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Chapter Text

Charlie Davis pushed her hair out of her face and put her hair up in a ponytail as she sat outside of Campbell Hall field hockey fields, which were located behind one of the most prestigious private schools in Los Angeles, waiting for her father to pick her up from practice. He was late as always, but it was fine because late for him was a common thing. When you own one of the biggest PR companies in all of Hollywood and in the entertainment industry, you had the right to be late to everything, but this was getting ridiculous mainly because at times she as forced to take an Uber home when the security guards told her that she had to leave because of the fact that the campus was closed for the evening.

She watched as all her teammates got picked up after practice and while she had rides offered, she refused them, because of the fact that she had plans after practice. Her father promised that they would go out to dinner, something that they haven’t done in the past few months because he had been so busy with work and always was in rush in the morning because he always had some kind of meeting that was far more important than his daughter. But now, it looked like it wasn’t going to happen.

“See ya Charlie,” one of her teammates said as she walked to her car. Before she could say something, her phone went off. She pulled her phone out of her bag and sighed as she read the text that she got. “Jenn,” she called out to the girl that had just walked passed her. “Can you give me a ride home? He’s gonna be late as always because some major client just came into the office.” Jenn, her best friend, smiled and waved her over. “Typical,” she said as she started the car and waited for her to put her stuff in the trunk of her car. “Did he cancel dinner too?” Charlie shook her head. “No, not yet,” she said. “Thankfully it’s just a meeting not a client and that’s it. He’s gonna be home quickly.” Jenn laughed. The two of them had been friends and even Jenn knew what it was like to have Marc as a dad. He was far more concerned with his business than his family life.

“Like the time that he was going to be home quickly for your birthday a few years ago,” she teased as she opened the truck and put her stuff in. “And it turned into an overnight stay in San Diego. Come on Charlie, you know he’s gonna cancel on you at the last minute like he always does. His job is more important than you are and we both know that. Do you want me to come stay the night or not.” Charlie rolled her eyes, but knew that she was right though. Her father was always putting his job before her, but she had gotten used to that. It was the life that she was born into. She was the product of a teenage romance and her father raised her after her mother’s parents said that she couldn’t keep her. Over the course of the fourteen years that she had been alive, she had gotten used to playing second fiddle to her father’s job.

“Well tonight he promised that he would not let work get in the way of everything,” Charlie said as she pushed her stuff. “But he could get tied up and have to work late. So no, I don’t need you to stay the night, right after you drop me off, he should be home” Jenn rolled her eyes and drove off. They both knew that he was going to cancel, but neither of them wanted to admit it. This was a daily occurrence for the both of them. Charlie wanted to be confident and Jenn didn’t want her friend to lose her faith in the fact that her father wouldn’t cancel, but deep inside, they both knew what was going to happen. He was going to cancel at the last minute like he always does.

*

As Jenn pulled up in front of Charlie’s house, Charlie perked up a bit. “Well he hasn’t texted me a yet,” she said to Jenn. “So it’s still on.” Jenn started laughed and turned into the drive way and put the code in. “I’m sure that he’ll be here, but don’t get your hopes up,” she said.

As the pulled in front of the house that Marc, her father, liked to call “The Getaway,” mainly because of the fact that it felt like a vacation home more than a full time home, a text went off. Charlie looked at her phone and smiled. “He’s on his way,” she said. “Told you so.” Jenn laughed and then smiled. “Well, have a good time,” she said. “And has anyone told you that you look like Taylor Swift by with darker hair when you wear your hair like that?” Charlie blushed. Her hair was naturally curly, so when she didn’t do it, it looked like Taylor Swift when she was just starting out. “Everyone,” she said. “All the time too.” She closed the door and walked toward the house. “Let’s hang out after school tomorrow since we’re not going to have practice,” Jenn said. Charlie didn’t say anything and just gave her a thumbs up. It had been forever since they had actually hung out, and it would be good if things fell through. Charlie watched as Jenn drove off. As she closed the door, she slumped down and sighed a bit. The truth was that her father had canceled again because of work and that she was going to be alone. As she went to go upstairs, a knock was heard at the door. Before she had the chance to answer it herself, Jenn pushed it opened, causing her to jump up.

“Let me guess,” she said as she walked in when a duffle bag over her shoulder. “He canceled on you because of the fact that the client meeting turned into dinner and now you’re on your own.” All Charlie did was nod. She was surprised that Jenn figured that she had been stood up again by her father again just by her body language. “How did…” Charlie started to ask as Jenn held up one hand.

“You don’t talk after he tells you he can’t make it,” she told her. “You’re not being alone tonight Charlie, especially because it’s so close to your birthday.” Charlie teared up a bit. 15 was supposed to be a big year for her, but with the way that it was going, it seemed that it was going to it wasn’t going to be what she wanted.

Chapter Text

“Alright daddy,” Charlie said. “I’ll see you tomorrow then… Love you too” Charlie rolled her eyes and ended her phone call with her father. As she walked into the kitchen, she grabbed a piece of pizza from the box and went to join Jenn on the couch. It was they typical apology phone call that he did once a week and pretended to be sorry that he couldn’t be there, when in reality, he was happy that he was going out and not coming home until after Charlie was asleep so that he didn’t have to deal with her.

“He says you can spend the night if you want,” she told Jenn. “He’s probably gonna be back late, so he’s glad you stayed or at least that’s what he’s telling me.” Jenn smirked and flipped through the channels, stopping on an interview of Taylor Swift, causing the both of them to shift their gaze toward the TV. Jenn screamed so loud during one of the Rose Bowl stops that she couldn’t speak for a week, making Charlie jealous that she wasn’t a loud to go.

“Thank god it’s Friday,” she said. “My parents weren’t going to be home anyway, so it all balances out.” As they sat there, Jenn turned up the TV. The interviewer was talking to Taylor about her life post to and the possibility of ending her career.

“Well,” Taylor started. “My career isn’t ending per say. I’m just going to take some time off and work with Big Machine so that they can put out the greatest hits album that they want to put out. But after that, I don’t know where I’m going to land. My contract with Big Machine is ending, so maybe my career is too.” Charlie and Jenn laughed as they heard this. They both knew that she wasn’t going to stop and this was going to by a ploy to get more album sales when she signed with a new label.

“You know if she retires, she just gonna write songs for everyone,” Jenn said and Charlie nodded. “Of course she will,” she said. “She’s one of the best song writers out that and why should retire anyway? It’s not like she’s going to really stop anyway. She’s gonna record a new album with a new label you and I both know that.” As they listened to the interview, Jenn sat up and looked over at Charlie. “Do you remember what I said to you earlier when you were in your haze of upsetness,” she asked. “You really look like Taylor when she was younger.”

Charlie looked over at Jenn and blushed a bit. “I guess I do,” she said embarrassed. “I mean the only difference between her and I is that my eyes are a different color and my hair is darker than her’s.” Charlie had green eyes like her father while Taylor had blue, but everything else, from the kind of hair that she had, although it was a dark brown, to the fact that she was taller than most girls in her grade, at first glance, you could mistake her for Taylor in a wig, as if she was trying to hide from photographers. “I mean there’s some differences, but it’s a bit uncanny of how similar we look.”
Jenn then turned the TV off and looked over at Charlie. She had debated on going back to the question that she asked a few weeks ago and at first, she didn’t want to, but since they weren’t doing anything, it felt right.

“Did you ever ask you dad about your mom yet,” she asked. “You keep saying that you’re going to do that so that we can start looking for her. My uncle the PI said that he wouldn’t charge us if you really wanted to pursue looking for her.”

Charlie looked away and sighed. She had been asking Marc for months if she could just have a name, but he refused as if he was trying to hide something from her. She was the product of a teenage pregnancy and her mother’s parents tried to give her up for adoption, but at the last minute, her grandparents stepped in and helped Marc raise her or at least that’s the story that she was told. Now that she was getting older, she was starting to think that is was a line and wanted to find her mother, but without her father giving her the proper information, it was a dead end.

“He told me the other day when I asked him that I should drop it,” she said with a sigh. “And that she’s never going to want to see me because her parents told him that she wanted to put me up for adoption.” Jenn shook her head. “That’s not a good enough reason,” she said. “You father is hiding something from you. Something that’s so huge that he doesn’t want you to find out. Do you know where he keeps your birth certificate?” Charlie looked at her and shook her head. “I only saw it once when I got my passport and that was years ago,” she said. “I think he came of his office with it.

Jenn then got up and smiled. “Then let’s start there,” she said. As she walked toward the home office that Marc kept at the back of the house, Charlie grabbed her arm and stopped her. “You know that I’m not supposed to go in there,” Charlie said and caused Jenn to laugh. “He’s not here and besides that, he told you months ago that you can go in there any time you want to use his computer to do homework, so if he asks that’s what we were doing.” Charlie nodded and the followed Jenn into her father’s office.

Charlie always questioned his father’s decorating choices. While it did have an adult feel to it, she never understood why he decorated his space with vinyl toys. Jenn shut the door, looked around. “Check the filing cabinets and I’ll check the desk,” Jenn said. “It’s gotta be in here somewhere.” Jenn started opening anything she could; digging through stuff that Charlie’s father had saved for years. It was amazing to see what he saved over the years. “Look,” Jenn said as she held up a picture of Charlie at Disney world. “What happened to the cute little girl in this photo?” Charlie snatched the picture out of her hand. “She turned into the heart breaker that you see in front of you,” Charlie said as she stuck out her tongue.

Jenn laughed and then paused. She looked across the room and saw something that she had never seen before. Out of all the times that they sat at the desk in Marc’s office, she never noticed the filing cabinet that was across from his desk. “What’s up with the filing cabinet,” Jenn asked. “I don’t think that that I’ve ever noticed it before.” Charlie turned around and shrugged. It was a three draw cabinet that her father always had in here. It wasn’t anything important. Just a normal filing cabinet that he carried from house to house over the years that was always in the office. “It’s nothing special,” Charlie said as she looked at it. “It’s just something that follows around from house to house. My father must be attached to it or something but he never puts anything in it that I know of.”

Jenn walked over and looked at it. Charlie was right, there was nothing special about it. Marc had put stickers on it to hide the various dents in it from moving it over the years, but that was the only thing that was interesting about it. He even left the keys in it because he figured that no one would ever go in there. As she look at the labels on it, she stepped back as she got to the bottom.

“If there’s nothing special about it, then why are your initials on the bottom draw.” Charlie pushed Jenn out of the way to see what she was talking about and was surprised to see that here initials, ‘CMD,’ standing for Charlotte Marie Davis, were on the draw. She was shocked and couldn’t believe that it had been there for some long and she never noticed it. “Do you think it’s in there,” she asked Jenn. “Only one way to find out,” Jenn said. She reached past Charlie and pulled the draw opened. “Let’s seen,” Jenn said as she hunched over the draw. “Campbell Hall, the Rainey School, trust fund,… and here it is.” Jenn pulled a folder out that read ‘birth certificate’ and held it up. “Found it.” They walked over to the desk and placed the folder there. Charlie really didn’t want to open it. What if what they were looking for wasn’t there? “Open it,” Jenn said. “We came this far not to.”

She slowly pulled out the document and then read it. “Name: Charlotte Grace Davis…” Jenn and Charlie looked at each other. For years her father had called her Charlotte Marie. “This has to be a mistake,” Jenn said. She leaned and tried to figure if it was altered or not. “I don’t think so,” Charlie said. “He called me Charlotte Grace once by accident and he tried to recover, but did it horribly, so I think he’s lying to me.” She looked down the list and kept reading. “DOB: 5/16/03. Place of birth: Tristar Medical Center, Hendersonville, Tenn, Father: Marc G. Davis, Mother:…” she stopped. Jenn shook her shoulders.

Who,” she asked. “Unknown.” Charlie slipped the document and the envelope back into the draw and closed it. She then looked and Jenn and started to cry. “Oh Charlie,” Jenn said as she hugged her. “It’s alright. Something will come up. I promise.” But it was too late. As she heard the file cabinet click closed, she knew that there was no way for finding out who was her mother was.

Chapter Text

The first half of the next week was a nightmare for Charlie. Both field hockey games that she played in had resulted in less than spectular performances from both her and her team, she had eaten dinner alone all week because her father was busy taking clients out to dinner all week, and of course school just sucked because it was almost the end of the year and that didn’t mean midterms, but pointless PARC testing, which even the teachers didn’t know what the point of it was and had no idea why they had to do it for that matter because even they didn’t want to do it. But by the time Wednesday had rolled around, she start to become her old self and things were good again and things finally got back to normal.

Thursday meant that her birthday was just two days away and while her father wasn’t going to be home, like he was every year, at least she was going to spend it with Jenn and her parents. That meant they would go somewhere she wanted to go and not a place that she thought that her father would like. And while that was good, something else was bothering her all week.

Charlie started to think about who her mother was more and more. Ever since she found her birth certificate, she started to dig more and more into who her mother could be. She even went as far as looking through her father’s year book, trying to find the girl who would look like her, but she had no luck, because the class was so large.

She knew that they were sophomores in high school when she was born, but every time she got deeper into the year book, her father came home and she had to stop looking because of the fact that he never really liked her looking through his year book for some odd reason. Maybe he was worried that he would see her and start asking questions, but whatever the reason was, it was heart breaking to her.

She sighed to herself as she walked up the drive way checking the mailbox for mail. There was no practice today because it was a half days for some teacher’s and Jenn had to do something with her mother, so he took the bus home instead. As she went through all the bills and junk mail she stopped when she came to a large envelop. It was normal for them to get large envelopes in the mail, but normally they had to sign for them or actually go to the post office because the mail carrier had refused to carry it because it was just too big. As she looked at it, it wasn’t addressed to her father, but her.

“Charlotte Grace Davis,” she read. “904 Benedict Canyon Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210. What?” Charlie’s eyes went wide. Her father once said ‘Grace’ and just said that he accidentally called her by his sister’s middle name, but it seemed that he was having a hard time recovering and after she saw her birth certificate last night, this confirmed that her father was lying to her. But through all the confusion, she started to look at the envelope more. As she looked at the envelope, she saw that return address was from New York. “155 Franklin Street,” she read. As she pushed opened the gate, something clicked in her head. Over the summer, she and Jenn started to plan a trip to New York for next summer, if her father would let her go that was, they looked up Taylor Swift’s apartment and found the address, adding it to the list of places to visit. “No,” Charlie said as she dropped the mail on the ground and ran inside. She dropped the mail on the table by the door and ran up stairs to her room.

Her heart raced as she jumped onto her bed and turned the TV on, turning up the volume. She was going to need a cover up the sound of her opening something and have him wonder what she was doing. She looked at the hand writing and wondered what was going on and why whoever wrote it had used the right middle name and even ended each name with a little heart. She took a deep breath, turned it back over, opening it and pulling the letter out.

“Here goes everything,” she said as she looked at the letter and started to read it.

*

Dear Charlie,

I hope that’s what you’re called now, because if not then I’m sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve been told what you liked to be called.

I hope that this letter gets to you this year because it’s a special year, your fifteenth birthday. That’s how old I was when I met Abigail and my life changed forever. I’m sure that you’re a fine young lady and while I haven’t seen you since you were a newborn baby, I feel a connection with you. You are my daughter after and while you probably don’t have my musical talents, I’m sure that you have your father’s athletic abilities. I believe that the last time I talked to him, he said that you were playing field hockey, something that I never got into, but always enjoyed watching my friends play back when I was in high school.
Enclosed is a gift card to Louis Vuitton, I figured that you’re old enough to have something this expensive and I have a feeling that all the girls at your school have them, so you should too.

If you can get permission from your father, you should come and visit me next week for your birthday. I’m sure that the answer from him will be no, but if you can sneak away at all, I’ll be out all week.
I hope this letter finds you and doesn’t disappear into the envelope that your father keeps in that draw in his office. If not, then I guess at least you’ll get this card from him sooner or later.

Happy birthday!

Love,

Taylor (AKA Mom)

*

Charlie almost started to cry as she finished reading the letter. She finally had what she was looking for and hand the first name of her mother that had been hidden from her for years by her father.
She quickly ran out of her room and headed into her father’s office, where she grabbed his sophomore yearbook off the shelf and sat at his desk. She quickly flipped through the book until she came across a ‘Taylor.’ The first one was guy, but as she flipped through the book, looking at each name, she stopped when she got to the “S” last names and her jaw dropped.

In the middle of the page was a girl who looked just like her, with the exception that her hair was blonde and she had better posture than Charlie would ever have, but she was the splitting image of her. She didn’t believe it. She was a perfect match right down the curly hair and the sweet smile. She then counted the names and got the shock of her life.

“It’s not possible,” she said as she read the name on the right side of the book. “Taylor Swift is my… mom. How is it possible?” She quickly closed the year book and sat in her father’s chair, trying to process what she had just found out. How was it possible that Taylor Swift, the biggest pop star in the world, was a teenage mother and had her almost fifteen years ago?

Before she had the chance to process everything, she heard the garage open and panicked. Her father was home early for some odd reason and she did not expect it or him. She wanted to look for the envelope that her mother mentioned, but had no time for that. She grabbed the year book and took it with her. Her father would never know it was gone because he never looked behind him when he got up. She quickly ran out of the room and changed out of her uniform.

“Charlie did you get the mail,” Marc asked as he walked into the house. “Crap,” she said as she pulled jeans on. “It’s on the table where it usually is,” she said. She threw a shirt on and then sat on her bed, acting like she was watching a movie and slipped the envelope and the year book that she had taken under her pillows, so that her father wouldn’t see that she had them.

Marc knocked on the door and opened it. “Long time no see,” he said as he walked into the room. At one point, he was an All American quarterback with the same color eyes and hair as her, but now, as many of the parents at Campbell Hall, he was an arrogant son of a bitch who cared for no one but himself. Charlie knew this first hand and no had to tell her. “It’s on the table where it always is,” she told him. “Looking for something?” Marc shook his head. “No,” he said. “It must be coming certified mail. It was supposed to be delivered today, but I guess that it’s coming tomorrow.” Charlie sighed softly so that her father wouldn’t hear her. She knew that he was looking for the letter that her mother, but this year it was hers and not his.

“So… where do you wanna go to dinner tonight,” he asked as her headed for the door. “Craig’s?” Charlie rolled her eyes. That was his favorite restaurant to do business at and not her’s and they went there every year because he felt the need to do business while they celebrated her birthday. She knew that he was going to take her out to dinner tonight before he left for New York and of course it was going to be a business dinner with someone that had a daughter who wanted to be there as much as she did.

“Can we just go to California Pizza Kitchen or something,” Charlie said causing Marc to turn and look at her. “I mean if that’s where you wanna go, then we’ll go. But…” Charlie groaned and flopped back on her bed. “You always do this to me every year,” she said. “It’s my birthday and I want to go someone that’s more casual and not a place that I have to dress up. Is it that hard?” Marc came over and sat on the bed next to her. “I have a very important client dinner tonight and he has a daughter that he’s bringing with him,” he said letting Charlie know that she was right. “I told him that it was your birthday and he insisted that we go there to celebrate it and also we do have an appearance to keep up, so this is the best thing to do.” Charlie sat up and looked her father dead in the eye. She was nothing but a pawn to him and was something that made him look good.

