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[starryeyes-oneshots]

christmas miracles

[A/N: Hey guys, I know that this is short but this is all i had time for and really wanted to get something up for Christmas! Hope you enjoy!]

"How long do you think before she bolts in here and begs to go downstairs?" Joe asks his wife as they laid in bed on Christmas morning. Snowing was falling just outside the window and the low hum of the heat running filling the room, Taylor and Joseph cuddled up in bed under their duvet - just enjoying the silence that didn't happen very often anymore.

Taylor yawns, rubbing her eyes as her head laid on his chest, "5 minutes max."

Joe nods with a chuckle, "Too bad it wasn't longer." He smirks, kissing her head.

"Oh Joey." Taylor giggles, "You're such a tease."

In that moment, the little pitter patter of bare feet padded down on the hardwood floor in the hallway before their daughter's voice could be heard from the other side of the door, "Mummy! Daddy!" The little girl squeals, "Santa! Santa!"

"Come on in baby." Taylor says, grabbing her glasses from the bedside table and sitting up in the bed a bit, waiting for their daughter to come rushing into the room.

The door handle slowly turned, before a tired blonde haired, ocean blue eyed four year old emerged from the hallway, wearing her favourite Christmas pyjamas.

"Good morning pretty girl." Joe smiles, shifting to sit up a bit beside his wife, "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas Daddy." Eleanor smiles brightly, climbing onto the bed.

"Good morning, El." Taylor pulls her daughter into her lap, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tightly, kissing her head.

"Momma!" Eleanor beams, craning her neck to look at her mother, "Do you think Santa came? Do you think I was a good girl this year?"

"We'll have to go see, won't we baby?" Taylor nods, gently tucking Eleanor's blonde curls out of her face.

"El, how about we go see and then Mum can make us breakfast?" Joe suggests, leaning in and resting his head on Taylor's shoulder, reaching out to rub the four year old's arm.

Eleanor leans back into Taylor's chest, a big yawn engulfing her little face, "Yes please daddy."

Taylor smiles softly, kissing her daughter's head again, "Let's go, baby girl. We have to see if Santa came!" She says, moving out of the bed and pulling Eleanor onto her hip.

"Santa! Mommy! Santa!" Eleanor smiles brightly, wrapping her arms around Taylor's neck.

"Come on, honey." Taylor kisses her cheek, carrying their daughter downstairs,  her husband soon following behind them.

The blonde haired woman set her daughter down on her own two feet at the bottom of steps, watching her run into the adjacent living room of their Nashville home and hearing her squeals and giggles erupt and fill the room with one of the best sounds Taylor had ever come to know. Her husband came up behind her, gently resting his hand on her lower back and kissing her head, "Guess she's excited, huh?" He chuckles near her ear.

"Mummy! Daddy! Come see!" Eleanor calls from the other room.

Taylor smiles sleepily, pushing her glasses up before the two of them followed the sounds of their daughter and came into the big living room, where their tall Christmas tree was standing brightly.

"Momma! He came!" Eleanor smiles, her bright blue eyes glistening over everything she could see that wasn't there the night before.

"Did he baby?" Taylor asks her daughter as if she didn't know or couldn't see herself.

Eleanor nods, "Can I open them?" She asks politely, "Please and thank you?"

Joe chuckles, wrapping his arm around his wife and pulling her closer to his side as they stood in the living room, "You don't wanna eat breakfast first, love? Mummy made cinnamon buns."

Eleanor thinks for a second, putting her little finger on her chin as she tried to make her decision, "No please daddy? El wait for food."

Taylor and Joe both laugh at their daughter before Taylor moves to sit down on the floor with their daughter, "Guess we're doing gifts first, huh?"

Eleanor nods, "Mommy I have one for you!" She smiles, already wanting to give her mother her drawings from preschool.

"Oh do you baby?" She asks, reaching to gently tuck the four year old's platinum blonde hair out of her face.

"Yes!" She squeals, standing up and finding the pages filled with wax crayon and glitter that she had put in the back of the tree for safe keeping, with help from her father of course, "Here, Mummy." The four year old smiles brightly, "These are for you."

"Why thank you so much, El. I love them!" Taylor smiles softly at her daughter, looking down at the drawings she had done while at preschool, "Don't you have any drawings for daddy?"

Eleanor nods, "He already got his." She explains, sitting back down in her mother's lap, "But I kept yours a surprise!"

"Yes you did, honey." Taylor says, wrapping her arms around her daughter and kissing her head, "Mommy loves them, thank you."

"Here El, I think it's your turn baby girl." Joe nods, grabbing a gift from under the tree, "This one is from...Santa!"

Eleanor smiles brightly, politely thanking her dad for the gift before opening it in her mother's lap. Much of the morning proceeded on like this, Eleanor's face with a permanent smile plastered on it as she opened the various gifts from her parents and Santa, Taylor and Joe exchanging the few things they had bought for each other. Near the end of their Christmas morning gift exchange, Taylor and Joe were sitting together on the couch as Eleanor played with her new toys just a few feet away on the floor.

"I think there's one more gift under there." Taylor smiles, getting up from the couch and heading over towards the tree before bending down to grab the wrapped box.

"Is it for El?" Joe asked, rubbing his tired eyes from their eventful morning.

Taylor shakes her head, "'s for both of you." She nods, coming back to sit beside her husband on the couch.

Joe furrowed his eyebrows a bit, "From who?"

Taylor smiles softly, looking over to their daughter, "El, baby can you please come help daddy open this one last gift?"

Eleanor looks up at her mother with a nod and smile before coming over to join them.

As the two opened the present, Joe knew right away and their four year old didn't really know what was going on or why her mother was on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Mommy?" Eleanor asks, a confused look on her face, pulling the positive pregnancy test out of the box, "You got daddy and I a marker?"

Taylor giggles, wiping the tears away from the rims of her eyes, "No baby no." She shakes her head, looking at her husband who looked as he was about to cry himself.

"You're pregnant?" He asks, looking at Taylor with the happiest, gleaming smile on his face.

Taylor nods, before getting engulfed into a huge hug from her husband, "We're gonna have a baby?" He asks again, not too sure that he believed what he was hearing.

She nods again, letting the tears roll down her cheeks. They had waited years for this, at least two full ones trying to conceive a baby. A sibling for their daughter. A second child.

"El!" Joe says brightly, his arms still hugging Taylor extremely tightly, "Do you know what this means?"

Eleanor looks at her dad, "What does it mean, daddy? Why is Mummy crying?"

"Oh love no, come here." Joe says, pulling his daughter close as well, "Mummy is crying cause she is so happy to tell you that you're gonna be a big sister!"

Eleanor's little jaw drops, her eyes bugging out of her head as she processed the information that was being given to her, "I'm gonna be a big sister!?" She squeals, starting to jump up and down.

Taylor nods, pulling away from her husband's grasp, "You are honey, you are."

"Thank you mommy, thank you!" Eleanor squeals, climbing up into Taylor's lap, "'s a miracle!"

"Yes El, it's a Christmas miracle." Joe smiles, pulling his girls close to his chest and wondering how he could've gotten this lucky.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

safe & sound

[A/N: this is pure drabble but i hope you all enjoy it]

Neither of them had ever been a fan of Monday's: getting up early to go the studio or a set, sitting through hours of meetings for PR, potential interviews or brands. With the fun of the weekend over and back to another round of hard work, everyone in town found themselves patiently waiting for Friday afternoon to return again.

It was the second Monday in May. The weekend had been filled with memorable celebrations for all of the mothers in the couple's lives, the newest and most special one being Taylor herself. She argued with her husband of nearly three years for a solid half an hour that technically she wasn't a mother yet, until he had finally gotten her to believe that she was indeed a mother, just as much as everybody else. Being in the early stages of her pregnancy, it almost didn't feel real yet. This was partially due to how ill Taylor had been feeling over the last several weeks: correlating her baby with blunts of icky morning sickness which actually is awful at all waking hours of the day, food aversions, experiencing deep mood swings and most of all, being just utterly exhausted.

Taylor knew she was acting a lot different from how she usually was, and she felt extremely guilty for it. Joe reassured her multiple times a day that it wasn't bothering him at all, and he would always be there for her. She appreciated this more than he would ever know - even though he knew.

Joe rolled over in the California king bed, their legs twisted and tangled in the white sheets, the white duvet covering the married couple. The air was cool in the room, the faint smell of morning dew seeping in through the cracked window. The sunlight shined through the open curtains, lighting up their master bedroom in the most natural and primal way possible. He turned slowly, careful not to wake his sleeping wife - who had been up several hours earlier at four am emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. Even though he followed her to the bathroom to hold her hair, he still knew how vital rest was for her now. Now more than ever.

A small and gentle smile quickly grew and was expressed on his face when his eyes gazed over her: blonde hair tussled, cheeks slightly red from the lack of sleep, her eyes closed and her little nose poking out into the air. He loved waking up beside her every morning, getting to experience her in her most vital and natural state. She looked healthy, he thought. Motherly. He couldn't wait to watch her grow into the mother she already was. Looking up at the clock on the wall adjacent to the bed, Joe knew that this peaceful morning wouldn't last much longer. The day would have to begin, showers would have to be taken, breakfast would have to be made and off to their meetings they would have to go to. Except on this particular Monday, Joe had the rare privilege of a day off from the usual daily and weekly grind that came along with being an actor. Taylor on the other hand, had a few meetings in the morning, but would be home for lunch - and he was extremely thrilled to get to surprise her with a gourmet meal, even if it was just his simply famous spaghetti and meatballs.

The British man reached over his wife to grab her phone and shut the alarm off before it reached the scheduled time, figuring she would much appreciate the calmer awakening after a rough night being up at the toilet. Taylor stirred slightly under him while he carefully set her phone back on the nightstand. Joe leaned down, gently pushed her bangs out of her face and pressed his lips to her forehead. She laid there peacefully in one of his old t-shirts and a pair of grey cotton shorts, one of his favourite outfits to see her in.

A small grunt escaped Taylor's lips as she started her descent out of the dreamy luscious world of slumber. Her nose scrunched and her eyebrows furrowed before her eyes slowly began to flutter open, revealing her bright ocean blue orbs that Joe would never be able to forget.

"Good morning, beautiful." Joe whispers, pressing a soft kiss to her face and another to her lips before moving back beside her in their extremely comfortable bed.

Taylor smiles softly, "Morning." She mumbles back with her small and tired voice, still very clearly absent from the world around her.

"'m gonna give you some time to wake up." He nods, rubbing her arm gently with his fingers, "What would you like for breakfast, love?"

Taylor blinks, looking around the room to get her bearings again after being in such a deep sleep since she had been awake nearly four hours earlier, "I don't know." She responds quietly, "I don't want to be sick, I can't be sick I have meetings."

Joe frowns, a soft sigh coming from his mouth, "Yeah but love you still need to eat, babe. For the baby, okay?"

The young woman nods slowly, her head resting against her pillow, "Just not something that smells a lot, please and thank you."

"You got it, Tay." Joe smiles, kissing her face once more before climbing off of the bed and disappearing downstairs.

The last thing Taylor wanted to do was get out of bed - let alone for a meeting. She clearly hadn't been feeling well to anyone that looked at her for a few seconds. This meant their private life became even more private since they found out about their tiny little miracle. It wasn't something new to the couple, they had been actively and successfully doing it for years even before they got married.

The exhausted young woman reluctantly climbed out of bed, heading to the ensuite bathroom for a much needed warm, relaxing shower to hopefully calm her churning stomach.

Taylor stood in the way of the hot stream of water from the showerhead, letting the pressure bead into her back as she looked down to her tummy. There wasn't really anything there yet except a bit of swelling at the lower part of her abdomen - nothing that a shirt couldn't hide. It was still too early to really be able to suspect anything was different. Joe had told her one night that he could tell there was something there: a baby growing inside of his wife to be exact. Their baby. He explained that he noticed that there was an ever so slight curve to her abdomen that he couldn't get enough of.

She dropped her hands from rinsing out her hair down to her hips, resting both of them on her bare swollen stomach - trying to imagine what it's going to be like and feel like in several months. The singer remained like that long enough for her husband to knock on the bathroom door, ready with her breakfast waiting downstairs, "Taylor?' He knocked, calling from the other side of the door.

She returned from her deepening thoughts and looked up towards the door from inside the glass standing shower, "Yeah?"

"You okay? Its been over half an hour since the water started. Your breakfast is ready, babe." Joe explains, "Just was worried, you've been in there a long time."

Taylor smiled softly, "Yeah I'm good. What time is it?"

"Quarter to eight." He replies, "Come to eat when you're out, okay?"

"Okay, thank you." She calls, finishing up lathering body wash all over herself.

Within ten minutes, Joe could hear the faint noise of footsteps coming down the stairs as he stood in their kitchen with a cup of tea, looking out at the large backyard, which backed onto a green, lush forest.

Soon enough, his wife appeared in a long-sleeved floral silk dress that tied at her waist - just above the most swollen part of her stomach. A small amount of makeup graced her face, her hair blow dried and left in its natural wavy / curly state. Every time Joe looked at Taylor, it felt the same way as it did the first time he laid his eyes on her beautiful body. He still grew giddy like a childish schoolboy after three years of marriage, but he couldn't be happier.

"You look beautiful this morning, baby." The British man grinned, holding his cup of tea close to his chest, taking another sip before gently setting it down on the granite countertop.

A small smile forms on Taylor's face, even though she still looked utterly pale and unwell, "Thank you." She mumbles quietly, sitting down on one of the barstools at the island, across from where her husband was standing.

He furrowed his eyebrows, turning around to open up the fridge and pull out the small bowl of fruit he cut up while she was in the shower. Coming around the island, he set the bowl of fruit and a fork down in front of his wife, wrapping his arm around her gently and kissing her head, "Are you sure you're okay to go to those meetings?" He asks, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear so that he could see her face.

"I have to go to the first one." She murmurs, gulping and closing her eyes for a few seconds as she looked down at the food in front of her, "Thank you for cutting all of this up. I really appreciate it."

"It's my pleasure, just try to eat something, hm?" He nods, returning to where he was standing at the other side of the island, "Did you want to try some ginger tea, love?"

Taylor cautiously takes a small bite of one of the pieces of cut up fruit in the bowl, extremely anxious that she's going to have to make a beeline for the toilet again, "Please and thank you." She nods, picking up another piece of fruit with her fork.

Joe smiles, moving to turn on the kettle and grab another mug from the cabinet above him, "I told Mum that we could go over there for dinner on Friday if you're up for it?"

"I hope so." Taylor replies, continuing to slowly work through her breakfast, "She texted me this morning to start putting a bag of crackers by the bed to hopefully reduce how sick I've been lately."

"I don't think we have any right now, but I'll pick some up today, hm?" Joe nods, passing her the cup of ginger tea, "Other than that, does everything feel okay though?"

Taylor shrugs, "Just all of the same things I've been feeling for weeks now." She frowns, undoubtedly sick and tired of feeling so crummy and exhausted all the time.

"'m sorry, love." He sighs, "I wish I could make it better."

"You're doing a lot. It's more than enough so thank you for that." She smiles softly, taking a sip of her tea and allowing the strong smell of ginger to enter her lungs.

Joe yawns, scratching the side of his neck with his fingers, "Tay.. you're carrying our baby, it will never be enough compared to what you have to go through."

The married couple made small talk while Taylor slowly finished her breakfast, and trying to get most of the ginger tea down into her stomach before she had to rush upstairs to brush her teeth and grab her bag - thankful she had decided to prep it last night for the string of meetings she was to attend this Monday morning.

"You have a water bottle and some crackers, love?" Joe asked, watching her as she slid her feet into a pair of white strappy sandals and secured them.

Taylor stood up straight, grabbing her bag from where she had set it down on the staircase, "Yes, I'm set. I'll be good, okay?" She assures him, even though they both knew how utterly sick she had been for the last few weeks.

"Call if you need anything. I mean anything. Even if you need me to fuck you in the bathroom at the office to get it out of your system." Joe smirks, wrapping his arms around his wife and pressing a kiss to her right temple.

Taylor gives him a surprised look, almost baffled by what her husband had just said to her, "That's not funny." She says seriously, pulling away from him slightly, "Because you know I would do that. I'm that desperate."

"I know you are, baby." He smiles, kissing her face, "You sure you have water with you?"

Taylor nods, pulling it out of her bag to show him, "See? I'm set." She yawns, her face still noticeably quite pale, "Can I go before I realize I shouldn't?"

Joe chuckles softly, stealing her one more kiss, "I love you. Text or call if you need anything." He says seriously with a nod, a small smile on his face.

"I love you too." Taylor sleepily smiles, with Joe noticing she still seemed a bit absent from everything around her today.

He watched her open the front door, leaving their large suburban home on the outskirts of Nashville, before climbing into the black SUV that was there to take her to her string of meetings. The car disappeared down the long driveway, leaving the British man alone in the home with nothing but the two cats.

