My name is Ashley. I'm 17 years old and I am a SWIZZLER! (Swiftie, Taylor Fan, whatever.)

There are two things I am obsessed with. Taylor Swift and The Maine. But Taylor Swift would win if there was like a Hunger Games for musical artists. Anywayz,

My life hasn't been the easiest, but Taylor Swift keeps me believing that there are good people in this world. She is my hope when I have none. She saved my life! And one day I will meet her and thank her a million times for it.

I'm someone who is a true believer in prince charming and fairytales. I am obsessed with love. I guess that makes me a hopeless romantic. I've gotten my heart broken so many times, but I really love the idea of true love. I can't wait to find it! And Taylor Swift keeps me hopeful that I will find it one day!

 Swizzlers Uniting

Swift Fiction 

I love writing and Taylor Swift so I figured I’d combine them and write my first ever Fan Fiction. I can’t promise it will be perfect, or that you will like it. But why not try (:

This story isn’t like the rest of the Taylor Swift Fan Fiction out there. It’s not about Joe Jonas and Taylor or Taylor L. and Taylor Swift. It’s about what I really feel would be the best relationship. It’s about a relationship that would truly be perfect and make Taylor happy. Its about IF Taylor Swift fell for a fan. Not just a fan, but the sweetest most unpredictable guy Taylor Swift fan.

I hope you like it.

_____________________________________________

Chapter 1.

      A loud ring breaks the silence of the night. I open my eyes and spring up in my bed. I grab my phone and I shut of the alarm. I look around my room. It’s still dark outside. I check the time to make sure it’s actually time for school. It’s 6:45 in the morning. It’s time to get up. I throw the covers off of me and over to the far side of the bed.  Slowly I step down onto the floor. I take a few wobbly, sleepy steps in the dark. I make my way towards the light switch. I flick it on and squint at the flash of bright light. As I open my closet I grab the first thing I see. I switch my blue, plaid pajama pants for my jeans. As I make my way to the bathroom I put on a black t-shirt. I rub my eyes to try to wake up. I brush my teeth really quick. I glance at myself in the mirror. I wonder for a second if I should comb my messy, brown hair. I don’t have enough energy to, so I don’t. I make my way down stairs and into the kitchen. I grab a pack of pop-tarts. I eat one and take a gulp of milk out of the carton. I leave the second pop-tart on a plate for my little brother. I go into the fridge and grab a tube of icing. My little brother, Tyler, loves icing, as most fifth graders do. I smile as I draw a 13 on the pop-tart with the red icing. I look around for a pen and paper. On the piece of paper I write “Have a great last day of fifth grade, Tye. The 13 is for luck.” I put it next to the pop-tart. As I walk away I grab my backpack off the kitchen table. I throw it over my shoulders and walk towards the door. I look at my phone. It’s 7:00am. I grab my keys off of the end table and walk towards the front door. I open the door and walk out closing the door behind me. It’s a warm, humid morning. The sky is light pink underneath all the clouds. I get in my black jeep and start it up. Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift starts playing from where it left off last time I shut my car off. I smile as I put the gearshift into reverse. I back out of my driveway and drive off down the street. It’s a perfectly wonderful morning to end my sophomore year class at college. After making a mess of my freshmen year, staying home and commuting to school was probably one of the smartest decisions of my life. It’s fewer loans to take out and it’s less trouble I can get into. It’s never really my fault. I’m just always at the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong people. I get to the parking lot ten minutes before class is going to begin. I pull into the closest open parking spot. I take out the keys and the music cuts off. I grab my backpack and I get out of the car. I lock the doors behind me as I walk towards building E.

“Hey, Bryan!” I hear from across the parking lot. I turn around to see who it is. It’s my best friend, Landon.

“Hey Landon, you’re late.” I say with a smirk on my face. Landon jogs up beside me.

“I could say the same thing about you.” He says with a smile.

“You know me. I’m always late.” I say as we walk towards the building.

“I know you were probably too busy listening to Taylor Swift to get yo ass here on time.” Landon says as he opens the door and walks in. I walk in after him.

“That’s not even true.” I say, knowing that it’s partly true. We both walk down the dim lite hallway to room E19. I open the door and walk inside. 100 faces turn back to look at Landon and me. Mr. Mathews was pissed. I can tell by the death glare he gave Landon and me. I look at the clock above the door. One minute until class starts. I point to the clock and say “No Mr. Mathews, we aren’t late.” Landon barges in from behind me.

“In fact we are one minute early. I say that deserves a round of applause.” Everyone laughs and starts clapping. Mr. Mathews gets angrier as Landon and I take a bow before sitting down in the first available seats in the very back.

“That’s a very funny joke, Mr. Thomas.” Mr. Mathews says in a bitter way. He starts to walk up the aisle towards the back. Landon just sits there with a smile on his face. “And I bet you think so to, don’t you Mr. Taylor?” He looks directly at me and continues walking towards us. I say the first thing that comes to mind.

“Well the rest of the class laughed at it. Why don’t you ask them?” Everyone including Landon starts laughing. Mr. Mathews walks straight up to me and stops. He stares at Landon and me until the class quiets down.

“Let’s hope you two can actually pass my basic math course this time around.” He says coldly. “I guess we will find out tomorrow after exams.” He turns around and starts walking back towards the front of the class. That comment actually stung. I’ve never been good at math, but when you point out the fact that I failed basic math, it’s pretty pathetic. Landon looks over at me with wide eyes. He mouths the word “Yikes.” We both were kind of hurt by that. We’re not trouble makers. We’re not dumb. We just didn’t take college seriously last year, as most freshmen don’t. Both of our parents told us that they weren’t going to pay over 40 thousand dollars a year for us to party. So we moved out of the apartment we shared and back home. This year Landon and I made a pact to do better. That means less partying and more studying. Which we are both fine with. We got out all of our partying last year. We are kind of a legend at school. We are known for our parties. Actually we are known as the party boys. There isn’t a single person on campus who doesn’t know that. We’re changing that this year though. No one believes us though.

I get focused and start listening to Mr. Mathews ramble about functions. I take note furiously on everything and anything he says. He covers everything we learned all year in two and a half hour class. After two hours and a half I have ten pages of notes.

Mr. Mathews looks at his watch and says “Alright class, the final examination is tomorrow. Be prepared” he looks in our direction “because it won’t be easy.” I swear he was looking directly at me. He probably was. Everyone gets up and starts walking towards the door. Landon and I stay seated. We’re always the last to arrive and the last to leave. We lean back in our chairs waiting for everyone to leave. I stare at the whiteboards that Mr. Mathews filled with notes. My stomach drops. I know I’m going to fail. Suddenly I feel a slap on my back of my head.

“Ouch!” I say as I put my hand on the back of my head and spin around to see who it was. Landon turns around too. Standing there with her arms crosses is Spencer. “What was that for!?”

“That’s for being late!” She says annoyed.

Landon smirks and says, “Babe, we’re always late.” He always talks about us as if we are a package deal. In some ways we are.

“Don’t call me ‘babe’, jackass.” Spencer says bitterly.

“Spence, calm down. I didn’t mean to- uh- insult you or anything. Just tell us what’s actually wrong?” Landon says with a serious look on his face. He stands up and climbs over the row of seats to get to Spencer standing right behind me. He grabs her hand. “What’s wrong? I know you’re not all that worried about mine or Bryan’s attendance record.” Spencer looks down at her hand in Landon’s.

“You guys promised not to fuck this year up. I want to actually graduate with my boyfriend and best friend.” She said looking down at me still seated in the empty classroom. “You promised Landon.” She looked up at Landon with a puppy dog face.

Landon slowly tucked a stray piece of Spencer’s hair behind her ear. “We aren’t.” He said looking into her eyes. “I’m not.” He said softly. The one thing Landon is dead serious about, Spencer. Spencer looked at him with a smile.

“And what do you have to say for yourself Bry?” She says looking around Landon to see me. I stand up and force a group hug on them both.

“GRADUATION HERE WE COME!” I say as I hug them both. They both manage to laugh a little. “Me and Landon will study all night, how about that Spence?” I say letting go and standing back. Spencer looks over at Landon and back at me.

“No” She says firmly. “I’m studying with you guys. You’ll need an A student in the room.”

“That’s awesome!” Landon says squeezing her hand in his. “So we’ll meet up at Bryan’s in an hour?”

“Wait you guys don’t have any other classes today either?” Spencer says confused

“No. I took the exams a week early in all my other classes.” I said with a smile.

“And all my classes ended yesterday.” Landon says looking at Spencer with a smile. “We’ll meet you at your house in an hour. Okay, Bry?”

“Yeah, sure thing.” I say as we all start walking out of the class room and down the hall. We walk out of the building and into the parking lot.

“See you soon Bryan!” Spencer says as she walks with Landon over to his car. I walk in the opposite direction to my car alone. I look back at Landon and Spencer. Landon is opening the car door for her to get in. He leans in the car to kiss her before he closes the door. I open my car door realizing that I haven’t had someone to open the door for since senior year of high school. A little more than a year ago when Landon and Spencer decided to go from best friends to more than friends I never once felt like the third wheel, until now. I guess it never hit me until now that I am the third wheel. I’m the one who’s alone. I guess because my dream girl isn’t exactly obtainable. I’m guessing that loving someone who you can’t have leaves you emotionally unavailable. I’m fine with that, because I’m mentally dating the stunning Taylor Swift.

I start my car and almost as if on cue, The Story of Us starts blasting through my car speakers. I smile and drive out of the parking lot. I wonder what it would be like to meet Taylor for once. Out of all the years I’ve lived in Nashville I’ve never once ran into her. How does that happen? How can I be that unlucky? It seems like almost everyone and their brother has met Taylor Swift, except me. Suddenly I got the best idea. I haven’t met her because I haven’t tried hard enough. I step on the gas and speed all the way home. I pull into my drive way and I run into my house. I grab my laptop and search until I find what I want. I smile when I do. I get up and go into my kitchen to make a sandwich while I wait for Landon and Spencer to get here. I make my sandwich and I sit down to watch TV.

Then almost an hour later Landon comes barging into my house.

“Honey, I’m home!” He yells as he walks in with Spencer following him.

“Guys I’ve got the best idea! Come here.” I say excitedly. They both rush over and sit next to me on the couch.

“What’s up, Bry?” Landon says as he sits down to my left. I open my laptop and show him the screen. “Okay? Why are you showing me the Taylor Swift website, AGAIN?” He says confused. I smile at him.

“Because we are all going to meet her.” I say turning to look at Spencer. Spencer looks at me like I’m insane. I look back and Landon. He has the same look on his face. “Guys, it’s an incentive to pass the exam!”

“How so?” Spencer says. I look over at her.

“It’s simple. The exam is tomorrow. If you fail the meeting to discuss your fate is the day after. Taylor’s concert is that day. If we pass, we go. If we don’t, we spend the day in the meeting while the others go to the concert.” I say with a smile. After a few seconds Spencer smiles. She’s also a huge Taylor Swift fan.

“This is the best idea ever!” She says excitedly. Landon looks at her. He’s not a huge Taylor fan. He likes her, as we all do, but he’s not a huge fan like me and Spence. But he’d do anything for Spencer, even if it means going to the concert with her.

“Okay I’m in.” Landon says with a smile as he stands up and holds out his hand for Spencer to grab. “Shall we get started?” She grabs his hand and stands up. She grabs her bag and pulls out two huge math textbooks. I look at my computer screen. I click the ‘buy’ button. I fill out all the information and eventually I buy the tickets. I hit the print button and they are sent to my wireless printer upstairs. I can hear them printing. I can feel my heart beating faster than the speed of light. It seems so surreal that I just bought tickets to Taylor Swift’s Speak Now concert.

“Bryan let’s go!” Spencer says as she hits my knee. She’s sitting on the floor with Landon and textbooks. I slide onto the floor and grab a textbook. “Okay so what do you guys need help with?” She says handing Landon a textbook. He opens to the first page and then looks at Spencer.

With a blank look on his face, he says, “Everything.”

“This should be fun.” I say as me and Landon exchange the same look.

Hours fly by before I actually realize how late it’s getting. Landon is starting to understand most of it. In fact he could actually get a passing grade this time. I look at the clock. It’s 5pm. Somehow the last five hours flew by. We were all starting to get a little drained. We decided to take a break.

“So Bryan, how do you plan on meeting Taylor Swift?” Spencer says with a smile. I look at her with a smile as my mind wonders.

“It has to just happen, you know?” I say still thinking. “It can’t be forced. If it’s forced then it’s not fate and I want Taylor to realize that it’s not just me who wants us together. It’s fate.” I can’t help but smile when talking about her. I can just picture myself next to her, hugging her, and telling her how much of an angel she truly is. “So my plan is to get there early. Make a whole day of it. We will just have fun and if somehow we run into her or get into the T-Party then it’s meant to be.” I look up at Spencer smiling at me.

“That’s so cute, Bry!” She says in a high voice.

“Dude, not to kill the mood, but what if we get there and we don’t see her? Shouldn’t you at least have a plan or something elaborate planned? This isn’t just some chick, its Taylor fucking Swift.” Landon says seriously. Spencer hits him with her elbow as if to say ‘don’t ruin this for him’. I never thought I’d see Landon so serious about anything involving Taylor Swift. He had a point though. I can’t just meet her. If I want her to remember me it has to be big, huge.

“You’re right. I should at least plan out something huge for her if I do meet her.” I say thinking silently to myself. “But what?” I say looking up at the ceiling puzzled. I turn to Spencer. “You’re a girl! What is something huge that a guy could do for you that would make you fall for him?”

“Yeah! What?” Landon says with a smile as he puts his arm around her. Spencer looks at him playfully.

“Well,” She starts. “It would have to be something huge, obviously, but it has to show that you know her.”

“But I don’t know her.” I say confused. I look over at Landon. He’s just as confused. He gives me a weird look then looks back at Spencer.

“What’s Taylor Swift’s favorite color?” She says bluntly. Without thinking or hesitating I answer.

“Purple.” I say sharply. I wait for her to respond. She doesn’t. She just gives me a weird look. “What?” I ask.

“You do know her, probably better than she does. Tell me everything she likes.” Spencer says smiling.

Excited to talk about Taylor, I blurt out anything and everything that comes to mind. “She likes cats, sundresses, sparkly things, baking hybrid cookie recipes, listening to vinyl records-”

Spencer interrupts me before I can finish my endless list. “Somehow combine everything you know into something huge to make Taylor Swift remember you.”

“Right.” I say still in deep thought about what to do for Taylor when or if I meet her.

“It’s obvious that you should get her a sparkly, purple, cookie cat in a sundress.” Landon says with a smirk. Spencer playfully hits him. I’m not sure what’s worse, that idea or that I actually considered it. I’m going to need more time to think about my plan. I’ll do that after I pass the exam.

“Let’s just keep studying.” I say looking at Spencer for guidance.

“Good idea!” Spencer says while picking up her pencil.

Hours later we decide to call it a night. We all have a busy day early tomorrow. Plus I had a lot of thinking to do tonight.

“Get a good night’s rest, Bry.” Spencer says as she walks out my door.

“Yeah, get some rest.” Landon says as he walks out after her. “We will definitely ace the exam tomorrow.” They both get into his car. I watch them as they drive away into the darkness of the night. I look up at the stars in the sky. It’s like I’m in this dream and a million little stars are spelling out Taylor Swift’s name. I can’t help but realize that Taylor Swift really is untouchable. Tomorrow will change that. I hope.

__________________________________________________

CHAPTER 2 ! (It’s starting to get good! I’m excited)

I walk upstairs and to my room at the end of the hallway. I walk in and I close my door softly. Right as I turn around the phone rings. I race over to answer it.

“Hello?” I say as I put the phone to my ear.

“Hey honey! I wanted to check in on you. How’s the house?” My mother says sweetly.

“Everything’s fine here mom. Is Tyler having a blast at Six Flags?” I ask excitedly. My mom and I came up with the best idea to surprise Tyler. My mom picked up Tyler’s his friend, Luke, and instead of taking them to school she took them to Six Flags for the weekend. They even got a hotel down in Atlanta that’s 15 minutes away from the park.

“He loves it! You should see him, Bry. After every ride he rides he comes off screaming ‘I’m fearless!’ It’s the cutest thing!” I smile when I hear that. Just the thought of him doing that makes me laugh.

“That’s so awesome! Tell him I said have fun and to stay fearless.” I say smiling.

“Okay honey. We’ll be back Monday afternoon.” She says.

“Okay mom. Bye.” I say as I hang up the phone. I put it down on my desk. I walk over to my bed flop down onto it. I stare up at the ceiling thinking about this weekend. I think about what I can do for the girl of my dreams. Ideas bounce around in my head. For a second I think about getting her flowers then I realize that pretty much everyone has done that already. I think of the standard gifts for a girl, chocolates, teddy bear, a card and jewelry. None of those ideas are good enough for her. She deserves so much better. It has to be something that she won’t just look at and respond with her standard, “Thanks so much!” It has to be something that she will stare at and be completely speechless. But how do you get a girl with everything in the world, a gift to leave her speechless? It’s almost impossible. Then it hits me. The best gift ever was probably the easiest thing for me to get. I jump out of bed and grab my cell phone off of my desk. I dial the number and wait for an answer. I look over at the clock. It’s only ten pm it’s not that late. The shop will still be open. After two rings Greg answers the phone.

“You’ve reached Custom Six. This is Greg, can I help you?”

“Greg? It’s Bryan. I have a huge favor.” I say sternly. I sit down at my desk.

“What is it this time?” he says bluntly. “I can’t get you anymore free shit. Your credit ran out last time.” I pull out a piece of paper and a pencil.

“No, I have money.” I say as I start writing down everything I need.

“Now we’re talking. What can I do for you?” Greg asks. I stop writing and I look at my list.

“I need a custom six string.” I say still studying my list.

“No shit. That’s all we make here.” He says rudely. “What are the details?” I look at my list and smile. I can see it coming together. It’s going to be perfect.

“Make it purple. Dark purple.” I say correcting myself. “I don’t want it to be light. It has to be dark because I want diamonds all over the front to make it sparkle.” Greg interrupts my train of thought.

“Diamonds? Not real the diamonds right?” He pauses. “You want the glitter paint or the fake jewels?” I smile realizing what I’m about to say.

“No. I want the real ones.” I can almost hear him gasp. “I realize the price will probably be steep, but I’ve saved up money for a special occasion. So I have the money. Don’t worry.” I wait for him to respond, but he doesn’t right away.

“Uh, so, let me get this straight,” he stutters. “You want a deep purple, six string acoustic covered in diamonds?”

“Not covered in diamonds.” I say quickly realizing how expensive that will be. “I just want the diamonds to go around it. I want them to line the shape of it.”

“Uh, okay. What else you want on it?” Greg says seriously.

“Can you paint Taylor Swift up the neck?” I say looking down at the list I wrote. Greg pauses before answering.

“Is this another crazy Taylor Swift plan of yours?” He asks.

“Can you do it or not?” I say standing up from my chair.

“Yeah, I can do it.” Greg says. “I’ll get it to you by the end of the week at the latest.”

“No!” I say quickly. “I need it by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“What!?” He says sharply. “That’s impossible!”

“Greg, please.” I beg. “I need it by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“This will take me all night and day.” He pauses. “But I can tell you’re desperate, so I’ll do it. It will probably be about a grand or so though. I have to rush all the orders.” I sit down on my bed. I think about how much money I’ll be spending.

“Yeah okay. Do it.” I force myself to say.

“I’ll drop it off tomorrow night.” Greg says quickly.

“Thanks man.” I say right before I hear a click. I hang up and lay down in bed. As my head hits my pillow I realize what just happened. “I’m spending a thousand dollars on this girl. I hope to god she likes it.” I say to myself as I pull the covers over my head. Before I know it I’m asleep.

I wake up to the sound of my alarm. I quickly grab my phone and shut it off. I jump out of bed. I pull out a new pair of jeans and a blue shirt. I take my clothes with me into the bathroom. I turn the shower on. The bathroom fills with steam quickly. I take my ten minute shower and get out a towel off. I get changed and brush my teeth. I make my way down the stairs. I grab my backpack off of the couch and walk out the front door. I close the door behind me. Pulling my keys out of my pocket, I unlock my car and get in. I put the keys in the ignition. Better Then Revenge starts blasting through my car speakers. I find my sunglasses and put them on. I’m so ready for today. I back out of my driveway and drive off down the street. I think about everything I studied yesterday. My heart starts to race thinking about the exam. “You can do this, Bry.” I say to myself trying to calm my nerves.

I pull into the parking lot and park my car near the door. I look at the clock. For once, I’m five minutes early. I get out of my car and walk towards the building. I walk inside and down the long hallway to room E19. I take off my sunglasses and open the door. I immediately see Landon and Spencer sitting in the very back. I sit down next to them.

“You’re early.” Landon says quietly with a smirk. “Hallelujah.” Spencer looks over at me with a smile and waves.

“Spencer, how’d you get this guy to get here so early?” I say sarcastically. Spencer laughs quietly.

“It took a lot of work.” She says looking at Landon.

“Ha-ha, very funny guys.” Landon says. Suddenly Mr. Mathews starts talking.

“Good morning class. I’m glad you could all make it on TIME this time.” He says looking directly at me and Landon. He’s always hated us. It will be such a relief when we pass this class. “Come up and get your exam and then you may begin.” Everyone in the room stands up except for us. I look over at Landon and Spencer. I swallow hard. My hands start to shake. Landon looks just as scared as me. Spencer has a soft confident smile. She isn’t confident in herself though. I can see in her eyes that she has confidence in us. I take a deep breath and stand up. Landon and Spencer do the same. We walk down the aisle to the front of the classroom. I make my way through the crowd of people and over to the table with the exam packets on it. I grab three, one for me, Landon and Spencer. I push my way back to Landon and Spence.

