Georgie had been hiding something from them.

Taylor had been the one to notice it first, back at Azul and Riven's wedding before she had finally mentioned it to Leia the night after they'd performed together in Mexico City. A slip of the tongue, a blush that didn't match the champagne, a phone angled just a little too quickly out of sight.

Now, back in New York, squeezed into Taylor's living room with takeout cartons spread across the coffee table, Georgie looked cornered.

"You're both staring at me like I'm on trial," she said, stabbing a chopstick into her noodles.

"You are on trial," Taylor countered, lounging against the arm of the sofa. Her hoodie was baggy, sleeves pulled down over her hands, but Leia caught the faint glint of the chain around her neck every time she shifted. The necklace with her ring. Leia's had slipped beneath the collar of her T-shirt too. Their secret, quietly resting against their skin while the world outside speculated on every move they made.

Georgie huffed. "Fine. But you have to promise not to freak out."

Taylor tilted her head, eyes narrowing like a cat about to pounce. "Those words always make me freak out."

Georgie picked at her lower lip, a nervous tic Leia recognized from childhood, when secrets ranged from purloined cookies to rigged Monopoly games. Now she was older but not taller; her knees were tucked up so her toes barely grazed the hardwood floor, socked in a pair of mismatched stripes. She levelled her gaze at Taylor, then at Leia, and drew a steadying breath.

"Taylor, please don't hate me."

Leia blinked, clenching her jaw - Georgie was her sister but there was an overbearing overprotective feeling as Georgie looked towards Taylor, half-preparing for whatever she was about to say to make her fiancée upset.

"It's...I'm seeing someone." 

Leia, who had been expecting some catastrophic news - a leak to the press or something even worse - sat back hard into the cushions. 

"Oh my god. You're dating someone? That's it?" 

"Dating someone," Taylor repeated slowly, like she was testing the words for hidden traps. Her tone wasn't celebratory. It was wary, like Georgie had just pulled the pin out of a grenade and set it on the coffee table between them.

Leia tilted her head, trying to read her sister's expression. Georgie was wringing her chopsticks so tightly that one finally splintered, a sharp crack breaking the air. Her eyes went first to Taylor, then to Leia, like she wasn't sure which of them was safer ground.

"Kind of," Georgie mumbled.

Leia narrowed her eyes. "Kind of? That's not a thing. Either you're dating someone or you're not."

Taylor leaned forward now, hoodie sleeves slouched over her hands, every nerve in her body tightening. Leia knew that look. Knew exactly what Taylor's brain was already doing - cycling through names from the past like a deck of cards she wished she could burn.

"Georgie," Taylor said carefully, "if this is about someone we already know... if this is about someone who hurt Leia, or me-" She stopped herself, words catching sharp in her throat. Her jaw clenched. "Just... tell me it's not one of them."

Leia felt something twist in her chest, an instinctive flash of protectiveness. She could think of a list of people that Taylor could be referring to, and since Georgie had already said she thought Taylor was going to hate her, it was a perfectly reasonable thing to assume.

Georgie's face flickered with panic. 

"No! God, no. It's not like that." She shook her head furiously, hair falling into her eyes. "I swear. He's... he's really sweet. It's nothing like that."

Taylor didn't relax. Her hand was still curled into a fist on her knee, white-knuckled.

Leia shifted closer to her on the couch, letting her thigh brush against hers, a quiet grounding.

"Okay, then who?" she asked, keeping her voice even, trying to break the tension before it frayed further. "And why would Tay hate you?"

Taylor's voice was sharp when it finally cut through the silence. "Who is it, George?"

Georgie drew a shaky breath, cheeks reddening as if confessing a sin. Her voice cracked when she said it.

"It's... Travis."

Leia blinked.

"Who the fuck is Travis?"

For a split second, the air in the room thinned to a filament. Taylor's brows drew together in slow-motion, like she was sifting through contact sheets in her head, searching for a name that had never come up. She glanced reflexively at Leia, who shook her head - no recognition, not in a friend-of-a-friend way, nor the oh-no-is-this-the-Travis-from-the-incident way.

A pause. The name hung there like a wet coat nobody wanted to pick up.

Taylor was the first to break. "Wait. Travis? As in Travis Kelce?"

Georgie smiled, and that was all it took. For one wild second, Leia thought Taylor might actually throw the nearest takeout carton at her sister. But instead of exploding, Taylor laughed. A soft chuckle at first, then full-on amusement spilling out of her as she leaned back against the couch cushions, clutching her hoodie sleeves to her mouth.

"Oh my god, Georgie." She shook her head, grinning so wide her dimples cut deep. "You're not gonna have to worry about me hating you. You're gonna have to figure out how to break this news to my dad."

Georgie froze mid-noodle. "Scott?"