Ever since the two had been dating, Joe always felt a wave of anxiety when his girl had to do things while she was under the weather. Between record label meetings, sound checks, shows, interviews, rehearsals...he constantly felt bad during those times when sickness battered Taylor's body. This time was obviously a lot different. Yes she was sick, but it wasn't because of a virus; it was because of a beautiful little miracle that the two had been blessed with. The dynamic had shifted in the last nine weeks, Joe experiencing the overwhelming feeling of making sure she was taking care of herself: drinking water, eating, and getting enough rest. The eating had been a bit of an issue because of how sick Taylor had been - but she always made sure to have something in her stomach, even if it was just a few crackers. He was extremely proud of his wife for this, knowing how challenging it was for her, considering how much she absolutely despised being nauseous but more particularly - vomiting. He knew that she wanted this baby more than anything, this was just part of their journey to becoming parents.

Taylor was never the type of woman to make a scene or have an interest in worrying people about the state of her health. Of course a plethora of people always asked, whether it was her mother, her husband, her publicist, her friends, even her band while on tour - and she usually came back with the same monotonous answer of 'Yes I'm okay!' to ensure that nobody was worried about the singer.

This time, there was no opportunity for Taylor to try and persuade the people at her meeting that everything was just fine. Before she knew it, she was doing three of the things she hated the most: passing out, laying on a carpeted floor, and vomiting uncontrollably.

Her vision was blurred extensively and it felt as if she was in some alternate universe where she couldn't fully hear what was going on. All she could see from the floor were the petrified faces of her label president and her publicist, trying to talk to her and get her attention. She wanted to move, she wanted to blink, she wanted to respond to them, she wanted to fully hear what they were saying, she wanted to stop puking, but she couldn't. She had absolutely no control. The one thing she hated the most.

Joe glanced up at the clock on the wall, an older history documentary playing on the television as he sat on the sectional in the living room with his computer on his lap, experiencing the uneventful and repetitive task of answering emails. The British man was just about to send a text to his wife, to ask if everything was okay when his phone started to ring and an unusual name popped onto the screen.

He never usually called Joe. He always called Taylor, or it was Tree calling Taylor.

He furrowed his eyebrows, shutting the computer and picking up his phone before accepting the call and bringing it up to his ear, "Hello? Scott?"

"Hi Joe, it's Scott Borchetta." He says into the phone a bit shaky.

Joe had never heard Taylor's label president talk so nervously or unclearly, "Is everything okay?" He gulps, a pit growing in his stomach.

"No, uh. Not really." Scott replies through a lot of commotion on the other line, "I'm just calling to let you know that Taylor fainted in our meeting and because she was vomiting a lot, and we decided to bring her to the hospital, just to make sure that she and the baby are okay."

Before he could even reply, Joe was upstairs pulling on decent clothes and grabbing his wallet and keys, "Is she okay? Is she alone? Who's with her?" He spits out into the phone, running back down the steps of their Nashville mansion.

"She's throwing up still but not as frequently. I just need you, Joe, to come to the hospital. Tree and I are here with her." Scott assures him, the commotion on the other end of the line becoming more coherent to Joe, "Everything is going to be fine, we just needed to call you. She's been out of it, and the only thing she's saying really is that she needs you."

"I'm on my way." He mumbles into the phone before hanging up and rushing out to the car, his eyes filling up with tears as he jumped into the driver's seat to zoom down their driveway and into the street.

The length of the drive seemed to last forever. The skies around Nashville had grown grey in the last hour or so, and the rain battered the earth, the windshield wipers on his car not seeming to move fast enough to whisk the water away. Tears were threatening to pour out of Joe's eyes, trying his best to hold it together while he made his way towards the nearest hospital on the outskirts of Nashville.

He parked the car in a spot he wasn't even sure was legal, before jumping out and nearly running into the emergency department of the hospital, asking the triage nurse for his wife.

"She came in about half an hour ago." The young nurse nodded at Joe, who had looked like he was drunk because of how red and puffy his eyes were, "I just need to see a piece of ID and I can take her to you now."

"ID?" Joe furrowed his eyebrows, a bit angry at how slow they seemed to be moving, "I can't just see my wife?!" He snaps.

"Sir. I need to see a piece of ID for patient security." She says calmly, looking at him with a slightly cold expression on her face.

Joe sighs, realizing he was letting his anger and emotions get the better of him and trying to stay composed, "I'm sorry..I...I didn't mean to snap at you. I just...I don't know what's happening and my wife..she's pregnant, only nine weeks and she fainted and was vomiting a lot and I'm scared." He rambles out of nowhere as he fiddled through his wallet to find his driver's license to show the brunette triage nurse.

She just smiles softly, taking a look at Joe's card and looking back on her computer screen, "Don't worry about it, I get that a lot." The nurse nods, standing up from her chair and coming around from behind the desk, "I'm sure your wife will be just fine. Let's go see her though, okay?"

Joe just nods, quickly wiping his eyes free of tears as he shoved his ID back into his wallet and followed the young woman down the hall and all the way to one of the back rooms in the emergency department, "She's just in here." She nods, "I believe she's been seen, but I'm not sure where they are in terms of figuring out what was wrong."

Joe nods, smiling the best he could at the nurse, "Okay, thank you so much." He waits for the nurse to leave before taking a few moments to compose himself, not wanting to worry his wife even more than she might already be.

To his surprise when he gently pushed open the door, she looked better than he had imagined her being. Regardless, she still looked absolutely beautiful, but Joe was worried that she would be ghostly pale or have bruises from falling out of her seat at the meeting - but she didn't.

Across the room, there laid his wife in the hospital bed, surrounded by a white sheet and a beige coloured blanket that covered the lower half of her body, her upper half wearing a hospital gown that looked like it was engulfing Taylor's small frame. Her hair tussled at the back of her head, her mascara a bit smudged and her face pale - but to Joe's surprise, not ghostly anymore.

Her publicist Tree was sitting in one of the chairs beside the bed, scrolling through her phone - nothing really to do as Taylor looked to be asleep. Scott was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was using the bathroom or something, he thought.

An overwhelming feeling came over Joe as he stood silently near the door, his eyes welling with tears again at the site of his wife, his girl, his Taylor, the love of his life just laying there.

Tree looked up from her phone, her face softening at the site of Joe, "Hey.." She smiles softly, getting up as quietly to come over and give him a hug, "She fell asleep maybe 10 minutes ago." Tree nods, pulling away from the tight hug after a few moments.

"Do they know what caused it or?" He asks, glancing at Taylor before back at Tree, gulping to try and keep the tears in his eyes, and not down his face, "What did they do for her? Why does she have an IV?"

Tree puts her hand on Joe's shoulder, rubbing it to try and calm him, "it's a mixture of dehydration and low blood pressure. Having low blood pressure when you're pregnant is very common, especially in the first trimester. The doctor said that they needed to give her an IV to rehydrate her, but not cause her to throw up again. They checked her and did an ultrasound. The baby looks really good, fast heartbeat."

Joe nods slowly, absorbing all of the information, "Thank you for bringing her here." He mumbles, pulling Tree in for another hug.

"I would've driven her across town if that was the only hospital open. You don't have to thank me, Joe. I wouldn't have done anything but this." She says, patting his back gently as Taylor starts to stir in the bed.

Both of them turn their heads, Joe faster than Tree as they watched Taylor come out of sleep and regain her consciousness.

"Tay." Joe's voice cracks once he saw her awake, a sleepy smile on her face. He couldn't hold on anymore, tears rolled down his cheeks as he moved over to her and sat down on the edge of her hospital bed, "You...you scared me."

She noticed how distraught and upset he was, reaching her non-IV hand out and taking his hand in hers, rubbing her thumb over the back of it, "'s okay, babe." Taylor nods, "I'm okay, the baby is okay."

Joe sniffles, leaning in to kiss her head and wrap his arms around her, "'m so glad that you're okay." He mumbles, "I don't know what I would do if I lost you or the baby. I don't-"

"Hey, hey." Taylor whispers, rubbing circles into his back, "You don't need to think about that okay? The baby and I are safe."

"All safe and sound." Joe whispers near her ear, kissing her head again as the two of them just sat together in the most loving and caring embrace, their tiny little baby cradled in between.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

whiskey on ice : part five

[A/N: this is the last part of this little mini series, so i hope you guys enjoyed! If you need to catch up or are looking for previous parts, you can find part one here, part two here, part three here & part four here ]

**

After the exciting exuberance of Christmas and New Year's had passed, the dead of winter hit New York harder than a tsunami wave battering an ocean shoreline. There were no more festive celebrations, decorations or fancy parties to attend. The ornaments were put back into boxes and placed in attics, houses had been cleaned and kids rooms were now reorganized from the aftermath of Christmas morning. It was now just the monotonous and mundane part of the coldest season for the Big Apple, and everyone was enduring the brunt of it.

It always took a few weeks for both Taylor and her students to get back into the swing of things after a long break from school and more importantly, a routine. The first couple of days seemed to be incredibly unproductive and just pure chaos. As time progressed, the children's level of focus was retrieved and the year was back on track to finishing strong. The beginning months of the new year were typically the quietest for Taylor with regards to planning and her job. The reporting period was still several weeks away, the spring production music had yet to be finalized, nor needed to be. It was the calm before the storm. However, it was slightly different this year. She found herself extremely anxious due to the fact that Joe's scheduled time in New York for his job was coming to a close, and would have to go back to London.

The end of February wasn't a pleasant time for either of them. Joe had been continually fighting with his work to allow him to transfer permanently to the United States and continue his English literature work at the building he was employed at currently. It wasn't easy, to say the least. His 'boss' here in New York desperately wanted Joe to stay, and his boss back in London wanted him back by the first of March. Some days it seemed like they were getting somewhere with the possibility of Joe being able to transfer here, and other days it felt like he would never be able to stay. All of the uncertainty surround Joe and their relationship let Taylor's anxiety reach a nearly unbearable level.

She had tried to keep it together, often finding herself focusing on her breathing for several minutes during recess breaks and in between time blocks while she's waiting for her students to arrive at the music room. Nights were extremely difficult, as she could distract herself more efficiently and successfully during the day with the thousand things she had on her list to do. The night was a different story. For the longest time since the messy ending to her last relationship, Taylor had found remedies to help with her anxiety: prescribed medicine being the main catalyst for a less nerve-wracking day. She had figured out how to manage it pretty well and was thankful that she didn't have to change how she lived her life anymore because of how anxious she had been feeling. Meeting Joe and pursuing a healthy and strong relationship with him had been a light on her life. She rarely had attacks anymore and found herself almost not even feeling the need to take her medication. However, as the end of the second month of the new year grew closer, and Joe had an increasing number of meetings and conversations about the transfer with both of his bosses, her anxiety slowly began to sneak back. Sneaking into her body and bubbling up in her core on the days where she didn't think she could make it to home time dismissal.

Today was one of those days. Her palms were sweaty, her breaths short and shallow, her chest felt as If the air was being sucked out of it. She couldn't concentrate on anything, not even something as simple as taking attendance. Her words were jumbled as she stuttered over the names of her children in each class throughout the morning. Taylor hoped and prayed desperately that nobody would notice how out of it she was, or how anxious she looked, or how pale her face was turning as the hours slowly moved forward. By lunch hour, she couldn't take it anymore. The young woman locked herself in her classroom, shutting the blinds and sitting down in her office chair before dropping her head down on her desk in front of her.

Hot tears fell out of her eyes onto the monthly calendar, her muscles and tendons contracting as her body gradually began to convulse. Taylor's desperate and breathless cries filled the room, not loud enough to be heard by anyone passing by in the halls. Her anxiety was tearing apart her insides, and she couldn't control anything. She liked being in control of herself. She needed to be in control.

Taylor shakily sat up in her chair, reaching for her book bag and digging around to find her phone. She knew he was busy at work, but she didn't know what else to do. She couldn't bring herself back like the way he could.

"Tay? What's up, love?" Joe's voice rang through the speaker of her phone, causing her cries to strengthen and come more frequently.

She physically couldn't formulate words. All she could do was cry.

"Taylor?" Joe asked again, this time worry evident in his voice. She could tell, "Baby what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

It took a few minutes for the young woman to be able to compose a string of words, "You're going to leave me." She mumbles, tears rolling down her cheeks, her hair sticking to her face.

"Taylor love, I am not going to leave you." He speaks calmly, his voice undeniably tender and soft.

She sniffles, letting out a couple more cries, "Yes you are. You're going back to London and I can't come with you and we won't be together and I..I can't do that...I can't not have you and-" Taylor rambles, starting to hyperventilate herself.

"Tay." Joe sighs quietly, interrupting her irrational thoughts, "Are you sitting? You need to sit down and take some deep breaths. Breathe with me, baby."

Taylor nods into the phone, despite knowing that he wouldn't be able to see her movements. She adjusted her position slightly, getting as comfortable as she could in her chair, "...I can't.." A mumble escapes from her lips, a few hiccups interspersed with her consistent cries.

"Yes, you can." He reassures her, longing with every bone in his body to be there with her: pulling her into his lap, her back resting against his chest and his fingers gently stroking her hair out of her face, holding her as tightly as he could, "In through your nose and out through your mouth. Just try once for me?"

The upset girl drew in a deep breath into her nose, pausing for a split second before releasing it out of her mouth, "But Joe-"

"No buts. That was really good." He encourages her through the phone, "I need you to continue to do that for me, okay?"

"Okay." Taylor replies, letting her body begin to breathe properly again, "But you're going to leave. They're not going to let you stay. And this....this is going to fall through the cracks because long distance doesn't work. It never works."

The British man sighs, shifting on the other side of the phone, "Taylor. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. I wouldn't promise if I didn't have full hope and full faith that either I'll be able to stay, or we'll be able to make it work. I would never leave you. You're my girl and I wouldn't just do that. I couldn't do that. It would drive me absolutely insane not being able to be with you. Either they will let me transfer here permanently, or I'll take you with me and we'll figure something out. We won't be apart. I promise you."

"You don't understand that I can't leave my job." She mumbles, her cheeks growing red with anger, "It's you stay here or it's nothing."

"I know that, love. But I also know that this isn't the end of us. I'm not letting that happen." He asserts to Taylor, hoping with every ounce of him that she'll believe what he's telling her.

"I don't believe you." Taylor mutters into the mic, pressing the red 'end' button and throwing her phone down on the desk: another round of tears pouring out of her eyes.

With each passing hour, the rest of the day progressively grew worse and worse. Once the dismissal bell came around, Taylor couldn't get out of there fast enough. Her legs were weak and tired, but somehow still able to move the young woman out of the elementary school. The subway ride was incredibly lonely: very few businessmen, some travelers, and several high school kids just looking to get home. That's where she wanted to be. Home.

As she came up the steps that lead to the subway station underground, grey clouds covered the sky and rain droplets battered the earth. By the time Taylor reached her apartment, she was absolutely drenched from the rainwater. Much to her dismay, she didn't have to fiddle with her keys to try and unlock the door to her apartment. It swung open from the other side and there he was, standing in his work clothes with an extremely worried and disappointed look on his face, "I didn't want you to come back to a lonely place." He mumbles softly, moving so Taylor could come in, before shutting the door behind her and turning to watch her take her drenched coat off, "Let's get you changed."

Taylor shakes her head, throwing her wet coat over the back of the grey couch in the living room, "I'm fine. You should probably get going. I'm okay. Thanks though."

Joe furrows his eyebrows, completely confused by her demeanor, "You don't want me to stay?" He asked, studying her face intently while she was focused on a dent in the hardwood floor.

"No. I'm going to get hurt so we might as well start now," Taylor mutters, turning away and walking into the kitchen before pressing the power button on her coffee machine.

"Taylor? How many times have I told you that we have nothing to worry about?" He asks, starting to get slightly frustrated with this situation, "Apparently not enough because I don't think you trust me!"

Both of them were clearly still upset from the conversation over the lunch hour: Taylor infuriated by the fact that Joe kept telling her that everything was going to be just fine, and Joe aggravated that Taylor wouldn't believe him or his words.

"I trust you!" She snaps back in attempts to defend herself, "But honestly Joe how do you think I'm going to feel when my boyfriend, whom I love very deeply and don't think I can live without, is most likely going back to London? I should've known that this wasn't going to work. How were we so stupid!" She raises her voice, visibly very upset as tears formed in her eyes.

"So you're just giving up? That's how we're going to move forward from this? By giving up?" He raises his voice, anger, and frustration sewn through his words. He never got like this. Never once raised his voice or yelled: even if it would have been completely justified in some of the fights they had worked through in the last four months.

"I can't take this anymore!" Taylor yells, tears pouring down her face as she walked towards the door and ran out of her apartment, bolting downstairs and into the particularly wide sidewalk.

"Taylor! Wait!" Joe calls, running to follow her - not willing to give up what they had like this. This wasn't happening to them, he thought. Once he reaches his girl, he puts his hands on her arms and turns her around, pulling her close into his chest and burying his face in her soaking wet hair, "'m sorry baby. 'm so sorry." He whispers near her ear as they stood at the edge of the sidewalk in the down-pouring rain.

Taylor cries into his chest for several minutes, allowing herself to completely break down and be the most vulnerable she had been in front of him in a long time. The sidewalks were nearly deserted from the rainstorm that had hit New York hard, the streets were filled with bright yellow taxis and street lights glowed in the overcast city. Though the sound of the vehicles on the street occupied everyone's ears: the two felt as if they were completely alone. Just the two of them secluded in a deserted city with no cars, no lights, no people: just the boy from London & the girl from Pennsylvania.

