4- Jump then fall

"How long is the drive still?"

"Long."

Taylor lets out a long sigh and sits back in her chair. The sun is starting to rise above the horizon as yet another city dooms up in the distance.

"Karlieeee.." Taylor wines. "Where the hell are we going?"

Karlie smiles, keeping her eyes on the road. "Are you just gonna keep on trying?" She asks, amusement in her voice.


Taylor smiles and nods. She feels weird, not knowing anything about the girl driving the car but somehow still liking her so much. They laugh a lot, having the same kind of humor. They talk a lot too, about anything really. No hard or deep topics though. Mostly about funny things, animals, food or fun experiences they have had in the past. The serious topics weren't discussed yet, that wasn't normal for them yet. Every time Taylor tries to talk about something serious with the green eyed girl, she grows silent or changes topics. Taylor knows its because Karlie doesn't want to mix her work and her private life together. But the two women practically live together now, so Taylor just kept on trying and trying to just get the tall girl to really talk with her. About other stuff than cats and pizza.

"Hello, are you still here?" Karlie asks, looking at the blue eyed woman for a short while before averting her gaze back to the road.

Taylor shakes her head a little, she had been lost in her thoughts. "Y- yeah." She replies.

"Wow, you were lost in there." Karlie says, pointing towards Taylor's head. "Wanna share?"

Taylor looked to her side, seeing the green eyed woman quickly look back at the road. She is surprised. This is the first time her kidnapper had shown interest in her direct thoughts. Sure they had talked about simple stuff, but Karlie had never asked Taylor anything personal like this.

"I was just.. thinking.." She replies.

"About?" Karlie asks, smiling again but looking at the road. Taylor watches her from the side, observing her face.

"Uhmm well I thought about how we don't really talk. Like we.. we talk. But we don't.. talk. You know?" The blue eyed girl says.

Karlie giggles at that, and it makes Taylor smile. "You really are better with words in your songs than you are with them in real life." She says, making Taylor smack her arm.

"I just mean.. that we don't really talk about serious topics. And every time I try to talk with you. You stay quiet or you change the topic." Taylor says, still studying the girl's face. Her eyebrows frown a bit but she keeps a straight face and stays quiet.


"I.. I don't want to mix my personal life with my work.." The tall woman says after a while before letting out a sigh.

"I know.. you have told me that." Taylor says, still looking at the girl, who stares at the road with her eyebrows furrowed. "But right now, I kinda also am your personal life. I mean, I don't know how long you will still 'protect' me. But I bet its not all going to be over like tomorrow or something."

"Its still.. supposed to be work.. for me." Karlie mumbles.


"Yeah but we can make the best out of it at least." Taylor tries, wanting to lay her hand on the green eyed girl's shoulder, which she doesn't do since she doesn't want the conversation to turn weird. "Look, I can sit here in silence too. But we can also be.. friends.. or something.."

"Yeah." Karlie mumbles then, looking at the other girl for the first time and locking her eyes with hers.

"Its just.." Karlie mumbles before sighing deeply again and staring at the long road in front of them. "I.. I have had this.. friendship.. kinda thing before with someone I protected in the past.. and we.. it.. it didn't end that well." Karlie's voice sounds soft and she talks fast, Taylor has to try really hard to get everything she says.


"What happened?" Taylor immediately asks, wanting to know more about it. More about Karlie. "I mean.. you don't have to tell me if you don't want-"

"She died." Karlie says, her voice softer than ever.

"Oh my god.." Taylor whispers, looking at the girl in shock, her eyes wide open. "Im sorry, Karlie.."

Karlie's eyebrows furrow again, her stare still on the road. She stays silent, not seeming to want to share anything more with the blue eyed singer. Taylor looks back at the road too, wanting to somehow give the other girl some privacy.

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"Seriously Karlie, how long still?"

"An hour or two."


The two girls have sat in the car for a day or two. They have spend the nights in hotels close to the highways to start driving early in the morning again. Taylor had even offered to drive, but Karlie had denied her requests, of course wanting to drive herself.