"Scott," Taylor confirmed, still laughing. "The man bleeds Eagles green. He lives and dies by Philadelphia. And you've been secretly calling the Chiefs' star tight end?" She pointed at her with mock horror. "You've committed treason in the Swift household."

Leia finally cracked, laughing too. "She's right. Scott's going to disown you before he even has time to think about it. And calling him while on Taylor's tour? Double treason."

"Great," Georgie muttered, collapsing into the couch like she could sink through it. "This is why I didn't want to say anything. There might not even be anything to tell. I haven't gone to see him. He invited me to a game and I-" she cut herself off, picking at her sleeve. "I can't bring myself to go."

"I'm sorry - not to distract from that dilemma, which we'll get to in a minute," Leia started, "but I feel I need more information right now? How in the world did you end up in a speaking situation with Travis Kelce, when we've been on a fucking world tour? When did you even have time to speak to him? And thirdly, isn't he like... a lot older than you?"

Georgie rolled her eyes.

"Firstly, he's not like geriatric, you freak. He's the same age as you and Taylor so it's not even that much of an age gap, like six years?" Georgie muttered and Leia nodded in fairness, accepting that. "Secondly, it was... we kind of connected because of the tour, actually."

"Expand, please?"

"Well... you performed at Arrowhead, right?" Georgie said to Taylor, who nodded and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Like, in July? You've been talking to Travis since July?" Leia repeated, incredulous.

Georgie winced, sinking lower into the couch. "Okay, yes, but let me explain."

Taylor folded her arms across her knees, eyes narrowing like a cross-examiner. "Go on, then. Because I was there in July. Where exactly did you find the time to strike up a situationship with the Chiefs' tight end while I was literally on stage?"

Georgie pressed her lips together, fiddling with the splintered chopstick between her fingers. "It wasn't... planned. He was at the show with a friend who was apparently desperate to meet you, Tay, and they tried to convince the poor elevator lady at Arrowhead to let them down to the changing rooms after the concert. You know, something like 'hey, Travis is a Chief, surely he can get backstage.' She said no, obviously."

Leia snorted. "Good woman."

"So his friend stormed off in a mood, and I was walking by when Travis was kind of left standing there looking... well, a little sheepish, honestly. We started talking. He was nice. Funny. Way less arrogant than I expected."

Leia frowned. "And that somehow led to you getting his number?"

Georgie's cheeks flamed. "Not exactly. He gave me a bracelet. With his number on it."

Taylor's jaw dropped. "He gave you a friendship bracelet at my concert?"

Leia clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Oh my god, Georgie, that's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

"I said that!" Georgie shot back, flustered. "I told him it was extremely classy to just walk around carrying those at a Taylor Swift show, sarcastic of course. And then he laughed and said Mahomes had made them for half the team as some kind of inside joke about maybe finally getting a date, since Arrowhead was full of women screaming for once instead of football fans."

Taylor broke then, laughter spilling out in a bright, unstoppable wave. She leaned back against the couch cushions, pressing her hands to her face.

"This is unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. You, my sister-in-law, are living the NFL version of one of my songs."

Leia shook her head, bemused. "So you took the bracelet?"

Georgie bit down on her lip, a guilty smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Yeah. I figured I'd never actually text him, but... then I did. And now it's been months and we... well, we talk. A lot."

Taylor let her hands drop, still grinning. Georgie groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"This is why I can't go to the game. I can't make it real."

Leia reached over, nudging her with a grin she couldn't suppress. "Too late, George. You already made it real the second you answered his texts."

Before Georgie could fire back, Leia's phone buzzed against the table. She leaned forward to grab it, thumb swiping over the screen. She wasn't really paying attention until a headline caught her eye, bolded in all caps. Her brows lifted, mouth tugging upward as she scrolled.

"Well, well, well," Leia said, her grin spreading.

Both Taylor and Georgie snapped their heads toward her. "What?" they chorused.

Leia tilted the screen so the glow illuminated her face. "Looks like your boy just made things very real."

Georgie's stomach dropped. "What do you mean?"

Leia cleared her throat dramatically, adopting a mock-newscaster tone as she read aloud. "ESPN interview. They asked him what he got up to in the off-season, and I quote: 'I went to the Eras Tour at Arrowhead, and yeah, I gave Georgie Hudson a bracelet with my number on it. The ball's in her court now. I saw her work in my stadium, so I guess it's only fair she comes and sees me work in mine.'"

Taylor slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with delight, a muffled cackle escaping anyway.

"Oh my god," Georgie whispered, frozen in place like she'd been turned to stone.

Leia smirked, tossing her phone onto the couch cushions between them. "So... care to explain how you forgot to mention that half the NFL now knows your business?"

Taylor couldn't contain herself anymore—she collapsed sideways into Leia, laughing so hard her eyes watered. "Georgie, this is incredible. You're in a public situationship with Travis Kelce, and he just told the world he's waiting on you."

