the stars in your eyes | t.s. one shots

scintillate

a bit of a short one, but i watched chase stokes watch kelsea ballerini all last night at her show in london and it was the sweetest thing ever. the real story that loosely inspired this one shot is that there was an emergency in the crowd (the venue/security were wonderful and handing out water all night but it happens and that's such a wonderful reminder that it's so important to be safe at live gigs!) and kelsea had to step off stage to ensure that the person was getting the help that they needed and as she was standing off to the side, he was blowing her kisses and she was waving up at him. it felt very travis and taylor coded so now you have this one shot tehe

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Taylor looks out at the sea of people in front of her, a smile on her face. She's just so happy to be back out on tour. It's been nearly a year and a half since closing the Eras Tour and being back on the stage tonight feels like coming home. In front of a stadium full of people really is the place where she's happiest.

This tour is going to be no exception, and she's got a feeling that it'll even be more special than any of the others. Her eyes fall upon the VIP tent, to Travis. Her husband. It's been six months since they tied the knot and three months since she put out the album about the journey they've been on together, getting engaged and married. Each and every time that she thinks of him as being her husband, not her boyfriend, nor her fiancee, she feels her heart racing. Oh, they're so happy. Everyone had told them that marriage would be hard work and it was something that they were ready to face hand in hand. For Taylor and Travis, though, it's been six months of absolute bliss.

Sure, they've had little arguments here and there. Times when she doesn't like the way that he loads the dishwasher or folds the laundry, or when he gets frustrated that she doesn't want to come to bed because she's in the middle of writing a song. But those are so very minor. Overall, it's been incredible, building a life together.

In the time since meeting Travis, Taylor has learned so much about what it means to love. She's learned that a relationship isn't about letting someone else fit into your existing life. Maybe that's the trick at first, but when it's time to get serious, that means that you're going to be creating a whole new life, as one entity. That's what happened with Travis. Those who used to be her friends are now theirs, as are those who used to be his friends. 

Now that's he's retired, he's promised her that he'll be at her shows come hell or high water. If she's there, he will be too. One last tour, she'd told him. One more sparkling summer of shows on the road and then they'll settle down, have the kid that they always dreamed about. If they're lucky, it'll be two kids, close together. That's exactly how they were both raised, and they would love to be on the parenting end of that experience now.

And he'd held her hand and told her that it sounded like the most perfect plan. There's oh-so-much to look forward to in the next few years, and that starts tonight.

Her left hand wraps around the neck of her guitar as she takes it all in, the fingers of her right hand mindlessly grazing over the strings near the sound hole. "Glendale, you look so beautiful tonight. I wanted to come down to this part of the floor and say hello to all of you in the back, is that alright?"

Cheers erupt from the crowd, especially those near her. She designed the stadium on purpose. She goes through the crowd, down a barricaded-off walkway to the B-stage. The B-stage that's located only a few feet away from the VIP tent where Travis stands, his gaze fixed on her.

"So," Taylor says, a little smirk on her face, "I, um... recently had something really big happen in my life. If you don't know, I got married to the most incredible man. And there's this song that I wrote about him... it was actually the first song that I wrote after our wedding. And you guys... when I would go online and look at all of your videos on TikTok and your Tweets and all of your wonderful things that you do to communicate with me, you told me that you really liked this song. So I thought that I might put it on the setlist, if that's alright with you? Would you like for me to play 'Scintillate?'"