“No, you have an appearance to keep up,” she said as she stood up. “Ever since I was born you tried to keep this image up and now, all I am is an accessory you parade out when you want to make yourself look good. Is that all I am to you dad? An accessory that makes you look human? I wish my mother wanted to keep me.” Marc looked at her and sighed.

“This again,” he said as he stood up. “I’ve told you multiple times Char that she was going to put you up for adoption and that’s why Mom and Pop stepped in and helped me get custody of you. Now about the other thing., this client has a daughter that loves that place and really wants to celebrate your birthday with you.”

Charlie groaned and Marc sighed. “It’s just this one time Charlie,” he continued. Charlie then sat up. “It’s been one time since I was 10 and I we never do anything that I want to do. Like when I wanted to go to that concert with Jenn over the summer and you said no because I would be out too late. It’s my birthday after all and I want to do something that I want to do.” She get got up and walked over to her closet, acting as if she was going to start getting dressed to go out. “I made reservations for six,” Marc said and started to walk out of the room.

Charlie pulled a suitcase down and started to pack. “Then call Shea,” she said referring to his business partner. “She’s more than willing to go than I am and it is a business dinner after all.” She started pack as Marc turned back, looking to see what she was doing and he was surprised to see that she had pulled down a suitcase.

“Well then where do you think you’re going,” Marc asked. “Jenn’s,” Charlie said. “It’s my birthday and so I’m going. Now please get out so that I can pack.” She didn’t want him to see her putting his year book and the envelope in her suitcase. If anyone could figure out what to do, it was Jenn. She would be the fresh set of eyes that would help figure out what to do.

Marc walked over to Charlie and grabbed her wrist and flung her across the room, making her fly into her closet. He picked her up by her hair and held her against the wall. She tried to get away, but he was stronger than she was. He then smacked her across the face. Charlie knew that this would leave a mark that she would have to cover up.

“Now listen to me and listen to me good,” he told her. Charlie tried to look away, but the way that her father was holding her, there was no way that she could. Her breathing became shallow as he held her against the wall. He had been physical with her in the past, but this was something new.

“You know very well that you have to attend events like this even if you don’t want to. You make me look like a family man and besides that, I told them that you were coming and not Shea because he is bringing his daughter and she wants to meet you because she’s thinking about transferring to Campbell Hall. So get ready and be ready to make small talk with this girl or else .” Charlie looked at him. “Or else what,” she asked scared. Marc then reach out and smacked Charlie across the face again harder than the last time. “There will be more where that came from and more when I get back from New York. Finish packing and I’ll drop you off after dinner.” He let her go and left her alone, shutting her door.

As the door clicked, Charlie started to cry. Granted, she was somewhat used to this, but it was different. Her father smacked before, but never smacked her across the face, something was different, as if he was worried that something might happen if she didn’t show or something.

She slowly packed as she wondered she thought about Taylor’s offer as she placed the year book and the new letter in the bag along with the gift card. As she glanced at the newest letter, she realized that she finally had an out, but needed some advice about it. She knew that Jenn was going to the best bet and she knew what was going to want to do. Charlie turned and headed to her bathroom to start to process of hiding the hard mark. This was going to be the last time that this happened.

Chapter Text

Dinner was so boring and the girl didn’t even talk to her, which was the best thing that happed because Marc couldn’t do anything about it and the girl wasn’t even considering Campbell Hall, in fact she wasn’t even moving here, she was staying with her father for the weekend and wasn’t planning on moving here because she thought that Los Angeles was fake.

Charlie did more than just try to talk to the girl; she didn’t eat and used the excuse that she wasn’t feeling well, when in reality she just wanted to anger her father, when asked why she wasn’t eating. While at first it seemed that it wasn’t going to work, the guy who they were out to dinner with brought it and things started to work in her favor. Charlie and the guy’s daughter, she thought that her name was Alice, but that didn’t matter, because like her, she tried to please their fathers and make small talk, but was more focused on her phone more than anything, mainly because of the fact that there was some kind of crisis going on back home with her friends, which after a bit, Marc gave her permission to do the same, which made things better because she was able to tell Jenn everything that happened.

Marc tried to include her in the conversation a few times, but the guy who as paying for dinner kept changing the subject back to whatever they were meeting about, which to Charlie, sounded like the stupidest idea that her father had ever gotten involved in. She was glad that she didn’t have to speak because if she did, she was going to embarrass him and there would be nothing that he could do about it, even after in the car, there would be nothing that he could do because Jenn’s father was high ranking detective in the LAPD and was constantly checking in on Charlie when she was acting strange. He was one of the few people that Marc was scared of and when he would show up at the house to get Charlie out of there when she called Jenn for help, he let her go and stay for as long she felt to stay, which was usually a few days until Marc cooled down.

Once dinner ended, Charlie smiled. She was going to be with Jenn for a week and there was nothing more in the world that she wanted right now. A week away from him was what she need right now more than anything.

*

It was almost 8 when as Marc pulled up in front of Jenn’s house. As the stopped, Marc smiled at her, as if nothing had happened. He knew that she couldn’t cover that welt that was on her face and smiled because she had to cover her face with her hair because she didn’t have enough makeup to cover it up. He got out of the car and helped her get her bag out of the trunk, acting as if he cared about her. “I’ll see you next Sunday,” he said as he handed her suitcase over. “Oh and before I forget Charlie, happy birthday sweetheart.” He handed her a card, which was probably the same one that he gave her last year. “I’ll get you something when you come back. I didn’t have time since I was so busy with work the past week.”

Charlie knew very well that this was a lie. He had been using her mother’s gifts all along and this time around, she had already got it. All she was to him was a pawn in his career. He never cared about her. “Alright,” she said faking as if she cared. “Have a good trip.” She then got out and headed toward Jenn’s house.

Before she even reached the door, her father pulled away and headed off to do whatever he did in New York and Jenn whipped opened the door and sighed. She already knew what happened because of the texts that Charlie sent during dinner and was waiting nervously to see what her father did.

“Thank god,” Jenn said as she pulled Charlie inside almost letting the neighbors see up her dressed up. “Are you OK?” She pushed Charlie’s hair out of her face and looked over the welt as she nodded. “Staving, but OK. I think that this is the worst one I’ve had in a while” Jenn smiled, knowing what Charlie had gone through over the years, as held up her keys, as if she had something already in mind before she even got the text from Charlie.

“In n Out,” she asked. Charlie smiled and nodded. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll eat a double double with no problem.” She grabbed her bag and went upstairs to change out of the stupid dress that she was wearing. Minutes later, the Charlie that they both knew came down. “Well at least you don’t look like you should…” Jenn didn’t get a chance to finish as Charlie walked over and hip checked her. “Save it Nichols,” Charlie said. “I know what I looked like and I don’t need to be reminded about it. Now can we go, I’m starving.” Jenn laughed. “Alright Davis…” she said with a smirk. “Let’s go.”

*

A half hour later, Jenn and Charlie walked back in to her house in better spirits. As they sat down at the table milkshakes in hand, Jenn looked at her. “The letter and the year book,” she said in between sips of a milkshake. “Can I see them?” Charlie nodded. She went upstairs and brought them to the table. Jenn quickly opened the year book and turned to the page that had Taylor’s picture on it. Her eyes went wide. She didn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Like holy shit,” Jenn said. “It’s you with blonde hair and a cuter smile.” Charlie laughed and rolled her eyes. That was the one thing that she was starting to wish that she got, but at least she had her mother’s good looks and her father’s.

“Thanks,” she said as she looked at the picture again. “I’m still in a state of shock. You should have been there when…” Charlie started to cry again. She wished that Jenn was there and maybe she wouldn’t have gotten that massive hand print across her face. Jenn quickly hugged her. “It’s alright,” she said. “I can’t be there 24/7, but at least I can be there for the aftermath to make you feel better.” Charlie sniffed a little as she got her crying under control. “That’s all I ever want,” she said. “I just hope that my mom will let live up to what she said in the latest letter.” Jenn looked at her. This was something new.

“The letter,” she said. “Can I see it?” Charlie opened the envelope and took out the letter. Jenn started to read it as Charlie looked. There was a connection that seemed to be there even though Charlie had never gotten any letters until today. Charlie started to smile as she heard Jenn start to laugh.

“She so adorable,” she said. “Did you bring the gift card?” Charlie nodded and watched as Jenn smiled. She start to wonder what she was starting to plan. “Of course I did,” she said. “You know that my father checks my room when I’m not home for anything he can use against me. So why would I leave something like that at home.” Jenn’s smile broadened.

“Good,” Jenn said. “Oh and tomorrow, we’re not going to school, instead we’re going shopping and then going star watching since we don’t have practice.” Charlie looked at her like she was crazy. She was losing her mind after she read that letter and wanted to do the one thing that she couldn’t think of doing. She was now starting to think that it was a bad idea that she even told her what she found out.

“No,” Charlie said. “Not going to happen. We’re not going to sit in front of her house and wait for her to show up and besides that, she told me next week.” Jenn laughed. “Charlie, Charlie, Charile,” she said. “Two things. One, she’s your mother and she wants to see you and two, she already here. You out of all people should know that any famous person comes out days before they decide to make public appearances so that they can get the important shit that they have to do. So why wouldn’t Taylor do the same thing?”

Charlie blushed realizing that Jenn was right. She should know this. After all, her father was always going to meet some famous person before they made it known that they were in LA, so why would Taylor do anything different? She sighed, giving in to her friend. “Fine,” she said. “What’s the plan?” Jenn leaned forward. “We go to the Louis Vuitton store…” Charlie interrupted her. “How are we going to get in,” she asked. “You know that they lock the doors when they see teenagers coming and we aren’t rich European girls.”

Jenn shook her head. “The gift card dummy,” she said causing Charlie to blush a bit, forgetting she had the key to get into the store. “As I was saying, first we go to the Louis Vuitton store, slam the gift card against the glass, get that bag that she wants you to get for the past three weeks since you saw it online and then go to your mother’s house and wait for her to show up. Trust me, she’s here, she’s just lying low.”
Charlie sighed. She didn’t want to do this, but at this point it was this or endure more abuse from her father. She nodded. “Alright,” she said. “But if she’s not there, we’re leaving and going somewhere else. Like the Beverly Center or the beach.”

Jenn hugged her and smiled. As she was let go, Charlie started to think that this was a bad idea. But then she realized that this might be her way out and could be the best thing ever and finally her way out.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure she’s here and this is even her house,” Charlie asked as they sat toward the bottom of Laurel Lane, trying to look like they weren’t stalking anyone and were just lost and just turned onto the street to make they were just checking their phones for directions. It seemed to be working because no one had come and asked them to leave or called the cops to see what was going on and why there were parked there.
“Trust me,” Jenn said. “This is where her house is because she sold the other two that she had brought a few years ago and my uncle saw her last night as he helped her load her bags into the car that was carrying her at the airport. She’s here and even you know it. ” Charlie sighed loudly; she knew that this was going to be a bad idea. As if they weren’t going to be in enough trouble as it was, if someone called the cops, they were going to be in bigger trouble than they were, even if Jenn did produce her father’s gold card, there was other things that were going to get them in trouble.

They both had to pretend to be their parents and while Charlie almost botched it because she couldn’t impersonate her father and had to say that she was his assistant because of it, the school brought it and they were out of the day.

For them, it was kind of weird being out of school during a weekday with the tourist who hoped they would see stars out shopping, but that never happened because famous people never went to Rodeo, unlike them. She and Jenn hand gone many times and were turned away from every store, mainly because they never dressed the right way for them or because they were typical teenagers who never allowed into those stores.

But this time it was different, they actually were going to be able to get in because of the gift card. Charile and Jenn walked up to the store and as the clerk at the Louis Vuitton store was about to turn them away and lock the door to keep them from getting in, Charlie pulled the gift card that she had gotten out of her bag and pressed it against the glass. The door to the store buzzed and they were let inside.

After that, the two of them were treated like royalty and when Charlie found out how much was on the card, she blushed. She didn’t even know her mother and she gave her enough money to get a small purse that she wanted, a medium sized standard purse and a wallet that matched too. She hadn’t felt this happy in a long time and as they walked out of the store, everyone stopped and stared, thinking that she was someone famous. As they walked passed all the other stores, they called them in, offering to let them look around, hoping that they would buy something. While Jenn knew that she wanted to go into Harry Winston and get to see that necklace that she dreamed of wearing, she knew that they had bigger things to do and Charlie, who was feeling a new high and was ready to go and find her mother.

Now however, she was a ball of nerves as they sat at the bottom of Laurel Way, waiting to see if Taylor was actually home or not. It felt like they had been there for hours, but it was only fifteen minutes “I just hope he’s right,” she said to Jenn. “He was wrong about everyone else he thought he saw over the past few weeks.” Jenn rolled her eyes as they sat there. She knew that her uncle was wrong most of the time, but this time he was telling the truth, mainly because she sent her a picture because he knew that Taylor was her favorite artist. Jenn the turned toward Charlie and looked at her.

“You know what you’re going to do right,” Jenn asked trying to take her mind off of what was going on. “You’re not going to just walk up and freeze are you? Like you do when we have to do a group project in school, right?” Charlie nodded and swallowed. She had been working on the plan since the left Rodeo Drive. Mentally, it seemed like a good idea, but now she was starting to think that it wasn’t a good idea. “Buzz the box and then ask to speak to Taylor,” she said. “If they lie and say that they she’s not there, then…” She stopped as three large black SUVs turned onto the street. Jenn and Charlie looked at each other and then ducked so that they wouldn’t be seen. Once they passed, Jenn sat up and watch. She saw them go drive into the gated house at the top of the street and went to put her car in drive, but Charlie stopped her.
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Wait to see if they come back down. This way we can find out if they are picking her up or dropping her off.” Jenn rolled her eyes, but agreed to wait and see. A few minutes later, the three trucks drove back down the hill. Before Charlie had a chance say something, Jenn whipped her car around and drove up the hill. She stopped outside of the view of the cameras, but knew that she was being seen by the others that where off in the distance. “Go,” she said. “This might be your only chance. If she’s not home, just leave a message with whoever is there and we’ll go out and find her.” Charlie took a deep breath and got out of the car.

She was dressed in her school uniform, since her and Jenn wanted to make it look like they were going to school, so that her mother would be suspicious of what they were doing, so at least she looked somewhat presentable, even though she hated wearing it and the way that it looked on her, but at least she would look good if her mother was there.

She walked toward the gate and felt like she was being watched. Cameras were everywhere and there were probably more that she couldn’t see. If anyone tried to get in, they were going to be seen right away and if they tried to even set foot on the property, they were going to be stop by her security team and taken down. Taylor even went as far as having higher fences installed so that no could see the house, even though it was a historic landmark, she wanted to have all the privacy that she could get. She even went as far extending a wall that would give her added protection between her door and the garage. This way no one could get any pictures of her and Joe Alwyn, her supposed boyfriend, that they could sell for some big money.

Charlie got to the gate and froze for a second, just like she thought she would. Her mind raced as she stood there, wondering if she was actually here or just didn’t leave. But she knew that there was only one way to find out. She took a deep breath, walked up the call box and pressed the call button. Security cameras that were on the top of fence posts whirred as they moved into position to watch her. She knew that she was being watched, but had no idea that the security was going to be this bad. The box buzzed for a few seconds, as if whoever was in the house was screening her, seeing if she was a stalker or not, before someone answered.

“Can I help you,” a woman’s voice said from the other side who came off as bit cold. Charlie was a bit surprised that someone answered, because she wasn’t expecting it, but managed to get her thoughts together.
“Is Taylor Swift home,” she asked. The box fell silent for a second before the voice came back. “I’m sorry, but she’s not in right now. Any requests to meet her can be directed to her fan mail address,” the voice said. “She’ll get back to you when she has the time.” Charlie was devastated. The cars that went and came up were empty and really didn’t have anyone in or picked her up and headed to where she was going. This was really a waste of her time and she knew that she wouldn’t be here. She didn’t understand why Jenn even talked her into this and started to realize that this was a bad idea.

“When she gets back from whatever she’s is can you tell her that her daughter Charlie was looking for her since the letter that she wrote said that she’d be here this week starting today,” Charlie said. “It’s been fourteen years since she’s seen her and I would really like to meet her for what might be the first time. I’m sorry for wasting your time and have a nice day.”

Charlie turned and started to walk away and go back to Jenn’s car, tears welling up in her eyes. This was a waste of her time. As she started to walk back to Jenn’s car, she could see her scrambling to find the right words to comfort her, which would probably be along the lines of ‘We’ll try another day,’ and she would tell her that she didn’t want to do it and was giving up, knowing that she would never meet her mother and be stuck with her father for the rest of her life. As she neared the edge of the gate, it started to open. She didn’t stop mainly because of the fact that she thought it was security checking on her so that they could get a description of the car that she had come in, but something different happened. Someone cleared their throat.

“Charlotte Grace,” A voice said to her. Charlie stopped dead in her tracks and debated on turning around, but she did against her best judgement. As she turned around fully, she didn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Mom,” she asked in a shaky voice.

Chapter Text

Taylor sat in the back one of the three trucks that was carrying her and her security crew back home While she just wanted to enjoy her time off before she started working on contact negations with many of the record labels that wanted to sign her because her time at Big Machine, it seemed that Scott was going to put her through the album promotion routine one last time. While it was only a greatest hit album, Big Machine wanted to get as much as they could out of her before left and that meant actually doing press until they had enough, which at this rate would result in her doing a small tour, playing her greatest hits, which was something she really didn’t want to do.

Earlier, she went out to brunch to do an interview with Rolling Stone about her upcoming greatest hits album that she was going to be releasing in the coming months and it was terrible. Of course they got the one guy who’s obsessed with her and thinks that he knows everything about current pop music, he still thinks that he played All Too Well, her least favorite song off of Red, the night he was at one of her tour stops, to interview her and hated every minute of it because of the way that he talked to her, but at least she got a free meal out of it.

She was glad that this was the only interview that she had to do this week. It was going to be her and Karlie tonight and then her and Joe for the rest of the weekend and then she had a few more interviews and that was it. It was going to be good to disappear of a bit again. There was no need to tour for this album, it just involved a couple meet and greets and album signings that would it and then she and Joe could be together before she went back into the studio, once she figured out who she was going to sign with of course. While this was one thing on her mind, there was one thing that was bothering her.

As she stared out window, she thought about her daughter and if she was OK. It was almost her birthday and for the fifteenth year in a row, she reach out her father hoping that she would be able to see her. She still felt stupid after all these years for not fighting for custody of her and letting him slip away with her. But her career had gotten in the way of what she really wanted to do and she never really felt the need to contact here until recently.

As she sat there daydreaming, her phone went off, snapping her out of her trance and bringing her back to reality. She glanced at it and sighed. She had gotten a text from her daughter’s father and it was the same excuse that it was every year.