Georgie buried her face deeper into her sleeves, voice muffled. "Kill me now."

Leia leaned back, still grinning. "Oh no, baby sister. You don't get off that easy. Not when the ball's literally in your court."

Taylor wheezed with laughter, wiping her eyes. "Scott is going to absolutely lose his mind when he reads this."

Georgie groaned louder, tugging her hood over her head like it might make her disappear.

Taylor let the laughter run its course, then scrubbed a hand down her face and fixed Georgie with a look that was only half-mocking now. She shifted, knees drawn up, elbows on them, blue eyes levelled at Georgie in a way that was both conspiratorial and sisterly and just a little wicked.

"All right. You have to go," Taylor said, suddenly matter-of-fact. "You have to show up. If you don't, he's going to look like a lovesick idiot, and I don't know if you've noticed, but that's not exactly a normal pose for a professional football player." She grinned. "Especially one who's just asked out a pop star's sister-in-law on national TV."

Georgie peeked out from her hoodie, eyes red-rimmed but defiant. "I can't go alone."

Taylor shrugged, like it was the most obvious solution in the world. "We'll go together. Me and Leia will come with you."

Leia, who had been scrolling through the rapidly multiplying headlines on her phone, snapped her gaze up, startled. "Wait, what?"

"That way it doesn't look like some big reveal. It'll just look like we're out to support you, and maybe catch a game, and if the press gets pictures, so what? It's not about you and him, it's about family. And besides," she said, tossing her hair back, "it'll be our first date out in the wild since the tour started. Might as well let people chew on that instead."

It was both the wish she'd buried deepest and the thing she'd always privately assumed she'd never get. Now Taylor was just...suggesting it, like she was reading a menu and picking the thing she wanted most.

Leia swallowed, heartbeat loud in her ears. "Are you sure? You don't have to... I mean, if you're not ready-"

Taylor reached across the coffee table - knocking an empty lo mein carton onto the floor in the process - and slipped her hand over Leia's. Squeezed it. Her fingers were cold and trembling, almost imperceptibly, but the pressure was steady and Leia's eyes fell naturally down to the ring on her hand.

"I want to," Taylor said, and the conviction in her voice was enough to still every panic-pulse in Leia's body. She looked at Georgie. "You don't have to be the only one under the lights. We'll take the hit together."

Georgie blinked at them, then snorted a shaky, grateful laugh. 

"I can't believe I'm about to get soft about this, but...thank you. Both of you."

Leia shrugged, doing her best to swallow the lump in her throat. "It's the least we can do, since you're apparently dating America's Greatest Tight End... although I'd say that I've got more experience with America's Greatest Tight-"

"OKAY!" Taylor interrupted before Leia could finish whatever she was about to say before Georgie was scarred for life. "Let's be clear, the Chiefs are not America's team. Scott would keel over if he heard you say that."

"Arrowhead, here we come."

______

Arrowhead was already heaving by the time they pulled up. The September air bit sharp, but the stadium burned bright, red jerseys and painted faces spilling across the parking lots in every direction. Leia tugged her baseball cap lower over her brow as they stepped out of their car, the brim shadowing her face, though she knew it was useless. She knew people would notice them sooner.

"Subtle," she muttered, tugging at Taylor's sleeve. "Nothing screams incognito like Taylor Swift in a Chiefs windbreaker."

Taylor smirked, adjusting the cap on her head and the mask on her face as Azul and Drew flanked them. "It's called commitment to the bit, Hudson. If we're doing this, we're doing it right."

Georgie trailed just behind them, hands shoved deep into her coat pockets, nerves fizzing through her every step. "If I throw up, I'm blaming both of you."

"You won't throw up," Taylor said smoothly, glancing over her shoulder with a smile that was sharper than it was soothing. "You're going to walk in there, hold your head high, and pretend like this is just... normal. Which, for the record, it is not."

Leia couldn't resist a grin. "For once, we agree."

The suite-level hallway swallowed them up, muffled chatter bouncing off concrete, and then they were there: Travis' box. The door swung open before they could even knock, and suddenly Georgie was being swept into a hug by Donna Kelce.

"Georgie! Oh, sweetheart, finally!" Donna's voice rang with warmth, like they were lifelong friends instead of strangers meeting for the first time. She squeezed Georgie's arms, beaming. "He hasn't shut up about you. I was starting to think you were imaginary."

Georgie's face flamed crimson, but she laughed, and to Leia's astonishment, slipped seamlessly into conversation. "I was beginning to think the same about you! I've heard so much."

The room rippled with laughter - light, awkward, slightly stunned. Everyone inside was doing their best not to gape, but Leia caught it in the corners of their eyes, in the sidelong glances bouncing between them. The Chiefs players' wives, siblings, cousins - they were all thinking the same thing: Travis hadn't been exaggerating. He hadn't been spinning some drunk locker-room story. Georgie Hudson was real, and she'd just walked through the door with Taylor Swift and Leia Hudson at her flanks.

