SKYLAR

We ended up leaving a little later than planned because I accidentally locked myself in the bathroom and couldn't get out. Taylor said we could walk to the restaurant, but a group of girls who wanted pictures and autographs slowed us down. Louis helped us weasel our way through the people, and Taylor had to grab my hand for me to keep up with them.

Once we finally made it to the restaurant, the nerves started kicking in again and I squeezed Taylor's hand harder. She glanced down at me with a small smile before she started looking for the table and led me farther into the restaurant. I looked down to the floor to avoid meeting Rowan's eyes and almost walked straight into Taylor when she suddenly stopped in front of a table. I could hear a chair scraping and I knew I had to look up to greet him.

He didn't look exactly like I remembered. I'd imagined him really tall but he was kind of short, or at least shorter than Taylor. He had a much darker complexion than me, was kind of athletic looking, and he had similar dark and curly hair as me only his was much shorter. One thing I noticed right away was his eyes. His dark brown eyes were not at all similar to my dark blue ones, and it probably meant that I'd gotten them from my mom instead.

When I met his eyes, I saw that he was staring directly at me which made me even more nervous and uncomfortable, and I moved to stand closer to Taylor. She cleared her throat and gave Rowan a polite smile, reaching out her hand for him to shake. He seemed to snap out of his trance — and to not have noticed Taylor until then — because his eyes darted between us a few times with a confused look before he went to shake her hand.

"Hi, I'm Taylor," Taylor said and the familiar words made me smile even through my discomfort.

"Hi, nice to meet ya. I'm Rowan." He glanced down at me again and I avoided his gaze by looking down to the floor. "M'sorry, I don't mean to stare..." he said, still looking at me and he seemed almost as nervous as I was.

Taylor pulled her hand away from mine to place it on my shoulder instead. "This is Skye," she introduced me, as if he didn't already know. He just nodded and went to sit down, so Taylor and I did the same and slid into the other side of the booth that resembled a couch.

I was starting to get super nervous again because, when I looked at him, I was reminded of how he used to treat me and my mom, even if I hadn't remembered exactly what he had looked like. My nerves made me slide in closer to Taylor until I was almost sitting on her, but she didn't seem to mind. I also didn't realize that my hands were shaking in my lap until Taylor grabbed them with her left hand and squeezed them three times.

"Welcome to Burger House. Are you ready to order your drinks?" a waitress said, coming up to our table. We ordered our drinks and an awkward silence settled over us when she left.

"Sweetie, what are you thinking of getting?" Taylor asked suddenly, obviously to break the silence, and I skimmed the menu that we were sharing on the table between us.

"Uh, maybe a California Dream?" I replied quietly, pointing to the meal on the menu.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, that actually sounds so good. We should both get it."

Rowan cleared his throat across the table, making both of us look up at him. He gave me a hesitant smile that I did not return.

"So... SJ. You've really grown since I last saw ya," he said in a way that had probably meant to be funny.

Both Taylor and I frowned at him and then met each other's confused looks.

"Sorry, what did you call Skye?" Taylor was the first to speak and I was grateful she did because I would never have had the courage to myself.

His facial expression changed as he realized what he'd called me and he blinked a few times. "Oh, uh, SJ is what we — your mom and I — used to call ya when you were a baby. It stands for Skylar Joy, but I'm guessing that ain't somethin' you wanna be called anymore?"

I only shook my head, mortified by the thought of being called SJ instead of Skye. I heard Taylor chuckle next to me which seemed to lighten the mood a little and it looked like Rowan was getting a bit more comfortable.

"That's fine. What'd'ya want people to call you then?" he asked, smiling slightly.

I knew he was using this as a way of getting me to talk to him, because Taylor had already called me Skye twice, but I guess it couldn't hurt to answer him.

"Skye," I replied in a small voice and his face lit up.

"Skye. Skye," he said, trying it out. "Skye- I like it. Maybe even better than SJ."