Sorry, Marc texted. But Charlotte is joining me in NYC for her birthday this year. Maybe next year. Taylor knew that this was a lie. He always lied when he called her Charlotte. She was staying with someone out here and Taylor knew it, but had no way to find out who or where she was staying with. He had been lying to her since the day that she was born. Saying that Andrea and Scott didn’t want her to have her and as it turned out, that was a lie too. He legit kidnapped his daughter and kept her away from her for all these years.

But now that she was turning fifteen, it was going to be different. The contract that Scott made him sign years ago was about to take effect and if Charlie wanted to come live with her, she could. That is if she wanted to live with complete stranger

“That son of a…” before she could finish her thought, her phone started to ring. She looked at it and saw it was Karlie. She composed herself and then answered. “Hello,” Taylor said into her phone. “Yes we’re still on for today and tonight… Nothing planned… Sure… Come over and we’ll take it from there… See you soon.” She hung up the phone and managed to muster a smile. At lease she was going to see her best friend and maybe go out to lunch. Maybe she could convince Karlie to spend the night too, but then again, that was getting harder and harder now because she was constantly in demand all over the world, but at least she was going to get to see her for a few hours before she jetted off to where she was going to go next.

As the three cars drove up Laurel Lane, she started to relax. She was glad to finally have a nice, big place that everyone could come to and that was also much more private that some of her other homes. While it was finished when she was on the reputation stadium tour, she never had the chance to actually enjoy it. She went straight from the tour to London to film Cats, but now, it seemed that she was finally going to get that chance. Joe was on his way out and they were just going to do the LA thing and do whatever they could think of, even though it meant that they would have to deal with the paparazzi, which was something that they both understood and would have to deal with.

She walked through the garage and into the house, where she saw Andrea, her mother, sitting in the living. She sat down and took off her heels. “I swear,” she started as she took off her other shoe. “If Rolling Stone sends him again, I’m going to start declining interviews because I can’t stand the way that he fangirls over me. He’s worse than some of the teenage girls that I have to deal with.

As she sat in the living room and looked back at the pool, thinking that she might lie out by it before Karlie got here, the gate buzzed the house. “Karlie’s here already,” she asked Andrea if Karlie was here or not, but realized that Karlie was more likely to be late than early. Andrea quickly turned looked at the iPad that was beside her and shook his head. “No Taylor,” she said as she looked up at Taylor. “It’s some girl.” Taylor rolled her eyes. While it was hard to find her house because it was so off the beaten path, when people did find it, they always rang the gate, trying to get in to see her or the house. She just wanted to be alone and enjoy her house and not have to deal with catering to everyone that buzzed the gate.

“Give her the usual speech,” Taylor said as she started to take off her shoes. “I’m not home as far as you know.” Taylor listened as her mother tried to chase the person away from the gate, her heart sank. “When she gets back from whatever she’s is can you tell her that her daughter Charlie was looking for her since the letter that she wrote said that she’d be here this week starting today,” the girl said. “It’s been fourteen years since she’s seen her and I would really like to meet her for what might be the first time. I’m sorry for wasting your time and have a nice day.”

Taylor’s heart sank as she heard what the girl said. She quickly stood up, grabbed the iPad from her mother and looked at the screen. She got a brief look at the girl and almost started to cry. She didn’t believe it, it had to be her. She sent the letter a few days ago from New York and it must have gotten there. Andrea looked at her.

“Is it,” she asked her. Taylor nodded, wiping the tears for her eyes. “It has to be,” she said. “She’s roughly the same age and from what I could see when I took the iPad, she looks like me.”
Andrea looked at her daughter. While she wanted to believe that it wasn’t her long lost granddaughter, she got a better look at her than Taylor did and the resemblance was that of a teenage Taylor with darker hair. It was her.

“Go,” Andrea said with a sigh. “You’ve waited fourteen years to see her and now she somehow got the letter that you send her every year before her father did and she came to find you.” Taylor got up and then stopped. “But what if it isn’t her,” she asked Andrea. “And it’s someone pretending to be her?” Andrea looked at her. “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” she told her, not mentioning what she saw. “You’ll know if it’s her. Go. You’ve waited fourteen years for this moment.”

Taylor nodded and then ran out of the house barefoot, not caring if she had shoes on or not, she just wanted to catch the girl before she got too far. She hoped that she would get there before the girl disappeared. As the gate opened, she stepped out and looked for the girl that was at the gate seconds earlier. She turned around and saw her walking toward a car that was parked out of the view of the cameras. She fought back tears as she realized that she was looking at herself.

“Charlotte Grace,” she called out, causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks, causing her to turn around.

“Mom,” the girl asked.

Chapter Text

Charlie dropped the envelope that she had brought with her and ran into Taylor’s arms. Before Taylor even had wrapped her arms around her, she started to cry, causing Taylor to start to cry as well. The two of them stood for what seemed like hours, but it was only a few seconds. Taylor hugged her tightly and looked at her. She wanted to continue the conversation that she had been waiting to have for years, but the she realized she couldn’t.

“Not here,” she told Charlie. “I don’t want to be seen and become the topic of tabloids who you are and why you’re here.” At first, Charlie didn’t understand what Taylor was talking about, but she slowly realized what she meant. There could be photographers around and if they got a picture, the internet would have a field day with them “Do you… Do you want me to come in,” she asked. Taylor nodded. “Yes,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be safer and we won’t be seen by anyone.”

Charlie looked down the street and then back at Taylor. “I… There’s… Can Jenn come with us,” she asked as Taylor made a face, wondering who she was talking about. “She’s my friend and she knows everything. She brought me here and convinced me to do this.”

Taylor looked down around the bend and sighed. She just wanted it two of them, but with her mom here and now her saying that a friend was here made things different. Taylor nodded and mustered a smile. “Of course,” she said not wanting to lose Charile after getting her back for the first time in years. “Call her and tell her to come.” Charlie wiped the tears from her eyes and waved to Jenn, who drove up the hill and waited to drive in.

Taylor walked over to the gate and punched in a code, causing it to open. After Jenn drove in, Taylor led Charlie inside, the gate closing behind them. As soon as the gate closed, Taylor hugged Charlie tightly. The both of them started to cry again. The two of them couldn’t believe that this was actually happening or dreamed that this was ever going to happen. With the way that Marc was acting, they both felt like they would never see each other, but now, it was different. They had finally found each other and now nothing was going to separate them.

Charlie looked up for a moment and saw Jenn get out of her car and smile. “Told you she’d be home,” Jenn said mockingly as Charlie rolled her eyes.
As she stood there, waiting to be invited over, a woman then came out and walked over to Jenn. “Give them a bit of space for a bit,” Charlie heard her say. “You can sit out by the pool if you want.” The woman then ushered her inside. Charlie looked over looked up at Taylor.

“It’s my… well your grandma,” Taylor said unsure how to put it. Charlie nodded and then started to smile at her mother. “She seems nicer then my father’s mother,” she said. “But that’s probably not the best thing to be telling you right now.” Taylor smiled a bit. “It’s OK,” Taylor said. “I think we have a lot to talk about. So why don’t we go inside and sit in my office. Does that sound good to you?”

Charlie was a bit worried about what was going to be said, but knew that it was for the better and she would finally know what the truth was. She smiled and nodded at Taylor. “Start from the beginning,” she said as she looked at Taylor, wondering what she had to tell her. “Well…” Taylor started. “I guess that I could tell you the truth.” Charlie nodded. That what she wanted the truth and from someone who knew it.
As they walked inside, Taylor stopped and smiled. “Mom,” she said to Andrea, who was coming from the backyard where she was getting Jenn settled. Charlie glanced over and saw that she was lying out in a bathing suit by the pool. Clearly, Jenn had a feeling this was going to happen, so she just either brought a suit with her or wore it underneath her uniform, just like she would have if they were sneaking off to Venice after school. “This is Charlotte…” “Charlie,” Charlie said, correcting her mother. “Right, Charlie your granddaughter.” Andrea didn’t believe it, but as Charlie pushed her hair out of her face, she saw it.
“It is her,” Andrea said as she ran over and hugged her, causing the three of them to cry again. “The last time we saw you were weeks old,” Andrea said. “And then…” Andrea started to cry. “And then what,” Charlie started to ask. Taylor put her hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “I think you know the side of the story that you father told you,” Charlie said. “But the truth is, what he said isn’t true.” Charlie looked up at Taylor and then sat down.

“So, what he’s been telling me is a lie,” she asked causing Taylor and Andrea to nod in unison. “Why would he do that? I could have been seeing you when I wanted instead of just finding out now that I have a… mom.” Charlie started to tear up as Andrea put her hand on her shoulder. “It’s a long story sweetie,” she said. “And I think you’re old enough to hear it.” She got up and looked at Taylor. “I think you two have some talking to do,” she said. “I’m going to check on Jenn to make sure that she doesn’t get burned or too much sun for that matter.” Andrea then walked outside leaving Taylor and Charlie alone.

“So, you’re fourteen now,” Taylor said as the door closed. “And you’re going to turn fifteen tomorrow?” Charlie nodded. She watched as her mother sat across from her and started to type something on a keyboard. Charlie wasn’t sure what she was doing, but it seemed like it was something that was important. Taylor then looked up. “Then I think that you’re old enough to know the truth.” Taylor then took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She looked at Charlie and started from the beginning.

Chapter Text

Fifteen years earlier

Taylor sat in what would have been the nursery for Charlotte. She looked up briefly and saw the pale pink walls that she and her mother had spent days painting because the paint didn’t stick to the walls. She sat in the only remaining piece of furniture in the room, a rocking chair that she had planned on rocking her when she was fussy and when she got older, to read and sing to her. But now, that wasn’t going to happen. The rest of the furniture had been sold off to people who were looking for inexpensive, lightly used baby things or donated to local charities that would help those in need who couldn’t afford new items that they needed. Taylor looked down at the small child, who was happily sleeping in her arms; not knowing what was going on and started to cry a bit. If she only knew the trouble that she caused.

Months ago, she found out that she was pregnant and while Marc, her boyfriend, and his parents what her to give up the baby, she was determined to keep it. She knew that she could balance both the music career and raising a child with the help of her parents, but Marc’s family thought otherwise and was determined to get custody of Charlotte. Scott had managed to get one of his lawyer friends to get some kind of protection order to keep Taylor and Charlotte safe, but had expired and now she had lost another fight.

A week after Charlotte came into the world, Marc’s parents hit her with a lawsuit that stated that because of Taylor’s upcoming career, she wouldn’t be able to care for her child and while Andrea and Scott did help Taylor try to fight Marc and his family, but in the end it was a loss.

“After great consideration,” the judge said in the courtroom a few weeks earlier. “I have to agree with the Davis family in this case. While I’m sure that Ms. Swift will be an excellent mother and will raise her daughter well, I have to agree with the fact that due to what will eventually be a touring and recording schedule that Ms. Swift will not be around often to nurture he daughter and will be in constant care of her parents. This is why I am rewarding custody to Mr. Davis and his parents. Mr. Davis will be there and support his daughter and his parents will only help. Ms. Swift has three weeks to hand the child over to Mr. Davis. Ms. Swift will not have to pay child support. However, I would like the lawyers to draw up a contract that will grant Ms. Swift a chance to get her daughter when she turns fifteen.”

That was all that was said. The lawyers tried refile for another motion, but it seems that Rob and Marybeth, Marc’s parents, had already gotten to the judge and bribed him or something. He was refusing to even rehear the case and even if they got another judge to rehear the case, there was no time to get a block to order from the previous case that would keep Charlotte with Taylor and her parents until the start of the next trial.

As Taylor sat there, Andrea came into the room and looked over her shoulder. As she stood there, Taylor started to cry.

“How could I have been so stupid,” she said. “I should have made him wear a condom.” Andrea mustered a smile and rubbed Taylor’s shoulders. “At least you’ll be able to see her on her birthday,” Andrea said. Taylor sobbed. She wanted to see her every weekend, but as part of the agreement, she would get to see her once a week, but she knew that was going to happen. Marc was going to take her and she was going to see her again. Andrea mustered a smile, hoping that it would comfort her.

“Sweetie,” Andrea started. “I know that it’s rough, but everything will be fine. Your father is talking with the lawyer as we speak, trying to see if there is something that they can to keep him from moving, if that’s what he’s planning on moving that is.” Taylor sighed to herself and wiped the tears from her eyes. If her mother only knew about what she saw when she went over there to get Charlie yesterday, she would want to move away before anything could happen too. Almost everything that Marc and his parents had was boxed up and it seemed like they were getting ready to move. While they insisted that they were only moving to Brentwood so that he father could be closer to his practice, but when she saw the tickets that were marked ‘EWR,’ she knew that they weren’t moving south, they were moving away.

“I know,” she said to her mother. “But I saw some things that set up red flags with me. What if they’re actually moving away and I won’t see her again.” Andrea sighed. She was hoping that Taylor was just over reacting, but she had a feeling that she wasn’t. She smiled at her.

“I’ll let you be alone with her,” she said. “Just remember, you’ll always be there for her no matter what.” Andrea walked out of the room and left Taylor alone. Taylor leaned down and kissed Charlie on top of her head, causing the child to stir a bit.

“If anything happens,” she said to her. “I will find you and we will be back together, even if I take him to court to if I have to get you back.” She slowly rocked the child as she fell back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Charlie looked at Taylor as she finished the story and started to cry again. She couldn’t believe that she had been lied to all these years by her father and started to realize that the person that really loved her was her mother, who she had been hidden away from for her entire life. Her father told her constantly that Taylor didn’t want her and wanted to have her career over raising her, but the truth was that Taylor wanted to be there for her and raise her, unlike her father who was just using her as a ploy for his life, her mother actually cared about her and wanted to be there, watching her field hockey games, even if it meant that she had to wear a wig and sunglasses to do it.

She leaned into her mother and sobbed, which in turn caused Taylor to cry. “Why would he do that,” she asked between sobs. “I know that you would have been there for me unlike him, who just used me to make him look like a family man and make himself look good.” Taylor stopped for a second and composed herself. She had to be the strong one here and explain her father the best she could to Charlie.
“He was always like that,” she told her. “He dated me because, as he put it, ‘I was the prettiest girl that he had ever seen’ and also said that we were going to be together forever, but that was a lie too. He just was dating me because of the fact that he knew that I was going to be famous and was trying to ride my coat tails so that he could be a kept man for the rest of his life.” Taylor grabbed a tissue and wiped Charlie’s eyes. She smiled at her.

“But now, it seems that he told you about me and you came to see me,” Taylor said as she smiled. She was so happy that her Marc had come to his senses and had allowed her to come. “So it seems that he wants us to be together.” Charlie fell silent and looked at her mother. She was at a loss for words. She didn’t want to ruin her fantasy, but she had to. “He… He doesn’t know I’m here,” she told her. “I’m staying at Jenn’s house of the weekend since he’s in New York on business and she convinced me to come here to find you. Her uncle said that he saw you the other night when you landed and I also wanted to use your birthday gift, which was the first one that that I ever got from you, so she convinced me to skip and come here.” Charlie turned bright red as she admitted this. She didn’t want to tell her mother that she skipped school too, but it felt right.

“So all the birthday gifts that I sent you over the years…” Charlie shook her head. “I thought they were from my dad,” she said. “And the letters,” Taylor asked. Charlie shook her head a second time. “There’s more,” Charlie asked a bit surprised. Taylor stood up and walked away for a moment, trying to compose herself. Marc was doing exactly what she thought he would do. He was using her to his advantage and keeping her from the truth. Taylor then walked back into the room and looked at her again and noticed something.

“Why is your hair covering your face anyway,” Taylor asked. “Someone like you shouldn’t be covering her face.” Charlie looked away. She didn’t want to tell her, but something about being around her mother was comforting. Jenn’s makeup had started to wear off and the mark from last night was starting to show. She then sighed and pulled her hair back from her face, showing the mark that was slowly becoming a bruise. Taylor looked at her and shook her head. “He did this, didn’t he,” she asked. “And to lie Charlie, because it’s only going to make things worse than they already are.” At first, Charlie wanted to lie, but she knew that would make it better if she was just honest with her. She sighed a bit and then looked at Taylor and started to cry.

“Last night, I refused to go out to dinner with him because it’s my birthday and I didn’t want to go where he wanted to because he had some stupid meeting with a client who had a daughter,” she said between sobs. “So he smacked me harder than I thought and this happened. I didn't think that it was going to turn into a bruise, but this is the first time that it happened. Jenn tried to cover it up, but I guess all the crying didn't really help” Taylor hugged her and started to rub her back. “I’m sorry,” Taylor said. She then looked at her. “I want… I want you to stay the weekend with me and my mom. I want to get to know you and make up for lost time. Jenn is more than welcome to stay too.” Hearing that made Charlie lose it and she started to sob louder. She knew that her mother wasn’t going to take no for an answer and the fact that Jenn was going to stay too, made everything better. She looked up at her mother, wiped the tears from her eyes and mustered a smiled.

“I will,” she said as she wiped the tears from her face. “Jenn will too probably. But her parents will probably say no once they find out what happened.” Taylor smiled. “Then just us is fine. We’ll do whatever you want. It is your birthday after all. In fact, I’m going to make a few phone calls to make it even happier.” As Charlie started to smile, the house phone started to ring. Taylor looked at it and shook her head.
“What’s wrong,” Charlie asked as she started to panic a bit. “Did…” Taylor shook her head. “You did nothing wrong,” she said. “In fact you’re doing everything right, but there is one thing that I forgot about.” Charlie looked at her mother confused and Taylor sighed as she answered the phone. “Come in,” she said and then turned her attention toward Charlie. “Karlie is coming over and we’re supposed to go out to lunch.” Charlie looked at her and she realized what was going on. “Kloss,” Charlie asked in a drawn out fashion, confused by what was going on. Taylor nodded as she helped Charlie up out of the chair that she was sitting in.

“You’re going to like her and I have a feeling that she’s going to like you.” Taylor took Charlie by the arm and led her out of the room. She then sat her in a chair in the foyer and headed outside.
As she sat there, Charlie started to think that this was a bad idea. But as she sat there, Andrea passed her and smiled, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine and she started to calm down a bit.

Chapter Text

Karlie wondered what had taken Taylor so long to let her in to the driveway. The Goldwyn Estate was so off the grid that most photographers didn’t know where it was or how to get there for that matter because of the fact that they would get lost trying to navigate the windy roads that lead up to the house. Even she got lost the first time that she had to come here because of the fact that she constantly kept driving past the street and had to turn around in Franklin or in The Beverly Hills Hotel parking lot and when she did find it, she felt so dumb because it was just as simple as Taylor said it was going to be.

While her security team did sit at the bottom on the hill to discourage anyone from going all the way up the hill to look and see if they could see Taylor or try to see the house like so many people have tried to do, they were rarely needed, which was a good thing, but for everyone else, it was a bit of a pain in the ass. After the first time it was simple, but everyone else did complain about how hard it was to find the first time. But she was glad that Taylor finally got a bigger house so that everyone could spend the night if they wanted to, which was often and it seemed like it happened every time she was out on the West Coast and that wasn’t a bad thing. It meant that everyone would finally start hanging out again and eventually and hopefully have another Fourth of July party, which is something that secretly all wanted.

