2. mirrorball (a taylor swift au)

-chapter ten-

Derek was standing in the back of the room, his jaw clenched. His arms were crossed, and all of a sudden he didn't want to be here anymore. The girls were still laughing and having the best time watching the Eras Tour movie. Taylor had introduced him as her daughter's best friend's dad. That was true... but he'd been feeling like they were more than that lately. Had he been misreading the signs? If he had - how could he be so stupid? How could he do that? How had he been so dumb?

Of course Taylor wouldn't like him that way. She was beautiful and brave and sunny and intelligent and he was just a chef. Sure, he was one of the biggest chef's in the US, but that didn't matter. She was Taylor Swift and he was a nobody. Of course she wouldn't feel the same way. He was just him, and he had so much baggage after Melody died and he didn't want to be happy and he threw himself into work and being a dad and had no time for anything else. Why would she like him? Why would she feel the same way when he didn't even like himself?
He brushed his hands through his hair, sighing. He never should have come. He should have stayed in Nashville. He shouldn't have wanted Taylor to like him that way. They were great friends but he didn't know if that's all he wanted to be. Now, he might not have a choice.

"Are you okay?" Taylor's friend, Blake Lively nudged him.
He just nodded. He didn't fit in with this crowd of pretty people. He didn't fit in with these people. He was a nobody. Blake had this way of making you feel like she understood you, and Derek knew why she was one of Taylor's closest friends.
"Taylor's really happy in Nashville," Blake told him with a smile.
"She's got a great house," Derek admitted. "Chickens and horses too."
"Oh, it's not the house or the animals that's been making her so happy," Blake gave him a side smile before one of her girls started screaming. "Betty - give that back to your sister-" and she was gone again. But what did she mean? Blake Lively had just said something to him, and it made his stomach twist. What was she meaning by that? Taylor had so many great things in her life in Nashville.

Taylor slipped back into the room, and Derek's eyes found her immediately. She waved for him to follow her, and he did so quietly. Was she going to say he had it all wrong and she just wanted to be friends? Taylor asked her Mom to watch the kids for a moment, and Andrea had given her a knowing smile.
Taylor slipped back outside, and Derek followed her shortly after.

She closed the door, and she turned to face him with a shaky breath.
"You're so much more to me than Margot's dad," she was so worried about hurting his feelings that her words came out all quickly and shaky. "I don't even know why I said that. Because you're so much more than that. I mean, yes, you're Margot's Dad but that's not why... I mean..."
Derek's face softened, realising what she was saying. "Taylor-"
"I'm so sorry, I just panicked and-"
"Taylor-"
"And it just came out and that was Joe and Ellie was panicking and-"
"Taylor," he took a step towards her and he took her hand. Looking down at her, with her face filled with upset over what she thought she'd done, and he wanted to do something he hadn't wanted to do since Melody had passed away. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he wanted to do, what he'd been meaning to do for weeks.
"Seriously, Derek. I'm so sorry, I just don't know why I even said-"

All of a sudden he knew what Blake had meant.

He pressed his lips to hers, even though it scared him. The kiss was soft at first, it was as if they were just testing the waters. His lips just barely skimming the water of hers - until the waves crashed onto the shore. He'd always known that he'd wanted to kiss her, he realised. Right from the moment he'd seen her at the support group, chasing after Margot. There was a part of him that expected the world to collapse, to explode. He'd been thinking of this for weeks - all he'd be thinking about was Taylor. He'd even cut his hand in the kitchen because he'd been daydreaming, thinking about her. That had been after the first couple of days they'd been really talking. Taylor had captivated him from the moment he'd seen her. From that very first day and every single damn moment since.