1 (jaylor) wisteria hearts and caged folk songs

chapter fifteen.

Joe was sitting in bed reading a poetry book when she woke up. That feeling of something bad happening still lingered in her chest. It made her body fill with a sort of dread that she hadn't felt in days. She was just waiting for the world to explode. She'd been texting her mom all night, as Andrea had wanted to know if Austin had apologised. Her mom apologised too, saying that she should've told Austin before he arrived.

Taylor smiled as Joe looked over at her.
"Good morning, my beautiful Taylor." He leaned down and kissed her.
"Good morning." She sighed. She pulled her phone from beside her and scrolled through a few notifications. The world hadn't ended yet. That was a relief.
"You ready to win the gingerbread house decorating?" Joe asked her. "I've been thinking about it all night, my love."
Taylor scrolled through Pinterest for a bit before deciding that she was going to go for a winter wonderland extravaganza. Which made her smile - because that's the sort of scene that had been on his tie. At the Met Gala.

Austin was the first one they ran into as they walked into the kitchen.
He greeted both of them with a smile. He apologised to Taylor again, but she insisted that she had completely forgotten about it. They had breakfast, and then the festivities began again.

It was a lot calmer than it had been. Austin seemed to be going for a candy cane forest type of house, whereas the two of them were doing a cabin in the winter woods. Taylor was one hundred per cent convinced that she and Joe should win. She'd made little icicles and it really made it look like it was snowing - even down to the car tracks on the road leading to the house. Joe had been in charge of the trees - making it look as if the snow was dusting each leaf. Her parents had both gone for very traditional gingerbread houses, as they always did. They'd been talking about what Christmas was like for Joe in England, and which place he thought did it better. Taylor loved hearing him talking about home, the way it brought a smile to his lips.
"Definitely here."
"Well, Joe. I wanted to tell you that you're now a welcome member of this family." Andrea told Joe with a smile. Joe was beaming.

She was happy. She felt her happiness radiating from her. But it wasn't quite strong enough to conceal the feeling that something bad was going to happen. She was happy when Joe was driving them to the hike they'd chosen to do. They'd spend half an hour in front of the computer trying to find a good one.

They hadn't taken a driver this time, so they were completely alone. As there always was, there was a security car trailing along behind them. Taylor had apologised about a hundred times to Joe for the fact that they could never be completely alone, but he'd insisted that he didn't mind.

They trailed up a hill, and she was so excited to finally reach the top of it. They sat on the bench, their security out of their ears reach, they were finally alone. Taylor hoped that this would be like what their trips to the lakes would be like.
"Are you more of a sunrise or a sunset kind of person?" Taylor asked Joe as they look out over the view.
"Definitely sunrise. I feel like they're a lot more special because not as many people get to see them. They're a treasure that only early risers get to see." Joe had a point. This was the exact reason why Taylor adored the sunrise too.

She was about to talk to him about what his favourite thing to do at home was when her phone went off. She rolled her eyes, pulling it from her pocket. She saw a friend's name pop up on the screen that she hadn't seen in a long while.
"I'll just answer this, it'll be real quick. And then I want to hear about your family traditions."
Joe nodded understandingly, and Taylor took a few steps away from them.
"Hello?" She asked as she picked up the call. There was silence on the other end. "Karlie? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Her breath hitches. She knew Karlie, she knew all of her secrets and all of her stories. Usually, her friend wouldn't stop talking. They'd been known as the two blond bombshells of the last few years - everything they did together was iconic. Both tall, blonde and beautiful... tabloids loved them. And Taylor loved Karlie. She was the sort of person you made promises with at midnight on New Year, and you kept them. She was the sort of person who would listen to all of your secrets and you'd never hear them repeated. She was the sort of person that the tabloids expected a person like Taylor Swift to be best friends with. Karlie was a model - one of the most popular models in the world. She was constantly being booked for different companies - most of the time they could barely find the time to speak to one another. Karlie was always off around the globe, but they always made time for one another.