Leia drifted toward the back with Taylor, both of them exchanging the kind of glance that said everything without words. They're freaking out.

Taylor's lips curved, dimples deepening as she whispered, "Told you."

Leia rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her grin.

Meanwhile, Georgie was radiant - nervous, yes, but holding her own. She chatted easily with Donna about the concert, about the bracelets, about how insane the Arrowhead crowd had been. Every few sentences, someone in the box stole another glance at her, as if confirming that she hadn't vanished like smoke.

"Unreal," Leia muttered under her breath, watching Georgie blossom in the spotlight she'd sworn she didn't want, even catching a glimpse on the jumbotron of Travis looking up towards their 

Taylor brushed her shoulder lightly against hers. "She's got this. And so do we."

Down on the field, players began to line up for kickoff. The stadium roared, a tidal wave of noise crashing into the box, rattling through the glass. Leia pressed closer to Taylor instinctively, their hidden rings brushing faintly against their chests on necklaces beneath their red layers.

____

The months between September and December passed in a blur of flights, stadiums, and countdown clocks. Taylor wrapped the Brazil leg of the tour in November, her voice carrying through humid nights while Leia hovered just offstage, watching the whole world watch the woman she loved. 

The chaos of the Eras Tour rolled on, but behind it, they were careful yet deliberate. The engagement remained a secret, tucked close to their skin, both of them still wearing their rings on thin chains under their clothes when in public instead of their fingers. Only a tight circle knew the truth - family, their closest friends, the small inner circle of the tour and a handful of people on their teams. 

Everyone else saw only what they wanted them to: two women in love, balancing fame and noise with whatever privacy they could carve out.

By December, with the year winding down and Christmas approaching, they had agreed to spend the holiday in Kansas City. Not at a quiet cabin, or even at Taylor's Nashville home, but in the stands of Arrowhead—where Travis Kelce had all but dared Georgie to show up.

It wasn't where Leia would have pictured herself spending Christmas, but as the Chiefs pulled off another win and the suite erupted in cheers, it was hard to deny the strange, unexpected joy of it. She'd never cared for football, but yet here she was again, cheering for a team she had known nothing about less than four months prior.

Arrowhead was still vibrating after the final whistle, a low hum of celebration that seeped through the concrete. The Chiefs had won, the stadium still buzzing with chants and fireworks echoing outside. The suite was a whirl of hugs, cheers, and champagne flutes clinking, but Leia had gravitated to the back, where the glass window rattled with the roar of the crowd.

Travis and the rest of the guys joined them there shortly afterwards, shoulders still broad and damp with the game, hair sticking to his forehead from the helmet. 

Eventually, it was just Leia and Travis at the back of the suite, eyes both gentle and loving as they looked around the suite. He leaned against the rail beside her, gaze flicking to the centre of the suite where Georgie was laughing, her head tilted back, cheeks flushed. Taylor was beside her, equally undone, doubled over in a fit of giggles with Kylie Kelce as if the three of them had been best friends their whole lives.

"She looks happy," Leia said, soft enough that her words almost got swallowed by the noise.

"She is," Travis admitted, his voice gravelly from shouting on the field. He watched Georgie with a kind of tenderness that surprised Leia - no flash, no performance, just steady admiration. Then he shifted, clearing his throat. "Can I ask you something?"

Leia angled toward him, curious. "Shoot."

"Would it be... weird," he hesitated, scratching at his jaw, "if I bought a place with more privacy? Just so Georgie didn't feel like she was always on display? I mean, I know it comes with the territory, but..." He trailed off, finally dragging his gaze back to Leia. "I don't want her thinking being with me means she's stuck under a microscope for the rest of her life."

"It's not weird," she said after a moment. "It's thoughtful. And honestly? She could use that. This" - she gestured toward the suite, toward the flashing phones, the way people still stole photos even while pretending not to - "this is already more than she's ever dealt with. She's not used to the press like me... or like Taylor. She's never had to live under it."

Travis nodded, brow furrowed. "I can tell. She tries to act like she doesn't notice, but I see it. The way she stiffens up when someone pulls their phone out. Or when the cameras swing too close."

Leia sighed, following his gaze back to her sister. "It doesn't get easier. You just... build different armor. I've been doing this since I was eighteen. And with Taylor? Forget it. There's no hiding. The world doesn't let her have quiet moments." Her fingers toyed absently with the chain at her neck, the weight of the ring warm against her collarbone. "But Georgie's different. She deserves as much normal as you can give her."

Travis was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. Then he chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Crazy, isn't it? I thought catching passes in front of seventy thousand people would be the hardest part of my life. Turns out, figuring out how not to scare off a girl I really like might be tougher."

