Invisible String - Jaylor the Timeline

Chapter Six - The Getaway Car

The glitz and glare of the Met Gala was fading just like Taylor's hangover, as she boarded her flight back to California. She knew that Adam was waiting there for her, and she resented it. Relief, at the realisation that she may soon be free from the burden of her relationship, quickly became replaced with an insidious layer of guilt that seemed to smother her; a ball and chain of self-hatred.

In past relationships, there had always been a big event, or betrayal that acted as the catalyst for a breakup. Usually, her boyfriends had hurt her, or mistreated her in a shocking misstep of trust and boundaries. Sometimes, like with Harry, it was a mutual agreement that whatever she'd had with them wasn't working, and that was sad but ok. Here however, Taylor felt lost. She hadn't even considered leaving Adam after their most recent fight, which would make her decision seem all the more sudden and rash to him. Even she was struggling to put her finger on what was wrong. She knew that she could no longer be with him, but upon reflection she realised that his behaviour had been pretty consistent throughout their relationship. He had always been an enigma, someone who didn't play up for the cameras, and at first his distance had seemed attractive and alluring to Taylor, but somewhere along the way that had faded into a coldness that she could no longer deal with, or convince herself she actually wanted.

His consistency made this worse. Although they'd argued recently, the both of them had agreed to move forward. What's more, whenever she tried to discuss any of their bumps in the road, he dismissed them, and her as insignificant. He was so averse to verbal conflict that she couldn't even think of the last time he'd even let them properly air out their grievances with one another. Yes, they'd fought, but it never resulted in them finding the root of the issue. He would change his tune so quickly, that Taylor never wanted to pursue her side of the argument. He always seemed content enough to carry on the relationship, even though it was so rocky, and Taylor found this confusing.

Of course, Taylor was guessing at what Adam's attitude towards her was, but her nihilism stemmed from her experience with him. After all the jealousy, and manipulation, he never moved to make things better, but he also never seemed to want to break it off.

Really, she was scared of how he was going to react. She hated disappointing people, especially people she cared about; and despite her epiphany, she knew that in some fucked up way she still cared a lot about him. She couldn't have stayed so long if she didn't, and it was also the reason she could stay no longer. She cared enough to leave him and let him find someone who could be happy with him. But god, Adam had a fury in him like few people she'd met, and that knowledge terrified her.

As Taylor was settling into her seat on her jet, she received a text message. 'Please don't be Adam', she thought to herself, 'I can't face that right now.'

The blonde tentatively reached for her phone, turning it over to see that the message was in fact from Joe. Taylor dreaded reading what he'd written. Their last encounter had seemed icy in comparison to the usual warmth between the budding friends. Taylor couldn't quite explain why it had felt like her body was giving her warning signs, telling her to stay away. As soon as he had touched her, she froze up, and it seemed as though he had too. She opened her phone to check his text.

'Words With Friends game to make up for me being a bit of a misanthrope last night? J'

Taylor laughed despite herself. Somehow this Brit knew how to charm his way out of any awkward situation.

'Make that two games for two misanthropes?' Taylor replied, suddenly feeling a bit more optimistic about the coming flight. The next text she received just as she was turning her flight mode on.

'Two lone wolves who seemed to socialise fine with every other human in the room? I saw the video of you and Tom Hiddleston dancing. It looked fun. I met Gigi, she said she was a friend of yours. I didn't know if I could say that I was too? I would like to say I am. I think all we needed was to turn our social selves on and off again and we would have been fine, but there's always a next time. Sorry for being weird. J'