"Were going to the airport in New York City aren't we?" Taylor asks. Karlie starts smiling.

"You got it smart-ass." Karlie says, smiling at the older woman.


"Are you gonna quote that serial killer from last night's episode now, smart-ass?" Taylor says, saying the last word in a deeper voice with a smile on her face, matching the other girl's. Karlie laughs and nods yes. The two of them had been watching crime shows the last couple of nights. They had shared a hotel room, since Karlie wanted to keep an eye on the blue eyed woman, sleeping in separate beds though.

"Last night's episode was so fucking good." Karlie says, still smiling.

"I agree, miss spy." Taylor says, looking at Karlie now.


"Ha!" Karlie laughs. "Miss spy. Funny. So original."

"I know. Im hilarious." Taylor replies sarcastically. Both girls had the same kind of sarcasm in their humor and had talked even a little more the past couple of days. No serious topics were discussed still though, even though Taylor would've liked to talk about that. But she figured Karlie needs her space too. Maybe they shouldn't be friends after all, maybe Karlie is right about mixing personal life and business together, Taylor thinks as their journey to the airport continues.


--------------------------------

"Why Austria? Out of every country in the world?" Taylor asks, already shivering because of the freezing air.


"Did you expect it?" Karlie asks, closing the truck's door. 

"No. Of course I didn't." Taylor says, quickly grabbing the big, black winterjacket that Karlie handed over to her. 

"Well, then the people who want you killed wont expect it either." Karlie says, putting a grey winter jacket on.


Taylor gasps as she is suddenly reminded by the reason why she's here with this woman she still wants to know more about. She forgets sometimes with all the good times she has with Karlie, that there are people wanting to kill her. "Oh.." She says, grabbing her bag out of the back of the car. Karlie grabs a bag too and walks over to the wooden cabin that is laying in the literal middle of nowhere, on top of a mountain. 

The snow crackles underneath Taylor's feet as she follows Karlie to the cabin which she hopes to be very warm inside. Karlie opens the door and steps in. "Our home for the next couple of days, weeks, whatever." She says as she switches the lights on. Taylor's phone starts vibrating in Karlie's pocket.


"Oh my god, and there is Wifi!" Taylor shouts, closing the door behind her, leaving the cold outside.

"Oh lord.." Karlie sighs, getting the phone out of her pocket and turning the gps function off, scared that someone would trace the singer's phone somehow. Taylor walks through the cabin, checking out the only bedroom that is there and putting her bag there.

"There is only one bedroom." She says as she walks back into the living room, getting out of her jacket.

"Im sorry princess Swift." Karlie says, sarcasm in her voice. "I couldn't find a five star cabin in such a short time. I know you're used to so much more, your highness."

Taylor laughs, grabbing Karlie's bag and walking over to the bedroom to put it there.

"What are you doing?" The green eyed girl asks, confused with the other girl's actions.

"Im not going to let you sleep on the couch again." Taylor says, walking into the living room again.


"But.. theres only one bed in that bedroom." Karlie mumbles, not looking at Taylor while she's talking.


"I promise I wont bite.. too hard." Taylor says, looking at the younger girl with amusement, waiting for a reaction. She gets none, well no verbal one. She sees Karlie's cheeks turn bright red in no time.

"I was joking!" Taylor says, walking over to the green eyed girl and watching how her cheeks turn pink then.

"I knowwww.." The girl mumbles, clearly avoiding eye contact with the older girl, walking away from her, into the kitchen.

Taylor follows the girl with a grin on her face, she has been trying to 'flirt' with the her like this for a few days now and every time Karlie would blush like an idiot and avoid her after her comment. She looked at the clock. "Its already 10pm." The blonde singer mumbles.

"Food?" Karlie asks, seeming to be recovered from Taylor's earlier comment.

"Food." Taylor replies.