Leia smiled, the honesty in his voice catching her off guard. "You're doing better than you think. She wouldn't be here if she didn't want to be."

Across the room, Georgie threw her head back in another laugh, Taylor leaning into her shoulder as Kylie wiped her eyes from laughing too hard. The sight made Leia's chest ache with warmth.

Then Travis nudged her with his elbow, the grin creeping back onto his face. "Don't tell Scott, but I think Georgie's a Chiefs fan now."

Leia barked a laugh, shaking her head. "Oh, Scott's going to need therapy."

Leia's thumb found the edge of her necklace again, absently tracing the chain as she and Travis stood watching the laughter ripple from the center of the suite. Taylor's hand brushed Georgie's arm as she leaned in to say something, her white gloves catching the light when she gestured.

Leia let her gaze linger there for a beat, then said quietly, "There's something under those gloves."

Travis glanced at her, brows furrowed. Leia didn't elaborate, just tilted her head, the corner of her mouth curling in the faintest smile. She trusted him to put it together - or at least understand enough not to push.

"You're kidding," he almost yelled and he jumped slightly as he connected the dots, before covering his mouth and trying to play it cool.

Leia shook her head. 

"Circle's small. And it's staying that way. But... let's just say if things go the way I think they will, you might get a shot at being Georgie's plus one to something very important. If you don't screw it up."

Travis exhaled, a short, almost disbelieving laugh leaving him. His eyes went back to Georgie, still radiant in the centre of it all, her cheeks flushed, her smile brighter than any scoreboard. 

"I don't intend to ever mess things up with her," he said simply, the kind of statement that didn't need dressing up.

Leia studied him for a long moment, then gave a slow nod. 

"Good. Because she's not built for heartbreak. And if you hurt her, you won't just be dealing with me." She tipped her chin toward Taylor, who was now doubled over in laughter with Kylie, a hand pressed to her ribs. "You'll be dealing with her."

Travis grinned, but there was no cockiness in it this time - just a quiet acceptance. "Noted."

And for the first time since Georgie had whispered the name Travis in Taylor's living room months ago, Leia felt like maybe both of the Hudson girls had found their endgames.

_____

The night had already been electric - the kind of glittering chaos where every camera angle, every whispered conversation, felt like history being written in real time. Leia sat just behind Taylor, her hand resting lightly against the sequined fabric of Taylor's dress, the world convinced it was a casual touch, when in reality her engagement ring pressed faintly between her palm and the chain hidden beneath the gown.

When Taylor's name was called for Album of the Year, Leia rose with her, heart thundering as the room shook with applause. Taylor glowed under the lights, gracious and practiced as she thanked her team, her fans, the endless invisible scaffolding of people who had carried the tour.

It was nice, being at their first Award show as a public couple - and the Grammy's at that. Things seemed to just keep getting better as time went on... the tour was thriving and Taylor had announced new dates until the final closing date of the tour in December 2024. Leia was still stunned speechless by her, the small (well, not really) show that would finish it's run as the largest and highest-grossing of all time - she knew that in her bones.

They'd been engaged for almost seven months now, and not a peep of it had been spoken to the press. It was absolutely glorious - they weren't hiding it, but they were just keeping it private. No one needed to know and they were just living in this peaceful honeymoon stage. 

"I know that the way that the Recording Academy voted is a direct reflection of the passion of the fans," Taylor was saying on stage, almost ready to wrap up her speech.

Leia knew what was coming now - and her mouth instantly broke out into a huge grin as she squeezed Jack's hand, the man holding on to her elbow as he held his breath for her to say the words. It might not be obvious yet to the viewers at home, but everyone in the tables around them knew Taylor was about to say something with the way these two were acting.

"So I wanna say thank you to the fans, by telling you a secret that I've been keeping for the past two years... which is that my brand new album comes out April 19th. It's called The Tortured Poets Department, and I'm gonna go and post the cover right now backstage, thank you!"

The arena erupted. Gasps, cheers, the sound ricocheting like fireworks. Leia felt the floor tilt beneath her as the title rolled over the room. She'd known this moment was coming - had watched Taylor sketch lyrics in hotel rooms, hum half-formed melodies while brushing her teeth, disappear into herself and resurface with verses that made Leia ache. But hearing it spoken aloud, claimed, given to the world, was something else entirely.

Watching her fiancée — the woman she loved, the woman she was still quietly, secretly engaged to — stand on that stage and hand over a piece of her heart to the world? That was something else entirely.

Leia was backstage before Taylor even had time to reach for her phone to press post on the perfectly curated announcement she'd pre-prepared, and Taylor came off stage glowing, the award clutched in one hand, the other already reaching for Leia. The second their eyes met across the corridor backstage, Leia's throat tightened.

"That was for you."

"You've got the entire music industry combusting right now, and you're telling me it was for me?"

Taylor's smile softened. She tilted her head, her voice dropping low so only Leia could hear. "Everything's for us."

