You'll Be Alright - Taylor Swift

Part 31

A few days earlier...

After my talk with Austin yesterday, I could barely sleep. I just wanted to see him and go over the plan again. Because while he seemed to think it was a good idea when I said it, I wanted to make sure he wasn't just saying that to try and make me feel better. I needed to see him to make sure he was telling me the truth.

So the second my eyes fluttered open from the very little sleep I had had, I slipped out of bed, being extra sure to be quiet and not wake Taylor for the first time in a long time.

I wasn't sure if Austin would be here yet or if he was if he would be sleeping, but I wanted to make sure I spoke to him before Taylor got up because we don't have long, and I want to make sure we have as much time to get everything sorted before the day.

But as I snuck down the stairs and heard footsteps, I knew he must be here and awake because Andrea wasn't staying at Taylor's with us this time; she was staying at a hotel so she could explore a little.

"Austin?" I ask softly as I walk into the kitchen, laughing when he doesn't reply. Instead, he picks me up and twirls me. "Shadow! There you are. I am here, and I have your special delivery," he finally states, placing me on the counter softly before digging through his pocket, his smile widening when as he pulls the bracelet out and passes it to me.

There it is, the bracelet we made that very first time we did bracelet making together. Purple beads that I spent ages picking out surrounding the four letters I had been so sure about.

"You keep it for now?" I ask, looking at it for a second longer before handing it back with a shy smile. "Of course I will. You just tell me when you need it, and I will give it to you, alright?" He says softly, which has me nodding. He must have seen on my face that I wanted to say more because he gave me a relaxed smile as he started making some coffee beside me.

"Tell me the plan again, Shadow. Just so I can figure out exactly what we need to do to make sure you can do it," he offers, which has me humming as I fiddle with my fingers softly, taking a second to gather my thoughts. Straightening up the hundreds of different ideas swirling around my head.

"I want to do something big for Taylor, to show her how much she has helped me. How far I have come because she has helped me. I... I have been scared to play the piano again because I have too many big feelings. But I think I'm ready to play again, and I want to do it for Taylor. I want to... I want to be part of her show, be part of her world. And I need help to do it because I want it to be a surprise for her," I manage to get out, nerves swimming in my tummy as I say the words.

"Taylor thinks I'm brave, so I want to be brave for her. I want to show her I'm as brave as she thinks," I add, my voice even quieter as I remember what Taylor said yesterday at rehearsals.

"If that's what you want, then that is what you will get, Shadow. Now, I have some time to think about the flight over, and I think the first thing we need to do is meet with Tree and make a plan. Do you know when you want your surprise? Do you know what song you want to ambush?" He asks, a warm smile on his face as he starts to drink his coffee. There is juice in front of me that I hadn't even noticed him grabbing for me.

"Not yet. Thought I should find out if I'm allowed to first," I mumble back, taking a big sip of my drink, suddenly very aware of how dry my throat feels. "That's fine. How about I tell you what I think our plan should be, and then you tell me if you like it or if you want to change anything?" He offers, which has me nodding immediately.

"Well, I think we need to ditch Taylor for the day, first and foremost. So, I thought we should make her some breakfast so she wouldn't have questions about what we were doing that morning, and then after breakfast, we say we were having a day just the two of us, and we would meet her at the stadium before the show. While she is working, we can have a meeting with Tree to start figuring things out. How does that sound?" He offers, which has me nodding.