As she got out of the truck that had brought her here, she went around back and got her luggage out of the back. She turned and sat that Taylor had walked out of the house. As she glanced back, something didn’t seem right, but Taylor was constantly on edge about being photographed, so she just brushed it off.

“Surprise,” she said as she pulled out another bag, which even surprised Taylor. “Everything was canceled and my dress fitting got delayed, so I had the weekend free and decided to stay. We can do whatever you want, even go to that new restaurant in Hollywood that you wanted to go to.” While Taylor would normally run over and hug Karlie, mainly because of the fact that this meant that they would stay up all night baking and watching true crime shows, her reaction was different this time. Taylor was a bit surprised by this and seemed a bit embarrassed. This wasn’t like her and Karlie knew that something was up, but she couldn’t figure out what. She then walked over and put her hands on her waist.

“Are you alright, Tay,” she asked. “You seem a bit upset by this.” Something was up and Karlie knew it. It seemed that Taylor was hiding something from her, as if she didn’t want her to find out about something that she had in the house. Taylor then took a deep breath and looked at her friend. “If I tell you what’s wrong, will you promise not to freak or flip out,” she asked. Karlie looked at her and just nodded. “You know I won’t do either of those things,” she said. “You are my best friend after all and you know that you can tell me anything. What’s on your mind?” Karlie was starting to think that something happened with Joe and now she was looking for someone to vent to. Taylor took a deep breath as she looked at her best friend.

“Do you remember a while ago, like maybe during the 1989 Tour, I told you, Gigi, Selena, and maybe Hailee, something during the tour after we had a couple of drinks,” she asked. Karlie thought about it for a moment and the shook her head. She didn’t believe that this was coming back again. She sighed.

“Was it the story about how you have a daughter that you had taken away from you,” she asked and then sighed as they started to walk toward the house. “Taylor, we all want to believe you but you don’t have any proof that she exists. I mean for all we know, you made her up to…” Karlie stopped what she was saying as Taylor opened the door and she saw what appeared to be Taylor’s younger doppelganger sitting in the hallway. Karlie’s jaw dropped when she saw her profile. “Wait… what’s going on,” Karlie asked causing Charlie to look up and smile at her.

“Karlie,” Taylor started as she led her over to Charlie. “This is Charlotte Grace Davis, my daughter.” Karlie felt like she might pass out. This was too much to take in and also too much to process. At first, she didn’t want to think that this was happening or that the person that was sitting in front of her was real. Karlie composed herself, but then slumped against the wall. “Wait… she’s real,” Karlie said as she sat down on the floor. “You weren’t lying.” Taylor helped Karlie back up. “Why would I lie,” Taylor asked. “You know that I would never lie about anything.” Karlie looked at her and shook her heard. “Well…” She started and caused Taylor to scoff. “Oh shut up,” Taylor said. “I tried for years to get in touch with her, but her father refused to even let me see her.” Karlie looked over at Charlie, who nodded in agreement.

“He kept me away from her because he wanted to use me for his benefits,” Charlie said as she chimed in. Karlie looked at the two of them and then realized that Charlie had a massive bump near her eye. “And abusing you a bit too from the looks of it,” Karlie said as Charlie shied away a bit. Taylor looked at her and then smiled. “Why don’t go find… your grandmother and see where she put you bag,” Taylor said. “Karlie and I have to talk a bit.” Charlie nodded and got up without saying a word. She knew that when her father said that to her, it meant that her father wanted to talk about something that she didn’t understand.

Once she was out of ear shot, Karlie looked at Taylor and the start to giggle. “You’re… a teenage mother,” she said and then giggled a little, not believing that she said that. “Tay, I’m surprised that you kept it from us for so long.” Taylor rolled her eye. “Yes,” Taylor said. “And it’s not like I forgot about her or anything. Her father kept her from me.” Karlie looked at Taylor, curious about everything.

“Alright Swift,” she started. “Spill it. I want to hear everything.” Taylor looked at her and sighed. “Everything,” she asked Karlie. Karlie nodded. “Everything,” she said. Taylor sighed as she started to walk down the hall. “Well…” she started.

Chapter Text

“No way,” Jenn said in disbelief as she rolled onto her back, sitting up on her elbows a bit. She had been out in the sun for only a few minutes and she was already a darker shade of tan, which made Charlie jealous and everyone on the field hockey team, including Charlie, hated her for that reason. All she had to do was stand out in the sun for three hours and she had tan lines.

“Karlie Kloss isn’t here,” Jenn said. She saw Taylor talking to someone as Charlie came out and they headed toward the office, but couldn’t figure out who it was. It was too tall to be Selena Gomez, who she was hoping to meet, and it wasn’t anyone else who she could think of, so she was curious to who had gotten out of the car that she heard arriving when she was heading out to the pool that she almost walked into the house to see who it was, but didn’t because she was asked to hang out by the pool until she was asked to come back in. Charlie nodded. She wanted to surprise Jenn by not telling her that one of her favorite celebrities was here, but she couldn’t contain herself.

“She is,” she said. “I saw her with my own eyes and shook her hand briefly, but that was before my mother…” she stopped for a second and fell silent. The word so sounded strange to her. For years it was just her and father, but now it seemed that there was going to be more now or at least she hoped. She wondered how it was going to work or if it was going to work at all or even if she would see her mother any more after this. This might be the first and last time that she met her. For all she knew when her father found out what she did, they would move in the middle of the night like they did when she was 13. As she sat there, she started to realize something, but before she had the chance to really put the pieces of the puzzle together, Jenn waved her hand in front of her face, bringing her back to reality.

“You OK,” Jenn asked causing Charlie to snap out of her trance. “Yeah,” Charlie said. “Oh and before my mother asked me to go find Andrea so I can come out here with you. I still don’t get it.” Jenn shook her head. “You know that they’re talking about you, right,” she said. “I’m sure that no one but her and mother and maybe Selena know about you.” Charlie knew that Jenn was right. There were three people that knew she existed and one of them wasn’t famous like Taylor was. This was going to turn Taylor’s world upside down and make things worse for her. She already couldn’t walk out her front door in New York without having a crowd of people and photographers waiting for her. Taylor was just coming back into the spotlight and now she had just shown up and maybe make things worse for her. She was one of the photographed celebrities in the world and things were going to get crazier for her.

“Well maybe they’re just planning something for my birthday,” Charlie said trying to put a positive spin on things. “And I think she said that she wanted you to spend the night too. That is if you can convince your parents.” Jenn laughed as she reached for her phone. “Watch this,” she said. “Oh and yours went off. It’s your dad. I didn’t read it because he would know that it wasn’t you.” Jenn stepped away as Charlie reached for phone.

Hey Kid, it started in its usual fashion. Having a great time in NYC with some clients, but it isn’t the same without you. You’re probably going to have to spend the week with Jenn because I have to stay out till next weekend. I’ll text her parents. Talk to you soon. – Dad.

Charlie just sent her usual reply and watched as the door opened. Karlie and Taylor walked over and smiled at her just as Jenn ended her phone call. As she turned around, she didn’t believe what she was seeing. Not only was Taylor standing back there, but Karlie Kloss, her idol, was standing back there too. Jenn screamed and ran over, almost falling in the pool in the process, but somehow managed to recover and regain her balance. “Told you,” Charlie said. “And you didn’t believe me that you favorite person in the whole world was here.”

Jenn stuck her tongue as she hugged Karlie. “I… ummm…” Jenn said. “It’s nice to meet you.” Jenn was at a loss for words and caused Karlie to laugh. “Well it’s nice to meet you too,” she said. “And Charlie, I apologize. When I first heard the story a few years ago, I thought… your mother was a little crazy, she had been touring for a few months and all thought that she was just making it up.” Charlie and Jenn looked over at Taylor. “So, no one knew that I even existed besides you until now,” Charile asked. Taylor nodded.

“I might have had too much to drink one night when I had a few days off between shows during the 1989 tour and mentioned that I had a daughter that no one knows about,” Taylor said. “But of course, no one believed me, because it just didn’t seem like me to be a teenage mother. But now, it seems that everyone is in for a shock.” Jenn, Karlie and Charlie all looked at each other.

“Mom…” Charlie said for the first time besides when she first saw her. She started to cry, causing Taylor to run over to her quickly. “Let’s go inside and talk a bit,” Taylor said and looked over at Karlie and Jenn. “Are you two going to be alright,” she asked causing Karlie to look up from a computer that she and Jenn were huddled over. “We’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ve got someone here who’s interested in coding, so I’m good.” Taylor rolled her eyes. It was Karlie’s thing, so she was going to be fine. Taylor then lead Charlie back into the house.

Chapter Text

Taylor led Charile up to her bedroom and sat her down on the bed. She knew they would not be disturbed while they were in here. Karlie was busy with Jenn, looking over whatever she was working on in her coding class and her mother was out for the afternoon, looking for something for Charlie for her birthday, so there would be no interruptions whatsoever. She lied on the bed and comforted Charlie as she sobbed.
“It’s alright,” she told her. “It’s alright. I’m here.” Charlie tried to settle down, but she couldn’t. She sat up and looked at Taylor with tears rolling down her face. “Then… Then…” she sobbed causing Taylor to sit up and hug her. “Then why weren’t you there for me? You could have come and got me away from my dad.” Taylor sighed as she pushed Charlie’s hair out of her face and pulled her off of her shoulder. This was going to be hard to explain, even by her standards.

“Your father and I weren’t the best people to try and arrange custody,” she said. “Three days after you were born, he took me to court and somehow convinced the judge that I wasn’t going to be a good mother and got custody.” Charlie looked up at her. “He told me that you didn’t want me,” she said. “And never wanted to see me at all. “ Taylor shook her head. The lies that he was telling their daughter were the worst and were actually more hurtful than she thought.

“That’s not true,” Taylor told her. “The judge told him that we had to have join custody and I was trying to get you back, but before the court date could happen, he moved and took you with him.” Charlie finally calmed down and looked at her mother. She was telling the truth, unlike her father. ”So why didn’t you come for me,” Charlie asked. “You have more lawyers than he has.” Taylor sighed.

“He got a restraining that was ironclad and prevented me from trying to see you,” she told her. “Your father was smart in somethings and dumb in others. The judge told him that in order to get custody; he has to sign a contract that stated that when you turn fifteen, you can decide who you want to live with. He doesn’t know that it expires tomorrow, on your birthday, so now I can see you. I was planning on finding you, but you cut out the hard part.” Charlie looked at her. Everything that her mother was telling her seemed true.

“So all the moving that I did as a kid was because you got close,” Charlie asked and Taylor nodded. “And will I get in trouble if I’m seeing you now.” Taylor thought about those questions for a moment. “A few times, I found you and then by the time I got there, you were gone,” she said. “Your father is not good at many things, but when it came to hiding you away, he was very good at that. But now things will be different and no, you won’t get in trouble. If it comes up in court, I’ll just say that it just happened.”

Charlie looked at her mother. “What do you mean that I can decide if I want to live with you when I turned fifteen,” she asked. Taylor looked at her. She had a feeling that she was going to have to explain it. She sighed. “If you want,” she started. “And I’m sure that I know the answer, you can come live with me if you want to. The contract says that you’re the one who has to make the choice and not me or your father.”
Charlie’s jaw dropped when she heard that. After years of not having a mother in her life, she finally had one. “Really,” Charlie asked as Taylor nodded. “This is just a test run,” Taylor said. “If it works out, then I’ll use the court to gain custody of you and we’ll take it from there. Sound good?” Charlie nodded. She didn’t believe that this was happening and really didn’t want it to end. She knew her father would catch wind of this somehow, but now, that didn’t matter.

“Really,” Charlie said. “I mean of course it’s gonna work. Do you still have that contract?” Taylor nodded. “It’s on its way here as we speak,” she told her. “By Monday it will be here and we’ll probably be in court for a week, but by next Saturday, you should be here all the time.” Charlie liked the sound of it. While she smiled, it quickly disappeared. “Can… Can I tell you something,” Charlie said. Taylor looked at her and wondered what she had to say. “And promise that you won’t freak or anything?” Taylor nodded as Charlie got up and pulled her iPad from her bag, which somehow wound up in here by accident.

“I… I’ve ran away from home a few times because of my father,” she stated as she handed the device over to Taylor. “Not away, but just to Jenn’s house for a few days or a week because of how abusive he is with me.” Taylor looked on in horror as she scrolled through all the photos that she hand. “He…” Charlie shook her head. “No,” she said. “He wouldn’t do that. These are just from shoves into walls and down hallways. The one on my face is as bad as he gets.” Taylor sat up and looked at her.

“What else has he done,” she asked. Charlie looked at her and knew that it was finally time to tell someone. “He’s locked me in my closet for hours at a time. Forced me into cars and be rated me to the point where I thought I was worthless and also called me names. I’m glad that I had Jenn, because without her, I might have done something extreme.” Taylor looked at the iPad and then back at Charlie. “You didn’t think about…” Charlie shook her head. “No, maybe hurting myself, but not that crazy. Jenn and her parents, to a point, but mostly her, have been there for me and let me stay when my father got rough with me.” Taylor looked at her and sighed. She needed a minute to process what was going on, but she didn’t want to do it in front of Charlie. She then got an idea.

“Why don’t you get Jenn and Karlie and tell them that we’re going to go out and get somethings for tonight,” she said. “There’s more people coming, but I’ll tell you who later.” Charlie smiled and then hugged her mother. “OK Mom,” she said, not losing it this time. Charlie left the room and left Taylor alone.

Taylor waited a few seconds before she picked up the phone and called her father. After a few rings, Scott picked up. “Hello sweetheart,” Scott said. “How are you today?” Taylor fought back tears as he sighed a bit. “Daddy,” she said. “Daddy I need your help. She found me.” Scott didn’t know who to answer. “Charlotte,” he asked. “She got away from that… that asshole?” Taylor swallowed. “She got my letter for a change and found me,” she said. “But it was worst that we thought.” Scott fell silent for a second. “How much worse,” he asked. Taylor sighed as she sat down on the bed. “He’s abusing her, more mental than physical. But there is a bit of physical involved. She’s scared, I can tell.” Scott sighed. He was clearly frustrated as she was. “Get me copies of photos if there are any,” he told her. “And then get me a copy of that contract that you made him sign. I’ll have the lawyers look over it.” Taylor sighed. “Pictures are heading over now and I think I sent a copy to you as well.” Scott fell quiet for a second. “Good,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow after I check with them to make sure that everything is still legal.” Taylor sighed. “Alright dad,” she said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.” “Love you too,” Scott said as the phone call ended. Taylor composed herself as Charlie knocked on the door. “Just a second,” she said as she deleted the message that she sent. “You can come in.”

Charlie walked in and smiled. “Everything alright,” she asked as she stood in the doorway. “Jenn is just getting changed and Karlie said that she’s just finishing a phone call and then we can go.” Taylor got up and hugged her. “Everything’s fine,” she told her. “I’m just so happy that you finally are back in my life. Now there’s just one thing I want you and Jenn to do,” she said. Charlie looked at her. “What’s that,” she asked. Taylor got up and pulled her daughter close.

“Under no circumstances, unless you’re in trouble, do you even acknowledge the paparazzi,” she said. “Oh and fans, don’t because we’ll be there all day.” Charlie swallowed as she nodded. This was going to be something new and something that will take some time to get used to.

Chapter Text

“Whole Foods,” Taylor asked as the car pulled out of the gate and started to drive down the hill, heading back into Beverly Hills. “No,” Jenn said a bit defensive. “That place is crawling with photographer and people looking for celebrities. Trader Joe’s will be safe.” Karlie scoffed. “That’s even worse,” she said. “We can just go to Costco after all.” Charlie then cleared her throat. “Whole Foods,” she said. “I know that it’s a risky choice, but it is my birthday after all and besides that, they have that ice cream that I like.” Jenn rolled her eyes. “You and that damn Ample Hills,” she said. “I swear it’s just luxury Hagen Daz.” This was the only reason that Charlie went to Whole Foods, besides when they were looking for lunch on the weekends or going after practice to get drinks from the pressed juice stand that was in it, but this is the only thing that they went there for. She always left with three pints.

Taylor nodded and sighed a bit. It was going to be interesting, but hard. While she wanted to tell the world that she had a daughter, she was sure that it was too soon to do it. But if Charlie wanted to go to Whole Foods, then they were going to Whole Foods. Taylor looked at her driver, who just nodded and headed toward the Beverly Hills Whole Foods. “So who else is coming tonight,” Charlie asked eager to hear who her mother invited to the party. Taylor perked up a bit and smiled.

“Well, everyone is busy doing things,” she said. “But Selena said that she had nothing going on for a few days, so she’s coming.” Just as she finished saying that, her phone dinged. “And now Hailee is in too.” Jenn and Charlie looked at each other and the start to scream a bit. “Hailee Steinfeld and Selena Gomez,” Jenn asked. “This has to be a joke.” Charlie smiled. This was going to be the best birthday yet.

Taylor then looked at her. “They were coming over anyway,” she said. “I did invite them before you showed up, but they don’t know the both of you are here.” Her phone dinged again as she looked and saw that Selena was have her usual dilemma of how much clothing she should bring and if this was going to turn into a while weekend thing or not. Charlie then reached over and tapped Jenn on the shoulder.

“So how did you get your parents to let you spend the weekend anyway,” Charlie asked her. Jenn shrugged. “I told them that we had a team weekend,” she said. “They always believe stuff like that. Oh and we might have to head home after this to get a change of clothes for the weekend.” Charlie nodded. “We’ll go after this,” Taylor said. “It’s not an issue. Did you want to stop at your dad’s house, Charlie?”

Charlie fell silent. She knew that she wasn’t supposed go back home when her father wasn’t around, but this was a chance to get the book that she was reading and maybe the other important legal documents too. “I guess we could,” she said. “I know the code to the security system, so I should be in and out, but you could always come in with me too and help me get things that I want to bring over to your house.” Taylor smiled as she heard that. “Just little things for now,” she said. “I don’t want your father to wonder why some big things are missing He’ll probably see that and know what’s going on.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. As she was about to say something else, the truck pulled up in front of the Whole Foods.

“Now remember,” Taylor started. “Don’t talk to anyone, don’t answer any questions and more importantly, don’t tell anyone who you are,” Jenn and Charlie said at the same time, impressing Taylor and Karlie. As they sat there, photographers who were standing around watching people walk around, swarmed the SUV, but giving them enough space to walk in. “Ready,” Taylor asked as she reached for the door. Charlie nodded. It was now or never.
*
“Get back,” a security guard yelled. The photographers scrambled as Taylor pushed a cart out of the store, followed closely by Charlie, Jenn and Karlie. While she didn’t know what to do, Charlie reached for her mother’s hand, which Taylor promptly took and held tightly. The photographers went nuts when they saw this and started to ask all sorts of question, like who she was and what was going on for that matter, because everyone was confused as hell.

But Charlie ignored them, doing what Taylor told her to do. While rumors were going to spread quickly, Charlie was ready for what was coming and it seemed that her mother was too. Taylor quickly loaded the bags into the back of the truck and then helped Charlie into the truck while Karlie took care of Jenn.