The awkward silence between us returned but was interrupted when the waitress came back with our drinks and asked what we wanted to eat. Taylor ordered for the two of us and I watched the waitress leave again, wanting to follow her and leave this table.

"Uh, how'd y'all know each other then? Are you her adoptive mom?" he asked, looking at Taylor who shook her head.

"No, I'm just... a friend. For now."

I wondered what she'd meant by "for now" but didn't have a lot of time to ponder on it.

"Cool. Cool. Cool... So, Skye, what'd'ya like to do? D'you have any hobbies?"

I wondered if I was the only one who thought it was a little weird that this was one of the first things he said to me after not seeing me for nine years, but I decided to just answer his questions and get it over with. I didn't want to be more difficult than I had to be.

"Uhm, I like to read, sing, play the guitar and listen to music most of the time. I also danced before but I don't anymore."

"I didn't know you used to dance," said Taylor, placing a hand on my arm. "Why'd you stop?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. One of my foster homes didn't let me continue and then I jus' never started again."

"That's cool that you love music so much. What kind of music do you listen to?" Rowan said, almost as if he was intentionally avoiding what Taylor and I had just talked about, but I played along.

"Uh, mostly country and pop since that's what I like to sing and play. But I'll listen to other genres too — like indie, hip-hop — stuff like that." I was kind of proud of myself that I managed to avoid mentioning Taylor; that is until his next question.

"Who's your favorite music artist or group?"

Shit... alright, what should I tell him? The truth? Or lie?

I decided on telling the truth because whatever... it wasn't as if I would ever have to see him again anyway and he probably didn't even know who Taylor was.

"Taylor Swift," I replied and forced myself not to look at Taylor, afraid that it would give it away.

"Taylor Swift? That's the girl who writes breakup songs, right?"

He looked as if he was thinking about it and I watched him in disbelief. Taylor had done so much for the music industry, but I knew that that was sadly how most people viewed her.

Okay, just... calmly answer the question.

"Uhm..." I let myself glance up at Taylor who was grinning down at me, waiting for me to answer. "Y-yeah, I guess. She doesn't only sing about- I mean, that's not how I would describe her but..." I trailed off, brushing some hair behind my left ear.

"How would you describe her, Skye?" Taylor asked with raised eyebrows and I glared up at her.

Rowan was watching us, totally oblivious to what we were actually saying, and I cleared my throat.

"Uhm, well... I-I guess... she's this amazing singer who's always been put in a musical box but, like, always finds a way to move outside of it which is really inspiring. And she's also like the best person ever. Jus' so you know."

Taylor smiled down at me and wrapped me in a hug, but Rowan still looked pretty confused.

"Wow, so you really like this Taylor Swift," he said as Taylor sat up properly again.

"Yeah... I mean I love her."

Just then, the waitress came back with our food and — while Rowan was distracted by that — Taylor leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I love you too, Skye. Thank you for saying all of that."

The conversation did not improve after we got our food and it felt more like an interview than meeting my dad, but maybe I preferred it that way anyway? Just maybe. He asked me a bunch of questions about my favorites but avoided anything having to do with me being a foster kid. This wasn't us getting to know each other, it was him getting to know me. I still didn't know anything about him except that he obviously did not listen to Taylor and that he lived in Bruceton and was 53, both of which were stuff Susan had told me earlier.

I wondered how long it would take for him to bring up our past or to apologize for how he acted, but it never seemed to come. When we were almost done with our food, he cleared his throat again, dabbing the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

"Skye, I have a question for ya."

Big surprise... this entire thing had been a joke and I wished Susan and Finley had never talked me into it. The only good thing about this whole situation was that I got to spend a lot of time with Taylor.

"I'm pretty sure they told ya about your mom passing away," he started.

Now we were getting somewhere. I nodded.

"Well, I was wonderin' if you would like to attend her memorial service? I know you didn't really know her, but I think she woulda wanted you to be there."

