CLEAN || Taylor Swift Adoption

THIRTEEN

"...and I will hold onto you..."

~EVERLEIGH~

August 5, 2019

I started walking down the steep staircase downstairs to the room where the Session had taken place. Although my Converse were platform but with no heel, I was still worried that I was going to trip down the stairs and that the first sight that Taylor would have of me was my face being all black and blue. It felt like it took me an eternity to walk down the staircase, but once I made it down to the next floor, adrenaline began to rush through my body. This was it, the moment that I had been waiting for.

There was another guy from Taylor Nation waiting at the end of the hallway for me, and he beckoned me forward. "Are you Everleigh?" he asked, looking at a sheet of paper that he was holding.

I nodded in response. Damn, how many people here knew my name?

"You can go right on in," he said after a beat. "She's ready for you."

Just the thought of Taylor being "ready for me" made my heart start racing again, and I could feel my entire body trembling as I walked towards the door. The guy from Taylor Nation held it open for me, gesturing for me to go inside. "Have fun," he whispered with a smile as I walked through the door.

The door closed behind me, and it was as if my feet froze in place. I couldn't move, I was so terrified. I hadn't even seen Taylor yet, and my mind was clouded with fear at the thought of talking to her for the first time, with it just being us. It had been so much easier to interact with her during the Session, when the entire room was filled to the brim with other Swifties. But now, it was just going to be Taylor and me, and I was terrified, absolutely frozen in fear.

My lip began to tremble, and I mentally scolded myself, biting my lip to try and stop myself from crying. Not here, Everleigh. Not in front of her. Wait until you're on the bus, wait until it's over. But not yet. Just-

"Everleigh!" Taylor's voice called out my name for the first time. She sounded so excited, so happy, and I hated that I hadn't run to her like I had originally planned to. Tears streamed down my face as I silently cried, unable to move. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that I would wake up from this dream, and be back in the backyard, finding out that I had accidentally fallen asleep and I still had yet to go into the Session. Why, out of all days, was today the day when I felt the need to cry? And especially in front of Taylor?

A warm embrace wrapped tightly around me, and I could feel Taylor resting her chin on the top of my head as she held me. She gently swayed us from side to side, rubbing my back as she did so. "You're okay, babe, you're okay," she said, keeping her arms around me the entire time.

Eventually, I was able to calm down and stop crying, letting Taylor hold me until she was going to pull away from the hug. However, she didn't even budge from the embrace, and I realized she was waiting for me to end the hug first. I did so, taking a step back and using the side of my fingers to dry the skin under my eyes that was soaked with tears as I looked up at her, a genuine smile on my face this time.

Taylor reached for my hands, holding them in between us. For a second, I didn't realize what she was doing, but after doing a double take, I realized that my hands had been shaking again. Somehow, Taylor had been able to tell that I was nervous, and she seemed to know all the right things to do to get me to calm down. I hadn't had someone do that for me in years.