Jaylor One Shots

You Hear My Stolen Lullabies

Joe wakes, his eyes adjusting to being awake at he looks over at the clock on his nightstand. 3.51am. He rolls over with the intention of pulling Taylor close to him but is met with an empty bed. Immediately, a feeling of uneasiness washes over him. Joe sits up quickly, tugging a shirt over his head before making his way downstairs. Sure enough, there she is. Standing in the kitchen with her back to him. He can see she's tense, her body is rigid.

"Taylor?" He calls gently, moving closer towards her. She stays silent, he can see she jumped slightly when she heard his voice. Joe walks around her to face her and he can feel the anger rolling off her in droves. 

"Babe? What's wrong?" Still, she just stays silent. At this point Joe can't tell if she's just overly frustrated during lockdown - which is quite feasible. Or if something has happened. Whatever it is, Joe just wants to help her burn off some of the anger inside her body. Without saying a word, he slips his hand around hers and begins walking outside, gently tugging her alone with him. Despite her still saying nothing, Joe can feel Taylor gripping his hand tightly. The small gesture confirms to Joe that she does need his support right now, even if she's struggling to find the words. 

He leads her to their tennis court, kissing the back of her hand, he lets go and grabs a bucket of tennis balls and a racket before returning to Taylor. Joe wordlessly hands her the racket and she goes and stands on one side of the net. They've done this a fair few times through this lockdown, one of them needing to blow off some steam and the other willing to do anything to help. Joe throws ball after ball, watching Taylor hit them with such force that he was slightly scared one of them would end up with a black eye. He still has no idea what she's so angry about but he's glad they're working it off together. 

After a little while, he's thrown the entire bucket of balls and they're both panting heavily. Joe goes to pick up all the balls scattered around the court, unsure if he'd be throwing them all again or not. Once he collects a few, he turns around to put them back in the bucket and sees Taylor sitting on the court, her head in her hands. Immediately, he drops the balls and hurries over to her. He sits down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her body against him and offering some support. Joe feels her head rest against his chest, her body finally seeming less tense in his arms. He just held her for a few minutes before deciding to break the silence.

"Do you want to tell me what happened" He asks tentatively, trying to sound disarming. He hears a small sigh escape Taylor's lips. 

"They took reputation of iTunes." Immediately, Joe tightens his arms around her. He can just hear the defeat in her voice. When will these men just stop playing with her?

"Baby I'm so so sorry." He murmurs, pressing a kiss into her hair. Taylor shuffles so she's more curled up in his arms, practically sitting in his lap. 

"They're just doing this because I didn't do what they wanted. I didn't just shut up like a good little girl, I spoke up and now they're trying to control me." Her voice is small, he knows how angry and upset she gets over this stuff. She feels powerless because she can't do anything about it, none of them can. When she feels powerless, Joe does too. Because all he wants to do is fix this for her, make her feel better. 

"It's not long now...you can re-record so so soon." He says, trying to comfort her and rubbing her back gently. He feels Taylor's head lift off his chest and she looks up at him, he can see her eyes watering and the odd stray tear that has fallen.

"But not reputation...and that's why they're messing with it. They're holding it over my head that they still have that one piece of control." Joe brings one hand up, the other still firmly wrapped around her body, and wipes away her stray tears before tucking her hair behind her ear and pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

"I know...I know it hurts." Joe sees her eyes fill up with more tears that begin to fall but she buries her face back in his chest. It breaks his heart to see her like this.

"I can't do this anymore! Why do they have to keep coming for me? I'm so tired of it!" Her body starts shaking and Joe can feel her sobs, he knows the breakdown has truly begun. Seeing her like this makes him want to go punch both those men. It just never seems to stop with them, the keep hurting her. The public doesn't even know the half of it. He sees it all get her down, he sees how much it affects her. Yet she keeps fighting, she keeps fighting for what she deserves and for that, he'll always admire her. 

"I know, I'm so sorry Taylor." He murmurs, holding her tight and trying to keep the pieces together. This battle has been going on for well over a year, she's always had some problems with that label but when she left it became so much worse. It's taken such a toll on her and he knows it won't end until she's finally re-recorded everything she's ever released. Then they won't be able to stop her performing, or using her music. Nothing they do can really stop her after that. Joe knows that a part of her will always be upset about the situation but things will get better when she at least owns the re-recordings. 

Joe holds Taylor for a while, gently rocking them back and forth as they sit on the tennis court, balls still surrounding the two of them while Taylor is tucked up in his arms. He holds her and rubs her back until her sobs subside, leaving them both sitting in silence. Joe has no idea how long they sit outside for but he can see a sliver of light entering the dark sky and he knows they need to go back to bed if they have any hope of getting a decent sleep. Joe runs a hand through Taylor's hair,

"Babe? Do you think you're ready to go up to bed?" She nods slightly but doesn't make any effort to move. Joe continues running his hand through her hair for a few minutes before letting go of her. Finally, she climbs off his lap and stands up. He quickly stands up beside her and entwines their fingers again. They walk back to bed in silence, he can feel Taylor squeezing his hand tightly and he tries to convey his love by squeezing hers just as tight. He knows he'll do anything within his power to make her happy and to help her feel better. He's so in love with this woman and whenever she's upset or hurt, he is too. He knows it's the same in reverse. 

They both climb into bed and Taylor cuddles up against him, Joe wraps his arms around her body, hoping it's making her feel a bit better. There's silence for a while and Joe thinks she might have fallen asleep but suddenly she speaks

"Thank you for being there for me...I love you." Taylor murmurs and Joe tightens his arms around her warm body

"Of course love, I'll always be here for you. I love you too." Joe feels her grip his body, he knows she's expressing her gratitude through this touch and it warms his heart. Not long after this exchange, he hears Taylor's breathing even out and he knows she's asleep in his arms. His own eyes are drooping and his last coherent thought is of her, and how much he loves her.