Pitch Perfect Harmony

The 1950s Shit

On the last evening in Italy, Taylor and Travis had dinner in front of the big mansion just feeling a little more like some sort of royalty. The few days that they had had just for themselves had been great. They had valued every second of it barely seeing other people and it was just perfect. Even her security had given them as much space as possible. On their last walk along the water, two guards had been trailing a good few feet behind them and Taylor hadn't felt this alone in forever. Alone as in peacefully not lonely. Their fingers intertwined they were on their way back already. "Last night in our prince and princess bedroom", he smiled squeezing her hand. "Yeah", she sighed not quite ready to dive back into the chaos of her tour.

"Stockholm is supposed to be really pretty", he noted. "We'll see how much I get to see", she mumbled. "I wish I could come to your festival this year", Taylor suddenly told him what was annoying her right now. He stopped, so she did too. Looking down at her, he smiled softly. "Someday I'll have the biggest pop star of our time at my festival. And I don't care if it's on stage or just with me. But first, she has to finish the biggest and best tour ever", he said with a playful grin. "She is honestly a little tired of touring", Taylor silently admitted. She had never said that ever in her life. Because she knew how much of a privilege it was to be able to play shows like that and a whole tour. "I'm sure she still had fun and just doesn't want to miss her boyfriend", he said cupping her cheeks. "Maybe", Taylor agreed. She really missed him a lot on tour. Most of the time, she didn't let herself go down that road too much and instead opted for distraction but if it was up to her, she'd have him in every city. "I'll be back soon, baby. You enjoy some crazy nights all over Europe and in London, I'll bring my parents and Jason and Kylie and we have a big party together", he tried to make her look ahead more than just to where he couldn't be with her.

"I could ride one of the bikes during blank space", Travis came up with a joke successfully making her laugh. "You'll hurt yourself and then the whole NFL and all these football guys will hate on me", she giggled but found the picture in her head with him on one of these bicycles really funny. "I can ride a bike", he protested chuckling with her. "But can you ride a bike around me in a short glittery skirt?", she winked making him laugh more and drag her along to finally continue their walk back. "I know you like it when I wear short skirts", she continued to make him blush. "I'm just a man", he admitted slapping her ass jokingly. "Hey!", she laughed taking his hand again. "You wouldn't come on stage with me anyway", she brought the original topic back. "Why not?", he asked with a grin. "Trav", she just said. "What? I'm not a good dancer but I can roleplay a little bit", he argued. "What if that ends up being the picture people remember you from?", she asked because that had been something Joe had always said. He didn't want to be known or remembered just for dating her.

"Then people remember me in one of the best moments of my life with one of the most important people. Tay, I don't care. I won two Super Bowls. If people want to remember me in a silly costume on stage with my girlfriend then so may it be", he shrugged putting an arm around her waist. "But it's okay if you don't want me on stage. It's your stage. You're the boss", he added. Taylor just nodded but kept thinking about it a bit. She thought about it for so long, that she woke up in the middle of the night with an idea. What if he would join the "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" intro? He could carry her, she knew that. Quickly, Taylor wrote the idea down in her notes app before going to sleep again.

The next morning began early because they had to leave their perfect little vacation world. It was another long goodbye and then they had to separate at the airport. Taylor had barely arrived in Sweden when Tree came by for an important chat. "I hope you had a great trip", she still started after their hug. "We did. It was so beautiful and just peaceful", Taylor said while they sat down in her hotel room. "I'm assuming there are some pictures? We saw paparazzi", she sighed. "A few, yes but I don't think they'll be a topic for too long", Tree admitted hinting at the fact that there was another thing to talk about. "Okay?", Taylor wanted to know what was going on. "So, I already talked with Travis' team and also someone from the Cheifs and I'm currently trying to get in touch with the NFL press team", she started. "Wow, okay. Did we do something wrong?", Taylor asked half-serious. She knew that it didn't matter what she was doing because there'd always be someone bothered by it.

"No, no, you are good. Harrison Butker. Do you know him?", Tree asked. "A teammate. Don't think I've talked to him much", Taylor honestly explained. "Yeah, and you probably want to continue not talking to him. He had a speech for some university graduation and... let's just say he managed to say everything he possibly could've said to make me angry and it kinda left me speechless", Tree told Taylor who knew that it was rare to leave Tree speechless. "And he mentioned my name", Taylor assumed with a sigh. "Yeah. Well, no. Not directly. You were mentioned as his teammate's girlfriend", Tree painted quotation marks in the air. Taylor let out a sound of disbelief. She was literally on the most successful tour a musician ever had played and still was just "his girlfriend"?

"But I'd say that's the least... controversial thing. I'll just show you. But promise me to not rage-write a paragraph for Socials. We'll handle it", Tree said and waited for Taylor to agree before she took out her phone and played the clip. Taylor could not believe her ears when he just did not stop saying one racist, misogynistic, and queer-phonic thing after the other. And then he quoted her song? Bejeweled was written about how Taylor could still shine independently from any men. It was kind of ironic that he had quoted this song. And just like Tree had been speechless when the clip ended, Taylor sat there and stared at the phone for a second. "Oh. My god. I could yell all sorts of things right now", she tried to stay calm. "Oh, me too", Tree agreed. "The Cheifs team said that they'll at most say something along the lines of accepting other opinions without agreeing with them, the NFL... well I didn't get through to them yet but I assume they'll wait it out. And Travis... is practically not allowed to say anything", Tree explained. Taylor sighed again.

"So... what do we do? Are we even allowed to say something?", Taylor asked. "Allowed yes, but I think we probably shouldn't just yet", her publicist said. So she thought about it for a moment. What would she even want to say? "I'm surprised that I'm saying this but maybe we should say nothing no matter what the NFL decides to do. If Travis can't say anything because he'd get in trouble with his team or management, then I would probably get him in trouble too", Taylor proposed the idea of staying silent. Tree looked at her surprised. "That sounds... What did you do with Taylor? Like the one that can't stay silent about discrimination and unfair treatment?", she asked with a slight grin. "Oh, I could write a book about why I hate everything that man said but... You know what? I'll talk to Travis later when he lands. I just don't want to get him in trouble", Taylor explained. "Maybe I'll still write this book and just not publish it", she added frustrated about not being able to say something. "Okay, that sounds more like you", Tree chuckled a little. "But yes, you talk to Travis later, I try to contact the NFL, and until we talk with everyone involved we stay silent", she summarized the plan.

"And the whole vacation relaxation is gone already", Taylor sighed walking over to her bed and letting herself collapse into the sheets. "I'm sorry", Tree smiled softly at her while gathering her stuff to let Taylor arrive now. "It's okay. We'll figure it out. Do we have any appointments today?", Taylor wanted to know too lazy to pick up her phone and look at the calendar herself. "No, just get a good night's sleep, and tomorrow we can have a short practice and soundcheck at the stadium right after breakfast. Show starts as usual", Tree explained from the door. "Thank you. Good night then I guess", was Taylor's last answer before she was left alone. It was not evening yet and Travis would have a couple more hours of flight ahead, so she couldn't call him either. She decided to answer a few texts and emails instead. Donna had texted about what Butker had said and Taylor found it sweet to have Travis' mom look out for her a little. She quickly assured her that she was okay and that a few stupid words wouldn't hurt her anymore. And they truly didn't. She was frustrated and annoyed that people still thought the way this man did but the specific mention of her wasn't that big of an issue for her.

I finished my bachelor's degree today. Whooo 🎉🎉