“Here you go.” I say handing them a packet. We walk back to our seats staring at the packet. We all sit down at the same time. I look over at Spencer for a comfort, but she’s already starting her exam. I pull a pencil out of my backpack and open the exam packet. I read the instructions three times before I start problem one. The first one is easy. I actually know it. The next problem is easy to. I actually know all of this.

About two hours later I get to a problem where nothing makes sense. I forget almost everything. My hand starts shaking. I try to focus by thinking about seeing Taylor Swift, but that only makes me more nervous. I can’t fail this exam. My dream girl is waiting for me. I look up from my exam and over at the clock. It’s been an hour and a half. I look around the room to free my mind.

“Bryan Taylor!” Mr. Mathews says loudly, breaking the silence of the room. Everyone looks up and back at me. Startled I look at him.

“Yes?” I say confused.

“Are you cheating!?” He says as he stands up from behind his desk. Shocked I look over at Landon. His face is white. He’s scared for me.

“No!” I say quickly. “No sir. I am not.” I say aggressively. This cannot be happening.

“Keep your eyes on your own paper, Mr. Taylor.” He say’s sitting back down in his chair. I immediately look down at my paper. I will never look up again.

I finish my exam about an hour later. I look up with a small smile on my face. I did it. I finished. Last year I didn’t even finish the exam. I look around the classroom. There are only ten other student in the room. I’m the last few to be done. I stand up from my wooden chair slowly and walk towards Mr. Mathews. I put my exam on top of the pile and turn around to walk away.

“Let’s hope you passed this time.” Mr. Mathews says to me as I walk away. I just keep walking. I open to doors and walk out of the building. I walk over to my car to find Landon and Spencer standing there.

“How’d it go, bro!” Landon says running up to me.

“It went well actually.” I say with a smile. “I’m confident that I passed.”

“Dude, that’s awesome!” Landon says giving me a quick bro hug.

“Bry, that’s so great!” Spencer says hugging me.

“How’d you do, Landon?” I say while still hugging Spencer. Landon smiled. Spencer let go and looked at Landon with a smile.

“Really well actually. This girl is a great teacher.” He says as he puts his arm around Spencer and kisses her check. Spencer smiles.

“Speak Now concert, HERE WE COME.” She says putting her one arm around me and another around Landon. I smile at the sound of that.

“Well we won’t know for sure until tonight.” Landon says softly. Spencer and I look over at him realizing how true that is.

“I’m confident.” She says with a smile.

“I gotta go to work, guys. I’ll 3-way call you both when grades are posted. Okay?” Landon says as he pulls out his keys. “Do you need a ride Spence?”

“Yeah!” She says excitedly. “Good luck, Bry.” She hugs me one last time and then takes Landon’s hand.

“See ya later, Bry.” He says as they both walk away. I take out my keys and get into my car. I start the car and Taylor Swift music starts playing. I instantly feel relaxed. I smile as I drive out of the parking lot and towards home.

Taking the exam at noon was a good idea. I got plenty of sleep and now its 3 pm and I still have time to work on my plan for Taylor Swift. I race home and barge through the front door. I turn on my stereo and put in the Speak Now cd. I turn the volume up as loud as possible, without making my ears bleed or having my neighbors call the cops. I run up to my room and grab a blue t shirt. I bring it to the kitchen and set it down on the table. I walk over to my sliding glass doors and open them. I walk out to my back yard. I walk to my shed and open it. Its dim lite and it smells musty in there. I walk in and look at all the paint cans. I read each label until I find what I’m looking for. I finally come across the neon, glow in the dark paint I bought for senior week three years ago. I take all three cans of paint back to the house. I set them on the kitchen table. I look through the closet for a small paintbrush. I find one and sit down at the table. I spread out my t-shirt across the table. I open the cans of paint. One can is neon green, the other is neon pink and the last one is neon red. I dip my brush into the green paint and start painting my shirt. I write “Taylor Swift” in big green letters on the front. I draw hearts around it with the pink paint. I decorate it with 13’s and then wait for it to dry. I sing along to her songs as I wait.

Once it dries I flip my shirt over to the other side. On the back I write, “You are the girl of my dreams” in red paint. Under that I write, “The best thing that will ever be mine” in pink. I put a 13 on the back too just so she will be able to see that I am good luck. I look over at the clock. It’s 5pm. I decided to let my shirt dry and run to the bank really quick. I grab my keys and wallet off of the end table. I turn the stereo off and I walk out the door. I hum Sparks Fly as I walk to my car with a smile. I get in the car and drive off.

I get to the bank ten minutes later. I put my bank card into the ATM machine. I press the withdrawal button. I stare at the screen that asks me how much to withdrawal. I press the 2 and I follow it with three zeros. I stare at the enter button. My hands shake. I think about Taylor Swift and how happy she will be. I think of her beautiful smile and how her eyes sparkle when she does. My heart jumps in my chest. I press enter quickly. Twenty 100 dollar bills file out of the ATM. I put them into an envelope and grab my ATM card. I put both in my pocket and I get back into my car. My heart is still racing. My hands are still shaking. This is so surreal. It’s like an out of body experience. Leave it to Taylor Swift to make me experience an out of body experience. I put the gearshift into reverse. I back out of the parking spot. I drive home. I get home right as my cell phone rings. I walk in the door then I answer my phone.

“Hello?” I ask.

“Bry, this guitar is insane, man! You have to come down to the shop and see it!” Greg has never sounded so excited before in his life. “I stayed up all night and day and man, this thing is sick.” I can’t help but smile when I hear that. My heart starts to race. This will the so perfect.

“I’ll be right there.” I say as I rush back out the door. I jump into my car and I speed off down the street. I drive right up to the store and I hope out of my car quickly. I walk in and look around at all the guitars hanging on the wall.

“Bryan! Over here.” Greg says standing in the doorway to the back room. I walk over to him. My heart beats loud in my ears. I follow him into the back room. He leads me over to a wooden table with a black guitar case on it. My heart pounds even harder as I look at it.

“Go ahead. Open it.” Greg says with a smirk. I look at him and then back down at the case. I slowly reach for it. I open it slowly. Inside a deep purple guitar lays there. The dark purple paint gleams in the light. It has tiny sparkles in the paint making it shine even more. The outer edge is edged with small diamonds that sparkle when the light hits them right. It’s almost like the guitar she uses on tour, except not as many jewels. The neck of the guitar is pure white with Taylor Swift written in cursive, in the same sparkly purple color as the rest of it, up the neck. It’s perfect. I’ve never seen anything so sparkly in my entire life. I stare at it speechless. Greg looks at me and smiles.

“I did good, right?!” He says cockily. I look at him and I nod. I have no words.

“It’s…. perfect.” I manage to say. Then I remember the money in my pocket. My heart sinks. “Uh, how much will this cost me, Greg?” Greg looks at me with a serious face.

“I got the smallest diamonds they would give me, Bry. Just know that.” He says trying to beat around the bush.

“Just tell me.” I say bracing myself for the blow.

“Nothin.” He says with a smile. I look at him wide eyed. He’s obviously joking.

“Very funny,” I say sarcastically. “Just tell me what I owe you.”

“I’m serious. It’s free. I talked to my manager and said that I got an order for a guitar for Taylor Swift. He said to make our logo as big as possible and to just make the parts free.” He smiles at me. “Think about Taylor Swift playing our guitar. It’s free publicity!” I stare at him with my mouth open.

“But… what about the diamonds?” I manage to say.

“I called up a friend who works at a jewelry store and she said that they’d love to donate what they could to the cause. So they’re not the biggest diamonds in the world, by they sure do make it sparkle.” He says with a smirk. I look down at the guitar sparkling in the light. I cannot believe this is happening.

“Wow.” I say still staring at my free guitar. “Thanks so much, man!” I give him a one armed, quick hug. “But here,” I pull out a hundred dollar bill. “Take this. You worked so hard on this for me. You really out did yourself, man. I can’t think you enough.” I say handing him the bill. He hesitates then takes it.

“Thanks.” He smiles. I’ve never seen Greg not grumpy in all the years he’s been my friend. I’ve never seen him smile this much. I knew Taylor Swift can make anyone smile. “I hope you meet your dream girl, Bry.” He says handing me the guitar case. I take it from him with a smile.

“Thanks.” I say as I walk out of the back room. I walk out the front doors and to my car. I put the guitar in the back seat and I get into the driver’s seat. I look at the time. It’s 7pm. It’s almost time for the grades to be posted. By the time I get home they will be online.

I drive home carefully trying not to mess up the guitar. When I get home I see Landon’s car in the driveway. I pull up next to his car. I grab the guitar case and I walk into the house.

“Landon?” I say as I get inside. Him and Spencer are both sitting on my couch with my laptop.

“You should really change your password, Bry.” Landon says looking at me. “Taylor Swift 13 isn’t really a secure password.” He teases. I laugh because it’s true.

“What are you guys doin?” I say siting in the chair across from them.

“They’re online, Bryan.” Spencer says seriously. I look at Landon who is looking down at the computer.

“What?” I say nervously. I lean forward in my chair. “Did you pass?” I ask quickly. Landon looks at me and nods. He doesn’t look happy though. “Oh no.” I say as my heart drops. Landon hands me the laptop. I grab it quickly and I scroll down the list until I get to my last name, Taylor. I look up at Spencer and Landon before I look at my grade. My heart starts racing. I almost don’t want to look. I can’t fail. I’ve come so far. I look back at the computer. I look at the last column that is the grades. 89%.

“I passed?” I say shocked. Then it hit me. “I PASSED!” I jump up. Spencer and Landon jump up to. We group hug. “Oh!” I say remembering the guitar. “Guys, look at what I got for Taylor.” I open the case to show them the guitar. Spencer and Landon smile.

“Dude, that’s awesome!” Landon says looking at it. Spencer looks at it closer.

“Are… are those real diamonds?” She says doubtfully. I look at her and smile. I nod. She looks back at me shocked.

“Bry, don’t you think that’s a little much? We might not even meet her?” Landon says still looking at the guitar.

“Actually it was free.” I say leaning back in my chair.

“What?!” Spencer and Landon say at the same time. I look at them and laugh.

“I’ll tell you about it later.” I say with a smirk. “Let’s make a plan for tomorrow.” I say as I close the guitar case carefully. “We should leave early, like 6 am. Get there at 7 am.” I say looking at Landon.

“That’s way too early. Good thing we brought everything we need with us.” He says looking at Spencer. “Oh yeah, we’re sleeping over.” He says looking at me. I look over at their bags laying in the corner of the room.

“Thanks for letting me know.” I say. “You guys can sleep in my room as long as you don’t… uh… Just don’t do anything weird in there.” I say awkwardly. Landon and Spencer laugh. “We should definitely get a good night’s rest if we are going to be waking up so early.” I say standing up. Spencer stands up to.

“Agreed.” She says looking down at Landon. They both take their bags with them as they walk upstairs. I follow them. I walk into my mom’s room. I lay down on her bed. I stare at the ceiling thinking about what tomorrow brings. I think about what to say to Taylor Swift. I can feel my heart start to beat faster and faster the more I think about her. This is it, the last night. Tomorrow I meet the girl of my dreams. Tomorrow everything changes.

“Goodnight Bryan!” Landon and Spencer yell from down the hall. I can hear them laugh afterwards.

“Goodnight guys.” I yell back. Before I know it I’m out.

__________________________________________________

CHAPTER 3. (My Favorite Chapter. Its like the climax)

I wake up to the soft creaking sound of the bedroom door opening. I lift my head a little to see who’s there. I rub my eyes sleepily. The door is open. I know I closed it before I went to sleep.

“Hello?” I say as I look around the dark room. I look over at the clock on the end table. Its 5 in the morning. I look over at the windows. It’s still pitch black outside. Suddenly the bed starts shaking. Startled, I throw the covers off and I jump out of bed. The bed stops shaking. My life is like Paranormal Activity right now. I’m just waiting to get dragged down the hallway. I swallow hard and then I slowly inch my way around the bed. “Hello?” I say into the darkness. “Landon? Is that you?” I make my way around to the other side of the bed. Nothing’s there. The bed starts shaking around. I can hear the headboard hit the wall. I take a step back. I slowly lower myself down to the ground so I can see under the bed. I brace myself to be dragged down the hall at any minute. Right as I’m about to take a look under the bed, Landon sticks his face out and yells “Boo!” I jump back holding back the urge to punch him. “Landon!” I yell, catching my breath. “What the hell?! It’s too early for this shit.” I say as he climbs out from under the bed. He can’t seem to stop laughing.

“Sorry, Bry.” He says in between laughter. “Spencer told me to wake you up, and… well… I couldn’t resist.” My heart beat slowly goes back down to the normal rate.

“God damn it, Landon.” I say as I make my way over to the light switch. “You almost gave me a heart attack.” I flick on the light switch and I squint at the bright light.

“You should thank me! I’m getting your heart ready for when you meet Taylor.” He says with a smirk as he sits down on the bed. My heart starts to race again. That’s right! Today’s the day. My nerves get the best of me. My mind starts to think negatively. I walk over to the bed with a serious look on my face. Landon drops his smirks and replaces it with one too.

“What’s wrong, Bry?” He says concerned. “You should be excited! Today’s the day.” He says looking at me as I stand on the other side of the bed.

“What if…” I say thinking about whether or not I should tell him my thoughts or not. “What if she doesn’t like me, like I like her. What if she doesn’t even notice me? And Landon, what if I don’t even meet her?” I blurt out. Landon looks around the room trying to find the right words to say.

“Well, then you get a free guitar.” He says trying to lighten the mood. It doesn’t work.
“Seriously.” I say looking down at the ground. My heart drops as low as it’s ever gone. “What if I’m not good enough for her?” I say softly. I said it to myself almost.

“Look bro, you’re thinking about this too much. You have to stop putting her up on this pedestal.” He says seriously. “You keep forgetting that she’s a person. Don’t forget that WHEN you meet her.” Landon stands up and walks over to the door. “Let’s get a move on!” He says leaving the room. I think he was creeped out about having a serious conversation with me. We don’t have many of those. Oddly enough he made me feel better though. I have to stay confident. “She’s just a girl.” I tell myself as I walk out of the room. I walk down the hallway to my room. I peak inside. Landon and Spencer aren’t there. I go to my closet and I take out a new pair of jeans. I put them on. I take the tickets I printed out and fold them up and put them in my pocket. I rush to the bathroom. I brush my teeth for the longest time. I have to look spiffy today for Taylor Swift. I look at myself in the mirror. My brown hair is messed up. I contemplate combing my hair to look nice, but then I decide against it. I want to be myself when I see her. What she sees, is what she gets. She can have all of me and my uncombed hair.

 I race down the stairs. I walk into the kitchen to see Landon cooking pancakes and Spencer sitting on at the table with an empty plate. Landon walks over with a pan in his hand. He puts a few pancakes onto Spencer’s plate and then the rest on a plate for me. I take a seat.

“Eat up, Bry. Busy day today.” He says with a reassuring smile as he goes back to the stove to make some more. “Babe, are you all set? Or do you want more?” He says looking back at Spencer.

“I have enough. Thanks.” She says with a smile. “So are you excited for today?” She asks me. I look up at her with a smile.

“Yeah. I am.” I say stuffing a forkful of pancakes into my mouth. Spencer smiles and goes back to eating her breakfast. Landon sits down with the last batch of pancakes. He drowns them in syrup. I look over at the counter. The blue shirt I made for today is laying there. I finish my breakfast and I stand up. I put my plate into the sink. I grab my shirt and put it on. I wait for Landon and Spencer finish eating. I look at the time. 6am. Time to go. My heart starts to beat faster than normal. Now-a-days it seems like it never beats normally.

“Let’s hit the road.” Landon says with his mouth full. He puts his plate on top of Spencer’s empty plate. He takes both to the sink. He rinses them off and then leaves them in the sink. We all walk towards the front door. Landon is the first one out. Spencer follows. I grab my wallet, my phone, and the guitar then walk behind them.

“Wait.” Spencer says stopping in the middle of the doorway. Landon is already outside. He turns around to look at her.

“What?” Landon asks. I look at her waiting for an answer.

“Whose car are we taking?” She says looking back at me. I look past her and at Landon. We make eye contact and for a second it seems like we can hear what the other is thinking. My car. My car. My car. I mentally say to him. My car is bigger so it makes the most sense. Landon nods at me as if he just heard my thoughts.

“We’ll take Bryan’s.” He says before continuing to walk towards the car. Spencer follows him out. I lock the front door and I close it behind me.

“Hey Landon! Catch.” I say as I throw him my keys. Landon quickly responds and catches them right before they hit the ground. Landon gets into the driver’s seat. Spencer gets into the back. I get into the passenger’s seat. Landon backs out of the driveway and speeds off down the street.

The 30 minute drive to the venue seems a lot long at six in the morning. It’s still dark out. None of us talk the whole ride. I think we were all mentally still asleep. Suddenly, out the window we see the stadium where Taylor Swift is performing. The parking lot is blocked off so we park on the side of the street, a block away. We all get out of the car speechless. We all stare up at the building thinking to ourselves “this is it.” I look over at Spencer. I didn’t notice until now that she is wearing a red shirt with Taylor Swift written on it.

“Are you ready to meet Taylor Swift?” I say to her with a smile. She looks back at me a laughs.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“What’s the plan guys? Sneak into the arena?” Landon says running his fingers through his hair.

“I doubt Taylor is even there this early.” Spencer says looking at me. I lean up against the car. I look over at Landon wearing all black. He has black jeans on and a black shirt.

“I have an idea.” I say with a smirk. “Let’s get Landon a Taylor Swift shirt.” I say looking maniacally at Spencer.

“Let’s not.” Landon says giving me the death glare. Spencer looks up at him with a puppy dog face.

“Please, Landon?” She says in a low voice. “It would mean a lot to me.” She says putting her arm around his. Landon just stands there motionless. He tries his hardest not to look down at her. Spencer starts to tear up. Landon glances down and sees Spencer tearing up.

“Okay fine.” He says hugging Spencer.

“Yay!” She says excitedly. The tears are gone and she’s back to normal.

“Spence, why are you not an actress?!” I say to her as we start to walk down the sidewalk. Spencer looks at me with a smile.

“So where exactly are we going to get me a shirt?” Landon says regretfully.  He puts his hands in his pockets. I think about Landon’s question as we walk aimlessly down the sidewalk. After a while I look over at Spencer to ask her where to go. Right as I look at Spencer I see the perfect shirt in the window of a store. I stop walking. Landon and Spencer stop with me.

“What?” Spencer asks. I smile and point where I’m looking. They both turn to look. There in the window is a black shirt that in big white letters says “Taylor Swift or Die.” Spencer laughs immediately. Landon has a smile on his face. He realizes how funny it really is. Landon walks inside the store without hesitation.

“I’ll be right back.” Landon walks inside and leaves us standing there for a few minutes.

When he finally comes back out he is wearing the shirt proudly. Spencer laughs then hugs him. I just laugh.

“Anything else I have to do?” Landon says looking at me. I give him a smile.

“Let’s just go get coffee.” I say starting to walk again.

By the time we find a StarBucks we realize we could have used the car. We order our drinks and sit down. I look at the time on my phone. It’s 8am.

“What’s the game plan, Bry?” Landon says sipping his coffee.

“We make our way back to the venue and we wait.” I say leaning back in my chair. I can’t help but smile. I’m so close to Taylor Swift. Who knows, she might be only a few miles from me.

“Wait for what? We should just sneak in to the pace.” Landon says as he puts his coffee down on the table. Spencer gives him a death glare.

“We are not sneaking in to a place with security at every corner.” She glares at me next.

“Agreed. It’s a stupid idea, Landon.” I say trying not to make eye contact with Spencer. She scares me sometimes. “We will just wait outside for her.” Spencer takes the last sip of her Iced Coffee.

“Let’s go.” Spencer stands up from her chair. She throws out her cup and looks at Landon and I. I stand up and throw my cup out as well. Landon throws his cup towards the trash can across the table. Miraculously it makes it in. We all walk out the door and back towards the arena. We get back to the car about 20 minutes later. Landon unlocks the car and grabs the guitar case from the backseat. He hands it to me. We walk towards the parking lot. Right then, I see a crowd of people near the door. Fences are keeping them back. I see a crowd on one side of the street and a crowd on the other side where the door is. I look over at Spencer and without thinking I start running towards the crowd. I hear them yell “Taylor, Taylor, Taylor,” as I get closer. I look back and Landon and Spencer are chasing me. I get to the crowd of people out of breath. My heart races and my mind goes wild. “Is she here?” I say to myself. Without missing a beat a little girl in front of me turns around and responds with a “yes,” and a smile. My heart stops. For a second I’m dead. I try to make my way to the front of the fences. Landon comes up right behind me.

“Dude, go!” He says pointing to the front.

“I don’t want to push little girls out of the way, Landon.” I say coldly. I try to think of a way to get to the front.

“Excuse me?” Landon taps the young woman in front of us on the shoulder.

“Yes?” She says politely as she turns around.

“Do you mind letting us in? We came from across the country to see Taylor. Is there any chance of you letting us in?” She looks back at Landon with a smile.

“Sure thing, honey. I’m just here for my little girl up there.” She points to a little blonde haired girl screaming at the top of her lungs. She steps aside and lets us in.

