little to her name, just trying to follow her dreams.

Her heart starts to beat faster upon hearing the first verse of the song.

Your blue eyes are resplendent,
Your smile is bewitching
In the moments we share alone
You're in the crowd each night
And I know that we both know

Those words... resplendent, bewitching. Those are two words that are on the list of words that she loves. Words that she wants to use in a song someday. It's a long and ever-growing list that she keeps in her journal. It's somewhat of a collection, of words that she just thinks sound like a certain enchantment.

It gives her butterflies in her stomach, hearing him use those words. She's told him about the list, but he's never seen it. She doesn't ever like to show another soul her journal. It's the one thing that she won't share with anyone. Where she puts her thoughts that are too deep, too personal to go into a song. But somehow, Jett managed to use two words off of her list in the first two lines of a song that he wrote about her. He just knows her that well. It's like he read her mind.

But her enthusiasm for it all, it doesn't last too long. As he keeps singing, the butterflies in her stomach turn into a pit of fear, a nagging feeling that she knows she won't be able to let go.