"'m not leaving you, Taylor. I will spend the rest of my life promising you that and showing you that if you let me. If I have to move back to London, I want more than anything to take you with me. If it means that you're unemployed for a while and I'm the only one working, that is totally okay. I would much rather have that be the situation, than have you here, alone. We'll make it work, I promise you. If I get to stay here and permanently work here, then we keep doing what we're doing. Nothing will change how I feel about you, how much I love you or how much I want to spend my life with you. No matter where we are: whether it's here or across the ocean." Joe whispers near her ear, holding her as close to him as he could: letting the rain soak their clothes and their bodies.

Taylor sniffles, pulling away from his grasp slightly, "You mean all that?" She mumbles, tears pouring out of her eyes - not that you could tell with all of the rain.

Joe nods, cupping her face and kissing her deeply, "With every ounce of my body."

"I love you, Joe." The young woman mumbles, her body starting to shiver, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you before."

He presses his lips gently against hers, rubbing her upper arms, "I love you too, Tay." Joe nods, "Let's get you inside, hm? Before you catch a cold."

The next thing she knew, it was many hours later and the two were curled up together in Taylor's bed. The white duvet laid over top of them, Taylor's head resting on Joe's chest and her arm wrapped around his torso. Reruns of Friends played low on the television across the room from them, nothing but the light from the tv illuminating Taylor's bedroom. The curtains around the window were lazily draped open, allowing the lights from the city that never sleeps to become visible to the two lovebirds.

Taylor's breathing had slowed down a considerable amount, her eyes were growing heavier with each passing second, "Goodnight, baby. I love you." Joe whispers, gently stroking her hair - hoping his exhausted girl would drift off soon.

She was just about to doze off when the sound of Joe's phone ringing filled the room, startling Taylor and causing her to abruptly sit up in the bed - her heart racing a mile a minute.

"It's okay, love." Joe reassures her, rubbing circles in her back as he reached over to the bedside table to grab his phone, furrowing his eyebrows at the sight of the caller ID.

"Who is it?" Taylor asks, her already voice groggy from how tired she was.

Joe put his finger in the air, signaling her to be quiet as he answered the phone: confused by who was calling at this ungodly hour of the night.

Taylor sat up in her bed, watching as his facial expressions changed throughout the duration of his phone call. She waited impatiently for him to say his goodbye and hang up the phone, tossing it down on the bed.

"Who was that?" She asked quickly, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear: her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him longingly.

Joe smiles softly at his girl, reaching over to pull her into a tight hug, "My boss."

"From London?" She asked, still not quite sure of what he was implying.

He shakes his head, rubbing circles on her back, "New York."

"Why is he calling you so late?" Taylor questioned him, pulling back slightly to get a look at his face.

Joe smiles, looking down in his lap for a few seconds before reconnecting both of their ocean blue eyes, "...because he's so excited to tell me that I am permanently and officially transferred to the New York office."

Taylor's jaw drops, "Are you serious?" She squeals, covering her mouth with her hands.

"One hundred and ten percent serious. I get to stay." He assures her, pressing his lips to hers deeply: so grateful that they could keep doing what they were doing - and that was being in love.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

whiskey on ice : part four

[this is the second last part guys!!! I hope you enjoy this part ! If you need to catch up or are looking for the previous parts, you can find part one here ; part two here ; and part three here ]

***

The season of Christmas couldn't come fast enough for both Taylor and Joe. Everything was decorated to the nines in Taylor's apartment: the tree was up in the living room, twinkle-light filled garland surrounded every inch that was available - even in her bedroom. While they absolutely loved spending their days together in New York, time spent at home with family was extremely high on the priority list for both of them. The rest of November carried along smoothly, with many Saturday coffee dates, burning toast for breakfast on Sunday mornings, hanging around at home with Taylor's cats. Something as so simple as grocery shopping felt fun and exciting when they did it together. Everything felt intoxicatingly exciting: due to the pure fact that they were together and everything felt right.

The musical production at Taylor's elementary school was the real kick off to Christmas. The show went much smoother than Taylor had originally thought; she was especially thankful that all of the children were on time, dressed up and ready to go. From what she could tell, the audience filled with parents were thoroughly impressed that all of those small children could be lead to sing songs and perform little dances - even to the exact beat. While Taylor was up at the front conducting the students, Joe sat back in the sea of spectators, recording little clips of Taylor doing what she loved to do best: being with children and teaching music. Her love for music radiated from her, every inch so saturated in passion for what made her heart extremely happy.

An inordinate feeling of complete and utter joy for his girl came over Joe as he intently observed her behaviour and movements throughout the show and as it eventually drew to a close. That was his girl, his Taylor. Despite only being an official couple for a month and a half now, his admiration for her was unimaginable. The way he felt when she looked at him with her sparkling blue eyes was something he had never thought he could ever feel with anyone. Her laugh was infectious, her smile lit up any room she walked into: no matter how big or how small. The way she carried herself with such grace and affection for everyone around her had always been something Joe felt like he couldn't get enough of. She was an ocean of endless elegance, beauty and resiliency to anything life decided to throw at her.

He knew this was where she wanted to be: teaching music to children, filing through piles of potential songs to use in the winter and spring productions each year, spending hours marking note identification quizzes and coming up with new lesson plans each day to keep her kids engaged and having fun. She absolutely loved nothing more than being with those children.

After the show had ended, he patiently waited for her in her classroom, pacing around and looking at everything on the walls and bulletin boards that Taylor had put up. Posters of several instruments, fun ways to remember how many beats were assigned to each type of note and rest, not to mention a picture on her desk that he couldn't ignore. In the white frame was a photo of the two of them sitting together outside in one of the parks he had shown her on her birthday a few days ago. The snow was falling around them, Taylor's head rested on his shoulder and Joe's arm was around her. The two were overlooking one of the ponds that had froze over with a thin layer of ice, the bright moonlight shining above them. He couldn't help but crack a smile at the very fond but lovely night they shared. The British man looked up from the photo and realized it had been nearly an hour and Taylor was no where to be found. He figured that she had a lot to do and many places to be, however it wasn't before long until she arrived in the room: pleasantly surprised that he had waited for her.

"I'm your ride home, remember?" He chuckled, handing her the bouquet of flowers before shoving his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. Joe had dropped her off a few hours before the show, taking that time to buy the flowers and roam around the small neighbourhood corrugated around the elementary school.

Taylor blushes, bringing the bouquet near her face to smell the beautiful flowers, "You really didn't have to get me these, you know? You should be congratulating the kids, Joe." She spoke seriously, grabbing her coat before slipping it on and picking up her bag from the desk chair.

"Oh Tay, if all of those parents could've seen all of the work you put into this show....they would be beyond amazed. You need to give yourself more credit, love." Joe reassured her, resting his hand on the small of her back as he lead her out of the classroom and out to the car.

Taylor nodded slowly, looking down at her feet as they walked, "Now it's officially Christmas!" She squeals, thrilled that the local school districts were now off until the new year.

"That it is, babe." Joe laughs, opening the passenger door of his car up for her, waiting for her to get in before shutting it and walking around to the other side to climb in himself.

The following afternoon, both Taylor and Joe had flown home to spend time with their families just before Christmas. Even though they would be back in New York the night of the twenty-fifth, the couples' parents were beyond ecstatic to have their children home for the holidays. No amount of text messages, FaceTime calls or sending each other silly gifs and drawings could come even close to being in the same room. There was no denying that the couple missed each other more than anything while they were home, and couldn't wait to be back in New York.

Taylor sighed as she dropped her bags down on the floor in the entrance of her apartment, exhausted from being around her overprotective and overbearing parents. As much as she loved seeing everyone again after months of being away, her time alone in New York was much appreciated. She could be her own person here without fearing the feel of being judged by her parents or snoopy family relatives. It was refreshing to be back.

The young woman took her luggage to the bedroom and shut the door, too unmotivated to deal with it now. She was itching to see her man. The second the call connected and showed up on Joe's phone, he picked up.

"You're home, love!" He smiles, his voice beaming into the phone.

Taylor giggled, flopping down on the couch and staring proudly at her Christmas tree, "I only have one bottle of wine in the fridge, so can you pick some up?"

"Of course. Anything else we need for our little Christmas?" He asked, grabbing his coat to throw on and Taylor's gift that sat on the table by the door. He couldn't wait for her to open it and see the look on her face. It was something simple, but something special: the perfect kind of present for his girl.

"No, I don't think so." She says softly, looking around the main living area of her apartment, "Just you."

Joe nods, "I'm on my way." He smiles, heading down to his car in the underground parking garage, "I'll see you in a bit."

Taylor smiled and hung up the phone, tossing it beside her on the couch before getting up to take the Chinese food out of the paper takeout bag and spreading it out on the counter. She didn't have enough time or energy to cook a proper Christmas dinner, leading to both of them settling happily for takeout after a week of big home cooked meals.

Nearly twenty minutes later a knock on the door echoed through the apartment, startling Taylor slightly during her speed clean of the living room and kitchen. It was a bit of a mess to say the least.

"Come in!" She called, wiping down the coffee table with a piece of paper towel and some cleaner, standing up straight once she wasn't the only person in the room, "Hi!" Taylor giggled, dropping the paper towel and coming over to Joe, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing several soft kisses to his lips: all of which he gladly reciprocated.

"'m missed you." Joe whispers near her ear, his face buried in her golden hair that cascaded down her back. He gently set down the bag of liquor and her gift before giving her a proper hug, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her hips close to his body: missing her physical proximity the most.

Taylor nods slowly, deeply breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne, "I missed you too." She mumbled softly, her fingers gently clenching onto the cotton shirt he was wearing.

Their embrace lasted longer than one usually would, both of them pulling away from one another after a few minutes. Taylor pushed her hair out of her face, a smile engulfing it, "I'm so happy you're here." She grins, adjusting her shirt that had ridden up her abdomen during their hug: exposing a band of bare skin between the shirt and the leggings she was wearing.

Joe smiles, kissing her softly once more before picking up his bags to bring them into the kitchen and removing his coat, "That was the longest week of my life. I forgot how naggy my parents are." He laughs, setting the two bottles of wine in the fridge and throwing away the plastic bag.

Taylor smiles softly, crossing her arms loosely and resting them against her flat abdomen, following him into the kitchen, "Did you tell them about me?" She asked curiously, her voice soft and extremely gentle: something he loved most about her. She had several moments of pure innocency that he never took for granted.

He turned his head to look directly into her bright blue eyes, "Of course I did." Joe nods, dishing up plates filled with Chinese food for the both of them, "Did you think I wouldn't have?"

"No, no." Taylor shakes her head, taking her plate from him once it was ready and pouring herself a glass of the wine she had in the fridge, "I just thought...that maybe you would've kept it a secret for a bit longer. I told my parents about you." She explains, "They are now dying to meet this mysterious man I've found myself needing to be around."

Joe smirks at his girl, grabbing a beer from the fridge for himself and carrying his plate into the living room to sit down on the couch, "I'm pretty sure my parents have already fallen in love with you ten times over." He laughs, digging into his meal.

"What did you say?" Taylor asked, sitting down beside him with her plate in her lap and her glass of wine on the table beside her.

Joe shrugs, "I just told them the truth...and they're ready to meet you so I mean.. I guess we're taking a trip to London, hm?"

"I've always wanted to go to London!" Taylor comments, clearly very excited at the idea of travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to meet his family.

"I'll take you to London...if you take me to your Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania." He takes a swig of his cold beer, downing more of the Chinese food.

Taylor laughs, shaking her head softly, "It's just a bunch of trees-"

"With bugs on them!" Joe adds, remembering what she had told him about her childhood job the night they met.

She nods, setting down her plate of food and picking up the wine glass, "Yes with the bugs on them. I'm not sure who's doing it now....definitely not me."

After dinner was finished and both Joe and Taylor had finished their first drink of the night, Joe got up from the couch and went over to the tree to pick up his gift for Taylor, "It wouldn't be Christmas without presents." He smiles, sitting back down beside her and handing her the delicate box.

Taylor covered her mouth with her hands, a surprised face hidden underneath and a gasp escaping her lips, "I didn't think we were doing this today?"

The British man laughs, "After all, it is Christmas, baby. Please open your gift."

Taylor nods, carefully unwrapping the box and setting the paper onto the coffee table before opening the box to reveal a silver pendant necklace with the letter 'j' engraved on the front, "Joe!" She squeals softly, "It's beautiful! Oh my goodness...I love it!"

"Here, I'll help you put it on." He smiles, watching her take the necklace out of the box before handing it to him. He undid the clasp, waiting for her to hold her hair up so he could wrap it around her neck and secure it.

"Joe... I..I absolutely love this." She says softly, holding the pendant around her neck and staring at it in utter awe.

He presses a soft kiss to her lips and smiles brightly, "I'm glad you love it. I couldn't wait to see the look on your face."

"Now it's time for your present!" Taylor beams, practically jumping up from the couch to grab his wrapped gift. She set it in his lap, taking her place back on the couch and watching his face change once the wrapping paper had been discarded onto the floor.

"Tay..this...this is amazing." He grins, nearly at a loss for words as he stared at the CD disc in front of him.

"It's all of the songs that make me think of you and us when I listen them," She explains, "I know it's cheesy, but you love cheesy and you're always listening to my favourite songs with me. So I figured I could give you a set of your own."

Joe stares at his gift for a few moments, a huge smile on his face, "I love it so much, thank you, lovely."

As the night progressed, the Christmas movies kept playing and the wine glasses kept refilling. Joe had stopped just after a couple beers, but Taylor kept wanting to drink her wine: clearly stressed from the last several weeks with work and the holidays. It wasn't a secret to Joe that she was clearly a light-weight and was already pretty piss-ass drunk. He knew that neither of them had places to be tomorrow or people to see, so letting her sleep in to try and combat her hangover wouldn't be an issue.

"Taylor, love." Joe says softly, moving to help her to sit up from leaning against his chest, "I think it's time to get you to bed."

She stirs with a groan before reluctantly sitting up on the couch: her hair tussled and cheeks bright red from the lack of water she had consumed, "I don't wanna." Taylor mumbles, a slight whine at the end of her sentence.

Joe sighs, standing in front of the couch before reaching out to take Taylor's hands and attempting to help her up, "Come on, baby."

"Can...you..carry me....." She slips up on her words, slurring them on the warm air in the room.

He smiles softly, wrapping one arm around her back and the other under her legs before lifting her up bridal style, listening to Taylor's rambling.

"Joe?" Taylor slurs, her eyes half closed as she felt Joe carrying her into the bedroom at the end of the hallway in her apartment.

He yawns, pushing open Taylor's bedroom door and gently laying her down on the white duvet of her bed, "Yes, sunshine?"

"I love you so much. I love you I love you I love you." Taylor says quite clearly, surprising for how intoxicated she was.

A part of him wanted to believe every word that she was saying, because he too felt the exact same way about her. He had fallen in love with her and was undeniably in love with her. Every time he looked at her, it was like the first time all over again: in that dive bar on the east side, Taylor in a little black dress where he introduced her to his favourite drink - whiskey on ice. The other part of him knew all too well that she was no where near sober, enjoying her wine a bit too much in the last few hours to allow her head to think or speak clearly.

Before Joe could respond, his girl had dozed off on top of her blankets and sheets, curled up in a ball with her hair covering her face. He carefully got her in between the white sheets, before pulling up the duvet over her small body: clothed in just a pair of black leggings and a deep blue knitted sweater. Joe didn't want to run the risk of waking her up, figuring she would be comfortable enough in the clothes she had on.

Once he went back into the main room to shut the lights off and clean up a little, Joe tiptoed quietly into Taylor's room, climbing into the other side of her bed before quickly falling asleep.

The next morning, Taylor stirred in her bed as she slowly began to wake up from her deep sleep. She scrunched her nose and screwed her eyes shut, stretching her arms and coming to realize how big of a pulsating headache she had made for herself.

She turned her head to the other side of the bed, where it was made up and Taylor had no idea if Joe had slept with her or left her apartment all together. Sitting up in the bed, Taylor blinked several times to get used to the light that was coming in through the window. The young woman emerged from the dark hallway in the same clothes she had on yesterday, her hair all over the place and her makeup smudged from sleeping.

"Good morning, beautiful!" Joe smiles gently, standing at the stove as he watched over the pan with scrambled eggs cooking in it, "Did you sleep well?"

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised that he was still here after her night of too many glasses of wine, "What happened last night? Did we...oh god..please don't tell me we did it and I don't remember. I want to remember that." She mumbles, her eyes wide as she touched her cheeks with her hands and looked at Joe with a terrified look on her face.

Joe chuckles, turning off the burner and moving the pan to a cool area on the stove, "No, we didn't do that." He assured her with a shake of his head, "But you were pretty talkative last night before you passed out in your bed."

She comes closer to the where Joe was in the kitchen, sitting down on one of the bar stools across the island from him, "Oh lord what did I say?"

