Stay - Taylor Swift

Chapter 40

She sat at the kitchen table with the curtains closed to shield out the view of the snowstorm the city was facing that evening, her laptop open to a series of emails and useless tabs. Taylor had been in the music room all day, only coming out for the occasional snack or bathroom break.

They weren't fighting, but it felt like it. Taylor had said barely any words to the brunette in a few days, mostly confining to her piano and phone. Grace knew Taylor was struggling with what was being said in the media but she wanted to support her, not watch her pull away.

Taylor had missed their anniversary on the twenty-fifth. It was their eleven month, Grace was going to order in a nice dinner for them but didn't when she realized Taylor had forgotten. She waited all day to see if the blonde would remember, crying in the bathroom quietly when the clock struck midnight on the twenty-sixth.

Shutting the computer lid with a sigh of frustration, Grace walked into the kitchen to pour a glass of water. Sitting on the counter was an open bottle of whiskey, over half gone since she saw Taylor open in a couple days before. Grace hadn't left it out but she knew who had, opening the fridge to see Taylor's dinner still sitting there on the top shelf.

"Fuck, Taylor," she grumbled, putting the lid back on and sliding it into the liquor cabinet. She took her glass of water down the hallway to the music room, the door wide open so the cats could come and go. Olivia enjoyed sitting at the singer's feet as she played.

There was a chair in the corner of the room looking right at the piano, a shelf of awards and pictures that inspired the blonde on more than on occasion. Grace sat on the white cushion, crossing her legs and leaning back, not saying anything.

Taylor was staring at the piano keys, letting her brain travel a million miles towards the moon when she wanted to reach the sun. Her hair wasn't long enough to be pulled up in a proper ponytail so she settled for tucking it behind her ears. The sweater she wore stolen out of Grace's half of the closet.

The empty glass from her drink sitting on the small table next to her. She had put that table in to replace the space she had broken down in when she Grace found her that day over a year prior. That corner held some beautiful memories for them but some painful ones too, it was easier to not be able to retreat to that position when things got hard, putting a literal block there.

The singer had noticed Grace's company but didn't acknowledge her girlfriend's presence, continuing to let the lyrical aspect of her brain run down a dark pathway. It went blank when Grace cleared her throat, trying to solicit the blue eyes she had begun to miss seeing shine back at her.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Grace asked, pulling her beverage away from her glossed lips. Her frame was covered by work clothes as she had been on a video meeting with her brother and partners that morning, neglecting to change since. A white blouse tucked neatly into sleek black pants.

"Hmm?" Taylor looked up, breaking herself away from her thoughts.

"I asked what you were thinking about," the brunette answered. She leaned forward in the chair and rested her forearms against her thighs, hunching her back.

"Oh," Taylor said softly, "Nothing."

Sighing, Grace said, "Come on, Tay. I know you better than you think, talk to me."

Looking back down at the piano keys, Taylor hit a note. Staying silent for a moment she considered her thoughts and feelings, working the right words up to get her message across best she could.

"My reputation is going down," she admitted quietly, "And I'm worried you are going to leave me like everyone else."

Grace's lips opened slightly before she stopped herself from talking, instead she stood up and walked to the other side of the room. Placing her arms over Taylor's shoulder's from behind, she pulled the singer's back straight against her stomach and laid a kiss on the messy blonde locks.