Everything Has Changed

High Infidelity

April 29th 2023
Atlanta, Georgia

And so the news had finally gotten out and every media headline said the same thing....

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have separated after over 6 years of dating

Who had leaked it, nobody was quite sure. Surely it couldn't have been Joe himself. He was never one to talk to the press, especially about anything to do with their relationship. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that it had been someone in his team, or his circle. Taylor had never been particularly close with any of his friends, and it couldn't have been anyone in her circle of friends. They all knew how much Taylor wished for this to remain private until they both felt like it was the right time. But when was the right time?

Neither of them had spoken since Taylor had began her tour, apart from a text from him on the opening night, wishing her good luck. She was glad there was at least a small snippet of amicability amongst still. Not everything was bitter, like wormwood.

The headlines had stated that the pair had gone their separate ways a few weeks ago, which in itself wasn't a lie exactly. It had been a few weeks since they had fully called it quits for certain and she had his names removed from all of her leases and legal documents. She no longer owned a quaint house in the quiet north London village she once called home. Primrose Hill had wilted and would now, and forever more, always smell sour, and slightly off.

The news had been out for a few weeks now and the fans had already started to disbelieve the press. They had began nitpicking every single decision Taylor had made on the tour so far: her changing Invisible String to The 1, her being emotional during Champagne Problems in Tampa and her playing both The Great War and You're On Your Own Kid in Tampa as well.

Tampa had been an emotional weekend. It was there that Taylor had recorded her Reputation Stadium Tour concert for her documentary Miss Americana and she had ran to Joe for the first time after the concert was over. He always hid away in the tunnel, or in one of the dressing rooms; never wanting to draw any attention to himself. She had also told her story then. The story of how she was finally Clean, when the Jury of Denver, Colorado had decided to side with her over her sexual assault case.

But it had also been around that time this year that her best friend Blake had told her that she had heard Joe was seen talking with another girl. Some random English girl named Emma or something. Taylor hadn't particularly cared for the gritty details of the whole affair. It had been in London and she had been in New York. Out at dinner with Ryan and Blake, Taylor had told the full story and Blake relayed what she had both seen and heard through the celebrity gossip grapevine. By the end of dessert, they had all heard enough. By the time the three of them had left the restaurant, leaving nothing behind, none of them followed Joe Alwyn anymore.

Taylor knew the songs that would be played tonight had been planned out: High Infidelity and Gorgeous

But she didn't want the fans to get the wrong idea. She hadn't cheated; on April 29th, there was no man who brought her back to life. In that sense she was all alone, but Taylor wouldn't have it any other way. For the first time in a long while, she was happy being single. And free.

And Gorgeous no longer felt right either. That song was all about them. She had written it about Joe, and for him.

But surprisingly, those songs hadn't been the hardest ones for her to sing. The one that had hit the hardest that night, on April 29th, had been Cardigan....

To kiss in cars and downtown bars
was all we needed
you drew stars around my scars
but now I'm bleeding

Good god it hurt. It hurt so much that Taylor struggled to breath, but she couldn't let on. She had to pretend that everything was fine. At least until she was off stage and back at the hotel.

I knew I'd curse you for the longest time
chasing shadows in the grocery line
I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired
and you'd be standing in my front porch line
and I knew you'd come back to me

She had almost sung the original lyrics. Were they even more truthful? Did she wish he would have changed his mind. All Taylor knew was to carry on loving Joe would be to lose her mind. She had managed to pull herself through to complete the show with no major issues, nothing for the internet to pick apart for hours upon end.

There was a sense of pent up anger coursing through her veins as she sat in the warmth of her hotel room, deciding on tomorrow's surprise songs. She had decided first on How You Get The Girl, one of her favourite songs from 1989: an incredibly personal and special album to her. Maybe it would teach some of the guys out there how to show a girl he loves her. Joe certainly could do with some advice now that he was on the market again. Was he still on the market, she thought. Taylor finally had enough of trying to find a second song to perform, ripping page after page out of her notebook before deciding it best to call it a day by throwing the poor book across the room. It crashed against the lampshade, hitting the metal trashcan as it came to neatly lie on the floor by a desk. She couldn't be bothered to go pick it up and so there it stayed.

Taylor rolled over to turn off the light that was still on on the bedside table next to her. She sighed before sinking back into the soft duck feather cushions. Sleep came uneasy to her that night but it eventually came.

She awakened only once in the night. The time had been 2:31am and the second song had finally come to her mind. She scrambled across the floor, pen in hand and scribbled down the final song of what would technically become that days setlist. It felt like a bit of a scathing blow, but she had been kind to Joe yesterday with her song choices and this one wasn't the lowest she could go. In the words of the great Rizzo, there are worse things I can do.

The words were laid out in scrawly cursive handwriting in that notebook. She left it on the ottoman at the end of the bed before climbing back into her dream once more.

The page had been left open. On it read.... 

How You Get The Girl and I Bet You Think About Me