2. mirrorball (a taylor swift au)

-chapter thirteen-

Gracie was sitting at the bottom of the stairs when Miles walked through the door. She hadn't put makeup on, she'd barely even changed out of the clothes she'd worn all week.
She hated the fact she was doing this now but her sunken eyes and tear-stained cheeks left her no choice. She just couldn't face it anymore.
"Fuck, babe. You look rough, are you okay?"
"We need to talk," Gracie told him flatly, standing up. 
"Can it wait? It's been a fucking-"
"No. I'm sorry, but it can't wait."

-

Ellie was sitting cross-legged on her dining chair, eating some roasted tomatoes on toast that Taylor had made her. Today was the day when Gracie was coming to stay with them. Usually, on Gracie days, Ellie was ecstatic. She was always so excited that she was bouncing off the walls. But today, Ellie wasn't sure if she wanted it to be a Gracie day. For the first time ever, Ellie just wished it would be just her and her Mom.
"Little bee," her Mom walked into the room with her arms folded. "I really think that it would make you a lot happier if you told me about some of these big feelings that are swirling around inside of you." Taylor sat beside her eating a piece of avocado on toast, and Ellie sighed.
"I'm really okay, Mom."
"Sometimes we say that but on the inside, we're hurting, Ellie."
"I'm not hurting." She was. She was really hurting. It was hurting in her head, her tummy and her heart. Gracie had gotten mad at her - she knew the grown-up was sorry, but somehow she hadn't found it in herself to get over it yet.
"Can't Gracie just stay home?" Ellie asked quietly.
"No," Taylor sighed. "I know that Gracie has really hurt your feelings, bee. I know that, and I don't want you to think, even for a second, that I don't." She could see Taylor trying to find the right words to describe it in a way that she could understand. "But Gracie broke up with Miles this morning, and she needs this. She is coming to stay here, she's coming to live in the spare room for a while. We are being nice, kind people and we are giving her a place to come to when she needs it."
"But she yelled at me," Ellie's lower lip wobbled.
Taylor knelt down beside her, her eyes wide and soft.
"She did," Taylor nodded. "And that wasn't very nice of her. But she has also apologised every day since. At the end of the day, my darling girl, she is just trying her best."
Ellie popped a tomato into her mouth, sighing.
"Even though she said those things, doesn't it make you sad to think of her in her house all alone? With no one?" Ellie's face softened at the thought. Gracie was probably writing some sad songs that girls all over the world would cry to. Gracie was probably really hurting. "Sometimes we hurt the people we love without meaning to. It doesn't mean that we don't love them, it doesn't mean that we don't think the world of them. It means we made a mistake, and we need to try our best to be better next time."

Gracie's hand was wrapped around a cup of coffee - even though it was mid-afternoon and she knew that it would probably stop her from getting to sleep. She was anxiously waiting for Taylor to text her and say that they were in the parking lot. It was going to be the first time she'd seen Ellie since that fucking night - she wished more than anything that she could turn back time. How could she have done that?
Her phone dings in her pocket, and she sees Taylor's car. She takes a deep breath, her suitcase behind her as she walks towards the car.

Climbing into the front seat, she was greeted by Taylor, smiling.
"Hey you," Taylor's voice was comforting. Gracie was relieved to finally be here. In Taylor's car, in Nashville. The whole week had taken a toll on her and she had never felt so alone.
"Hey," her voice caught in her throat. She turned to face Ellie. It was the first time since she'd really known Ellie that the girl was not wearing a bow in her hair. Or her navy Converse, or her Good Riddance tour shirt.
The sight of it made her brows furrow, made her practically fall apart then and there. This was her fault.
"Hey, Ellie."
"Hi." Ellie gave her a tiny smile, before taking an interest in the hem of her t-shirt.
Gracie heard Taylor sigh. "Let's get out of here."
Taylor pulled out of the car park and glanced over at Gracie - a sad smile on her face.
"How was the flight?"
"Rough," Gracie admitted. "I mean, it was okay. But I just really wanted to be here with you guys so it felt like it was taking forever."