yours sincerely, daisy. - taylor swift

09

The morning they were set to leave, the beach house felt heavier than it had all week. Taylor stood by the large windows that overlooked the shore, watching as the waves lapped lazily against the sand, the early sun casting a soft glow over the water. She felt a weight in her chest, something unspoken and undefined that had settled in over the past few days. The quiet intimacy of the house had been easy to fall into—too easy, maybe. It felt like a world outside of everything they had to return to. And now, that world was calling them both back.

Behind her, she heard Daisy moving around, gathering her things. Taylor didn't turn. She couldn't bring herself to look just yet, the ache of what they weren't saying making her feel unsteady. Their time here had been peaceful, almost like a dream she didn't want to wake from. She knew, though, that this couldn't last. They were on borrowed time.

"Everything ready?" Daisy's voice was soft, breaking the quiet. It was tentative, like she wasn't ready to leave either.

Taylor nodded, turning to face her finally. Daisy was standing by the door with her bags, looking smaller than usual in the space, her eyes lingering on the room like she was memorizing it. Taylor wanted to say something—something to mark this moment—but the words didn't come. They never did with Daisy. Instead, she moved toward her, her footsteps slow, deliberate.

"Yeah, I think so." She glanced down at her own bag sitting by the couch, the sight of it making everything feel final in a way she didn't like. "You?"

Daisy shrugged, her lips curving into a faint smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I guess."

There was a pause, and for a moment, they just stood there, the distance between them both too much and not enough. Taylor took a breath, trying to push away the tightness in her chest. This was what they had to do—go back to their lives, to their work, to reality. But the pull toward Daisy lingered like an unfinished thought.

"You'll be back on set soon?" Taylor asked, the words sounding hollow to her own ears.

Daisy nodded. "Yeah. A few days, I think." She paused, her gaze dropping to the floor. "I'll be busy for a while."

Taylor caught the undercurrent of something in Daisy's voice—regret, maybe? Longing? It was hard to tell. But Taylor didn't press. She wasn't sure she was ready for the answer, whatever it was.

She just nodded, keeping her expression neutral. "Same. Lots to do." The truth of it felt sharp. They both had lives that demanded more than just this—whatever this was.

With one last glance at the view outside, Taylor finally moved to grab her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "We should head out. I'll drive."

———

The car ride away from the beach house was silent, and Daisy was grateful for that. Words felt too complicated right now, and her mind was already running through a hundred different thoughts, all tangled up in each other. As she stared out the window, watching the scenery blur past, she couldn't stop thinking about the last few days—the closeness they'd shared, the quiet moments, the unspoken connection.

It wasn't that anything had happened between them, not really. But Daisy could feel it in the spaces between their conversations, in the way their eyes lingered on each other a little too long, in the almost-touches that sent her heart racing. And now, as they left all that behind, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had shifted between them. Something neither of them was acknowledging.

But then again, maybe that was for the best. She knew what was at stake—knew how complicated things could get if they crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed.