taylor didn't know what to think of joe alwyn, now. she had ignored the fact that joe might have been just a guy wanting to date around and hook up with girls. now, taylor wondered if this was true. men doing unusual, good things for the girls they wanted to hook up with wasn't typical at all.

    or, taylor thought, he was actually a good person who...cared about her. taylor decided that she would study, for lack of a better word, his behavior around her to see if he actually meant what he was doing or if he was just another playboy. taylor would not fall victim to men who just wanted to have a girlfriend because it was cool, or hook up.

     taylor dressed and had her driver shuttle her to her meeting. after that, she wanted to go jack antonoff's house to work on songs, just him and her writing songs together. they went through the drive-thru at starbucks and her driver ordered both of them iced coffees. "thanks for paying," said her driver, sipping the coffee.

    "it was nothing," taylor replied. they did not speak for the rest of the way.

————

      after the session, taylor went out into downtown l.a. to shop with selena gomez. selena, unfortunately, had several questions to ask about joe. "how'd you meet him?" selena asked as they exited a local coffee shop with freshly brewed iced coffees.

      "at the met gala a few months ago," said taylor casually.

      "really? what'd you talk about?"

      "at the met gala? work stuff. nothing much."

      "and then i take it you kept in touch until a couple weeks ago when he came to l.a.," she said. "of course, if this makes you uncomfortable i could stop."

    "no, it's fine. me and joe scheduled a dinner together and we talked. got to know each other. joe's a nice person is all i can say." taylor looked at selena but selena was staring wide-eyed at something in front of them. taylor turned her gaze and saw calvin harris walking towards them. taylor looked down, trying not to make eye contact, but calvin saw her 15 feet away, as anyone could.

    "talking about your new boyfriend, i see?" he said. apparently he had heard their conversation.

     "he's not my boyfriend," said taylor, her voice turning to ice. why was she getting defensive? "and i thought we were on good terms."

     "i never said i was mad," said calvin harris. "i'm merely just pointing out that you certainly are a serial dater, just like the media says. tom hiddleston, and now joe alwyn. what makes men so attracted to you?"

     the words weren't a direct insult, but taylor could clearly sense the shade being thrown at her. "salty much?" said taylor coolly. by now, a large amount of paparazzi and people were swarming around them, so taylor and selena hurried on before taylor could spit out something stupid. taylor put earbuds in but didn't pull out her phone to play a song.

     "i couldn't imagine what it's like to be you. the media constantly printing crap about you, even if you did nothing wrong," said selena, knowing that taylor wasn't listening to music.

     taylor sighed. "yeah, i mean, i try to ignore it. i've been breaking hearts a long time."

    selena nodded. "i get photographed doing things, but not as much as you. it's awful."

    taylor nodded too as they walked on. "yep." a silence settled on them. taylor suddenly felt awkward, so she took out her phone and pretended to look busy. next to her, selena was doing the same.

    this went on for a while. selena broke the silence by saying, "there's a new article about you. i'll send you the link?"

    a message popped up on taylor's phone, and she tapped on it. then, she clicked on the link, which took her to her web browser. the title of the link was: taylor swift and ex calvin harris get into an argument in downtown los angeles.

     it wasn't much, so taylor shrugged. "my reputation's already terrible. it's not really anything to worry about."

     selena frowned, but said, "well, it's your life."

     taylor shrugged again and sipped her coffee.

      —

       back in her beverly hills home, taylor was on her laptop when her phone buzzed. it was a request for a facetime, and she hit accept. joe's face popped up on taylor's phone. she propped the phone up on her side table so she could talk to him while going through her inbox. "do you know what happened today?"

     "no," said joe. "what?"

     "calvin harris and i almost stirred up a fight."

    "what?" said joe. "you shouldn't be doing that. your reputation's damaged enough." he paused. "i'm sorry, i shouldn't be telling you what to do. but, taylor, use common sense. you shouldn't be stirring shit up with people."

     her name sounded heavenly coming from his mouth. taylor, taylor, taylor. she imagined him whispering it to her. then, taylor remembered that she needed to be cautious in the realm of romance. love made me crazy, she thought.

     "it wasn't me who started it. i would've just walked right on by. i should've just walked right on by. i should've never gotten involved." taylor covered her mouth shamefully.

    joe instinctively reached out towards the screen, as if he was trying to touch her. it may have seemed stupid, but taylor found it endearing. "it's alright," said joe. "it's not the end of the world. people will forget about it."

    "yeah, in a year. people will remember me as taylor swift, one of the greatest country-turned-pop singers and songwriters of all time. oh, wait, remember when she almost stirred up a fight with her ex and couldn't control her emotions?"

    "you're exaggerating." he said, fighting back a smile. "but for now, try not to be seen in public. lay low for a while. ride in your limo instead of driving everywhere..."

    "i have a better idea. i could travel somewhere. hawaii, maybe. somewhere where there's people, but not, like, a big city."

    there was a pause. taylor could sense joe pondering something through the screen. finally, he said, "want to come to england with me?"

     taylor stared at joe. she had responsibilities in Los Angeles and New York. she couldn't just leave without notifying her team, but somehow, she also really wanted to go. "i don't know," she said finally. "what if londoners see me there and assume i'm with you? there are so many things that could happen to me there that could tarnish my reputation further. and i have...things to do here."

     "taylor," said joe. "it's not like you can't do work in london. there's a thing called skype, you know."

     she smiled. "that's true. but i still don't know whether going to london with you is the best thing for me right now, even if it means i won't be stirring things up in america."

   joe sighed. "just promise me you'll think about it?" his eyes were soft.

    taylor chuckled to herself. lord, save me, she thought. should she take up this offer and go to london? taylor said to joe, "i will. i have to go, it's almost 7:00 and i need to make dinner."

      "all right," said joe. "text me when you have an answer and i'll give you my address if you're coming. by the way, i'll be going back to england on october 23, after the promotion of my movie."

      october 23. that meant she would be missing halloween. "if i go, i'll be going on november 2nd at the earliest," said taylor. "my friends and i have a halloween thing planned."

      "all right," said joe. "if you decide to come, text me."

      taylor nodded. "bye," she said, and pressed the end call button.

      taylor fed her cats, made fusilli with pesto sauce and shredded cheese for dinner, and ate it. then taylor took a hot shower, because she thought best in the shower. she listed pros and cons in her head of going to london with joe.

     the pros were staying out of the public eye, not having to be in l.a. or n.y.c. where paps and fans would assume things based on everything she did no matter how small they were, and getting to spend time with joe, of course. the cons were having to skype with co-songwriters, not being able to attend meetings, and having londoners see her with joe and assume things.

      taylor, completely disregarding the fact that she was in the shower to get clean, stepped back to think. the pros outweighed the cons, but her head hurt at the thought of having to tell her entire team, plus her co-songwriters, about this. she would, of course, keep this a secret from the public. she would need to use her private jet, too. but all these problems seemed unimportant, compared to saving her tarnished reputation. taylor quickly cleaned herself, got out of the shower, dressed, and ran to her phone, where she told joe that she was going to london on november 2nd.

    great, he texted back. here's the address of my apartment.

     taylor screenshotted the address, then logged onto her laptop to email her team about the trip. admit it or not, she was the most excited about the prospect of being with joe, even if she knew she shouldn't be.

who's excited for delicate mv??? omg