real life

August woke up in the Manhattan penthouse to some shuffling next to her. She blinked her eyes open, frowning as the bright sunlight blinded her.

Taylor was lying on her side, reaching over to the bedside table where her phone was currently buzzing incessantly.

"Tell whoever that is to fuck off," August grumbled, turning to face the other side, pulling the blanket over her face.

Taylor let out a sleepy chuckle, adjusting her position so her bare chest was covered under the blankets as she held the phone up to her ear.

"Morning, Tree. August says fuck off," Taylor said, her voice heavy and raspy with sleep. August flipped around immediately, her hand falling against Taylor's arm with a painful smack. "ow!"

August admitted it. Tree sometimes frightened her.

Taylor was laughing though, her chuckles interrupted by a tired yawn. "Tree says you're fucked."

"Mhm, thoroughly so," August mumbled, earning a small gasp from Taylor. She smiled to herself, remembering just what they were doing the previous night after their little date at that Italian restaurant.

Taylor reached over, poking August's side only for her to grab the blonde's arm and pull her toward her. Taylor grinned, draping her arm over August's waist as she spooned her, their legs automatically tangling up.

Taylor rested her chin over August's shoulder as the younger girl entwined their fingers together. "What's up, Tree?" she asked her publicist who was still on the phone, her words slightly slurred, having just woken up.

Taylor dropped her phone onto the mattress and put the call on speakerphone, finally able to use both hands to embrace August close.

"How drunk were you two last night?" Tree asked, sounding exasperated.

"Ah, that explains the headache," August responded with a little sheepish grin.

"I would have blamed it on this phone call," Taylor said, making August snort.

"Are you still drunk?" Tree huffed, clearly already tired of their shit.

"Nope, just very sleepy, so if you could just tell me what you need so we can go back to sleep—"

"You were making out in the middle of Grove street last night," Tree told them outright.

August had never sat up faster her entire life. She cleared her throat, turning to look at Taylor nervously for a moment.

"Right... that happened," she mumbled, running her hand over her face, just remembering how Greg had to awkwardly clear his throat, urging them to get back into the car. They had found it very funny then.

"It's August's fault," Taylor threw her girlfriend under the bus.

"What the fuck? How? You kissed me!" August shot back, taking full offence.

"You looked really hot!" Taylor exclaimed. "I couldn't help it!"

August blinked at her in disbelief before actually laughing. "You're such an idiot, oh my god."

"You're both idiots," Tree snapped at them over the phone. "There's a picture on the internet. This one's much clearer than that last one from last year. There's no denying that the kiss did in fact happen. August, you probably need to talk to Jamie, but I think we'll both agree that it'd be best not to address this at all. Just, let it die out. Doing anything about it would just blow it all out of proportion. I think that's the last thing you both want right now, with your upcoming projects and everything."

August had already reached under her pillow to grab her phone, but it had died during the night. Jamie was probably going insane trying to reach her. Man, she was dead.

Taylor reached across the bed again and laced her fingers through August's.

"If we do nothing about it," Taylor started, her eyes glued on her phone. "Neither deny it, nor confirm it... the proof is still there."

"Yeah," Tree sighed. "The internet's a funny place. We could twist the story, drunk joke or something stupid but, that would just stir up more rumours and—"

"No, yeah, you're right," Taylor interrupted her. "I don't want to lie."

Tree was quiet for a few moments and August looked up at Taylor her eyes wide. The blonde smiled softly and gave August's hand a small squeeze.

"Taylor," Tree started. "You wanna tell people?"

"Not explicitly," Taylor responded. "But, it wouldn't be the end of the world if people thought we were dating. Some of them already do anyway."

"You're sure?" Tree asked. "There's a lot more to it than that. There's the whole coming out thing, you know, it was one thing talking about kissing some guy, but this is your first public relationship with a woman."

"I know, Tree," Taylor told her publicist. August could only watch her carefully. She was speechless. "We're not gonna hide forever."

August's mouth split into a grin. "Forever, huh?"

Tree sighed softly. "Alright, we'll figure out how to break it to the media. We'll have a proper meeting soon with August's team."

"Yeah, sounds good. Thanks, Tree," Taylor said quietly.

"Just doing my job, hon," Tree responded, her voice going much softer. "I'm proud of you."

The beam that brightened up Taylor's face was one of August's favourite things. When Taylor finally hung up the phone, August looked up at her, a small, amused smile playing on her lips.

"You're not gonna run away on me again this time, are you?"

Taylor chuckled and shook her head, cupping August's face in the palm of her hand. "You're never getting rid of me that easily."

"Good."

"Like I said," Taylor murmured softly, her thumb caressing August's cheek. "Forever."

Taylor was sure she had never meant more than she did in that moment.

August smiled widely and pecked the blonde's lips softly.

"Do you want breakfast?" Taylor asked, finally pulling away.

August nodded, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands. She plugged her phone into the charging cable next to her as she answered. "Yeah. I'm gonna shower first though, I have a meeting at ten. What time is it?"

"About eight-thirty," Taylor responded as they both got out of bed. She slipped on a silk robe hanging on the back of the chair by the vanity and went back to fix the bed quick.

August helped her with the duvet before heading to the bathroom. She tied her hair up and took a quick shower. When she got out of the bathroom, she rummaged through their closet, no longer recognising which pairs of black trousers were hers and which ones were Taylor's. She ended up picking a pair of grey checkered pants and a plain white t-shirt tucked in. She slipped on one of Taylor's old cardigans with a small hole around the right elbow before finally heading downstairs.

Taylor was perched over the stove, watching four sunny side-up eggs sizzle in a pan. August pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before grabbing one of the two cups of hot coffee waiting to be consumed on the counter.

Phoebe came rushing to her side immediately and August bent down to pick up her dog with a bright smile.

August loved these domestic moments with her girlfriend more than anything. She wanted to spend all her mornings like this for the rest of her life. She watched as Benjamin jumped on the counter and chuckled softly as he head-butted Taylor's arm, begging for some food.

"Tay?" August asked softly, leaning against the island in the middle.

"Mhm?" Taylor hummed without really turning around.

"I really love you."

Taylor turned the stove off and placed the eggs on a clean plate. She turned around to put them on the island and smiled widely at August.

"I love you more," she replied with a grin, leaning over the counter to kiss August. August kissed her back sweetly, resting the cup of coffee on the marble surface so she had a free hand to hold Taylor closer.

"I really wanna spend forever with you," she breathed out as they pulled apart.

Taylor scrunched her nose in that cute way she always does whenever she was too excited and pecked August's lips one more time before away and sitting on a stool.

"Like I said. You're never getting rid of me again," Taylor reassured her, reaching over to squeeze August's free hand. She grabbed her own coffee and a piece of toast, instantly digging into the food.

"You really don't care that people are gonna know about us?" August asked, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

Taylor shook her head. "I deleted twitter and instagram off my phone," she announced. "I didn't even open them before doing so. I don't care what people are gonna be saying. I love you, August. And even if people found out, that's never going to change."

August felt her heart flutter. "You know, most of them are probably excited," she chuckled, dropping Phoebe so she could eat in peace.

"That's good then," Taylor laughed. "You're my person, August James. I'd like the whole world to know that."

August beamed widely. She wanted everyone to know just how in love and happy she was too.