Begin Again-Kaylor AU

New Year's Day

Waking up that January first next to Karlie felt more right than ever, and it was a moment in mine she wanted to save so she reached for the Polaroid Camera next to her and snapped a quick picture of the sleeping girl next to her, waking her up in the process.-oh sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up, you just look so cute and I wanted to take a photo-.Karlie just smiled and pulled Taylor down to her hugging her close and kissing her cheek.-you want any breakfast love?-. Taylor asked, but not making any effort to get up from under her girlfriend; it had been 4 months from that Wednesday afternoon but it had felt both like forever and just a second, being with karlie was like taking the first breath after being underwater, and loving her was as bright as golden starlight, so much so that even though they spend almost every waking moment together it was on that Christmas morning when Taylor pulled out a small wrapped box for karlie, containing a set of keys to her apartment, with a little heart keychain, and asked her to move in officially, karlie of course cried and said yes, and that very same day by 10:30 pm karlie was fully moved in and ready to spend the rest of her life with the other girl.
by New Year's Day their routine was perfect, they moved in sync with each other almost mirroring the other girl's movements, Karlie being the one to make the coffee and being of course the first person to actually get it exactly like Taylor loved it, (which the other girl made a point to note each morning) and Taylor being the great cook she was being the only one who could make the perfect vegan pancake with just enough whipped cream for karlie to let it slide (as long as it was dairy free of course).
They spend all day long baking and playing games, and by the time the party started and Taylor's friends arrived the girls were so intoxicated in each other it was like getting trying to pull two pieces of tape apart, but nonetheless almost everyone loved it, and loved karlie for that matter, constantly telling her how good she was for Taylor and how glad they were she found her; Drinks went all around the place just like the Polaroid camera Taylor had loved so much, it had been a birthday present from the other girl, and as soon as she got the hang of it, it was all she ever did, karlie was sure her girlfriend had gone through every single package of instants in the city by then but somehow she managed to get more and more, so when the slightly drunk Taylor pulled out the gift she was everything but surprised and laughed as Taylor went up to each new friend she found to take a picture of them and with them.
As expected the girls shared a passionate kiss when the clock hit 12 and after a few more hugs and cheers here and there, the party slowly started to disappear one by one, and by 2:30 am the apartment was once again practically empty, but just in the center of the living room stood the two girls slowly swaying in each other's arms to the faint sound of a piano melody they knew well, the slowly became more and more static until eventually neither of them moved anymore, that's when karlie gently squeezed the girls hand 1...2...3 times a gesture she had grown accustom to doing, and that became a way of silently telling the girl she loved her, with that they retired to their room, Taylor a little heavy on karlies side, who gladly provided the extra support and by the time they hit the mattress they were fast asleep, not moving even an inch until 12:30 had rolled around, Taylor being the one to awaken first, (an odd site for the couple as it was usually the taller girl who was up at 6:30 each morning for her daily run) and so just like that we are back we're we started with the two lovers in each other's arms and getting ready to get up and clean up the night before, which made it self present the second the hit the first floor of the large apartment, bottles and glitter covered the hardwood floor, everywhere you looked, and in the living room where most of the party took place you could see the thousands of Polaroids from the night before, and even some candle wax in some spots from the candles that had gone out long before on their own, in the couch sat the 3 cats looking more unimpressed than ever and benji looking a little sad they his eccentric best friend was not there too, joe had accompanied karlie to Saint Louis for the Christmas Eve family dinner (that's was moved to the 23th per the girls request so they could spend the day with their family and fly back on the 24 to be with each other) but in the hurry of almost missing her flight do to her alarm not ringing, she had to leave the dog behind as she could not take it through customs, but after seeing benji's disappointment when she arrived without her companion she made plans for the 4 of them to take a road trip down to saint lou as soon as the roads cleared out for her Range Rover to go through, so after having some left overs from their baking yesterday for breakfast the two got to work cleaning out the place together, and having little dance breaks every so often.
by 6 o'clock the two had finished cleaning the place up and were cuddle up on the couch, the cats sitting by their legs to keep warm, although benji a little farther from karlie as usual, still bitter over her "betrayal", karlie of course noticed this, and while Taylor wrote away in her little notebook some ideas for what looked to be a new jingle, she pulled out her phone and started looking up the weather report for the next few days, there seemed to be a bit of a clearing Tuesday, 2 days from now, so she determined to get back the cats affection she texted Derek, one of her best friends and the guy who saved her café from closing early, since he took the afternoon shifts for her, the guy was a writer and a journalist so he already spend most of his time in the little cafe tying away the new fashion review or working on some book he had an idea for, so when he realized his afternoons would be cut short from caffeine given karlie's new lifestyle of dating he immediately offered up to manage the place on afternoons, he of course never actually did anything, he hired his fashion intern to work the counter in return for a letter of recommendation to Anna but I was working so far and the kid had talent for a latte so karlie let it be, she typed out a small happy new year before letting him know she would be extending the shop's "vacation" until mid January as she would be taking a trip with Taylor to pick up the dog, and for her girlfriend to meet her family, to her surprise Derek replied saying it was perfect since him and Nick were extending their holiday too, plus "the kid needs a break to write anyway" he said, karlie just typed back a simple have fun, and went to text her good friend and investor Josh Kushner, they were supposed to meet up for a business meeting about a new idea karlie had, she wanted to expand her cookie business and sell them nationally for all vegans to love, and even tho she knew josh was already on board with the plan, always ready to help her they still had to go ever the sheets, but it could wait, besides, any excuse for forcing josh to spend more time with his new boyfriend Joe Alwyn, was worth it, the two had met on a business trip josh took to London a few months ago and they clicked right away, Joe being able to bring out the goofy and sweet side of josh that he was to professional to ever let out, but because he was so afraid of screwing up he tends to escape with work their time so this was perfect, josh just responded with some emoji and a "enjoy your honeymoon" effectively teasing karlie back.
After everything was ready and planned she looked over to her lovely girlfriend who was still lost in the pages of her notebook and slowly got up from the couch to prepare a special dinner, and their bags, even tho it was just a small random trip she wanted it to be a special surprise for the girl, who in the past few months revealed small pieces of information about her past relationships and how much they had hurt her, so even small things like this she wanted to make them special for Taylor and show her how much she cared.
Little did she know the girl sitting on the other room was not actually working but writing a small poem about them, always fearing that karlie would leave just like the others did, writing down words like "please don't ever become a stranger who's laugh I could recognize anywhere" the fear of loosing the true love she felt for karlie so present it almost hurt, but just as she was about to give into the anxiety karlie came in through the kitchen door with a glass of wine in each hand a beautiful shining smile on her face, saliently sitting down the glass in front of Taylor, and leaning down to place a small kiss of reassurance on the girl's lips before turning back into the kitchen to finish making their meal, and just like that all the fears in her head washed away, grabing her pen she wrote down "and I will hold on to you" finishing her poem, and remember that they were okay.