isn't it? [taylor swift] ✔

chapter 74

"One-hundred and forty-nine shows," Leia spoke into the microphone, a huge grin on her mouth as she raised her glass into the air and smiled across the room at her girlfriend. "The highest grossing tour of all time..."

Taylor smiled back at her, tears glistening in her eyes and causing a direct sparkle from the lights around them as she looked back at the love of her life.

"...and the fact that you somehow found time to write and record not just one, but two full-ass albums while doing it," she continued, to thunderous applause and laughter from the dinner guests.

A ripple of amusement spread around their candle-lit table, candles trembling in the breeze of the hidden, upstairs dining room. Taylor hid her face behind her hand, face flushed as the camera phones went up and not for the first time tonight. She looked so young like this, so delighted and embarrassed, and Leia wanted to skip the rest of the speech and just go over and wrap both arms around her and kiss the high colour into her cheeks. 

She stayed put, though, letting the applause fade before she dialled it down to something more intimate, letting her eyes find Taylor's once again in the hush. 

"People keep asking how you do it," Leia went on, voice softer now. She shifted her glass to her other hand. "But I get a front row seat. I get to see what nobody else does: the writing at 3am when you can't sleep, the sticky notes on the bathroom mirror, the way you look at a room full of strangers and imagine every one of their stories in less than a second." 

She paused, unable to hide her smile. 

"And the voice notes, oh my god, so many midnight voice notes."

The laughter came again, but this time it was gentler, the crowd of friends, family, and trusted crew hanging on the edges of every word. It hardly felt like a party so much as a warmth that lived in the cracks of each person there, all bonded by the colossal tour.

Leia cleared her throat, and now her hands shook a little as she lifted the glass again. 

"But more than anything, what I see is someone who never once let the world tell her who she could or couldn't be. Who took every punch, every headline, every invasive question, and didn't just survive it... but rather she made it into a story, into a song, into two albums. You gave it all back to us in songs and stories and nights we'll never forget."

The glass lifted, and to her right, Georgie followed with a matching gesture. Taylor wiped at her eyes, shaking her head, mouthing 'you're the worst' in a way that made Leia want to cry and laugh at once. She almost lost track of what she wanted to say next, which was rare, but tonight she let the silence ride a beat longer before clearing her throat and finishing up the toast.

"To the Eras Tour," Leia finished, her mouth unable to keep from splitting into an enormous smile. "To the album. To everyone in this room who made it happen. But mostly... to Tay. Because what a fucking ride you've allowed us all to be a part of."

Taylor raised her glass too, and a final crest of laughter washed through the private room, echoing off the wood beams and Italian frescoes.

She stood, graceful in a way that suggested she'd been rehearsing this very moment even as she'd pretended not to. She cut through the applause with a gentle wave, lifting her own glass, her eyes finding Leia's with the kind of adoration that made even the most hardened tour manager melt into a puddle.

"Okay, I have to say something," Taylor said, her voice still trembling with laughter and emotion. "First, I want to point out that none of this would've happened without all of you. Every single one of you in this room has been family to us. And, honestly, you're the only reason I didn't end up running away after the first six months."