again | taylor swift au

chapter 1

Taylor looks around the room at the sea of faces that stand before her. She sees Gracie, her dark hair pulled back into a bow, Abi standing beside her. She sees her parents, their faces beaming with pride. She sees a few of her co-workers. But most of all, she sees lots of people who she doesn't know and has never met before. People who found her music and connected with it enough to spend $20 of their hard-earned money on a ticket to her concert. To share a space, their time, and her words.

She can't believe that she did it: she sold out the Mercury Lounge. She really didn't think she'd ever be able to do this. She didn't think, in her heart of hearts, that she'd ever be playing on this stage.

But, with a big smile, she steps in front of the microphone and opens her mouth to speak. And to her surprise, she doesn't even find herself questioning if this is real life. No, she knows just how hard she worked to get here. She knows that she deserves this. And so, she's going to savor the moment.

"Hello New York!" she exclaims. "Wow, thank you all so much for coming out tonight. My name's Taylor, and today's a really big day for me. I put out my debut album today. It's called RED, and it's on all streaming services now. So... yeah, that's pretty exciting. And to each one of you who have supported me, who have streamed any of my songs, who have followed me on social media... who bought a ticket to be here tonight... I just wanted to start this off by saying thank you so much. I am so excited to share my album release party with all of you. I thought I'd start off by playing the first song that you ever heard from me. This is called 'State of Grace.'"

With that, Taylor's drummer starts to play the intro. And just like that, the show has started.

It's been six months since Taylor last stood on this stage. That night, she never made it past soundcheck. But it was a fateful night. Without that night, she may not be standing here. It was the night when, instead of going onstage, Taylor sat in the green room and wrote 'All Too Well.' After that song, everything feels like a blur. There were recording studios, publicity team meetings, tracklists chosen and songs cut... all resulting in an album. All of it, it led up to today. To the release of that album.

Taylor is more proud of it than any other accomplishment she's ever had. She knows she's not on track to go number one, or even chart in the top 100. She knows she's got a long road ahead of her. But the fact that she created something that's really hers, that's about her own experiences and stories that she wanted to tell... it's pretty special.

So with a 13 drawn on her hand, donning a striped shirt and red pants, she stands on the stage of New York's Mercury Lounge, her absolute favorite concert venue, and sings those songs.

The show breezes past. Soon, there's only two songs left. And the first of the two, is 'All Too Well.'

"So New York City... not only is this my first ever headlining show, but it's my first time playing at the Mercury Lounge. Which is really special. But I have one song on my album... and I've never told this story before... but one song on my album has a special connection to this place. Who here knows my best friend, Gracie?"

People cheer. Taylor's eyes lock with Gracie's in the crowd and the other girl scrunches up her face with a little giggle and blush.

"She's the best, isn't she? Did anyone see her play in this very room back in the summer?"

More cheers. Taylor smiles and nods. "So then you'll probably know that I was supposed to open up at that show. I'm here to tell you the real story of what happened that night."

Taylor's eyes scan the crowd. She looks from person to person as she continues to speak. "You see, I dated this man one time. And... it was one of those relationships where, anyone looking at it from the outside, could tell in a second how bad it was. But I was smitten. I didn't see it. So then, he broke me. Completely and totally. But, as you tend to do after your heart gets broken, I healed. It had been three months since I'd cried over this man... and then, the night that I was supposed to play the Mercury Lounge for the first time, he showed up here. Less than an hour before the show. And he tried to get me back. And I was strong enough to say no. But he really opened up an old wound. I wasn't expecting a run-in with him to be as hard as it was... but it was terrible. I just... it broke me all over again. I spent that night crying and crying."