Joe blushed softly, looking down at the pan before moving the eggs onto a plate for Taylor, "You might have said once or twice...or four times that you love me."

Her eyes stayed as wide as they could be, red filling in on her cheeks, "Well that's slightly...um...did you say anything after?"

He shook his head, sliding the plate of eggs towards Taylor, "You passed out before I could say anything."

Taylor nods, "Well um...I wasn't lying."

Joe beams, grinning from ear to ear as he heard her words echo through the room, "You weren't?"

"I love you Joe." She nods, evidently dead serious about what she was saying, "That's one thing that I'm sure of."

"I'm sure that I love you too, Taylor." Joe smiles at her brightly, wondering how it could get better than this.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

whiskey on ice : part three

[A/N: aye guys its my 19th birthday so in honour of that enjoy this lil part]

The leaves continued to change colour quickly as the season of autumn fell into full swing. With each passing day, the streets and parks around New York City were covered with leaves painted with yellows, oranges, reds and deep purples.

The beginning of November marked the start of the festive holiday season for avid Christmas lovers, such as Taylor herself. She always was eager to have her tree and decorations up before Thanksgiving - but this was also one of the busiest times in the school year for Taylor. Being the music teacher at her elementary school, she ran and choreographed the entire Christmas production - spending hours finding the perfect music, perfect costumes, and near perfect students to play the parts during the interludes between songs.

Her apartment reflected how her mind felt: cluttered and messy. She had her school work spread everywhere - on the dining room table, the coffee table, but mainly concentrated on her desk in the office. Taylor hated being unorganized, especially when it was because of the stress that was affecting her mind and performance in everything she did.

Since her first 'official' date with Joe and the amazing night with scrabble, coffee and not to mention their very first kiss, they had grown to become extremely close - their friendship strong and clear-headed. However, there was no denying that Joe had feelings for Taylor; and Taylor had feelings for Joe. They had kissed and made out several more times since that first date, but Joe was too nervous to ask her to be his girlfriend, officially. He knew she didn't want to rush, but that apprehensiveness towards jumping into something was quickly becoming less and less important for the blonde woman.

The way Joe made her heart flutter and her cheeks blush when she saw him or heard his voice, allowed Taylor to realize that he was more than a friend to her, more of a romantic interest - even a lover. She couldn't say she loved him, but definitely was on her way to feelings those intense emotions to say the least.

He knew that it had been a rough few weeks for Taylor, often listening to her rant about her job over the phone or while the two just hung out at each other's apartments. Work had been giving her a run for her money, and he wanted nothing more than to make sure she was doing alright. She made him so remarkably happy - something he hadn't felt so deeply in a very long time. She was his light.

Joe pulled up to the medium-sized elementary school and shifted his car into park before taking a minute to stare at the brick building. The students were long gone by now, considering it was pushing four o'clock on a Monday afternoon. He shut off the engine and pulled the keys out of the ignition, carefully picking up the vase of flowers and the box of chocolate he had bought from the store less than an hour ago.

The air felt cold against his cheeks, causing the British man to pull his coat closer to his neck before shutting the driver door and walking into the elementary school. He had only been here a few times before, vaguely remembering where Taylor's classroom was located. The secretary, who was just packing up her things, kindly reminded him of which hallway to take. He thanked her graciously, heading down the main corridor before making a turn just after the gymnasium. When he approached her door, he noticed it was cracked open enough to see the light shining from the room.

Joe gently pushed open the heavy door and looked into the room. He found Taylor hunched over her desk, a pen in her hand and her glasses low on the bridge of her nose - clearly concentrated on something.

"I thought I'd find you here." Joe smiled, his words soft and calming as they flooded through the quiet space, holding the vase of flowers and the wrapped box in his hands.

She lifted her head, her eyebrows furrowing at the sound of his voice before she realized who was standing at the door of her classroom, "Joe..what..what are you doing here?" Taylor stuttered slightly, a huge smile engulfing her face.

"To surprise you." He answers, walking across the room to her desk and setting the flowers down in front of her, "There's a notecard in there that you have to read."

Taylor smiles up at him with a curious look on her face, "Oh?" She asks, leaning in and smelling the flowers, "How did you know these were my favourite?"

"Because I just know." Joe smirks, "Was your day okay?"

She nods, "Well it's much better now." Taylor smiles, taking the notecard from the holder in the flowers and fiddling her fingers to open it.

"Can you read it for me?" He asks, nervously running his hand through his hair.

Taylor looks at him slightly anxiously, recognizing his messy handwriting, "Flowers bloom when they are happy and my heart has blossomed immensely since I met you. Will you officially.." She reads, stopping herself at the end of the sentence before turning her head and looking up at him.

"Will you officially be my girlfriend?" Joe asked, slightly worried as he watched Taylor's face change.

Taylor nods her head vigorously, standing up from her chair and wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

Joe smiles, letting out a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "'m so happy." He mumbles near her ear, sneaking a kiss on her temple, "You're my best friend, Taylor."

"You're my best friend too." She whispers, her face still buried well into his neck, slowly breathing in the scent of his cologne.

The two embraced each other much longer than a regular hug, enjoying the intimate moment together in the nearly empty school. Joe blew a deep breath out of his mouth, rubbing a few circles into Taylor's back before pulling away and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. He ran his hands over her arms, gently caressing her skin as he looked into her deep ocean blue eyes longingly.

"I can't believe you came here." She whispered with a small smile on her face, her mind and body appreciating all of his affection.

The British man grins, "I thought it would make your Monday a bit more manageable, hm?"

Taylor nods, "You need to give yourself more credit." She expresses, moving back to her desk to begin cleaning her mess up from the hectic start to the week. Taylor gathered the quizzes she needed to mark later that night and carefully slide them into her work bag, glancing back at Joe.

"Okay okay, Miss Taylor." He smiles, watching her quickly tidy up her classroom before the two left the school a mere fifteen minutes later, "What are you doing tonight, love?"

Taylor shrugs, "Probably just laying on the couch." She admitted truthfully, "But um, can you drive me home? I don't have my car here and I don't really want to take the subway."

He nods, "Of course, as long as you let me come up with you." Joe smirked, fumbling with his keys before unlocking the car and opening the passenger door for Taylor, "As long as that's okay."

"You're a sly one, Alwyn." Taylor smiles at her friend - her boyfriend - before climbing into his car and letting her head exhaustedly rest against the seat, thinking about everything that was going on in her heart and her head.

It wasn't that she wasn't expecting something like this to happen, she felt so sure of her attraction and feelings towards Joe that there was never a doubt in her mind this last week at whether she would agree to going out with him or not. She hadn't felt this sure about something regarding a relationship in a long time. She also hadn't felt this ready to take the next step, or hadn't felt this safe and cared for in any of her previous relationships.

That's what she thought.

An overwhelming feeling of anxiety over this whole thing hit her like a train as she laid down on the couch with Joe several hours later, an old rerun of Friends playing quietly on the television in front of them.

How would this ever work? She was in New York and he was supposed to be in London. Taylor would never expect him to move to the United States permanently for her. She couldn't and wouldn't ask that of him. She would fall in love with him, he would fall in love with her and then in a few months have to return back to the U.K with nothing but a boatload of memories with a girl he might never see again. Why would he want her anyway? Why would he want to subject himself to that? Taylor couldn't think of a reason in all circumstances to why he would ever do that for her.

She felt hot tears on her cheeks, quickly trying to blink them away before Joe could notice and ask her what was wrong. She couldn't hold it together, an extremely unattractive cry coming from her mouth - making Joe's neck crane to try and get a look at her face.

"Tay?" Joe whispers, his arm wrapped tightly around her with her head laying in the crook of his neck, "Why are you crying, love?"

Another soft cry escaped her lips, her anxiety bubbling up in her core. It suffocated her, feeling as if she was no longer in control of her body: something that she needed to have in order to feel even a small bit of sanity.

"You're leaving in a few months." She manages to say, tears quickly rolling down her cheeks, "I can't make you stay. I can't leave my job. I really really like you and I want to be with you but I just...I can't get hurt again, Joe. I can't get hurt and I can't hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. I just..." She stutters, "This isn't...I'm in New York and you're in London. That's worlds away."

Joe sighs deeply, pushing her hair out of her face as he held her tight, "Taylor, you need to know that I would never hurt you. Those aren't my intentions and they never have been or ever will be. And honestly, if you hurt me in some way, which I don't think is even possible, it would be worth it. You know, because some people are worth getting hurt for." He speaks softly, pausing for a moment to make sure her cries had slowed, "And some people are worth the distance. Nothing would change between us as best friends or as a couple. Yeah, it would be a little more difficult, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. I promise you, that if there was any possible way that I could stay here in New York, I would take it in a heartbeat. That's because I love being here and I absolutely love having you in my life and getting to spend time with you. So please, love. Please don't worry about this. I don't want you to worry yourself sick, alright?"

Taylor gulped, feeling as if her stomach is in her throat. She hadn't felt this way about somebody in a long time, and to hear words like that come back to her made her head spin, "You really mean all that?" She asked quietly, nervously fiddling with her fingers in her lap.

"Of course I do." He assures her, running his fingers gently over her arm, "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, hm?"

She nods, "Thank you for saying all of that." Taylor whispers, staring blankly at the television screen playing a rerun of one of her favourite shows, "And meaning it."

Joe nods, a small and comforting small on his face, "You're my best friend, Taylor. Of course I'm going to reassure you when you're feeling anxious about something. Especially something like that."

She couldn't thank him enough for the amount of immense happiness he had brought to her life since she met him. It was a different energy than she had experienced from anybody before: other men, her friends, her family. Nobody had brought out the uttermost best in her - something so simple, but so incredibly important.

Taylor still felt herself questioning why he would want to be that vulnerable for her, be that caring towards her, or even ask her to be his girlfriend when he knows that there's a chance that he'll never get to come back to New York City. She knows too well that she cannot leave her job, and he couldn't either. Taylor tried to replay Joe's encouraging and positive words through her mind as they sat on the couch to calm her anxieties, but it never truly let it dissipate. She had always been an anxious person, especially when it revolved around people that she deeply cared about.

"You would stay if you could?" She sniffled softly, wiping away the last of her tears off of her cheeks.

Joe presses a soft kiss to her forehead, taking her hand in his and squeezing tightly, "I would." He mumbles near her ear, "I absolutely love having you in my life."

A small smile forms on her face, "Your words mean so much to me." Taylor whispers, closing her eyes for a few moments as she could feel herself calming down in his arms.

"Well you mean so much to me." He replies, his voice extremely gentle as he moved his fingers back and forth on her arm again - letting her know that he was always there, and would always be there for her. Even if they were oceans and worlds apart.

She couldn't believe she had found somebody as loving and caring as Joe is. Near the end, her ex had never treated her so Kindly and with as much respect as she was experiencing now. It would've made him unimaginably angry if she had asked for anything close to what Joe was just so willingly giving her - whether it was words or affection. Taylor had never thought in the months after the brutally messy breakup, that she would end up here: snuggled up on the couch with a man who genuinely cared for her and her wellbeing more than her own parents at times. She knew it was quick, she knew she might be rushing into this when she told herself that she wouldn't.

But Taylor also knew that she had never felt so cared for by a man in her life. She had never felt this connected to somebody. She had never felt so invested into something this quick.

A month was a long time in some ways: for students in school, counting down to a favourite holiday, or an expectant mother impatiently awaiting her baby's arrival.

Her heart knew that she made the right decision to just let down her defences and trust Joe. On the other hand, her head was still a bit apprehensive towards jumping head first into a relationship with the first guy she met following being single.

"We should watch a movie." Joe murmured, his arm still wrapped around his American queen.

Taylor cranes her neck slightly so she could get a look at his face, "Nothing scary."

"You don't like scary movies?" He furrowed his eyebrows, pushing her hair out of her face.

Taylor shakes her head, "I can't watch them alone at night."

"Well that's the worst time to watch it, Sunshine." Joe chuckles softly, "Plus, you're not alone."

"You won't leave while the movie is on?" She asks innocently, clearly slightly worried.

"Of course not." He kisses her head, grabbing the remote to find a good movie on the television.

Ten minutes into the movie, Taylor was already curled up in Joe's arms, sitting in his lap as she leaned her back against his chest. A blanket was covering the two of them and half of her face, easy access for her to pull up during the really scary parts.

"Are you scared?" Joe whispered gently near her ear.

Taylor shakes her head, pretending to be stronger than she was letting on before, "I'm oka-" She starts to say just as the music sharpened and a figure emerged from the dark hallway. Taylor screams, covers her eyes with her hands, and turns around to bury her face in Joe's chest.

He smiles, rubbing circles into her back, "It's okay to be scared, love." Joe reassured her, "We don't have to finish this, yeah?"

"I'm okay." She whispers, her heart racing, "You're just not allowed to leave."

Joe laughs, "I would never."

She was so grateful to have someone who would always stay: whether it was just as a friend or as a life partner.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

whiskey on ice : part two

[A/N: so I might have accidentally planned this out into a little mini series so I hope you like it (: ] Find the first part here

***

It had been nearly week since Taylor had seen the unfathomable Joe. She spent her days at the school, teaching several music classes to children who didn't really have much interest in what they were doing, and her nights marking note identification quizzes and recording grades into her scorebook. That part of her life moved monotonously, never straying too far from the routine.

It was her heart that was working double time since she had gone out with her friends.

Taylor hadn't stopped thinking about that Friday night for more than an hour. Everything about Joe was a mystery to her - a mystery she wanted nothing more to do than to solve.

With her curiosity came anxiety, and with her anxiety came fear. Fear of being rejected. Fear of feeling something that he couldn't reciprocate. Fear of falling in love again with someone so quickly, so vibrantly, so wildly. The thought of being in a relationship again made her insides shiver. But she couldn't stop thinking about him.

It could never work, she thought.

Not even something as simple as a friendship.

Long distance was something she didn't want to step foot in.

She'll just have to tell Joe that it's not going to work, not even being friends.

But how could she do that to him? He gave her his coat and kissed her cheek on the night they met. He was obviously interested in her. He obviously saw something in her that her string of ex-lovers didn't.

She missed that night terribly. The whiskey. The coffee. The beautiful park in the middle of the chaotic city. It was peaceful and beautiful. Everything about her time with Joe calmed her immensely. It was new and exciting. But this excitement also sparked a lot of fear and anxiety.

The elementary school teacher gathered her book bag from the subway seat beside her and stood up, as the train came to a stop at her station. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and exited the subway car, walking a few blocks to her apartment building.

She greeted her doorman, before punching in her code to unlock the main door into the area with the elevators. The elevator ride was relatively quick, even though she lived in the middle of the very tall apartment tower in New York City.

Walking through the narrow hallway, she pushed her hair out of her face a few times before coming up to her door and nearly tripping on something below her feet.

The blonde woman looked down, her eyebrows furrowed and face puzzled until she realized the meaning of the vase of flowers sitting at the base of her apartment door.

Before looking at the note, a part of her prayed that he had sent them. Telling her that everything would work out and that she didn't have to be scared of this blossoming friendship. Yet another part of her hoped that these were goodbye flowers, indicating that he didn't want to dabble his toes into a long distance friendship - or relationship with her either.

Taylor set her book bag from work down on the carpeted floor, dropping her keys beside it before picking up the vase and glancing at the card that was sticking up near the top.

She opened it carefully with her fingers, his words scribbled out on the white card stock paper in black pen.

Friday was beyond amazing. I wanted to send you these because I never got your number, so here's mine. Call me.

Joe.

Taylor stared at the note in front of her for a few moments before a bright smile engulfed the majority of her face.

She took the vase inside her apartment, setting it up on the counter in the kitchen: keeping the note nearby and reading it over and over. Debating whether she should call or just stay away. Was she ready? He knew she wasn't looking to rush into anything, but this somehow, some way: this felt extremely different to her. It was raw, and real, and right.

Taylor picked up her phone, holding the note open with her fingers as she pressed the correct buttons on her screen. It started to ring and she could barely breathe.

What was she doing?

The whiskey was getting to her.

The phone rang for a few moments before it connected and a thick British accent flooded through the speaker and into her ear, "Hello?"

Taylor gulped, holding the phone up to her ear, "Hi..uh, it's Taylor." She stuttered slightly, her cheeks growing continually red. Thank goodness he couldn't see her blushing face.

Even though she couldn't see him, she could feel the smile form on his face, "Taylor! Hello! You got the flowers!" He replies, his voice bright.

She giggled softly, "I just got home from work. I almost tripped on them."

"Well I'm happy to hear that they made it there. I was worried your doorman wasn't going to come through for me." He explained to her. He couldn't express how happy he was to hear her voice again, "'m glad you called."

"I'm glad I did too." She smiles, looking at the flowers intently. He had good taste.

Joe cleared his throat on the other end of the line, "I know what you said Friday about not rushing into anything right now, and I totally respect that. But I was wondering if...if I've convinced you enough to go on a real date with me."

Taylor blushed again, biting hard down on her lip as she couldn't contain a smile from her lips, "A real date?" She asked, just to hear him repeat those words back to her.

Joe nodded, even though she couldn't see him, "A real date. With me. Tonight."

