Pitch Perfect Harmony

Bad News Day

Taylor honestly forgot for a second if she was still in Germany or already in Poland when they arrived at their next hotel. A quick look at her schedule told her it was still Germany. She also had scheduled a FaceTime cooking with Travis later. It would be morning for him and evening for her but they figured he could just cook and put it away for his dinner. Taylor was truly excited about it. She hasn't had a fallback to her pasta streak yet but today, she wouldn't have had a better idea of what to eat. So Travis got to choose, Taylor sent someone out to get everything she needed and when it was finally time, she put her phone against the wall of the small hotel suite kitchen waiting for Travis' call.

He wasn't a single minute late making her smile. "Hey, baby!", he smiled into the camera obviously not awake for long yet. "Hey yourself!", she answered and threw him a kiss. He jokingly caught it and threw one back making her giggle. "You got everything?", he asked. "I think so. And I'm hungry so please let's just start", she said. So they began cooking and chatting about their day in the meantime. Taylor forgot the whole whirlwind of the tour for a while just getting lost in him. They laughed a lot and he threw flirty phrases at her making her blush all the time until their food was done. He stayed on the line with her while she ate and was happy that it seemed to help her relax for a bit. Taylor slept very well after this little FaceTime date night.

But in the morning, Tree had to break some bad news again. "Just know that you can't influence these things", she told Taylor who still didn't know why her publicist was so worried but it worried her too. "There was an attack on a dance class in the UK", she finally explained. "W-what do you mean an attack?", Taylor asked immediately. "A guy with a knife... I think two girls died and a few are still fighting", Tree sighed. "Girls? Children?", Taylor stood up in disbelief. "Yeah... sorry. It was like a small dance event about your music as far as I could find out", her publicist answered before watching Taylor tear up. She took her shaking hands and pulled her into a motherly hug. "Who... how", Taylor stuttered. "They're still investigating. Tay, you can't blame yourself for anything", Tree told her. "I... I know but...", Taylor mumbled trying to pull herself together. "It's just that... they are children... I... their families, their friends...", she added sighing and wiping her tears after taking a step back. "I know... I'll see if we can support in any way, okay? Do you need me to call someone for you? Travis? Your mom?", Tree suggested. "Trav is asleep, Tree. I'll talk to Mom later", Taylor said.

So Taylor spent the day talking to Andrea a lot until the show. Travis also wanted to call her as soon as he got notice but she pushed this call away until after the show. Taylor needed to push this aside fully until the concert was over or else she would constantly think about what could happen at her shows if even small children's dance classes got attacked because they played her music. At least, she was sure that her as a theme was the reason for the attack as much as Tree tried to convince her that it was just a coincidence. But at night, when Travis' worried voice echoed through the speaker of her phone, she couldn't keep herself together. Travis needed a good few hours to get her to sleep and he would've just stayed on the phone with her for her whole night but besides his appointments, she also had a show the next day again. So he was glad that she got some sleep.

To make everything even worse, Kanye dropped a single out of nowhere, and again, Taylor's name left his lips on it. But not only hers, he also mentioned Travis. Taylor needed a good few minutes to process that information but Tree was a little more careful this time and didn't just send a text. She showed her how the Swifties reacted annoyed. It seemed to not stir up anything more than eye-rolls and questions about what the specific line even meant. Taylor understood but pushed the disgusted feeling aside before calling Travis when it was a reasonable time to call someone on the other side of the ocean. "Tay, how are you doing over there?", he asked still worried because of the attack in London. "There's news again. It's about you this time too", she got straight to the point. "Oh... what is it?", he asked surprised by both the news itself and her professional demeanor.

"Kanye mentioned both of us in a new song", she told him closing her eyes insecurely waiting for his reaction. "Oh... ahm... well... I'm close to asking what he said but maybe that doesn't matter. How do feel about it?", he stuttered before figuring out what he wanted to know. "I... I'm okay... I think... It's... stupid and... yeah.... But...", she stuttered. "I'm sorry I pulled you into that", she admitted silently. "It doesn't matter, Tay. It's not your fault either. I'm glad you're not stuck in a state of pushing me away again. We could count that as good progress don't you think?", he asked with a small smile that she could hear in his voice. And he was right. The last time this had happened, she had literally pushed him out the door. "Probably. I love you Trav. Let's try to ignore it, okay?", she suggested. "But if it bothers you more than talk to me, yeah?", he wanted to make sure. "Promised. But you too", she agreed. "Sure. How are you doing in general?", he then wanted to know.

"I'm trying to push through, honestly. I'm tired", she told him sitting down in her dressing room. "You'll do a great show tonight and then you do that in Warsaw again and Vienna and then it's just London left", he tried to make her look ahead. "That feels like forever", she noted. "I know", he agreed honestly. "I love you, Tay. You can do it. And then we take some time for ourselves. Can I do anything else for you? Send you something from home?", he asked. Taylor smiled to herself. "Your shirt doesn't smell like you anymore", she mumbled making him chuckle. "I'll make sure to have one waiting for you when you arrive in Prague, okay?", he said. "Thank you", she smiled. "I think I gotta go", he then told her and she heard someone in the background. "Okay, I love you", she quickly said. "I love you too. Stay safe, baby", he answered before they really had to go.