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"Taylor, get your feet away. They're freezing!" Karlie whispers angrily. Taylor giggles groggily and moves her body away from the other girl. Karlie immediately feels cold, she has found out over the past couple of days, that she secretly likes sleeping with the other girl in one bed. She wont tell the blue eyed singer though, she knows the girl would start laughing at her and say: "See, I knew you'd like it."


Karlie smiles in the darkness, thinking of the girl laying beside her. She likes her a lot. Too much.

"What are you thinking about?" Taylor whispers through the darkness, watching the younger girl stare at the ceiling. Karlie immediately thinks back of when she had asked Taylor that same question in the car a few days ago, back in the States. The blue eyed woman had answered truthfully that time and admitted that she wants to be friends with the taller girl. Karlie didn't know how to answer all of those questions back then and had shut herself out. Things were different now though, after spending about five days in the cabin with the singer now, they have grown closer than they were before. Karlie liked it, but she still feared getting too close to the blue eyed superstar.

Karlie had noticed Taylor's flirty moves the last couple of days and always grows silent and starts blushing then. Which are reactions that the green eyed girl is usually not giving in any situation. Taylor was special though, she cared about her. Or at least Karlie feels like she cares about her. She feels safe, she feels good.

"Nothing." Karlie answers quickly.

"So thats why you were grinning at the ceiling like an idiot.." Taylor says sarcastically, the volume of her voice a bit higher now as they don't really have a reason to whisper for.

"How can you even see me?" Karlie asks, rolling on her side to face the singer. 

"I have spy eyes." Taylor answers dryly. Karlie smiles, seeing the singers face now. Her blue eyes are sparkling the faint moonlight that is shining through the light curtains. It must be around 1am in the night. Both girls had watched their favourite crime show, all night again. It has become a standard thing, them sitting together on the couch, watching Criminal Minds. When Taylor gets too scared, Karlie has learned, she scoots closer to her 'protector' and sits closer to her side. Karlie had no problems with this, other than this strange feeling she felt in her belly whenever the singer touched any part of her body ever so lightly. She knew the singer is trying to flirt with her.

'Would she like me?' Karlie wonders as she sees Taylor's eyes blink a few times before she speaks up.

"Seriously Karls, what are you thinking about?" She asks. 'Karls' has become Karlie's new nickname over the days. Taylor called her like this all the time. Karlie herself was trying to stay professional since well.. Taylor was still her client. But she does call the singer 'Tay' too from time to time, not on purpose though.

"Nothing. Really." Karlie repeats, looking into the singer's eyes.

"You're lying." Taylor says, a small smile on her face.


"Bro, who is the professional spy here?" Karlie asks, a smile on her face too as she watches the older girl.



"You did not just 'bro' me.." Taylor says, her eyebrows furrowed together. "Gosh.. friendzoned."

There it is again, the smooth flirting. Karlie looks away from Taylor quickly, not wanting to give her a chance to see the blush that is creeping onto her cheeks. The famous singer has a victorious smile on her face, knowing that the younger girl is blushing, even though she cant see it now.

"Don't do that." Taylor says, smiling.

"Do what?" Karlie asks, still not looking at the singer.

"Looking away from me when you blush. You look cute when you blush." Taylor says sweetly, smiling at the green eyed girl. "Gosh, and you looked so confident in that bar a few weeks ago." She says then. "And now all you are is cute." She teases, making Karlie look at her again.


"Im not cute." She says stubbornly, making Taylor's smile grow even bigger. Taylor moves her cold feet in Karlie's direction and presses them against her legs. Karlie squeals, not expecting the contact or the cold.

"Taayyy.. stop that!" She whispers angrily again. 

"I do like it when you call me Tay though." Taylor says while smiling, again with a lot of confidence in her voice.

"Taylor stop.." Karlie sighs.

"Stop what?"


"You don't understand.." The younger girl says, sitting up in the bed, looking at the singer in the darkness. Taylor sits up too. "You're.. you're my work. You're in danger. Im here with you, to protect you. Nothing more. Okay? Just.. leave me alone." The words spill out of her mouth like a waterfall streaming down a fast river. Karlie hadn't meant for the words to sound so harsh, but yet they did.

