Invisible String - Jaylor the Timeline

Chapter Eight - Tinker Taylor Snogs a Spy

"You're here!" Taylor beamed as she opened the front door of her mother's home in Nashville and leaned in to hug her best friend of over ten years, "thank you for coming."

Even though they saw each other less than they'd like to, Abigail and Taylor had remained a close pair since Taylor skyrocketed to the pedestal of celebrity. The bond they had formed laughing together in class at kids who thought they were so cool had been the foundation for an enduring friendship.

To say that Taylor's last few weeks had been messy was an understatement. Just days after their break up, Adam had got into a car crash, and Taylor had tried to handle the guilt of not being the one to help him recover while staying in Nashville with her mom. Luckily Abigail had been there to help distract her, and Taylor had also received many supportive texts from Selena, Gigi and Karlie. Although she knew she was being paranoid, she feared that she had some part to play in the crash. What if he'd been thinking about their breakup? What if it had distracted him from paying attention to the road? What if he was angry and couldn't think straight?

Abigail had been a good enough friend to stop Taylor from messaging him, "No offence Taylor, you know I love you, but you are probably the last person he wants to hear from right now." The red head certainly had a way with words.

Taylor drowned her sorrows in freshly home-baked cookies, red wine chats with Abigail and movie nights with her mom and her cats. Taylor found that she was actually managing to cope better than expected - after getting over the idea that she wouldn't be the one to support Adam, she realised that if she were with him, he probably wouldn't even value her help. Knowing him, he would see it as a debt he would have to repay at some point, and would complain about it ungraciously whenever she tried to take care of him. Her guilt quickly dissipated, and a sense of relief seemed to flow from her instead.

It was convenient that Taylor had a newly blissful state of mind, considering her brief rest period in Nashville was followed by her long overdue laser eye surgery in LA. Andrea had gone with her, which was helpful considering that Taylor was so drugged up afterwards that she could barely eat a banana. The operation was seamless, and it seemed that the only casualty was the banana she snapped in half accidentally. Taylor had mentioned to Tom over text that she was having lasik, and a day after the surgery another bouquet of flowers greeted her.

"Honey, there are some flowers for you." Andrea called up to Taylor, who was resting in her bed after the procedure. "Do you want them in your room?" she called.

"Yeah mom." Taylor replied. "Who sent them? Is there a card?"

"Uhuh," Andrea said, cradling the bunch of flowers with one hand as she held the attached card with the other. "It says, 'Dearest Taylor, may you have the speediest of recoveries. Yours, Tom.' Is this that Tom you told me about in Nashville, the one you danced with?"

"Yep, that's the one. Do you know that's the third excuse he's found to send me flowers mom?" Taylor giggled.

"Well, he seems real nice honey. I hope you like him."

Taylor did. And she didn't really mind the flowers. In fact, it was wonderful to get such beautiful gifts, not that her vision was at its peak at that moment. Still, she appreciated them through their scent, if nothing else.

After around a week of being looked after by her mom, both Taylor and Andrea headed back to Nashville. It was nearly time that the world found out about the split between Adam and Taylor, and Taylor wanted to be rooted on home soil to weather the storm. This was how Abigail found Taylor, opening the door to her mother's home in Nashville.

"How are you? I hope you're good girl. What about your eyes? You can see!"

"I can see Abigail!" Taylor laughed.