Act Three / Chapter Sixteen

1.7k words
tw: brief discussion of miscarriage

TMZ EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Recent Instagram story furthers fan speculation of possible romance between Taylor Swift and Mikah Albright, following being spotted leaving Electric Lady Studios hand-in-hand.

***

October 30th, 2023, New York City

"There's speculation?"

Tree sucks in a breath, "yeah, it's definitely minimal, but there's enough people talking that TMZ got wind, I guess."

Taylor groans, rubbing the hand that isn't holding her phone over her face. "Can you put out a statement? Like, saying we're just close friends?"

"I don't know, it's too close to when we were planning on announcing it to put out a just friends statement, and unless you're willing to not have her come to Argentina, holding it until after would be counterproductive."

Taylor just groans again. "Okay, just... put it out when we were originally planning to, I guess."

"I can see if we can get it done earlier, maybe."

"No, we need to go with the original plan, Mikah and I already agreed to it."

"Alright," Tree sighs, "you should talk to her about this, the speculation, that is."

"But what if she's, like, weird about it..."

"She's not weird about it, I promise."

"You haven't even met her!"

"Honey, if she was weird about it, we'd know." Tree chuckles, "didn't she fight you when you asked her to not walk with you?"

"Yeah, that's fair, I guess." Taylor murmurs, picking at the loose thread of her sweater. "But like he also acted like that in the beginning, so-"

"Taylor, Mikah is not him, I promise you."

"I know, I know, I just... I worry."

"I know you do, and I don't blame you, you've had a rough couple years," Tree sighs, "but Mikah is a good kid, just talk to her, she'll understand."

Taylor throws her head back, continuing to groan. "What the fuck would I say to her?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. I could contact her, if you don't want to."

"No, I'll do it, I just need a minute." Taylor sighs, "I'll text you later."

She rests her head in her hands once Tree hangs up. The last time she had to have a conversation like this was over a year and a half ago, so she really doesn't know how to go about it. She decides to just text her, asking if she's free to call.

Taylor: Ru free to call later? (3:13)

Miiiiikah (3:14)
Girlie pick up (3:14)

Baaaaabeeeeee (3:15)
Mik I need to tell you something it's important (3:15)

Mikah (3:17)
I'm pregnant (3:17)
It's yours (3:17)

Mikah: why are you like this
i physically cannot get you pregnant

Taylor: I know I was just trying to get your attention
Anyway can you call me

Mikah: yeah yeah of course

Taylor's phone rings almost instantaneously, and she picks up even quicker.

"Hey."

"Hey, everything alright?"

Taylor takes a long, deep breath. "Yeah, I just need to talk to you about something."

"Go ahead,"

"So, um, apparently there were still paps outside of EL when we left, and they, uhh, they got photos of us leaving..."

"Oh."

"And basically, TMZ caught wind of it, and put out an article, and apparently there had already been speculation about us beforehand, I don't know how, but yeah."

"Oh."

Taylor cringes at Mikah's response. Bringing her legs up to her chest, banging her head against her knees.

Great move, Taylor. Now she's gonna leave you.

"I'm sorry, I-" She stumbles out, "I didn't mean for it to happen, I perfectly understand if you want to leave now."

"Tay.."

"Are you mad at me?" She chokes out.

"What? God, no! It's just a lot to take in, sorry." Mikah says, "are you okay?"

"I'm sorry-"

Mikah sighs, "Tay, stop apologizing, please. Take a breath. It's not your fault, okay?"

"It is, though." Taylor mutters, wiping at her eyes with her free hand.

"It's not, and whoever it is that got that into your head should check themselves."

"I'm still sorry, though." Taylor says, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm still having Tree release the official statement when we planned. I guess, in a way, the speculation might soften the blow, but I dunno. I'm scared."

"Why's that?"

"I'm just... preconditioned, I guess."

***

April, 2022, London

It got out.

She has no idea how, but it got out.

Tree sent her the article, it's just a speculative piece, but it's true.

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn Engaged After 5 Years.

The paparazzi caught a photo of her hiding her left hand, and naturally all the fans went insane over it. Posting things like "OHMYGOD MOM AND DAD ARE ENGAGED!!!!" and "THEY ARE SOOO ENDGAME" and "JAYLOR 4EVERRR". Which didn't bother her much, in fact, she loved the enthusiasm, but she knew he hated it, and if he hated it, so did she.

"Sweetie, this is something he needs to know," her mother gently tells her over the phone. "It affects both of you."

"No, Mom, you don't get it, I promised him I'd keep it a secret! I promised." Taylor sobs.

"Things leaking to the media isn't your fault, I'm sure he'll understand."

