almost | taylor swift au

chapter 8

The few days Taylor has at home come and go, and she has a lovely time catching up with her family and some friends. Before she knows it, Saturday rolls around. She's packing up her things to go meet up with Jett. And her family is coming with her.

She truly has no idea how this is going to go. She spent last night on the phone with him, begging him to make a good impression. He promised her that she would, and she really does want to trust him. She does trust him, she's just worried that her family has already made up their mind about him, and that nothing that he can say or do will change that. Her parents have been so weird the past few days. They've made it quite clear that they're pretty hesitant about this relationship. Part of her understands why, but she also wishes that they'd just trust her and treat her like the adult that she is- if she's happy, why does it matter that he's a little bit older?

But in spite of their hesitations, the Swift family piles into the car to meet up with Jett for coffee before Taylor goes off with him. Taylor is quite nervous. For the whole car ride, she sits in the back seat anxiously fidgeting with her fingers, and before she knows it, they're there.

Jett's already waiting inside of the little coffee shop that they had set to meet at. That's a good sign- her parents will like that he's on time. Showing up late would be a sure fire way to piss off her parents before even meeting them.

"Hey," she says, running up to him. He opens his arms and she jumps into a hug. He places a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's great to see you again. I missed you."

Taylor giggles. "It's only been a few days." She pauses. "But I missed you too." Taylor turns back around to her parents and brother, who are standing behind you. "Guys, this is Jett. Jett, this is my mom, Andrea, my dad, Scott, and my little brother, Austin."

"It's nice to meet you," he says, extending his arm to shake each of their hands.

As he shakes hands with Taylor's dad, she notices a little smile on his face. A businessman at heart, Scott always approves of someone who shakes hands, and especially who shakes hands well. With a firm grip and a purpose. Taylor breathes a small sigh of relief. If Jett can win over her dad, then that's all she needs. Her mom will come around. All her dad ever wants is to protect her. His intended dislike of Jett is no different from anything else he's ever done to protect her, any fight that they've ever had about something she should or shouldn't do.

"Tay," Jett says, "I got you a maple latte with skim milk. I know that's your favorite."

Taylor smiles. He's right. She doesn't actually know how he knows that- they've never been out for coffee together. But when he tells her that, butterflies grow in her stomach. She's touched that he took the time to figure that out. She sits down in the chair beside him. "Thanks."

"Well, then I guess we had better go get drinks," Andrea says. She motions for Scott and Austin to follow, leaving the couple alone at the table of the suburban Pennsylvania coffee shop.

Jett snakes his arm around Taylor's shoulders. "So... meeting the parents, huh? You didn't tell me you had this in mind a few days ago."

"I didn't have it in mind then," she shrugs. "I wasn't going to tell them about us quite yet, honestly, but... it sort of just happened. Plus, I'm going to meet your parents this evening. And they wanted to meet you as soon as possible." She looks down at her hands in her lap. "I mean, I understand... they're a little apprehensive about it all... about the age difference, you know?"

"I don't care, and you don't care, so why should it matter?"

Taylor sighs. "They're my parents, Jett. I'm their little girl... at least, that's how they still see me. They just want to make sure that I'm in good hands... which, I am." She looks at him with a little smile. "Thank you for coming here today. It means a lot."