Leia kissed her then, quick but sure, just enough to anchor the both of them before they were tugged back toward the whirlwind of press and flashing lights. She slipped her hand back into Taylor's, with Taylor's ring hiding under her black gloves and Leia's resting against her wrist, having had Taylor's favourite jewellery designer create a bracelet chain that would make it just look like a loop at the end, hidden from the world but burning brighter than ever.

And as they moved through the chaos - Jack flanking them, producers shouting, reporters scrambling - Leia thought, not for the first time, that Taylor had just done what she always did best: taken the nightmare of what could have been, and turned it into something worth living for.

_____

Taylor had curled up sideways in her seat, barefoot, hair loose from the braid she'd woken up with, her eyeshadow still gleaming faintly from the show she had just finished a few hours prior and forgotten to remove. Leia was opposite her, laptop balanced on her knees, though it had gone to sleep twenty minutes ago - she'd been too busy doodling flowers in the margins of the notebook meant for planning notes.

"Okay," Taylor said, kicking lightly at Leia's shin to get her attention. "Hear me out. Tuscany."

Leia looked up, brows raised. "Tuscany?"

"Yes. Imagine it." Taylor's hands lifted, sketching the picture in the air. "Rolling hills, vineyards, candlelight dinners that never end. We could rent some crazy old villa, have it just be family and friends, and then..." She trailed off, grinning. "Well, then it's just us."

Leia laughed, closing the laptop entirely. "You're planning our wedding like it's a Netflix rom-com."

"Because it should be one," Taylor argued, unbothered. "I want this wedding to be like, everything you ever have imagined."

"I already have everything I ever wanted, right here, right now," Leia replied back, leaning forward and pecking her lips lightly against Taylor's.

Taylor tilted her head, considering. "Okay, then what's your dream version?"

Leia hesitated, fingers brushing the chain at her throat where her ring rested. "Honestly? I think my dream version is just... us. Everyone we love, in one place. Doesn't matter where. A backyard, a barn, a beach. As long as you're there."

Taylor softened instantly, dimples deepening as she reached across the aisle to take Leia's hand. "Good answer."

She twined their fingers and looked down at their hands, the contrast always striking: Leia's, slim and calloused from guitar strings and years of holding herself together, Taylor's, blue-veined and pale, knuckles sometimes rough from endless scribbling but with nails trimmed and perfect. There was a little smudge of eyeliner on her thumb from where she'd rubbed her eye. Leia wanted to kiss it off.

"We could elope, you know. Skip the drama, the tabloids, the catering catastrophes. I wouldn't even care."

Leia snorted. "You'd care. Besides, you deserve more than that."

Taylor mused.

"Fine, big and grand and romantic wedding."

"Deal," Leia murmured, letting herself really look at this person across from her, every plane and curve of Taylor's face still new and beautiful after all this time. It was strange to be at the center of something so many people wanted to own, to dissect and repurpose for their own narratives, and yet still feel that their best moments were the ones where nobody was watching. Just Taylor in a hoodie and borrowed socks and whatever the hell she wanted from the takeout menu, planning a wedding in the air at the edge of sleep deprivation.

Taylor grinned, slow and wolfish, as if she'd caught Leia reading old love letters she thought she'd hidden. "You're never getting rid of me, you know."

"You say that like it's a threat." 

"It is." Taylor hoisted herself up in the chair, tucking her legs underneath her. "Besides, I've been thinking... I want our first dance to be to something classic. Like, Leonard Cohen, maybe. Or Etta James. Not a 'Taylor Swift' song. It should be something new for both of us."

Leia pretended to pout. "So cruel. You're denying the people a first dance to Lover, the wedding remix?"

Taylor leaned in close, so close her breath ghosted over Leia's skin. "I'll give the fans a surprise album, but you get my forever. That's the trade."

Leia shivered, but not from the plane's chill. She nodded, lace of emotion too thick to speak through, so she just squeezed Taylor's hand and let it say everything.

____

"So," Jimmy began, gesturing toward her with a flourish, "you've been a little quiet musically the last couple of years. Touring - which we'll get on to in a moment - writing, living life... but it's mid-April 2024 and suddenly you're back. First single in almost two years — and it's for a film."

Leia grinned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"Yeah. It's for The Idea of You, which is coming to Amazon Prime. They asked if I'd be interested in doing something for the soundtrack, and I just thought... why not? It's a fun project. The film doesn't take itself too seriously - it's very much got that fanfiction vibe."

The audience laughed knowingly, and Jimmy's eyebrows shot up. "A fanfiction vibe?"

"You know what I mean," Leia said quickly, laughing along. "The whole fantasy of it, the wish-fulfillment, the romance. It's got that charm where you can just lean in and enjoy it without needing it to be the next Citizen Kane. And I wanted the song to match that energy - light, cheeky, something you can dance to."