“That was a rush,” Charile said. “And you have to deal with all the time?” Karlie and Taylor looked at each other. “Yes,” they both said at the same time. “And it does get old after a while,” Karlie said. “You’ll get tired of getting screamed at all the time pretty quickly.” Jenn looked at Charlie and while they both knew that Taylor and Karlie were right, to teenagers like them it was something new and amazing. “I guess that being in the spotlight for so long does have it effects, but man is it crazy,” Jenn said. Karlie rolled her eyes. “Give it five years and ask Charlie how much she likes it and how you can’t go anywhere without them following you,” Karlie said.

The truck started to drive away and headed toward the house that Charlie lived in, which as it turned out wasn’t too from Taylor’s and it seemed that Marc was toying with Taylor, just like he did all the time.
As they turned onto Benedict Canyon, dread filled Charlie’s head. She was sure that her father didn’t arm the alarm, mainly because of the fact that he would always forget to set it, but because he out of state, he might have set it. “Can we park down the street,” Charlie asked and Taylor nodded. “Worried about something,” Taylor asked. Charlie nodded and then sighed. “The drive way has cameras, but the gate doesn’t so it’s easier to walk up that way.” Taylor knew that there was something up, but didn’t want to alarm Charlie, so she decided to let her run the show. The truck parked far enough away so that they wouldn’t be seen coming up the drive way. As Charlie put the code in to unlock the gate, she breathed a sigh of relief. The security company that her father used was supposed to come out and install a ring doorbell so that they could finally replace the busted door camera, but it looks like they canceled again.

“Come on mom,” Charlie said. “We have to be quick or else my father will wonder why the alarm was disarmed.” If the alarm was disarmed for more than fifteen minutes, her father would get a text and check the interior cameras for anyone inside. Charlie pulled her key from her bag and Taylor stopped her. “Are you sure it’s a good idea that I’m coming with you,” she asked. Charlie looked at her and then sighed. “I kind of need a second set of hands to carry something out,” she said. “I can do it, but I need you to make sure that it doesn’t get lost.” Taylor nodded as Charlie put the key in the door.

Charlie quickly pushed the door opened and disarmed the alarm by putting the code in, letting Taylor watch. “He’s a fan, isn’t he,” she asked as she watched Charlie punch in ‘1989’ into the pad. “Not really,” she said. “It’s his birth year too, so he just does it for everything.” Charlie grabbed Taylor by her hand and led her to her bedroom. As she pushed opened the door, she stopped and looked back at her.

“Promise you won’t be embarrassed when I open the door,” she said. Taylor nodded, having a feeling about what was coming since she was once her age too. Charlie pushed opened the door and Taylor was amazed. The room was a smaller master that had its own bathroom, but that’s what impressed Taylor. Charlie’s walls were covered in pictures of her from various points of her career, including her early country days. She was a fan and she didn’t even know until last week that her mother was her favorite pop star. Taylor walked around the room and then stopped.

“You still have this,” she asked as she looked the stuffed toy whale that sat on Charlie’s bed. Charlie stopped shoving stuff in her bag for a moment and looked over at her. “I do,” she said as she looked at her mother. “Why?” Taylor picked it and placed it in the bag. “It was the last thing that I brought for you,” she said as she zipped the bag closed. “Your father was running late as usual, so my mom and I wheeled you around Toys r Us until he called to say that you he was there. As we passed the stuffed animals, this fell off the shelf and landed in front of us. I took it as a sign and brought it. I was sure that your father was going to throw it out, but I guess that he didn’t.” Charlie started to cry again and hugged her mother.

“He… He told me that mom-mom brought it for me,” she said sobbing. “She saw it when she was on a business trip and thought that I would like it.” Charlie sobbed and Taylor looked at her watch. “Sweetie, I had to interrupt your tears, but we’ve got 10 minutes before your father gets that alert. Now what was the last thing that you needed to get?” Charlie dried her eyes and looked at her. “There’s one envelope with all your my important documents in his office,” she said. “I want to get them and have them before the court date, this way he can’t hide them.”

Taylor looked at her and smiled. “There’s something else that you never told anyone about,” she said. “That’s why you need me.” Charlie blushed. “There’s also some kind of other thing in his desk. He said that it was some kind of legal document that he wanted to get changed of years, but never had the chance. Something that has to do with me when I turned fifteen, but he never said what.” As she heard that, Taylor started to smile. While her lawyer was sending a copy to her father, having an actual physical copy was the best thing that could happen right now.

“Did he ever really explain what it says to you,” Taylor asked her daughter as they left her room. “No,” Charlie said. “He just said that he wanted to meet with you or something to fix something in it.” Taylor grabbed Charlie by her arm and led her toward her father’s office. As she pushed opened the door, she looked at her.

“Do you know where it is,” she asked as she looked around the office, trying to figure out where he would put it. Charlie walked over to the desk and pulled an envelope off the desk. “He wanted to keep it out where he could find it,” she told her. “This way he was ready if you called at all. He says that he left messages with your lawyers.” Taylor knew that was a lie, Marc was so busy with life that he would forget to do things like this. “Now what about the other things,” Taylor asked. Charlie opened a draw and then pulled out the envelope that had all of her important documents in it. “I think that’s it,” Taylor opened the envelope and saw that everything that she was going to need was in it. Her passport. Her social security card. Even her birth certificate was all in here. “It is,” Taylor said.

Charlie wondered why she wanted it. “Why do I need to take these,” she asked. “I know that they’re important, but are they really that important.” Taylor tucked everything into the folder. “We’ll need them if anything happens,” Taylor said. “This way we don’t have to go to court just to get them.” Charlie nodded as she closed the draw. The two of them then walked to the front door with two minutes to spare. Charlie was about to arm the alarm when she quickly ran off and came back with one more thing. “I’ll tell you about it later,” she said as she held a book close to her chest. Taylor nodded as she rearmed the alarm and walked out with Charlie. As she pulled the door shut, she looked at her daughter.

“Do you think that he saw us at all,” Taylor asked as she opened the gate. Charlie shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said confident. “We made it with two minutes to spare.” While her mother smiled at her answer, Charlie knew that her father would be texting her soon because he was always checking the cameras no matter what. But for now, he didn’t know that they were there. The both of them go in the truck, rejoining a sleeping Karlie and Jenn and then headed back home.

Chapter Text

Charlie unpacked her stuff and felt like she was home for the first time in her life. Unlike living with her father, living with her mother was different. It was warm and welcoming and not cold and uncomfortable because her father never really made her feel welcome even though she lived there. Granted, it was only going to be for the weekend, but it felt right. The ride home was quiet as she put her head in her mother’s lap as she watched her read over the folder, trying to see if something was different from the copy that she had, which was being mailed to her father. But that wasn’t important, what was that she finally felt like she was where she belonged and while she was in one of the many guest rooms, it felt like it was going to be her’s eventually. As she closed the draw to of one of the dressers, there was a knock at the door. Charlie looked up and saw that Jenn was standing there.

“I still can’t believe that this is happening,” she said to her as she walked in, still giddy from meeting her idol. They briefly stopped at her house, allowing her to get a change of clothes and then hurried back to their hide away in the hills to keep it from turning back into one. “It’s like a dream.” Charlie blushed a bit and sat next to Jenn. “I still feel like I’m going to wake up and it’s all going to be a dream,” Charile said. “But I know that it’s not. It feels real.” She then fell silent and looked at Jenn.

“Can I ask you something,” Charlie asked as she took Wade, the stuffed whale that Taylor had given her, in her arms. “Do you think that I’m crazy for thinking that I should tell my dad that I don’t want to live with him anymore? I mean I was thinking about coming to live with you and your parents for some time now, but now that I have a mom, I think it’s better than I come here.” Jenn looked at her and smiled. “A bit,” she said. “I mean I understand that you aren’t happy there, but I can’t make that choice for you. You have to make it yourself and if you feel that you don’t want to be there anymore, then you don’t have to.” Charlie looked at her and sighed a bit. It was a tough choice.

“I know,” Charlie told her. “But it just feels right and I overheard her talking to her father before we left. She made my dad signed some kind of document that allows me to choose who I want to live with when I turned fifteen.” Jenn looked at her and sighed.

“Let’s hope that it still holds,” she said. “My father says that stuff like that isn’t ironclad all the time, unless there are two copies.” Charlie smiled. “Taylor said that she was sending a copy to her dad and then I took my father’s when we left. So things are gonna work out.” Jenn pouted a bit. “We’ll still be friends, right,” she asked. Charlie pushed her away jokingly. “Of course dummy,” she said. “Just because my mom is famous doesn’t mean I’m not going to be friends with you. We’ll be like my mom and Abigail. She never ditched her when she got famous.” Jenn hugged her when she heard that. As she broke the hug, she heard her phone ding. “Probably your mom wondering where we are,” she said. “Tell her we’ll be right down.”

As Charlie looked at her phone, she saw that it wasn’t from her mother, but her father. She panicked as she unlocked her phone and saw a picture of her and Taylor as they were walking out of Whole Foods.
You’re in deep shit Charlotte, her father said in text. I’m on my way back and when I get out there, I’m coming to get you and you’ll never see her again. I don’t know how she founded you or how you got to her
house but by the time I’m done, you’ll never see her again.

As she finished reading the text, she started to cry loudly, echoing throughout the house. As she was about to curl into the fetal position, Taylor came in to see what was wrong. She quickly ran over to her climbed onto the bed next to her. “Honey,” she said with concern in her voice. “What’s wrong?” Charlie didn’t answer and just showed Taylor her phone. As she read the text, she lied down next to Charlie.

“He is not coming to get you,” she said. “He will not take you away. My father and my lawyer are going to be here shortly. Karlie is taking Jenn out for a few hours with and we’re going to do something about this. Even if it means that I have to call someone to help.” She kissed her on the cheek and then got up. “When you’re ready, we’ll be waiting for you.” Taylor then left Charlie alone, closing the door behind her. As soon as the door closed, Charlie started to cry and eventually feel a sleep, a habit that she developed over the years as a comfort device to escape what her father was doing for her. After a few minutes, she slowly got up, wiping her tears away. As she sat up, she saw that there was a note on the table that was beside her bed. She picked up and started to read it.
- - - -
Charile,

My father and my Lawyer, John, are going to be downstairs waiting for you. When you’re ready please come down. We also have a judge coming over too. He specializes in family law and is willing to hear your side of the story.

I understand that it’s going to be hard to talk about everything, but just remember, I had to go through the same thing right before I dropped my last album, so if I can do it, then you can do it. If you tell him everything, the judge will grant us a restraining order against your father for a few months until we get a court date to settle everything.
I know you can do it, because you are a strong young lady, just like I was.

When you’re ready, just come down. I’ll give you more information when you’re ready.

Love,

Mom.
- - - -
Charlie was slightly confused by this and wanted to know if her mother hand planned this or not. It seemed like she had something planned, which explains why she was so eager to get that document that her father had on his desk. While part of her didn’t want to do it, she didn’t want to go back with her father, because who knew what he would do to her when they got home. She quickly washed her face and headed down stairs to see what was going on.

Chapter Text

As Charlie walked down the stairs that lead into the living room, she saw that there were more people sitting with Andrea and her mother. There were two men and a woman sitting in the living room with them, talking about what Taylor’s next move was going to be after all this was over and done with. As she entered the room, all of them stopped talking. One of the men shook his head in disbelief.

“My god,” he said. “She looks just like you did at that age Taylor. It’s uncanny.” Charlie looked over at her mother and blushed a little as she heard that. “That’s your grandfather, Scott,” she said. “And this is John Feldman, my lawyer and Judge Melissa Campos. She was willing to hear what happened.” Everyone smiled over at Charlie, letting her know that it was going to be OK and that she could trust them.
“Have a seat Charlie,” John said. “We were just going over the contract that you mother and father signed after he got custody.” Charlie came over and sat in the middle of everyone. She was nervous and they could all see it. John then sat in front of her and put the contract in front of her so that she could read it.

“Now, you didn’t have to dig this out of a draw when you went back to your house to get clothes for the weekend, correct? It wasn’t in a draw or anything?” Charlie shook her head. “No,” she said. “He took it out of a draw in his desk that’s always locked about a week ago when he heard that my mother was going to be in town. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about with one of his clients or with his business partners. He wanted to call his lawyer to see if he could get somethings changed in the contract before, as he said, she contacted him about some stuff that was going to happen. He left on his desk for the past week, but never got around to calling his lawyer.” John nodded and then looked over at Scott and Taylor.

“I checked with his lawyer and he didn’t call at all,” he said. “So everything in the contract stands. If she wants to live with her mother she can, it just has to go through the court and everything will be good.” Charlie started to panic a bit as she looked over at Taylor, who reached out and touched her arm. “Everything is going to be fine,” she told her. “You’re not going anywhere.” John got up from the seat and Judge Campos sat in front of her.

“I know you’re scared,” she told Charlie. “But I do this all the time with kids just like you. So need you to answer all of my questions. Some of them will be difficult and hard to answer, but in order to understand what’s happening, I have to ask you them. Do you understand?” Charlie nodded as she looked back at Taylor who nodded at her. She was going to be there for her no matter what. “I do,” Charlie said as she started to kick her legs a bit.

Judge Campos smiled. “I’m going to record this too,” she told her. “It’s just for legal reasons and also for the court to see if we go to trial.” Charlie nodded. “Is my mom fine with that,” she asked causing Taylor to nod. “Of course,” she told her. “It’s fine.” Judge Campos then turned the camera on.

“Case number 44171224,” she said as she focused the camera on Charlie. “What is your full name?”

“I’m not sure,” Charlie said.

“Well… do you know what your birth certificate says?

“I only saw it once, but I think it says Charlotte Grace Davis, but my father says it’ Charlotte Marie. I think he wanted to change it, but never did.” Judge Campos nodded.

“What is your date of birth?”

“April 16th, 2003.”

“Where were you born?”

“Hendersonville, Tenn.”

“What school do you attend?”

“Campbell Hall in Studio City.”

“And what is today’s date?

“April 15th.”

“Now comes the tough stuff,” Judge Campos said. “Is your father being abusive toward you in any way, either physically or mentally?” At first, Charlie didn’t want to answer that, fearing that she would get in more trouble than she already knew she was. As she sat there, Taylor came over and put her hand on her shoulder. “It’s OK,” she told her. “You can tell them anything you want and you won’t get in trouble.” Charlie took a deep breath and nodded. Hearing that was comforting.

“Yes,” Charlie said. “Both mentally and physically.”

“Can you describe any events that you remember?”

“Yesterday, he struck me across my face because I refused to go to dinner because it was my birthday and he then picked pressed me against the wall, telling me that I have to do what he says or else I’d get a lot worse that. He eventually dropped me onto the floor after I agreed.”

“Do you remember anything else?” Charlie nodded and lifted up her shirt, showing a few scars on her back.

“This was from when he threw me across the yard when I refused to go hang out with a client’s daughter who I didn’t like. I had cuts from him doing this all over my lower back because of how I landed on the part of the yard that was being redone. When I asked him to take me to the hospital to make sure that I was fine, he told me that I would be fine and to go get cleaned up because she was going to be here any minute. I had to constantly go to the bathroom and clean up the scratches to keep my shirt from getting blood on it. There was other time where he thre me down stairs and pushed me against the glass doors of the wine cellar.”

“Now what about mental stuff,” Judge Campos ask. As she heard this, Charlie started to cry.

“He tells me all the time that I’m worthless and I’m going to be a stupid whore like my mother. He says to me all the time that I could have gotten a high grade on the test that I bring home when I got an A on it. He tells me that I’m stupid when I can’t find something that he told me to go get and he constantly tells me that I’m nothing without him.” Judge Campos stopped the camera and looked up.

“I think that I’ve heard enough,” she said as she watched Taylor get up to comfort a sobbing Charlie. “I’m signing the order of protection and will 100% set a court date. The protection will keep him from going near her at school, when she’s here with you, and also when she’s out in public. It will probably be 500 feet, but that should be enough and I’ll get another to allow her to get some things out for the few days that she’ll be staying here next week. Just make sure that you get everything that is super important out.” Taylor nodded. “We did earlier today,” she said. “We stopped by to get her a change of clothes for the weekend and I told her to get the important stuff before he tries to destroy it.” Judge Campos nodded. “That was smart,” she said as she stood up and handed her large packet of folded papers. “I’ll have an officer here tomorrow to keep him from coming anywhere near your house. Have a good night.”

She then left and John stood up. “I’ll be here tomorrow to serve him with the lawsuit and the restraining order as well. I’ll start setting up a court date as well.” Scott got up and walked John out. After everything slowed down, Taylor walked over to Charlie and hugged her.

“You did so good Charlie,” she said as she hugged her crying daughter. “Mom is so proud of you.” At first, Charlie didn’t know what she was talking about, but then things started to set in. She started to sob and leaned into her mother. Andrea then walked over and hugged her.

“You were just as brave as your mother was when she took the stand,” she said. “Maybe even braver.” Charlie looked up at her and wiped her eyes. “R- Really,” Charlie asked. “I’m not going to get in trouble?” Taylor shook her head. “No,” she said. “Not at all, you’ll probably come to live with me after everything’s over.” Charlie looked at her and started to cry again.

“I was just telling Jenn that I wanted to do that,” Charlie said as she recovered. “And now it’s going to happen.” I hugged her mother tightly and then looked up at her. As the two of them shared a moment, Scott came back in.

“Now, let me get a good look at her,” he said as he gently pulled Taylor aside, trying to get a closer look at Charlie. He smiled as he stood in front of you. “The only difference is her hair color and eye,” he said. “Other than that, she’s you.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. People had been telling her that for years, which pissed off her father often, but now, it was a welcoming comment. As they stood there, Taylor’s phone when off with Karlie’s name on the screen. “I’m going to take this,” she said to her parents who waved her off as she walked out. It seemed that they were eager to get to know their grandchild again.
“Everything alright,” Taylor asked as she answered the phone. At first there was no answer at the other end of the phone, but then Karlie sighed. “I may have made a mistake,” Karlie said. Taylor laughed. “What did you tell everyone that Jenn is your daughter?” Karlie sighed again. “No,” she said. “That would be better than what I did. I accidently replied to a group chat when someone, I think Blake, ask who the girls that were with us when the pictures came out.” Taylor turned white as she heard that. “Karlie,” she said. “What did you say?”

“I told that that it was your daughter and her friend,” Karlie said. Taylor started to panic. “And then what happened.” Before Karlie had a chance to answer, the phone rang. Andrea walked over and answered it. “Hello,” she said and then jumped. “Taylor,” Andrea said. “It sounds like everyone’s here.” Taylor looked at the phone. “Get back here ASAP,” Taylor said. “We already are,” Karlie said. “Can you open the gate?”
Taylor ended the phone call and looked at the iPad. Sure enough, everyone, including Karlie and Jenn, were waiting to get it. Taylor quickly walked over to Charlie. “Looks like you’re going to have an epic birthday party after all,” she said causing Charlie to look at her. “Why,” she asked. Taylor punched the code in to open the gate. “Because everyone is here,” she said. Charlie looked at the iPad and saw that multiple cars were coming in. She wanted to have a big party, but this was going to be interesting.

