almost | taylor swift au

chapter 15

Taylor and Gracie stay out for several hours, talking like two old friends. They seriously can't believe that they haven't known each other their whole lives. They share so much in common, their hopes, their dreams. Taylor finds herself speaking to Gracie about things that she wouldn't dare talk about with others. Gracie tells Taylor all about her experience working on the music that she's set to release soon. It's all just so perfect. They both know that they're going to be the best of friends for the rest of their lives.

They're the last two in the bar that night, talking until they're finally asked to leave, as it's time to close down for the evening.

"Hey, my hotel's right next door. Just come on and crash with me."

Taylor hesitates. "I don't know..."

"I insist," Gracie says. "Seriously, I don't want you going home alone."

"I don't think my boyfriend would be very happy with me," Taylor mutters. "He didn't even want me to come out tonight in the first place."

"Screw him," Gracie rolls her eyes, feeling anger rumble through her bones. "Seriously. Come on." She pauses. "I mean, I'm not going to force you, but at least let me get you an Uber if you don't want to."

Taylor thinks for a moment. She really doesn't want to upset Jett any more than he already is... but then again, he's already pretty upset. And she doesn't want to be one of those girls who lives for nothing more than to please a man. She wants to be one of those girls who just lives, regardless of what anyone else might think. Especially a man.

"Okay, okay. Let's go," Taylor smiles.

"Yay!" Gracie exclaims, standing up on her tippy toes and coming back down, a little bounce of excitement. The girls grab their bags, put on their coats, and walk out of the bar, leaving the room empty, short of the bar tender waiting to close everything up.

As they're walking, Taylor does start to wonder if maybe, she should send Jett a text. Would he be looking for her in the morning? It isn't uncommon for the two to snuggle up in the morning, Jett charging room service to his room, which is paid for by the band's label. She always thinks that there's no way that they can be too happy with that, but he insists that it's okay, that they never said not to. So she just sort of... takes his word for it and enjoys a waffle.

She ends up pulling out her phone and typing out the words she wants to send. Then, she deletes it all. Her heart starts to race. If he knows where she is, he'll likely just be mad. He'll say she shouldn't spend the night with a "stranger," as though that's what Gracie is. As though they didn't just spend nearly four hours together, learning everything about each other. Taylor knew that Gracie was listening as she talked- something that she isn't always sure of regarding her boyfriend. She thinks that Gracie might know more about her than Jett does at this point.

So, she turns her phone off. She realizes that she might get yelled at for that later. But right now, she just wants to live in the moment.

As they're walking into the hotel, Gracie turns to Taylor. "Everything good?"

"Yep," she nods. "Great."

"Awesome," Gracie says. She holds the door open for the other girl, and then leads the way to the elevator. They ride up seven floors, then the doors open into the hallway. "Just wait until you see the view from the room. It looks out over everything. I think I could just stay up all night, watching what's going on out on the street."

Taylor smiles. She likes the sound of that. She's noticed that they're both a sort of observer of humanity. They just want to watch, to see what other people are going to do and say. She thinks that that's a crucial part of being an artist. To seek to understand not only yourself but the others around you, to connect with their emotions as well as your own.