Calamitous (Kaylor)

19

Karlie got up earlier the next morning that she had originally intended. She had woken up to Taylor's hair in her face again, but couldn't be upset about it. She was glad that the girl felt comfortable enough to cuddle up to her like this. Karlie gently tried to shift Taylor off of her so she could get out of bed, but the smaller girl made a mumbling sound of protest and clung to her tighter.

Karlie sighed, fondly exasperated, and carefully pried Taylor's fingers off of her clothes. She extricated herself from the blonde's grip and stepped back, watching the girl roll into the warm spot that she had just vacated. Recognizing that Taylor was still asleep, Karlie grabbed her phone from its charger and tiptoed out into the living room.

As soon as she was settled on the couch, she called Lily. It was still before 8 AM, but she felt fairly confident that her friend would already be at the station. Unsurprisingly, Lily picked up before the third ring.

"Karlie? You're never up this early," Lily greeted her. "Is something wrong? Don't tell me that Taylor vanished again."

"No, nothing like that," Karlie assured her quickly. "Are you at the station?"

"Yes," Lily said hesitantly. "Why?"

"Can you access the missing person database?" There were a few seconds where the only sound was Lily typing.

"Alright, I'm in. What do you need? Is this for a case?"

Karlie chuckled nervously. "Well, sorta. Can you look someone up for me?"

"Yeah, what's the name?"

"Taylor Swift." There was a beat of silence.

"Karlie, are you serious? Why?"

"Look, she probably doesn't want me going around telling everyone. I practically had to drag it out of her last night. Just look the name up, please?" she said desperately.

"If Taylor told you something in confidence, she probably doesn't want you to go meddling," Lily cautioned.

"Oh, no, she'd be fine with it," Karlie said.

"Then why don't you go ask her to make sure?"

"Uh...she's sleeping. I don't want to wake her up; you know how stressful yesterday was for her," Karlie stuttered. She could hear Lily sigh over the phone and knew the other detective was probably rolling her eyes.

"Okay, I'll do it, but you take the blame for this. I never had anything to do with it, okay?"

"Aw, Lily, are you scared of her?" Karlie teased. "She's a big, cuddly softie, I promise."

"Uh, yeah, your girlfriend scares me," Lily answered. "And she should scare you too. No matter how sweet she is with you, you shouldn't forget what she's capable of."

"Yeah, yeah, you already told me tha -" Karlie cut herself off. "Wait, girlfriend? She's not my girlfriend, Lil."

"...Yet," Lily mumbled under her breath.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing. Searching now." There was the sound of typing again, before there was a little gasp.

"Well?" Karlie asked.

"She's here alright. Reported as missing 19 years ago, suspected kidnapping."

Karlie felt a sinking feeling in her chest. If the report showed that Taylor had probably been kidnapped, and that's what the dream was about, it would certainly seem like this was the case.

The implications of this made Karlie feel very sorry for the blonde. She thought of the childhood that Taylor had been robbed of: the comforts of a stable home, friendships, school, hobbies. A loving family.

"Wait, who filed the report?" she asked. If it wasn't one of her parents, then maybe she really was abandoned, and the report was falsified to cover it up.

"An Andrea Swift," came Lily's reply. "I'm guessing this is her mother."

"Okay, well this is good!" Karlie exclaimed. "That means that her mother did care about her, so we just have to track her down and arrange a reunion!" Her mind whirled with the possibilities as she imagined the happiness on Taylor and her mom's faces.

"Well..." Lily began hesitantly. Karlie's imagination crashed to a stop.

"What is it?" she breathed.

"There's no way to contact her. The case was closed about ten years ago."

"Closed? What do you mean, closed?"

"After a certain period of time, people generally stop looking. We only have so much time and resources to spend on a decade-old case. So, it's just...closed. There's a certificate," Lily said softly.

"A certificate?"

"Yeah. Um. Taylor Swift is legally dead."

"Karlie?" a different voice called, and the detective looked up to see Taylor walk into the room. "Oh, there you are," the blonde said, sounding relieved. She crossed the room and flopped onto the couch next to Karlie, resting her head in the taller girl's lap.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked curiously. Karlie looked at her in confusion and Taylor shifted her eyes to the phone that Karlie still held to her ear.

"Oh!" Karlie exclaimed. "Just Lily. She had an issue with some paperwork, but we've got it all sorted now." She could hear her friend groan on the other end. "Good luck, Lil, talk to you later!" she said hurriedly, hanging up. She tossed her phone away from her and let out a breath she had been holding.

Taylor looked up at her intently. "You seem stressed," she said innocently.

"No, no, I'm not," Karlie retorted aggressively. Taylor raised an eyebrow at her and the detective sighed. "Okay, maybe I am, just a little," she said, dropping her hand to Taylor's hair again. She chuckled a little as the blonde practically purred at her touch.

"What about?" Taylor mumbled, her eyes closed in bliss. When Karlie didn't answer, she opened her eyes and sat up, facing her. "It's about me, isn't it?" she questioned sadly. "I know I'm a burden on you. If it's easier, I'll just go back to the station, living in a cell won't kill me."

"No!" Karlie shouted, making the blonde jump. "Sorry," the detective said, this time much quieter. She took Taylor's hand gently and intertwined their fingers. "I don't want you to leave," she said. "I've been happier the last few days than I've been in a while. It's nice to have someone to talk to. But you're sort of right, this whole situation is a lot to handle." She sighed and Taylor pressed closer to her comfortingly.

"I mean, with all the work going into tracking down Arsyn, and you getting abducted the other day...and your dreams," she added. Taylor's brows furrowed.

"My dreams? Oh, I knew I shouldn't have told you about it. It's too much for you to worry about; I'm sorry, I don't have to get you involved -"

"Taylor," Karlie cut in. "Relax. I want you to tell me about things that are bothering you, or are important to you. But I also would like to ask you a question." Taylor looked at her uneasily for a moment, but nodded.

"Sure."

"Would you...if it were ever possible, I'm not sure if it is...would you ever want to try to reunite with your parents?" Karlie asked. She watched a range of emotions fly over the smaller girl's face quickly. First confusion, then sadness, then fear, all with a little anger mixed throughout.

Her vulnerable expression quickly vanished, however, leaving Taylor's face an emotionless mask. "No," she said, her eyes cold. "I don't think I would."