Chapter Text

Taylor started running around the house, texting caters, trying to find someone who was willing to help, but she had no luck. She was starting to panic and this was not normal for her. She was the one in her group of friends who was usually level headed and tried to organize everything, but now, that wasn’t the case.

Thanks to Karlie and her innocent text reply to a group text, this party was happening even if she didn’t want it to. “Call someone mom,” Taylor said as she saw Andrea looking for a place to call on her phone. “I know that it’s going to be short notice, but someone will do it.” Taylor was starting to panic as she went upstairs to change into something a bit better suited for the party than the t-shirt and jeans that she was wearing. This was happening so fast that she turned and grabbed Charlie by the arm. There had to be something in her closet for her to wear besides the uniform that she was still wearing. She sighed as she led her up the stairs.

What was supposed to be just a girl’s night had turned into more thanks to Karlie and her accidental reply. Taylor pulled out her phone and discovered that it wasn’t as accidental as it seemed. She read the text and after the blab, she tried to recover and said that Charlie just wanted a small party, but really wanted everyone to come and of course, everyone happened to be on the west coast, which is something that never happens ever.

As Taylor looked up from her phone she saw that Charlie had slipped out of her grip and had found a chair to sit in and calm down, hugging her legs. Taylor walked over and smiled at her, assuring her that everything was fine.

“Nervous,” she asked. Charlie nodded. “I’ve… I’ve never really met so many famous people in one day,” Charlie said, hugging her legs a bit tighter. “Well you’re going to be fine,” Taylor told her. “Everyone seems excited to meet you and in fact they all ran out and got things. I know what, but I’m not going to say.” Charlie looked at her and smiled. “They didn’t have to do that,” Charlie said. “All I wanted was just me and you, but this is better than I thought it would be.”

Charlie started to smile as Andrea came to the top of the stairs. “I found a place that’s willing to do the catering,” she said. “They’ll have everything here in an hour.” Taylor nodded and then smiled as she heard the door open. “Alright,” she said to Charlie. "It's gonna be crazy for a bit, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly. Ready.” Before she had a chance to answer, the doorbell rang. “Oh and go get out of the uniform. You did bring something that a bit dressier, right?”

Charlie looked down and realized that she was still in her uniform. She had put it back on by accident when they went out after she got out of the pool and never realized it. She nodded and stood up to walk to the room that she was staying in. “Anything you want to see me in,” she asked. “That sundress that you grabbed,” Taylor said. “I think that would work. As she went to into the room, Andrea grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

“I was going to give this to you later,” she said. “But I think that it will suit you better now and will look a lot better than that sundress that you want to wear.” She pulled a bag from behind her back. “Happy birthday, dear.” Charlie looked at the bag and opened it right away. Inside was something better than a sun dress, it was an actual dress that she hand fallen in love with a few weeks ago, but her father said that it was too old for her.

“I saw this in Nordstrom a few weeks ago,” she said still in shock. “I wanted, but my father said that it was too old for me.” Taylor rolled her eyes and smiled. “Go put it on and get the black flats from my closet. If you can’t find them… grandma…” Andrea then cleared her throat. “Right… Andrea will help you find them.” Taylor forgot that her mother wanted to be called by her first name, which was a little strange, but she went with it. “Now go,” Taylor said. “I don’t think that Karlie can hold them off any longer.” Charlie and Andrea then headed upstairs and someone knocked on the door.

Taylor then ducked into one of the guest rooms and pulled out a purple dress and then put it back. “Too Speak Now and not right now,” she said to herself as she spotted that dress that brought in Nashville last week. “You’ll do,” she said as she got changed and then slipped into black heels.

She then walked down the stairs and walked over and took a deep breath, opening the door. Before she had a chance to say hello to anyone, she was pushed out of the way and almost knocked onto her butt.

“Where is she,” Gigi Hadid said as she pushed Taylor out of way, carrying a stack of boxes of assorted sizes. “I still don’t believe that she’s real.” Gigi was one of the few that knew about Charlie, but she didn’t believe that she was real. Before she could say something, Ruby Rose walked in carrying a large box. “Yeah Tay,” Ruby said. “Where is she or are you trying to hide her from the truth, trying to make yourself seem normal.” Taylor tried to answer again, but before she could, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds walked in, carrying two boxes. “Seriously Tay,” Blake said. “I think we might have found a baby sitter for date nights.” Hearing that caused Ryan to smile. “For once James and Inez will have someone else to annoy and play dress up with.” Everyone laughed as they heard this, even Taylor, but before she finally had the chance to finally get a word in, Emma Stone walked in, who Taylor wasn’t expecting at all. “She has to be real,” she said as she dropped two big bags down. “There are pictures of her and Taylor all over the place.” Taylor blushed as finally someone gushed over Charlie and wanted to meet her. She tried on last time to get a word in and then Hailee walked in, carrying a massive box. “So you weren’t lying about her,” she asked. “She actually real.” Taylor finally cleared her throat as Karlie and Jenn walked in. She finally got everyone’s attention.

“Alright,” Taylor said. “First, yes she’s real. Her jerk of a father just kept her away from me for the past fifteen years. Second, she knows that I’m famous and wants to meet everyone, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon and finally, Blake and Ryan, we’ll talk about that when the time comes.” Everyone started to laugh again as Andrea tapped her on the shoulder. “She’s ready,” Andrea said. Everyone then turned their attention toward the stairs.

As Charlie came down the steps wearing the dress that she had just gotten, she didn’t believe what she was seeing. Standing in front of her was all of her mother’s most famous stands. She didn’t believe it. As she reached the bottom step, she actually could see who was here. Gigi Hadid was standing at the back with her mouth agape, not believing that she was seeing. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds just looked at each other and Hailee Steinfeld was just smiling and trying not to laugh at the fact that this was really happening. Charlie managed to hold her composure, but as she looked at the back for the room and saw Emma Stone was standing there, waving at her, she started to lose it.

The next thing that Charlie knew was that she started to see the ceiling for some odd reason before she blacked out.

Chapter Text

“Has she ever done this before,” Taylor asked Jenn as Charlie started to come back after she passed out, slowly realizing that this wasn’t a dream and that she was in the same room as all the famous people that she admired and actually wanted to hang out with were actually here, looking to make sure that she was OK.

“No,” Jenn said with a bit of concern in her voice. “Well maybe once after she was overheated during a field hockey game, but that was a different story. This is something new.” Charlie came to and tried to focus her eyes. She saw that Jenn and her mother were standing over top of her and everyone else was looking on, wondering what had just happened, as if they never had seen someone faint from stress before. Taylor had managed to catch her before she hit the floor and saved her from taking a trip to the ER, which was the best thing that happened to her all night besides getting the dress that she wanted.
As she sat up looked around, she realized that everything that had happened wasn’t a dream. It was all real and Taylor Swift was really her mother. “Are you alright,” Taylor asked. Charlie nodded. She was still a bit lightheaded, but didn’t understand why.

“I’m fine,” she said. “What happened? Did I pass out or something?” Taylor helped her to her feet and made sure that she was actually alright, which she was thankfully. “You did pass out,” Taylor said. “As soon as your feet hit the ground, you were going down even if you didn’t want to.” Charlie blushed a little, this was embarrassing for everyone, even more so for herself. As she turned around she saw that everyone that she thought that she was seeing earlier where actually here too. She a bit embarrassed to say the least.

“Are you all here for me,” she asked as she watched everyone nod. Charlie understood why she fainted. She was overwhelmed by the turnout for her birthday. This was unreal and as she stood there, Jenn, who it seemed had changed earlier when she and Karlie went out, tapped her on the shoulder. “A word,” she whispered. “Right now. I think you need a second to collect your thoughts and other things.” Charlie nodded and looked back at everyone, but before she could say a word, Taylor motioned to her to go, assuring her that everything was alright. “We’ll be right back,” she said to the group of famous people. She walked outside with Jenn and looked at her.

“Are you OK,” Jenn asked as she shut the door to a massive closet that was clearly used to store something at one point. Jenn quickly found the light and pulled the cord, turning it on so that the both of them could see. “You’ve done that once before after you showed up at my house after a fight with your father.” Charlie nodded. She remembered when that happened. A year ago, she and her dad had a fight over the fact that she was going to go to a sleep over when he was trying to get Dakota Fanning to commit to a deal that would make him so major money and she called Jenn as she hid from him. She had only seen that side of him a few times, but this was the worst that she had ever seen. She didn’t even wanna be there and as she packed a bag to escape, he found her and beat her so bad that as she ran out of the house, she almost fell over, but the adrenaline kept her going and as soon as she was safe at Jenn’s she passed out., which caused both Jenn and her parents to worry about her mental wellbeing. “I’m fine,” Charlie said. “I think it was related to what happened while you were gone.”

Jenn looked at her friend and then sat down at the table that was near the edge of the patio. “What happened,” she asked. Charlie sat down with her friend and sighed. “I got a text message from my dad right before…” Charlie got quiet and looked up at Jenn. “Right before the questioning started.” Jenn looked at her. She was slightly confused, but somewhat knew where this was going and then Charlie knew that she had to tell her friend the news that she wanted to tell her later after everyone left.

“When my mother had to hand me over to my father, they signed a contract that said that I could move in with her when I turned fifteen,” Charlie started. “If I wanted to that was and after she saw all the pictured and the stories that I told the judge and he lawyer, she’s starting the process and also getting an order of protection to keep my father from trying to take me away.”
Jenn looked at her and then start to smile. She jumped up and hugged her friend. “You do realize that this is the best thing that could happen to you, right,” she asked. Charlie looked at her like she was crazy. “You’ve had a shit childhood and now, you’re gonna have some of the best years of your life.” As she said that, it started to sink in. Jenn was right. The past fourteen years were a mess of nothing but abuse, mockery and being in a state of never having a stable place to call home. But now, as she was about to turn fifteen, things started to look up.

Charlie hugged Jenn back. “You’re right,” she said as she teared up a bit. “Things are going to get better and finding out that I have a mother was the start to a better life.” As the broke their embrace, Taylor stuck her head out the door.

“Everything alright,” she asked. Charlie nodded. “Everything’s fine,” she said. “I just told Jenn what’s happening.” Taylor smiled. “Well I’m sure that you have a lot to tell her, but you should really come back inside. Everyone is questioning me and I really can’t answer most of them.” Charlie looked at Jenn and she smiled.

“Don’t worry,” Jenn said. “I’ve got your back and I’ll catch you if you faint again.” Charlie laughed and then got up. She grabbed Jenn and headed back inside.

Chapter Text

An hour later, Charlie stepped outside of some air and also to process what had just happened and what was going. She looked back and saw that Jenn was having the time of her life and was enjoying herself more that she was it seemed since she was holding court with Emma and Hailee, everything was going well for her.

Charlie was overwhelmed in the best way possible. She was the center of attention and was really enjoying it and everyone was actually nice to her, including Gigi, who as her mother said, would seem cold at first, but in reality, she was just really shy and took some time to warm up to new people that she was introduced to.

She walked over to the pool and dipped her legs in, enjoying the feel of cool water on them, soothing them a bit. She wasn’t one for dress shoes, but tonight she made an exception for her party. Everyone loved her just like her mother assured her they would and they were even more welcoming than she ever thought they could be.

Blake doted over her, telling her how much she actually looked like her mother, but with brown hair, and Ryan said that ‘they finally found a baby sitter,’ which caused both Blake and her both to roll their eyes, both knowing that this was not going to happen, unless her mother forced her to that was. Hailee kept saying that she couldn’t believe that she was real and kept apologizing to Taylor over and over again for doubting her, which Charlie forgave her for before getting a big hug from her, which surprised her even more and even Emma Stone was awesome and the two of them didn’t stop laughing for 10 minutes at Charlie telling her that she loved her in Superbad, a movie that Emma said that she should be watching yet.

While it was turning out to be a good party, there was one thing missing. Selena Gomez never showed up, which bummed Charlie and Jenn out mainly because she was the one that they were really looking forward to meeting. After all, they did spend three hours in line the last time she was on tour, trying to get as close to the stage as possible, but failed horrible and had to stand all in the way in the back of the GA pit, but it was so worth it because of the show that she put on that night and while they were passed up to go backstage for a meet and greet, tonight would have made everything better.

Over the years, she had seen so many pictures of them together that they reminded her of the relationship that she and Jenn had and it seemed that no matter what happened, they were there for each other no matter how major the event was, even if it was some of the worst times of your life. Jenn was the Selena to her literal Taylor.

Charlie sighed as she thought about this. She overheard mother and Karlie talking shortly before she stepped outside. “Did you call her,” Karlie asked as she looked at her phone. “I know that she saw the group text, but she never replied. “ Taylor nodded. “Three times,” she said. “She has to be with Amy or T doing something or with one of those weird church friends of her’s, that’s then only reason why she isn’t answering.” Karlie sighed. “Maybe she saw the message and is rushing over right now,” Karlie said. Taylor shook her head. “You know her,” Taylor said. “She’ll see this message in three days and the call apologizing and show up without even calling.” Karlie laughed. “Typical Selena,” she said as she shook her head. “Watch she shows up tonight because she saw our calls and messages at the last minute.” Taylor rolled her eyes as Charlie slipped out the back door.

As Charlie took kicked her legs in the pool and let the water soothe them, something that was desperately needed, she heard someone walking across the lawn, as if they were lost. “Taylor,” the person said causing her to turn around and looked back. “What are you doing out here and when did you dye your hair. I know that you said that you were going to audition for a movie, but this is a little much.”

As Charlie’s eyes adjusted to darkness, she was shocked to see that Selena Gomez was coming in the back. Charlie was confused, but then realized what had happened. Her mother must have seen her sneak out the back and as she exited Selena rang the gate and her mother told her that she would meet her back by the pool. Charlie didn’t answer her because she didn’t know what to say, she was in a bit of shock after all. Selena was one of her favorite celebrities and right now, she was trying to keep from freaking out. If she had her phone, she would have texted Jenn. But she then realized that doing this might end with all of them in the pool, which would have been a bad thing for everyone.

Selena walked over, took her shoes off and sat next to Charlie putting her feet in the pool. “I left as soon as I saw the message,” she said as she lowered herself onto the ledge, sitting next to who she thought was Taylor. “I sent the gift through the front door. I hope that she doesn’t have what I got her yet.” Charlie didn’t answer her, she didn’t know what to say or if it was smart to play along. But then a playful shove came from Selena and she laughed. “What’s the matter,” she joked. “Cat got your tongue.” Charlie looked over at Selena, causing her to a double take. She didn’t realize what she was seeing.

“Wait…” Selena said confused. “You’re not Taylor?” At this point, Selena reached for her phone and turned her flashlight on so that she could see better in the dark. As she shined the light on Charlie, she slowly realized that she wasn’t sitting next to Taylor, but a younger clone. “Who are you?” Before she had a chance to answer, Taylor cleared her throat, causing both Charlie and Selena to jump and then look back.

“So… I guess that you met Charlie already huh Selena,” Taylor asked with a bit of a laugh. “Turn off the flashlight and come over the pool house. You’ll see things better there.” Taylor helped the both of them up and led them over to the pool house. This was part of the grand plan that she had. Selena was the first person that she told about Charile and like everyone else didn’t believe her that she was real. But now it seemed that she too was going to be one of the believers like everyone else who was here tonight.

Taylor turned the light on and led Charlie and Selena inside the pool house, which she had converted into a reading room that did have a TV that was barely used because all Taylor did in here was read or write. But now, it was going to serve as a meeting room. As Taylor closed the door, Selena got confused. As she looked across the room, she saw two Taylors standing across from her, but the only difference was that the younger one’s hair was a light brown. As she stood there, something that Taylor had told her years ago started to resurface. She then started to laugh as Charlie looked over at her.

“Wait,” Selena said. “Is that…” Taylor nodded as Selena sat down on one of the couches that were in the pool house. “You mean she’s real?” Taylor had told Selena about Charlie when she caught her writing a birthday note to her and when she tried to explain everything, Selena laughed and called out on everything, which started everything that led up to Reputation, but now it seemed like that everything was about to change.

“She’s real alright,” Taylor said as she sat down next to Selena. “And she’s been dying to meet you.” Selena looked over at Charlie and then back at Taylor. She couldn’t wrap her head around Taylor, the globetrotting pop star, being a teenage mom. “So…” Selena started as she blushed a bit. “Did you go look for her or did she come find you?” Taylor rolled her eyes, but Charlie raised her hand and offered to explain.

“I went to find her,” Charlie said. “At the suggestion of a friend and I’m glad I did because now, I won’t have to deal with my father anymore.” Selena looked at Taylor, who shook her head. “You’ll meet her later,” Taylor told Selena causing Charlie to laugh. “Jenn might pass out because she’s your self-proclaimed biggest fan.” Selena laughed. “Well I’ll try to catch her if she faints,” she said. “I think you might have to brace for impact,” Charlie said. “Because she will tackle your ass and take you down.” The three of them laughed. Taylor’s phone buzzed.

“My mom says the food’s here,” she said. “Selena, you go ahead of us. I need to talk to Charlie for a minute.” Selena looked at Taylor, but just shrugged off what she said. It was a mother/daughter conversation. She walked over and hugged Charlie. “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe that you were real,” she said. Charlie hugged her back. “It’s fine,” Charlie said. “No one thought that I was real, but I am.” Selena laughed as she walked out and headed toward the main house.

As soon as she was out of the pool house, Taylor turned toward Charlie, looking serious. “Your father is on his way over,” she said. “He got some kind of court order that might let him take you way, but I don’t think that it will hold up. John is already here and is looking over the order. But don’t worry about that now. Go and have a good time.” Charlie wanted to cry, but she managed to compose herself. “OK,” she said and head back to the party.

As she neared the house, she stopped dead in her tracks. As she looked into the house, she saw that her father was arguing with Scott and Andrea. She panicked and ran back into the pool house, pushing Taylor back in as entered.

“He’s here,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Chapter Text

Taylor looked at Charlie and saw the fear in her eyes, which is something that she’d never thought she would see. She knew that she wasn’t lying and peeked through the blinds looking toward the main house and sure enough she saw the same thing that Charlie saw.

Standing in the kitchen, furious as hell, was Marc and her parents, who clearly weren’t happy that he had managed to get in and was now in the house demanding that they provide him access to his daughter. She pulled out her phone and quickly texted her mother.

‘How’d he get in,’ Taylor texted, wondering what he did to get in there in the first place. At first, it seemed that she wasn’t going to reply with Marc standing nearby, but she watched as she walked away, her phone dinged shortly after she disappeared. ‘He came in when the caterers showed up,’ Andrea texted back. ‘They said that he ran in as the gate opened. He must have parked down on Laurel Lane and walked up. Should call the cops?’

Taylor didn’t know what to do, but as she stood there, her phone dinged again. This time it wasn’t a text from her mother, but Karlie. ‘Call them,’ she replied to Andrea and then went to look at Karlie’s text said.

