"Why's it takin' so long? I'm hungry!"

"We're almost there, babe," Louis says, glancing at Gracie's pout in the rearview mirror. "Be patient."

"I hate doin' that," Gracie huffs, crossing her arms and looking out the window next to her, slumping down in her booster seat. Louis and Harry exchange a look, Harry grinning fondly. Probably because she's reminding him so much of Louis. He didn't even have to say it out loud and Louis' still offended.

"What kinda food's this restaurant got?" Gracie asks. "I hope it's pizza."

"There'll probably be pizza there, G," Louis assures. "Just be patient."

Gracie's quiet for a moment. "Why did you hafta' call Nana Jay to watch the babies?" She asks. "Why couldn't Taylor n' Joe keep watchin' them?"

She's too smart for him. Louis tries to think of something to say, but Harry does before he can. "Well, Taylor and Joe got a call from the airport," He says. "Turns out Joe left some of his luggage there. His suitcase full of underwear."

Gracie bursts into giggles. "Joe's so silly," She says, looking out the window. Louis snickers under his breath.

They pull up to the venue, an theater with a parking lot on the side, and Gracie presses her face against the window. "This is a weird lookin' restaurant," She says.

"Um, face off my car window, please," Louis says. Gracie leans back with a huff. "It's a fancy restaurant, to celebrate you graduating."

"Fancy pizza," Gracie whispers to herself. Harry snorts, and Louis grins and shakes his head. He parks the car, turning it off and getting out to help Gracie out of her carseat. She glares at him. "I don't need help. I'm a big girl, you know."

Louis smiles. "I know. Just thought I'd help anyways."

"I can do it," Gracie insists, pushing the button to unbuckle her seatbelt. "See? I don't need you anymore."

"Oof," Louis puts his hand over his heart. "That was a little too harsh, Gracie Mae."

"Sorry, Daddy," Gracie giggles, taking Harry's hand when he offers it and walking towards the venue, Louis following behind with a pout. "I still need you for some stuff. Like buyin' me stuff."

"Right," Louis deadpans.

When they get to the door, Louis shows a security guard their tickets on his phone, along with his VIP passes. Gracie tugs at his shirt as they walk further into the venue. "What did you show him, Daddy?" She asks.

"Hey, look, they have pizza!" Harry says quickly, leading Gracie to a concession stand with pizza. Gracie still looks confused, since this is very clearly not a fancy restaurant, but she's being offered pizza, so she follows Harry without question. Louis pulls their VIP passes out of his back pocket, slipping one over Gracie's head. She's so mesmerized by the pizza she doesn't even notice.

With Gracie's pizza, Louis leads them to a door where they show another security guard the tickets and VIP passes. The door leads them up some stairs to a balcony overlooking a stage. Gracie peers over the edge, her eyebrows scrunching together. "Are we seein' a play?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Louis shrugs.

"No fair," Gracie whines. "I don't like surprises."

"I think you'll like this one, pretty girl," Louis says, lifting his foot to nudge her bum with it. "Now, eat your overpriced pizza."

Gracie pouts, but she eats her pizza. Louis stands behind Harry and kisses right along his jaw. "You doing okay?" He asks quietly. He knows Harry's been a little off all day since the whole thing with Anne, especially the letter. He knows Harry doesn't care, but he still feels a little guilty about writing it.

"I'm fine," Harry assures, leaning back into Louis' touch a bit. Louis grins, wrapping his arms around his waist and kissing the back of his head. "You think the twins are okay?"

Louis' smile softens. "Babe, my mum has quite a bit of experience with babies," He reminds, laughing a little as Harry pouts. "They'll be okay. My ringer is on, if something is wrong she'll call. I want you to just relax and have fun tonight. You deserve it."

Harry sighs softly, tucking a curl behind his ear. "I don't like being away from them," He says, voice barely audible with all of the people standing in front of the stage below them. The amount of people there to see Taylor makes Louis' heart swell a bit with pride.

"I know, love," He says. "But they're fine. You deserve to go out and enjoy yourself once in a while."

"When's it gonna start?" Gracie asks, standing on her tiptoes to see the stage. Louis lets go of Harry so he can lift Gracie up, making it so she's able to see the whole stage.

"Soon, G," He assures, kissing the top of her head. "I know you've already used up a lot of patience today, but how about a little more?"

Gracie just grunts, leaning her head on Louis' shoulder. He can see Joe standing with Taylor's manager (he thinks, he's only seen her in pictures) in front of the stage. He would love to be down there with them, but he got nervous about having Gracie with so many people there, so he settled for (much more expensive) tickets in one of the balconies.

It doesn't take long for the lights to dim, and a swell of cheers can be heard from the audience. Gracie cups her hands over her ears, and Louis kisses the top of her head again. He knows she'll get over the noise once she sees who's on stage. The opening to Willow plays, and the cheers get louder.

The curtains open, and Taylor is standing there. Gracie gasps, taking her hands off her ears. "Taylor!" She squeals, and Louis grins.

"I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night," Taylor sings into the mic, a big grin on her face. Louis remembers when they were younger, and he would take Harry to watch her perform in bars and coffee shops. Now she's on tour.

"Daddy, it's Taylor!" Gracie shouts. Harry giggles, and Louis grins at her.

"I know, baby," He laughs. "We thought you'd like to come see her in concert."

"This is so cool!" Gracie squeaks. Her grin is priceless, and makes Louis' heart melt. "Daddy, that's your song!"

Louis' grin softens. "'S Taylor's song, babe, I just helped," He chuckles.

