The Mayor (Kaylor)

Chapter 12

  "'Cause lately I was thinking I never told you,
That every time I see you my heart sings."

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some songs that sound great with this chapter: 

Nervous - Gavin James

Water Under The Bridge - Adele

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Taylor 

Unsurprisingly, Taylor didn't sleep much that night. She tossed and turned and pondered about Karlie. There had to be something she could do to make her stay, something a little more simple than declaring her undying love for her. Because she wasn't even sure if she loved Karlie or if she could love Karlie in a hypothetical future. She just needed more time to figure things out and to gather the courage to ask Karlie about what she wanted. She just couldn't do it now.  

Morning came eventually and Taylor looked like some kind of evil spirit from a horror movie with the smudged makeup and the messy hair. When she walked over to the bathroom, she saw that the guest room was empty and promptly made a u-turn to the stairs. 

Karlie was sitting at the kitchen table, looking perfectly bathed and clothed. "Oh, you're here," Taylor mumbled, relief washing over her. "I thought you already left."

"Not without saying goodbye," Karlie said lightly, although she kept her eyes focussed on the Donald Duck in front of her.

"Where's Li?" Taylor sat down. 

"Brushing Sunshine. Or maybe washing Sunshine. Not sure, but something horse related." Karlie's eyes examined her face. "You look awful. Have you even slept at all?"

"Not really," Taylor said tentatively. "I know we kind of made up but I still feel really bad about what happened last night."

She tried to provoke Karlie, challenge her to say something about the situation. She didn't know if it was intentional, but Karlie came off like she couldn't care less about what she had to say.

"You shouldn't feel bad." Karlie's eyes had trailed back to the comic book. "By the way, I don't know if you're aware of this but Dixie will be here in 15 minutes."

"Damn it." Taylor spat a sip of tea back in her mug. "I have to shower. Can you let her in?"

"Sure," Karlie mumbled, and Taylor sprinted upstairs. Bad morning. Very bad morning. 

After a record time of 11 minutes, Taylor hurried back downstairs. She wasn't wearing any makeup but at least her hair was brushed and tied in a short ponytail. When she was halfway down the stairs, she heard people at the door. Fuck. She had hoped to have some more time to clean the kitchen, but on the other hand, it were just kids, right? Dixie wouldn't care if the house looked tidy or not. She slowly walked further. Karlie was talking to Lily and if she didn't make too much noise, she wouldn't have to join in the conversation. 

But as soon as her feet touched the marble floor, she heard that it wasn't Lily at the door. She stood still, debating if she would go to see what the person wanted or let Karlie handle it and sneak into the living room. 

"Oh, Taylor!" Karlie suddenly turned around. Great, she had super-hearing. "It's— um, Toni is here to bring Dixie and— uh, her own daughter."

You've got to be kidding me. Karlie swung the door further open so Taylor stood face to face with Toni. The blonde gave Taylor a disarming smile.

"Hello, Miss Swift, I'm Toni Garrn, Marie's mother. The girls made some last-minute plans to hang out with the three of them but Karlie wasn't sure if Lilah consulted that with you. If it's a problem, I can take the three of them to my place."