I stared at him in shock. Taylor decided to speak first after grabbing my hand again, and I squeezed it as a thank you.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but didn't she pass away some time ago?"

Rowan sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Yes, but there were some... complications. We couldn't agree on a date and I wanted to make sure Skylar had some time to decide beforehand. We cremated her a week ago though so there wouldn't be a rush."

"Who's going to be there?" I asked in a small voice. Rowan looked over at me.

"Let's see, Ellen's sister, her mom, me, a couple of her old friends, some cousins, and other relatives I don't really know," he said, listing them on his fingers.

Ellen's sister and mom. That had to be my aunt and grandma. I didn't even know I had an aunt and a living grandma, and he just mentioned it like it was no big deal.

"So will you come? I don't know if I can manage Ellen's family on my own to be honest."

I considered it for a moment with a frown and felt Taylor brush her thumb over the back of my hand. "I... I will be there — not for your sake — but... but only if Taylor can come too. I'm not going alone."

"You won't be alone, I will be there," Rowan tried but I only shook my head.

"If she can't or won't come, then I won't be there either. We're a package deal."

I looked up to see Taylor pursing her lips together into a small smile.

"When is it?" Taylor asked, tilting her head to the side.

Rowan checked his phone calendar. "July second."

Taylor picked up her own phone to check and I watched them, not sure yet what I wanted her answer to be.

"That's during my tour. I will have to check with my team first," she explained.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's why I said if you can't come then neither will I."

Taylor let out a sigh and gave me a small smile. "We can talk about this later when I know."

"What do you mean by your team and tour? What do you do for a living?" Rowan asked curiously. I froze where I sat, with my eyes fixed on the almost empty plate in front of me.

"I'm a singer," Taylor replied vaguely.

I felt like I'd had enough of this evening now. It didn't seem like Rowan was going to apologize — or even address our past and my situation — and I wasn't gonna stick around for him to ask if I preferred chocolate or vanilla ice cream.

"Taylor?" I asked before Rowan had time to question her more about her career. She turned her eyes from him to look at me and nodded. "I'm gettin' pretty tired, can we go home?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

She called the waitress over to get the check and they both insisted on paying so it ended with Taylor paying for me and her, while Rowan paid for himself.

"Well, it was nice to meet you," Taylor said when we were putting our coats on.

"Yeah, likewise. Thank you for seeing me, Skye. I hope we can do this again sometime and that you're coming to the memorial service."

I didn't know what to say so I just looked at him blankly for a second and said, "Okay, bye."

I grabbed Taylor's free hand and started pulling her with me to get away from Rowan and that table.

When the cold air finally hit my face, I felt like I could breathe clearly for the first time since we entered the restaurant. I closed my eyes and took a cold, deep breath, breathing out slowly back through my nose.

***

A/N

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!🥳 I don't know about you but I'm feeling 2022🤪 It's freaking 2022! I've been listening to New Year's Day and 22(tv) since I woke up hehe

Thank you so so much to the people who vote and comment on this story, it might not be a big deal for you but it means a lot to me!! <3

I hope all of you have an amazing 2022 even if your year didn't start off the way you'd imagined it would! I know it's been hard for a lot of ppl and the comment section is always there if you need a place to rant or to talk about it !! *sends virtual hug* 🤗

Next chapter will be up next weekend as usual xx ♥️

Edit (March 6, 2022)
Hi, so I just wanted to go back here and add that I definitely do not think that how Rowan described Taylor is right or okay (ESPECIALLY considering what she's gone through) and I would be super upset if I heard someone say it irl.

That said, Skye was caught off guard and didn't know what to reply with both sets of eyes on her, which was why she (very hesitantly!) said that, yes, they were talking about the same person. I might also add that this was her bio dad that she hadn't seen in 9 years and she wasn't about to talk back to him the first thing she did.

I kinda felt bad about this so I wanted to make it extra clear where I stand. Thanks for reading :)