almost | taylor swift au

chapter 31

Twenty four hours later, Taylor is all moved in to her new apartment in New York City. Walking out of the theatre onto the streets of midtown Manhattan after a Broadway show, Andrea looks to the two girls. "We all have a hotel nearby. Can you two make it back to your apartment on the subway alright?"

"Of course," Gracie nods. "Thank you so much again for a wonderful night."

"It was our pleasure," Scott nods. "We'll see you two for brunch in the morning, alright?"

"Sounds great," Taylor smiles. She hugs her parents and they wish her well, and just like that, the Swift family walks away, their younger child in tow and their older child heading in the opposite direction. "Subway?"

"You know it," Gracie nods. "The only way to get around this city like a proper New Yorker. Which you are now."

Taylor feels giddy when Gracie says that. It all feels so surreal. As they swipe their cards and wait on the platform for the train, she can't help but smile. Clutching her Wicked playbill in her hands, she looks to Gracie. "Did I ever tell you about my one Broadway audition I went to as a kid?"

Gracie raises her eyebrows. "No."

"Oh my god. Yeah, I was like, obviously into singing. Like, I was always singing around the house... and my mom heard that there was an open call for Annie in New York, so she drove me up to the city and we got to Pearl Studios, and I think that every little girl from the entire tri-state area was there in a red dress. It was ridiculous."

Gracie laughs. "So you didn't book?"

"I think they let me sing an 8-bar cut of 'Tomorrow.' They didn't have enough time to see how charming I am." Taylor flashes an overly sweet smile in her friend's direction, resulting in a fit of giggles from both of the girls.

"And that was the end of your musical theatre career?"

"Precisely."

It isn't long before they make it home, safe and sound. Neither of them tired yet, Gracie makes some tea and they sit in the living room as they sip it, looking out the window at the city lights twinkling outside. It's a nice silence between the two, a safe one. Both know that they've found a sort of soul mate in the other girl.

"So, Grac..." Taylor says, suddenly. "Last night, what you were telling us about..."

"Yeah..." Gracie says, her stomach turning into a knot.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Gracie says, pulling her arms across her body and her legs up to her chest.

Taylor nods, her lips pursed together. She knows that feeling. "Okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know that you can tell me anything, if you ever feel like you want to."

Gracie doesn't respond to that. The only noise in the room is the song of the city, drifting in through the walls of their apartment.

But eventually, Gracie takes a deep breath. "He was a producer I worked with. Somehow, he knew somebody who knew my dad, or something like that. I don't know, but I ended up in the studio with this guy. He was supposed to be an amazing producer... and, I guess I can't deny that he was, but..."

Gracie presses the flute of champagne to her lips. One of the several liquors of choice tonight. He popped the bottle open as a celebration, when they finally laid down the last layer of vocals for the track that they are working on. The red numbers on the digital clock on the counter flicker to 2:00 AM. Gracie sighs. She'd promised her parents she'd be home by midnight. Not that they'd know. They go to bed by 10:00 every night. But it still doesn't feel good lying to them.