Chapter 35

sorry for the delay, i’ve been dealing with a swollen eye so i haven’t been typing much… 

also, change of plans, this chapter was also getting too long so i decided to split it up and so we’re going to have one last chapter in this era before folklore! we’re almost there, hang on to your hats! 

hope you enjoy this chapter! 

~ kathy

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“Hi Taylor,” Cameron smiled and ignored the way the dread filled into her stomach, but Taylor didn’t try to pull her into a private area of the house and she didn’t call Cameron out on her bullshit either. So either she knew and didn’t want to acknowledge it, in which case Cameron was totally onboard with that idea, or she really didn’t know that the one under the blonde wig was Cameron. “What can I help you with?”

“How are you enjoying your time here?” Taylor deflated her question, and Cameron saw Hailey and Theo doing some sort of weird thumbs up and other weird hand motions as they slowly backed away and moved towards the food table. They were both traitors, the two of them, but it wasn’t like they knew who Cameron actually was.

“I was a little shocked when I got invited,” Cameron refused to meet Taylor’s eyes, and decided to stick to the half truth. “I really love this album, I think it’s different from Reputation in a good way, and I love how the first song of the album seems to bring us out of that era in a light hearted way that shows us the previous era is over.”

Taylor hummed in response. “I’m glad you like it, any thoughts on other songs?”

People walk around them, and Cameron could feel a few people lingering by them as if waiting for their turn to talk to Taylor.

“Well… I really like Daylight, it’s a really beautiful song that highlights a different kind of love than Reputation,” Cameron said slowly. “It’s a love born from hardship, something that is real, which could be an extension to the lover in reputation. I don’t know, I think daylight describes the kind of love that I want to be in.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Well, that love isn’t easy, but it’s real. Well, so is the love described in reputation, which explain the extension part of that,” Cameron pulled on her cardigan and bit her lips.

“What did you think of the song Afterglow?”

Cameron sucked in a breath as Taylor asked her questions, and she wondered if this was a jab to the fact that Taylor knew who it was under the wig. “I… relate to that song on a level, and a while ago I did blow up at someone I love at this really stupid thing, and I do miss her a lot. The space was much needed, and I feel like I’m a better person than I was months ago, but I wish I had sat down and had a talk with her about it instead of having it blow up in our face.”

“Me too,” Taylor confessed quietly. “I think I really screwed up something with this person, and I was so engrossed in my own happiness I didn’t even notice that they were suffering. If I could go back in time, I would tell them that they mean so much to me and that I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for them.”

Cameron looked up to the blonde for the first time in this conversation. “Yeah, I understand. Maybe we’ll both find our way back to that person one day.”

“Maybe,” Taylor smiled, before she pulled the topic away. “So, what sort of super power do you have? Because Meredith absolutely hates people.”

“I guess cats just love me,” Cameron shrugged.

“Can I hug you?” Taylor was the one who asked the question, and Cameron was never one to say no in moments like this, so she nodded and allowed the blonde to pull her into her arms.

They fit like puzzle pieces, and Cameron wrapped her arms tightly around Taylor before they pulled away. Taylor smiled, winking at Cameron before she slipped away and was pulled into conversations by other fans.

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Cameron

hey!

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Cameron threw her phone onto her childhood bed the second she sent out the message to Taylor, and she screamed into her own pillow as she debated whether or not it’s too late to airplane mode and delete that message. This was what she got by going undercover to the secret session.

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Taylor

Hey 🙂

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“What the fuck do I say now?” Cameron glared at her phone as if that was the whole problem and now just the fact that she does not know what to say after that. She doesn’t really think that far ahead, she just knew she wanted to reach out, but anything after that felt too scary to think about.

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Cameron

im at nashville this weekend, can we talk in person?

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Cameron screamed into her pillow again and threw her phone onto her bed while she avoid looking at the screen. This is so not it. This was not happening. She heard her phone vibrate, before it vibrate again and she cautiously snatched her phone back from where it was laying face down on the mattress.

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Taylor

Cool! I’m at nashville too!

Taylor

My mom say we could use her house if we want, she’s out of town

Taylor

Does tomorrow at eleven works for you? I can cook

Cameron

works for me! see you then!

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This was how Cameron found herself at the doorstep of Taylor’s childhood home at ten fifty-eight in the morning, shuffling her feet and debating if she should knock or ring the doorbell. Taylor decided for her, as she pulled the door opened right before Cameron was gathering her courage and finally knocking, and they stood awkwardly by the doorway, each taking in the other, before Taylor forced and laughed and stepped aside.

“Come on in.”

“Thank you,” Cameron looked down at the welcome mat as she stepped into the foyer, following Taylor into the kitchen, which smelled absolutely amazing. She looked around the place, as memories flooded her mind. Sleepovers in the living room, baking in her kitchen, dancing in the kitchen after dark, everything.

It shouldn’t be this awkward, they had known each other for almost thirty years now (Cameron had a whiplash at that thought, turning thirty was not something she enjoyed). Yet somehow Cameron had never not known how to act around the girl she had called her best friend for decades. Taylor moved around the kitchen to keep herself busy and Cameron sat down at the counter to watch the blonde move around the kitchen frantically.

