Imagine Me and You ➳ A Jaylor fanfic

Tender Sticks

"Shut up. Oh my god." Taylor laughs. They just got back from Japan a few days ago. And last night, they went to a celebration party for her Reputation Stadium Tour that just ended. After a few drinks in, Taylor started introducing herself as Tender Sticks. In the morning, she found out that #TenderSticks and #DrunkTaylor we're trending on Twitter. "Whatever. Tender Sticks.

"I'm sooooo glad that I don't remember a single bit from last night." She sighed, standing up and grabbing her coat.

"I'll go and walk my headache out. See ya." She said, leaving the house. Before all that, she went to Starbucks to get coffee. She was both jet lagged and hungover. Fun.

Her phone rang, it was Joe. "Hey Tender. Can you get us some cheese? Thank you." Taylor rolled her eyes. "Fineeeee. You better make the best quesadillas or else-" she was interrupted by a little girl who bumped her. She quickly turned around. The child basically passed out on her. "Oh my god." She sat on the ground;  she carefully tried to pick up the child while simultaneously taking to Joe on the phone.

"What? Where are you right now?" Joe asked, Taylor didn't answer because she picked up the child and placed her phone on the bench. "I'm taking her to the hospital." She says, looking around to see if there was a cab. "I'm coming. Text me the hospital, okay? I love you." Taylor smiled, getting in the cab. "Okay. Love you." She hung up and told the cab to go to the nearest hospital.

15 minutes passed and they got there. She brought the child to the ER just to make sure nothing bad happened. Turns out, she was just dehydrated. The doctors advice that they monitor the child for a few days just to make sure.

"Thank you so much." The doctor left, leaving Taylor and Alicia alone. "Hey." Joe says, entering the room. "How are you feel?" Taylor shrugged. She still had a headache but didn't want to admit it. But, she had the 'I don't feel well but I won't admit it' face so Joe knew.

"I'll go get food for you and her." He kisses her on the forehead. "Get soup for her please."

-

A few hours passed and Alicia finally woke up. It was past midnight though. So, Taylor decided to cancel the celebration for another day. She wanted to make sure the child was okay. She looked around, confused. She wondered who the lady was that was sleeping.

"Hi?" She tapped the lady a little. "Oh. You're awake. How're you feeling?" Taylor asked, she didn't answer. "I'm Taylor." She added, giving her the food that she bought from awhile ago. "What's your name, baby?" Taylor asked, "Alicia." She nodded. "That's a pretty name. It's as pretty as you." The little girl smiled at the compliment.

She figured that Taylor was someone who was helping her. Like Maddie. "Mommy likes you." She said, taking a spoonful of the soup. "Really? That's awesome." She smiled at the child. "Where is she now?" Alicia shrugged at Taylor. "Maddie told me she was getting a punishment for hurting me." She lifted up the hospital gown, showing Taylor a bruise.

Taylor was shocked, to say the least. But, she stayed calm and understood what she meant.

"Are you gonna take me to the orphanage too?" Alicia asked, she didn't want to go back but she didn't have any choice. "I don't know."

"You're nice." she added, Taylor smiled at her. "Thank you." They were startled by Joe who came in the room. Alicia was scared of men but tried to hide it.

"Alicia, this is Joe. He's my friend." Joe mumbled an 'ouch' for Taylor calling him a friend. "I consider her my girlfriend but apparently I'm only a friend to her." They all laughed. This was the first time Alicia had laughed in forever.

He went closer to Alicia and whispered, "I actually call her Tender Sticks and I think you should too." She giggled at the name. "It sounds yummy." She added, Joe couldn't help but laugh.

"Joe, I swear to god you say the most embarrassing things to people." She says, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.

In that moment, Alicia felt wonderful. All her life she was physically abused by her mother. At the same time, she experienced the most traumatic things that a little girl shouldn't have experience. In school, she would be bullied having messy hair, smelly clothes, and having inexpensive and broken things. But with Taylor- I mean, Tender Sticks, she felt happy. It felt like nothing mattered.

The doctor went in to check up on Alicia's condition. Taylor suggested that they talk outside while Joe kept Alicia company. "I suggest you keep her here for another 24 hours. She's very underweight for her age." The doctor says, Taylor couldn't help but feel bad. "By the way, what's her name?" The doctor asks, Taylor smiled. "Alicia. Alicia Swift."

She went back in and decided to talk to Joe. "Here. You can play with my phone while we talk." There were no games in Taylor's phone besides scrabble. But, Alicia was so amazed and occupied with exploring on her phone.

"I think we should keep her. I just feel like we need to help her." Taylor told him, he agreed with her. "I know. She seemed so calm about the events that happened to her. It sounded like it was normal to her." He added, Taylor smiled. "Thank you. I know this'll be a big changed and I just wanted you to know-" He shook his head. "You know I'll support you with anything, Taylor." He says, kissing her on the lips. She blushed a little.

They went back in to tell the little girl. "We have good news, Alicia!" She says, with a big smile on her face. "What do you say if we become one big family?" Alicia smiled with excitement. "You're going to a- uh..." She thought for a second. "...dopt me?" She smiled again, she forgot the word.

Taylor smiled. She was quickly trying to find the words to explain it without the word 'adopt'. She wanted Alicia to understand that she'll be their daughter, You know?

"Something like that." The little girl immediately scooted to hug Taylor. "Thank you." She mumbled, Joe decided to join the hug. Creating a special and memorable moment for everyone.