The audience applauded, and Jimmy gave her a sly smile. 

"And dare I say, timing-wise, you've released it right as another little album dropped into the world earlier this week..."

A ripple of cheers and knowing murmurs moved through the audience. Leia only laughed, shaking her head as if to say, don't you dare pull me into that right now.

"Before we get into that, it's been a while since you were last here, right?"

"Yeah, about a year and a half, I think? Pre-Eras Tour. I was here promoting the deluxe version of ethereal."

"That's right," Jimmy said, pointing at her. "And I remember very clearly - because people online lost their minds when you teased that you had a girlfriend."

The audience whooped, Leia burying her face in her hands with a groan before laughing. "I did say that. I thought I was being so subtle."

Jimmy leaned back, dramatic. "Well, now we all know your girlfriend is Taylor Swift." 

The audience erupted again, and Jimmy let it ride for a beat before adding, "And what people are fascinated by - myself included - is that you two had been together for an undisclosed amount of time before anyone found out. So... what's the story there?"

Leia tilted her head, exhaling softly as if she'd been waiting for this moment. Taylor (and subsequently Tree) had given her permission to speak freely, and she was taking that opportunity by the horns.

"The story is... we've known each other a really long time. And we've been in each other's lives through different chapters, some good, some... not so good. And I think by the time we found our way back to each other, we both knew we didn't want it to be something the world picked apart before we'd even had a chance to breathe in it ourselves."

The room went quiet, listening.

"So, yeah," Leia continued, smiling gently. "We kept it ours for as long as we could. And I don't regret that, because those months - just us, no cameras, no speculation - were the first time in years I felt like I could just... exist. Just be with her."

Jimmy nodded, his usual bounce softened. "That's beautiful. Was it hard, though? Keeping something that big under wraps?"

Leia chuckled. "It was very hard. Especially because she's Taylor Swift, and people notice if she so much as sneezes in public. I think we were in a place that was really delicate too - everyone now knows about my struggles with addiction - but that was something that was hard for us to both bounce back from on a emotional level. We didn't speak for maybe... like two years? And she was seeing someone else so that was another thing too."

"Now, I know the speculation is that you've been together for a longer time than just recently..."

"You're so cheeky," Leia laughed, the crowd also joining in. She had told Jimmy already he could ask whatever, so it wasn't really a surprise. "But yeah, we were together for a while before the Redcrown case all kind of happened, and then I think it's quite obvious why that fell apart when you read the court notes on that."

The audience cooed at that, and Leia pressed her lips together.

Jimmy tapped his pen on the desk, changing the tone. "So now that it's out there, what's changed, other than a multi-million dollar grossing international world tour?"

Leia thought for a moment, her smile softening. "Honestly? Not much, and that's the best part. We still cook dinner together, we still binge terrible TV shows, we still argue over who gets the last cup of coffee. The difference is, we don't have to look over our shoulders anymore. And that freedom - to just hold her hand, or kiss her cheek in the street - that's priceless." 

The crowd burst into applause again, and Jimmy leaned across the desk, eyes warm. "I love that. Thank you for sharing that with us."

Leia laughed, shaking her head. "Thank you for letting me say it out loud on national television for the first time."

"So, let's pivot to the album. The Tortured Poets Department. It's the talk of the universe, and I have to ask: did you know any of those songs were about you? Did Taylor warn you or like get your approval?"

Leia ducked her head, a flush rising above the collar of her navy jacket. 

"I mean, I would hope I'm at least a footnote," she said, the self-deprecation landing perfectly. "But honestly, it's not really about me. The album... it's a concept piece. She's always been obsessed with narrative, with these little mythologies. Sure, there are hints. But it's not a diary entry. It's more like..." She searched for the word, chewing her lip. "It's like she wrote this insane gothic campus novel and cast herself as the tragically cool poet. And then she let the rest of us weave in and out, if we wanted."

Jimmy let the pause hang, letting Leia's words settle, before leaning forward, conspiratorial. "But you have to admit, some of those lyrics hit a little close to home, right?"

Leia breathed for a moment.

"Yeah, sure. There's definitely things in there that you know, I maybe said to her in an argument before, and there's definitely one of two that are love letters of our relationship," Leia admitted, knowing she didn't want drama to come from this album. "But ultimately, it's about a lot of different things and how all is fair in love and in poetry - and you know, us musicians, we know that being a muse comes with the close proximity to other musicians. I'm just glad that even a sliver of me has made it into this masterpiece."

The crowd cheered again, and Jimmy wagged a finger, mock-stern. 

"I feel like you two have this whole language the rest of us just get to decode for the next ten years."

Leia smiled. "That's the fun of it."

He riffled his cards. "So what's your favorite song from the album? And you can't pick the one everyone assumes is about you."

"That sucks, cause I do love So High School. Probably The Bolter? That's a good one too, but it's so hard to pick just one."

