In the car on the way back to Taylor's house, Karlie is nervous. The driver, Jamie, the youngest member of Taylor's security team, drives carefully, never hitting the brakes too abruptly, avoiding most of the bumps in the road so that Karlie will feel as little pain as possible on the way back home. Still, Karlie can't shake the memories of yesterday's drive and holds on to her mother's hand so tightly her knuckles turn white. It isn't until the car pulls into the driveway of the house that Karlie feels safe enough to let go of her mother's hand.
As she slowly makes her way through the door, straining to keep the pain at bay, the two cats come running towards her. While Meredith stops at the bottom of the stairs, Olivia walks up to her and snakes herself around Karlie's legs, meowing at her.
"Hey baby," Karlie coos at the cat and wishes she could bend down to pick her up for a cuddle.
Olivia follows her into the living room, meowing at her constantly. "What is up with you?" Karlie asks the cat as she goes through a mental checklist of what could possibly be bothering the cat. "Oh," she whispers suddenly, "nobody fed you today."
"Hey mom," she asks as she carefully lowers herself onto the couch, Tracy propping pillows up behind her to protect her shoulder.
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"Could you go into the kitchen and feed the cats? They must be starving." She grits her teeth together as she tries to make herself more comfortable, the now-familiar stabbing pain shooting through her body again.
"Of course, but you're going to have to tell me where the kitchen is first."
Karlie laughs softly. "Sorry, I forgot you haven't been here before. If you go straight past the stairs, you'll see it on the left. The cat food should be in the cupboard to your right once you get in. Oh, and mom, can you get me my iPad first? It's in my bag right there." She points to her bag lying at the bottom of the stairs. It was where she had put it the day before, meaning to put it away once they got back from visiting Hannah.
Tracy nods and quickly gets it for her.
"Thanks," Karlie says with a smile.
"You're welcome, honey," Tracy replies and kisses her daughter's forehead before moving on to the kitchen, the cats trotting happily along behind her.
Tracy comes back out after a couple of minutes. "There was still kibble in their bowls so they weren't exactly food-deprived," she says, "but considering how they chomped the wet food down in seconds, you'd think they hadn't seen food in days."
Karlie chuckles lightly. "Yeah," she replies, "they're funny like that."
"I was thinking of making us something to eat, it's been hours since I ate. Is there anything in particular you would like me to make?"
"I don't even know what we have in the fridge to make food from to begin with. I wasn't in the kitchen at all yesterday," Karlie says with a frown. "But I guess soup of some kind would be good right now."
"I'm sure I'll find something in there to make soup from. Any particular kind you want?"
Karlie smiles and shakes her head. "No, surprise me."
***
She shifts positions slightly on the couch, trying to find a way to lessen the pain that's pulsating through her body. I wonder when Taylor will be home, she thinks to herself and sighs. Turning back to her iPad, she checks the time. Nearly 2pm.
She starts going through her various social media accounts one by one, and finds them flooded with well-wishes and links to all the various articles about the crash. Clicking one with the heading "BFFs Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss in horrible accident – forced off the road by reckless paparazzi," she lightly drums her fingers on the side of the iPad while it loads. She starts skimming through the article, not really sure why she finds herself drawn to it, but stops once she reaches the first picture of the scene. It's really just a picture of their crashed SUV, but she feels her heart starting to race and her hands feel clammy. Closing the tab, she goes back to her twitter feed, forcing herself to take deep breaths. "You're okay," she whispers to herself, "it's okay."
YOU ARE READING
best thing that's ever been mine - a Kaylor story
Fanfiction- I'm so tired of hiding, Karlie. I've been standing in front of so many people these past few months, telling them that they are worth more than the opinions of others, that they are brave and can get through anything, and I just... I don't want to...