"I will go on a real date with you, Mr. Joe." She replies, tapping her fingers softly on the countertop in her kitchen.

He ran his fingers through his hair, an undeniable smile on his face too, "I'll pick you up at 7?"

"See you at seven." She smiles, hanging up the phone before she said something completely embarrassing and stupid.

Was she actually doing this? He knew she wasn't ready for something as vulnerable and emotional as a relationship. What he didn't know was that she had a huge difficulty putting emotional trust into people after her messy breakup. Would he accept that?

It was time to take a step forward. Time to feel clean from what happened five months ago. She needed to let go, and do it in the best way possible.

This was her letting go.

This was her moving on.

This was her starting over.

This was her beginning again.

She stood in the full length mirror in the corner of her bedroom with ten minutes to spare. Letting out a deep breath, she dropped her shoulders and pushed them back - her posture tall and as confident as it could be.

The next thing she knew, she was standing in front of the man who had completely lifted her off of her feet: surprising her in so many ways with his kindness, his attention to detail, and his warm and welcoming nature.

Joe's jaw dropped slightly at the sight the girl in front of him, feeling underdressed  in his dark jeans and Nikes, compared to what Taylor was wearing.

"You look...you.." He stutters, his cheeks blushing as he struggled to find the right words that described how she looked to him, "You look gorgeous."

Taylor beamed, her bright blue eyes nearly twinkling in the remaining sunlight left in the day, "Thank you for saying that! So do you."

After a few moments of small talk, the two young adults hailed down a cab and climbed into the back seat, Joe absentmindedly reaching to wrap his arm around Taylor: en-route to one of his favourite restaurants.

"I have a question for you Taylor." Joe says, picking up his glass of wine and taking a sip, "What odd talent to you have that I have yet to know?"

Taylor giggles softly, sitting back in her chair as they waited for their food to be served, "I play a mean game of scrabble. What's yours?"

"Photographic memory." He answers, running a hand through his wispy blonde hair that was swooped to the side, "Helps me with my work."

She nods, fiddling with her fingers nervously in her lap. She could feel her cheeks blushing, and knew that Joe could most likely tell, "Have you ever played scrabble?"

"Oh of course! Who hasn't?" Joe exclaims, setting his wine glass back down on the white tablecloth, "Now I feel like we have to play a game to see who wins."

Taylor laughs, crossing her leg over the other, "Now it's time for me to ask you a question." She smirks softly, finding herself unusually very comfortable with him, "What was the last thing you bragged about to your mom?"

Suddenly, Joe's cheeks grew red and Taylor was wondering if she had said something wrong, "I'm sorry..I-"

He chuckles, "No, no. It's just that..I bragged to my mom about this girl I met at a bar last week and that I was sending her flowers because I wanted to see her again."

Her eyes light up, "Really?" She asked, almost in disbelief.

"Of course!" He assures her, "Friday was so fun and I'm...I'm really interested in you."

Blush covered her cheeks, as a smile formed on her face, "Do you go to bars often?" Taylor wondered, furrowing her eyebrows ever so slightly, taking another sip of her wine.

Joe shakes his head, "Hardly ever. I hate the smell of alcohol and my feet sticking to the floor."

"Yet you drink whiskey on ice?" She countered, questioning him light-heartedly.

The British man nods, "It's the only thing I drink, Miss Taylor."

The night went on quickly, moving forward in every direction possible. Just as she grew more comfortable with him, he grew more comfortable with her. It was one of those weird and magical situations where two people feel as if they have known each other their whole lives. This was clearly not true, but Taylor felt as if she had met Joe in grade school, someone who she played on the playground and split her cookie at lunch with.

The two friends finished up their meal and after Joe insisted on paying it in full, they made their way out to the front of the restaurant, the moon shining brightly above them.

"I don't want this night to be over." Joe admitted to the beautiful girl standing in front of him, "It's been absolutely amazing."

Taylor agreed, nodding her head and folding her arms in front of her, not sure what to say next, "I don't either."

A serene silence fell over the two of them as they looked at one another, thinking about the night that had just played out and how each of them was feeling about the other. He watched as her ocean blue eyes sparkled in the light from the restaurant and the city around, getting completely lost in her eyes. She watched how his gaze shifted, becoming more and more noticeable that he was somewhere off in his deepest and most personal thoughts. A large part of Taylor hoped he was thinking about her.

"I feel like I really need to experience you playing a mean game of scrabble." Joe beamed, slowly moving closer to her with his hands down at his sides - desperately wanting to move them to her hips.

Taylor laughs, biting down on her lip hard, "You might hate me if I beat your ass though."

He shakes his head, "Nah, I could never hate you," Joe smiles somewhat shyly, "I have a board back at my apartment, what do you say?"

The words came out of her mouth before she could even comprehend what she was saying, "I'd love to." Taylor spoke quickly, making sure she could get her answer out before either she or he changed their minds.

With a smile and a nod from Joe, she knew she had made the right decision, "It's a bit of a hike, so I'd understand if you don't want to go - or just call a cab from here."

"I've got nothing else to do...Let's walk a bit." Taylor nods, and before she knew it they were off and running - well, walking. Far apart enough that each of them had their own space, but close enough that Taylor could feel the heat radiating off of Joe, and vice versa.

Joe's hands stayed down by his side for nearly half the walk, before he intentionally moved slightly closer to Taylor - their hands brushing up against each other. She could feel her heart beating fast in her chest the moment she felt his hand brush up against hers, bringing back the feelings of being in fifth grade with a crush.

She couldn't deny how she was feeling: extremely confused. A part of her wanted to just let all of her guards, walls and defenses down and completely be open to having maybe a relationship with this guy she had somehow, by a twist of fate, gotten to know very well. Another part of her wanted her head to make all of the decisions and stop what was blossoming between them, in fear of getting hurt again.

"This is it." Joe stated, swinging open the black door to the apartment he had found to live in while he worked here temporarily, "It's not a million dollar place or anything, but it works."

Taylor nodded, taking a minute to look around the place from the front door, "Do you have any animals at home?" She asked curiously as he took her coat from her and draped it over the back of the couch.

"We used to have a dog, but he passed away a few years back." He opens up to her, moving into the kitchen, "Did you want something to drink?"

Taylor followed him, standing next to the counter - unsure if it was okay to sit down on the bar stools at the island in the middle of the light-coloured kitchen, "A coffee would be great, thank you."

"Coming right up." Joe chuckles, his thick British accent prominent, "A coffee at nine at night is a bit rebellious, don't you think?"

Taylor shrugs softly, a genuine smile on her face, "I've got nowhere to be tomorrow. Do you?"

He laughs, giving her a 'no' for a response, waiting for the coffee to be finished brewing. He grabbed two mugs from the upper cabinet and filled both of them with the hot dark coffee, "How do you take your coffee, love?"

"Cream and sugar please." She smiled, watching him finish off their drinks with cream from the fridge and sugar from the cabinet.

Joe hands Taylor one of the coffee mugs with a smile, "Very classy, Miss Taylor."

They enjoyed their coffee for a few minutes before Joe ushered her into the living room, grabbing the Scrabble box from the cabinet and setting it down on the large coffee table, "What if I told you that there's a Scrabble championship in the UK and I, Joe Alwyn - own it." He smirks, sitting down beside her on the couch.

Taylor raises an eyebrow, looking at him suspiciously, "Where's your trophy?"

"Back in London." He counters, smiling brightly at her before opening the box and setting up the game for the two of them.

Three hours and two coffee cups each later, the two were still battling it out in a very intense game of Scrabble.

"...and it's a triple word! I win!" Taylor squeals, pointing to the little wooden blocks she had just placed down on the board.

"Good job, Taylor." Joe smiles, wrapping his arm around her and rubbing her arm with his fingers, "You do really play a mean game of Scrabble."

Taylor laughs, unintentionally leaning into his body slightly, "I told you I love scrabble."

In that moment, Taylor felt as if there was no time between them. Everything was moving in slow motion as if the world had stopped just for them. Just for her and just for him.

"Maybe you'd love this too." Joe mumbles huskily before leaning in and gently pressing his lips against her soft ones.

She pressed back without even realizing because everything felt natural. Everything felt real and everything felt right - and she knew that's how it was supposed to be.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

hey guys !

just wanted to let you know that I'm currently working on a very long (very exciting) multi-part mini series for whiskey on ice (!!) also while being a full time university student (not so exciting it’s honestly kicking my ass) so please be patient with me and I will post a part two as soon as I can! thank youuu!

[starryeyes-oneshots]

whiskey on ice (AU)

[A/N: You'll learn very quickly that this is an AU, so none of the characters in this are famous.]

For Sam: hbd love 💗 @swift-sparkles13

••

It was supposed to be a quiet night at home with her cats. Nothing more than a cleaning spree, a Netflix marathon and cracking open the new carton of ice cream she had picked up from the supermarket the week before.

The weather was decent for an October Friday evening, with the air not being too chilly - it was fairly nice to be outside. Autumn was always her favourite time of year: the scenery and smells around the city made her feel at home.

The blonde woman fumbled with her keys outside the small New York apartment, just enough space for her and her two cats, exhausted from a long day of teaching music at an area elementary school.

Just as she turned the key in the lock, faint voices could be heard from the other side of the door. With her eyebrows furrowed, Taylor entered her apartment with bags hanging from her arms and a confused look on her face.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked slightly out of breath, moving into the living room and noticing her two best friends sitting on the couch watching the television.

Sitting on the end of the couch closer to the blonde woman, Abigail sighed, "We found more ice cream in the freezer. Taylor, you need to get out of your apartment and move on from that bastard."

It's not like her friend was wrong. Every word out of her mouth was clearly the truth. It had been nearly five months since she had been cheated on, which ended in a very messy and emotional break up with a man she thought was the one. Needless to say, the girl hadn't been getting out very much and it had been several months since she had seen the inside of any bar or restaurant. Her life had been a continual cycle of work and home, with the odd coffee run or grocery store trip spread intermittently throughout.

Camila's serious gaze matched Abigail's, "We're just here to make sure you're not hitting rock bottom because we're worried about you. It's Friday night..it's nice out..we should head to a bar." She suggested, getting an eager approval from the redhead, however not so much from their friend.

The last thing Taylor had any interest in doing was standing in a crowded bar where her feet stuck to the floor and her nose burned from the retched alcohol odour. She didn't want to be constantly bumping into bodies of people who had well over enough to drink or hear the sounds of lightweights puking in the bathroom.

Five months wasn't long enough in her eyes, to have time to heal from everything she was dragged through. However, it was at a point where her family and friends had began to question if she was truly okay. Her monotone, go to answer of a fake cheery 'yes I'm fine' just didn't cut it anymore.

Her shoulders dropped with the weight of her heart and the bags that hung from her arms, "You guys...I...I don't know." She mumbled, setting her work bags down on the hardwood floor before proceeding to slip her coat off and hang it in the closet, "I actually think I'm coming down with something." Taylor brings her hand to her mouth, mustering up her best sick cough.

Both girls rolled their eyes, knowing how bad of a liar Taylor truly was, "Yeah, you're sick with loneliness. You need to get out there, and we're taking you. Get something sexy on and come back in five."  Abigail spoke, her voice filled with just as much honesty as dead ass seriousness.

She looked at each of them longingly, hoping and praying with her heart that they would see how mentally and emotionally exhausted she was, and they could abort their plans. A hot breath pushed through her lips. The air in the room felt dense against her skin, because of the place she would be soon dragged to.

"But-"

Camila stands up from the couch, picking the remote up from the coffee table to turn the television off, "No buts Tay." She assures her, "We're not saying you need to hook up with the first guy you see and bring him back here to have sex. We're just saying that you need to get out, have a few drinks and let loose a little."

"Fine." She huffs, reluctantly disappearing into the dark hallway and into her bedroom to change into something that her friends would classify as 'letting loose'.

With her hair still sporting the loose curls she had done that morning and wearing a little black dress with heels, the three friends hailed down a cab and piled in - on their way for a night of fun.

Even though it was slightly forced, once Taylor was in the car with her two best friends on a Friday in their city: she felt relieved she had gotten over the hardest step. For her, it was actually initiating something and getting out of her apartment. Now that she was out in town, she started to feel like this wasn't such a bad idea.

It was a small dive bar on the east side they pulled up to, the day's sun setting along the horizon and a long night ahead of them. Especially for Taylor.

To her surprise, the floor wasn't sticky and it didn't reek of alcohol quite yet: however, the night was still young. The three girls sat on stools at the centre of the counter, with Taylor in the middle.

The first hour was smooth and quiet, with very few drinks and few men coming up to the girls and asking if they wanted to dance.

The blonde woman set her empty glass down on the counter, letting a sigh escape her lips as she shifted glances between her two friends, "I'm not loosening up." She admits, "Can we please just go home?"

Abigail suddenly stands up from the stool, "We've barely been here an hour. At least give it a bit more of a shot." She compromises with her, "Camila and I are going to request a song and we'll be right back."

And just like that, there Taylor was: sitting alone at the bar in a black dress that was so tight it made her skin crawl.

She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to sit here and try to 'loosen up'.

She wanted to go home, wrap herself up in a blanket and watch movies with a carton of ice cream in her lap.

But here she was. In some dive bar on the east side: far from home.

"How is a pretty lady like you sitting here alone without a drink?" A man said from behind her, causing the girl to turn around to face him: instantly noticing that he was clearly not from the United States.

Taylor looked down at the floor, her eyes moving up his slim body until her face met his. She wasn't planning on meeting anybody new, just a fun night with her friends and a few drinks interspersed as the hours passed, "Uh my friends," She says nervously, pointing to the two girls standing up by the DJ, "We haven't gotten the second round, yet."

A genuine smile formed on his face, lines appearing around his mouth and the apples of his cheeks popping out into the room, "Joseph." He puts out his right hand, holding his nearly empty glass in the other, "But you can call me Joe."

Taylor reciprocated the facial expression with a little more uncertainty and nervousness in her smile, "Nice to meet you, Joe." She clears her throat, pushing her hair out of her face and shaking his hand, "I'm Taylor."

"I love that name." Joe sets his drink down and sits on the stool beside Taylor, "Can I get you a second round?" He asked shyly, but Taylor figured he knew what he was doing.

Something about this felt different. The actions and words were the same, but the feelings inside of her weren't like past boyfriends or lovers, "I'd love that, but I have to buy you one too."

Joe shakes his head, grabbing the bartender's attention, "Whiskey on ice, please. One for me, and one for Taylor." He tells the man on the other side of the counter, handing him a twenty before turning back to her, "Don't worry. I've got it."

"Well thank you." She smiles into the semi-lit room. Her cheeks were blushing ever so slightly - but she could feel every inch of it.

The blonde man nods, "So, are you from New York or are you just visiting?" He asked as the bartender passed him their drinks. He picked up both of them and handed one to Taylor, "Here, this is my favourite drink."

Taylor laughs, taking the glass and bringing it up to her nose to get a waft, "Whiskey?"

"It calms all the nerves." He jokes, taking a small sip before setting it down and turning to her, giving her his full undivided attention. Something she missed, "You avoided my question, Taylor."

She blushes again, the apples of her cheeks turning a bright red, "Oh, uh I live here. But I'm originally from Pennsylvania." She answers him, cautiously taking a sip of her drink, "What about you?"

"Canada." He smiles, his thick British accent evident in every word he spoke, "No I'm kidding. I live just North of London. But I'm here for a few months to do English literature work. What brought you to New York?"

She notices that he keeps turning it back to her. Getting her to answer his questions. Something so simple, yet makes her feel so validated.

Taylor shifts on the stool and carefully crosses her leg over the other and adjusting her dress, "I got offered to teach full-time music at an elementary school in East Meadow." She explains, taking another sip of her drink, "It's on Long Island."

Joe rests his arm on the counter of the bar, completely mesmerized by the girl in front of him, "You teach music?"

She nods, glancing and searching for her friends, and noticing them sitting just out of earshot behind them, "I do. I had to teach other subjects back home, but here they offered me to teach only music so I took it."

His ocean blue eyes looked right into hers, and just for a second she felt like she had known him for years, and the two were simply just old friends catching up after being away from each other for a while.

There wasn't a doubt in Taylor's mind that she wasn't attracted to this man sitting beside her. As the night progressed along, Abigail and Camila stayed far enough away to not be on top of the two, but close enough to hear everything that they were saying. Joe grew more and more smitten by Taylor, giving her his complete and undivided attention into every single word that came out of her mouth. He couldn't get enough. She couldn't either.

"So..uh.." Joe stutters slightly, running his fingers through his blow-dried blonde hair, "Do you think that I could have your number?"

Taylor could feel her cheeks grow hot, unsure of how to tell him that she wasn't ready for something like that - but still was extremely interested in keeping in touch. Anxiety bubbled in her core as she gulped and tried to keep a soft smile on her face, "I..uh...I need you to know that I'm not ready to rush into something quite yet. I'm coming out of a pretty brutal breakup and that doesn't mean I'm not interested in you...or don't want to get to know you because I do."