‘Is that her father,’ Karlie asked over the text with a confused smiley face. ‘Yes,’ Taylor replied. There was a bit of silence between replies as Taylor started to text her mother again, but out of nowhere, Karlie replied. ‘Ryan is on his way out,’ she said. ‘He’s coming to get Charlie and you and bring the both of you inside. This way if he tries anything, you’ll at least have someone between you and him.’

At first Taylor wanted reply no, but then a second text came through. ‘He’s insisting and there’s no way you can stop him.’ Taylor knew Ryan was a bit over protective, but this was different. Everyone must have been standing around Karlie trying to figure out what was going on and who that guy was in the kitchen, demanding to see Charlie and when they all saw the text that the man in the kitchen was in face Charlie’s Father, Ryan went into protective mode.

She sighed as looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. ‘Tell him he can come and get us,’ she texted back. ‘I’ll deal with Marc if he tries anything.’ Taylor then noticed that John had arrived and started to talk to Marc. She guessed that her father had called when Marc showed up or he was here to wish Charlie a happy birthday. But either way, it was working as a distraction.

Taylor turned to Charlie, who was shaking and looking for a place to hide. She walked over and hugged her daughter, calming her down a little bit. “Everything is going to be fine,” she told her. “Ryan is on his way over to take us into the house. He’ll keep us safe and won’t let your father get near you and if he does, I think I can handle him.” Charlie looked at her mother and just nodded. She trusted her more than she than father and had a feeling that Ryan was going to keep her safe no matter what happened. Taylor opened the door and waved Ryan over.

“I’ll keep her safe,” he said as he got near the door. “There’s no way that he’s getting near her, I can promise that.” Taylor sighed. “You know that you didn’t have to do this.” Ryan smiled. “After all the stories that you told Blake and I,” he said, causing Charlie to shoot her mother a dirty look. “I think that this is the least I can do.” He turned to Charile and offered his hand. “You’ll be alright,” he told her. “Trust me, if your father tries anything, he’ll be laid out right away.”

While Charlie didn’t want anything to happen to her father, deep down inside, she wished that something would happen. She had suffered over the years from his abuse and now, it was his turn. But she knew that it would never happen it was all just in her head.

She took Ryan’s hand and he started to lead her across the lawn. Everything seemed like it was going according to plan, but as they neared the house, Marc saw her and stormed out of the house.

“Young lady,” he said as he walked out of the house. “You’re in a lot of trouble. What do you think you’re doing here? You’re supposed to be at Jenn’s.” As Marc said this, everyone from the party came out and gathered behind Charlie. Phones came out and everyone started to record what was unfolding. As Ryan went to say something, Taylor stepped out of the pool house and cleared her throat, causing everyone to look at her.

“You,” Marc said angrily, clenching his fist. “You had something to do with this.” He walked over to her and stopped right in front of her. “I had nothing to do with this,” Taylor said as she stepped forward. “She came here all by herself after she got the gift I sent.” Marc looked at Charlie. “You bitch,” he yelled as he walked over to her, but Ryan stopped him, causing him to turn his attention back to Taylor. He walked over to her and stood in front of her.

“You think that you can just waltz and take over what I had been doing for the past fifteen years after you abandoned her so that you could become a famous musician,” Marc yelled trying to get a rise out of Taylor, which he was, but she stood her ground.

“Abandoned her,” Taylor said back. “Your parents were the ones who though that I was going to be unfit because my career was taking off and besides that, when I told you that I was pregnant, you basically ran off and didn’t want to have anything to do with me or Charlie for that matter.” Marc fell silent and then looked at Taylor. “Well at least I was there for her for her entire life,” he said. “And not trying to make up for not being there by giving her expensive gifts every year.”

As she heard that, Charlie realized that her father and mother had somehow wound up by the pool. She then stepped passed Ryan and did something that she wanted to do for years, she shoved her father into the pool.

As Marc surfaced, he looked at her. “Charlotte Marie…” Before he had a chance to finish, Charlie bent down and dunked he father underwater and let him come back up.

“First of all,” she started. “It’s Charlotte Grace, not Marie like you told me. It’s on my birth certificate and everything and second, you are the worst parent that I’ve dealt with in my life. You don’t care about me, you’ve tracked my movements since I was five, never let me go on play dates, to sleepovers, and even to Jenn’s house for matter and most importantly, you hid me from this sweet, caring, wonderful woman who is my mother from me for fourteen years and never let her see me once? I don’t think that she’s the problem, you are.” Marc climbed out of the pool and tried to get near Charile, but realize that this was a bad idea since he was soaking wet.

“Charlie,” he said sternly. “I was only trying to protect you from getting hurt. She would have never given you the life that I did.” Charlie laughed. “You mean the one where you abused me? Made me suffer for three hours when I first got my period because you almost landed a deal to be the branding rep for Angelina Jolie and when you didn’t get it, you blamed be for constantly interrupting you because I didn’t know what was going on or the time that you pushed me into the rocks when the backyard was being redone because I didn’t want to play with that girl who constantly had her hand down her pants…” Charlie then lost it and started to cry. It was years of abuse finally coming out and it felt good to finally let it all out. Taylor walked over and hugged her.

“It’s alright darling,” she said. “I’m here and everyone else is too.” Charlie looked up and saw that all of Taylor family and friends were still outside, watch the whole thing go down. She wiped the tears way from her eyes and looked at her father. “When we go to court next week,” she started. “I’m going to tell them everything you did to me and then I’m going to tell them that I want to live with my mother and they will side with her. I never want to see you again.” Charlie then turned and walked away; heading toward the house, leaving her father shook by what she had just said. As she neared the house, she saw two officers walk past her. She knew what was coming.

“Everything alright, Miss Swift,” one of the officers asked. Taylor shook her head as she looked back toward Marc. “Well it was until one of my exes showed up.” The officers looked over at Marc and shook their heads. One of them walked over and cuffed Marc. “Would you like to press charges,” the other asked. “No,” Taylor said. “The restraining order should go into effect tomorrow, so he can’t come back. Just escort him to his car, which I probably at the bottom of the hill.” The officers nodded and lead Marc out.

“This isn’t over,” Marc said to her. “I’ll get my lawyer to read over that damn contract that you and I signed and Charlie will be back with me by Monday.” Taylor laughed. “It’s already in motion,” she said. “She’ll be moved in with my by Tuesday.” Marc didn’t know what to say. He just let the officers led him out.

As soon as Marc was out of sight, Taylor sighed to herself. She didn’t want this to happen, but she was glad it did. As she stood there, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and sat that Jenn was standing behind her.

“Is Charlie alright,” she asked. Jenn shook her head. “She’s locked herself in one of the guest rooms. Gigi and Karlie are trying to coax her out, but she’s not answering.” Taylor rolled her eyes and sighed. She wasn’t ready for this but knew that it had to be done. “Take me to her,” she said to Jenn.

Chapter Text

Navigating the Goldwyn Estate was like trying to get through a maze if you didn’t know it well enough. While it wasn’t that big, the way that Samuel Gold had designed it to give any of the famous actors and actresses the privacy they deserved while they were visiting him, made it a bit weird.

Taylor only used half of the house and never went into the part of the house that had the guest rooms unless someone like her mother, Karlie or Selena were spending the night here, but most of the time, that wing of the house sat unused and dark. Now though it was being used by Charlie as a safe place for her to get away from everyone after what happened with her father. Taylor was positive that she was upset because of what happened with Marc when he showed up and had found a place to go where she could cry herself to sleep, but Taylor wasn’t going to let that happen this time.

As she and Jenn came to the end of one of the hallways, they saw that Karlie and Gigi were standing outside of a door. “Charlie,” Gigi whispered. “You should come out. The party won’t go on with you.” No answer was heard from inside. “Charile,” Karlie said. “I’ll come speak to the coding class that Jenn told me about and how maybe even have lunch with you at school.” Again there was no answer from the room, which worried the both of them. Taylor the pushed passed them and knocked on the door.

“Charlie,” she said. “It’s mom. Open up or else I’m coming in with the key.” As they stood there, the door unlocked. Taylor the pushed the door opened and looked back at Gigi, Karlie and Jenn. “Wait here,” she said. “If anyone else comes up, keep them away. I should only be a few minutes.” Taylor walked in and closed the door behind her.

As she let her eyes adjust to the dim light in the room and tried to collect her thoughts, she realized that Charlie had chosen the one room that she had personally decorated herself, the room that she had dubbed the old Hollywood room. When she found out all the celebrities that had spent time in this house, she decided that she would pay tribute to them and while it looked like a room that was from a single girl’s apartment who lived in New York in the 90s, she was proud of it.

Taylor looked and saw that Charlie was curled up on the bed, sobbing. She knew that this was going to be hard on her and while she didn’t want it to happen this way, it was better that it happened now instead of court where things might have gotten ugly and unruly. Taylor walked over to the bed and sat next to Charlie and started to rub her back. “Are you OK,” Taylor asked her daughter, causing her to uncurl and look at her mother, when she started to sob again. She tried to get words out, but had no luck. Taylor held her tightly and tried to calm her down.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie sobbed and reached for a box of tissues and then blew her nose. “I just can’t believe I told him that. I really didn’t mean to do that to him, but I was tired of his lies and also of just him in general. You don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve wanted to do that to him.” Taylor smiled as she saw that Charlie was starting to calm down. “Well you did have fourteen years of pent up rage to use on him,” she said. And it was better to do it now than later in court where you could have gotten in trouble.” Charlie nodded. She was kind of glad that it happened. “I hope he knew that I really meant all that. I really want to come and live with you and I don’t want to see him again.”

Taylor hugged her daughter. She was glad that she wasn’t under Marc’s spell anymore and was starting to realize that it wasn’t her fault and that her father had done everything to keep her away her mother and not the other way around. Charlie the squirmed a bit, as if she had something on her mind and wanted to get it out from under his control. “Can I be honest with you about something,” Charlie asked. Taylor nodded as she turned up the lights so that she could better see Charlie. As the lights came up, Charlie was confused by what she saw. “I’ll tell you the thing first, but then I have so many questions,” she said causing Taylor to laugh. “And I have so many answers,” she said in the most mom way possible, causing Charlie to roll her eyes.

“We would have encountered each other sooner and maybe I would have been living with you right now,” Charlie said causing Taylor to look at her. “I had the chance to go to one of your Rose Bowl concerts last summer, but Marc, I mean dad, told me no. I think he was worried that because Jenn brought front row seats that you would have saw me and brought me back stage and told me the truth. Now I think that I should have lied to him and went with Jenn and started this whole thing earlier.”

The world stopped when Taylor heard that. If Charlie showed up at the Reputation Stadium Tour stop at the Rose Bowl and Taylor had saw her, she would have known right away who she was and sent her mother to get her and bring her to whatever club she was sitting in that night and the brought her back stage to meet her at the end of the show, before the Rep Room and told her everything. After a couple of seconds, Taylor came back and looked at Charlie. “Well,” she said. “It wasn’t the right time or the right place. But now, things lined up right and we’re almost there. After the court hearing, things will get better, I promise.”

Charlie smiled as she looked around the room. “Now onto the questions,” she said. “Who are all these people and why are their pictures in this room. It’s a little strange.” Taylor laughed as she looked around and realized that she was a little right, but there was a reason. “Well, this house was owned by one of the most powerful men in the early days of Hollywood,” she started. “Samuel Goldwyn built this house and had many people over for parties and dinner. So, I wanted to have one room to pay homage to them.”

Charlie got up for the bed and looked around at all the different pictures. She was in the process of taking a four year class at school that talked about pre1990 movies and the actors and actresses that were important to Hollywood history. As she wandered around the room, she stopped at Judy Garland. “She’s the only one I really know because of The Wizard of OZ,” she admitted. “And the man with the thin mustache because we watched Gone with the Wind last month, but the rest, I don’t know because we’re not that far in the class that I’m taking. But I’m sure that I’ll know who the all are eventually.” Taylor smiled and an idea popped into her head.

“How about after you move in we do a movie night with a movie from each actor in here,” she suggested. “This way you have a better understanding of how important this house is to the history of Hollywood.” Charlie smiled when she heard that. Marc never wanted to bond with her or even do things with her, so this was a welcome change. “I’d like that,” she said as she sat back on the bed. “Can I tell you something?” Taylor joined her on the bed. “Of course,” Taylor said. “You can tell me anything.”

“I was… Thinking about running away after the last time he hurt me,” Charlie started. “I was going to live out of suitcase and sleep at friend’s houses until school ended and then start to head east and go live with my Aunt Nikki in New York.” That was a name Taylor hadn’t heard in years. Nikki was Marc’s sister and was the voice of the reason for her brother. She was against Marc taking Charlie away from her and knew what was going one and what his plans where once he had gotten custody of Charlie. She was also the one who would text or call Taylor when she was trying to find Charlie for the past fifteen years. She knew that Nikki would tell her the truth and eventually brought her to the New York apartment and things would have been different and probably a bit more difficult. Taylor sighed and then hugged.

“Well,” she said. “I’m glad you didn’t, because we’d have more problems if you did. Can I tell you something?” Charlie looked at her mother and nodded. “I’m glad you found me the way you did. I was close to hiring someone to find you, but decided that it was going to be a lost cause, but then you showed up and that changed everything.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. She was really glad that she didn’t follow through with her plan and that Jenn forced her to skip school today. She stood up and looked at her mother.

“I think we should get back,” Charlie said. “Tomorrow we’ll figure out everything after Jenn goes home.” Taylor smiled at her as she pulled her in and kiss her on the top of the head. “Well I think you’re going to need her to get through everything,” she said. “So she can stay.” Charlie smiled as they walked toward the door. As they neared the door, Taylor’s phone went off.

She quickly glanced at it and cleared the notification. “Who was it,” she asked. Taylor shrugged. “No one important,” she said. “Let’s get back to that party and we’ll worry about tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, Taylor stood in the kitchen and push plastic cups, paper plates and other things into a garbage bag. The party was good and she was glad that Karlie screwed up and mentioned it to everyone, because it was secretly what Charlie wanted, since she never had something like this in her life.

Jenn told her that she saw color that Charlie had as a kid come back into her and she actually didn’t fear anything or anyone for the first time in years. As she stood there, Charlie emerged from the room that she claimed and walked into the kitchen.

“How’d you sleep,” Taylor asked her. Charlie smiled as she heard that question. “Well considering that I didn’t have Marc demanding that I wake up at the crack of dawn so that I can get ready for school, I guess that helped the fact that I slept well.” Charlie then looked down at her feet. “I need to go back and get clothes,” she said. “I need uniforms for school and clothes for after.” Taylor smiled at her. “I’m working on it,” she told her. “Your father is willing to let you come in and get somethings, but not everything until after court, just in case he wins, but he shouldn’t,” Charlie rolled her eyes. Marc was still trying to holding out that the court was going to side with him, but both Charlie and her mother knew that there was no way the judge was going to side with him because of all the evidence and the contract, which turned out to be still valid, and send Charlie back to him.

As Taylor pulled the last bag shut she looked up at Charlie. “So was it everything you hoped for,” she asked. “The party that is. I’m sure that you haven’t had anything like this in a long time.” A small smile start to creep across Charlie’s face as she tried to hide her emotions, but that was impossible. “It was… wonderful,” she said. “I haven’t had a party like that since I met Jenn back in Kindergarten. So it’s been 10 years since I had a party that big. It was better than anything that I could have thought of.” Taylor hugged her. “Well, things are going to get better from here,” she told her. She then walked over to the counter and pulled out a large envelope.

“Happy birthday,” Taylor said to her as she put the envelope in front of her. Charlie didn’t know what she was talking about, but she slowly realized what today was. It was actually her birthday and with everything that was going on, she had totally forgotten about it. She looked at the envelope and wonder what was inside. “You didn’t have to get me anything,” she said to Taylor. “You gave me that gift card and that amazing party.”

Charlie slowly opened the envelope as Jenn came down and sat next to her. “Happy birthday, bitch,” Jenn said as Charlie start to fish the contents of the envelope out. As she pulled out the item that was inside, she stopped. She then slowly pulled out another envelope and slowly started to realize what it was. Before she had a chance to ask or say something, Jenn’s eyes went wide. “Is that what I think it is,” Jenn asked. The envelope was thick and had something somewhat heavy inside of it. Charlie turned it over and saw a logo that she had seen once before. On the front of the envelope was a replica of a signature that she had seen countless times while looking through Vogue.

“This isn’t real,” she said as Karlie entered the room and smiled. “So I guess that little phone call you made during the party paid off,” Karlie asked. “Did it get here as Selena left?” Taylor nodded as she watched Charlie carefully open the envelope. As she pulled up seal, she took a deep breath and opened it the rest of the way. As she pulled out the contents, she and Jenn screamed.

“This can’t be real,” Charlie said. In her hands was an invite to the Met Gala, which was less than a month away, and it was real. She then opened it and started to skim over the names. As she looked for her name she the screamed loudly, causing everyone to jump. Right there below her mother’s name was her and Jenn’s names. She and Jenn then looked at each other.

“We’re going to the Met Gala,” they both said in unison as they jumped up and hugged each other. They then turned their attention toward Taylor and hugged her. “Thank you,” Jenn said. “Now I can piss off Vicky Williams even more now.” Charlie pushed her away and hugged her mom. “You didn’t have to do this mom,” she said. “Jenn and I would have just hung home and been glad just to be in New York.” Taylor smiled at her. “Anna Wintour owed me a favor, so I called it in and had a custom invite made. This is the only one that will have your name on it.” Charlie and Jenn looked at each other.

“We have just one problem,” Jenn said. “Who are we going to wear?” Taylor and Karlie looked at each other. ‘Teenagers,’ they both thought. “That’s all planned out already,” Taylor said. “We’re all going to wear Channel. They were the first ones to reach out to me about this and I took the offer. They also are dressing…” she stopped and looked at Charlie who was looking at her mother confused. “Karlie,” she then said. “Can you Jenn out the patio and we’ll be out shortly.” Karlie nodded.

“Come on kiddo,” she said. “Let’s talk more about that coding project that you’re working on.” Jenn was confused, but knew that it was something important that she couldn’t hear, so she didn’t protest at all. As soon as the door closed, Charlie turned her attention toward her mother, but before she could say something, she jump as she felt something brush against her legs. She looked down and saw that there was a cat at her feet.

“That’s Olivia,” Taylor said as she started to put some fruit and yogurt on a tray. “She’s the friendlier of the two. Meredith will look at you from a far, but never will come close unless she feels like it.” Charlie was confused, but when she saw that cat stand up on her hind legs, as if she was asking to be picked up. She reached down and picked up the animal, placing it her lap and started to pet it. “Someone made a new friend,” Taylor said as she turned her attention to Charlie.

“What did you need to tell me,” she said as she scratched Olivia behind her ears, causing her to purr. Taylor sighed again. She wanted to tell her, but part of her knew that she wasn’t ready to hear it or that she knew already. “I want you to know that I haven’t been totally honest with you,” she started. “Remember last night when you asked about the text I got?” Charlie nodded and the started to smile. “I knew it,” Charlie said as she tried not to drop the cat. “You are dating him.” Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. For once she was glad that someone was up on their celebrity gossip for once. “Yes,” she admitted. “But there is one problem.” Charlie blushed. “He doesn’t know that I exist yet,” she asked causing Taylor to nod. “And today, you’re going to meet him.” Charlie head that and stopped petting that car that was in her lap. “What,” she asked. “Is this a joke? You’re…” Taylor shook her head. “Of course not,” she said. “If you want to that is. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to. I’m not your father. There is nothing for me to gain if you come with me.”

