almost | taylor swift au

chapter 20

Taylor hears her phone ring and she sees Gracie's name on the caller ID. She smiles to herself, picking up the phone right away.

"Hey," she says upon answering.

"Hey Taylor," the voice on the other end of the phone says. "How's everything? How's tour?"

"It's good," Taylor tells her. "We are almost done. It's insane... I feel like it's gone by so quickly. I'm gonna miss it." She says the words with a sad smile. She knows that this time in her life is one that she will look back on for many years to come. She'll look back on the adventures she's had, the people she met along the way... the time she's spent with Jett.

She feels like she's grown a lot over the last few months. Personally and creatively. She has become so much more independent. She has learned a lot. It really has been an incredible experience.

"I'm glad it's been great," Gracie tells her. "Listen, I had a question for you."

"What's up?"

"I know you mentioned that you were looking for a place in New York. I just found out my roommate is planning on moving out... like, now. I was wondering if you'd be interested. You'd get your own room... it's a shoebox, but it's better than nothing. The rent is about as affordable as you're going to get for the city. No pressure. I just wanted to offer it to you before I start posting a vacancy and end up with some stranger in here with me."

Taylor chuckles. "I don't really want to live with some stranger either."

"So..." Gracie says. Taylor can practically hear the smile in her voice as her word trails off. Gracie knows what Taylor is going to say, she's just waiting for her to say it.

"When can I move in, roomie?"

Gracie lets out a squeal. "Oh my goodness yay!"

Taylor laughs. Realizing that she's got a place to live after tour, she feels like she has a huge weight being lifted off of her chest. She didn't even realize how nervous she was about that until the problem has been eliminated.

"You can move in as soon as you're done with tour. Carmen, my roommate... she's gotta move out right away, so I think she's gonna be packing up today and tomorrow and then heading out as soon as she's ready."

"That's actually absolutely perfect," Taylor laughs. "I don't have much stuff to contribute to the shared living situation..."

"Don't worry," Gracie tells her. "Carmen will take anything that's hers but we will have the most essential things and we can run out and buy anything we will need otherwise."

"Awesome," Taylor says. "Wow... it just feels so real suddenly. I'm going to move to New York."

"Hell yeah you are," Gracie tells her. "New York will never be the same after it gets wind of your power and your talent."

Taylor can't help but giggle a little bit as Gracie keeps talking.

"The girls in apartment 13 are going to take over the world together, I just know it."

Taylor feels her heart stop. "Apartment...13?"

"Yeah, 13. That's us."

"That's crazy. It's gotta be a sign," she mutters under her breath.

"What?" Gracie asks.

"It's just... it's silly, but 13 is my absolute favorite number. I was born on Friday the 13th, and good things always happen to me on the 13th. It's just a number that has kind of always made the weirdest appearances in my life. So many people say that it's bad luck, but I think it's good luck for me."