When Emma Falls in Love (Taylor Swift x OC)

Kitty Party (2)

October 31, 2016.

Four - Taylor

Taylor had been excited for Meredith's party all day, even more so when she was told the girl who painted the portrait would be there. She had spent the day preparing, hanging the remaining Halloween and cat decorations and baking her famous cat shaped cookies. Her mom and Tree had come over to help her, but both ended up talking to each other while Taylor decorated the penthouse. She could have hired someone, sure, but there was no fun in doing that.

Halloween had always been one of the days she looked forward to most over the year. The past couple years she had thrown a mixture of a Halloween party and a birthday party for her furry family member. The party was always lively, and after it ended she could start celebrating Christmas, her favorite time of year since she was a child.

With everything else spiraling out of her control, it was nice to have one evening, one perfect evening, surrounded by the people she knew deeply cared for her and would be on her side even when she was wrong. Tonight she would be with her family, closest friends, and a bottle of champagne that she had been saving for a special occasion.

People had started arriving shortly after eight that evening. Her father and brother came first, and then her friend Abby. Ryan and Blake arrived next, the rest of her friends following suit. She had made her rounds, making sure to say hello to everyone there, before she made her way down the hallway and into Meredith's bedroom.

When she entered the bedroom she took a deep breath for what very well may have been the first time since June. At least tonight was looking up for her, even if this year was trying everything in its power to convince her to move to the middle of a forest and live in a cottage where she could live out all her fairytale princess fantasies. The painting she had done of Meredith was covered, but she couldn't stop herself from staring at it.

Tree spoke behind her. "Taylor, this is Emma Renners. She is the painter you hired to paint Meredith. Emma, this is Taylor."

Taylor whipped her head around, sticking her hand out to the girl next to Tree. The girl was wearing a pretty dress, very fitting to the stereotype of a young artist. Her eyes were too big for her head, and the shocked expression on her face was making them bigger. Her hair was a buzzed brown mess, looking as though the haircut hadn't been properly thought through.

The girl, Emma, had stuck her own hand out in response, taking Taylor's hand in her own to shake it. "It's so good to meet you. I absolutely adore the painting you did, it really is so pretty. I saw photographs of your work but this is just so wonderful. I have been wanting to have someone paint Mer for a while and I figured there would be no better time than now. Today was the day I adopted her, and her birthday is in a couple days. I know it was a childish prompt, but she really acts like a queen, you know? I swear she thinks she owns the place." Taylor was rambling at this point, something she did quite often.

Emma's head had jerked up somewhere in the middle of her impromptu speech. "Sorry, what's pretty?"

"The painting. I love it, thank you. I'm so glad you could make it tonight, Emma. I was so excited to meet you, I swear I've probably annoyed Tree with all my blabbering about you and this painting. Can I show you around?"

Emma's voice sounded breathy when she finally replied. "Yes, that would be great."

"This is Meredith's bedroom, she's my oldest." Taylor waved her hands around the room before leading them further down the hall towards Olivia's room. "This one on the right is Olivia's room, she's my youngest child." The thought that having a bedroom for each of her cats probably made Emma think she was insane briefly crossed her mind, but she didn't let it linger for long. The reality was that Emma had most likely already labeled her a crazy cat lady, which would be far from the worst thing people had labeled her over the past few months. A Few of those labels turned in her mind for a moment, but she tried not to dwell on them, as difficult as it was.