Joe adjusts himself on his stool, sitting up straighter than he was before, "I completely understand." He smiles softly, "I'm not interested in rushing either, but I do know that I'm extremely curious about you and want to get to know you."

Taylor's eyes bulged out of her head, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, "Really?"

The British man nods, a small smile on his face, "Wanna get out of here? I know this really beautiful park that's just a few blocks away."

"I'd love that." She agrees, finishing her drink and standing up from the stool, "I never really liked the bar scene anyway."

"Me either." He whispered, standing up beside Taylor and setting his glass on the counter, "Ready?"

Taylor gives a nod of approval, following him out of the bar - mentally reminding herself to let her friends know where she was heading off to.

The air had increasingly become much cooler since she had been outside, the night sky now upon them and the city lights shining brightly from the buildings and streets.

Goosebumps cascaded down her bare arms and legs, the little black dress she was wearing didn't cover up much skin for a cool autumn evening in the city.

It took a few minutes for the two newly acquainted adults to reach the park Joe had mentioned back at the dive bar a few blocks over, "Here we are." He smiles, taking in the view for a couple moments before turning to get a look at the woman standing beside him.

Taylor smiles softly, watching the street lights glisten in the night's sky, the changing coloured leaves blowing in the wind and the hearing faint ripple of water from the creek nearby, "How have I never come across this place?" She asked, slightly shocked with herself at this pure treasure in the middle of the fast-moving city.

"You've never ventured to the east side before?" Joe asked as if he had lived in New York all his life and knew all the sweet-spots. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about, Taylor thought.

Taylor turned her head to face him as they stood at the entrance to the park, her arms crossed over her abdomen - a small and subtle attempt to try and conserve body heat, "No I have...I just have never seen this little park before." She assured him, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

Joe beamed softly at her, his incredible facial features shining in the dim lighting of the park, "You seem a bit chilled, love?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows and beginning to remove his jacket.

Taylor shrugged, not wanting to be a burden to anybody, "I'm okay. Just a little chilly."

"Here." He drapes his coat over her back, wrapping her up in it slightly, leaving him in just a t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans, "That'll warm you up."

Taylor blushes, trying to avoid eye contact with him because she knows she'll just absolutely melt. She hadn't felt this way in a long time, "But now you'll be cold."

Joe shakes his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips, "Nah, you've got bare legs. These jeans are nice and warm, so please. Wear my coat."

"Well thank you." She smiles graciously, walking beside him as they made their way around the quaint green space.

"You said you grew up in Pennsylvania?" He asked her, a curious look on his face as if he was so intrigued by her and wanted to know more.

Taylor nodded, pulling the jacket a little tighter to her slim body, "I did. On a Christmas tree farm actually."

"A Christmas tree farm!?" Joe repeats, his voice surprised.

She laughs, "Yeah! I uh, every year since I could walk basically it was my job to pick all the little bugs off of the trees before we could sell them. It was disgusting but kind of fun too. My brother and I would spend hours just running around the farm with buckets to get as many bugs as we could." Taylor explains, the fond memory of her childhood flooding back into her brain.

Joe reaches to scratch his neck for a few seconds, "Sounds like you had a lot of fun." He laughs gently, unable to keep his eyes off of this girl he had just met.

Taylor nods once again, "We did. But I don't think it's as fun as living in England. Like..come on."

He shrugs softly, "Well I mean it was probably very similar to you. We lived on a small flat of land just outside of London. There were animals and forests and everything that we could get our hands on...we being my brothers and I. We had a lot of fun out there."

Taylor smiles again, hardly being able to wipe it from her face, "So why are you here in the States?" She asked curiously, her teeth chattering a bit as she shivered, even though Joe's coat was an immense help.

"To warm you up! You're freezing love!" He says seriously, his thick British accent extremely prominent in his voice, before reaching over and wrapping his arm around her and side hugging her tight, "Soon enough your lips will be blue."

With his arm around her, she felt good. It felt different and good. He was warm: not only physically but emotionally for her too. His nature was so warm and welcoming, something Taylor hadn't experienced in a long time.

Taylor smiles, appreciating the simple gesture - even though to her it was more than just simple, "It's chilly out here!" She defends playfully.

"You're going to get sick out here." He says, rubbing her arm with his hand, "There's a coffee shop just right over here."

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows, "Coffee after whiskey? You're a mysterious man mister Joe."

Joe smiled sheepishly, "What can I say? Coffee is good and so is whiskey."

The blonde woman nodded softly as they walked over to the coffee shop, with Joe's arm still securely around her. The two sat there and talked for what seemed hours until the shop closed.

"Thank you for tonight, Joe. I had a lot of fun." Taylor smiled up at him, both of them standing outside the coffee shop.

"I did too." He agreed, "Can I walk you home? This part of town is sketch late at night."

She blushed softly, looking down at her feet before back up at him, "Oh you don't have to do that-"

"I want to do it. I would feel much better knowing you got home safe." He assured her, "Now. Which way is your place?"

The walk was long in distance but felt short because of the company Taylor had by her side. The two made it to her apartment building, stopping in front of the main doors.

"Thank you for walking me." Taylor smiles, "You really didn't have to do that."

"You're welcome, love." He says, sneaking her a quick kiss on the cheek before she could say anything, "It was my pleasure."

The rest of the night was a complete blur for Taylor. They said their goodnights to each other and she watched him walk down the street until she couldn't see him any longer. She figured he couldn't tell that Taylor was watching him, but he knew she was and for him, that was the best feeling in the world. Even better than whiskey on ice.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

turks & caicos

"Oh please tell me you're bringing those ones." Joe smirked, wrapping his arms around his girl from behind and burying his face in her hair - watching her hold a few cheeky bikini bottoms in the air, debating on whether or not she wanted to bring them along for their quick beach getaway.

Taylor giggled quietly, tossing them in her suitcase, "I am, you're welcome."

Joe kissed her cheek, "You're beautiful in anything you wear, especially when it's nothing." He whispered near her ear, only to be hit with a pair of bottoms.

"You're so cheeky." Taylor laughs, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before throwing a boat load of denim shorts into the increasingly full luggage.

Joe stands back and sits down on the bed beside their luggage, "Nah, I just think you're beautiful."

Taylor's cheeks blushed ever so slightly, her hair falling down in front of her face once more, "Stop." She pleaded, folding a few dresses and throwing them in. At this point in her life and her career, she could basically pack blind-folded. It was Joseph who was taking his sweet time, getting distracted by his girl.

"Hurry up love, we need to get to bed, and I need a shower." Joe smiled, playfully hitting her butt before disappearing into the ensuite bathroom.

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows with a confused look on her face, "What does you showering have to do with me going to bed?" She asked, a small smirk creeping onto her face, "You haven't finished packing here either, Joey."

"I know!" He called out to Taylor, "But I need a shower buddy."

She giggled softly with a huge smile as she shook her head at his goofy nature, "You need more than just underwear for this trip!"

"But do I really?" He countered, poking his head out the door of the bathroom.

The blonde singer sighed, shutting her suitcase and zipping it up, "Joe." She whined playfully, "Move your bag I'm tired."

"Oh baby you can sleep on my side." He defended himself, "You still have tons of room there. But I'm kinda sad you don't wanna be my shower buddy."

Taylor moved her bag off of his side and onto the floor, rolling it to the door of the bedroom, "My head is just aching and I don't wanna stand anymore." She sighed, her face dropping as she looked at him.

"Is there anything I can do?" Joe asked her, slightly worried that she was developing a cold just before their little getaway, and in the midst of her stadium tour.

Taylor walked around to her dresser, slipping out of her dress and throwing one of Joe's old shirts over her head, "No, I'm okay." She mumbled, climbing onto Joe's side of their bed and let her head hit his pillow before talking in a deep breath of his lingering cologne and familiar smell.

They should've went to bed hours ago for a flight departing at six in the morning.

Joe nodded, "I'll be out in a jiffy." He smiled, disappearing again into the bathroom and shutting the door.

Usually the methodical sound of the running water from the shower would lull her to sleep: but not tonight. It wasn't until the British blonde was back in bed beside her, his arms wrapped around her exhausted body, that she finally allowed herself to be taken away into the dreamy and wondrous world of sleep.

The morning came too quick, even though the couple agreed that it didn't look much like morning outside yet: the stars were still shining and the cool summer air gave Taylor the chills. She didn't mind early morning flights. There was something about watching the sunrise from thousands of feet up in the air, high above the clouds and the hustle and bustle of it all. It was peaceful. It was serene. It was something she would never get tired of.

"Ready?" Joe mumbled near her ear, his hand making small movements on her thigh as they waited for the flight crew to begin the takeoff procedures.

Taylor nodded, a sleepy smile creeping onto her face as she turned to look at him, "The sunrise is going to be absolutely beautiful." She gushed, her voice still a bit scratchy from last nights rest.

He nodded with a comforting smile across his face, wrapping his arm around her and gently kissing her temple, "I love how much you love flying in the morning."

Taylor leaned into his side, letting out an exhausted yawn, "I love that you're with me and we're going to the beach." She mumbled softly, lifting her bare feet up onto the seat of her private jet.

A small smile crept onto his face, holding her close, "This is much needed, hm?"

Taylor agreed, her head on his chest as they experienced one of the best feelings in the world together: the first moments of their plane lifting off the earth and ascending high into the early morning sky.

Their flight trickled along as usual: the two lovers filling their time with mindless games, intense and intellectual conversations, movie marathons and cat naps dispersed throughout the duration of their plane ride. Taylor dozed in and out more frequently than Joe, however he seemed to stay asleep longer - something the blonde girl would always be a little jealous over.

After touching down on the tropical island and dumping their bags in the hotel room, the couple made a bee line for the beach. Taylor let out a sigh of relief as her toes touched the warm sand, the ocean breeze blew wildly in her face and she saw the water that was bluer than blue.

"Are you gonna take your sundress off and flaunt those curves or am I throwing you in the ocean?" Joe asked, quickly snapping a picture of his girl looking out at the water in the distance for their personal memories.

Taylor turned around and smiled at him, "Are you taking pictures of me?" She asked, walking towards her man.

"Maybe? I'll continue if I can't see your bikini, baby." He smirked, kissing her face and tossing his phone in their bag.

Taylor sighed, a big smile on her face as she slipped the white sundress over her head, revealing her blue and white bikini and fixing her bottoms, "That better for you, Joey?" She smirked, coming closer to him and putting her hands on his chest.

Joe rested his on her hips, "Much better." He nods, gently pressing his lips to hers, running his tongue along her lip for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Okay stop being cute I wanna go in the ocean!" Taylor squeals, a huge smile on her face as she constantly shifted her gaze from Joe, who was preoccupied with sunscreen, to the endless ocean: that held unbounded beauty and opportunities.

Joe shakes his head, dropping the bottle of sunscreen in the sand and coming up beside his girl. He took her hand and lead her down closer to the water, furrowing his eyebrows as Taylor stopped dead in her tracks.

"What's wrong, love?" He asked softly, looking over into her bright blue eyes.

"Are there sea urchins?" She asked nervously, clearly upset by her recently remembered fear.

Joe smiles softly, squeezing her hand a few times, "I'll protect you if there are, okay?"

Taylor nodded, "Promise?" She questioned, thankful that she was being led into the ocean by her favourite and most trusted person in the world.

Joe promised her endlessly, watching her face light up as their toes touched the cool water - mentally noting this moment as one to remember.

The couple spent the rest of the afternoon swimming around in the ocean, holding onto each other and wading in the warm water. As the sun began to set, they made their way back to the hotel room, taking in the views and enjoying each other's company.

"I'll shower while you get ready, babe?" Joe knocked on the bathroom door, waiting for Taylor to be finished, standing in the hallway in his damp swim trunks.

He waited there for a few minutes, confused when he didn't get a response from his girl, "Tay?" He asked again, worried.

Soft cries filled the quiet room, causing Joe to open the door: finding Taylor sitting on the cold tile floor in her towel, staring at her phone.

"Taylor, why are you crying baby?" He asked softly, kneeling down beside her.

She pushed a deep breath out of her mouth, her eyes red and puffy, "They found us. They're all over the place. The..the pictures..are everywhere."

In the back of her mind, she knew this would happen. They had met a fan earlier in the day that had flat out talked about giving their location to the paps. She should've known. She should've protected him, but she didn't. They went about their day like everything was fine when she should've done something.

He reached his arm out to push her wet hair out of her face and behind her ear, "Don't worry about it, babe." Joe spoke softly, his strong British accent prominent in his husky voice. He took her phone from her, turning off the screen and setting it down beside him.

Taylor sniffled, staring down at her lap for a few moments before looking up into his eyes, hers bright blue with tears rolling down her cheeks, "How could I not?" She whispers, "We've worked so hard on keeping this private and keeping this ours and now I feel like it's not."

"You shouldn't worry because I love you and nothing or nobody will ever change that." He kissed her forehead softly, "That's the most important thing right now baby. I'm here, and I'm here for worse or for better."

A relieved yet anxious smile crept onto her face, leaning into his chest and wrapping her arms around his torso, "You're not gonna leave because the paps got intimate shots of us in the ocean?" Taylor questioned him, fully knowing his answer - but needing to hear his affirmation for her own piece of sanity. It's not like they were naked and tangled up in bed together, but being in swim suits and wading around in the ocean with each other felt like an intimate for at least Taylor: and Joe most likely felt the same.

Shaking his head, he pulled her closer to him: nothing but her towel in between their torsos, "Never. So what if they see? Let them see. Show them how happy we are. I wanna show those assholes that I'm having the best getaway with my girl, and a few candids aren't gonna tear us apart. If we don't go about our day as normal love, they're going to win. That's what they want. They want the pictures to get paid, and to make you feel distraught. So don't let them. And I'll be here with you, making sure we have the best night at the fireworks, yeah?"

Taylor nods into his bare chest, her wet hair dripping down her back and soaking into the white towel that was wrapped around her body. She could never repay him for how grounded and calm he makes her feel when the negative aspects of her career start to weigh heavily on her mind, and begin to affect her day-to-day thoughts about herself and where she was going, "You smell like salt." She comments briefly, not wanting to ruin their day that had already been filled many times over with such remarkable memories.

Joe chuckled softly, running his hand over her clean hair, "I haven't gotten the opportunity to shower yet." He smiles, kissing her temple and taking her hand to help her stand up with him.

It didn't take long for the couple to be out the door: with Joe sporting a pair of khaki shorts along with a sea blue button up, and Taylor in a little black dress that was engulfed in small patriotic stars.

"You look absolutely beautiful tonight, my love." Joe grinned from ear to ear, holding her hand whilst they strolled back to the beach for the extremely private resort's Fourth of July fireworks celebration that were spanned over a few nights on the tropical island.

Taylor blushed, her cheeks tinted a faint red, "Thank you for saying that." She smiles, looking over and catching a glimpse of him looking at her.

"You always look beautiful." He comments again, their toes touching the cool sand as they reached the moonlit beach, "Where should we sit?"

Taylor gazed over the area, before her eyes caught a spot and she pointed, "Over there." The blonde girl smiled, leading Joe to the spot in the sand and sitting down with him.

It took just about fifteen minutes for the show to start, causing Taylor to snuggle closer into Joe's side, his arm holding her tightly. The first few fireworks shot up into the starry sky, while the lovers appreciated the silent company between the two of them. Just as so many times before, words don't need to be shared to know how the other one is feeling. Sharing a simple glance unlocks the key to both of their hearts, something the couple cherished endlessly.

"Joe?" Taylor spoke softly, breaking the silence between them: turning her head to look up at his face.

"Hm?" He mumbled, watching the fireworks for a few more moments before craning his neck to let their eyes meet.

"Have you ever thought about what our future might look like?" She yawned, thinking back to a dream from a several nights ago.

Joe let out a soft sigh, undoubtedly relieved that she had asked this question, "Of course I do baby. All the time."

"Really?"

He nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, "Really really. I think about what our wedding might look like, with you standing at the end of the aisle in a stunning white dress and walking toward me. It makes me shiver 'cause I get so excited thinking about that point in our life and our relationship. Married life is something I've wanted for as long as I can remember, and living it with you would just be..." He trailed off, struggling to find the right words, "...it would just be everythin' to me."

Taylor nodded, fully agreeing with everything he had said, "We should live in the UK." She comments quietly, noticing he hadn't mentioned kids.

"It's quieter, isn't it?" He asked, "Mum's said the women's hospitals are just the best."

Taylor furrowed her eyebrows, "We're living in a women's hospital?" She asked, pretending to be confused.

Joe laughs, pulling her a little closer, "You don't want kids?"

"Oh I do, yes of course I do. I was worried because you didn't mention it before." She yawned, completely forgetting about the sparkly show in front of them.

"I want to have kids with you so badly love." He smiled, kissing her forehead, "I've thought about a house full of little Joes and little Taylors running around more times than I'd like to admit."

"I've always seen us with three." She comments, her voice clearly tired.

"Yeah?" He nodded, looking out over the beautiful beach, "I want as many as you'll give me. As long as we can keep vacationing here with the kids."

Taylor giggles, "I think we can arrange that, but wouldn't you want it just to be us?"

"Either will do. As long as I'm with you."