“I’ll keep an eye on her for you.” I say with a friendly smile. She smiles back at me. I hand the guitar to Landon and I make my way to the front of the crowd. The fence stops me from going any farther. I look to my left and I see that little blonde haired girl freaking out. I look to my right and I see Landon holding the guitar against his chest and Spencer looking to the left almost crying. I slowly look to my left. There standing ten feet away was Taylor Swift herself. My heart stops beating. I stop breathing. I forget how to breathe. I forget how to talk or blink or move. She isn’t wearing a sun dress like she normally does. I’ve hardly ever seen her wear jeans. She looks stunning in anything she wears, but something about this outfit makes her shine more than usual. She’s wearing plain blue skinny jeans, a red button up shirt and a red wool hat. I can’t stop staring at her. She signs for the little blonde screaming girl and takes a picture with her. She looks at the camera.

“The pictures no good. Another?” She says sweetly to the little girl. The girl is speechless and just nods her head. Tears stream down her face. Taylor bends down to take a picture with the girl. She looks at the camera and hands it back to her with a smile. She sees the little girl is crying.

“Awww” She says as she goes to hug the girl. “You’re so cute.” The little girl manages to make out a few words.

“You’re beautiful.” She struggles to say. Taylor smiles the sweetest smile.

“You’re beautiful.” She says as she makes her way down the line of people. It’s my turn. She looks directly into my eyes and says “Can I sign something for you?” I try to say “yes” but I can’t. A few awkward seconds go by then I feel a jab in my side. I turn quickly to see Landon staring at me. I quickly turn back to Taylor.

“Yes!” I say excitedly. “Sorry, I’m just nervous.”

“Aww, you’re so cute.” She says as she looks down at my shirt. “Nice shirt!” She says pointing with her sharpie.

“Can you sign the back?” I say turning around.

“Yeah!” She says as she takes the cap off the sharpie. “Aww that’s so cute” she says when she reads the shirt. I feel the tip of the sharpie glide over the shirt. Once she’s done I turn back around.

“You really are the girl of my dreams.” I manage to say.

“You’re so sweet.” Taylor smiles. “Let’s take a picture.” She say’s quickly. I grab my IPhone out of my pocket. She takes it out of my hand. She leans in close. I put my arm around her and she snaps a picture. Taylor looks at it then hands me my phone. I look down at my phone like it’s the Holy Grail.

“You…touched….my phone.” I say without thinking. Taylor laughs. Her laugh is beautiful. I can’t help but smile. “Taylor, question, would you ever consider dating a fan?” My question doesn’t seem to shock her.

“Why do you ask?” She says with a smirk. She obviously knows why.

“Well, ’cause you really are the girl of my dreams and if you dated a fan, me, I’d never hurt you or inspire a heartbreaking song. I’d only be the good, happy songs. Any fan would be lucky to have you. Why not date a fan?” I say slowly thinking of each word to say. Taylor just looks at me with a smile for a while. She is clearly thinking of a way to respond. She gives me a hug. I hold her close to me smiling from ear to ear. Taylor smells like Wonderstruck. She would wear her own perfume. She pulls back and looks back at her mom and waves her over.

“Here, talk to my mom for a second.” She says with a smile. Andrea Swift looks at me and walks over. This day is too good to be true.

“Oh Taylor! I have a gift for you!” I say looking over at Landon still holding the guitar. Suddenly I hear a loud scream come from across the street.

“TAYLOR!” They all yell at once. Taylor jumps up and looks at them. She smiles and starts to walk over.

“No! Taylor come back!” I yell after her. My yell is lost in the thousands of screams. Right then Andrea Swift walks up to me. She walks me over the far end of the fence where they end up against the wall. She pulls it out and lets me inside the fence. My heart races as I see Taylor make her way back down to the street. I look up at Andrea.

“Taylor wants me to give you T-Party passes.” She says with a smile. I look at her with a blank stare, my mouth wide open.

“No way.” I say as I turn to look back at Landon. “Wait, but are my two friends allowed to come?” I ask her quickly.

“Yeah!” She says handing me three wristbands. “Meet everyone below section 113 after the show.” I laugh to myself at the irony of it being 113. I smile hugely. She walks me back to the fences. I look over at Taylor crossing the street. Her body guards are waiting for her on the other side of the road. The crowd on our side of the road yells for Taylor. She turns around in the middle of the street to give one last wave. Suddenly I hear tires screech. Andrea stops escorting me back and turns to look down the road. I do the same. Suddenly a car speeds around the corner and on to the road. A truck is on the side of the road blocking the security guards view of the car. Taylor doesn’t see the car coming straight for her. Andrea’s smile fades. Without thinking I run towards Taylor. The security guards do see this.

They start yelling “stop!” They don’t have time to react fast enough. I’m already mere feet from Taylor.

I yell “watch out!” As I get closer to her. The crowd yells the same thing. Everything seems to happen in slow motion. She turns her head to see the car speeding straight for her. Her face could not be more devastating. My heart breaks. Everyone starts screaming. I run straight up to her and I push her out of the way. I didn’t realize how hard, until I see her fall to the broken pavement. I stop mid stride. My heart drops seeing her hurt. I look down at her concerned. She looks up at me scared.

“Are you o-?” Suddenly I hear a loud scream and then the car hits me. Everything goes black. I can hear the crowd scream, the tires screech. I can feel my head hit the pavement. I don’t feel anymore. I don’t hear anymore. I just see black.

__________________________________________________

Chapter four:

The darkness takes over. It’s all I see. I try to open my eyes. It’s harder than I thought it would be. My eyelids feel like a million tons. I try to sit up, but I can’t. I feel like I’m glued down.

            “He’s responsive.” I hear someone say. I try to turn my head. I can’t. I can hear a rhythmic beeping sound. It doesn’t stop. It sounds familiar. It’s my heart beat. I try to open my eyes again. This time I don’t stop trying. I start to get lightheaded. Suddenly my eyes fly open. I sit up quickly in a bed. I gasp for air. I look down. I’m lying in a hospital bed. The sheets are white, the walls are white. I look over to my left. A guy in a white lab coat is standing by the heart monitor in the corner, writing on his clipboard. He must be the doctor. A nurse with long black hair is standing next to him.

            “The ER is prepped for surgery.” The doctor says as he puts his clipboard down to his side. He clicks his pen and then puts it in his coat pocket.

            “Doc, I’m fine.” I say to him. He doesn’t look at me. He walks over to the heart monitor and starts turning the nobs on it. “Doc?” I say trying to get his attention. I look down at my arm. I have a wire taped to my arm that leads to the heart monitor. I look down at my chest. I’m wearing a white nightgown. How embarrassing. I pull down the nightgown to see more wires attached to my chest.

“Look, Doc, I’m fine.” I say as I rip off all the wires. I look up at the doctor and the nurse. They are still looking at the heart monitor. The beeping doesn’t stop beeping even as I rip off the last wire. I slowly get out of bed. My head starts ringing right as I stand up. I close my eyes and hold my head until it goes away. I look over at the doctor. I walk over to him.

            “Doc?” I say as I put my hand out to tap him on the shoulder. My hand goes right through him. I jump back quickly.

            “What?!” I say looking down at my hands. I inspect my hands. Nothing seems unusual. I look over at the bed where I was just lying. There I see myself still lying in bed. The wires are still attached, and I’m not moving. My eyes are shut. I stare for a while.

            “This isn’t real.” I say to myself. The doctor and the nurse turn around and start walking towards the door. I watch them walk straight through me. I turn around shaking. I watch them walk out the door. My knees go weak. I fall down to the white tile floor. I look at my hands. I’m shaking. “What the fuck is going on!” I say shakily. I try to catch my breath. I didn’t even know I lost it. “Get a hold of yourself!” I say taking a deep breath. “What the fuck happened?” I say to myself. I try to remember the last thing I saw before I woke up here. My head starts to throb. I close my eyes.

            “Uh.. I remember…” I start to say. I start to remember bits and pieces. “I remember a flash of light.” I start thinking harder despite the ache in my head. “I remember a car.” I struggle to say. “It was… Oh my God.” I open my eyes. My eyes are open wide. “Taylor Swift. I remember pushing Taylor Swift out of the way.”

Suddenly I hear a conversation going on outside of my door. I take a deep breath and I stand up. My head spins as I stand.

            “I’m sorry. I can’t.” I hear that same doctor say through the door. I walk over the wooden door. I go to grab the doorknob. I stop halfway, realizing I don’t need to open it. I walk through the door. I see the inside of the door for a split second. What’s weird is that I can still faintly hear my heart monitor beeping, as if it is right in my ear. Which I guess technically it is. I look down the hallway. I see the same doctor standing a door down. I walk up next to him.

            “I’m sorry Ms. Swift, I can’t let you see him.” He says politely. I look in front of him. Taylor Swift herself is standing right there. She makes this dull hospital look like heaven.

            “Please? You have to let me see him.” She begs. “He… He saved me.” She looks down when she says that. My heart flutters. Then I remember how hard she fell to the pavement.

“Are you okay?” I say expecting a response. Then I remember my situation. I look at her up and down. The only thing I can see is a few scraps on her leg. My heart breaks. I feel so bad.

“I’m sorry, Taylor. Unless you are family, or close friends I can’t let you in until after surgery.” Taylor’s eyes widen when he says that.

“Surgery?” She asks. I can hear how scared she is.

“He’s booked for surgery in 30 minutes. We need to relieve some of the pressure on his brain. He hit the pavement rather hard.” The doctor says sadly. Taylor looks down sadly. She rubs her eyes as if she’s wiping away invisible tears. What’s strange is that I can feel her sadness.  “That’s all I can tell you, Ms. Swift. In fact I shouldn’t have even told you that.” The doctor walks back into the room I came out of. Taylor just stands there looking at the floor.

Suddenly a nurse walks by with Landon and Spencer following her. Landon is holding Spencer’s hand and the guitar case in the other. Landon seems to be almost dragging Spencer along. She has tears in her eyes. Landon has a sad look on his face. He looks at the floor as he walks. So does Spencer. The nurse walks right past Taylor Swift standing in the middle of the hallway. Landon and Spencer walk right by without noticing her. They walk right past me. I look back at Spencer.

“Spencer!” I yell trying to make her hear me. “Turn around!” She needs to see Taylor. She will freak out. My yells echo softly until they are gone. Spencer looks up as if she heard me. She turns around reluctantly. She spots Taylor and stops walking. Spencer pulls on Landon’s hand. He turns around. He stares at Taylor. He looks down at the guitar in his hand. He lets go of Spencer’s hand and starts to walk over to Taylor. Her body guards peak out from behind the corner. Landon takes a step back startled. Taylor notices him and tells her body guards to go away. They duck back behind the wall. Taylor waves him over.

“You’re Landon, right?” She says as he walks up to her. Landon looks up at her. He doesn’t seem to have any words. Then it hits me. How does she know his name? Then I remember.

The tires of the car screech as they hit me. They screech as they drive away too.

“BRYAN!” I hear Spencer shout louder than the whole crowd. I turn my head to look at her. I struggle to keep my eyes open. I struggle to breath. I see Landon jump over the fence in front of him. He runs over to my side. The security guards hold him back.

“That’s my friend!” Landon yells like a maniac. He tries to break free.

“Let him go!” I hear Taylor scream. I’ve never heard her scream before. Security lets him go. He runs to my side. I look up at him. I can barely see him. Everything is blurry. He grabs my head and lifts it up. The back of my head feels warm and wet. I’m bleeding. A lot. Landon looks down at me almost crying.

“Stay with me, Bry!” He says looking at me. “What’s my name, Bry? Tell me my name.” I rack my mind for the answer. I can’t seem to find one. The emptiness makes my head throb. Then I remember.
            “L-” I struggle to say. I take a breath. “Landon.” I say shaking. He nods his head.

“That’s me.” He says forcing a smile. I can see the pain in his eyes. He can see the pain in mine.

“Landon.” I repeat. It’s the only thing I know how to say at the moment. “Landon.” I say again. “Lan-” I take a breath. “-don” I say as I close my eyes. I can hear Taylor gasp from behind me. I can’t tell if she’s okay or not. Everything goes black. My head falls lifeless to the side. The headache begins.

My head starts to throb from remembering that part of my past. I look up at Landon standing in front of Taylor Swift. He doesn’t seem to be star stuck; he doesn’t seem to even care. In fact he almost seems mad. I walk up closer to them.

“Here.” He says coldly. He hands her the guitar case. “The only thing Bry came here to give you was this.” Taylor takes to case from him. Right as Taylor is about to say ‘thank you’ Landon interrupts and adds, “He ended up giving you a lot more.” He doesn’t even wait for a response. In fact that comment left her speechless. Landon turns around and walks back to Spencer. Spencer bursts into tears. Landon hugs her letting her cry. The nurse comes and escorts them down the hall. Taylor stands in the hallway staring at them walk down the hall. I can see the guilt in her eyes. I can feel the guilt she feels. It brings a tear to my eyes. I suddenly become furious with Landon. I turn around to yell at him.

“YOU KNOW I’D GIVE MY LIFE FOR TAYLOR SWIFT, YOU BASTARD!” I yell after him. “HOW DARE YOU HURT THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS!” Tears stream down my face. Landon turns around as if he heard me. He looks back at Taylor confused.

“I’m sorry.” Landon says softly yet loud enough for Taylor to hear. Taylor looks up at him. She wipes away the tears and forces a smile. Landon walks into my room with Spencer. The door closes. I turn to look back at Taylor. She’s standing there staring at the floor, crying. I just want to hug her. If I was real, I would. Then she remembers the guitar in her hand. She sets it down on the ground. Taylor bends down and unlocks the case. She opens it up. She stares at the guitar sparkling in the dim light of the hallway. Taylor collapses on the floor. I can feel her sadness. It’s almost like I can feel her. She sits there motionless, staring at the guitar. I get down on the floor. I sit next to her. Tears roll down her cheeks. I look up at her. I try to wipe away the tears with my thumb, but nothing moves. Taylor puts her hand up to her cheek as if she felt me. She looks around confused. She feels me too.

Suddenly Andrea Swift comes around the corner. Taylor looks up at her. She stands up quickly and hugs her mom.

“It’s all my fault.” She cries. Her mom holds her tight. The sound of Taylor crying makes my heart drop. I can faintly hear the beeping of my heart monitor skip a beat.

“No it’s not, honey.” She says trying to comfort her.

“He came here for me. I walked into the middle of the street and it was me the car was coming after.” Taylor says remorsefully.

“I got you in to see him.” Andrea says still holding Taylor. Taylor pulls back to look at her mom.

“Really?” She says quickly. She has tears running down her cheeks.

“Make it quick. He goes into surgery soon.” Taylor nods in agreement. She wipes the tears from her eyes. She locks the guitar case and picks it up. She walks down the hall. I stand up and follow her into my room.

Landon looks back at her as she enters the room. Spencer is sitting in a chair next to my bed. Landon is standing behind her. The doctor turns around and walks towards the door.

“I’ll leave you all to talk.” He says as he leaves the room. I watch as Taylor awkwardly stands there as Landon glares at her.

“Landon!” I say loudly. I figure he will sort of hear me. My voice echoes. Landon looks away from her and back at Spencer. Spencer stands up slowly and grabs Landon’s hand.

“I think we can give Taylor a few moments with Bryan.” She says pulling Landon towards the door.

“No.” He says firmly. Spencer stops. Taylor looks straight now.

“Landon!” Spencer says slapping his arm. “You know how much Taylor Swift means to Bryan. As his friend you will give him a few moments with the girl of his dreams. This might be the only time he gets with her.” I can feel Taylor’s heart sink. That statement makes this even more tragic. Tears start rolling down her cheeks. Landon wipes them away.

“You’re right.” He says kindly. “Taylor, I’m sorry.” He says looking over at her.

“No it’s okay.” She says wiping away the tears from her eyes. Landon walks over to her and hugs her. Taylor accepts his open arms. She takes comfort in his arms. Landon lets go and walks with Spencer towards the door. Taylor glances down at Landon’s shirt.

“I like your shirt.” She manages to say. “Thanks so much.” Taylor says with a smile.

“Bryan made me wear it.” Landon says as he closes the door behind him. Taylor stands there awkwardly. I watch her as she awkwardly walks over to the chair beside my bed. She puts the guitar case down next to the chair. She takes a seat. A few moments of awkward silence go by.

“Bryan? I want to thank you for saving me.” I walk up behind her. I smile at her trying her hardest to talk to me, when she thinks I can’t hear her.

“I’ve had so many guys say they will do anything for me, or that I’m their dream girl, but you truly meant it. You proved that today.”  She looks at me to see if I’m responding. I’m not. She looks down realizing that I probably can’t hear her.

“Ugh.” She says frustrated. “Why can’t I just have a conversation with you? Why does it have to be like this?” She leans over and grabs my hand. My heart monitor skips a beat. Taylor looks up at the odd sound of the missing beep in the pattern. She smiles once she realizes what it is.

“My heart feels like that too, Bryan.” She wipes away more tears. “You asked me if I’d date a fan. I never answered you.” She looks up at my bruised and cut face. My eyes are closed. “I would.”

Suddenly the door opens. Taylor and I turn around quickly to see who it is. The doctor is standing in the door way.

“Ten minutes until surgery, Ms. Swift.” He says quickly. He walks away leaving the door open. Landon and Spencer walk in and close the door behind them. Landon looks down at Taylor.

“It means a lot that you came. I’m sure Bryan will be excited to know you were here.” Landon says with a half-smile. I smile at Landon being the bigger man. Taylor looks at me lying in bed motionless. She looks down at the guitar case.

“What’s his favorite song?” Taylor says looking back at Landon. Landon looks back at her blankly.

“Sparks Fly.” Spencer says. She’s right! I’m surprised she even knew that. Taylor picks up the guitar case. She unlocks it and pulls out the guitar. She puts the strap around her. She tunes it really quick. Spencer smiles knowing what Taylor is about to do. I can’t help but laugh. How cliché. Taylor stars playing the intro to Sparks Fly. My heart jumps. My heart monitor shows that. Taylor smiles knowing what that sound means. Landon and Spencer look over at the monitor confused. Taylor starts to sing. Her voice is probably the best thing I’ve ever heard. I smile the entire time she’s singing. Spencer and Landon watch with a smile. After the song the doctor walks back in.

“Time to go.” He says to all of them. Landon and Spencer take one last look and walk out of the room. Taylor’s mother and security walk in for her. Taylor puts the guitar back in the case. She walks towards the door. She turns back to look at me lying in bed. I can feel her heart drop.

“I’ll be back after the show.” She says to me. She stares for a little while longer. A tear rolls down her cheek. I walk up to her and I try to wipe it away again. This time I know it won’t work, I just want to touch her or pretend to anyway. This might be the last time I see her. My heart races at the thought of that. I turn around to look back at myself lying in bed. I hear the door close behind me. I turn around to see Taylor gone. Three doctors replaced her spot. They walk over to my bed. They wheel my bed out the door and down to the operating room. I walk behind them.

The operating room is a strange looking room. It looks nothing like it does in the movies. It’s a dim lit room with a few moveable lights to highlight areas that need to be seen. They wheel my bed into the center of this room. They lift me off the bed and onto a cold metal table. They prep for surgery. It’s like I’m in an episode of Scrubs. One of the nurses walks in with an IV. She hooks it up to my arm. I can feel a pinch in my arm. Then my veins feel cool. The liquid pours in. I look around the room. Everything starts to get blurry. Everything starts spinning. I look at myself lying on the table. Suddenly I fall to the floor. Everything goes black.

__________________________________________________

CHAPTER FIVE:

 I open my eyes slowly. My eyelids are heavy. I feel like I’ve been sleeping for weeks. Maybe I have. I think to myself. The room comes into focus. I’m staring up at the ceiling of the hospital room I first woke up in. I can hear my rhythmic sound of the heart monitor again. I slowly sit up in bed. My head throbs as I move ever so slightly. It should go away soon. Last time it only lasted a few minutes. Then I realized I wasn’t real. I sit up and I lean against the headboard. It’s not going away. It’s a sharp pain in my head. I put my hand on top of my head. There is gauze wrapped all the way around my head. I see something out of the corner of my eye. I turn to my right to look at it. It’s Taylor Swift herself sleeping in a chair beside my bed. I look around for Landon and Spencer. They’re not here. She shouldn’t be sleeping in that chair. I think to myself. She can have my bed.  Then I realize that I am probably not real, just like last time. I look over at the heart monitor. I follow the wires up to my arm and chest. I rip them off like last time. The heart monitor flat lines. I jump at the sound. My head starts pounding. I reach over and I flick the red switch into the off position. The sound stops. I force myself out of bed. I want to be near Taylor. I stand next to my bed. My legs wobble and shake as I stand. I take a step towards Taylor. My head throbs even more. I look down at my bed expecting to see myself lying there just like last time. But this time all I see is an empty bed.

“I’m back.” I say to myself. The room starts spinning. I can’t breathe. My legs go weak and I fall to the ground.

Suddenly Landon bursts through the door with a cup of StarBucks coffee.

“I got you a-” He spots me lying on the ground. He drops his coffee and runs over to me.

“Nurse?!” He yells as he picks me up. Taylor opens her eyes to see all the commotion. She helps Landon lift me onto the bed. As soon as I lay back down my headache goes away.

“What the fuck, Bryan!” He says catching his breath. A nurse runs into the room and over to me.

“What happened?” She says grabbing the wires from the heart monitor.

“I came in and he was lying on the ground!” He says stepping out of her way. She hooks the wires back up to my chest and then turns the monitor back on. The rhythmic beat starts again. I look over at Taylor staring horrified back at me.

