you'll go on with the show || kaylor

7. but are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?

The sun had barely risen when Taylor stopped reading and rereading thousands of times those good-bye words.

Holiday House sat quietly on the beach, and so did she, inside Holiday House. Hands still shaking and trembling soul.

She knew she wasn't being the best version of herself when she left Karlie's apartment that night.
What was she gonna do, though? What else could she do? Take an old lover down with her? Get her stuck in quicksand just because Taylor herself was stuck in one?

She knew she didn't go for the wisest option that night; yet, she did know there was no wise choice back then.

She would've either made Karlie follow her down, or just run away. And she opted for the last one.

Little did she know that night meant so much to Karlie. Little did she know she wasn't the only one who still had those burning feelings. Was she ever going to actually ask rather than assuming other people's emotions, as if she had to always be the only one with feelings?

She was such a chaotic pile of emotions, punchline lyrics and feline knowledge, all dressed up as a human being. And she was more than well-aware about it.

This seemingly defensive trait she had had caused her to lose many people through the years. She just enjoyed better to assume someone had fallen out of love with her rather than to face the harsh reality of having to deal with actual feelings.
And she was experiencing that yet another time.

Reading that "Goodbye" written in such a firm and sharp trait made her heart ache. This letter wasn't even signed.

However, she did realize there were originally seven letters, but she'd only read six of them- if the math was actually mathing, there was one more left to read.

It didn't seem right, though. The last letter she'd gotten sounded pretty much like a farewell, so why would've Karlie even written one more?

Without wondering about anything further, she'd guessed she'd find her answers by going through the pile of old pieces of paper she'd been reading.

That's when her eyes laid on the smallest one- even smaller than the one containing prom's corsage.
She ran her fingers on the envelope before opening it.

It had two notes. The first one went back to 2006, junior year.

Taylor still remembered that little frame she had drawn on that note, all floral and fairy. She had left it in Karlie's locket. It just said:

"I'll meet you after dark
-T".

That was the first time Taylor initiated their little habit of sneaking out at night.

They used to live across the street from each other, so the singer used to light her torch out of her window and pointing at Karlie's two times. That was their signal. They'd meet right away.

Taylor had long since forgotten about that. Apparently, Karlie hadn't. Because together with that note came another one, a more recent piece of paper that said:

"Couldn't know you'd leave before daylight, though.
- K"

That felt like a punch in Taylor's soul.

If Taylor herself had been addressed multiple times as an excellent songwriter and storyteller, with such an enviable creativity and sense of humor that made her come up with subtle lyrics and fine lines, this time she was overcome by Karlie and her punchline.

She folded that note and put it back in the envelope.

However, she kept hers. And fidgeted with it while reading it every time her eyes would meet the inked words.