[starryeyes-oneshots]

thanksgiving in london

"Are you ready to tell them tomorrow?" Joe asked, laying in the bed wearing just his boxers, looking across the room into the ensuite bathroom, where Taylor was brushing her teeth.

She nodded, spitting the foam into the sink and rinsing it down the drain. Shutting the light off, she climbed into bed beside him, "I miss wearing my ring."

Taylor couldn't have been happier. Her favourite time of year in one of her favourite cities with her favourite person in the world. On top of it all, Joe had recently proposed on a dinner date last week in Nashville. Both of them were over the moon: ecstatic to say the least.

"I miss seeing you wear it." He whispers, putting his hand on her hip and pulling her closer to him, "You're just absolutely glowing and radiating with happiness right now and it's just...beautiful."

Taylor smiles, biting down on her lip and burying her face in his chest, "I love you." She whispers, deeply breathing in his scent she had grown so familiar to. Between travelling, spending the evening here with his family and jet-lag, Taylor & Joe were beyond exhausted and ready for some much needed slumber. It was a crazy time of year for everyone: but by far the best time with her fiancé's family in his childhood home.

He kisses her hair, wrapping his arm around her waist, his fingertips pressing into her bare skin gently, "I love you more."

Before either of them knew it, the sun rays were shining through the curtains, along with the sound of giggles and banging pots filled their ears from downstairs.

Taylor lifted her head from his chest, looking around the lightened room before shifting her gaze to her fiancé. She pressed her lips to his softly, causing a small smile to form on his face.

"Morning." She whispers, her hand on his chest as they laid together.

His eyes slowly opened, even though Taylor knew he had pretended to be asleep, "I love waking up like that." He mumbles, his voice raspy.

"You were pretending." She smiles, laying her head back down on his chest and letting out a deep sigh.

Joe chuckles, tightening his gentle grip around her waist, "I was. You caught me, baby."

They shared a few moments of welcomed silence, appreciating the rays of warm sun shining through the window and each other's presence.

"Am I just going to put my ring on and wear it?" Taylor spoke up, moving her head slightly on his chest. The lingering scent of his cologne filled her nose, and the methodical rising and falling of his chest almost lulled her back to sleep.

Joe nods, reaching to stroke the hair out of her face, "Someone will notice immediately. Is there another way you'd like to do it?"

The young woman shook her head, "I'm itching to wear it, I don't wanna wait any longer." She says, as a loud giggle erupted downstairs and echoed throughout the house, causing the two lovebirds to chuckle in response.

The British man yawns, "Let's get up then, hm? I guess everyone is awake?" He absolutely loved waking up with his girl, seeing her extremely sleepy and the most natural version of herself every morning.

Taylor nodded, her eyes still looking incredibly sleepy as she rolled out of bed, slid her glasses on her face and pulled a pair of sweatpants up to rest on her hips, "You think they care if I wear this?" She asks, referring to the tank top and pair of sweatpants she had put on.

He shook his head, a small smirk on his face, "I'm literally wearing the same thing, hm? You look beautiful by the way, love."

Taylor rolled her eyes, grabbing her phone from the nightstand and slipping the engagement ring onto her finger, "Oh stop." She smiles, her cheeks growing slightly red.

"Hey, you're gonna be my wife. It's my job." He replied, walking over to her side of the bed and taking her hand, "Ready?"

"I'm nervous." She admits shyly, "What if they're not ready for me to be your wife?"

Joe kisses her forehead, "They are ready, believe me. My mum has been asking me when I was going to pop the question for weeks. She'll be absolutely thrilled."

A small smile formed on Taylor's face as it lit up, "Really?"

He nodded, sneaking her a kiss, "Really really baby." Joe strengthened his grip on her hand, protecting yet comfortable and squeezing it three times.

Taylor breathed out an okay, opening the door of Joe's old room and moving into the hallway: him leading her down the stairs.

"Good morning you two!" Elizabeth smiles brightly, bringing a large plate of pancakes into the dining room and setting them down on the table. It didn't take long for her to realize: a gasp and a squeal escaping her mouth, "Taylor!"

Her facial expression broke out into a involuntary smile, leaning her head into Joe's shoulder, "Last week." She beams, "We wanted to wait to let you guys find out in person."

Richard stands up from the couch, coming over to the bottom of the steps to hug each of them, "Congratulations!"

Elizabeth followed him with the hugs and congratulatory greetings, as Joe's older brother and his niece came into the room, "What's all the commotion that we're missing?" Thomas asked, holding the five year old girl in his arms.

"Joe and Taylor are engaged!" Elizabeth squeals, clearly so incredibly happy that her son had finally gathered up the courage to ask the girl of his dreams to be his wife.

Thomas smiles, "Ah, congratulations!" He says, coming over to shake Joe's hand, and hug Taylor, "Claire can you say yay for Uncle Joe and Auntie Taylor?" The British man asks his daughter, whom absolutely adored the American woman.

"Yay!" Claire squealed, clapping her hands, causing everyone to laugh, "Uncle Joe Auntie Tay-tay!"

"Did I hear that Tay-Tay was getting married?" Another voice said as Evelyn, Thomas' wife, entered the room with a smile on her face.

Taylor nods, putting her left hand up in the air and showing her the ring, "Last week."

"Oh Joe you have good taste!" Evelyn jokes, "Better than Thomas, hm?"

Thomas' jaw dropped, "Hey I thought your engagement ring was just as beautiful as you."

Evelyn blushed and everyone in the room began to make small talk, mostly about the ring and if the two lovebirds had talked about dates for the wedding yet.

The morning progressed at a comfortable pace, with Thanksgiving dinner cooking away in the kitchen, the family visiting and Taylor playing casually on the floor with Claire - something the singer could never get enough of. She couldn't wait to have a child of her own, of their own.

"This is your Barbie, 'kay?" The five year old asserts Taylor, handing her the blonde doll, "Because she's really tall and really pretty like you."

Taylor smiled at the little red headed girl, "Well thank you, love. But you know what?" She asked, sitting on the floor in the living room with their family talking around them.

"What?" Claire asked curiously, her bright green eyes looking longingly into Taylor's blue ones.

Taylor leans over and whispers near her ear, "You're prettier."

The girl gasped, playfully covering her mouth with her hands, "But Auntie Tay-tay is the best because you always play with me when you're here." She responds, holding her own play doll in her small hand.

"It's my pleasure to play Barbies' with you, sweetie." Taylor shared, moving from being on her knees, to sitting her bottom down on the carpeted floor as she tucked a piece of her own hair behind her ear.

Claire stood up, setting the barbie doll down on the floor, "I have to get something!" She squealed, before running off into the room that held the majority of the toys she had to play with at her grandparents' home.

Joe emerged from the kitchen, holding two cups of tea as he sat down on the floor beside his fiance, "Here, Tay." He handed her the warm mug with a smile, wrapping an arm around her - both of them leaning back into the base of the couch.

Taylor cuddled up to his side, holding the cup of warm tea close to her mouth before taking a long sip, "Thank you." She smiles sleepily, still battling a strong case of jet-lag.

"Claire absolutely adores you, love." He comments quietly near her ear, his mother and sister-in-law in the kitchen and his father and brothers gathered around the television talking sports. A typical holiday, "Her calling you Auntie Tay-Tay is the most precious thing I've ever seen."

Taylor nodded, an appreciative grin spreading across her face, "It reminds me of the first time we met and she accidentally called me mommy Taylor."

The British man chuckled softly, bringing his own mug up to his face and taking a sip of tea, "Mommy Taylor." He repeats with a big smirk, "I could start calling you that if you really like it...or...we could get busy." Joe whispered, out of earshot of any family - who were all very eager for a new addition and couldn't wait for it to be the right time for Taylor and Joe.

Taylor laughs, "I want to be able to fit into my wedding dress there Joseph." She counters, still waiting for Claire to find what she was looking for and return.

He playfully groans, leaning over to gently kiss her face, "Well I'm ready when you are."

"It'll happen. I promise." She smiles, letting out a deep breath and moving to rest her head against his chest.

Claire emerged from the dark hallway, running as her bare feet padded on the hardwood floor, "Auntie Tay-Tay! Uncle Joe!" She squealed, holding a Barbie toy camper, "We're gonna go camping!"

Joe beamed, taking a sip of his tea and pulling her closer to his body, "That sounds absolutely lovely, Claire."

"Have you been camping?" Claire asked the blonde woman, tilting her head and furrowing her little eyebrows.

Taylor rested the cup on her fabric covered leg, a small yawn escaping her lips, "I have, love. Back at home."

"In America?" Claire plopped herself down on the carpet in the middle of the living room, setting her toys in front of her body and picking up a few more Barbie dolls.

Taylor giggles softly, "In America. Where are we going camping today?"

The little red headed girl pursed her lips for a moment, a thousand ideas running through her brain before she chose one, "America!"

Taylor gasped while Joe chuckled, "Really!?" She asked excitedly, her eyes wide.

Claire nodded vigorously, "Yeah! I love America!" She asserted to the lovers, pointing her thumb back towards her chest.

The blonde singer smiled softly, "I do too, love. I do too."

The three of them sat comfortably on hardwood floor that was covered by a throw rug, playing and chatting for hours, while various family members moved in and out of the conversation intermittently. As time passed, the aroma in the kitchen grew more unbearable, causing everyone in the house to become increasingly ready to dig into a very special American style thanksgiving dinner.

Once the family was seated at the table, with Joe's parents at the ends, Thomas and his family one one side, and Joe in between his younger brother Patrick and Taylor on the other side, everyone said grace and listed a few things they were thankful for.

"Elizabeth this looks amazing, you guys really didn't have to do all of this." Taylor speaks up, looking over at her future mother-in-law: fully knowing that traditionally, the British don't celebrate Thanksgiving.

The older woman sets her fork down before taking a sip of her wine, "Think of it as celebrating us welcoming you into our family - in the most American way that we know."

Taylor nodded softly, "Well, thank you so much. You really didn't have to do all this."

Looking around the table, Taylor couldn't be anymore excited or grateful to be a part of this family: and she couldn't wait to celebrate many more holidays with them in London for years to come.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

beautiful to me

[Disclaimer: I know that this situation in the rep room actually happened but everything that is written around that event is purely from my imagination and I know this is a touchy subject but I got a request to write this so I hope you guys like it.]

•••

The energy that fired and flowed through her veins was unstoppable. Confidence along with her bubbly and loving nature was higher than it ever had been before. Everyone was here: her parents, the fans, and her handsome man. Even though she would be living out of a suitcase for the next fifty-three shows over a span of six months, she felt at home.

They had worked thousands of long and hard hours to bring this tour to life, and she couldn't have been more proud of it and what it had evolved into. It was different from her other tours; but also one in the same. She still had the same drive to make sure she maximized the number of fans that got a good seat for the show. She still wanted to perform for nearly two hours, and wanted to pick the best setlist that the fans would be over the moon for. She was still the same person in some ways, but others she had changed. To Taylor, this was for the better. She couldn't wait to show the people that cared for her the most what she had been working on.

The tour and everyone involved, including Taylor's parents and Joe had arrived in Santa Clara nearly two days ago. Between sound checks and last minute rehearsals, the singer and her man had been laying low, with some intermittent city exploring. As showtime approached, it was clear to anyone passing by that Taylor was a giddy, giggly and excited girl. A huge smile was consistently on her face, and even if it did disappear, one word or one person could quickly bring it back.

That smile could be seen on the blonde young woman as she made her way down the steps from the stage after the first night of this tour stop.

Her mother was there waiting, and Taylor knew that her father had probably taken Joe to another part of the stadium to talk about golf, politics, or to gush over his extremely talented daughter.

"You've got 10 minutes, Tay." Andrea smiles softly at her daughter, passing her a water bottle and a bowl of fruit from the snack table they had for the dancers and band after every show.

"Thanks, Mom!" Taylor called out, taking the water and fruit before hurrying down the hallway to her dressing room.

Rushing to get freshened up to meet fans after the show was an anticipation Taylor would never grow tired of. She loved every minute of it, even if she found herself never having enough time.

The ten minutes she did have always flew by and before she knew it her mother or her publicist Tree would be knocking or banging on her dressing room door with a 'Times up, Taylor! We gotta go!'.

She emerged from the room in an army green button up dress, with a tie at her waist - still holding her now almost empty water bottle.

As she walked alongside her mother, they made small talk about the show and the different fans Andrea and the team had spotted, "Where's Joe?" Taylor asked curiously, her eyebrows furrowed.

The older woman chuckled softly, "Your father took him to hand out guitar pics." She explained, "And most likely to talk about you."

Taylor nodded, "He'll be so shy around everyone." She smiled softly, knowing how much of an introvert he was - even being an actor for a living.

Andrea smiled at her daughter, reaching the rep room for this stop before turning to her, "Ready?"

"Always." She brightly smiles, giving her mom a big hug, "Track down Dad and Joe for me?"

Her mother chuckled again, "Of course, sweetie. Have a good time."

She entered with an excited smile, causing the room to erupt in screams and callings of her name.

This was one of her favourite times of the night.

Nearly an hour later, several pizza boxes were empty, many pictures had been taken and the room was still buzzing with enthusiastic energy.

She had just said goodbye to two best friends before moving onto a small group of girls standing together. Taylor greeted them all with a big hug individually before they began talking about the show, her cats, and how Joe was doing.

The rep room was going so well and Taylor was having a blast until she wasn't.

"Tay!" A girl from the group beamed, a slight smirk on her face before she furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm just wondering...how'd you get so thick? I mean look at your legs, girl."

She was stunned. Her cheeks grew instantly hot and bright red and her mind raced.

Was she really thick?

Taylor knew she had gained weight over the last year, but when she saw herself in the mirror - she looked less skinny, more healthy.

Had she gained too many pounds?

Was she fat?

Taylor gulped loudly, her eyes unable to focus on anything or anybody in the room as she searched for words to say.

The rest of the girls that were standing in the cluster had all turned their heads to the one with the question. Their eyes wide, their faces confused and worried. They looked mortified.

One of the girls in the group said something but Taylor couldn't make it out. It was like she was under water and everyone's voices were muffled all around her.

The singer cleared her throat, "I uh, I don't know I guess I just started eating what I wanted and I'm happier." She stuttered her words slightly, before quickly offering to take a photo with the group and moving onto the last fan standing in line.

She couldn't get it out of her head. It wouldn't leave, it wouldn't diminish, it wouldn't and couldn't be ignored.

And just as the words couldn't be ignored, neither could the look on her face. She disappeared into the hallway just outside the rep room as soon as she had met everyone that had been picked by her team.

She blinked back salty tears, pushing her hair that stuck to her sweaty face behind her shoulders - her body insecurities amplified to a higher level than when she was a teenager.

The young woman had worked for years to learn to push comments like that out of her mind and move on with her day, but this one she just couldn't shake.

Goosebumps cascaded up and down her limbs and her chest, the air blowing by hitting them as she walked through the hallways of the lower levels of the stadium.

Her dressing room door was cracked open slightly, the light glimmering from inside the room. She swung the door open with both of her sweaty hands, before pushing it closed and leaning against the cool concrete.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she glanced down at her body, picking out the flaws that she had spent most of her life believing were just a part of her.

A soft rustle came from the other side of the room, causing Taylor to look up - her show makeup now running down her cheeks.

His face dropped instantly, eyes filled with worry and eyebrows furrowed. They both stared at each other for a few moments before he took in a sharp breath, "...Tay...."

She could hear the worry and nervousness in his voice and suddenly needed his touch. She needed him there.

He saw the pain in her eyes. It was bleeding out of her. Joe moved quickly over to his girl, wrapping his arms around her small frame tightly with one around her back and the other up at the base of her neck, "What happened, baby? Please just tell me what happened." He mumbled into her blonde, golden hair.

Tears soaked Joe's white cotton shirt, her fingers clenched the material as she breathed in the lingering smell of her favourite cologne of his, "I just want to go." She mumbled back in between her cries.

Joe nodded, pulling away and pushing Taylor's damp hair out of her face, "And then will you tell me what's wrong?" He whispered, wiping away her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

Taylor glanced down, taking in a snotty breath through her nose, "Only if you carry me out of here."

Joe chuckled quietly, kissing her face softly before lifting her up bridal style and walking with her out of the stadium - to the car that was to take the couple back to the hotel.

The ride was silent, the air in the car was dense and it had started to rain on the coastal city.

As soon as they had arrived back in their hotel room, Taylor spent nearly ten minutes taking off her show makeup and washing her face.

She couldn't help but stare at herself in the mirror as she changed into one of Joe's old shirts, starting to believe that maybe she had gained too much weight and that she was fat.

Her legs were bigger, her hips curved out wider and her stomach wasn't as flat anymore.

"Tay? Everything alright?" Joe asked softly, knocking on the door after she had shut it twenty minutes ago.

His voice slightly startled the woman, "Yeah." She replied, emerging from the bathroom.

Joe frowned, taking her hand and leading her to the bed. He helped her in and climbed in behind her, pulling her into his arms so Taylor's head was leaning back against his chest.

"Can you tell me what happened now babe?" He whispered near her ear, moving to kiss her shoulder.

