CAROLINE'S POV
"Why don't you finish off this tub before we have to leave for the airport." Taylor said shortly after I got home from school in Friday, handing me an almost empty tub of rocky road ice cream. I gladly took it and got out a spoon.
This week had been rough. I've had to survive the whole school week after Asher and I's breakup and every minute of it has been painstaking. Taylor is good at making me feel better though. The tub of ice cream I was finishing was our 2nd full tub one since Monday. We've also been watching a lot of Netflix together. Gilmore Girls is our new favorite show, we're already on season 2 and we started it on Monday.
To top it all off, Taylor decided on a whim that we should take a trip to New York this weekend to escape reality. I guess the good thing about being rich and famous is that you can go wherever you want whenever you want.
I was shoveling the last bite of rocky road into my mouth when Taylor came down to the kitchen carrying my packed suitcase.
"Are you ready?" She asked and I ran upstairs to get my shoes and my phone charger before leaving reality behind and heading for the airport.
A few hours later the jet was descending over New York City and the sun was setting behind the buildings. For once, I wasn't thinking about the dull ache in my chest, I wasn't thinking about the stares I had gotten at school that day, and I definitely wasn't thinking about Asher. I was in New York City with Taylor, my best friend at the moment.
When the airplane came to a stop at JFK there was a car outside waiting to take us to Taylor's apartment. I gathered my things and followed Taylor out of the plane. The New York City air had a rotten scent, but somehow it the wake of all that was happening, it was freeing.
A security member was there to open the door to the backseat for us and take our bags. Before I even got a chance to look inside the car I heard Taylor shriek out of surprise.
"Karlie!!" She said, climbing quickly into the vehicle and flinging herself into her friend's arms.
"Hey guys!" Karlie said as Taylor pulled away and I got in the car, shutting the door.
"How are you Care?" Karlie said, leaning over a shocked Taylor to give me a quick hug.
"Fine." I said smiling for the first time in a while.
"How did you get here?" Taylor asked, a little out of breath but with a smile that spanned her entire face.
"How did I get here? I live here!" Karlie said as the security guard put the car in drive and started heading away from the airport.
"That's not what I mean!" Taylor said laughing. Come to think of it, that may have been the first time Taylor has laughed in a while too. I forgot sometimes how tough things are when you're a single mom who is also the most famous woman in the world, taking care of a 17-year-old whose birth parents are dead and who is going through a breakup with a jerk.
"Well I got my friend Ian here," Karlie said, gesturing to the security guard in the driver's seat, "to help me out a little." Ian smiled at Taylor through the rear view mirror before putting his eyes back on the road.
I sat in my seat contently as Karlie and Taylor caught up, their mouths moving 100 miles a minute. I took in my surroundings as we got deeper and deeper into the city. It was refreshing to know that Asher had never been here, had never seen these streets, these buildings, these people. He may have seemed annoyingly smug lately for being post-breakup, but here I am, in New York City with two insanely famous women en route to my celebrity mother's multi-million dollar penthouse, so who's the real winner here? At least that's what I told myself to feel better.
When we arrived at the apartment the smell of Chinese takeout hit me instantly. Karlie must have noticed my expression because as she shut the door behind us she winked at me. Taylor noticed the smell soon after and looked at Karlie with a suspicious glare.
"You did not!" Taylor said.
"I did." Karlie fired back. As we all walked into the kitchen there were three bags of Chinese takeout on the counter, still hot.
Taylor wouldn't shut up about how hungry she was and she wouldn't stop thanking Karlie, even though it was revealed that Ian actually picked it up. I was just happy that Karlie was here because Taylor was so good at making other people feel better, but lately I felt bad that I couldn't ever return that. And now Karlie was.
TAYLOR'S POV
That night, after Karlie had gone home and Caroline and I had showered, we climbed into my king size bed.
"What movie?" I asked getting the TV remote off the bedside table. She made herself comfortable under the fluffy white comforter before looking up at me.
"I thought we were going to watch Gilmore Girls." Caroline said, eyebrows furrowed.
"You really want to watch another episode tonight? We just watched it on the plane." I said.
"There can never be too much Gilmore Girls." She stated, focusing her attention back to the TV where I was navigating my way to Netflix. I obliged and pressed play on the next episode, paying more attention to my daughter than the show.
I scared me how much I loved this girl. I would do anything for her. And to see her heart get broken so deeply, breaks my heart. I watched as Caroline stared intently at the TV, her beautiful green eyes darting around the screen. I felt her silky blonde hair against my bare shoulder and her breath on my skin. How did I ever live without her? How did I ever think my life was complete before I had my daughter?
I was lost in my thoughts for so long that I almost didn't notice when her eyes began to fall and her breathing got slower as she fell asleep leaning on my shoulder. I slowly grabbed the remote, careful not to wake her, and paused the show, knowing she wouldn't want to miss a thing. Once the TV was off I gently wrapped my arms around her and lowered her onto the pillow beside mine. She didn't bat an eyelash, in fact, she looked peaceful.
For the first time in a long time my 17-year-old wasn't crying herself to sleep over some boy. She was starting to heal and nothing in the world made me happier.