The segment wrapped, the applause rolling over them, and Leia felt a strange giddiness as she stood up from the chair as the show cut to the break, Jimmy thanking her and wrapping her in a tight hug as the technical team unclipped their microphones from their clothes.

"Hey, Jimmy," Leia murmured as she hugged him, her voice low next to his ear. "We'll see you next year, for the wedding of the century, all right?"

His eyes were wide as she pulled back, an ear-splitting grin on her face as he pulled her back in for another hug, murmuring congratulations under her breath. To the audience, it just looked like an emotionally tender moment - rather than Jimmy hearing the world's somewhat best kept secret.

____

They were a couple of weeks into the European leg of the tour when Taylor rolled over and made two announcements to Leia.

Firstly - she was already brainstorming her next album and she wanted to get Max Martin back on board. He'd reached back out after he'd seen her and Leia do the medley of his songs back in Mexico City, and since Jack was booked up on other projects right now, Taylor had jumped at the chance to get back into his studio sessions while in Europe for the next few months.

That wasn't surprising - Leia was sure Taylor would be writing from beyond the grave.

The second one, however, did surprise her a little.

"I want to tell everyone," Taylor murmured, playing with the ring on Leia's finger as they lay in bed after the first night of the Madrid shows. "About our engagement."

Leia blinked, still groggy from the kind of bone-deep exhaustion only a stadium show could bring. The hotel room was hushed, the curtains drawn against the Spanish dawn, and yet Taylor's words landed like someone had thrown them wide open.

She shifted onto her elbow, studying her fiancée's face. Taylor was twirling the ring around Leia's finger absently, like it was a nervous tic, her hair spilling in messy waves across the pillow.

"You want to..." Leia's voice came out hoarse. She cleared her throat. "You mean, tell the world?"

Taylor met her gaze, blue eyes soft but steady. "Yeah. I don't want to hide it anymore. Not from the fans. Not from the press. Not from anyone." She pressed her lips together for a beat, then added, quieter, "I'm so tired of pretending this isn't the happiest I've ever been."

Leia's chest tightened, emotions crowding too close together to separate. Relief, fear, pride, the kind of giddy warmth that had carried her through so many nights of tour chaos.

"Alright," Leia murmured, and Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Alright? That's all you have to say?"

"Taylor, I'd follow you to the ends of the earth. If you want the world to know, then they can know."

"You're sure?" she asked, needing to hear it again. "Because once it's out, it's out. They'll pick it apart, they'll spin it, they'll..." 

Leia shook her head gently, her thumb brushing the inside of Taylor's wrist. 

"Let them. They can write their stories, but we'll still have ours. And honestly?" She smiled, small but fierce. "I want people to know I'm marrying the love of my life. That's worth every headline."

____

They'd decided that if it wasn't leaked before then, that they would tell their fans after the end of the tour in December. Seven months away felt like forever, but it just felt like the best idea if they wanted their European Summer to remain more on the down low. 

The second night in Edinburgh was already crackling with energy before the first chord rang out. The stadium seemed to breathe with the crowd, blue and white flags draped over shoulders, glitter catching the rare Scottish sun (despite that, it was absolutely freezing and Taylor had sent her team out to buy gloves for the TTPD set after the windchill the night prior). For Leia, it wasn't just another night of the Eras Tour - it was a homecoming of sorts.

She'd known her parents were coming in, but it didn't really hit until she spotted them in the friends-and-family section before the show, her dad in a scarf with Taylor's tour logo on it (clearly having been bought from a bootleg seller outside), and her mom beaming as though she could light the whole stadium herself. 

In fact, her mom was already crying before the show even began. Her dad, stoic as ever in his brand new hoodie, had his arm slung protectively around Georgie's shoulders while she leaned forward, pointing out parts of the stage to him like she'd built the set herself.

It was strange, Leia thought, to see her parents here. Strange and overwhelming. They'd lived through every version of her life — the first taste of fame, the spiral, the rehab. Now they were here in a stadium packed with seventy thousand people, waiting to watch the woman Leia loved.

When the timer stopped and the crowd detonated into cheers, Leia's heart pounded like she was the one about to walk on stage. Taylor appeared in a shimmer of sequins, and the stadium cracked wide open. Leia's parents joined the eruption, swept away in the kind of spectacle they'd never seen before. Her dad even stood, clapping above his head during Cruel Summer, looking as boyish as she'd seen him in years.

Leia watched as Scott and her dad wrapped each other in a half hug, the two men knowing the weight of what was between their daughters.

And Leia was sure that life couldn't get any better than this.

____

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one more chapter and then the epilogue!

i have loved writing this story, and i've loved reading all your comments!

i am also SOOOOOO happy for Taylor and Travis & SOOOOO excited for the life of a showgirl! imagine trying to explain that to all of us a year ago lol.