“Sorry I scared you.” I say slowly. She smiles at me. Landon smiles too.

“It’s good to hear your voice.” Taylor says with a tear in her eye.

“How long have I been out?” I ask the nurse confused. I look over at the window. It’s pitch black outside. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost 4 in the morning.” The nurse responds. “Do you know what happened yesterday morning?” She asks me. She waits for a response.

“Wait.” I hesitate. “Yesterday morning?!” I say shocked. No way this all happened a few hours ago. The nurse grabs the clipboard that is hanging on the end of my bed. She opens it and reads what’s inside.

“We’re just as surprised as you, Mr. Taylor.” She flips the page. “It says right here that you were hit by a car and sustained major head injuries. We rushed you to surgery to relieve some of the pressure in your skull.” She flips another page. “The surgery went well. Only took two hours. And here you are five or so hours later awake and aware. It’s a miracle if you ask me.” The nurse smiles and puts the clipboard back where she found it. “I’ll leave you three alone to talk. Take it easy though, Bryan. You shouldn’t be walking anywhere soon.” She smiles then walks out of the room. I look over at Taylor Swift standing next to my bed. She’s so tall. She’s taller than Landon even, but not by much. She sees me staring at her. She smiles at me. I feel like I know her so well. I’ve heard what she had to say to me. I know how she feels. I felt her. When I had that out of body experience, I felt her. I felt what she felt. We were one for a second. I know her so well, yet she hardly knows me. That’s what’s so strange. What do I even say to her? I look over at Landon.

“Where’s Spencer?” I ask him. Landon sits down in a chair on the other side of the bed.

“She’s at a hotel a few blocks from here. She needed rest. You should have seen her.” Landon leans back in his chair. He’s obviously been here all night.

“Maybe you should go get some sleep too.” I say to him. I sit up in my bed slowly. My head doesn’t hurt this time. Thank god. Landon sits up and looks nervously at me trying to sit up in bed.

“Do you need help?” He says eagerly. I lean against the headboard.

“No I got it.” I say letting out a deep breath. “Go get some rest. Seriously.” I look over at Taylor who is now sitting quietly in a chair a few inches from the side of my bed. I look back at Landon with a smile. He smiles back at me like he knows what I’m thinking.

“I guess it was fate.” He says looking over at Taylor then back at me. It sounds almost twisted and wrong that it was fate for me to get hurt to meet the girl of my dreams. I don’t care. Taylor looks up when she hears Landon say that. Landon stands up from his chair.

“I’ll be back in a few hours. I’m just going to get a few hours of rest. The doctors have my number if anything.” Landon says looking down at me.

“I can call you if anything. I won’t be leaving anytime soon.” Taylor says seriously. “What’s your number?” I look over at Taylor then back at Landon. He looks at me confused. Then he looks back at Taylor.

“Yeah, okay.” He hesitates to say. Taylor takes her IPhone out. “It’s 615-919-7498.” Landon says with a huge smile.

“Landon!” I say laughing. “That’s my number.” I laugh even harder. Landon laughs with me. He is the greatest wingman ever. Taylor looks up at me with a smile.

“It’s awesome to have your number too.” She says with a smile as she looks at me. “But, it’s more helpful right now to have yours.” She says looking up at Landon.

“615-223-9845” He says with a smile. “I’ll see you later, Bry. Take it easy.” He walks out of the room and shuts the door quietly. I listen as his footsteps slowly fade away. I look over at Taylor sitting in her chair. She looks over at me. She smiles.

“You should go get some rest.” I say softly. “You probably had a busy day.” I smile at her. Then it hit me, she had a concert last night. I look at her more closely. She’s wearing the tan ball gown she wears when she performs Love Story at her concert.

“I’m not really tired.” She says with a smile.

“You should at least change out of that dress. I doubt that’s comfortable. Why didn’t you change after the show?” I sit up even farther. She looks up at me confused.

“How do you know I didn’t put this on just for you? I dress up for big occasions.” She says sarcastically.

“Are you calling me a big occasion?” I say with a smile. Taylor smiles back at me.

“Definitely.” She looks down at her dress.

“Seriously, go change or something. I’ve never had a dress on before, but they don’t look comfortable.” I smile at her.

“I don’t have any clothes with me.” She looks up at me.

“You don’t have to stay here. It means the world that you stayed this long.” I look up at her with kind eyes. She looks at her dress and stands up. My heart drops knowing that she is about to leave.

“I don’t want to leave.” She says staring into my eyes. Her blue eyes sparkle in the light. I can’t help but to smile.

“You’re eyes are so beautiful.” I say without thinking. Taylor smiles the cutest smile.

“Thanks.” She says almost blushing. I made Taylor Swift almost, maybe blush. Life= Complete.

“You’re really sweet. You know that?” She says walking to the window on the far side of the room. She looks out the window and then looks over at the wooden dresser. She looks back at me and smiles.

“Is there anything for me to wear?” She opens one of the drawers. Taylor pulls out my jeans that I wore here. She pulls out the blue shirt I made for her concert along with them. She holds them up at looks back at me with a smile. I look under the blankets and notice I’m only wearing boxer shorts and a nightgown.

“How embarrassing.” I say looking back at Taylor. She laughs. She looks at my shirt again.

“Did you have tickets to my show last night?” She asks as she walks back to her chair. She looks down at the shirt in her hands.

“Yeah.” I hesitate to say. “I’m sorry I missed it. I’m sure you did great.” Taylor sits back down in her chair.

“I want to give you and your friend’s tickets to another show. And my show was dedicated to you last night.” She says still looking at my shirt. “I just want to uhh… thank you for saving me.” She says playing with the shirt nervously. I stare at Taylor. I wish she knew that I heard everything she said to me. I already heard her apologize.

“You know it’s not your fault or anything that I got hurt, right?” Taylor looks up quickly. It’s almost like she’s shocked that I knew that’s how she felt. “It’s my fault for running in front of a car. But, I would do it again in a heartbeat.” I smile at her to reassure her. She looks back down at my shirt.

“I just shouldn’t have stood in the middle of the road. I’m not invincible.” She says quietly.

“Which reminds me. Are you okay? I remember I pushed you pretty damn hard.” I shake my head a little. “I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.” Taylor leans forward in her chair.

“No, no. You saved me. It’s fine. I just got a few cuts on my leg.” Taylor looks at me with a smile. “Call in the understudy.” I laugh at her comment because I’ve heard her say it before in a video.

“I guess it’s just more scars to go along with your glue gun scar.” I look over at her with a smile. She laughs. I love her laugh. She stops and looks at me like she’s just realized something. It’s like she realizes how much I know her; how much I care.

“I’m just so sorry this all happened.” She says looking straight at me.

“Hey, you apologized twice already. I don’t need to hear a third. Like, your mom said before, It’s not your fault. Remember that.” I say seriously. She looks up at me confused.

“How do you know what my mom said to me? And I only apologized twice since…you woke up.” She stands up and moves her chair closer to me. She sits back down. She’s so close I can smell Wonderstruck coming off of her as if I’m wearing it myself. My heart jumps. The heart monitor beeps irregularly. Taylor smiles to herself knowing what that sound means. Before I can answer her she figures it out. She looks up at me realizing why the monitor always beeped abnormally while she was talking to me before.

“You could hear me, couldn’t you?” She asks me straightforward. I look down trying to think of how to explain that my ghost-self stalked her while I was knocked out.

“Well, yeah.” I say quickly. “I kind of had this out of body experience. I was like a ghost thing, and I might have, sort of stalked you.” I say nervously. Taylor looks up at me with a smile.

“You were there when I was crying on the floor in the hallway, weren’t you?” She says with a smile. She’s not even shocked. I knew she was a cool girl. I nod slowly. I smile back at her.

“I couldn’t stand to see you cry.” I look down at the blankets on my bed. “I tried to wipe away your tears so many times. They just wouldn’t leave.” I say all this almost to myself. I don’t really think about Taylor’s reaction. She leans forward and grabs my hand. My heart jumps. I wasn’t expecting that. The heart monitor skips a beep. Taylor looks me in the eyes and smiles.

“Let me guess, your heart feels like that too?” I say to her with a huge smile on my face. I squeeze her hand a little bit. She smiles shyly back at me.

“You know, you need to get some rest.” She lets go of my hand and stands up.

“Yeah, I know. I’m tired. I just don’t want to waste time sleeping when I could be talking to you.” I say leaning forward. Taylor looks back at me with a smile.

“Lie down and relax.” She says with a smile. Taylor picks my shirt and jeans up off the floor. She walks out of my room. My heart drops as she closes the door behind her. I lay back down in bed and I stare up at the ceiling.

“I hope that wasn’t the last time I’ll see her.” I say to myself. I look over at the heart monitor. I switch it off and I pull off the wires. I get out of bed slowly. My head hurts a little as I stand. I slowly make my way over to the bathroom. I open the door and I walk inside the small bathroom. I pick up a toothbrush that’s still in the packaging. I unwrap it and pick up the toothpaste they have set out on the sink. I turn on the sink and I brush my teeth. I stare at myself in the mirror. There is a cut under my eye and on my forehead. My check has a bruise on it. It doesn’t look pretty. My hair is held back by white gauze wrapped around my head. Taylor Swift saw me like this? Great. I wish I looked better. I open the door and I walk back into the room. Right as I open the door Taylor Swift walks into my room wearing my shirt and jeans. She shuts the door behind her. I quickly look down. I’m wearing no pants.

“Don’t look!” I say quickly as I pull my gown down. Taylor closes her eyes quickly and turns around. She laughs as I grab the blankets off of my bed.

“Uh… Okay.” I stutter. She turns back around. She laughs at me standing there with blankets wrapped around my waist.

“It’s not even funny.” I say trying not to laugh. Her laugh makes me laugh. “I’m just trying not to scar you for life.” I say with a smile. She laughs.

“Well thank you for that.” She walks towards me.

“Why are you wearing my clothes?” I ask as I make my way back to my bed.

“I had no clothes and I refuse to leave. It’s my week off anyway.” She walks towards the chair she was sitting in before. “Is that okay with you?” She asks. I stop walking and I look at her. She looks a lot better in my clothes than I do. Seeing her wear my shirt that says “Taylor Swift” makes me laugh.

“Yeah, I’m very okay with it. You look beautiful.” I say with a smile. “Is it okay if I hug you?” I say looking down at the floor. I keep trying to not think of her as this celebrity and just as a girl, but it’s hard when this huge star is wearing my clothes. She smiles at me.

“It’s weird because I was just about to ask you the same thing.” She walks up to me and puts her arms around my neck. It turns out I’m just as tall as Taylor Swift. In fact I might be an inch taller. I hug her tightly.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” She says softly in my ear.

“I was just trying to be fearless.” I say with a smile. She pulls back to look at me. A tear rolls down her check. “No, don’t cry.” I say as I gently wipe away her tears with my thumb. Taylor looks down at the floor. I realize how close I’m standing to her. I take a step back. My head starts to hurt again. I take the hint and I sit back down on the bed.

“So why’d you leave the room earlier?” I say as I get back into bed. I lie down and put the blankets over myself. Taylor sits down in the chair next to me.

“I had to tell my mom and manager that I am staying the night. Plus I had to get changed.” She closes her eyes and rubs them. She yawns. She shivers then rubs her arms.

“Are you cold?” I ask her after seeing her shiver. Taylor looks at me and nods. “Here, take my blanket.” I hold my blanket out towards her.

“No thanks.” She says with a smile. “So, tell me more about you. I don’t know anything about you. You just know all about me.” I lay down in bed and I stare up at the ceiling.

“My name is Bryan Taylor. I know that’s weird because your name is Taylor. I think that just means we are even more meant to me.” I say without thinking. Taylor doesn’t respond. I stare at the ceiling regretting what I just said.

“What does your dad do for a living?” She asks quickly. I look over at her. I swallow hard.

“Uh… my dad died a year ago.” I say looking at her.

“I’m sorry.” She says remorsefully.

“It’s okay.” I look back at the ceiling. “He had lung cancer. We saw it coming for a while, yet it came so sudden.” I stare at the ceiling waiting for Taylor to respond.

“What about your mom?” She asks me. I take a deep breath. I let it out.

“She’s never really done much.” I say swallowing hard. “After my dad passed away she hardly does anything. She took my brother to Six Flags this weekend. That’s probably the most she’s ever done for him. It’s probably the most she’s looked at him.” I stare up at the ceiling trying to figure out what to say next. “She hasn’t really spoken to me much since I messed up my freshman year at college. My dad was always the one to work it all out. When he left I guess I got it into my mine that I would prove to him how much better I can be.” I blurt this all out without thinking. It just feels good to say what’s on my mind. I wait for Taylor to respond. I feel a tug on my blanket. I turn to look at what it is. Taylor is lifting up the blankets.

“Move over.” She says with a smile. I smile back at her. I slide over giving her enough room to lie down. She gets under the blankets and lies down next to me. She puts her head on my pillow.

“I got cold.” Taylor says as she settles into bed. She’s a millimeter away from me. My heart jumps in my chest. This time the monitor isn’t on to let Taylor know.

“You always make my heart skip a beat.” I say as I turn my head to look at her. She turns to look at me. A strand of her hair curly blonde hair falls in front of her face. I slowly brush it out of her face. I tuck it behind her ear. I slide my hand down the side of her face. Her skin is so soft.

“You’re so sweet.” Taylor smiles at me. She closes her eyes slowly. I can’t believe the past couple days. I watch her sleep until I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. I close my eyes and before I know it, I’m asleep.

An hour later I wake up with a headache. I open my eyes to see the ceiling. I feel a heaviness on my chest. I look down to see Taylor’s head resting on my chest. Her arm is around me. I put my arm around her slowly. I slowly stroke her beautiful curls with my hand. I rub her arm softly with my fingers. She moves a little. I stop in fear of waking her up. She moves closer to me. She hugs me tighter. She stays fast asleep. I smile at the fact that Taylor Swift is lying on me. I close my eyes and I fall back asleep.

The next time I wake up its noon. I open my eyes slowly. I smile and then turn over to see Taylor’s face. When I turn over she’s not there. Confused, I sit up quickly looking for her. I look around the room. She’s not there. I look at the chair where she sat earlier. My blue shirt and jeans are folded and placed on the chair. Sadness falls over me.

“Taylor?” I look around the room. No one is there. I lie back down in bed. I can still smell Wonderstruck as if Taylor is still lying beside me. It must be all over my pillow, all over me. Of course she would leave. What was I thinking? Maybe she was busy today. Maybe she will call tonight. I think to myself.

Suddenly the door opens. I look up to see who it is. I hope to God its Taylor.

_________________________________________________

CHAPTER 6 

 Landon walks in the door.

“Hey buddy! How’d you sleep?” He walks up and sits in the chair next to me.

“Hey.” I say coldly. I lie back down in bed.

“What’s wrong?” He asks me as he leans back in his chair.

“She left, in the middle of the night.” I say without looking up.

“Oh. That’s rough man.” Landon responds. “Oh and your mom called. I told her you were fine. She can’t make it up.” I look up at the ceiling. I never expected her to. The door opens again. I spring up to see who it is. My heart races hoping that it’s Taylor. Spencer walks through the door. My heart sinks down in my chest.

“Bry! How are you?” She says with a smile. I lie back down. I don’t respond.

“What’s wrong with him?” I hear Spencer ask.

“Taylor ditched last night.” Landon says quietly.

“I’m sure she’s just busy today, Bryan. She’ll call you.” She says upbeat. I don’t feel very reassured.

I spend the whole week in the hospital staring at my phone waiting for her call. It never comes. I spend the days lying in bed hardly talking to anyone. My heart aches every day that she doesn’t call. I start realize that Taylor Swift probably never saw me as more than a just fan that saved her. That’s all I was to her. I was stupid to think otherwise. She was just being nice by staying with me. At the end of the week the doctors send me home with a bottle of pills to take for the pain in my head.

I get out of bed early in the morning. It’s about seven in the morning. I put the blue shirt I came here with back on. I put my jeans on slowly. The door opens right as I button them up.

“Ready to go home, Bry?” Landon says with a smile. I turn to look at him. I don’t respond. I take the bottle of pills and I put them in my pocket. I look around the room remembering the time I spent with Taylor. I get even more depressed then before. I try to get the thought out of my mind. I turn around and walk past Landon and out of the room. Landon follows me. I walk out of the hospital doors. I spot Spencer standing next to my car. I walk over to her.

“Hey, Bryan! It must feel good for you to be out.” She smiles at me. I stare at her blankly. I open the car door and I get in. I shut the door behind me. Spencer looks down at the ground. She opens the back door and gets in. Landon walks around to the driver’s seat. He gets in and starts the car. Sparks Fly starts blasting through the speakers. I hit the off button so hard that the dashboard shakes. Landon and Spencer look at each other. Then Landon drives off. I look back at the hospital as we drive away. I watch it fade into the background. I never want to come back here again. The ride home is silent.

We pull up to my house and we all get out. I walk up to my front door.

“Bry, take your keys.” Landon says from behind me. I take them from his hand. “I’m really sorry, man.” He says looking down. I nod at him. I walk into my house and I close the door behind me. Landon and Spencer get into Landon’s car. I hear the car speed off. I walk past my mom sitting in the family room staring at the TV that isn’t even turned on.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” She says with a fake smile. She doesn’t turn away from the TV. She doesn’t really care. I walk up the stairs and into my room. I slam the door behind me. I lie down on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. I look down at the shirt I’m wearing. I sit up and I take it off. I grab a new shirt out of my closet. I put it on. I throw the other against the wall. I plop down on my bed. I stare at my ceiling fan going in circles. I watch it for a while, just thinking about what happened in the past week. My phone rings in my pocket. It breaks my train of thought. It breaks the silence of my room. I ignore the first ring. I hope for it to stop. It rings again. I take it out of my pocket. I look at the number on the screen. It’s blocked. I accept the call thinking that it’s probably Greg checking in on me. His number is always blocked.

“Yeah?” I say firmly. I wait for an answer.

“Hey.” She says awkwardly. “It’s Taylor.” She says after a few seconds. I sit up quickly in my bed. I don’t respond. I stare blankly at the wall ahead of me. I try to figure out if I’m mad or excited to hear her voice again. Taylor fills the awkward silence.

“I heard you got out of the hospital today.” I can her that she cares just by the way she says it. I can’t help but to smile.

“Yeah,” I force myself to say. “I got out this morning. I literally just got home.” I say casually. I try to hide my excitement that she actually called. In fact I try to hide all my emotions.

“That’s awesome! Are you feeling better?” She asks.

“Yeah, I just have a little headache.” I say calmly. I’m trying not to sound like a crazed fan, or some guy who is crazy in love with her.

“That’s good.” She says awkwardly. The conversation is slowly dying. In fact it is dead. Awkward silence takes over. “You know, I’m sorry I just left that morning.” Taylor breaks the silence. The statement shocks me. Never in a million years would I have thought that Taylor Swift would be apologizing to me. Then again I never would have thought she would even have my number, or that this week would have even happened.

“It’s really okay.” I say nicely. “It shouldn’t have even been an issue. It shouldn’t have even happened.” I look down at the blue shirt I threw against the wall.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that I freaked when I woke up next to slash on you.” She pauses like she is searching for the right words. “It’s just… It’s not exactly who I am to wake up next to a strange guy.” That comment slaps me across the face. To me she is the perfect girl, but to her I am a stranger. “It’s not that it’s a bad thing. I just don’t know you. I mean, I feel like I do. It’s an inconceivable, unbelievable feeling.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I just freaked.” Taylor says all this like she is convincing herself of something, like she’s trying to convince herself that it was a good idea to leave that day. I just sit on my bed absorbing what was just said to me. I don’t have much to say. My heart started to race at the thought that maybe, just maybe she regrets leaving that morning. A few awkward moments of silent pass. A smile comes across my face.

“Did you write a song about it?” I say playfully. She lets out a small laugh. Her laugh makes me smile.

“You’ll have to wait for the next record.” She teases. I can’t help but laugh.

“I have sort of a surprise for you.” I can hear the excitement in Taylor’s voice. “I feel bad that you missed my concert. So I want to invite you to hang out with me for a few days. I’m spending the next three days in rehearsal and I want you there!” My heart stops for a split second.

“Wh…at?” I can’t really speak. I don’t know what to say.

“Yeah!” She says excitedly. I jump out of bed and on to my feet.

“Are you serious? That’s so awesome!” I say trying to catch my breath. “When can I leave?” I ask her quickly.

“Well I got this whole thing planned out now.” Taylor says. I look at the clock. It’s only 11:30.

“Wait, where are you?” I wait for her response.

“I’m in Nashville still. I have a driver waiting for you at the venue I played at… before and I already have a hotel booked for you to stay a few nights.” She answers. “But since you just got out of the hospital, maybe we should wait.”

“I can make it today.” I say with a smile.

“Are you sure?” She asks me. She sounds concerned.

“Positive. Anything to see you.” I say without thinking. I pause for a second after I say it. I realize what I had just said. Stupid me.

“You’re sweet.” Taylor says quietly. For the first time, I really feel like she means it.

“You can bring your friends too. I have a huge surprise for you when you get here!” She says excitedly.

“I can’t wait to see you again! I’ll bring you a surprise too.” I say with a smile. I can’t just show up empty handed.

“Aww. No that’s really okay. You’ve done enough for me. Plus you got me that beautiful guitar!” She tries to convince me, but I already have it set in my mind. I smile at the fact that I made her happy.

“I guess I’ll see you very soon.” I say with a smile. My heart starts beating faster and faster.

“I can’t wait!” I can hear the excitement in her voice. “See you soon.”