Taylor gets through Willow, and everyone cheers once she's done. Taylor grins wide, adjusting the mic on the mic stand in front of her. "Thank you!" She tells the audience, and the cheers swell again at the sound of her voice. "My name is Taylor, welcome to the Evermore Tour."

Gracie claps excitedly, and Harry and Louis exchange a look, Harry beaming at him. "Next, I'm going to perform a song I wrote a few months ago," Taylor says. "I was very fortunate to have one of my best friends write some of this album with me, his name is Louis Tomlinson," A few people cheer, and Louis furrows his eyebrows. Harry puts his hand on Louis' upper arm and squeezes. The prospect of people knowing who he is is so weird to him. 

"And Louis has a wonderful family that I am also very fond of," Taylor continues. "And I feel very honored to have been able to watch he and his husband grow as people and as a couple. I've known them since they were teenagers, and they've been through a lot together, and I really admire them. So, I wrote a song about them. This is State of Grace," The lights change, and the band starts to play.

"Did you know about this?" Harry asks, leaning towards Louis so he can hear over the crowd. Louis just shakes his head. 

"I'm walking fast through the traffic lights," Taylor sings, playing her guitar. "Busy streets and busy lives, and all we know is touch and go..."

Harry leans into Louis, his head on his shoulder, and Louis kisses the top of his head while Taylor sings. She sings the whole song, and Gracie is babbling on about the people in the crowd and how the lights are changing colors and why Taylor was talking about him, but Louis only focuses on the song. State of Grace. He likes that.

Taylor sings the rest of the songs from Evermore, as well as some from Folklore, before the concert ends. Gracie is buzzing about it as they walk down the corridors of the theatre to see Taylor backstage. 

"I-I like the song about August," Gracie says, holding Louis' hand and skipping alongside him, Harry on Louis' other side. "And Betty, and Olive Garden." Harry giggles, and Louis just grins and shakes his head. He shows a security guard their VIP passes, and the guard lets them behind a door that leads to Taylor's dressing room.

Louis knocks on the door, and it swings open immediately. "Taylor!" Gracie releases his hand and practically launches herself any Taylor, who scoops her up with a laugh.

"Gracie!" Taylor greets. "What'd you think of the show, bestie!"

"I loved it!" Gracie gushes. "I wanna be a singer and sing about Olive Garden just like you when I grow up." Joe snorts from where he's sitting on the sofa against the wall, and Taylor laughs again.

"I bet you could," She nods before looking to Harry and Louis. "So? What'd you think?"

"It was really good, Tay," Louis says, his voice soft, still flustered from hearing a song about him and Harry being performed in front of a bunch of people. Harry nods in agreement, and Taylor's smile widens. Just as Louis is about to go look for a restroom, a man he's never met walks into the room, his eyes immediately landing on Louis. He walks right up to him, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Louis Tomlinson?" He asks. Louis just nods, a little intimidated by this man in a suit who somehow knows his name. "Alexander Vaughn. I work for Taylor's label. She told me which songs you wrote with her, you're very talented."

"Ah, thank you," Louis gives him a polite smile. He looks over to Taylor, hoping she'll save him from this awkward small talk so he can wee, but she's too busy talking to Gracie. Figures.

"You ever write songs for any other artists?" Alexander asks, holding his hands behind his back.

"Um, no," Louis admits, still forcing a small smile. "That was my first time."

"Would you like to?" Alexander asks, grinning at him. Louis furrows his eyebrows, and Alexander pulls a business card out of his pocket, handing it to him. "I'd love to have you meet with a few executives, we have a few artists who heard Taylor's album and are already asking about you."

"Really?" Louis practically whispers, his heart pounding as he stares down at the business card. "Um...I don't know, I'd have to talk it over with my husband-"

"He'd love to," Harry interrupts. Louis gives him a subtle look, but Alexander doesn't seem to notice, instead smiling at him.

"Great, keep in touch," Alexander nods, reaching out to shake Louis' hand again. When Louis takes his hand, he steps closer and leans in a bit. "You have a talent, mate. Don't waste it."

Louis swallows thickly, nodding once. Alexander gives him a satisfied smile before moving to talk to Taylor, and Louis turns to look at Harry, who's beaming. "Holy shit," Harry exclaims. Louis' hand shakes where he holds the business card.

"I don't know, Haz," Louis admits, his voice raspy, throat suddenly dry. "I'm...not a songwriter."

"Babe," Harry laughs a little. "You wrote songs for someone, and she released them. You're a songwriter. A good one. This is an incredible opportunity, you should take it."

Louis sighs, biting his lip. "Would be good to bring in some extra money," He mumbles, looking back down at the business card again. Harry puts his hands on Louis' cheeks, forcing him to look at him.

"I don't care about the money," He says, which Louis has never heard him say. Harry is always thinking of money, and how much they can spend, and how much they should be bringing in. "I want you to do this because I think it'll make you happy. 'S a way for you to quit your job and work while you're in uni, and you'll actually enjoy it," Louis gives Harry an unsure look. "Do you remember how excited you were after you came home from writing with Taylor? I want you to feel like that all the time."

He's right. Louis knows he is, and he knows he's lucky to have such a supportive husband. "Okay," He says quietly, nodding.

Harry smiles, practically attacking Louis in a hug. "I'm so proud of you," He says softly, and Louis feels warm. Maybe this is it, the thing he's been looking for all along; something he's good at, and can be successful in. The unsureness in his stomach melts into excitement as he wraps his arms around Harry's waist. He's about to begin a whole new chapter with the love of his life at his side. 

"I love you, Haz," Louis mumbles into his shoulder. "Thank you." Harry gives him a squeeze, and Louis can feel a smile creeping onto his lips. This must be that State of Grace Taylor was singing about.

fin.