They didn’t talk until Taylor closed the ventilation and placed two bowls of soup noodles in front of them did they realize how quiet the house suddenly was. They moved to the dining table in silence, and Cameron sat in front of Taylor as she tried to break this tension in any way possible.

“It shouldn’t be this awkward, right?” Cameron picked up her fork just so that she was doing something with her hands. Taylor looked up, her food left untouched as well. “I mean I was just thinking about it, we’ve known each other for almost thirty years, so it shouldn’t be this awkward.”

Taylor cleared her throat, and Cameron bit her lower lip. “Thirty years, really?”

“Yeah, I mean I am turning thirty this year, and so are you, so we’re both about to cross into that part of our life and suddenly looking around this house, childhood seems like so long ago,” Cameron shrugged, and placed her forks down.

“Little Cameron was really cute,” Taylor smiled. “She was also Little Taylor’s number one defender.”

“Of course she was! And of course Little Cameron was really cute, I mean she’s me but as a kid, and I’m still super cute now,” Cameron flipped her hair and Taylor chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t deny it, every girl at school wanted to be me or date me, we can call up Abigail right now and confirm it.”

“Some of them actually hated you,” Taylor pointed out unhelpfully, and Cameron pouted. “They’re just also really scared of you, because who knew a cheerleader could pack a punch.”

“What can I say? I was multi-talented,” Cameron shrugged nonchalantly with a smile. “Remember freshman year when you were really mad at me and I end up writing a song?”

“How could I forget? I think Austin still sent it to me once a year on what he called our ‘first fight anniversary’,” Taylor had a smile on her face, while Cameron’s eyes widened in shock. That sorry-excuse of a man is about to shove it.

“WHAT?”

“Yeah, I get yearly reminders of why Cameron Elsher shouldn’t touch the microphone. As much as I love you, I think you should still to words.” Cameron’s breath caught at the way Taylor had casually thrown out the fact that she love her, and the blonde seemed to notice her word choice the exact moment Cameron did. “I mean…”

“I love you too, you know? There was never a moment where I don’t love you,” Cameron interrupted before Taylor could swallow her words back. “And before I decided that I am going to murder Austin painfully the next time I see him, I was going to say that I’m sorry. Well, first off sorry that you have to listen to my horrible singing yearly, but also I shouldn’t have blew up at you and I don’t want you to think for once that what you have with Joe isn’t beautiful. Because although you could do better than him, it’s clear that he makes you happy, and if you end up marrying that man well–”

“Joe and I broke up.”

“–I will be there and support you and, did you say the two of you broke up?”

Taylor looked down at her food, and Cameron struggled to comprehend the words that just reached her ears. Because there was no way that Joe only lasted two years, she thought that Joe would’ve lasted way longer.

“Yeah, I just realized the fact that I like him, and he liked me for who I am and didn’t care about my name, but I think his ego is too big for me. He might had like me when I had nothing, but I feel like as I stepped back into fame, he’s struggling with accepting the fact that he can’t live up to that,” Taylor sighed, and Cameron felt fire rush through her blood.

“I am going to kill him.” Cameron stated calmly, and Taylor shook her head.

“You are not going to last in prison.”

“I hate that everyone keep telling me that,” Cameron pouted but loosened her grip on the fork. Well, she was going to delete that man from her spam account and then she was going to block that bitch in every account she has on instagram. Then if she happen to see him on the street, she would punch him and make it seem like an accident.

“Anyways, that’s not the point. And I should be the one apologizing,” Taylor looked up, and Cameron paused. “I was so ready to just leave the year behind me that I never thought about what you might be feeling at that moment. I think I didn’t want to be a burden to you, because I never realized how you literally paused your life for me and moved to London just so I could get better-”

Cameron tried to speak, but Taylor shook her head.

“Please let me say this.” Cameron nodded and back down as Taylor looked down again. “I mean you were at my back and call for months and you did everything you could to make me happy while I was struggling. I didn’t realized how much I relied on you until I started to feel better, than I just felt like I was a burden so I went out more, and I think I latched on to Joe so quickly because that meant that I didn’t have to overcrowd your space and be more of a burden than I was before. I can see how that might look like I was replacing you, but you are irreplaceable to me, Cameron Elsher.”

They sat in silence as Taylor’s words sank in.

“You’re never a burden to me, Taylor. I chose to uproot my life for you because I refuse to watch you lose yourself. I did that because I love you, and not once did I think that you were a burden. I should have talked to you instead of shoving it down and thinking that the feelings would go away soon, which is why I’m apologizing. But I will not have my favorite person in the world thinking she’s a burden to me,” Cameron reached out and took Taylor’s hand on the table. The latter looked up as Cameron linked their fingers together. “I forgave you a while ago, actually.”

“I think I forgave you a week after you left,” Taylor smiled and wiped her eyes with her other hand. “Can we start over?”

Cameron nodded and squeezed Taylor’s hand. “No more secrets, and no more keeping things in until it blew up on us. We’re going to have conversations like adults, and I won’t be a coward.”

“And I won’t assume something before talking to you.” Taylor held out her pinky, and Cameron laughed as she linked her pinky with hers.