a sound she hadn't heard before

sixty-one.

"One week of rehearsals down," Taylor smiles, walking up behind Joe and throwing her arms around his neck as he is bending over to put his script into his backpack.

He turns around and kisses her. "I'm so proud of you."

"I'm so proud of you," Taylor tells him. "Are you feeling good so far?"

"We've got a super great story and insanely talented group of actors. I know we are going to make something special," he tells her. "Now, I've got a surprise for you."

"What's that?"

"My mum and dad are going to keep Ayla for the evening and you and I are going to go home, freshen up, and then head out for a nice little date today. That's all you're getting out of me right now," he winks at her. "Come on." The two intertwine their fingers and walk out of the rehearsal studio together. It feels so nice to have the cast know about them this time around. After trying to hide their relationship during the workshop, rather unsuccessfully since they were just far too smitten with each other, it's really different this time around. Pretty much the entire world knows that the two are dating thanks to the paparazzi pictures that leaked right after the workshop. Even the new cast members came into the process aware of what was going on between Taylor and Joe. They've just been thankful that nobody has had a problem with it.

After their drive home, with Joe behind the wheel and Taylor controlling the music playing over the speakers, they go inside to get showered and changed.

"It's pretty quiet around here without Ayla," Taylor laughs, rooting through her closet in search of something nice to wear. She pulls a dress off of the rack. "Would this be good to wear with black tights and sparkly silver heels?" As she turns around, she notices that Joe has already taken his shirt off. "Oh, hello handsome," she smirks, walking over to him.

"T, you'll look beautiful in whatever you pick," he promises her, feeling her fingers make contact with his bare chest. Feeling cheeky, a little smile grows on his face as he places his hands on top of hers and pulls them away from him. "Hands to yourself, missy."

Taylor tries to pout but can't help but giggle as she does so. "Oh... you're just no fun."

"I'm not," he whispers to her, reaching down and patting her bum before running off into the bathroom to go for a shower, laughing all the way. Taylor goes to shower in Ayla's bathroom so that she can speed up the process of getting ready, knowing that Joe will get impatient if he has to wait for her to both shower and do her makeup after he showers. Whatever he's got planned for this evening, he seems pretty excited.

Of course, he'd be excited to sit around in his pajamas and stare at a blank wall if Taylor was doing it with him. It's really just her company that he loves more than anything in the world, but he still loves planning little romantics evenings with her every now and then.

Taylor sits in front of her vanity table doing her makeup when she feels Joe wrapping his arms around her from behind. She's already dressed in the red slip dress that she selected earlier and her hair is falling in loose curls down her back.

"You are just stunning," Joe tells her, his clean-shaven face making contact with her cheek for a kiss. He isn't dressed yet, just has a towel wrapped around his waist. His bare chest is still dewy from the humidity of the bathroom following his shower. Taylor takes a deep breath, breathing in the scent of aftershave and shampoo.

"I love you."

"I love you more," he tells her. "I'm going to get dressed, finish up your makeup, okay?"

"Mmkay," Taylor nods, giving him a little smile through her reflection in the mirror before picking up her red lipstick and running it over her lips. "I'm almost done."