my lover | taylor swift story

31.

it felt right to upload this ON new year's day, so i hope you enjoy!

it was new year's eve. nova and taylor rented out a hotel for the night, and invited some of taylor's friends.

nova wasn't planning on drinking, obviously, but she was planning on having fun.

they had invited karlie, selena, gigi, and hailee to the hotel to have drinks and stay up until midnight with the two women, and all of them thought it was an amazing idea.

so, that night, there was champagne, a cheesecake, and plenty of appetizers in the kitchen for everyone to enjoy.

taylor had lit a candle and put it on the counter, hoping that it wasn't a terrible idea.

one by one, everyone began arriving to the apartment. first hailee, then selena, then gigi, and then lastly, karlie. each person had brought their own small appetizer, including chips and salsa, spinach dip, garlic bread, and a lot more.

on top of all of that, nova was convinced that she and hailee were going to be the only sober ones by the end of the night, considering hailee was underage.

"hey!" karlie said, walking up to taylor. they embraced in a big hug before pulling away. taylor grabbed novas hand, and introduced the two.

"hi, i'm karlie. you must be nova, i've heard so much about you!" karlie stuck out her hand to shake novas, and gosh, did she have a strong handshake.

taylor clapped her hands, looking around the room at all of her friends. "alright, so for tonight, we have these popper thingies," the blonde explained, holding one up. "they're supposed to have glitter in them, i thought it would be fun to pop them at midnight."

nova nodded, as did everyone else, and they put a countdown on the television.

taylor grabbed her polaroid camera, gathering everyone behind her.

"let's take a few of these, for the memories." taylor told them all, and each girl flashed their best smile.

nova laughed out of pure joy, and taylor smiled at her. she hoped that she would never have to forget that laugh. well, she hoped she'd never have to remember it.

karlie grabbed the camera from taylor. "let me take one of all of you!"

karlie took one, and as she was putting the camera down, the polaroids and the candle on the counter fell, the candle shattering and leaving wax all over the floor.

"oh my gosh! i am so sorry, i promise i didn't mean to." karlie apologized immediately, and taylor assured her that she was fine.

nova couldn't help but cringe at how fake karlie sounded right then and there.

seeing karlie still feeling guilty, taylor made a suggestion. "why don't we do a toast?"

everyone got their own glass of champagne, except nova, who resorted to sparkling cider, and they did a toast.

taylor decided to begin, "i would like to make this toast to all of my friends that are here tonight, and to having a great new year. i'm so glad all of you are such loyal friends, and i hope you know how grateful i am for each and every one of you."

the blonde looked over at her fiancé, continuing. "and i want to toast to my lovely fiancé, who is too amazing for her own good. i am so glad i found a woman as amazing and perfect for me as you."

after a few moments of silence, karlie looked around, tight lipped, and decided to speak. "to friendship!"

everyone repeated her as they clinked glasses and drank.

by the time nearly three bottles of champagne had run out, it was almost midnight. taylor handed out the glitter poppers, and the countdown was doing what it was known for. counting down.

"three, two, one, happy new year!" taylor exclaimed, popping her glitter. everyone else followed in suit, popping their own.

the night ended with lots of glitter on the floor, and lots of drunk women leaving the hotel.

nova walked all of the women down to the lobby, and gigis heels fell off while walking through the hall.

they all laughed as gigi picked up her shoes and continued walking, now barefoot.

nova made sure that everyone got into a taxi safely, before going back upstairs to help taylor clean.

"that was fun," nova said suddenly. "i mean, i had a lot of fun tonight, and i hope you did, too."

nova picked up a bottle, throwing it in the recycling bin, waiting for taylor to reply.

taylor nodded. "yeah. i'm glad you were finally able to meet karlie."

nova made a dirty look, confusing taylor. "what's wrong with karlie?"

"it's probably nothing," nova said, shaking her head. "i mean, i just feel like she didn't like me very much, y'know?"

taylor nodded. "i know what you mean, she has a hard time meeting new people."

nova wasn't satisfied with the answer, but she decided to just let it go.

"we have to take a taxi home, i don't have my car." nova told taylor, and taylor looked up tiredly.

"alright, i'm ready to go whenever you are." taylor looked exhausted. and she was drunk.

the two women stood up and started leaving the hotel. nova waved down a taxi, and they got into it.

after nova told the driver their address, taylor leaned her head on novas shoulder, closing her eyes and nearly falling asleep.

nova grabbed hold of taylor's hand, squeezing it three times to show comfort to taylor.

as they drove back to their apartment, taylor looked up at nova.

"you know what?" taylor asked, and nova had no idea how she was supposed to answer, so she just shrugged.

"you're right," the blonde slurred slightly. "i don't think karlie likes you very much."

nova laughed, looking down at her drunk fiancé. "oh, really? that sounded kind of mean, tay."

nova was joking, but the drunk woman next to her seemed to take her offense very seriously.

"i'm sorry. i honestly didn't mean it to be rude, i was just being truthful." the blonde apologized, and nova couldn't help but smile down at the love of her life.

"i know, baby." nova whispered. "you don't need to feel bad, i was just joking."

they had now arrived at their apartment, and taylor had thrown her arm over the brunettes shoulder, leaning nearly all of her weight onto the woman.

as they entered the apartment building, taylor smiled to herself. nova noticed, and asked why she seemed so happy.

"well, i mean, we've got everything i've ever dreamed of. i was able to come out to my mom, i found someone that i truly love, that someone being you," she looked up at nova. "and that someone is having my baby."

nova smiled. "well, technically-"

"technically i pay the bills and could easily kick you out of this apartment." taylor deadpanned.

nova laughed, walking into their apartment.

"happy new year, tay."

taylor looked up at nova, smiling. "happy new year, nova."