Dorothea had been tossing and turning in her childhood bed when the bedroom door burst open. She scrambled to find Taylor on the other side of the bed as a dark figure appeared in the doorway.
"Babe, stop..." Taylor muttered, rolling over obliviously and burying her face in her pillow.
"There's someone there," Dorothea hissed, gripping the blonde's arm. She suddenly remembered Ivy in the other bedroom, and right as she was about to launch out of bed, her eyes adjusted and she sighed. "Mom, what are you doing here?"
"It's...Oh my word!" Heather scurried over to the bed and sat down in her matching floral print pajama set. She clamped one hand over her mouth, while the other was clutching her phone.
"Mom, what's going on?" The alarm in Dorothea's voice caused Taylor to stir.
"Your sister..." Heather trailed off. As Taylor snapped on the lamp beside the bed, her skin appeared sickly white.
"Mom!" Dorothea reached for her mother as her breathing became labored. She locked eyes with Taylor, who was now equally wide awake. "What's going on?" she pressed, turning back to her mother. "What about Maeve?"
Suddenly there were all sorts of horrifying images flashing through Dorothea's mind. Was she hit by a car? In the hospital? Was it the baby?
Heather placed her hand on her chest, as though trying to calm herself down. A few seconds later, her hand shook as she held her phone up. "She called me, and she's fine, the baby's fine, but..."
"But what?" Dorothea said, ignoring Taylor giving her arm that familiar warning squeeze. She was exhausted and drained and mildly sweaty, and so therefore her patience for her mother's dramatics was bordering on nonexistent.
"Your sister wasn't feeling well, and so Jackson went to Buckee's to get her some ginger ale," Heather explained, "but on the way home, a car coming from the other side of the road swerved and..."
Dorothea's heart slowed. For a moment, she imagined it. The bright headlights, the bottle of ginger ale flying off the passenger seat and bouncing off of the air bags, and Jackson on the other side...
"Is he..." Taylor began, but Heather cut her off as she shook her head firmly.
"He's gone."
YOU ARE READING
THE AFTER
FanfictionSequel to DOROTHEA ------------------- IN WHICH - Dorothea Jane is now a mother, and also in a serious relationship with Taylor Swift. But despite having made it to what should be her Perfect After, the photographer continues to find herself torn be...