"Fine." Taylor says emotionlessly, while laying down in the bed and turning her back towards Karlie. She was disappointed, scared and sad. She thought her and Karlie could at least be friends after the conversations they have had in the last couple of days, the laughs they had shared and the click Taylor thought she was having with her. Apparently Karlie wasn't like Taylor thought she was. The green eyed girl seemed to be here, for business only. Taylor wasn't special to her, she is just another job, another mission. The singer feels miserable. Just when she thought she was feeling safe, Karlie had gone and ruined all of that.

"Sorry.." She hears the younger girl whisper into the darkness. She doesn't even want to answer. She feels sick suddenly. There are people out there that are wanting to kill her and she is here, trying to be 'friends' with the person that is supposed to protect her. Can she even trust her? 'What was I thinking?' She thinks as a single tear makes its way down her cheek.

Karlie lays down in the bed, looking at the back of Taylor's head. She knows she was being harsh on the girl but she can't let the same thing happen again. She wouldn't be able to live with herself. She is supposed to protect this woman from the people that are trying to kill her and she is going to do just that. Nothing can come in between Taylor and her safety. Even if that means she will have to shut her feelings and emotions down for all that time then.

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"Good morning." Karlie says, sitting up in bed.

"Morning." Taylor mumbles groggily. She isn't looking at the green eyed girl, remembering the things that were said last night.

"Breakfast?" Karlie asks, trying to see how the blonde will react to her because of last night, she seemed pretty angry.


She gets no reply however. "Oh.." She sighs, getting up from the bed and walking out of the bedroom. She starts making breakfast for the blonde and herself, knowing that the blonde is always hungry in the morning and likes toast very much. She knows she has been too hard on the singer. She acted out of fear. Karlie just doesn't want to.. let the same thing happen again.

She finishes her breakfast and lays down on the small couch in the living room. Turning the tv on, she notices that the famous singer is still on the news. Her face is still plastered on the screen, less than before though. Karlie sighs, feeling sorry for the blonde singer and her family. It must be so weird for the woman, to be held by a complete stranger in a strange country. It must feel horrible being hunted by some criminals that want her dead. She must feel even worse now that she had been so harsh to her the night before. 

She hears someone roaming around in the kitchen then and knows that its Taylor, who is probably eating the breakfast that the green eyed girl had prepared for her. She doesn't want to be pushy and so she skips through the channels on the tv and lays back comfortably.


'Did I really mean those things I said to her last night?' She thinks as several tv shows pass in front of her eyes. "Did I?" She whispers out loud.



"Did you what?" A voice sounds through the room. The taller girl looks up, it was the blonde girl's voice. She's wearing her cute, pink onesie and is looking down at Karlie expectingly, her half-long hair hanging partly in front of her face. Karlie can just make out those puffy, blue eyes through her blonde bangs though and knows that the singer must have been crying.


"I.. uhmm.. I.." Karlie mumbles, not knowing how to even talk to the other girl right now.


"Never mind." Taylor says, her voice cold. "We can't talk anymore anyway I assume, since im only work." She doesn't look at the green eyed girl and sits down on the couch, watching the tv screen with two angry looking eyes. She is still really angry at the younger woman. They sit there in silence for a while, both staring at the tv screen but not taking in any information that is given by the random show.


"I.. ehm.. I would like to talk with you, Taylor." Karlie says then, turning the tv off and sitting up so that she can look at the other girl. Taylor sits up too.

"Im listening." She says coldly, not even looking at Karlie.

"I.. I know that.. uhmm.." Karlie starts nervously. "I was mean to you last night and I didn't mean to be mean at all.. I didn't even mean what I said. I was.. I am.. Im really scared."

It stays silent for a while then. Taylor looks up at the younger girl, scanning her face. "Well.. you.. you sounded really convinced by your own opinion last night." She says, her voice a tiny bit warmer now that she sees that Karlie is struggling with her own emotions.

