again | taylor swift au

chapter 13

It's nearly midnight when Taylor slips back into her own apartment. Casey brought her home on the subway, even though she insisted that she'd be alright on her own. That it wasn't the first time she's taken the subway by herself at night. But he told her, no. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he knew he let her do that. So, he'd either call her an Uber or take her home. And Taylor, pining for a few more minutes with him, eventually agreed to let him join her on the subway.

When Taylor gets home, she sees Gracie in the kitchen making a mug of tea. "Hey," Taylor smiles. "What's up?"

"Hey," Gracie says, her face then suddenly going white. "Shit."

Taylor raises her eyebrows. "Is everything good?"

"Yeah, just... I'm really sorry. I forgot to text you and give you a heads up. Jayden's in my room... just so that you know"

Taylor's eyes widen as she looks at Gracie, suddenly noticing that her friend is standing there in a silky little nightgown and her hair falling down around her shoulders. "Oh?"

"Yeah, uh, I think he's gonna stay over... if that's alright with you. I'm sorry, it all just happened... and you were over at Casey's so late and I wasn't even sure if you were going to come back and-"

"Gracie," Taylor says, cutting her friend's rambling off. "You're good. It's okay."

"Okay, alright... cool..." Gracie gives her a little smile. "How was your evening with Casey?"

"Oh, you mean my boooyyyffrriieenndd?" Taylor says with a twinkle in her eye. She can't hold back a smile as she talks- a smile which is contagious and spreads quickly to Gracie's face.

The brunette girl gasps. "Really?"

"We're all official," the blonde girl nods. "It's crazy... but I'm really excited. I'm happy."

"You're not feeling like it's too quick? I feel like a few weeks ago, you were just so set on not dating anyone... I'm a little surprised, that's all." Gracie doesn't want to be discouraging- it was her idea after all. She set them up. But she never anticipated it to move so quickly. But she wants to make sure that Taylor knows exactly what she's doing with all of this.

Upon hearing Gracie speak, though, Taylor feels a pang in her stomach. She doesn't want to get defensive, really. She knows Gracie only wants the best for her. But she didn't take this decision lightly. Sure, it felt that way tonight, when he asked her and she gave a smitten nod. But she wouldn't have gone out with him at all if she didn't think there was a chance of it leading to this. She really does like Casey, so much. And she wishes Gracie would realize that.

"I'm sure. It's okay," Taylor nods. She doesn't want to linger on the subject, so with a twinkle in her eye, she changes the subject. "What about you and Jayden? Having fun tonight?"

"Just a chill night. He came over and we just sort of watched a movie and I played him some new stuff I've been working on and now we are cuddling but I'm pretty tired. I'll probably crash out soon."

Taylor blinks. "You don't mean to tell me that you went out, bought that nightgown, and put it on... just to cuddle?"

"My pajamas were all old and worn out, so I just picked up some new ones."

"I've never seen you wear anything but a tee shirt that's probably older than you are as pajamas, Grac. And that's just you. That's who you are. And Jayden knows that, and he loves you for it. You don't have to impress him... and if he's giving you reason to feel like you do, like you have to wear something like that, then maybe he's not really... quite the one..."

"Don't say that," Gracie spits. "You've got it all wrong. I want to feel sexy for myself. I should be allowed to do that. And if I want to buy a nightgown to do that, I can." She takes a deep breath and sees hurt in Taylor's eyes. Instantly, she feels regret burning in her chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out so harsh."