almost | taylor swift au

chapter 5

After two nights of wonderful, exhilarating, sold-out shows at Irving Plaza, the band gets a few much-deserved days off. They need some rest and relaxation before a final leg of their tour, heading out to the West Coast. It's time that everyone is looking forward to. As great of a time as it has been, the tour has been an absolute whirlwind. Everyone misses their families, and staying out late partying every night takes its toll after a while.

"So," Jett says to Taylor, "what are your plans for the days off?"

Taylor gives him a soft smile. "I'm just headed home for a few days it looks like. I'm going to see my parents and all..."

"Where's home again?"

"Pennsylvania... I grew up on this Christmas tree farm. It's near Reading."

"Right, right," Jett nods. "Hey, how close are you to Philadelphia?"

"Not too far."

"Listen," he says, grabbing her hand, "I've got a sister who lives down there in the suburbs. She was away on a business trip last week when we were there so she didn't get to come see the show, but I'm planning on going down there to visit her for a day over break. It's just about three hours from where I grew up in Connecticut, and my parents haven't seen her in a while, so we're all going to make the trip. How about you come meet us there? You can meet my family."

Excitement flutters up inside of Taylor's stomach. If Jett wants her to meet his family, maybe he's taking this... whatever's going on between them... more seriously than she'd thought. So, she nods. "Yeah, that sounds great. Just let me know what day and give me the address, I'll be there."

"I was hoping you'd say that," he tells her, placing a small kiss on the top of her head.

"But Jett," she says in a small voice, folding her legs up under her as they sit on the bed in his hotel room, "can I ask you a question?"

"What's that?"

"What am I to you?"

He cocks an eyebrow, looking taken aback by her question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, listen... I know that you said that you don't want to label this, and that's okay I guess... but I'm just a little confused on everything. Are we... god, I hate to put it this way, but are we exclusive?"

Jett looks at her, confusion in his eyes. "Are you seeing somebody else?"

"No, no," Taylor tells him. "I just... are you?"

"No."

"Am I your girlfriend?"

Jett smiles at her. "I had certainly thought so, pretty girl. But I guess maybe I didn't make that clear enough. I'm sorry."

Taylor blushes, feeling her heart burst as he looks at her. She really does have strong feelings for this man, who she gets to call her boyfriend. Officially.

She utters the word out loud. "So... you're my boyfriend." She'd tried it on before, picturing Jett as she said it, but it feels different this time. It's real. It's with him, not in the privacy of her own room, in the dark during an hour of the night long after most of the world has gone to sleep.

"I really like hearing you say that."

At that, she doesn't even reply with words. She just leans forward and presses her lips against his, a sudden intense burst of emotions bubbling up inside of her. When she came out on tour with a band she'd barely heard of, she didn't expect to be here a few short months later- but she couldn't be happier that she is. It all just feels so right. It feels like a huge step in the right direction for her- personally and professionally. She's so happy to be out in the world, making her own money, her own decisions, and living her own life. Her own life, in which she gets to choose what she does and the people that are in it. Sure, the job selling tee shirts doesn't pay the greatest, but it's been enough to get by and even save some for the future, since the hotels are always included with the job. And she's gotten a front-row seat at what a tour looks like in this industry. She's made some connections already, and is sure that she has more on the way.