Word Count: 2476
Nobody's POV
Averie raced into her father's bathroom tears already streaking her face as she panted to try and catch her breath. "D-da-dadyy!"
"Averie, sweetheart, are you okay?" Joe asked, frantically kneeling beside her. He had just gotten out of the shower and was freshly dressed for work.
Averie whimpered, her eyes brimming with tears. "Daddy." The events of that traumatic day less than a year ago had left an indelible mark on both their lives. She didn't need to say much to get him to understand what it she was thinking about.
Joe hugged her close, his heart aching. He whispered soothing words, trying to chase the fear away. "It's okay, Averie. Daddy's here. You're safe."
The song's lyrics seemed to echo her fears, each word a haunting reminder of that traumatic day. The high-speed car chase, the accident caused by JJ, and the fear that sometimes still lingered with Averie even after those terrifying moments.
The panic attack intensified, and Averie buried her face in her father's chest, trying to drown out the memories. "T-ta-tay-tay," she managed to stutter out before breaking out into sobs.
-----
After hanging up on Taylor, Joe called his director to frantically explain and apologize for not coming to work. Luckily the director was local to the UK and remembered the headlines from last year. It was huge news in the UK, almost unheard of, so he was very generous in giving Joe the next two days off.
Averie's panic attack was so overwhelming that it caused her to have an accident. Joe wasn't sure what triggered her immense fear to spike while he was on the phone with Taylor. Regardless he quickly showered them both while trying to keep Averie as calm as possible. He dressed Averie in a pull-up and footie pajamas before pulling on some comfy sweats for himself.
Joe carefully gathered Averie's baby blanket and Piglet before sitting down on his bed to watch some of her favorite cartoons. Averie seemed calm on the outside, but her anxious nibbling on Piglet's ear told a different story. She was zoned out and paying no attention to the cartoons. When Joe finally caught on to her absent stare about two episodes in, he turned them off.
Joe carefully lifted Averie back into his arms carrying her to her room. Joe took a seat in the rocking chair by her window, Averie nuzzled against him as she tried to block out the world. They used to do this a lot back during her recovery. Averie couldn't do much but sit and she didn't like being out in the world often. So they'd people-watch from the rocking chair since her window had the most activity.
"Hey sweetheart, it's okay. Daddy's here," Joe murmured, stroking her hair as tears welled up in her innocent eyes. He gently pushed it out of her face as he kept his gaze between hers and the windows.
Averie clung to her father, her tiny hands gripping his shirt as if he were her lifeline. The haunting melody of the song played on, evoking vivid memories of that dark day in her life. Joe felt a pang of guilt for not knowing what was going on. He hadn't had the time to figure out what she was watching, just yet.
"I'm sorry, baby girl. Daddy doesn't like to see you so upset," he whispered, tears welling in his own eyes as he held Averie closer, his heart aching with the weight of his own guilt. He carefully pulled her blanket around her, mimicking the compression that he knew she liked.
"Daddy, scared," Averie murmured, her voice shaky filling the room for the first time in several hours.
"I know, sweetheart. It's okay to feel scared sometimes. But you're safe now, and I'm right here with you," Joe reassured her, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. Averie's eyes sought solace in her father's comforting gaze, and she sniffled, wiping away her tears.
![Swift's Daughter [COMPLETED] door ahdkznnqk](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/48689259-80-k281814.jpg)
Joe stayed in the rocking chair quietly humming an old melody until exhaustion had taken over. Averie quietly mumbled in her sleep but none of it was coherent enough to understand. Joe waited an extra thirty minutes before getting up. He carefully moved Averie into her sling, knowing that she'd freak out if she woke up alone.
Luckily Averie was in a deep sleep due to her exhaustion because Joe had a hard time being delicate as he strapped her into the sling. There were just too many buckles and he didn't want to put her down as he figured it out. Joe went out to the living room and picked up Averie's iPad. Her passcode was 0413, dutifully chosen after her birthday.
Joe was deeply surprised to find a YouTube video paused on his girlfriend. Taylor was running away from what looked like wolves. What the heck? Joe knew that Averie had never seen this movie video, but given the fact that 1989 came out in 2014, she may have heard it before. He never pegged JJ to be a swiftie but 1989 was THE ALBUM for the past two years.
Was it a song they sang when she baked with Averie? No. Averie wouldn't have been so stressed if that was the case. Was she listening to it that day when she took Averie? Maybe, just maybe it was playing that day. JJ didn't need to listen to music like she needed to breathe, that was Averie's mom. But Joe knew that she always liked music playing while they were in the car. She needed to drown out the sound of the car's engine. What if....what if Taylor's song Out of the Woods was playing?!?
It felt like a gut punch. All the stars had aligned for this to happen. Out of all of the music in the universe, it just happened to be Taylor's. If only Averie spoke about this more. She always shuts down instead. Joe sighed heavily before going back to his bedroom. There was nothing else he could do but comfort his daughter and hope that she'd open up soon. Therapy didn't work out the first time after she threw a stress ball at the doctor but maybe this time she'd be calmer.
"I love you, I love you," Joe whispered as he placed gentle kisses on Averie's forehead. Joe wrapped his arms around the small girl after pulling a throw blanket around them. It smelled like Taylor since she had been using it to sleep on the couch. That somehow comforted both of them.
———
"Hey babe," Taylor answered the phone, concern seeping into her tone. No matter how hard she tried to hide it.
"Hi, love, how was your day?" Joe asked as he propped his phone up against the counter. He looked exhausted as he sounded but it didn't stop him from being enthusiastic towards Taylor's call. Averie was still in her sling and looked to be sleeping based on her still movements.
"It was okay. We finally decided on the deluxe edition. We're going to make a magazine with fake headlines then on the inside it'll be the album story like with handwritten lyrics and pictures and even some of my paintings inside."
"That sounds cool, I'm glad," Joe smiled faintly. That was probably one of the few good things he heard today. With Averie being about as talkative as his family dog, Joe had been stuck in his own head all day, just wondering and worrying about his daughter and their future.
"How are you doing? How's Averie?"
"It's been a rough day. She's emotionally exhausted and keeps waking from bad dreams. She's been sleeping in small increments, so I'm making her favorite food now," Joe shared not sure if he should bring up the real reason that she was so scared.
"Spaghetti soup?" Taylor chuckles. She knows that that recipe only came to be because I messed up dinner so badly one night, plus we needed to stretch spaghetti so that we could pay for Averie's private medical care.
