{HIATUS} Rewind | Kaylor

VII

You're pacing again. Ed sighs, rolling his eyes. "Tay, she's only twenty minutes late. You know how Karlie is, she's always late to everything. She's not going to leave you hanging like that asshole did." You give him a look and he puts his hands up, "Hey, I'm just stating the obvious. You know how I feel about Tim."

You slide down the bathroom wall onto the floor and drop your head into your hands. "I can't think about that right now, Ed." Your voice cracks, and he softens, crouching down next to you on the floor.

"Hey, T, don't worry. We both think Karlie's a great person. But if she's not going to show up today when she knows how much it means to you, then she ain't really worth it, innit?" He puts a comforting hand on your shoulder.

The ping of your text tone shakes you out of your gloomy mood and you leap across the room to grab it. You can practically feel relief course through your veins as you see the notification light up your screen.

"Karlie's on her way. She said her flight got delayed but she just left the airport."

Ed smiles. "See, I told you she'd be here." You beam back, grateful that you won't have to write a song about being stood up at your own birthday party two years in a row.

With the knowledge that Karlie is coming, you can gather the courage to go back downstairs and interact with the rest of your guests. You take one last glance in the mirror to ensure that your waterproof makeup actually did it's job, and you leave the bathroom.

~*~

You're dancing with Cara--or at least trying to; you're a little tipsier than you'd like to admit--when you hear the doorbell ring. You nearly trip over your own feet as you rush to open it, so you're slightly red-faced and frazzled when you pull open the door.

She's finally here, and she looks beautiful. "Hi, Karlie," you say stupidly as you try not to stare at her cheekbones that could cut a bitch, or her magnificent green eyes, or the way that red dress looks on her....

"Hey, Taylor!" she beams. You smile back, and then realize you should probably let her in. Yes, that would be the correct hostess-y thing to do. You're doing great, Taylor. Totally not making a fool of yourself at all, you think to yourself sarcastically.

"Come on in!" You notice she's holding a slightly absurd amount of boxes, bags, and suitcases.

"Oh, um, I really hope it's okay that I brought these up. I didn't have time to go back to my place," she says.

You giggle, "Of course it's okay. Don't be silly. We can put them over here." You shove them into an inconspicuous corner of the living room. Neatness isn't really your forte. You turn back to her and realize she's still holding a gift bag and a rather large white box.

"These are for you," she dictates. "This is to share," she gestures to the white box, "And this is your present."

"Karlie!" You're blushing. "You really didn't have to get me anything!"

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, I did. Now open it."

You peek into the box. It's a cake. A really pretty and probably expensive cake. "Holy shit, Kar, you really didn't have to do this."

She shakes her head and laughs, so you stick your tongue out at her. You put the cake on the table next to the other one that Ed and Gigi made sloppily with love. Then, you reach into the gift bag.

"Fuck," you whisper. It's a Joni Mitchell vinyl. "This is amazing, thank you."

She laughs again. "Glad I had you pegged right, Swift. Remember how you kept ranting to me about how much you love her at Playlist."

"No?" You say. "Was I drunk, because that explains it." Karlie nods. "Dammit. That happens a lot, just letting you know. But I can't help it! She's just so--"

"Taylor, mate," Cara swoops in, "We know." She gives Karlie a knowing look, and you hit her playfully on the shoulder.

"Woah, shit, who upstaged our cake?" Ed yells.

"That would be me," Karlie giggles.

"Ah, welcome to the party," he tells her as he slides a glass of wine into her hand.

~*~

After about another half hour of dancing, you've worked up enough of an appetite to stomach some of Ed and Gigi's (probably awful tasting) cake, in addition to the one Karlie brought. You join the procession of people headed to the table and get a slice of both.

You go over into the living room where some people are playing Super Smash Bros (Ed is to blame here) and plop down on the floor next to Karlie.

"Doubling up on the cake, I see," she says, while getting ready to dig into her piece, which is a lot smaller than yours.

You suddenly feel self-conscious. "You're right, I should put some of this back," you mumble.

"No, babe, I wasn't being serious," Karlie replies quickly, "It's your party. You eat whatever you want."

You flash her a small smile but you can feel a blanket of shame wash over you. This is stupid. You need to stop living by your ex's stupid rules.

"You okay?" Karlie asks quietly, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

"Yeah," you say, because you really want to be. So you eat every crumb of that goddamn cake and make sure to enjoy the shit out of it.

A/N:  I know I said I would post these yesterday but I forgot...whoops, sorry bout that.  I don't think I ever mentioned that Taylor in this fic is kind of based off of Dodie Clark (aka doddleoddle on youtube), which is why Dodie isn't in this fic lol.  Also Ed's character is kind of based off of Evan Edinger aka Dodie's best friend and roommate at one point #dovanflatforlife

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