"I.. I know. But I really didn't mean it. Gosh Taylor, im so scared of.. I don't even know what im scared of. Of you I guess, of letting you in..or something." Karlie says, not looking into Taylor's eyes as she talks, too scared of the older woman seeing her feelings. 

It stays silent then, for a while longer than Karlie likes. She is still not looking at the blue eyed girl in front of her but feels a finger under her chin then, lifting her head up. She is met by two very blue eyes staring into hers then, and a smile that is pointed at her.

"Why.. why are you smiling?" Karlie mumbles, confused by Taylor's actions.

"This is the first time you've let me in, Karlie Kloss, and I appreciate that very much." Taylor says sweetly, still looking into the other girl's eyes. The singer notices then, that her hand is still resting underneath the younger girl's chin. She quickly pulls it back and lays her hands on her lap, not wanting to invade Karlie's space. Both girls are sitting across from each other on one little, small couch, looking into each other's eyes like some kind of miracle had just happend.


"Thank you." Taylor says, still smiling at the green eyed girl.

"Thank you.. and im sorry." Karlie replies, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as she smiles back at the girl.

Taylor giggles, finding it adorable when Karlie blushes and secretly finding a lot that the girl does adorable.

"Gosh.. Taylor.." Karlie says, smiling but looking away from the blonde. She starts fidgeting with her fingers and looks down at her hands.

"What?" Taylor asks, smiling at the taller girl.


"You're.. I.. ughh.. I don't know what do.." Karlie mumbles, still smiling but looking at her hands instead of at Taylor.

"You don't know what to do?" Taylor asks, giggling.

"Yeah.. no.." Karlie replies, still looking down at her hands.

Taylor looks at the other girl's smiling face and decides to make a bold move. Well okay, not that bold but in comparison to the contact they've had until now, its pretty bold. She takes the younger girl's hand in hers. Karlie's body stiffens, she looks up and stares into Taylor's blue orbs. Taylor smiles at the other girl and squeezes her hand a little, trying to let her know everything is okay.

"Can we watch Criminal Minds?" Karlie asks then, her voice small as her cheeks are burning bright red. She tries changing the subject by asking the simple question.

Taylor cant help but laugh then, making Karlie look at her with questioning eyes. "Yes.." She says then. "Yes, we can." Karlie smiles a big smile at Taylor and turns the tv back on. She feels her right hand burning, since her fingers are still intertwined with Taylor's. It makes her feel all warm inside, she doesn't want to let her go, it feels nice being close to her. She sits down on the couch in a way that their hands stay connected and they can both see the tv.


"Relax." Taylor says as she lays her head on Karlie's shoulder, deciding that they were now close to each other anyway and that she might as well take a next step. She cuddles a bit closer to the green eyed girl, feeling her stiffen underneath her.


"Seriously Karls.." She says, looking up from the girls shoulder and squeezing her hand. "Everything is okay. Relax." The younger girls lets out a long sigh and tries to relax under these new and unknown circumstances. She feels Taylor cuddle even closer and cant help but smile at the way their dynamic has changed in only the past couple of minutes.

Karlie is happy that she talked to the singer but she also still fears the future. She knows she likes the girl a lot but is scared to let her in too much. She wants to keep her private life and her work life apart but she is is noticing now that staying away from Taylor is impossible, especially when they're together every single minute of the day. She enjoys the superstar's company a lot but she is afraid of what the future will bring for them.

"Everything will be okay." Taylor says as if reading the other girl's mind. Taylor's voice relaxes Karlie so much that she lets go of all the bad thoughts she has and she tries focusing on the crime show thats playing on the tv-screen in front of her. Taylor's head on her shoulder is a big distracting factor though as all the younger girl can focus on is the way the singer's hair tickles in her face, how much she smells like strawberry and vanilla and especially how much she could get used to this.

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A/N

HI! Woeh quite a long chapter! So it seems that our Karls is letting Taylor in a bit more now. Our cute little, blushing Karlie :)

Hope yall enjoyed it? Please let me know. Thaaaaank you, you guys are awesome!

X