“Bye.” I wait for her to end the call. I look down at my phone in shock. Before I can even look away the phone rings again. I don’t even look at the number this time.

“Hello?” I ask.

“Dude, turn on your TV.” Landon says quickly.

“What?” I ask him.

“Channel 10. Now.” He says sternly. I rush over to the TV in the corner of my room. I turn it on. I switch it to channel 10.

“Holy… shit.” I say as I stare at the TV.

“Yeah.” Landon says in response. There on the TV is my face. I turn the volume up. The news reporter continues talking.

“Local Nashville boy saves Nashville’s rising star, Taylor Swift, from a speeding car last week before her concert.” The news reporter says. “We just got video of the incident today. The video is taken by a witness’s cellphone.” Suddenly the video starts playing. You can hear people screaming Taylor’s name. I watch myself on TV running towards Taylor Swift. I push her out of the way and on to the ground. Her body guards rush to her side. Suddenly the car hits me. I get thrown to the side and the car continues on. I watch as Landon rushes over to me.

“Hey, that’s me!” Landon says. I ignore him and keep watching. I watch Landon struggle with her body guards. Taylor yells at them to let him go. Landon rushes over to me. The video zooms in on me and Landon. My head falls to the side. My eyes close. The video zooms in on Taylor Swift. She stands up with the help of her body guards. She puts her hands over her mouth. Her hands shake. Her body guards pull her away from the scene and on to the sidewalk. They get her into the car she originally came out of. The video zooms in on Taylor through the window of the car. She looks distressed. Suddenly sirens are heard in the background. The video ends and cuts back to the news reporter.

“This brave young boy, Bryan Taylor, spent only a week in the hospital. Doctors wouldn’t comment on his condition. All they said was that his recovery was quick and really was a miracle. However, we think his quick recovery could have been due to the fact Taylor paid him a long visit at the hospital.” Pictures of Taylor Swift entering the hospital flash on the screen. “She got to the hospital late after her show to pay her rescuer a visit. Paparazzi caught her leaving early in the morning. What could they have been doing all that time?” He looks skeptical. “We have a few guesses.” I hit the off button.

“Shit.” I say to Landon who is still on the phone.

“My thought’s exactly.” He says. “At least you’re famous now.”

“Yeah, I’m famous for deflowering Taylor Swift. Not exactly what I wanted. It didn’t even happen. I don’t even want it to happen.”

“Dude, are you gay? That’s Taylor fucking Swift you better want to.” Landon says quickly.

“It’s just not the first thing on my mind. I want to be more than just a shitty guy to her, ya know?” I wait for him to respond.

“Yeah, I do.” Landon says quietly. “It’s like that with Spencer.”

“Then you know what I mean.” I say as I sit back down on the bed. “Oh, Taylor invited us to go hangout with her at rehearsals. She’s still in Nashville. Are you in?” I ask him.

“Yeah, but Spencer can’t. She’s got to babysit her cousins this week.” Landon says.

“Isn’t it weird how we don’t even think it’s weird now to be hanging out with Taylor Swift?” I ask him. There’s silence.

“No, it’s still a little weird. I’ll be over in twenty.” He hangs up the phone. I look over at the clock. It’s 11am. I grab a black backpack out of my closet. I shove clothes into it and I zip it up. I grab a pair of black sweatpants and a clean shirt. I rush over to the bathroom. I hop in the shower. I put on my black sweatpants and my black shirt. I look in the mirror. I don’t have any more bruises on my face. All I can see is a small cut under my eye. I put my wallet in my pocket. I take the pills the doctors gave me and I put them in my bag. I make my way down the stairs. I look out the window and Landon is walking up to the door. I open the door and camera flashes go off. Shocked, I close my eyes and I wait for the white light to go away. Landon makes his way through the flashes and into my house. I close the door.

“What was that?” I say as I rub my eyes.

“You have almost every news station outside your house.” Landon says looking back at me.

“Great.” I say sarcastically. “Let’s just get out of here. Taylor has a driver waiting at the venue.” I put my backpack on my back and I open the door.

“Bye ma. I’ll be back in a few days.” I yell back in the house. I walk out the door. Lights flash.

“Bryan, Bryan. What did you and Taylor Swift talk about that night?” Someone yells. I ignore them. I walk towards the car. Landon follows.

“Bryan, Bryan, what went through your mind when you ran in front of that car?” Someone else yells. Suddenly a guy appears right in front of me. He has a microphone and a camera point right at me.

“Bryan what did you and Taylor do that night?” He asks. I stop right in front of him. He’s blocking my way. “What did you do?” I look for a way to get around him, but he’s blocking the sidewalk. On one side is my house on the other is a huge bush.

“What happened that night?” he says again.

“We just talked. Can you please get out of the way? I’m running late.” I say to him. He doesn’t move.

“Running late? Where are you going? Another night with Taylor?” He asks rudely. I ignore his rude comment. I can feel the anger building inside of me. I look back at Landon. He gives me a confused look. We literally have nowhere to go. I start to walk forward hoping that the guy with the camera will move. He does. I get to Landon’s car. I wait for him to unlock the doors.

“Bryan, Bryan, is she really as innocent as she seems? We think she can be a little wild in bed.” With that comment I snapped. I turn around to see that it’s the same guy who asked me those rude questions before. Without hesitation I punch him right in the jaw. He drops his microphone and falls to the ground. Landon rushes over. He grabs me and holds me back from hitting him again. I fight my way out of Landon’s grip. I stand over him with rage in my eyes. He doesn’t bother to stand up.

“She tries her whole life to be a wonderful, kind hearted person and scum like you ruin that with your speculations. Not everyone is as sleazy as you. She came to check up on the guy who risked his life for her. That’s it!” I yell down at him. He looks up at me with a bloody lip, genuinely scared. The camera man continues to film me. I look up at the camera.

“No more questions.” I say looking directly into the camera. All of the news reporters stop their yelling. It’s an awkward silence. I get into the passenger’s seat of Landon’s car. Landon gets in and drives away. He looks over at me.

“Dude,” He says. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a fight before.” He focuses on the road in front of him.

“I’m not a fighter. You know that.” I say as I hold my fist. My knuckles are red.

“You sure are a fighter now.” Landon says with a smirk. “It should be an interesting TV special to watch later.” We sit in silence until we get to the venue. Landon pulls into the empty parking lot and parks. We both get out. I put my backpack on the back. We walk towards the only black car in the parking lot.

“This is shady?” Landon says to me.

CHAPTER 8:

“Do you feel lucky?” The same camera man asks me. I look over at him. The other people with cameras aren’t that interested in me anymore. They all turn away and put their camera’s down. I start walking away from them and down the street. The same camera man walks with me.

“I feel so blessed for Taylor to even know my name. I’m glad we are friends.” I say to him. He keeps filming me as we walk down the street and around the corner.

“So why are you filming me?” I say as I look down the street ahead of me. To be honest I have no idea where I’m going.

“It’s my job. So do you think you and Taylor will date eventually?” He says quickly. I keep looking straight ahead. I ignore his question. I look around for street signs. I stop walking. I look around confused.

“Are you afraid you’ll have a song about you?” The camera man asks me. I can’t help but laugh at the question.

“I think I already have one.” I say with a smile.

“How do you think it goes?” He asks me. Suddenly behind the camera guy I see a black car coming down the street. I’m almost positive it’s the same car that took me here. I look back at the guy.

“I’m sure it goes something like…. He saved me from a speeding car, and now I have this scar. Woooooah oh oh.” I sing in a horrible singing voice. “I’m sure she can sing it a lot better than me.” I say with a smirk. The camera guy laughs a bit. The black car pulls over to the side of the road right next to me. I look in the window. The same driver is sitting behind the wheel. I walk towards the door of the car.

“It’s been nice talking to you.” The guy says. I turn my head to look at him.

“Yeah.” I say as I give him a head nod. I open the car door and I get in.

“Thanks for coming to get me.” I say nicely to the driver. “I had no idea where I was going.” I say as I pull my seat belt from behind me. I buckle it in.

“I could tell. You’re going the wrong way completely.” He says with a smile. He makes a u-turn in the middle of the street and drives the other way.

“Oh.” I say quickly. Within ten minutes the car is stopping. I look out the window at the building next to me.

“Thank you.” I say as I get out of the car. I close the door behind me. The driver rolls down the window.

“Hey!” He yells after me. I turn around quickly. I walk over to the open window. I bend down to look inside.

“Yeah?” I say as I rest my arms on the door.

“I will be back here in an hour and a half, at 6:45, to pick you up to be at Ms. Swift’s. Is that okay?” He says with the nicest smile.

“That sounds awesome. Thanks.” I put my hand out for him to shake. He grabs it firmly.

“Oh.” He says as he searches his coat pocket for something. “Here take this.” He pulls out a white card. “It’s my number. In case you get lost again.” He hands it to me. I take it and read the front.

“You’re name’s Samuel?” I say shocked. I swallow the ump in my throat.

“Yeah. Why?” He says with a confused look on his face. I stare at the name on the card. Samuel Davison. I can’t seem to look away. Then I snap out of it.

“Sorry,” I say as I put the card in my pocket. “It’s just that…” I run my fingers through my hair. “That’s… that was my father’s name.” I force myself to say. My head starts to hurt a little. I look over at Samuel. He can tell what’s going on.

“I’m sorry about your dad.” He says in a compassionate voice.

“No it’s okay.” I say quickly. “It was a while ago. Not sure why it hit me so hard just then.” I say with a forced smile. I start to back away from the car.

“I’ll see you at 6:45.” I say as I turn around to look at the hotel I’m staying at. The building is so tall it gets lost in the clouds. I walk up to the glass doors. A doorman is already holding open the door for me.

“Thanks.” I say as I walk in. My jaw drops as I look around the lobby of the hotel. The floors are marble. The ceilings are high and huge glass chandeliers are hanging from them. I walk over to the front desk. The woman behind the desk looks up right as I walk up.

“Hi, I’m Bryan Taylor. I need a room key for my room.” I say with a huge smile on my face. She smiles back at me. Her green eyes light up.

“I have that for you right here.” She says as she starts typing something on her computer. She opens an envelope and takes something out. She hands me a gold key with the number 313 on it. I smile looking at it.

“We all thought you’d like that suite, considering the number.” She smiles and waits for my response. I put the key in my pocket.

“I love it. Thank you.” I say as I walk towards the elevators. There are a few people standing around waiting. I join them. A loud ding makes all of us perk up. The doors open and we all get in. I press the button for level 3. It lights up as I hit it. I look around the elevator. There is a little girl about seven or eight staring at me as she holds her mother’s hand tightly. I smile at her. She smiles back. The elevator stops at the second floor. Almost everyone gets out on that floor, everyone except the little girl and her mom. Her mom looks down at her child only to see her staring at me.

“Honey, it’s not polite to stare at people.” The mother says to her. The little girl looks up at her mom and whispers: “But mommy, he saved Taylor Swift.” The mother quickly looks at me. I smile at her and I pretend I didn’t hear their conversation. Just then the silver elevator doors slide open. I take a step towards the door.

“Thank you!” The little girl shouts as I step out of the elevator. I stop and I turn around quickly. I step in between the doors so that they won’t close.

“Why are you thanking me?” I ask her sweetly. I squat down to her height. She sort of tries to hide behind her mom’s skirt. Suddenly she’s shy.

“For saving Taylor Swift.” She says shyly. I smile at her.

“Well you’re welcome.” Something warms my heart about this whole situation.

“Taylor is her idol.” Her mother says. I look up at her. “We came to Nashville all the way from Maine to try and meet her at the CMAs.”

“Oh really?” I say as I look back at the little girl. She shyly nods. “What’s your name?”

“Kayla.” She says in the cutest, highest voice. I smile at her.

“Well Kayla, I’ll tell Taylor that you love her and I’ll try to spot you at the awards so that you can meet her. How does that sound?” I say with a smile. She bursts into the biggest smile ever. Her face just lights up. I stand up slowly. I look over at her mom.

“Thanks so much.” Her mother says a huge smile.

“Thank you!” Kayla says excitedly. “And and tell her she’s pretty.” She says now jumping up and down. I laugh to myself. I look down at Kayla. Her eyes sparkle with excitement.

“I’ll tell her every day.” I say seriously. “Have a great stay here.” I say politely. I turn around and I walk away from the elevator. I can hear the doors close behind me. I can’t stop smiling. I walk down the hallway to my room. I unlock the door and I walk in. The room is huge. There is a kitchen to my right, a living room right in front of me, and bedrooms through white, double doors on the left. Landon is sitting on a pure white couch. He looks over at me with the biggest smile.

“Dude, this place is awesome.” He says as he stands up. I take a look around the huge suite.

“This whole thing is insane, man.” I say as I walk over to Landon. I sit down on a chair.

“So, Taylor wants us to come over at 7 for some party. You in?” I ask him. He looks at me seriously for a second. It worries me. “What?” I ask him.

“Dude, all I packed was sweats. I’m not about to show up at some rich bitch party in sweats.” Landon plops down on the couch.

“Shit.” I look over at the clock hanging on the wall. “Well we have about an hour to go out and buy some nice clothes. All we really need is a dress shirt and a tie.” I look back at Landon.

“True.” He says as he stands up. “Well let’s go!” He starts walking towards the door. I stand up and I follow him. We get back into the elevator.

“So how’d it go with Taylor? Did you kiss her yet?!” Landon asks me. My heart jumps just thinking about her. She’s so out of my league. I don’t even know why this is all happening. Then it hits me It hits me like a ton of bricks.

“Do you think that I’ve fallen in love with Taylor Swift’s image? What if I don’t know her at all?” I look at the floor when I say it. I’m not really looking for an answer. I don’t get one either. The silver elevator doors open. I follow Landon out into the lobby. He walks up to the front desk and asks the woman for directions to the closest dress clothes store. She tells us it is around the corner. We walk out onto the sidewalk. I take a look around. Suddenly, I’m not so sure why I’m here. I follow Landon down the sidewalk. He looks over at me with a serious face.

“Ya know,” He says still walking forward. “To answer your question before, I don’t think you fell in love with her image. Her image is America’s sweetheart, well you tell me all the time how you fell in love with this sophisticated, fun, talented, sweet girl who loves with all her heart. That’s not her mage. I’m pretty sure that’s her.” Landon looks down at the sidewalk. I search for something to say back to him. I have no idea what to say. I feel so reassured that what I’m doing here is okay. I feel like this dream of being with Taylor Swift might actually be a reality. I look down at the cracked sidewalk.

“Thanks.” I don’t look up. I just keep walking. We walk in silence. Touching moments are always awkward. Landon stops in front of the store. He looks over at me. We walk inside. The entire store is filled with men’s clothes. I walk over to a table full of different color ties. I pick up a bright orange tie.

“Landon!” I turn around and yell at him. I hold up the tie. “This is perfect for you.” I stop myself from laughing. Landon gives me a dirty look.

“That is the worst fucking color.” He walks over to the other side of the store. I laugh and I put the tie back on the table. I look through the ties some more. I find a black one and I take it with me. I walk over to Landon who is looking through a rack of button up shirts. I look through them too. I search for a black shirt. I find one in my size and I take it. I look over at Landon who is still looking.

“Dude, just pick a shirt.” I say to him from across the rack of shirts. He looks up at me.

“This is a big deal. I can’t just wear a plain white shirt. Who knows who will be there.” He continues looking for a shirt.

“Just pick one.” I say to him. I walk over to a wall with shelves filled with black pants. I take a pair that is my size. I look over at Landon. He has a red shirt and a black tie in his hands.

“After all that you pick a red shirt?” I ask him. He doesn’t respond. He just glares. He walks over to where I am. He picks out a pair of pants. We walk up to the counter. We put all of our clothes down. The guy behind the counter smiles at us.

“How are you guys today?” He says as he grabs our clothes and rings them up.

“Good.” I say quickly. He finishes ringing us up and we pay him. We take our bags and we leave the store. I check my phone for the time. I stop walking.

“What?” Landon stops to look at me. He looks concerned.

“We have 45 minutes to get ready.” I say horrified, with my eyes wide. Landon stares at me.

“Well fuck.” He turns around and runs towards to hotel. Without thinking I chase him.

“Landon, hold up!” I shout after him. I chase Landon into the hotel lobby and to the elevators. He slams the elevator button on the wall. We anxiously wait for the elevator. The doors slide open and me and Landon rush in. I quickly press the level 3 button. The doors close slowly. They seem to take forever.

“Come on!” I say anxiously. The doors close and the elevator starts moving. I quickly check my phone again.

“30 minutes!” I say allowed. I can feel my heart beat faster. The elevator stops and the doors slowly open. Landon runs out. I follow him down the hall to our suite at the end. He stops at the door. He checks his pockets then looks up at me.

“Key!” He holds out his hand. I take out the key in my pocket. I hand it to him. He quickly unlocks the door and rushes in. I follow him in. I head for the bathroom. I close the door behind me. I put the bag of clothes on the counter. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in that I am going to a party at Taylor Swift’s apartment. That’s good though. I have no time for a break down. I pull out the pants I bought and I pull the tags off. I put the pants on quickly. I take off my shirt and I drop it on the floor. I take out the black button up shirt I bought. I rip off the tags and I put it on. I button it up quickly. I stand back and I look at myself in the mirror. My brown hair is all messy. I look down at Landon’s comb next to the sink. I pick it up. I look at it and I contemplate combing my hair for the first time in my life. I run the comb through my hair. I look at myself in the mirror. My hair looks awkward when you comb it. It’s too short to be combed. When it’s combed it all stays down and makes me look like I belong in a military school. I mess my hair up with my hands. I take the tie out of the bag. I put it around my neck. I tie it perfectly. I gather all of my clothes and I walk out of the bathroom. Landon is all dressed and ready to go. I find my bookbag and I shove all my clothes in it. I look over at the clock on the wall. Five minutes left. I put my black sneakers back on.

“Ready?” Landon says as he walks over to the door. I look over at him. My heart pounds in my chest. I swallow hard.

“Yeah.” I follow him out of the door. We walk back down to the elevators. We get inside and go down to the lobby. I tuck in my shirt as we wait for the elevator doors to open. We walk outside and towards the same black car that picked us up before. I look for Samuel in the front seat. He gets out and opens our door. We get into the car. Samuel comes back around to the front and gets in. I look over at Landon. My heart is racing.

“This is insane.” Just then it hit me. We are going to Taylor Swift’s apartment. Suddenly, I can’t breathe.

___________________________________________________

CHAPTER 9:

The car takes off up the street. My heart continues pounding. I start to feel light headed.

“You okay?” Landon asks me concerned. I look over at him. I take a deep breath.

“Yeah” I say quietly. I look out the window. I slowly catch my breath. This is all so overwhelming. I’m going to be in a crowded room with people I don’t even know, and are mostly famous. It seems to be a little scary. It seems to prove my point that I don’t belong here and I don’t belong with Taylor.

“Give me a call tonight if you guys need a ride. The hotel is right around the corner though.” Samuel says from up front. My train of thought it lost. I look up at him disheveled. “Do you still have my card Bryan?” I catch my breath and I put my hand in my pocket. I feel my phone and the room key. I put my hand in my other pocket. I know I took it with me. I feel the card and I take it out. I look at it quickly and then I put it back.

“Yeah. I have it.” I say politely. Suddenly, Samuel is pulling over. The card stops in front of a building. I look up at it. My heart starts pounding again. I don’t want to open the door. I don’t want to get out. For some reason I am so scared to go inside. I think I’m afraid that I will go inside and realize how much I don’t belong here. Landon shoves me a little bit. I turn around to glare at him. I take a deep breath as I reach for the door handle. I open the door and I step out. My legs shake as I walk over to the front door of this building. I freeze in front of the door. I can’t get myself to go inside. Landon walks up next to me.

“The driver said that her apartment is on the top floor.” He opens the door as he says this. He walks in and I follow him. I look around at the beautiful lobby. Suddenly, my head starts to hurt. I don’t want to look around anymore. I already know I shouldn’t be here. I put my head down and I make my way over to the elevator. We get in and we wait to get to the top floor. I look at my reflection in the silver doors of the elevator. I nervously straighten my tie. I make sure my shirt is tucked in. My hands shake as I put them in my pockets. I lean up against the back wall of the elevator. I try to relax. Landon looks over at me. He is obviously worried.

“What’s your problem now?” He sounds fed up with me. I look at him and I shake my head.

“Nothing. Just nervous to be in her apartment. It’s sort of surreal, I guess.” I say with a fake smile. Landon nods in agreement.

“Yeah, it’s very surreal.” He says as he leans against the wall of the elevator. The doors open up and we look at each other.  I walk out of the elevator. Landon follows me up to the door. I look back at Landon nervously. I can see in his eyes that he is nervous now too. I knock on the door quickly with shaky hands. I wait for someone to answer the door. I almost wish no one would. Suddenly the door opens and someone I don’t know is standing in the doorway.
            “Yes?” says the stranger. I look at Landon confused.
            “Uh… We are-” I begin to say. Taylor interrupts and walks into view behind him. I look behind the stranger at the door and at Taylor. My heart races, but I like the feeling.
            “Hi!” I say with the biggest smile. She smiles and looks down at the floor.
            “Come on in!” she says. The stranger moves out of the way and we walk inside. I look around the room. Almost all the walls are brick in some areas. The rest are white. I smile at the size of the apartment. It’s bigger than I thought. There are about 40 people in here. I walk up to Taylor. She’s wearing the most beautiful red dress. It’s short and it hugs her body perfectly. She gives me a big hug. Then she gives Landon a hug.
            “Do you guys want some wine or anything?” she says looking at me. I look over at Landon. We instantly think about all the parties we had in our past. We instantly realize that the answer to her question will always be no.
            “No thanks.” I say to her politely.
            “I don’t drink. Can I just get water?” Landon says with a smirk. I hold in my laughter as I think about how much of a lie that actually is.
            “He drinks. Don’t listen to his lies. He just drinks too much.” I tell Taylor as I still try to hold in my laughter.
            “Water it is then.” She says with a smile.
            “I can get it. Just point in the direction of the H2O.” Landon says. He’s so stupid. Taylor lets out a small laugh. I think she sees how stupid he is too.
            “Over there.” She says as she points towards a table in the other room. Landon looks at me and then walks away. Taylor watches him walk away almost as if she is waiting for him to be out of earshot.
            “Are you a drinker too?” She says turning back to look at me. She smiles at me.
            “No. Not anymore anyway.” I say with a smile. “Neither of us drink anymore.”
            “Whys that?” She asks me. “Because of your dad?”

