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

here's to my mama, had to listen to all this drama

Andrea Swift has grown to detest Joe Alwyn.

The man who stole all of the light from her baby girl's eyes. That alone makes him pretty easy to hate, mostly toward the end. Andrea was worried about Joe from the very beginning, though. It made her anxious, knowing that Taylor was halfway across the world living with a man who she only met six months ago. Even if she seemed happier when she went into hiding, even if it really was what she needed, something about it felt off.

Andrea knows Taylor better than anyone, which let her notice the little things. The way that her daughter became so dependent on him so quickly. The way that they moved so fast, that it was highly physical from so early on. She's pretty sure that the first night she met Joe, he made out with Taylor right in front of her and Scott. It wasn't hard for her imagination to fill in the gaps of what she didn't see. Back when they first got together, there were times when Taylor would get anxious whenever he wasn't around... it's like she'd forgotten how to be alone. There were so many warning signs, little things that Andrea didn't like early on. Still, Taylor stayed with him and it wasn't her place to say anything.

Her daughter was going to have to figure it all out on her own.

It took Taylor six years to realize that she didn't like the person she'd become with Joe as her other half. Deep down, she wasn't that introverted girl she'd become over the course of that relationship. She wasn't reclusive and quiet, liked to live her life beyond the pages of literature. She liked living in New York and going out with her friends, liked performing on a stage for thousands and thousands of people, liked living in the same country as her nearest and dearest.

But... then the call came. Finally. "Mom? Can I come stay with you for a little bit? Uh... Joe and I broke up... and I'm coming back to the US... but I don't really want to be alone."

Andrea noticed how Taylor closed off after that. How she started keeping some things to herself, like who was living in her phone that was making her smile every few minutes. Then... he showed up at a concert. Matty Healy. The guy who Taylor hadn't been able to get out of her head nearly a decade ago. 

She'd had the biggest crush on him. Andrea had known that. She'd also known that nothing had ever gone further than flirting and making out at a party once... at least back then. The pieces fell into place when she saw him on the other side of the VIP tent in Nashville. Something had rekindled between the two.

They'd heated up quickly. Suddenly, Matty was always around. Andrea wasn't sure that she liked him any more than Joe. He seemed fickle... always had drugs in his pocket. He'd offered her weed once, when she was sitting down at a show. Her back had been sore, and he'd said it would help. One gummy would take that pain away. While he was probably right... that's all it took to solidify Andrea's opinion on him. If he wanted to be high, that was his business. If Taylor wanted to join him... she's an adult. But no self-respecting man would offer marijuana to his girlfriend's mother, not when he barely knows her. 

It was much to Andrea's relief when Matty was out of Taylor's life just as quickly as he'd entered in. Still, she's worried when Taylor slips into a really dark period. It's a tough few months. Nothing she says seems to get through to her daughter. A plea to see a therapist seems to go in one ear and out the other. She knows that Taylor is in and out of the studio  when not performing and Andrea can only hope that the music she's making is helping her to cope. But... reassurances that she's still young and that her person is out there somewhere don't seem to hold any weight when Taylor swears that she's never dating again. 

Andrea doesn't know when, exactly, that vow changes. It's early August when Taylor is back to those habits that she displayed at the beginning of what happened with Matty. When Andrea sits down beside her in the dressing room, Taylor tips her phone screen away to hide the contents of the display. She's giggling at texts and thinking she's being subtle, completely unaware that her cheeks are a vibrant shade of pink visible even through a layer of foundation spread across her skin before going onstage.