the stars in your eyes | t.s. one shots

after the show

There are not many things that will give you as much adrenaline as performing for more than 80,000 people, all screaming for you. The chemicals in your body lock that memory into your mind forever- no matter how many times it happens. But reaching that level of a high means that there's a dangerous potential for it to all come crashing down, a little too quickly. The abrupt change of environment, from a glittering stage to the backstage dressing room of a stadium, which is really just a cushy locker room with a mirror set up, can be an abrupt change for Taylor. She is always careful to be in somebody else's company after her shows for just that reason. Even if it's just Tree, or just her dad, she wants somebody to be there with her while she calms her body and mind from the performance she's just put on.

On the night of her second show in Buenos Aires, she's particularly excited about the company she's going to keep after the show. It's Travis Kelce's first time at the Eras Tour as her boyfriend. For the entire show, Taylor is smiling just thinking about it. She's immensely proud of this tour, and the fact that she gets to share it with him, knowing he's in the VIP tent cheering her on, makes her want to burst into thousands of pieces of shimmering glitter. She feels a warmth in her chest knowing not only that he's proud of her, but that she gets the chance to make him proud.

As she performs, every few minutes, she'll steal a glance at the tent where he's watching the show next to her dad. He's so tall, which makes him easy to spot, even in the crowd of people. The clothes he's donning don't hurt either. His button down shirt features patterns of bright blues and greens. At the end of the concert, she can't help but acknowledge him publicly- more publicly than she's ever recognized one of her boyfriends during a show. She's pointed in their direction before, blown kisses and thrown smiles, but this is different. This is verbal.

It's an inside joke from the night before. They'd been lying in bed together, after making it home from their dinner with Taylor's father. She was resting her head upon his bare chest and his arms were wrapped loosely around her neck. He'd been mumbling sweet nothings under his breath, sacred words to be shared only between the two. Suddenly, she had looked up at him, craning her neck to find his eyes. "I wish I could go back and rewrite every song, make it about you," she said to him. "I can't wait to get a song about you on the setlist, as soon as possible."

Travis reached up and stroked her hair; his face turned a deep shade of pink upon hearing her words. "Sweetie, you don't have to change anything on the setlist for those songs to be about me. If you're thinking of me, then in that very moment, that song is about me." He paused. "Maybe don't think about me during 'All Too Well,' alright?"

She let out a small giggle. "I could change the words, too. Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, huh? That sounds even better than 'guy on the screen.'"

"Could you imagine?" he'd asked her with a laugh. "Your fans would fucking lose their shit; it'd be electric."

"They would," she had agreed. She didn't think much more of it at the time. She certainly wasn't expecting to pull it out at her concert, but somehow, she did. She was looking down at him, smiling and having the time of his life as he watched his girl perform, and suddenly, she finds it coming out of her mouth. "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me."

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the mouths of her dancers fall open in shock, then break into huge, toothy grins. A quick smirk forms on her face as she steals a glance at Travis, his hands on his face as he processes what she just said. Then, she keeps going on with the few minutes she has remaining in the show. She acknowledges the band, the dancers, and takes her final bow, then steps onto the platform that lowers her down, giving her a way off of the stage. She ducks down and takes off her jacket, handing it to her dresser and leaving her in only her fringed bodysuit that she wears for the Midnights era on tour. Taylor takes a quick sip of water, then checks in on everyone. She does it after every show- makes sure that all of her dancers and musicians are feeling good and happy with how everything went. She thanks them all. Then, it's finally time to leave the backstage area.