Taylor shakes her head rapidly, despite her mom not being able to see her. "He won't. He never understands anymore. It's all my fault."

The last time he really, truly payed attention to her was that fateful night in LA. It's almost like she isn't there anymore. He just gives her a kiss in the morning when he leaves, barely notices her, and completely ignores her when he gets home.

"Joe?" She says, "can we talk?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just one second." Joe mutters, face buried in the thinnest script Taylor'd ever seen.

"It's kind of important..."

"Fine." He huffs, setting the papers down. "What is it?"

Taylor takes a long, deep breath, "I don't exactly know how to say this, but, um, it got out."

"What got out?"

"The engagement. I was spotted and I hid my left hand, so people started speculating, and it caught traction."

"What." Joe looked up at her with this fire in his eyes. He rarely got angry with her, but she knew deep down this was one of those rarities.

"I- I'm sorry, I-"

"Taylor, you promised you'd keep it a secret."

"I-I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to be found out. I didn't think I would be caught." Taylor tries to defend herself.

"Well you could've tried harder!" Joe then raises his voice.

"What do you want me to do? Lock myself away? I have a life I want to live, Joe!"

"Could you at least take your ring off when you live your life?" His annoyance is radiating off of him. "Or wear it on a different finger, if you can't be bothered to just put it in your pocket."

Taylor huffs, "No! Unfortunately, I would like to show the world that I love you. You don't have to do anything, but I'd like to."

"I thought we agreed to be private."

"Private doesn't mean secret!" Taylor yells. Finally breaking. "Is that what private means to you? Never acknowledge each other to the point people forget we're even together? I want to go out! I feel like you're holding me captive!"

"You can do whatever the fuck you want! Go back to New York, I don't care!" Joe shouts, standing up to walk away.

"I don't want to go to New York! I want to stay here, in London, with you!" Her voice shakes, but she can't cry, she won't let him see her cry. "But you're making that awfully hard."

"At least I'm not the one who killed our baby!"

You could cut the silence that fell over the room with a knife.

"Get out." Taylor says, unnaturally calm.

"Babe, I-"

"Don't 'babe' me! Get out of my house!"

"It's my house too, Taylor," Joe scoffs, "you can't just kick me out of my own home."

"I pay for this house, I can do whatever I want. LEAVE!"

Joe just huffs, silently grabbing his keys and heading for the door. Taylor just watches him, biting down on her cheek.

The second the door closes, her emotions overflow. She sinks to the floor, sobbing.

He doesn't care about her anymore.

And she stayed like that for a full year more.

***

October 30th, 2023, New York City
Later That Day

"Is there any way we can make it look like we're just friends?" Taylor asks, weighing the options.

"Hypothetically we could, but you're literally in each other's laps all the time, so I'm not sure it would work." Tree says, "we could try, though."

"I dunno how I feel about furthering the best friends narrative, but you guys can do whatever." Mikah murmurs, laying her head on Taylor's shoulder.

"Yeah, me too," Taylor puts her arm around her girlfriends' shoulders, "we should just say it outright, I think. Rip the bandaid off."

"I think so too," Tree opens up her laptop to the email to Entertainment Weekly she's drafting, "I'm mostly just worried about the public reaction of an official statement."

"What was the reaction to the speculation?"

"Honestly, not terrible, it's not like this is the first time this has happened anyway."

"Yeah, but like this is the first time I've actually been dating the girl," Taylor says.

"True, true," Tree says, shutting her computer again, "I think we're just gonna do with the original plan, if that's okay with both of you."

"I'm down for whatever, honestly, I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff, so you guys have the lead." Taylor squeezes Mikah even tighter.

"You're the best person ever, you know that, right?"

"Shut up," Mikah murmurs, burrowing herself into Taylor.

"I'll let you two be," Tree chuckles, "I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks Tree! You're a lifesaver!"

***

TMZ EXCLUSIVE: Insider Source Says Taylor Swift and Mikah Albright Romance is "100% True"

***

"Shit! Fuck! Shit!"

Mikah immediately rushes to her girlfriends' side when she hears her yelling. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Somebody fucking-- someone ran their mouth to fucking TMZ about us!" Taylor says, letting out an exhausted sob. "And we don't know who it was, because it's really safe to assume no one from my camp would do that, and you would never, so-"

Mikah folds her into a hug, rubbing her back, just trying to calm her down before anything else.

She knows who did it, or, well, she has an idea, but she's fairly certain.

"Honey, Tay, look at me for a minute," Taylor picks her head off her shoulder, "I... I think I know who it was. Like, pretty sure."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it was probably my brother."

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this is. so long. holy shit lmfao
not proofread!!
vote/comment/etc love youuuuu mwah mwah