“Yeah. We want to make him proud of us.” I say as I look down at the floor. 
            “I’m sure he’s very proud of you.” Taylor says in a kind voice. “So Landon was close to your dad too?” She asks me. I look up at her. 
            “He lived next to me when we were growing up. His father left him when he was 4 and my dad kind of took over the roll.” I say looking at Taylor. “He was the only father figure Landon really had.” I tell Taylor. She seems so interested in the story. I watch as Landon walks back up to us. Taylor and I stop talking and look away from each other nervously.
            “So do all these people work for you?” Landon asks Taylor as he walks up. He takes a sip of his water. Taylor looks around the room.
            “Oh, that’s not the words I would use.” She says with a smile. “They are all my friends” Taylor looks back at me. I look at her beautiful dress and then back at her beautiful eyes.

“You look beautiful.” I say without thinking. My heart races as I wait for her response. She smiles bigger than I’ve ever seen before.

“Thank you.” She says as she glances at the floor nervously. “You look great yourself.” She says it so heavenly that my heart stops for a millisecond. I smile back at her. I look over at Landon who is silently laughing to himself.
            “Taylor!” I hear someone call from behind me. I turn around to see Selena Gomez standing in the doorway. Taylor runs over to her and hugs her. I look back at Landon. We both look confused. We both stare at Taylor and Selena talking for awhile. We can’t hear what they are saying, but we just can’t look away.
            “Dude. That’s Selena fucking Gomez.” Landon says to me after a while.
            “Yeah.” I say still staring. I force myself to turn away and I look back at Landon. Suddenly someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around to see who it is.

“Hi, I’m Taylor’s publicist.” She says. Suddenly I feel like I’ve done something wrong.

“Oh, hey.” I say to her.

“I just wanted to introduce myself. I heard you’ve been talking to the paparazzi.” She says emotionless. I look at Landon for back up.

“Yeah, sorry if I’m saying too much to them.” I say to her nicely.

“Oh no, it’s fine. You can say whatever. Just realize that Taylor cannot.” She says to me. I’m not too sure what she’s trying to get across to me and I don’t really care.

“Yeah of course.” I pretend to understand. She smiles at me. Suddenly I hear someone start to talk louder than the crowd.
            “Can I have everyone’s attention?” They say. The crowd quiets down. I turn to look at the guy who’s talking. Suddenly Taylor appears.
            “Hi everyone!” She says with a huge smile. “I wanted to thank y’all for coming. It means a lot.” She says. “I just wanted to take some time to thank Bryan for all he’s done.” Taylor says with a smile. She looks directly at me. My heart races. Everyone turns to look at me. They all start clapping. I can feel my face get red. I smile. Everyone turns to look back at Taylor.
            “In case you didn’t know, Bryan saved my life about a week ago.” Taylor begins to say. My heart starts racing as I remember that day. “It all happened so fast. But Bryan was there to save me.” My head starts to pound. I look over at Landon. He’s staring at Taylor talk. Behind him I spot glass doors to a balcony. It’s the perfect escape from this awkwardness. I look back at Taylor. She’s staring right at me. 
            “I’m very clumsy and awkward so it’s a good thing Bryan was there.” Taylor says. My head pounds even more now. I start to feel like I shouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that damn accident. I start walking towards the glass doors. I look at Taylor. Her eyes follow me as I walk away from the big crowd. Her smile fades as she watches me walk away. She looks confused.
            “Uh, and I want to thank all of you for all your hard work this year.” She stutters to say. I take a glass of water with me as I exit onto the balcony. I close the doors behind me. The still of the night is so quiet. I walk over to the railing. I lean on it. The air is cool. The city lights are below me. I look up at the stars in the sky.
            “I don’t know how I got here. I just don’t know.” I say to the sky. My headache fades away. I realize that I’m not supposed to be here. It doesn’t feel right. There are all these people in there who live a different life than me, including Taylor. Then it hits me, it can’t work between me and Taylor. That’s what her publicist was trying to tell me. Our lives are too different. Suddenly the glass doors open behind me. I turn to see who it is. Taylor walks out. This is the only time I’ve been disappointed to see her. She closes the door behind her.
            “Are you okay?” She says as she walks up next to me. Her red dress flows in the wind.
            “I just…. I don’t know what I’m doing here.” I say to her.
            “What do you mean?” She asks me. She seems confused. I don’t expect her to understand.
            “I mean, I came here because I thought I had a chance with you. Which I now know is so stupid.” I say to her. I kind of feel embarrassed that I thought I had a chance with her. I look at my glass of water.
            “It’s not stupid.” Taylor says as she looks out at the buildings below.
            “I was looking around at everyone in there. And I don’t fit in. I’m not famous, I’m not anyone really.” I take a sip of my water.
            “Maybe not. But you are my friend. We’re friends..” She says still staring out at the night. I look down at the ground. My heart sinks hearing her say that we are just friends. The “friend zone” is not my favorite place to be. I take another sip of water. 
            “Before I forget, my publicist wanted me to make sure you know not to say anything to the paparazzi or anyone about what happens or doesn’t happen with us.” She says with a smile. I stare at her for a second. I try to figure out how her publicist had a change of heart suddenly.
            “Wha—? Wait.” I say confused. “Is that why you brought me here? To make sure I don’t spread rumors about us?” I say to her. Taylor looks at me confused. 
            “What? No. That’s not why.” She says quickly.
            “You just wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up your reputation. Didn’t you?” I ask her. She stares at me blankly. “Because I talked to your publicist earlier and she never brought it up. In fact she told me that I could say whatever I want.” I say coldly to her. Taylor looks down at the ground. She starts playing with the ring on her finger.
            “I just…” She says twisting her ring around her finger nervously. I stare at her for a second. I wait for her to finish. I can’t figure out if she trying to sabotage everything we could have or if she is really not the person I thought she was. I don’t feel like thinking about it.
            “Don’t worry. I won’t say a thing. As far as I’m concerned I never met you.” I say as I walk back into the apartment. I can feel her watch me walk away. I seem to be doing a lot of that tonight. I put my glass of water on the nearest table. I walk towards the door. Landon walks up next to me.
            “Dude where were you? Taylor gave a touching speech about you.” He says with a smirk.
            “Yeah.” I say harshly. “Let’s just get out of here.” I walk out the front door. Landon follows me and shuts the door behind him.
            “What’s wrong?” He asks me as he catches up to me in the elevator.
            “She just wanted me here to make sure I didn’t say anything to anyone about us.” I say to Landon.
            “You know that’s not true, Bryan.” He says to me. “Why would she invite you to the CMAs and make you part of the show if that was the case?” He asks me. I don’t really have an answer. Not having an answer infuriates me even more. The elevator doors open. I storm out of the elevator. Landon follows me. 
            “You’re just running away from her, Bry.” Landon says to me. I walk out of the building and on to the sidewalk. 
            “I’ve seen you run away from love ever since your dad was diagnosed.” He says to me. I stop in the middle of the sidewalk. That statement makes me freeze. I take a deep breath. I turn around to look at Landon.
            “She doesn’t love me Landon!” I say to loudly. “She’s made that clear when she called me her friend a million times in one sentence. She wants to be friends, we are friends, friends, friends, friends.” I ramble off. I try to catch my breath. Landon walks up to me.
            “You’re not the only one afraid of love, Bry. Think about it. You don’t think Taylor’s afraid too? Think about her songs and all those guys that have hurt her. You don’t think she’s scared?” Landon asks me. I don’t respond. I hate how logical he’s becoming. I’m starting to hate how illogical I’m becoming. I start to realize how illogical it was for me to storm out.
            “You both are running because you both feel it. Don’t run, Bry. It would be real cool to see you happy for a change.” Landon says to me. I look up at Taylor’s apartment building.
            “I don’t know how to stop running Landon.” I look back at him.
            “Let’s just go back to the hotel and sleep it off. Tomorrow you can figure it out.” Landon says as we start to walk down the sidewalk again. Then it hits me.
            “Tomorrows the awards!” I say to Landon as we round the corner. Landon looks at me wide eyed.
            “Way to fuck this all up.” He says to me seriously.
            “I don’t even want to go to the awards.” I say as we cross the street. Landon looks at me. 
            “Do you love Taylor?” He asks me bluntly. I look at him confused. 
            “Of course.” I say as I look down at the sidewalk.
            “Then why are you sabotaging this entire thing you two have going on?” He asks me. “She obviously cares for you. She asked you to be her date to the show. That’s big. Two people can’t run away from each other. Someone has to chase the other.” He says to me.
            “I guess both of us were sabotaging everything.” I realize. I take a deep breath. “That must mean I have start running. You know I hate exercise.” I say to him sarcastically. Landon smiles a little. We both walk into our hotel and head up to our room. I unlock the door and we walk into the dark room. I walk into the bed room.
            “So how am I going to fix this?” I ask him and I sit down on my bed. Landon sits down on his bed right across from mine.
            “Just go see her tomorrow before the show. Apologize and go with her.” Landon says as he takes off his tie and shoes. I do the same. I drop my shoes on the ground. I get up and I put my tie in my backpack that is lying in the corner. I pick it up and I walk into the bathroom. I close the door behind me. I put my backpack on the counter next to the sink. I pace back and forth, from the door to the wall. The bathroom is bigger than anything I’ve ever seen before. My nerves are still sky high. Now I’m nervous about whether or not Taylor will forgive me. I wouldn’t forgive me if I was her. I grab my sweatpants and my t-shirt out of my bag and I put them on. I fold my nice clothes and I put them back into my bag. I walk back out into the bedroom. Landon is already in his bed asleep. I put my backpack back in the corner of the room. I look over at the clock in the middle of the wall. It’s only 9:10. Wow, it only took me less than two hours to fuck everything up with Taylor tonight. I collapse onto my bed. I stare up at the ceiling replaying everything I said to Taylor tonight. I feel so stupid for not seeing what she was trying to do tonight. She was trying to run away from me, from love. I should have stopped her. The more I think about it the more I feel like punching myself in the face. I roll over and I get under the covers. I feel so run down and tired. Before I know it I’m asleep.

________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 10:

I hear a loud sudden slam of the door to my bedroom. I jump out of bed. For some reason I don’t feel tired, or awake. I feel like I’m in a haze. I look over at Landon lying in the bed across from mine. He’s still sound asleep. Now it’s getting creepy.

“Hello?” I say as I walk towards my bedroom door which is now shut. I open it and I walk out into the main room. I hear the TV around the corner on quietly. I walk towards it. With every step I take I feel like I’m floating. As I look behind the wall I see Taylor sitting on the couch. All my anxiety falls away. I break into a huge smile.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” I say as I sit down next to her on the couch. She looks over at me and smiles. She doesn’t answer my question. She just stares into my eyes. I can’t help but to notice that her eyes seem bluer than normal. Is that even possible? It makes me heart jump in my chest. It makes my smile grow even bigger. A strand of her hair falls out of the ponytail she has. It falls right in front of her eyes. It feels like this moment is too perfect. I feel weightless. Without thinking I gently brush her hair behind her ear. My heart jumps as my hand gently slides across her skin. She looks down and then back up at me. The moment seems too perfect. It’s like the scene from the You Belong with Me video. Taylor leans in and closes her eyes. Without thinking I do the same thing. I know where this is leading. I’m going to kiss Taylor Swift. My heart nearly stops beating as I lean it. Everything feels like it’s in slow motion. Nothing feels real. My lips are only inches from hers. Now centimeters. She puts her hand gently on the side of my face. My heart stops. I stop breathing. I get ready to kiss her. Aaaannnnndddd ttthhhheeennn,

I open my eyes. I jump up. My heart is racing. I look around. I’m still in my bed. It was all a dream. Are you kidding me? I look over at Landon still asleep in his bed. For a second I think that it’s might not be a dream. I get out of bed slowly. I walk over to the bedroom door. This time it’s open. My steps feel so heavy. I feel so tired. I rub my eyes as I walk over to the couches. I sleepily walk around the corner. I look down at the empty couch. That empty couch is the biggest disappointment I’ve ever seen. Seeing that empty couch makes me remember reality. It makes me remember how Taylor is probably waking up now madder than ever at me. It makes me remember that this reality sucks. I want to go back to my dream. I look over at the clock to see if I have some time to go back to sleep. Of course I don’t. It’s 11am. I should probably head over to Taylor’s before she leaves to rehearse for the last time or to get ready for tonight. I hurry up and I take a shower and get dressed. I look around the bedroom for my phone. I finally find it on the floor. I put it and my wallet into my back pockets of my jeans. I pick up my room key and I put it in my front pocket. I look over at Landon who is still sound asleep.

“Landon!” I yell from across the room. He just rolls over and away from me. 

“Landon!” I yell again. 

“Hmm?” he mumble sleepily. 

“I’m headed over to Taylor’s. You might want to get up it’s almost noon.” I say to him. I don’t think he heard me. I walk out of the bedroom. I stare at the couch as I walk past it and towards the front door. I picture my dream for a second. A smile stretches across my face as I think about it. I walk out of the room and into the long hallway. I walk down to the elevator and I wait. I start thinking of what to say to Taylor while I wait. I can’t seem to explain what I’m feeling. The elevator doors open. I get inside with a few other people. I think more about what to say as we go down to the lobby. Maybe I should just tell her I’m scared. Maybe I should tell her I don’t feel good enough for her. I look down at the floor as I think all of this. The doors open and we all rush out. I walk out of the front doors and on to the street. I walk towards Taylor’s apartment. I get a bad feeling that she won’t even be there and then what? It’s not like I have her number yet. Any time she’s called me it’s been a blocked number. Suddenly I notice out of the corner of my eye a black car slowing down next to me. I glance over at it. It looks familiar. It’s not the black SUV Samuel drives me around in. It’s a small car. I glance back at it again. It has a small dent in the front of it. It’s hardly noticeable at first. Then it hits me. That’s the car that ran me over a few weeks ago. I stop instantly and I turn around to look at the car. It speeds up and before I can see who is behind the wheel the cars gone. I know that was the car that hit me. I know it! I mean I should know. I got close enough to it. The car hit me and took off and now it’s stalking me? I stand there on the sidewalk thinking about all this. It can’t be true. Why would someone want to run me over and then stalk me? It just doesn’t make sense. My head starts to pound as I think about all of this. I must just be paranoid. No one is stalking me. No one is trying to kill me. It was just a car that looked like the one that hit me. It couldn’t have been the same one. I start to walk towards Taylor’s again. I force myself to stop thinking about the car. It’s not important. I walk into Taylor’s building. I guess it’s as simple as just taking the elevator up to her floor. I get into the elevator. I wait nervously for the doors to open again. I try to control my heart beat, but it doesn’t seem to work. I feel sort of out of breath. The doors open and I take a step out. My legs shake as I stand in the hallway. One of Taylor’s bodyguard is standing in front of her door. I guess that means she’s home. I walk up to him.

“Hi, so.. uhm.. I need to talk to Taylor.” I say nervously. He doesn’t really respond to me.

“Is that okay?” I ask him. He looks at me and then down the hallway and then back at me.

“Does she know you’re coming?” He asks me. He’s making this feel like I’m trying to break into the CIA headquarters. It’s just her apartment.

“Sort of.” I say quickly. He just looks at me. “It’s not like she doesn’t know, but it’s not like she does. So it’s a mixture of does and does not.” I blurt out. He just stares at me with his eyes squinted. He’s confused. He starts to nod as if he finally understands what I was trying to say.

“Okay, kid.” He opens the door for me and lets me in. He doesn’t even unlock it. The door was open the whole time. I could have just walked in myself.

“Thanks.” I say sarcastically. I walk in and right away I spot Taylor sitting on her couch. The door closes behind me. She looks up at the sound of the door closing. She doesn’t look excited to see me.

“What are you doing here?” She says bluntly. She gets up off the couch. I take a few steps forward.

“I uh… I… I wanted to apologize.” I look down at the ground nervously. I haven’t thought this out very far.

“Thanks for the apology.” She says with a straight face. She doesn’t look like she’s forgiven me at all. “I got someone to drive you back home considering according to you ‘we never met’.” She quotes my words from last night exactly. It hurts to hear her say them.

“Look, I didn’t mean that.” I say as I take a step towards her. She just stands there looking down at the carpet. “I wish I had this all planned out to the point where I could show up and tell you exactly how I’m feeling, but I’m not really that expressive. I can’t even explain it to myself let alone to you.” I say to her. I search for the right way to tell her what happened with my last night. I can’t form any sentences. Taylor looks up at me.

“I wish I knew what you’re feeling, but I don’t. All I know is what you told me last night.” She pauses and looks down at the floor again. My heart sinks, just as it’s been doing since I got here. She starts walking towards the door behind me. “Thank you so much for saving me, and I hope you had fun seeing my rehearsal.” She opens the door and stands next to it. “The car will take you home at 6 tonight. Thank you for everything.” She pauses and thinks of what to say next. I take a few steps towards her. Right as I’m about to beg her not to kick me out, she says: “Thanks for being a fan.” Right then I forget everything I wanted to say. She stares me in the eyes. She knows how much that comment stings. I guess I’ve gone from fan, to hero, to friend, to love interest, to fan again. Ow. I walk out of the door. Right as I turn around to say my final words Taylor closes the door gently. At least she didn’t slam it. I can’t picture Taylor Swift slamming a door on anyone. Actually, I can. I really can. I stare at the door for a second. I picture it being like the movies where she is on the other side wanting me just as much as I want her. But after all this, I realize that nothing so far has ended like the movies. I’ve yet to have a happy ending. I turn around and I begin to walk away. I take one step and then I stop myself.

“No, I will not walk away.” I say to myself quietly. “No.” I step back to the door. I knock loudly on it. “Taylor, I’m not going to just walk away!” I say loud enough so that she can hear me on the other side of the door. “I can actually feel something between us. I’ve never been with someone who makes me nervous every second. I’ve never liked someone so much that I want to run away from it.” I stop and I wait for a response. I don’t get one. “I guess that was what I was doing last night. I was running. I was sabotaging everything because you deserve the best and I’m so afraid that I can’t give that to you.” I take a deep breath and I wait for a response. Nothing. Silence. “Taylor?” I just want to see if she heard me. “Taylor?!” Suddenly her bodyguard is standing right in front of me.

“I think it’s time for you to go.” He says sternly. He puts his hands on my shoulders and he pushes me back a few steps.

“No.” I say to him firmly. I look past him at the closed door. I struggle past him and I stand right next to the door. “Taylor! I know you heard me. Please, say something!” I beg. My hope fades away. She’s not going to say anything. The security guard pushes me out of the way again. He pushes me all the way back to the elevator. I let him. I realize there’s not much hope. I get into the elevator with a broken heart and a pounding headache.

“Sorry, kid.” He says to me as the elevator doors slowly slide shut. I lean against the back wall in the elevator. I feel like I can’t stand up. I’ve lost her. After all this, I’ve lost her. The elevator doors open again. I walk out and out of the building. I walk away from the building without even looking back. I walk past the hotel. I keep walking straight. I don’t know where I’m going, but I don’t think about it. I don’t think about anything. In fact, I feel nothing. I feel numb.

After a while I see a bar on the corner. I end up inside of it somehow. I end up sitting at the bar somehow. Somehow I end up ordering shots after shots. And somehow I end up drunk. I look at the bartender. Everything is blurry.

“One more.” I say to him. My speech is slurred.

“You’ve had enough. I’m cutting you off.” He says to me. He takes the unfinished bottle of beer I had sitting on the bar. He throws it in the trash.

“H-h-hey.” I struggle to say. I stand up from the stool. My legs shake and wobble and then I fall to the ground. I burst out laughing. The two guys next to me help me up while the bartender watches. I sit back down on the stool.

“Do you have anyone who can come take you home?” The bartender asks. I nod my head quickly. I hand him my phone.

“La-Landon.” I slur my words. He looks through my phone and calls him.

“Uh, your friend- what’s your name?” He asks me quickly.

“Bryan.” I say with a slur.

“Your friend, Bryan, is at my bar drunk as can be. He needs someone to get him home.” The bartender says into the phone. He pauses and waits for an answer. “Yeah, that hotel is only a few blocks from here. See you soon.” He hangs up the phone and hands it back to me. I put it back into my pocket. It takes me a few tries.

“What’s wrong with you?” The bartender asks me. He leans on the bar. I look up at him confused.

“Why-wh-at makes you think I havvve a problem?” I struggle to say.

“I’ve been a bartender for 10 years. No one drinks that much unless they have a problem they want to forget.” He says to me. I look back at him.

“Taylor Swift doesn’t love me.” I say without thinking. The bartender laughs.

