Stay - Taylor Swift

Chapter 4

Happy 1989 days since 1989 was released!

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For both Grace and Taylor, December approached rapidly. Taylor filled her time with some interviews and meetings, Tree was enjoying Taylor's current positive press and was trying to make the most of it. This meant Taylor was really working for her time off and was excited for Karlie's Christmas party, although she was fairly sure it would be hectic and draining.

Grace had started a new job shortly after her weekend in Los Angeles and was working as a personal trainer at one of the upper class gyms of New York. She had completed her degree in April but was working on a few additional certifications before applying and was loving the flexibility it provided her.

When Taylor arrived at Karlie's apartment, she was thrilled to see lots of people inside. While she would normally be annoyed at having to socialize with so many people on her night off, she was grateful for the fact the attention wouldn't all be on her. Parker let Taylor know he would stay out of the way and observe from a distance, knowing majority of the people here already knew his employer.

"Taylor!" Karlie enthused as she spotted the blonde by the door. Karlie gave her a quick hug before pointing to where the drinks were and telling Taylor it was the good wine. Taylor nodded and went over to get a drink, stopping to talk to some old friends sitting by the fireplace. She was hoping Grace would be here, the two had been texting almost constantly since late October and had gotten really close.

It was refreshing for Taylor to have a friend with a wonderfully normal, balanced and grounded life. Grace didn't care that she was famous and wasn't afraid to tell Taylor the truth, even if it meant Taylor didn't like the answer.

She grabbed a glass of wine and mingled with some of the people she recognized, Karlie showed her the new record player she got earlier in the week and things were going well.

About two hours later, Taylor was talking to some of Karlie's work friends when she felt a head rest on her back. It startled her so she quickly turned around, not knowing who was touching her unexpectedly. Karlie had just went to the bathroom, and she was fairly certain she didn't know anyone else there that well.

"Hey," Grace whispered as Taylor faced her. Her eyes were red and she smelled like alcohol. Taylor knew immediately she was drunk and began to get nervous, Grace didn't drink. Taylor had to help hold her girl up as her balance was disturbed by Taylor moving and disturbing where she was resting her head.

Taylor herself had drank two glasses of wine from the bar but she wasn't anywhere as out of it as Grace. Grace's long brown hair was falling out of her bun and the glass she was holding contained some sort of lighter brown liquid, Taylor took the glass from Grace and smelled it, hoping it was now soda.

It was definitely whiskey, and Karlie was no where to be found. She excused herself from the people she was speaking with and dragged Grace to the bathroom down the hallway, a little farther from the party than the other one.

"You're so drunk," Taylor told the girl as she sat her down on the floor. She looked in the cabinets for a face cloth and wet it with cold water before holding it to Grace's face.

"I know, someone told me to try it! It was good, so I got more," Grace ends the statement with a giggle and Taylor sighs. Grace isn't an alcoholic, but it's in her family history. You have to help her, Taylor thinks.

"Oh honey, you need some water and sleep," Taylor says to the girl as she tries to be patient, "How many glasses did you have?"

"Maybe two and a bit," Grace slightly slurs.