Taylor sighed, "In the rep room.." She started, her voice shaky, "A girl...a girl asked me how I got so thick. It's the pregnancy rumours all over again." She cried, "I've gained too much. I'm fat."

Joe let out a deep breath, "Hey, Hey, Hey don't cry love." He says gently, his voice calming her instantly, "You are not fat. You wanna know what I think?" Joe rhetorically asks, "I think you are absolutely the most beautiful girl in the world. I love the weight that you gained because you look healthy, baby. The curves around your hips are so attractive, and I know you get self conscious about your stomach sometimes, but Taylor you have such good ab muscles that you shouldn't worry about it." He takes a deep breath, craning his neck to look deep into her blue eyes, "And your thighs, babe. Wow, your thighs look so good and your butt just makes me want to touch it all day. It's hot. Every part of you is beautiful whether you're a size 0 or a size 5. Even if you don't think it is, you're beautiful to me, baby."

Tears streamed down her face, but this time they were the product of the fact that she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have a man like Joe Alwyn in her life. She had waited a long time for a love like this, and she finally had found it.

He loved her regardless of her body, her flaws, her pet peeves and how she plays with her lip when she gets nervous.

He loved her regardless if she was as skinny as she was when she was a teenager, or the size she'll be when she's old and wrinkly.

"How did I get so lucky." She whispered between her cries, sitting up and turning around to crash her lips into his as her tears rolled down her cheeks.

Joe kisses her back with a smile, pulling away before shrugging, "Because I hit the jackpot with the girl I fell in love with."

Taylor smiled softly, cupping his face and kissing him again, "I love you so much." She whispered into the kiss.

"I love you more. No matter what." The British man replied, knowing in his heart that he was the luckiest man in the world.

[starryeyes-oneshots]

there will be time

Taylor sighed in her seat as the black SUV drove through the rainy roads of a spring evening in Nashville. She wished she was more excited and felt better about finally seeing her boyfriend after weeks of being away from each other. Between her world tour and his movie production, the two lovers hadn't been in the same bed at night for weeks, and it was driving Taylor up the wall.

She wanted him.

She needed him.

They had been together long enough that she knew that he was it. He was the one, and she had a feeling that Joe felt the same way. There had been some hints that he would randomly drop, which made Taylor very anxious over the fact that he may propose in the near future.

The singer rested her head back in her seat, reaching for the ibuprofen bottle in her bag and the bottle of water next to her as her stomach seemed to be in more pain with each second that passed.

Joe and her had planned such a romantic evening, and she even shaved her legs last night in the hotel bathtub.

Much to Taylor's dismay, her period arrived this morning and she was feeling crummier than an overdone cookie. Her head hurt, her boobs hurt, her stomach was bloated as if she was pregnant, and her cramps brought out the worst, grumpiest version of herself. Not the self she wanted her lover to see when she arrived home in a few minutes.

The driver pulled up to her suburban home on the outskirts of the music city, before Taylor thanked him graciously and swung her bag over her shoulder, leaving the car.

Taylor wiped a tear from her cheek, and entered the front door of the two story home. She dropped her bag, kicked off her shoes and let her bare feet touch the cold tile as she walked into the living room.

He was no where to be found.

Joe quietly came down the steps without Taylor noticing him and he wrapped his arms around her torso from behind, burying his face in her blonde head of curls that covered her shoulders. He breathed in her coconut shampoo and softly closed his eyes, "I missed you."

He accidentally startled the grumpy singer, causing her to gasp at his touch and her mood to diminish even further. She was so happy to see him, but she was so irritated with everything, including the fact that her time of the month decided to come a little too early.

"Mhm." Taylor mumbled, feeling tears pricking her eyes as she stared at the light switch on the wall.

Joe furrowed his eyebrows and turned his girl around in his arms, pushing her hair out of her face, noticing her upset nature, "Everything okay baby?" He asked, looking her over quickly before trying to reconnect his eyes with hers. She wouldn't look at him.

Taylor stayed silent, constantly shifting her gaze to everything but him. She missed him so much, and felt so guilty that she didn't want anything to do with the plans they had originally made. The girl felt he wouldn't even want to look at her once he knew.

She felt terrible, and the worst thing was that she couldn't control any of it. It wasn't that big of a deal, and Taylor knew Joe would tell her that, but her hormones were making it bigger than she wanted.

"Tay." The British man spoke, lifting her chin up with his finger and looking deep into her blue eyes, "Tell me what's wrong."

Taylor pushed his hand away and turned around, "I'm fine!" She snapped, wiping a tear from her eye and trudged up the steps, now with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Joe knew exactly what to do when Taylor was like this. It wasn't often, but he could tell she was on her period, and was not happy about it. It clicked to him that she was upset because of the plans they had originally talked about. He felt terrible that she was feeling gross, and knew he just needed to leave her be for a little bit of time.

He scribbled a note that he was heading to the store and would be back soon and slipped it under the door of the master bedroom. Joe grabbed his keys and drove to the store on the rainy evening.

In the meanwhile, Taylor laid curled up in the middle of their bed, clenching her stomach as she impatiently waited for the medicine to take effect.

Reruns of Friends played on the television with the volume down low, and the rain began to hit the window harder.

Taylor's tears dried on her cheeks, an unsettling feeling in her stomach as she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Joe returned nearly half an hour later with a couple of grocery bags, takeout for dinner, and his girl's favourite bottle of wine. Joe didn't know if she would be up to having a drink, but he figured they could save it for when she was really feeling better. He kicked off his shoes, walked into the kitchen and quietly set his purchases on the granite countertop. After putting the wine and a couple of groceries away in the fridge, he took the rest of the bags upstairs to the master bedroom.

When he opened the door, he smiled to himself, noticing Taylor sleeping soundly in the middle of their California king bed.

The British man sat down beside the woman he loved most in the world and gently pushed her blonde hair behind her ear, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

Taylor stirred in the bed and took a few moments before slowly opening her eyes, instantly beginning to cry when she saw Joe, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She cried, her face scrunching up as tears streamed out of her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey." Joe whispered, his face flashed with concern and worry, "Shhh, baby. You don't need to cry."

He slowly helped her sit up and pulled the upset girl into his arms, pressing his lips to her shoulder as he held her hands and rubbed circles on the tops of them with his thumbs, "Shhhh." He continued to whisper until Taylor's tears eventually slowed.

Taylor wiped her eyes, pulling herself together as she rested her head against Joe's chest, "I got my period this morning and I feel so shitty and I'm so grumpy today and I figured if we weren't gonna do what we talked about you wouldn't want to see me and cramps are so bad and I feel terrible that I don't wanna have-" She rambled, working herself up again.

"Taylor." Joe whispers calmly, stopping his girl, "It's okay. You can't control it baby."

"You're not mad at me?" She asked, turning her head to face him.

Joe chuckled softly, "No! Not at all! Why would you think that love?"

Taylor frowned with a shrug, "I don't know."

Joe kissed her face with a smile, "I went to the store."

"Please tell me you bought chocolate." Taylor yawned, her face growing pale as she clenched her stomach again.

Joe furrowed his eyebrows, "We need to address your cramps first love."

Taylor sighed, "Can you help me?" She asked, remembering last month when he surprised her with a massage.

"Of course." He smiles, moving the bag from target, and the fast food bag before standing up from the bed, "Is it just your stomach, or your back too?"

"Both." She says quietly, closing her eyes in pain. Taylor sat on the edge of the bed, turned away from her man, hunched over.

Joe slowly lifted her shirt up, tucking it slightly under her bra to secure it. He gently began to apply pressure on Taylor's lower back, "Does that feel okay?"

Taylor nodded, her eyes still closed and appreciating the pain relief that her man was providing her, "Yes, thank you."

Joe continued for nearly five minutes before standing up again beside the bed, "Roll over, baby."

Taylor turned herself and laid down on Joe's side of the bed, her bloated stomach still exposed, "Joe?"

He climbed onto the bed, one leg on either side of Taylor, before applying soft pressure to his girl's lower abdomen, "Yeah love?"

"I love you." She whispered, her eyes barely open as she watched her boyfriend help her cramps immensely.

"I love you too." He smiles, reaching down and kissing her stomach for no reason.

When he was finished, he pulled Taylor's shirt back down to cover her abdomen and leaned over her to kiss her face, "Feel better?"

Taylor nodded, her eyes growing heavy as she noticed the takeout bag, "Were you just gonna keep that for yourself?" She asked, turning back to Joe.

He shook his head, climbing off the bed and grabbing the bag, bringing it back to Taylor, "It's probably cold now."

Taylor shrugged, leaning her head against the headboard, "It would've been cold if we had sex too."

Joe smiled, "There will be time for that baby."

"I know." She whispered, hunching over and pressing her lips against his, "And I'm thankful for that."

[starryeyes-oneshots]

new year’s day // taylor swift

[starryeyes-oneshots]

“Everything I’ve learned about a ‘reputation’ and how little it really means when defined by those who do not know you, I’ve learned from the fans whose spirits lit up these stadiums…”

[starryeyes-oneshots]

But tonight your hand is steady. Suddenly you’ll know, the trick to holding on was all that letting go. 

[starryeyes-oneshots]

Taylor’s raspy talking voice

[starryeyes-oneshots]

you are my sunshine

request: Joe comes home from a movie shoot early to surprise Taylor and Selena ends up being there, but since they are so lovey dovey and cuddly, Selena keeps making fun of them while they play games or something.

•••

"I'll see you next week, okay? I love you baby." Joe yawned on the other end of the line as Taylor wiped a tear from her face.

She nodded, biting her lip, clenching the phone a little tighter with her cold fingers, "Okay." She whispers, visibly upset, "I love you too."

Taylor hung up and set her phone down on the counter, readily accepting her best friend's hug.

Joe and Taylor had been together nearly two years, and this was the first long-haul movie production that he had been casted for since their relationship got serious. So serious that the two lovebirds were living together. He hadn't been home in over two weeks, and wasn't due to come home until next week. The only thing keeping Taylor going was that this was the last week of filming and then he would be home for a good while.

"Come on, Tay." Selena softly smiled, rubbing small circles into Taylor's back before they parted, "Let's eat food and watch some movies. You're so close and I'll help you get the rest of the way."

Taylor nodded, sniffling as she pushed her hair out of her face, "I owe you this one."

The brunette shook her head, "You will if you forget our nachos in the oven."

Taylor laughed, thankful she had someone to lean on when her man had to be away for a considerable amount of time. She walked over to the oven and pulled the tray out, coughing away into her arm, "Okay come dish up."

The two girls grab their plates of nachos and sit down on the couch, putting in a movie.

"Tay?" Selena asked after a couple minutes of eating in silence.

Taylor's face flashed an expression of concern as she put her plate down, "What's wrong?"

The brunette covers her mouth with her hand, shutting her eyes for a few seconds, "I still haven't told him I'm pregnant."

Taylor slid over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her, "It's okay, you've still got some time, right?"

"Yeah, but we had a really big fight the other day and I know he doesn't want it." She says solemnly, resting her head on Taylor's shoulder.

"Oh honey yes he does. I promise." She whispers, "You guys have wanted this for a long time, and now it's happening!"

Taylor knew that her friend was more than beyond anxious to tell her boyfriend that they were expecting a child, especially because the two of them had been off and on, and currently they were pretty much off.

A tear rolls down Selena's cheek and Taylor quickly wiped it away with her thumb, "It's gonna be okay. I promise love." Taylor reassured her friend.

"Thank you so much Tay." Selena whispered, leaning back and smiling at the blonde.

"You're welcome." She smiled, "Now, we're missing the movie."

Selena laughed and they picked up their plates full of nachos, just as the front door unlocked and swung open.

Both of the girl's eyes went wide, wondering who the hell was at Taylor's house on a Wednesday night. Selena noticed first, a huge smile forming on her face. Taylor furrowed her eyebrows at her friend before turning around and seeing the one person who could make her heart skip a beat.

She gasped, instantly beginning to cry as she walked over to her man and wrapped her arms around him.

Joe picked up Taylor, holding her tightly as she clung her legs around his and cried into his shoulder, "Hey baby." He whispered into her ear as he kissed her temple, breathing in her coconut shampoo, "I've missed you."

"You're here, you're here, you're here." Taylor repeated in between her tears as she clung to Joe for dear life.

He smiles softly, a tear rolling down his cheek, "Yes, I'm here love." He whispers, setting her down on the counter and cupping her face before kissing her deeply.

Tears roll quickly out of Taylor's eyes, "How did you get here?" She asked, very confused, "You weren't supposed to come back until next week!"

Joe smiled, wiping Taylor's tears away with his thumbs, "We finished earlier than expected, and I couldn't wait to get home to you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, letting out a breath she didn't even know she had, "I love you."

"I love you too baby." He whispers, remembering they weren't alone, "I didn't know Selena was gonna be here, because then the surprise would've included sex."

Taylor giggles under her breath, "You're such a bad boy."

Joe smirked, pushing Taylor's hair behind her ear.

Taylor turned and looked to see her friend sitting on the couch, alone, "She's not doing too well." Taylor whispered to the love of her life, "She hasn't told him and is scared he doesn't want it."

Joe sighed, rubbing his hands up and down Taylor's thighs, "We should let her stay here tonight." He whispers.

"But.." Taylor furrowed her eyebrows, knowing they were gonna have super hot sex later that night.

Joe laughed, picking Taylor up again, "We can still have sex baby." He whispered before carrying her over to their friend.

Selena smiled at the two of them, happier than both Taylor and Joe would've thought that she would be, "Y'all are getting cuddly over there." She smirked, finishing her plate of nachos.

Taylor blushed, still standing with Joe as she turned her face into his chest like a little kid.

"Wait you guys made nachos and didn't tell me!?" Joe gasped, noticing Taylor's semi-eaten plate on the coffee table.

Selena nodded, "Yeah and you almost made us burn them because Taylor was on the phone with you." She joked as Taylor turned back and laughed.

"She's not wrong." Taylor yawned, picking up the plate for Joe to have some of her nachos, "Here, have some."

He took a couple and sat down on the couch before Taylor sat beside him and cuddled up into his side.

"We were gonna watch Love Actually but I'm not sure if you want to." Selena says, grabbing the remote from the table.

"No, that's cool whatever you two wanna watch." He says, leaning over and kissing Taylor's head.

Selena smiled at the two of them, playing the movie and sitting back in the chair that was beside the couch.

Taylor yawned and moved her head, reaching up to kiss the man she loved the most in this world.

"Get a room!" Selena joked, making both of them pull away quickly and Taylor's cheeks quickly turned strawberry red.

Joe laughed and smiled at Taylor, "She's just kidding honey."

Taylor blushed, returning her head to where it was resting against Joe's chest, so exhausted she could fall asleep within seconds.

Joe softly stroked Taylor's hair as her eyes grew heavier, finally relaxed enough to be able to fall asleep. Within ten minutes into her favourite movie, Taylor was out cold.

"I guess she was tired." Selena smiled at Joe, ushering her glance towards her sleeping friend.

Joe looked down, smiling at how peaceful his girl looked, "I guess she was." He says, "Or she finally relaxed enough to fall asleep."

The brunette nodded, "That's probably more like it." She yawned herself, "You two are just so good together."

Joe glances down at Taylor, who was stirring in his arms, "Thank you Sel." He says softly.

"No problem." Selena responded before the room grew quiet except for the movie playing on the television.

As the credits rolled through, Taylor was awake again and Selena was just getting up off of the chair, "I should go. Thanks for having me Tay."

Joe shook his head, "No, Selena you can stay here. We don't mind."

Selena's eyes went wide, "You two need some alone time and I don't want to get in the way of that, it's okay really."

Taylor sat up on the couch, her hair tussled from sleeping, "Sel. You're staying."

The brunette grew slightly embarrassed, "Well thank you. I'll sleep on the couch though."

Taylor nodded as Joe went upstairs and returned with a pillow and a blanket for their friend.

"If you get hungry, just help yourself." Taylor smiled as they all said goodnight, before the two lovers headed upstairs for the night.

Joe shut the door, putting his head on Taylor's waist and pulling her in close before pressing his lips deeply against hers.

"I missed you so much." Taylor whispered in between their kisses.

Joe smiled, putting his other hand on the back of her head, his fingers getting tangled in Taylor's luscious blonde hair, "You're my sunshine baby." He whispered, lifting her up and laying her down on the bed.

Taylor giggles as Joe leaned down, cupping her face as he kissed her lips again with passion. She ran her cool fingers over her boyfriend's cotton shirt, feeling his toned abs that hid underneath, "So, that surprise."

Joe smirked as he played with the hem of the bottom of Taylor's shirt, "You bet we're having sex." He whispered, lifting Taylor's shirt up over her head, throwing it onto the floor beside the bed.

"But Selena is downstairs." Taylor whispers, slightly worried about their friend hearing them make love.

Joe pressed his finger to Taylor's lips, "Shhh." He whispered, "We just have to keep it down."

The singer softly smiled, looking deeply into her lover's blue eyes, "I love you."

"I love you more sunshine." Joe whispered, kissing Taylor's neck as the blonde girl couldn't believe that the one she wanted most in the world was finally home.