“Everyone have that problem.” He says to me. Suddenly Landon walks through the front door. I stand up. I struggle to keep my balance.

“Buuuddyyy!” I yell as I walk over to him. Landon doesn’t look amused. Suddenly I lose my balance and I fall to the dirty blue and black carpet in the bar. I’m out.

When I finally come to I’m in the hotel bed. I open my eyes I’m hit with the worst headache. I slowly get out of bed.

“Landon?” I say loud enough for anyone in the room to hear. I walk into the main room. Landon is sitting at the only table in the room. He looks over at me with a serious face.

“Sit.” He says sternly. I slowly walk over to the chair. My head pounds with every slow step I make. I sit down in the chair. Landon stares at me for a few seconds.

“What the fuck happened?” He asks me. I let out a deep breath.

“I messed everything up. She didn’t take me back.” I say as I put my head down on the table.

“How the fuck did that end with you drunk at a bar?!” Landon yells at me. It makes my head hurt even more. I look at him.

“I don’t know, okay!? I just stopped thinking!” I yell back at him.

“This isn’t a game anymore, Bryan! This isn’t fun anymore! This isn’t just about Taylor anymore. This is about how you let your father down, the man that never stopped believing in you, in us!!” Landon stands up quickly. “We promised we wouldn’t ever let him down again! Do you know how hard that’s been for me?! Why can’t you just try?!” He yells.

“You’re honestly going to stand there and say I never tried?! I’ve tried so hard Landon! Don’t give me that bullshit that only you’ve tried!” I stand up from my chair. I’ve never yelled so loud before in my life. There is sudden silence. Neither of us has anything left to say.

“I think we need to go home, Bryan. If this one girl is going to do this to us then we need to leave. We are all we have now, and we can’t let it all be ruined because of this girl.” Landon says as he catches his breath from yelling. I let it sink it.

“No Landon. You have Spencer. I have nothing.” I say bluntly. I walk into the bedroom and I slam the door shut. I fall onto bed and I lay there staring at the ceiling. I hear the front door open and close. I look over at Landon’s side of the bedroom. All his things are gone. He’s gone. I walk out of the bedroom and over to the front door I open it quickly. Landon is walking down the hallway.

“Where are you going!?” I yell after him. He stops where he is. He slowly turns around.

“I’m going back home, where things are normal. I’m going back to Spencer.” He says to me. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to him forever for some reason.

“Well, what do I do then?” I ask him. I need an answer. He always gives me the answers. Landon looks down at the ground.

“Fight for her. But-” He looks up at me. “Don’t lose who you are.” That comment echoes in my head. Landon gives me a half smile and then turns around and walks away. I watch him get into the elevator. It’s then I realize that he doesn’t want to be a part of this anymore. I think he doesn’t want to be a part of me anymore. I walk back into the room and I close the door. Suddenly everything I had is now gone. I lean up against the closed door. My legs can’t keep me up anymore. I slide down the ground. I look around the suddenly empty room. I stare at the empty couch that mocked me this morning. I look at the clock behind it. 5:30pm? How long was I out? Suddenly I remember that I’m supposed to be out of here by 6. I stand up quickly. I pace back and forth from the door to the couch thinking of a plan. I have to fight for her. I have to. The awards are in 2 hours. I have 2 hours. Despite of my splitting headache I come up with the most genius plan to win Taylor back.

I quickly hop in the shower. I need one after being out of my mind drunk earlier. I get out and I brush my teeth for twenty minutes. I don’t want the taste of beer in my mouth. I put on the dress clothes I bought at the store a while ago. I put my tie on and I tie my shoes. I look through my bag for the pills the doctor gave me for my headaches. I take two. I look at the clock quickly. It’s 6pm and Samuel should be downstairs waiting to take me home. I rush out of the room and down the hallway. I get into the elevator and I wait to get to the lobby. I fix my tie and I tuck my shirt in really quick. The doors open and I step out. I walk out of the building and on to the sidewalk. I look around for Samuel’s car. Suddenly he pulls up in front of me.

“I’m here to take you home.” He says through the open window. I get into the open front seat. I look at him.

“Change of plans.” I say to him. He just looks at me confused.

CHAPTER 11! Phase One.

            The car ride is silent. I look over at Samuel staring straight ahead at the road. He glances at me. I quickly look away. This is just awkward. I feel like I need to break the silence.

“So…” I begin. “Why’d you agree to take me to the CMA’s? Can’t you get into trouble for not taking me back home like you were supposed to?” I look over at him. I wait for a response.

“My job is to drive you where you want to go. You want to go to the CMA’s. It’s not my job to stop you.” He looks over at me and smiles. He found a loophole.

“Clever.” I say. The silence slowly creeps back.

“Please tell me you at least have a plan…” Samuel says. I smile. I’m so proud of my plan. It is completely foolproof.

“I have a plan.” I say with a huge smile. Samuel looks at me. His smile slowly fades away. Now he just looks concerned. He looks back at the road.

“You can’t show up to the CMA’s in just a shirt. You have to wear a jacket or you’ll never get in.” He says while staring at the road ahead. I look down at my black shirt and tie.

“Oh.” I mumble.

“Here take mine.” Samuel takes one hand off the wheel and pulls his arm out of the sleeve. He puts that hand on the wheel and pulls the other out of the jacket. He hands it to me. I take it and I put it on. It’s actually a perfect fit. Samuel looks over at me. He nods to approve.

“Looks good.” He says. I look over at Samuel in just a plain white shirt and tie. He looks strange without his jacket. I glance out the window to my right really fast. I spot a black car parked with its headlights on. I examine it before we drive past it. It has the same dent in the front. It’s the same car. It’s following me. My eyes widen. My heart races. I turn around and I kneel on the seat. I stare out the back window at the car as we drive away from it. Samuel looks at me confused. Once the car is out of sight I sit back down facing forward.

“What?” Samuel asks. I stare ahead processing this. Why are they following me? I don’t understand. “What is it?” He asks again, this time more urgent.

“I just… That black car looked like the one that hit me.” I stutter. I’m still confused by this. “I think I saw it the other day following me. Now I saw it again.” I say. Samuel looks over at me with squinted eyes. He doesn’t get it either.

“Why would that car being following you?” He asks me. I have no answer. He turns to look back at the road. “I doubt it’s following you. They probably just have a similar car and live around here. I mean if anything the car that hit you was trying to hit Taylor Swift, not you. It wouldn’t be following you.” Samuel says. I think about it. He’s right.

“That’s true. They probably just live here.” I say relieved. I let out a breath of relief. The car stops behind a car. Traffic… I look at the clock. It’s already 7. We’ve been in the car for an hour.

“Jesus, Samuel. How far away is this place?” I ask him.

“Close. There’s traffic. Streets are blocked off and we don’t exactly have an escort there. Plus I’m assuming you want to be let out a few blocks away.” He says to me. I nod.

“So what’s your plan? Are you going to sneak in the back?” He looks at me. I smile at him manically.

“I’m going to walk right onto the red carpet.” I say proudly. Again, my plan is foolproof. Samuel stares at me like I’m stupid.

“How do you plan on doing that?” He says. Suddenly the traffic is moving and so are we.

“I’m banking on the fact that they will assume automatically that I am with Taylor and let me in.” I say with a smile. Samuel looks at me and nods.

“That’s actually a good idea. I’m sure they will assume that right away. But one problem…” He says. My heart drops. “What are you going to do once you are on the red carpet and Taylor sees you? She’s not just going to take you back or talk to you, and you’re not just going to get to sit with her.” I look at Samuel with a huge smile.

“I have it all figured out.” I say. Suddenly he’s pulling the car over. The car stops. I look out the window. Across the street is the venue where the CMA’s are. I can see the red carpet. Samuel puts the car into park.

“I hope this all works out for you.” He says kindly. “Call me when you need a ride back.” I open the door and I get out.

“Thanks for everything.” I say to him as I step out. I close the door and Samuel drives away.

I cross the street carefully. I walk up to the venue. Photographers are everywhere. I walk in between them and towards the entrance to the red carpet. They snap photos of me.

“Bryan, Bryan over here!” Some of them yell. I look in the direction of the yells. This is going just as planned. The photographers know me, so they have to let me in. I walk up the the entrance. A lady holding a clipboard stops me.

“Where’s your crew?” She says to me. I stop and I look at her.

“Uh, I got stuck in traffic. Apparently I’m not important enough to wait for.” She chuckles. “I’m here with Taylor Swift.” I smile at her. She looks down at her clipboard. I’m not sure what it says down there, but she moves aside and lets me in.

“Okay. She’s already on the carpet. The show starts in 20 minutes.” She says. I look down the red carpet. It’s long. I take a step onto the red carpet. I put my hands in my pockets and I take a few steps. Flashes of light are everywhere. It’s sort of overwhelming. A few people are screaming my name. I take a few more steps.

Suddenly I see the little girl from the hotel right in front of the crowd around the gates. It’s Kayla and her mom. I smile and I walk over to them. Kayla smiles as she sees me. She jumps up and down a few times. She pulls on her mother’s shirt to get her to look at me coming their way. She looks up at me right as I get to them.

“Hey!” I say to Kayla. “You made it!” Kayla jumps up and down. She grabs the young girls hand next to her. I look over at the girl. She looks my age. She has beautiful long dark brown hair and gorgeous green eyes.

“And you are…” I say politely. I hold out my hand for her to shake.

“Jess.” She says with a smile. She shakes my hand.

“She’s my big sis!” Kayla yells. I look down at her and I smile.

“She is!?” I pretend to be excited. “Well I promised you that you’d meet Taylor, so here I am.” I say with a smile. Jess looks at me with a concerned face.

“She already passed by a few minutes ago. She didn’t even notice us.” She says with a sad face. Kayla’s smile fades. It breaks my heart to see the little girl sad.

“Well, that’s okay.” I start to think of an idea. She has to meet Taylor. “You have to meet Taylor.” I say to Kayla. She smiles at me. I turn to the mother. “This is going to sound crazy, but can I take Kayla with me for a couple seconds?” She looks shocked. “I’ll just take her down the carpet to Taylor so they can meet.” I say with a nice smile. She might think I want to steal her child. I really don’t. Kayla looks at her mother with puppy dog eyes.

“Please! Please! Please!” Kayla says to her mother. Her mother nods.

“Okay, sure, but take Jess.” She says. I look over at Jess. She smiles. She’s beautiful when she smiles. Not as beautiful as Taylor, but that’s physically impossible anyway. I reach down to get a hold of Kayla’s waist. I lift her up and over the fence. I put her down on the red carpet. Her mother quickly takes out her camera and takes a picture of her little girl on the red carpet. Jess starts to climb the fence. I help her over.

“Thanks.” She says with a gorgeous smile. Kayla takes my hand and smiles at me. I smile back.

“Let’s find Taylor.” I say. We walk down the red carpet. Flashes go off as we pass. Jess looks a little overwhelmed. I am too.

“Bryan! Bryan! Over here!” I stop and I look in the direction of the random yelling. They all take pictures. Jess doesn’t notice that I stopped. She keeps walking. I grab her hand and I make her stop. She spins around to look at me.

“Part of this is posing for pictures.” I say with a smile. She smiles back and poses. I can tell she’s enjoying it. Kayla tugs on my shirt to get me to hurry. I look down at her.

“Okay. Okay.” I keep walking down the carpet. It’s only a matter of seconds before someone tells me that Jess and Kayla need to leave. Suddenly I spot Taylor. She’s wearing a beautiful short black dress. Her hair is up. It’s settled, she’s the most beautiful girl here.

“Kayla!” I say loudly.  Kayla looks up. “There!” I point to Taylor walking down the carpet. Kayla jumps up and down. I pick her up quickly. Kayla giggles as I take her in my arms. She’s the best seven year old I’ve ever seen.

“Come on!” I say to Jess as I take her hand and I take off running down the red carpet. I make my way through the crowd. Flashes of lights go off as I run by them. Suddenly I’m right behind Taylor. My heart flutters. I stop and I put Kayla down. Taylor’s publicist looks at me with wide eyes. Taylor turns around. Her eyes widen with shock.

“Oh, my, g-” She begins to say, but I interrupt. “I promised your biggest fan that she’d get to meet you!” I say as I catch my breath. Taylor looks from my face down to my hand which is still holding Jess’s. I look down at our hands and then back at Taylor. Taylor looks at me with a confused, yet hurt look. Shit, this is not what it looks like. I quickly let go of her hand. Taylor quickly turns away and looks down at Kayla. A smile comes across both of their faces.

“Hi there beautiful!” Taylor says with excitement. Kayla jumps up and down. I didn’t notice her Taylor Swift t-shirt until now. That’s really cute, not going to lie. Kayla hugs Taylor. Taylor picks her up and hugs her. She sets her down.

“You are so pretty!” Kayla basically yells. Taylor smiles.

“Thank you so much! So are you!” She says sincerely. “Can I sign your shirt for you?” She says as she turns to her publicist. She hands Taylor a sharpie. Kayla holds out her shirt. Taylor signs it carefully. Taylor’s publicist walks up to me.

“We have to get them off of the red carpet.” She whispers in my ear. I look over at Jess.

“Time to go.” I say to her. Jess nods and walks over to Kayla.

“Okay Kayla, Taylor has to go. She can’t be late for the awards!” Jess says with a smile. Kayla runs and hugs me.

“Thank you Bryan!” She says as she hugs me. She looks up at Taylor one last time.

“I’m glad you both like each other.” Kayla says quickly. Jess takes Kayla towards the fences lining the carpet. A security guard opens the gate to let them out. I look at Taylor. She looks at me. She looks sort of mad. I might have made things worse with the whole Jess situation. The awkward silence and eyes contact gets to me.

“You look gorgeous.” I say with a smile. She doesn’t really respond. She just keeps staring at me. I think I know where this is going to go. She is going to get security to escort me out. I won’t let it happen. This is only phase one of a very complicated plan that will result in winning her back. I can’t mess it up now.

CHAPTER 12

            I hear my name being yelled outside. I turn around quickly for a few more pictures. I look out the open doors and at the crowd of photographers. Camera lights flash like crazy. I take a deep breath. Just as I’m about to turn back around I catch a glimpse of something oh too familiar. It’s that damn black car again. I stare at it over the sea of people with cameras. It’s just parked there a street away. No one’s inside. I can’t see the entire car, but I can see the huge dent on the bumper. That’s the car. My heart sinks for a second. I continue staring at it. The car freaks me out. I get this bad feeling whenever I see it. Samuel did make a good point though. Whoever owns that car probably lives around here. I still can’t shake this bad feeling.

            Suddenly there is a tap on my shoulder. I flitch as I’m brought out of my thoughts. I turn around to see a tall man dressed in all black. He’s obviously security here.

            “Do you know where you’re going, sir?” He asks me politely. I look back at the car for a quick second, and then I turn back to him.

            “Yeah.” I swallow hard. “I’m on my way back stage.” I say trying to get rid of this bad feeling I have inside of me. The security guard looks at me suspiciously. I’m supposed to be sleathy, but this whole black car thing has me flustered.

            “Why do you need to be back stage?” He asks me. He raises an eyebrow.

            “I’m supposed to be on stage with Taylor Swift eventually.” I say without skipping a beat. The security guard seems relieved. I think he buys it.

            “Oh okay. Is this your first award show?” He asks me. I nod nervously. “Well, she’s not on for a few hours. She goes last. The back stage doors are back through there.” He points to a small door on the side of the huge room. “Don’t be nervous. You’ll do great.” He gives me a half smile and walks away. I turn around to watch him walk out the doors and onto the red carpet. I look over the crowd in the direction I saw the black car. I just want to keep watch on it. I can’t find it. It’s gone. I look up the street where it once was. It’s nowhere to be found. I get the creepiest feeling from the absence of the car. I shrug it off and I walk further into the building. The whole place is dimly lit. It calms me down a bit. Everyone is starting to take their seats. I look around at everyone completely star struck. It’s incredible. I make my way to the door the security guard pointed to. I have to hurry before Taylor walks in and sees me. I open the door and I walk down a small narrow hallway. The walls are made of white concrete bricks. There’s another door at the end of the hall. I’m assuming it leads to the backstage area. I put my hand on the doorknob and I take a deep breath. My nerves are getting the best of me. My hands are shaking.

            Suddenly the door flies open and six other security guards dressed in all black burst through the door. I get slammed up against the concrete wall as they all rush down the hallway. The wall actually shakes as my back hits it. My elbow starts to throb. That damn funny bone, isn’t so funny. I stop the last security guy before he can hurry away. I put my hand out and I stand in front of him.

            “What’s going on?” I say frantically. The guard doesn’t waste any time.

            “A star is missing from the red carpet.” He says quickly. My heart stops. Only one thing comes to my mind.

            “Who!” I say loudly. The guard just stares at me. I can tell he is debating whether or not he should tell me.

            “I can’t say anything more, sir.” He says and then rushes down the hallway and out the door. I stare at the empty hallway. My heart races. My mind races. What if it’s Taylor? What if it’s her who is missing? I can’t breathe. Without thinking I run out of the hallway and back into the main room. The show has already started. Someone is on stage giving the beginning monologue. I look around quickly. No one seems to be phased by all this. They must be keeping all this under wraps. I suddenly see three more security guards rush towards the main doors I came in from. I make my way quietly to those doors as well. Everything is a blur. I’m doing things without thinking. I sneak outside and back onto the now empty red carpet. I look around at all the security guards. Some are walking around the carpet, and others seem to be walking around the building. I walk up to the security guard I talked to right as I walked inside. He seemed the nicest.

            “Sir, what is going on?” I say trying not to sound distressed. I don’t think it worked because my voice cracked. He takes a second to think about what he should say to me. He’s taking too long.

            “Who’s missing!?” I say loudly. He looks at me with kind eyes. He still doesn’t say anything.

            “Sir, please!” I beg him. I need to know. My breathing gets heavy. The guard looks around to see if anyone was looking, then he looks back at me.

            “Taylor Swift.” He says quietly. My eyes widen. My heart stops. My mouth drops. My breathing stops. My whole world seems like its collapsing.

            “What…” I manage to say. The guard doesn’t really know how to answer that. I run my fingers nervously through my hair. “How… What happened?!” I say quickly. The guard hesitates to answer. “I’m a close friend! I need to know!” I say loudly. A few people turn to look. I ignore them all.

            “We don’t know. Her management said that Taylor wanted to go sign for fans on the other side of the carpet and next thing we know her body guards were running back here saying a car took off with Taylor inside.” He says quietly trying not to let anyone else hear. Everything stops for a second. A car took off with Taylor. A car. It has to be that same car that’s been following me. It has to be the same car that hit me. It has to be the same car that tried to hit Taylor. My heart breaks. It shatters on the floor. The thought of some sicko having Taylor angers me, it depresses me.

            “Which way did the car go?!” I say loudly. I try not to yell. I try to stay calm, but everything seems to be crashing and burning. I was supposed to win her back, not lose her to a kidnapper.

            “That way.” He points in the direction Samuel and I came from originally. “Her body guards chased the car for a while until they had to turn around.” He adds. I stare up the street. I walk away from the security guard. I don’t feel like myself. I feel sick. Absolutely sick. I pull my cellphone out of my pocket. I call Samuel.

            “Where are you? Get back here now.” I say bluntly once I hear his voice. “Come quick.” I hang up the phone. I don’t have time for a lengthy conversation. I look around the red carpet at all of the security. That’s when I spot Taylor’s body guards. I walk over to them. Anger builds inside of me.

            “What the fuck is wrong with you guys?!” I say to them without thinking. They look at me a little pissed. I know it’s not a smart idea to confront them, mostly because they are a lot bigger than me, but I can’t stop.

            “Doesn’t she pay you to keep her safe?! WHY WAS SHE ALONE IN A CAR IN THE FIRST PLACE?!” All of a sudden I punch one of the guards. He stubbles back before he regains his balance. I take a step back. I can’t believe I hit him. I look down at my fist and then back up at him. Suddenly he punches me right in nose. I drop straight to the ground. Everything goes into slow motion. For once things aren’t at hyper speed. I look up at the body guards. The other one is pulling the one that hit me away. They disappear from my view. I stare into the sky. My head is throbbing. I can feel my nose bleeding. I stare at the clouds moving super slow. It might be a bad thing to get hit in the nose after having major head trauma not that long ago. I feel like my head is going to explode. Everything is still in slow motion.

Suddenly Samuel is standing over me.

“What happened?” He says to me. That’s when I come back to reality. He helps me up. I’m careful not to get blood on the jacket he lent to me. Samuel helps me back to the car. I get in and I look around for something to soak up all the blood. Samuel gets into the car and hands me a bunch of napkins that he obviously got from some fast food restaurant. I hold them to my nose.

“What happened?” He asks again.

“Taylor was basically kidnapped. We need to drive that way until we spot that car.” I point in the direction the car was last seen.

“What car?” He asks me.

“The black car I told you about, the one that was following me.” I say bluntly. His eyes widen. I think he finally believes me about that car. I knew something wasn’t right about it. He puts the car into drive and takes off in that direction. I stare out the window looking for the car. Everything is blurry. I’m not sure if it’s because we are driving so fast or because I’m about to pass out. I struggle to turn my head and look at Samuel. Everything spins around. I’m literally seeing stars. My eyes shut without my control. I can’t open them. I focus on my breathing. This is not the time to pass out.

