again | taylor swift au

chapter 15

"So, I've got some interesting news..." Taylor says as she lays on Casey's sofa, her head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped around her.

"Oh?" he asks, stroking her hair softly. "What's that?"

"Right, are you familiar with a band called The Unprompted?"

"I think I've heard of them."

She sighs. "It's my ex's band... Jett... he's their front man. And their tour manager contacted Anthony today. They're going on tour again."

Casey lets out a sigh. "And they want you to do their merch again? God, Tay, you're worth so much more than that. You're the rockstar now."

"Well... that's not exactly what they wanted with me." Taylor says in a small voice. "It's a little bit more than just tee shirts this time."

"Oh?"

"They've invited me to be their opening act on their upcoming tour."

Casey feels his face heat up with anger. "They've what?"

"I know, it's really crazy... I have to come up with a decision by tomorrow, and-"

"Don't tell me you're actually thinking about this," Casey interrupts her.

"I don't know, I mean... it's a great career opportunity, and..." She pauses. She doesn't know if she should admit this or not, but in a small voice, she finally decides to say, "I sort of want to show him he was wrong. I want to show him that I am a real artist, someone who should be taken seriously... even though he always told me it wasn't true."

Casey feels his heart break when she says those words. He wishes he could take away all of the hurt that she's experienced in the past. He's got a feeling he doesn't even know the half of it. But the one thing that he does know is that he can't let her go on this tour.

"Tay... I don't know the man. I'll give you that. But from what I've heard about him, I don't think anything you could possibly do would change his mind about you. He never saw you as anything more than a body, and that's because that's all that he wanted to see you as. He never gave a single shit about your music. And that probably hasn't changed."

Taylor sighs. She knows, deep down, that Casey is probably right.

"I really don't think you should go on that tour," he continues. "It's your decision. I'm going to support you no matter what you choose. But I really don't think it's what's best for you. You've got so many amazing opportunities ahead of you, I have no doubt. This isn't your only chance to further your career."

The blonde girl feels her body melt into his as he rubs her arms. "It's just... it's a really hard thing to say no to, even if I know it's going to be bad for me personally. It would be so good professionally."

"What does Anthony think?"

"He told me to talk to you and Gracie."

"And did you talk to Gracie yet?"

"Yeah, we spoke before I came over here..." Taylor bites her lip. "She thinks it's a bad idea too... I mean, she didn't say that outright, but I could tell." Taylor knows that the opinions of those two people are probably the most important opinions she could possibly get. If her boyfriend and her best friend are both screaming at her to run, then she should probably listen to them.

Casey can sense her internal dialogue. Taylor just knows it. She doesn't know what to do. If it were any other band, she'd have accepted in a heartbeat. But it's Jett's band.

"Protect your peace," he tells her. "You're working so hard to heal from everything he did to you. The fact that you're here, that we are dating... that's a huge step for you. You thought you'd never date again. But since I'm lucky enough to be the guy to show you what dating is actually supposed to look like, I think it's my job to tell you that I would worry about what going on that tour would do to your mental health."