Livre: One Shots

[59] sit on the stoop

Here's another chapter. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the fall vibes. :)

-/-

"What are you doing?"

From where the singer is sitting on the floor, Taylor chooses not to answer. Instead, she continues laying out old newspapers around her. She layers them so they completely cover the carpet, leaving no space for anything to stain.

"Taylor," Karlie's voice comes again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting ready to carve a pumpkin," Taylor replies simply, still not looking at Karlie.

"But...why?"

Taylor twists from where she's sitting, looking up at her girlfriend.

Karlie's cheeks are flushed from the autumn chill, having just come home from her day of work. She has a grey beanie pulled down over her ears, covering her fluffy light blonde hair. She's in a thick sweater with a jacket over it, blue jeans, and her Adidas tennis shoes. Her purse hangs precariously from one shoulder, an eyebrow quirked in Taylor's direction.

She looks like every dream Taylor's ever had. Probably because she is.

"Taylor?" Karlie prompts.

"Come on, babe," Taylor protests. "It's October! I don't know why you're so against pumpkin carving." She takes the small pumpkin sitting next to her, and holds it innocently towards Karlie to inspect.

Karlie drops her bag by the door, walking over to the couch to plop down. "First, it's not Halloween yet and second, it's messy and gross and why do you want to stick your hand inside of something to take out all its innards?"

"Because it's Halloween," Taylor whines.

"Halloween isn't for a few more weeks." Karlie shakes her head. "Whatever, babe. But I'm not cleaning up after you." She disappears upstairs for a few moments before reappearing and taking the remote control to flick on the TV, turning on some comedy show.

Shrugging, Taylor turns back to the task at hand. The pumpkin security bought from the local market is fairly small, slightly smaller than a soccer ball but she studies the surface of the pumpkin thoughtfully, considering various ideas for carving. There's always the classic scary face, but that feels a bit too common. She could pay homage to her roots and carve something music related, but Taylor decides against it. She taps her carving knife idly against the pumpkin as she thinks.

"Whatcha gonna carve?" Karlie asks from her spot on the couch.

"I thought you didn't want anything to do with my pumpkin," Taylor shoots back, but her voice holds no bite.

"Well if you're going to stick it on our front stoop, I want to give input," Karlie says.

"If you want to carve something, I suggest you get your own pumpkin," Taylor replies, faux-haughtily.

Karlie mutters something that sounds a lot like "weirdo" before turning back to her program.

Taylor smiles at Karlie, admiring her look. They've been together for a while now but Karlie still takes Taylor's breath away. And just like that – the idea for her pumpkin carving is a no brainer too. God, it's cheesy and Karlie will definitely give her shit for it (even though she'll secretly love it), but Karlie knew Taylor was a hopeless romantic when they fell in love, so really it's her own damn fault.

Pleased with her idea, Taylor sets the pumpkin down and begins to carve the top. She inserts the knife gently into the skin of the pumpkin, sinking it down until it cuts all the way through. She continues cutting around the stem, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she concentrates.