“Bryan?” I hear Samuel say. “Shit.” I hear him mumble. That’s the last thing I hear. All I hear now is a ringing sound in my ears. All I see is my eyelids. Actually I do see something. I see a faint white light. Don’t tell me this is the end where I “go into the light”… It’s too cliché for me. I focus on the light. It gets bigger and brighter. It almost looks like I’m looking down a tunnel. I think I am. Suddenly I see a black figure that appears to be a person. It looks like they are standing at the end of this tunnel. My head hurts even more now. Then it hits me. That’s my dad. That’s him. I can’t see his face, but I know it’s him. I can’t describe it. I can just feel it. I see his head nod slowly. I think he’s saying hi.

All of a sudden my eyes open and I’m staring into a street light that is shining through the car window. I take a few deep breaths. I sit up slowly. My head still hurts. I look over at the driver’s seat. It’s empty.

“Samuel?” I say aloud. I look out the open window at the street. I see Samuel standing there on the phone.

“Samuel?” I say again. He looks in my direction and smiles. He hangs up the phone and walks over.

“Well, thank god you’re back.” He says walking up to me with a smile. “I was literally on the phone with a doctor. He says you might have a concussion.” I stare at him. I do not want any more doctors.  That’s when I notice that my nose isn’t bleeding anymore. I wipe my nose really quick. No blood. I smile relieved.

“How long was I out?” I ask him.

“Only about 45 minutes. But I have good news.” He says to me with a creepy smile. I look at him.

“What is it?” I ask him. He turns around and points down the street. I stick my head out the window to look in that direction. That’s when I spot the black car. My heart skips a beat. I open the door quickly and I get out. I stand next to Samuel just staring at the car.

“You found it!” I say excitedly. Samuel just smiles. “Wait, how?” I ask him.

“It was just parked there as I drove up.” He says still staring at the car. This is great. Then I remember that I have no idea how I’m going to get Taylor. I look over at the building the car is parked next to. It’s an apartment complex.

“Do you think this guy lives here?” I ask Samuel. He turns to look at me.

“That’s my best bet. I bet Taylor’s up there too.” He says to me. My heart jumps. I try to catch my breath. I’m not sure what my next move is. I guess it’s to get in and hope I can find her. I’ll break down every door to get her back.

“I have a plan.” Samuel says. It shocks me. He seems like a quiet shy guy. He doesn’t seem like the type to take charge and come up with the plans. I turn to him.

“Okay what’s the plan?” I ask him.

“I wait out here.” He says as he stares up at the building. Well, there goes that whole thing about him taking charge. I was right. He’s not the take charge kind of guy. Fine with me. If something goes wrong I’d rather it just be me in there.

“Deal.” I say as I take a few slow steps towards the front door. It’s a little nerve racking. Something tells me I should call the cops, but there’s no time to wait around for them.

“If I’m not out in a few then call the cops.” I say as I walk up to the door. I swallow hard and then I walk inside. Right in front of me is a staircase. I decide to go up to the first level. The wooden stairs creak as I step on them. I take deeps breaths as I walk up. I stop on the first floor. I look down the small hallway. There are only four doors down the hall. I just stand there. I debate knocking on each and every door. There are too many floors to do that. There is no way I could knock on every door in time. Who knows what will happen if I don’t get to her quick. I push the thought out of my mind.

Suddenly I hear a loud bang break the silence. It came from the floor above me. It sounds like someone fell to the floor or something. I decide that I need to get up there. I turn around and I run up the stairs to the next floor. I skip steps as I run up. I stop to take a breath when I get to the floor. I look down the small hallway. I don’t see anything suspicious. Then I hear the loud bang again. I jump at the loud sound. It’s coming from the first door on the left. I run over to the door. I knock on it fanatically. It’s rather loud too. There’s a moment of silence as I wait for the door to open.

“Hello?” I say loudly. I hear nothing. I press my ear to the door. I listen for any sound at all. I hold my breath to hear better. I close my eyes and focus on the sounds. Suddenly I hear someone say, “Shhh” really quietly. I pull my head back quickly. I knock on the door again.

“HELLO!” I say even louder.

“Go away.” I hear someone mumble. Without thinking I take a step away from the door. I kick it hard. I was hoping for that moment in the movie where the bad ass kicks down the door, but the door doesn’t move much. Well, that was a letdown. Adrenaline rushes. Everything is moving at hyper speed. I take a few more steps away from the door. I run full speed at the door. I ram my shoulder into the door. I don’t even feel any pain. Maybe that’s because I’m going completely insane. The door makes a cracking sound. I take that as a good sign. I take a few steps back and I run at the door again. This time the door opens and I rush inside. I look around the small room. I spot a young guy around my age standing there next to a broken wood table. The legs have fallen off and everything. He looks up at me.

“What are you doing?” The guy asks. I look down at the broken table. He follows me eyes to the table. “It fell as I was trying to move it into the next room.” He explains. I look around confused.

“Oh, sorry. I just… I thought someone was in trouble.” I struggle to say. I don’t know what to do. This whole situation is awkward. I look around for any sign of Taylor. Then I notice a room in the back with the door closed. Strangely enough it has a lock on the outside. I stare at it for a moment. Something isn’t right.

“I don’t want to call the police, but…” The guy begins to say. I look back at him.

“Yeah… Sorry man.” I say as I glace back at the door to the back room. Suddenly I see a shadow move under the door. Something goes off in my head. She has to be there.

“Taylor!” I shout as I take a step forward.

_________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 13: The ending

My heart races when I hear her shout my name. I rush over to the door. The guy stops me before I can make it there. He pushes me in the opposite direction. I trip over the broken wooden table and I fall to the ground. He stands over me.

“What are you doing?!” I shout at the guy. He looks really confused and disheveled.

“I… I don’t know!” He shouts at me. I actually believe him. I think this whole thing must have just gotten out of control. He looks around nervously. I’m afraid to stand up. He could be a black belt or something. I don’t know what he’s capable of. He looks down at the broken table I tripped over. He picks up a large piece of wood. He holds it up getting ready to hit me with it. My heart starts pounding. I quickly think of my options. Before he can swing the piece of wood I kick him in the stomach. I was aiming lower, but this works too. He drops the wood and hunches over in pain. I stand up quickly and I push him to the ground. He just lays there not trying to fight me, not trying to get up. I grab the piece of wood he had. I hold it just in case I need it. But looking at him, something tells me I don’t need it. He doesn’t look like he really wanted any trouble.

“What the fuck were you trying to do here?” I ask him bitterly. I honestly want to know the answer. He doesn’t bother to move. He just looks up at me with his green eyes.

“I don’t know.” He says quietly. “I just wanted an autograph. Then Taylor was sitting in my car, MINE, signing stuff for me. Before I knew it I was taking off down the street.” He pauses. “I just wanted an autograph.” Just like I thought. This all got out of hand. Suddenly nothing makes sense.

“Tell me why you tried to hit her with your car earlier this week. I recognized your car!” I say loudly. I grip the piece of wood harder than before.

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean to.” He stutters. I look at him confused.

“What?” I ask.

“I knew she was supposed to be at that venue. I couldn’t wait to get there. I’ve driven down that road millions of times. I wasn’t expecting her to be in the middle of it. It all happened so fast.” He closes his eyes and puts his hands on his face. “I tried to apologize to you. I followed you, but I could never get up the courage to say anything.” He says it like it’s no big deal that he was stalking me. My eyes are wide open. I’m shocked that someone could actually think that this is all okay. Then I realize that something is obviously not right in his head.

“You do realize that you basically kidnapped Taylor tonight right?” I say in an unthreatening voice. I’m trying to stay calm and keep him calm. He looks up.

“Yes.” He says quietly.

“You do realize that the right thing to do is to let the cops take you when they come, right?” I ask him. I hear sirens approaching the building outside.  His eyes widen. He seems scared. “I promise nothing bad will happen. They will figure things out.” I say reassuring him. He seems to calm down. He nods and then lets his head falls to the side. “Do you have a key to the door over there?” I say pointing to the room Taylor is in. He looks at me confused.

“It’s not locked.” I look at him and then at the door and then back at him. Well now I feel like an asshole.

“Oh.” I say. I walk over to the door right as two cops rush into the room. I turn around quickly to watch them rush over to the guy still lying on the ground. He doesn’t struggle. They handcuff him and bring him to his feet. The one cop takes him away. The other walks over to me.

“Are you okay, son?” He says in a deep voice. He’s very intimidating. I drop the piece of wood I still had in my hands.

“Yeah, I think that kid isn’t right.” I don’t explain myself any further. I think he understands what I mean.

“They never are. And Ms. Swift?” He asks me. I turn around and I open the door. Taylor is sitting there on the bed watching tv with a bunch of food and drinks on the floor. She looks as perfect as ever. There are bags of chips on the floor, and cans of soda all around the room. I’m shocked at how this seems so unthreatening. I almost want to laugh. It’s like she’s just relaxing. She stands up and rushes over to me. She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me. And at that second she forgets that she was mad at me. In fact, at that second I forget all my insecurities and doubts about us and I just hold her close. I swear I’ll never let her go again.

“This must be just another day in the life of Taylor Swift.” I say jokingly. She laughs softly. She doesn’t let go. We continue hugging.

“This must be just another day in the life of Bryan Taylor, the guy who saves Taylor Swift.” She says playfully. I laugh.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Miss.” The cop says out of nowhere. I forgot he was still here. Taylor pulls away from our hug. She stands a few feet in front of me. There’s too much space between us. I hate it.

“Thank you so much.” Taylor says to the cop.

“Do you need a ride home, Miss?” He asks her. She shakes her head. That’s all he needs. He gives us a smile and walks out of the room. She and I are left there alone. She just stares at me with a smile.

“I guess I should get you home.” I say with a smile. She looks at me and shakes her head.

“Nope.” She says. I’m confused now.

“I have to perform tonight!” She says. I stare at her in shock. She can’t be serious.

“Taylor, I think you should go home and rest.” I say as I take her hand.

“I have to perform. I want to.” She smiles.

“Are you up for it?” I ask her. She smiles and nods. I guess this whole situation tonight wasn’t all that threatening anyway. I walk with her, hand in hand, out of the room and down to the car waiting outside. Samuel spots us and rushes over.

“Thank God you guys are okay.” He says with a smile.

“Can you take us back to the CMAs?” I ask him nicely. He looks at me confused.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He asks.

“I’m sure. Can we get there quick. She performs in 40 minutes.” I say. Samuel nods and gets into the car. I open the door for Taylor to get in. I finally have someone to open the door for. It feels good. She gets in and I follow her in. Samuel drives back in the direction of the CMAs.

“So I guess nothing happened tonight?” He says to us.

“Just a crazy stalker fan. Honestly, it was like a day relaxing at home. I watched Law and Order until Bryan got there.” Taylor says casually. I take her hand in mine. She looks down at our hands, our fingers intertwined. She looks up at me with a smile. There’s something so personal about holding someone’s hand. It sends chills through my entire body. My heart speeds up. I love the feeling. Her eyes are beautifully blue. Her hair is still perfect from the red carpet. I look down at her black dress.

“Why are you so perfect?” I ask her. I don’t want an answer. I just want her to be aware of her perfection. I’d say I got the job done. I look up at her. She has the biggest smile on her face. She can’t seem to form any words. She just looks down with a smile and used her free hands to tuck her hair behind the ear. Cute.

The car stops and we are back in front of the now empty red carpet. I open the door and me and Taylor walk to the red carpet hand in hand. Her body guards come up next to us. They walk us inside and back stage. No one mentions the whole kidnapping incident. They are just all so thrilled that she made it in time for the show. Taylor hugs me and then stands in front of me.

“I’ll see you after the performance.” She says sweetly.

“You’ll be great. I know it.” I say looking into her eyes. She smiles and walks further back stage. I’m assuming it’s so she can get changed. I look around looking for a way to kill time. Nothing is really back here other than a bunch of people. Then I remember that I was supposed to go on stage during the song. We rehearsed it and everything. I think even Taylor forgot, or assumed I wouldn’t do it. Well, I surprise her. I take out my phone and the card Samuel gave me. I dial his number.

“Hello?” He says.

“I need a favor.” I say bluntly.

“Bryan? What do you need?” He asks me.

“I need flowers and a Taylor Swift tour shirt.” I say with a smile.

“I can actually do that.” He says.

“Yes!” I say excitedly. “I need it in like 15 minutes. Is that doable?” I ask him.

“Yeah. I’ll meet you by the back door in 15.” He says and then hangs up. I hang up right as Taylor walks up to me now in skinny jeans and tan, thin sweater. She looks beautiful.

“You look great.” I say naturally. “Are you ready?”

“I am. I’m on in 20 minutes.” She says with a smile. She takes my hand and I smile back at her. She walks me over towards the dressing rooms further backstage.

“This is my dressing room.” She says stopping right in front of the door. I look up at the sign that says “Taylor Swift”. We walk inside. There’s a couch on one side and I rush over to it and fall on it. It’s soft. I let out a sigh. It’s been a long day. Taylor walks up and sits next to me. I lay my head in her lap. I look up at her with a smile. She smiles and looks down at me.

“Long day?” She asks. She starts to play with my hair. This is the best moment. She runs her fingers through my hair a few times.

“Not as long as yours I assume.” I say. There are a few moments of silence as Taylor plays with my hair.

“I’m sorry I wouldn’t talk to you this morning.” She says to me sincerely. I sit up and I face her.

“No it’s okay. I shouldn’t have just walked out last night.” Then I remember everything I shouted through the door at Taylor’s this morning. “Did you at least hear what I said through the door?” I ask her. She smiles and nods. “Sorry for running.” I say quietly. I look into her eyes. I can’t seem to look away. I don’t think she can either.

“I’m sorry for running too.” She says just as quiet. We stare at each other. I slide closer to her.

“Well, I’ll just be the one to always chase you.” I say with a smile. Taylor lets what I just said soak in and then she leans forward. I do too. She puts her hand on my check and smiles. I put mine on the back of her neck. We close our eyes and lean forward. My heart flutters. I’m so ready to kiss Taylor Swift.

Suddenly there’s a knock on the door. We both freeze and look at the door. I let out a breath. I can never seem to kiss this girl. Someone who works back stage walks in.

“You’re on in 5, Taylor.” He says and then closes the door. We look back at each other. Her hand is still on my check and mine is still on her neck. She drops her hand. The moment’s gone. I withdraw my hand. We get off the couch and we walk to the door.

“I’ll give you some alone time to get ready.” I say nicely. “You’ll be great.” I grab her arms gently and I pull her close. She lets it happen. I kiss her on the forehead and then I let go. I stare at her for a while. She just smiles at me. She takes a few deep breathes to try to get back the breath that she seems to have lost. That’s happened to me before. She makes me lose my breath too. I smile at her and then I walk out of the room. I close the door softly behind me.

I look around for the back door. I finally see it. I walk over to it and I open it. Samuel is there waiting for me. He hands me a perfect looking red rose and a red shirt with Taylor’s face on it.

“Thank you so much!” I say to him.

“I’ll wait for you two back at the car.” He says with a smile and then he walks away. I close the door. I look for a place to change and then I decide to go back to Taylor’s dressing room which should be empty as Taylor gets ready to go on stage. I walk into the dressing room and I close the door behind me. I need to hurry. She could be on stage now for all I know. I put the rose down on the couch. I take the jacket Samuel gave me onto the couch. It lands on the rose. I have no time to unbutton my shirt so I just rip it off. A few buttons fall off and hit the floor and roll away. I look down and notice that my shirt is still tucked into my pants. This just looks awkward.

Suddenly the door to the dressing room opens. I freeze. Taylor walks in and stops right as she sees me standing there…. shirtless. She doesn’t know how to react. She just stares. Then she throws her head back and laughs loudly. I throw the tour shirt in the floor while she’s not looking. She stops laughing and walks up to me.

“Is there a reason for this?” She asks me. I laugh a little.

“I was trying to change out of this shirt.” I look down at the shirt still tucked into my pants. “But I think I need some help.” I say with a laugh. She looks down at my shirt hanging from my pants. She laughs again. She puts her arms around me and pulls my shirt out from behind me. Right then she notices that she’s just inches from my bare chest. She stands back and hands me my shirt. She looks at me up and down. Suddenly I feel self-conscious. I hold my shirt up to cover my chest and abs. Yes, I have abs.

“Okay, that’s enough looking.” I say playfully. Taylor smiles and walks over to the table in the room. She grabs a guitar pick and walks over to the door. She stops before she walks out. She turns around to look at me.

“That was awesome.” She says with a smile and then she closes the door behind her. I’m assuming she’s going on stage now. I pick up the shirt and I put it on quickly. I grab the rose from under the jacket and I walk over to the door. I open it slowly. I look for Taylor on the other side. I don’t see her. I walk out and towards the stage. I can hear Taylor playing the intro to Ours. I walk to the sides of the stage so I can see her play. She sounds beautiful and she’s playing my guitar. I smile and I listen to her sing. I wait for my cue. My heart beats like crazy. Then I hear it.

“The jury’s out,” She begins to sing. Without thinking I rush out on stage with the rose in my hand. I don’t look out at the crowd. Taylor doesn’t notice me. She’s too busy staring out into the crowd.

“…but my choice is you.” She sings. I come up next to her and I kiss her on the check. The crowd erupts in a harmonized “awwww”. That’s when she notices me. She smiles but keeps playing. She continues to sing the song. I stand back and I show her my tour shirt with her face on it. She laughs quickly and then goes back to singing. It’s funny because I am a fan. I started as just a fan, and here I am. I’m still a fan. I hold my rose out for her. I know she won’t take it, but I make it look dramatic.

“…but this love is ours.” She sings while looking right at me and my rose. She looks at me like she’s making up her mind about what to do. She walks away from the mic stand but keeps playing the instrumental break. She walks up to me and stands in front of me. I put the rose down to my side. Someone in the audience yells, “Kiss him!” and everyone else laughs. I agree though. Here I am standing before her with a rose; I think she should kiss me. The thought makes my heart excited. Right when the instrumental break is about to end she stops playing and quickly grabs my face and pulls me in for a kiss. I quickly put my arms around her waist. There’s nothing long and drawn out like all the other times. She gets right to the point. There is silence for a quick second as we have our first kiss. My heart stops. I stop breathing. Everything in this moment is perfect. This time nothing is around to interrupt us. Well, except for the sound of the crowd cheering and saying “awwww”. Taylor pulls away after what seems like not enough time at all. She stubbles away drunk off of the perfect moment we both just had. She starts playing again and sings right from where she left off. Her voice cracks a few, unnoticeable, times before she finally shakes the feeling our first kiss left her with. She sings the rest of the song partially to me, and partially to the crowd. I stand there loving the song.

When the song is over the crowd stands up and cheers loudly. I join in and clap with them. Taylor stands there in shock of the crowd’s reaction. She looks over at me with a smile. She tucks her hair behind her ear and then walks over to me. I take her hand and we walk off stage. Right when we are off stage there are people escorting us back to her dressing room for us to get changed and go watch the rest of the show. Right when the door closes me and Taylor stare at each other. My heart won’t stop racing. She sits down on the couch to gather herself. She tries to catch her breath.

“Why are you out of breath?” I say out of breath myself.

“I don’t know. My heart won’t stop racing.” Taylor says looking at me. “But I like the feeling.” She smiles at me.

“Hey! Now you know how I feel all the time.” I say as I walk over to sit down on the couch next to her. I look into her blue eyes. I want to kiss her again. I move closer to her. She smiles knowing what comes next.

“This time without the crowd of people.” I say as I gently tuck a piece of loose hair behind her ear. I slide my hand to the back of her neck. She puts her hand softly on my check. It’s the same set up as before. I lean forward and so does she. She’s so close to me I can feel her rapid breathing. I’m sure she can feel mine too. We close our eyes and our lips touch. My heart skips a beat. It feels like electricity is rushing through my entire body. It’s the most amazing feeling I’ve ever experienced. This time it’s just me and Taylor. No interruptions. I could stay in this moment forever, because with her I feel like everything is perfect.

Suddenly my phone rings in my pocket. We both stop, but don’t move. We wait for another ring. I hope to God there isn’t one.

“Don’t ring again.” I whisper. But there it is. It rings again.

“Sorry.” I say as I lean back and so does Taylor. I catch my breath.  I answer my phone without looking at it.

“Hello?” I say.

“Dude, I’m watching the awards on tv and you made every guy in the world look like shit compared to your stunt on stage with Taylor.” Landon says. I smile at the fact that he called me.

“Hey, sorry I was freaking out earlier today. I’m back.” I say to him. There’s silence.

“Sorry for walking out.” He says to me. “Your dad would have been proud of you tonight.” There’s silence. The awkwardness of this touching moment sinks in. I look over at Taylor.

“Okay I’ll see you later.” I say quickly.

“Yeah, later. Okay. Bye.” He hangs up. I put my phone back in my pocket. Taylor looks at me confused. I know what her question is.

“It was Landon.” I say with a smile. I grab her hand. I look down at our hands. I rub her arms softly with my other hand. I look up at her. She’s smiling. Right as I’m about to say something someone walks into the dressing room.

“We need you back out in ten, Taylor.” They say and then they leave just as quickly as when they entered. We stare at the now closed door. I look over at Taylor.

“There’s always going to be an interruption, isn’t there?” I say to her with a smile. She smiles and nods. I lean in and I kiss her again, this time it’s quick to avoid any more interruptions. I pull back. Her eyes are still closed, waiting for more, for another kiss. I think about it for a quick second, but I decided against it.

“No time.” I say with a smile as I stand up and pull her off the couch. Her eyes fling open. A smile comes across her face. This might be a hectic relationship, but it will be worth it. I think we both realize that at the same time. 

THAT’S THE END. thanks for reading it(:

If you have a suggestion for a new story let me know!! I’ll write anything. Also let me know what you think about this story. I want to know if you guys like it(: send me whatcha think