"You look gorgeous. How are you feeling?"
Halfway across the world, through a screen, he can see how the expression on her face is a hybrid of excitement, mixed with a serious case of butterflies. It's the little gestures and he notices them all now; the biting on the inside of her cheek, the slight incline of the octave of her voice, the way she drums her fingers repeatedly against the make-up table.
"Ready, I think. I still feel the show in my body, so that's good. Excited to be here, too. It's absolutely beautiful."
In his own house, he'd paused in the middle of getting ready for Pat's charity event to give her a call before she was set to go on, especially given it was the first performance back after break.
"Can't wait to be there with you. Watch you on stage, doing your thing."
Her eyes sparkle. "For the second time, you mean."
In a vastly different context, to be certain and it wasn't lost upon either one of them. Getting to see her perform again from a new perspective is slightly crazy, when he really thinks about it...the way life can shift on a dime.
"You've got my number this time around, though."
He loves watching her giggle. Her nose scrunches up and she laughs with her entire face and body, just like he does.
"Absolutely correct."
She runs a hand through her hair contemplatively. "It almost feels surreal, right? The last time you saw me on a stage, you and I didn't know each other and now I know you pretty well."
He laughs at her understatement. "Just a little bit. And yeah, it's nuts. Just a guy with a friendship bracelet and a dream as they say on Twitter or X, whatever the hell it's called now."
"You're too much," she smiles, "I can't believe how into this you are. Do you watch edits, too?"
"Well, yeah. There's some talented people out there," he shakes his head. "It's actually kind of fucking cool, being part of an edit. Don't try to tell me you don't watch them, Tay. I've got it on real good authority that you do."
"Good authority...meaning, what exactly?" She pretends to squint perplexedly.
"Good authority as in I caught you watching some when I got out of the shower last week. You tossed that phone real quick."
"Okay, okay, you got me. You just wait to see what I've got cooked up for you this weekend."
"Oh," the tips of his ears turn red as he smirks. "That so, huh."
"Get your mind out of the gutter," she returns quietly and he knows someone's stepped into the room. "I mean, that, too, but I was talking about at the concert."
"I can't wait," he tells her sincerely, sinking back into the sofa. "Just as soon as I finish up the event, I'll grab my stuff and hop on a plane to you. And I can't wait to hear all about tonight."
"I'm sure you'll see it on TikTok," Taylor demurs, flashing the same sexy grin that always manages to send him into pieces. "Don't forget, you also get to meet the one and only Scott Swift for the first time."
"Damn, I know it. I'm actually really excited to meet him. Unless he's got a shotgun ready or what have you."
"Don't worry at all. I've talked you up so much that he's over the moon. He and my mom know how happy you make me."
The tone of her voice goes soft and he has to swallow hard. "You make me happy, too. Probably more than you know."
"I hope the event goes amazing," she quickly changes the subject, visibly emotional. "I'm sure it will. It's a beautiful thing Patrick's doing. You, too, it's so sweet of you to go and meet those kids."
