this is me trying | taylor swift

twenty three

❝but if I'm all dressed up, they might as well be lookin' at us❞

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Taylor wasn't sure when she finally fell asleep. All she knew was that sleep did not come easy when she was up the majority of the night worrying about her sister. When Taylor did awaken for the day, it was half past eleven -- a very big change from her usual six-thirty wake-up time.

"G'morning, Momma," Taylor rubbed the last remnants of sleep from her eyes as she entered the kitchen. Her mom was racing back and forth from the stovetop to a leather-bound cookbook that was open on the island, following directions of sorts. Scott's office door was shut, indicating that he was taking a call. Taylor ran her fingers through her hair as she got the all too familiar sense of déjà vu -- it was as if she was a teenager again, living at home.

"Hi, honey! How are you feeling? You look better!" Andrea stopped mid-stir, focusing her direction on her oldest child, whose color had returned to her cheeks once more.

"I'm good now, I think. Much better at least! I don't feel dizzy and the sore throat is basically gone," Taylor smiled to which Andrea reciprocated and nodded. The blonde took a seat at one of the barstools near her mother and unlocked her phone, subconsciously opening the Find My app -- the entire Swift family had their locations on for one another and while Taylor didn't intentionally mean to stalk, it was habit at this point. As she pressed on her sister's location, her brows furrowed when she saw that it was somewhere other than home.

"Hey Mom, where's Ella?" Taylor asked the older woman, who had gone back to switching her attention between the recipe and the actual meal.

"Oh, she's at Kenna's house. Dad dropped her off before his meeting like half-an-hour ago," Andrea responded nonchalantly.

Taylor's lower lip jutted out as she remained silent, her furrowed brows maintaining their appearance. "Oh, but why? I haven't even gotten the chance the properly see her."

Andrea looked at her daughter inquisitively as she wondered why Taylor was upset by the matter. "Honey, it's okay. She doesn't get to see Kenna very often anymore and her family is going out of town tonight, so it was their last chance to get together for a couple weeks. She'll be home soon."

Taylor sighed as she felt her frustration build. Rationally, she knew that a few hours made a negligible difference in the grand scheme of things. However, not only did she really miss her sister and was worried about her, she thought that Ella would want to see her too.

"Sweetheart, what on Earth is going on? What's with the long face?" Andrea felt deeply concerned that Taylor was acting like this. Her daughter was not one to just upset easily and she could tell that her disheartenment went deeper than Ella visiting her friend for a few hours.

Andrea walked around the island and pulled her daughter into a hug. She rubbed her shoulder and kissed the top of her head as Taylor's arms laid limply by her sides before she stood up, returning the embrace.

"Sorry, never mind. I'm fine, I'm sorry. Let me help you, Mom. What do we think about some chocolate chunk cookies?"

✮

Ella adjusted the waistband of her sweatpants and fixed the hood of her oversized hoodie. The teenager had fully embraced the sweatsuit look, which she had deemed American chic. After all, of all the countries she had visited, Americans were the only ones who seemed to be comfortable going out in loungewear, and Ella -- a born and bred Nashvillian -- was no different.

Upon waking up in the morning, Ella immediately texted Kenna and asked if they could hang out. Her best friend had responded instantaneously and Ella made quick work of getting ready and asking her dad if he could drop her off. While she did want to see her friend, that was not the only reason the fifteen-year-old was adamant on leaving the house. There was also somebody that she was trying to avoid, namely a blonde singer who was fast asleep down the hallway.