1. shimmer (a taylor swift au)

-chapter twenty-

Taylor was sitting on the couch, her stomach filled with butterflies. The sparkly, shimmery purple kind - iridescent violet wings. This was the day where Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was finally going to be hers again and she had been secretly dreading this day for months. She'd wouldn't admit it to anyone - because she felt silly for feeling such a sense of dread.

Of course, she was excited. But Speak Now had done so well initially, that she was petrified of the fact that people wouldn't like it. For some reason, the other re-recordings hadn't bothered her like this one was. She was so stressed about the fact that it wouldn't be good enough. That people wouldn't like it. She'd changed the Better Than Revenge lyric and that scared her - some people would love it, some would roll their eyes but listen to it anyway, and others would hate it. Sure, she'd written the album entirely alone and she figured that the fans would probably love the vault songs... but still. It was the classics that she was worried about. It was Back to December and Mean and Last Kiss and Long Live and Dear John and all of the others that made her panic.
"Gracie's here, Gracie's here... GRACIE IS HERE!" Ellie exclaimed, and Taylor realised that her friend had knocked on the door and she'd been far too worried about her album that she'd not heard it at all.

Ellie was more confident than she'd ever seen her - and Taylor believed that Gracie had to do with that. Gracie was amazing with Ellie - the two of them were practically inseparable after they'd gotten close, which made Taylor so happy. Now, when Ellie was excited about something, she'd say it out loud. Her little personality was shining through. Nothing got Ellie more excited than Gracie Abrams. Gracie spent a lot of time with the little girl, they'd bake together, watch television together, sing songs together... and it just made Taylor so happy. Gracie was very Open about her anxiety and her mental health, and she was glad that Ellie had such a good role model.

Standing up and forcing herself to stop thinking about the album, she followed Ellie to the door. Ellie was wearing a long purple dress that ended at her ankles, with a pair of purple ballet flats. Ellie had picked it out just for today.
Taylor turned the key and opened the door.
"Gracieeee!" Ellie exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too, little superstar!" It had only been a few days since they'd seen each other, but still. A few days was a long time for an eight year old to comprehend.
"Come in!" Taylor grinned, her anxieties seeming to calm down a little now that she had some distractions.
"Tonight's a big night," Gracie pulled Taylor in for a hug. "How do you feel?"
Taylor sighed, relaxing into Gracie's embrace. "Like I want to disappear."
"I said speak noooowwww." Ellie sung as she disappeared into the living room, and Taylor grinned.
"But hey, at least one of us is excited."
"I'm excited too," Gracie told her. "I mean, I'm just excited that I'm spending the night with you. I hardly feel like I'm cool enough to be listening to the album for the first time with you. Like, if you'd told me two years ago that I'd be here? I would have laughed."
"What do you mean? You're a billion times cooler than me," Taylor laughed. "There's a reason why you're Ellie's absolute favourite person in the world."
"Second only to you, I'm sure." Gracie beamed. "I've got a couple surprises up my sleeve..."
"Gracie," Taylor sighed with a smile.
"Gracie!!!! Come and look at my pictureee!!!" Ellie exclaimed. "It's me and you and Taylor!"
"Coming!" Gracie grinned. "She's just the best. I literally love her so much."
Taylor laughed, helping her put down her bags.
"She is, isn't she? She's been asking every single day if it's Gracie day."
"Awwww, my heart."
"Gracieeeeee." Ellie called out and Gracie practically skipped into the lounge. "You're gonna miss me doing the final touches!"
"I'm coming!" Gracie called out, and Taylor beamed, leaning against the doorway. Watching as Gracie gently sat down beside Ellie, before pulling the child into her arms. Ellie began giggling, and Taylor knew that she'd never, ever felt this much love for a person before.

She went into her room for a moment, trying to collect herself. Speak Now was... it was the start of everything. It was the album she was proudest of, even to this day. She was happy to own it again, but the thought of having to try and beat the records and popularity that the stolen version had already set?
Taylor ran her hands through her hair, trying her best to remain calm. Every other re-record had done perfectly fine, but this one was just so much more personal. If it didn't do well... if people didn't like it... she knew she'd hate the thought of releasing anything else ever again.
"Do you want to see my picture?" Ellie pranced into the bedroom. "We're all wearing purple dresses because of Speak Now," the child beamed. "And guess what?!"
"I love it!" Taylor knelt down in front of her. "It's going right on the fridge. What have you go to tell me?"
"Gracie bought t-shirts and she says that we can make our own Speak Now tops!"
Taylor smiled. "Woah. That sounds like something Gracie would do," She laughed.
"You're nervous?" Ellie asked her, and Taylor nodded.
"Just a teeny, tiny bit."
"It's a really, really, really fantastical album. People are gonna be so excited to hear it. Especially because you wrote it all by yourself. People are really gonna love it so much." Ellie told her. "Especially with all of the other surprises you have planned," The eight year old winked mischievously.
"Oh, you think they'll like them?"
"I know they'll love them," Ellie wrapped her arms around Taylor's neck.
"You're my biggest little supporter, aren't you?" Taylor kissed her cheek. "I love you, Ellie."
Ellie kissed her cheek in return, whispering the words, "I love you mostest ever," quietly in her ear.