Darling You've Got Your Demons | Kaylor

twenty five

TRIGGER WARNING: ALL OF THE THINGS

Karlie

A woman jumped up and pulled JJ off of me. The bathroom slid in and out of focus as I sunk to the ground. The next few minutes were a blur, but I remember the women yelling at each other. My face was wet with tears that I'd failed to suppress. It was a silent cry. I was too afraid to make noise.

After arguing for a few minute, (It might've just been a few seconds. My perception of time was nonexistent in this moment) my rescuer slapped JJ across the face, and roughly shoved her out the door.

Then, she turned to me. I was afraid. I cowered in the corner as she walked over to me and squatted down to my level. "Hey, don't be scared, I'm not gonna hurt you." The softness and caring of her voice contrasted with the venom that had laced her yells a second before. She sat down on the floor next to me. "I took care of that bitch. You don't have to worry. I'm Kat, by the way." I wanted to speak, to thank her, but I couldn't find my voice. "Are you okay? Is there anybody I can call?"

"Taylor," I whimpered as I drew in a shaky breath. She was probably worried sick about me right now. I couldn't bear to contemplate the alternative. I was abruptly filled with guilt and shame. I had cheated on Taylor. That thought sent a sob through me, and the floodgates opened.

Kat opened her arms, and I gratefully fell into her embrace. And I was sobbing uncontrollably in a stranger's arms, and she was awkwardly patting my back, and everything felt so raw. I was crying about so many things, and somebody I hadn't ever met before was just holding me. It was kind of a beautiful thing.

We must've sat there for a whole two minutes. Finally, my crying subsided, and I was able to introduce myself to her. "I'm Karlie," I mumbled, "And I really...thank you for...for earlier. I don't know what to say, but, thank you."

She shook her head. "You don't have to thank me. I was just being a decent person. I'm sure you would've done the same thing."

I wasn't sure I would've been as brave as she was, but I kept silent. I took my phone out and gasped. I had 87 missed calls. All from Taylor. "Fuck," I whispered under my breath.

"Dude," Kat said, "Whoever this Taylor person is, you've gotta call them back. They're probably worrying about you."

I shook my head rapidly, biting my lip to resist screaming in frustration and anger at myself. "She's pissed at me. I can't...I can't see her right now! I literally just made out with somebody else! She doesn't deserve this, she doesn't deserve me, I should've just stayed away, I'm so awful to her, I-"

"God, shut up, will you?" Kat said sharply, silencing me. "I don't know anything about what's been going on with you and this Taylor person, but you sure as hell did not want to be kissed by that asshole. And Taylor clearly fucking cares about you. She's called you 87 times!" Suddenly, Taylor's picture flashed across my screen. "Well, now it's 88--hold on, is that Taylor Swift?"

I yanked the phone away from her, ignoring the call. Panic flooded through my body. Just when I thought I couldn't fuck up more... Taylor would kill me if Kat knew we were dating. It could even be a matter of safety. Oh god, what if I'd put Taylor in danger?

I began to hyperventilate, and my thoughts started to spiral out of control. I held the phone tightly to my chest, "P-please, you can't tell anybody about it, nobody is supposed to know about it! You can't...just please, please don't tell anybody, she'll get so mad at me!"

Gentle hands pried the phone away from my grip. "You need to try and calm down. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm going to call Taylor back and tell her to come pick you up."

I just had this feeling that everything was going to go wrong. The room felt too hot and my shirt and bra felt too tight against my constricting chest. My hands frantically began to claw at my neck, going over all of the hickeys she'd left.

"Karlie, you need to calm down. Nothing is going to happen to you. I promise. You're safe." Kat eased my hands away from my neck. I sat on them, and tried to breathe as she clicked on Taylor's contact and put the phone to her ear.

Taylor

My heart was in my throat as we sped through the busy streets of the city, trying to get to the bar. I was so relieved when I got the call from Karlie, only to have that relief replaced with more worry when a mysterious woman named Kat answered. She had explained what happened and given me the address of the bar. Even though she said that Karlie was safe, my anxiety was through the roof as my mind went through all of the possible scenarios.

She's okay. Somebody is with her. She's safe. Don't worry.

I kept repeating that to myself in my head all throughout the car ride. My leg bounced up and down in anticipation and fear.

Karlie's safe. Relax. She's safe.

We pulled up outside the bar. I feel the loud music in my bones, and the neon lighting made me feel nauseous.

And suddenly, I saw her. She was pretty much being held up by a girl almost a full foot shorter who had bleached blonde hair. My breath caught in my throat, and I reached to open the door.

"Ahem, Ms. Swift, are you sure you should be going out there? I can escort Ms. Kloss to the car."

I turned back to face the member of my security in disbelief. "I don't give a fuck about my image or my safety right now, so don't you fucking dare suggest anything right now!" I made sure to add venom into my voice. I slammed the door behind me as I left the car, breaking into a run as Karlie saw me.

Our bodies slammed together, and I held her tightly as she shook with sobs, also letting my own tears fall. "Karlie, you scared me! Don't ever do that again! I was so scared, I-" my voice caught in my throat, and I started to cry harder. We were both a snotty, teary mess, and she was probably drunk, but I didn't care. "God, I love you," I breathed out, sniffing, "I love you so much, and I'm so sorry about earlier. This is all my fault, I'm so sorry!"

Karlie shook her head. She was still holding onto me for dear life. "No! This is all my fault! I fucked up so badly, Taylor! I hate this, I hate myself! You have to forgive me. Please, forgive me!"

I let out a short laugh of relief, "Of course, love." We stood in silence for a few seconds, swaying as I rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. "You really scared me, though. I...I didn't know where you were, and you weren't answering my calls, and I couldn't help but think-"

"Just don't," Karlie said, perhaps more sharply than she intended to. She continued in a softer tone, "Don't think about it. I'm here in one piece, more or less. I'm okay, now that you're here." We stood there for a few more seconds. I closed my eyes, breathing in Karlie's scent, and allowing myself to finally relax. "I love you too, by the way," she whispered. I allowed myself a small smile.

Finally, we both pulled away enough so that I could turn to Kat, who had seen everything. "I can't thank you enough, and I feel so awful asking you this when you've helped us so much already, but please don't tell anyone about what happened tonight. Please."

Kat waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I won't tell a soul. Promise."

I didn't realize how much I was shaking until I tried to grab my wallet from my purse. I took a deep breath to steady myself, and then took out a few bills. "Here," I said, handing them to Kat, "I know that we can in no way repay you for everything you've done, but I want you to take this. It's not much, but it's really all I can do right now, unless you can think of anything else."

Kat took the money from my trembling fingers. "Thank you so much. My mom would probably want me to refuse this, but you've got millions. Besides, I reblogged a rare money pepe on tumblr yesterday, and I think that that's a sign that I should take this, if nothing else is." She turned serious once again, "Seriously though, take care of yourselves."

I rolled my eyes, and a slight smile made it's way onto my face. "Nice to meet you, Kat. And thank you, again." Karlie had wrapped herself around my waist and didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon, so we all settled for handshakes. Kat waved and walked off, disappearing into the shadows.