TAYLOR WAS BACK in her life for the second time. It's been a few days since her return, and it hasn't been super awkward. Things were slowly going back to normal. While Y/n was making lunch, Taylor was in her at-home studio working on a new song.

She got the idea as early as three in the morning. When Taylor was in work mode, she would go hours without sleep, and Y/n would have to practically force her to sleep.

That was when they were together, though.

She walked toward Taylor's workspace, the sound of singing and guitar playing getting louder the closer she got. Now that she thought about it, she'd never been inside the room. She had a general idea of what was in there, but she never went in out of respect for Taylor and her creative process. Even after she moved out, Y/n never went in there.

Taylor told her she could go in at any time multiple times, but she wouldn't until today.

She opened the door with her free hand and walked inside, closing the door behind her. Once Taylor had spotted her, the music stopped. The guitar was put back on its stand before she was handed the plate of food. "Just like you wanted. Chicken tenders with ketchup and seemingly ranch." She spoke, not missing the chance to quote the meme.

Taylor chuckled, soon taking a bite of a chicken tender. "Who would have thought that a picture of us at a Chiefs game would have caused that to happen?" Taylor questioned as she recalled the memory like it happened yesterday. "That was a fun day."

"It was one of the best." Y/n agreed with a smile. Remembering moments like that always brought smiles to their faces.

Taylor thought about those moments a lot. Truthfully, things didn't work out with Joe because he wasn't Y/n. She wouldn't admit that, though, since it was Y/n's idea to break up. She didn't want her to feel bad about it. "We had so much fun before everything happened."

"We did, and we still can now."

"You're right, we should do something after the New Year when everything has settled down."

"I'd like that." Y/n smiled, soon leaving the room. Once the door shut, the music started again, and then she heard Taylor singing quietly to herself. She stood there for a minute, just listening to Taylor make music.

It reminded her of all the times Taylor would play new music for her. Honestly, she missed it.

Y/n walked around the dog park with her friend, Samantha, telling her about Taylor's return. She listened to everything Y/n had to say, occasionally telling her dog, Albus, to stop fighting with the other dogs. She didn't want to get yelled at by other dog owners again.

They sat on one of the benches, keeping watch over Albus. Y/n had finally finished talking and let out a sigh.

"I understand your feelings; I'm sure anyone would feel that way." She replied, glancing over at her. She saw how stressed she was recently. Taylor's return wasn't something that she was expecting. "You have to look at it this way; you wanted her to come home, and now she's here. You manifested that."

"Did I, though? I mean, I've said that once or twice."

"Y/n, babe, it was over ten times."

Now, she was embarrassed. She knew that Taylor was mentioned, but she never thought it was that much. "If that made you feel horrible when we were dating, I'm so sorry." Y/n quickly apologized, soon seeing Sam begin to laugh.

"It's okay; I was still talking about my ex too. As humans, most of us talk about stuff to get over it." She replied honestly, her tone also coming out reassuringly. At that moment, the black Newfoundland named Albus ran toward them, soon lying down at Y/n's feet. "Do you want to take him home for today? He seems to like you a lot."

"I would love to, but Taylor's cats are home." At that moment, she remembered that she had to finish wrapping gifts. Christmas is in a few days, and everything has to be perfect. "Speaking of, I have to go. Presents won't wrap themselves."

They said their goodbyes, and then Y/n began to walk away. She then turned back around, and Sam looked at her with a confused expression.

"You're my ride home." She reminded her that, soon after seeing Sam quickly stand and go to her car, Albus and Y/n followed behind her.

When she got home, she put a sign on the door before hiding away to finish what she started. She's been doing this for the past couple of hours. As she wrapped Taylor's final gift, Meredith slept peacefully next to her on the bed.

She would look over at the Scottish Fold that Taylor loved so much and smile. Meredith didn't like people very much, but she loved being around Y/n. All the cats did.

They must have been so sad and confused when she wasn't around anymore.

She finished wrapping the gift and then heard a knock on her bedroom door. "Y/n, have you seen Meredith?" She heard Taylor question from the other side of the door. "I can't find her anywhere."

"She's in here with me!" She replied loudly enough for her to hear her, but not enough to wake Meredith. The last thing she wanted to do was wake the cat and make her upset. "She's okay; she's just sleeping." She reassured, looking over at the cat and smiling once again, now gently petting her.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, of course." She quickly got up to hide the presents. Seconds before the door opened, she got back to her spot next to Meredith.

The door slowly opened, and Taylor then walked in with a smile on her face. She sat on the other side of her cat to pet her. After a few seconds, her hand accidentally brushed over Y/n's, causing them to look deeply into each other's eyes and smile. Both of them were getting flashbacks to all the dates they had.

They used to be so happy.

"You know, for a cat that doesn't like people very much, she loves you so much." She pointed out with a chuckle, soon breaking eye contact to look down at the cat that was now waking up. Honestly, Y/n didn't want the moment to end. It was another thing she missed, and it felt like everything was normal again. "All the cats missed you very much, especially Benjamin. He always stopped crying when I showed him a picture of you."

"I missed them a lot too." It was true; she did miss the cats. She knew what she truly meant; she missed Taylor. Taylor didn't know that, though, or maybe she did.

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brooke speaks!

i finished typing
this up at 1:12 am.
i should be asleep
but i posted this
instead (cat please
don't kill me)!