the unsent project. | Taylor Swift, One-Shots

"Why can't you be serious with me?"

Unsent Message #8:

To Taylor:
Why can't you be
serious with me? I
love you I want all
of you.

• • • • •

Taylor Swift is currently on what people are claiming to be the biggest tour ever known to men, and she would have to agree with them. But, not only that, she was also in the middle of a weird kind of friends-with-benefits situationship with one of her best friends, Riley James.

You see, Taylor had officially called it quits with her boyfriend of 6 years earlier that year and while the blonde didn't feel ready to give herself completely to a new relationship, she knew she had some needs to be fulfilled. Which is why, at some point in the middle of the chaos that is her life, she started hooking up with Riley. Taylor couldn't tell you how it all started. One day she was telling her friends how much she needed a non-serious rebound to have fun with and the next day she was waking up in tangled sheets with the actress.

It was fun, it was freeing, it was meaningless. Or, at least, that's what Taylor thought in the beginning. The blonde was so sure there were no feelings involved whatsoever. But, boy oh boy. Taylor could have not been more wrong.

Riley was feeling absolutely miserable with this arrangement. Don't get her wrong, she 100% agreed to it when it was first brought up. Just fun, no feelings. The problem was, Riley James had all the feelings in the world for Taylor Swift. All of them. She was down horrendously bad.

The first night Taylor and Riley fell into a bed together, they were both drunk and the morning after they decided that instead of making it weird, they could make it a regular thing. Riley agreed cause: one, she has always had a hard time saying no to Taylor and two, she convinced herself that this could help her in the long run. But the actress wasn't actually sure how much longer she could take.

• • • • •

Riley woke up to the familiar sensation of a cat jumping onto her chest. Used to this, she slowly opened her eyes and blinked away the remnants of sleep. She was in Taylor's room, in Taylor's bed, alone. Riley could hear the shower running. She strained her neck to reach for her phone on the nightstand since Taylor's cat, Olivia, was still perched on her chest. Glancing at her phone, she saw it was barely 9 in the morning. With a sigh, she dropped her head back on the pillow, knowing Taylor was showering because the singer had to leave for Chicago soon for her weekend shows.

Riley knew she should probably get up and dressed since she was naked under the covers, but instead, she stayed there, eyes closed, petting the cat. It wasn't until she heard the shower turn off that she realized she might be overstaying, but before she could even move, the bathroom door opened.

"Oh, hey. You're up. " Taylor said, noticing Riley was awake.

"Hi, sorry. I was going to leave, but I'm being held hostage," Riley replied, her voice raspy, nodding towards the cat.

Taylor let out a small laugh and walked over to Riley's side of the bed, picking up Olivia. Wrapped in a towel, her body still glistening with water drops, the singer made quite the sight, and Riley couldn't help but stare. Taylor didn't seem to notice, though. Or, if she did, she didn't show it.

"You sleep well?" Taylor asked, heading back towards the bathroom but leaving the door open to continue the conversation.

"Yeah," Riley replied, sitting up slightly. "You really have the most comfortable bed in the world, it's insane."

Taylor laughed softly. "I know, right? I got the new mattress back in March. Changed my life."

Riley finally decided to get up. She wrapped the sheet around her as she collected her crumpled t-shirt and shorts from the floor.