Ours - Taylor Swift WLW Romance Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Turning Point

When Taylor got home, she found Joe sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the TV. The room was dimly lit, the only sounds coming from the show he was watching. She dropped her bag by the door and made her way into the living room, feeling the shift in atmosphere from the vibrant energy of the studio to the quiet of her home.

"Hey," she said, trying to sound casual.

Joe glanced up, a quick, "Hey," in response before his attention went back to the screen.

Taylor hovered for a moment, unsure of what to do next. "How was your day?" she asked, an attempt to bridge the growing gap between them.

"It was alright, nothing special. You?" His tone was flat, his eyes not leaving the TV.

"Good, productive," Taylor replied, her voice trailing off. She could feel the forced nature of their conversation, more like two roommates sharing a space than partners sharing their lives.

She sat down on the other end of the couch, pulling a cushion into her lap, a physical manifestation of the distance between them. The silence that followed was heavy, filled with all the things they weren't saying to each other.

Taylor looked at Joe, really looked at him, and felt the emptiness where love and warmth used to be. It was as if they were both ghosts in their own home, haunting the spaces they used to fill with laughter and love. The realization was a quiet ache in her heart, a mourning for what used to be and what had somehow slipped away.

Taylor nodded, feeling too tired to express the disappointment that bubbled inside her. "Oh, okay. What's the movie about again?" she asked, trying to show interest, to bridge the gap with conversation about his life.

"It's a drama about a family struggling to keep together after a tragedy. It's... it's got a lot of depth, I think it'll be good," Joe explained, his eyes lighting up for a moment as he talked about his work.

"That sounds intense," Taylor replied, her voice soft. She wanted to feel excited for him, to share in his passion, but the exhaustion and the weight of their strained relationship made it hard.

"Yeah, it is. I really believe in this project," Joe said, leaning back into the couch. "I just wish... I don't know, that things were a bit easier, you know?"

Taylor looked at him, really looked at him, seeing the man she fell in love with. "I wish that too," she said quietly, the space between them filled with all the words they couldn't seem to say.

That night, as Taylor lay in bed, her mind was restless, drifting away from the quiet of the room and the emptiness beside her. Instead, her thoughts wandered to Ava, vivid and unexpected. She found herself curious about the softness of Ava's lips, imagining what they might feel like. She thought about Ava's hair, how smooth and shiny it looked under the studio lights, and wondered if it felt as soft as it appeared.

The more Taylor tried to push these thoughts away, the more they persisted, painting pictures in her mind of moments that hadn't happened, of touches and whispers that were just figments of her imagination. It was confusing, this sudden intrigue wrapped in a gentle warmth that seemed to fill some of the spaces inside her that had grown cold.

She turned over in bed, trying to find comfort in the pillows, trying to find sleep amid the swirl of thoughts. But images of Ava, her smile, the sound of her laughter, the way she looked when she was deep in thought about music, kept floating through Taylor's mind, unbidden but not unwelcome.

Joe climbed into bed beside Taylor, his face showing the weariness of a long day on set. "Hey, baby," Taylor greeted him with a weary smile, scooting closer in an attempt to bridge the gap that had grown between them. She laid her hand gently on his stomach and let her leg cross over his, seeking some form of connection, some spark of the affection they used to share so effortlessly.

At this moment, Taylor was aching for any sign of warmth from Joe, for any indication that the distance between them wasn't as vast as it felt. She longed for a reaction, a squeeze of her hand, or a return of the embrace, something to prove that the flickers of their love hadn't been completely extinguished.

But Joe's response was muted, a tired arm that half-heartedly wrapped around her shoulder, his exhaustion acting as a barrier even in their closeness. "Long day," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, as if the words themselves were too tired to form fully. Or, perhaps, Taylor thought, he simply just couldn't bring himself to care.

Taylor nodded, her heart sinking a little more. "I can imagine," she whispered back, her voice thick with unshed tears. In this moment, with Joe so close yet so far away, Taylor's mind began to wander again, despite her efforts to be present. She thought of Ava, of the energy and connection they had shared in the studio, so different from the silence that enveloped her now. She thought of her body, her lips, her... just her.

The contrast was stark, and as she lay there, Taylor couldn't help but wonder about the paths not taken, about the possibility of warmth and understanding from someone who was rapidly becoming more than just a colleague in her thoughts. She craved a connection that felt alive, that sparked joy and inspiration, rather than the emptiness that seemed to linger in the air between her and Joe. And so she let her imagination run wild, thinking thoughts that would never come to life about someone who had no idea she was currently on Taylor's mind.