Pitch Perfect Harmony

I'm On Your Side

"Are you sure you wanna go?", Travis asked when Taylor had to leave for the Golden Globes. "Trav, I'm okay. Yes, I want to go", she smiled. She knew he asked partly because of the mental breakdown she had had after New Year. They had talked a lot about why it happened and how she probably could've prevented it. He had assured her multiple times that she didn't have to force herself to socialize even with family when the outcome would be a breakdown like that. "I'll miss you", he sighed letting her know the second reason why he had asked. "I'll miss you too", she agreed leaning into another hug. They were already standing at the front door. "Send me a pic before you go out?", he grinned knowing she would look stunning no matter what. "Of course", she chuckled. She had done that at her concert movie premiere and he liked it a lot to know her looks before the world saw them.

A few minutes later, it was awfully quiet around his house. He walked back to the living room looking at the piano and the guitar she had left. God, he missed her already. His feet carried him to the instruments and he carefully picked up the guitar. She had taught him chords again yesterday. His fingers still hurt a little from it but simply by strumming the few chords slowly and very concentrated, he saw the memories of the day before like flashbacks. Music really was strong. And now he had someone who was able to write their own soundtrack to their life. Imagining how it would be to listen to the songs in a few years and still remember the moments was incredible.

But what if she wouldn't be there anymore one day? He had never thought about leaving. Not a single second but sometimes, things didn't work out and you could do nothing about it. It would hurt. It would hurt more than any breakup before ever did. No, he wouldn't leave. Not if it was in his hands. Putting the chords in a different order, he realized that it sounded familiar. She probably had hundreds of songs using these chords, he didn't know but he could almost hear her sing "So High School" over it. It was too slow though but he had trouble coordinating his fingers enough to get the rhythm on top. How could she sing so effortlessly at the same time?

Taylor had entered her jet now and they started rolling already. She sighed looking out the window at the town she almost called her home already. It was more him than the town though. Before drifting off to her thoughts too much, she took her MacBook and started to get through some work for the new album. She was so excited for it. Now that Travis had heard it, she was just happy about it. It felt strange to think about all of these dark topics while now being so happy but she had done that before. Nothing would ever compare to what Joe and Matty had put her through but for the first time, it almost felt like this era was emotionally over before the album was even released. She could still get to all these feelings by listening to the songs. It still hurt. But it didn't feel so hopeless and eternal anymore. What she had with Travis felt eternal in a good way. She would not give this up for as long as she could. Whatever lay ahead of them. She was going to fight. And this time, she was sure that he would too. He had shown her already.

The next day came sooner than she had expected. Jetlag was not that much of a problem because they were inside most of the day and barely saw any daylight. Taylor was a little tired of course but she felt good and ready for the award show. She had a feeling that she would be a topic more often than it would be necessary but that wasn't new. Tree had quickly talked to her about the host and some of the nominees she didn't know too well. Taylor snapped a photo of herself in the mirror to send it to Travis. Then, they found their table and Taylor was happy to meet Selena again. They had met briefly a few hours ago but now they had some more time.

The evening began without anything unusual. Until the first, bad jokes came out of the man Taylor immediately found annoying. Selena's eyes met hers and they exchanged knowing looks. Barbie got some very unpleasant jokes too. And then of course her name got mentioned. She almost gasped but held herself back and just took a sip of her drink trying to look unbothered. Selena rolled her eyes and she wasn't the only one. The rest of the night was ruined. She decided to leave early and noone could be mad at her. This was a shit show already and when that man later blamed it on his writers, Tree had to actively stop Taylor from posting something on her social media. "I can't believe it! How can someone like that still host this kind of show? And why am I getting shit for it?! I didn't even do anything!", Taylor rambled while getting out of her dress. "You did nothing. That's the thing. You, and all of us, were expected to laugh", Tree said. "It wasn't even funny! I never asked for the attention! I... argh!", Taylor ended annoyed. "It's fine. It will blow over", Tree said. And they both knew that was true. It still stung.

"What the fuck was that?!", a message from Travis popped up on her phone. Was he seriously mad at her? "I don't laugh about misogynistic jokes! And I don't laugh about bad jokes about myself! And I don't care that I get bad press for it! That's what you're in for! Deal with it!", she quickly texted still angry and blind to what else he could have meant. Her phone rang Travis' face showing up. "Don't let it out on him", Tree said sensing the mood she was in watching her almost decline the call. So Taylor mumbled something to Tree and picked up. "I don't...", she started but Travis interrupted her already: "I know! Jesus, Taylor, I'm on your side!", he chuckled. "I won't ever tell you to shut up and smile. You could've stormed on stage and I would've supported you", he explained. Taylor took a deep breath noticing Tree's smile. She had heard him too. "Sorry... sorry, I... I got worked up. Of course, you're on my side. Sorry", Taylor said a little embarrassed. "It's okay. You're rightfully angry. Will you publish something about it?", he asked. "No... It'll work itself out", Taylor answered. "Okay. Are you still at the venue?", he asked. "Yeah", she said. "Should I let you get ready and we talk later?", he suggested. "Yeah, sure. I'll go back to LA tonight. Can we talk when I'm in the car?", she asked. "Of course baby. I love you", he told her. "I love you too", she gave back before they ended the call for now.

Taylor ended up rambling to Travis on the phone for the whole car ride. He was really tired after his practice but he didn't dare to tell her to end the call. He let her talk and just agreed to everything she said. Not just because it was easy and it helped her but also because she truly was right. When Taylor got closer to her LA home, she realized how long she had been talking. But she wasn't even that tired. The rage was still there. "I'm so sorry I never stopped talking, did I?", she said. "Maybe", he admitted smiling a little to himself. "God, you must be so tired, I'm so sorry", she repeated. "Tay, it's fine. Sometimes you need that, I feel you. What would you wanna do if I was there?", he asked trying to distract her. She blushed as soon as she realized her first thought. "I'd probably have you fuck me senseless so that I don't remember that tonight ever happened", she mumbled silently so her driver wouldn't hear her because he already had opened the curtain a little to let her know they were almost there. Travis couldn't hold back a laugh. "And I probably would be in for that", he laughed. "You're the best, baby. I miss you", he added still chuckling. "I miss you too. I'm home in a few minutes. Maybe you should sleep. I'll try to do that too when I'm there. See you soon?", she asked. "See you soon. Good night, Love", he answered and sent a kiss through the phone. "Good night", she sighed before sending a kiss back and ending the phone to enter her home and go to bed.