Charlie smiled as she heard that. She knew that things were going to be different and she was right. “I want to,” she said. “I want to meet him and let him know that I’m real when you tell him. Mom, I want to do this.” Taylor smiled when she heard that. She had a feeling Charlie was going to say yes no matter what.

“Great,” Taylor said. “We’ll go shopping after we stop at you father’s house and get you something that you need.” Charlie looked at her and fell silent. She wasn’t looking forward to this, knowing that he was going to try to control everything. “Do we really have to go,” she asked. “We can just buy new uniforms.” Taylor shook her head. “That’s not how it works sweetie,” she said. “I know it’s going to be hard, but he won’t be allowed to be inside the house when you’re in there. We’ll get you a few things that will take your through till Thursday.”

“Thursday,” Charlie asked. “What’s happening then?” At first, Taylor didn’t want to tell her daughter, but she had to. “Thursday is the court date,” Taylor said. “You’re going to have to go on the stand one more time and tell your story, but I know you can do it.” As she heard that, Charlie burst into tears. She didn’t want to do that again, but she knew that there was nothing could do. Taylor ran over to her and hugged her daughter.

“Charlie,” she said as she heard her sob. “I know it’s hard and you’re scared, but look at what I had to do back in 2017. I was scared shitless when I was involved in my trail, but I went in there and owned it. I know that you’ll do the same.” Charlie calmed down and looked up at Taylor. For the past fourteen years, she had to deal with her father tormenting her in every way possible, but now it seemed like she finally had a way out. All she had to do was sit on a stand and tell her story.

“I’ll do it,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “But, I… I don’t want anyone to know what’s going on until after everything is over and done with. Meaning that you can’t tell anyone about this, not even my school until after it’s over, but Jenn is allowed to know because she’s seen everything.” Taylor nodded. She understood what her daughter was saying and what she meant. She didn’t want to be thrusted into the spot light right away and she was fine with that. She hugged Charlie. “I can do that,” she said. “But I think Jenn should head home today. It’s gonna be a long, emotional day for everyone.” Charlie nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “I really don’t want her that much involved, but I need her for support.”

Taylor then picked up the tray as Charlie stood next to her. “I want her to come with us,” she said. “If my father sees her, he won’t be as mean as he would be to us because she’s around.” Taylor nodded as she picked up the tray and headed toward the door. She hoped she was right.

Chapter Text

Charlie looked out the window of the SUV that was carrying her, her mother and Jenn to her father’s house. At first she really didn’t want to do this, but she realized that her mother was right; he needed to get clothes and uniforms for school for the week and maybe more. But the one thing that she didn’t want to deal with was her father.

“Are you sure that he’s not going to be,” Charlie asked as they rounded the corner and turned onto Benedict Canyon. Taylor nodded. “I’m sure,” she said. “My dad and my lawyer are there making sure that he’s gone for the entire time that we’re there. He’s not going to follow us in or try to talk to you.” Taylor’s phone then went off and she looked at it. “See,” she said as she held up the phone, showing her a text that said that it was safe to come. “He just left.”

Charlie sighed as Jenn put her hand on her shoulder. “Even if he comes back, I’ll be there and we both know how he acts when I’m around,” Jenn said reassuring her that everything was going to be fine. The car pulled up in front of the house and Charlie froze. Marc was standing there when he wasn’t supposed to be. But as soon as the car pulled up, he walked over to his truck and drove off. “That was close,” Charlie said. Taylor saw her father and John walk out of the gate and then got out.

“Why was he still here,” she asked. Scott started to smile. “Why don’t you let Charlie and Jenn go inside while we have a talk,” he said. “I we have somethings to talk about.” Taylor looked at Charlie and shrugged. “Head in,” she told her. “I’ll be in shortly.” Charlie and Jenn walked into the house and headed to her room.

“What do you think they’re talking about,” Jenn asked as she sat on the bed. Charlie opened the closet and started to pull out skirts and polos for her school uniform and looked back. “Probably court related stuff,” she said as she threw clothes at Jenn. “I think or at least I hope that it’s Thursday.” Jenn looked at her. “You know I’m coming, right,” Jenn said. “I’ll miss school that day if I have to and Charlie, don’t say no, I’m coming anyway.” Charlie looked at her and sighed. She had a feeling that this was going to happen and she also knew she wasn’t going to take no for an answer and she would find out eventually.

“Fine,” Charlie said a little upset. “But you’re going to sit there in the court room and be quiet. You’ll be there for moral support and nothing more.” Jenn nodded. “Of course,” she said. “I just wanna be there for you, like you were there for me.”

Charlie smiled as she forgot about her mother’s cancer treatment and how things were hard on her and while this was when the abuse started, Charlie put Jenn first, so now it was time for Jenn to pay her back. As Charlie grabbed somethings out of the draw, Taylor appeared in the doorway. Jenn and Charlie looked up at her.

“The court date is still on Thursday,” she said. “He tried to move it up, but John fought hard and kept it, siting that you had to be in school.” Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted it to be sooner, but not that as soon as her father wanted it to be. “Thank god,” Charlie said. “I don’t think I could have handled it earlier date.” Taylor started to look through her closest as something fell out. She looked down and saw that was the last thing that she gave Charlie, the stuffed whale, who had seen better days.

“You still have this,” she asked. Charlie nodded, thinking she grabbed it when they left the last time, but it must have fallen out of her bag when they were leaving. “She slept with it until she was in fifth grade,” Jenn teased, causing Charlie to elbow her. “I did not,” Charlie said. “I…” Jenn started to laugh again. “The last time I saw it you held him so tight that I thought he was going to break.” Charlie bushed as Taylor laughed. “It’s normal,” she said. “I think that you should get him out of there and put him in your room.” Charlie looked at her and sighed. “Alright,” she said. “Wade can come.” Taylor smiled and looked toward Jenn.

“Can you give us a minute,” Taylor asked. “I have something to talk to Charlie about.” Jenn nodded and walked out of the room. “I think that dress that you wanted is in the guest room.” As soon as Jenn was out of ear shot, Taylor shook her head. “He’s countersuing us,“ Taylor said to her. “He’s not going to win though because of the fact that he has no case. The judge has already reviewed the case and wants you to hear the story from you.”

Charile looked at her mother and frowned a bit. “I can do it,” she said. “He’s not going to know what hit him when I tell them everything.” Taylor smiled a bit. “Just be honest about everything and you’ll be fine. Trust yourself and you’ll be with me at the end of the trial.” Charlie smiled as she head that. She zipped her bag shut and picked up the stuffed whale, looking at him. “Did you hear that Wade,” she said to the stuff animal. “We’re going to be out of this place.” Taylor smiled as she saw this and started to realize that the reason why he was tucked away in the closet was because of the fact that she was worried that her father might try to damage it. Charlie then tucked the whale under her arm and grabbed the suitcase and turned to her mother. As she did, Taylor saw five year old Charlie standing there. “Ready mom,” the little girl asked. Taylor then snapped back to reality and looked at Charlie. “As long as you’re ready, I am,” she said.

Chapter Text

Charlie came down the stairs, pulling the stripe shirt that she had brought with her down. She was a bit nervous about this whole thing. Granted, she had met almost all her mom’s famous friends last night, but this was different. The was the guy, who as she put it, she was going to marry someday and she wanted to impress him, but at the same time was also worried that she was going to start a fight between the two of them because that she never told him about her.

As Charlie sat on the step and tied her shoe, Taylor popped out from the kitchen. “You know that he’s staying with us, correct,” she asked causing Charlie to nod. “You told me that three times, she said. “And does this look OK? I don’t want to be over dressed when I meet him.”

Taylor smiled. “You look fine,” she said. “You could come down in sweats and Joe wouldn’t mind. He’s not like some of the guys that I’ve dated in the past who were all about their looks and how I looked.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. She knew through all the gossip magazines that out of all the previous boyfriends that her mother had, Joe was the one who wanted to keep things on private side of things instead out in public like the last few boyfriends, which meant less time being seen out in public and more time in the private side of life.

Charlie stood up and looked around the house. It was kind of lonely when it was just the two of them, but this gave her a chance to get to know her mother better, even if it was just for a short amount of time. She walked into the kitchen and stood next to her mother, who was prepping dinner for the three of them. “So…” Charlie started. “Is that where everyone is going to find out you have a daughter.” Taylor stopped mid chop. She didn’t think of that as the place where everyone was going to find out that Charlie was her’s and was going to have to answer the same question over and over. She didn’t want to do that. She then got an idea.

“After everything is done and over with,” she started. “We’ll post something in Instagram and tell everyone about you,” she said. “We’ll also post it on Youtube so that everyone can see it. How does that sound.” At first, Charlie didn’t like that idea, but she then realize that it would be better to do that way. The pressure of the Gala would not be fun and she would have to deal with the all the media asking where she’s been all these years. She started to smile. This was an idea where she and Taylor were in control.

“I like that idea a lot,” Charlie said. “And I think that it’s safer than doing it at the Met Gala, which would be a totally shit show.” Charlie blushed as she realized who she was talking to. Taylor still felt like a mother rather than a friend. But as she looked up, she saw Taylor was trying not to laugh at her. While she was fifteen, it was still funny to see how embarrassed that she got at the fact that the she cursed in front of her own mother. “It’s OK honey,” Taylor said motherly. “I don’t mind, but just don’t do it all the time or else there will be issues.” The both then started to laugh as the front gate buzzed, causing the both of them to jump.

“You know what to do, right,” Taylor asked as Charlie nodded. “I’m going to sit in the living room and wait for you to walk in and you’ll do the rest.” Taylor nodded as she motion for her to go. Charlie disappeared from sight as Taylor opened the gate and then walked out the front door.

As soon as she reached the end of the pathway, the truck carrying Joe pulled up. She smiled as he got out of the truck carrying fresh flowers. “You didn’t have to do that,” Taylor said trying to act normal. Joe smiled. “I was passing the Farmer’s Market and someone mentioned that they liked the flowers from that vendor in there,” he said very British. “So I stopped on the way.” Taylor knew that this was a lie and that Joe had stopped there on the way just because she said that she liked the flowers from there. “Well they’re nice anyway,” she said as she hugged and kissed him. He picked her up and spun her around. As she was put back down, Taylor opened her eyes and saw that Charlie was peeking out the side windows, watching the two of them. Taylor swatted the air, telling Charlie to get way, causing her to laugh as she moved out of sight.

“Something wrong love,” Joe asked as he felt her swat the air. “One of my cats was in the windows and I was worried that it would run out when we tried to open the door.” Joe looked at her and wondered if she had lost it. “Your cats never leave the living room,” Joe said. “Yeah but they’ve been curious about the grounds and want to explore,” Taylor said. “So Olivia has been getting curious lately and has been trying to get out. So I was shooing her away.” She hoped that this lie worked because it was that or nothing. “Well I guess with new surroundings, they would be a bit curious,” Joe said. “Now let’s go in before they start flying the drones again.” Taylor nodded remembering what happened a few weeks ago when someone flew a drone over to see if they could get any pictures and they both quickly rushed inside.

As the door closed behind them, Joe leaned in and kissed her again. Taylor smiled as she walked into the kitchen to get a vase for the flowers. She was smitten, but didn’t stray from the plan. She started to fill the vase with water as Joe followed her in. She trimmed the flowers and then put them into water. “This is an awful lot of food for two people,” Joe said as he saw the tray of chicken on the counter. “Are we expecting someone?” Taylor started to panic a bit, but decided this was going to be the best way to break the news.

“Kind of,” she said a bit nervous. “Joe, can I tell you something that I’ve only told a few people.” Joe looked at her and nodded. “Sure Tay,” he said curious. “You know that you can tell me anything.” Taylor took a deep breath and looked up at Joe.

“When I first moved to Hendersonville, I met this guy named Marc and fell in love with him,” she started. “We were stupid teenagers and after our first time he convinced me to have sex without a condom.” Joe nodded as he listened, he didn’t know what to make of it. “Shortly after that, I found out I was pregnant with his daughter and nine months later, I gave birth to her and that’s when things went wrong.” Joe looked at her. “Wrong,” he asked causing Taylor sigh a bit. “I had signed with Big Machine before I got pregnant and Marc’s parents though that I wasn’t going to be a good mother because I wasn’t going to be around all the time when I was record, touring and doing other things related to music. So they took me to court and help him get custody of her. A month after she was born, I had to give her up and I was allowed to see her every weekend, but they were gone days later and I never saw her again.” Joe looked at her and walked over to hug her.

“I’m sorry Taylor,” he said. “I’m so sorry. She must have been a wonderful child in the short amount of time that you had her. I wish that you got to see her grow up.” He actually believed her, unlike everyone else. Taylor couldn’t believe it. “Have you ever…” She stopped him. “What would you do if I told you that she came and found me yesterday,” she asked. Joe looked at her. He was confused. Taylor then took him by the arm and led him into the living room.

As they entered the living room, Joe could see that someone was sitting on the couch. From what he could tell, it was someone with curly hair. He thought that it was Abigail, but her hair was red and much thicker than the person who was sitting in the living room. “Joe Alwyn,” Taylor said. “I’d like you to meet Charlotte Grace… Swift, but you can call her Charlie.” Charlie then turned around and smiled. She was a bit star struck for the 100th time in the past two days. She got up and walked over to him and hugged him.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Charlie said. “The Favourite was the best film that I saw last year.” Joe looked at Charlie and then back at Taylor as if he was seeing double. Standing in front of him was a younger version of Taylor only with darker hair and different color eyes. After a few seconds, he came to and started to laugh.“It’s so nice to meet you,” Charlie said. “The Favourite was the best film that I saw last year.” Joe looked at Charlie and then back at Taylor as if he was seeing double. Standing in front of him was a younger version of Taylor only with darker hair and different color eyes. After a few seconds, he came to and started to laugh.

Let me guess,” he started. “You hired someone to find her and now she wants to love with you?” Charlie looked at Taylor and blushed a bit. “Well,” Taylor said. “Not yet. Since her fourth birthday, I’ve been sending her letters and gifts. But her father would intercept them and pass them off as his own and hid the letters from her. But this year, she intercepted it and read the letter. Thanks to her friend, she’s probably going to be with me after court on Wednesday.” Joe’s head was spinning. This was all happening too fast for his liking, but it was Taylor after all and life with her was far from normal.

“Well I guess boldness runs in the family,” he said as he looked at Charlie. “But at least you’re a bit more conservative than your mother is.” He then took her by the hand and looked over at Taylor. “Dinner,” he asked causing Taylor snap out of her trance. “In about an hour,” Taylor said. “Good,” Joe said. “That gives me plenty of time to time to get to know Charlie a little better since she’s going to be around all the time.” Charlie blushed. Granted, everyone wanted to get to know her better on Friday, but this was different. This was someone who was going to be around all the time and actually wanted to get to know her. Unlike the girls that her father brought home, Joe actually cared enough to get to know her.

As they say down at the small table that was on the patio, Joe looked at her and smiled a bit. “So tell my about Charlie,” he said.

Chapter Text

The rest of the weekend was a blur. Dinner with her mother and Joe was everything that she could ask for and afterwards they actually went out in public together, even though they had to deal with the paparazzi, it was worth it because they didn’t have to wait in in line at Salt and Straw, something that never happened. She followed her mother’s plan and didn’t say anything if when the photographers started asking questions about who she was or what she was doing with Taylor and Joe for that matter. She knew that come Monday morning everyone was going to be asking who she was and why she was with them, but that was for all the gossip websites to figure out.

“You know this is going to cause mass hysteria,” Charlie said to Taylor later that night. “Once word gets out that you have a daughter, you’re not going to be able to set foot out a door without someone wanting to know if I’m really your daughter.” Taylor just laughed. She smiled at Charlie as she looked out at Joe, who was in the middle of a phone call. “We’ll worry about that later,” she said. “Right now, I’ve got to figure out how I’m going go to your field hockey game on Wednesday.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. Her father never came and when he did, he never paid attention. Charlie thought about this for a second and then an idea came to her mind.

“Just come,” she said. “No one will care that you’re there. My teammate Cara’s aunt is Edie Falco and there’s always famous alumni in the stands, like Elizabeth Olsen or Elle and Dakota Fanning, who were at a basketball game last year, so you’ll fit in perfectly.” Charlie then fell silent. “And after that, what’s going to happen.” Taylor pulled her close.

“We’ll worry about that later,” she said. “Right now, I need you to get ready for that game. I know that you’ll probably sit for most of the game, because you’re only a sophomore, but still, it’s going to be good to support your team in any way we can.” Charlie smiled as she said that. She might even actually get to play in that game. She smiled and then got up to check her phone. Her mom was right; she had to focus on her school and the game. The trial would come later.

*

Sunday went by in a blur and the next thing that Charlie knew the alarm that was on her phone was going off. She woke up again, thinking it was a dream, but it wasn’t. Olivia was sleeping next her she heard her mother walking around outside. “Charlie,” a voice said. “You better be up or else I’m dragging you out of bed.” Charlie got up and pushed to door opened as Taylor walked past in workout clothes. “Bathroom is down the hall,” she said. “You’ve got an hour.” Charlie didn’t believe what she was seeing and just walked to the bathroom and started getting to go to school.

Thirty minutes later Charlie and Olivia came downstairs and saw that Taylor had made her breakfast. Charlie quickly ate and as she turned to leave, she was her mother was waiting for her. “Finally,” she said jokingly. “I’m taking you to the school and then going to the gym.” Charlie started to panic.

“That’s OK Mom,” she said. “Jenn will pick me up and the take me home after practice.” Taylor smiled. “Nonsense,” she said. “I can do both. After all I am your mother and I should get used to doing it since it’s going to become the norm. Well, not really the norm, but you get the idea. I should really get used to being a parent.” Taylor then grabbed her yoga mat and headed for the door. Charlie bent down and scratched Olivia on the head. “Wish me luck, because I’m going to need it,” she said to the cat and then went to catch up with her mother.

*

As she sat in the back of the truck that was taking her to school, Charlie was nervous. She sat on the left side of the back seat so that she could get out when the truck pulled into the drop off zone, but she was worried that someone would see her and realize who she was in the back with her. She had to think of a plan that would make a good cover story, but then she realized something. She wanted the world to find out that she had a mom, even it was Taylor Swift. So she just let it ride and made a plan. She would leave her lunch box in the car this way she had to come back and give it to her, this way everyone would see.

“So just come to the same place that I dropped you off in,” Taylor asked. Charlie snapped out of her daze as she looked over at her mother. “No,” Charlie said. “Go to the back by the Kindergarten playground. I’ll be waiting there with Jenn after practice.” Taylor smiled.

“You’re alright with being dropped off since I’m going to the gym, right,” Taylor asked. At first, Charlie wasn’t OK with it, but then she slowly started to realize that she had to get used to it somehow and this was going to be the best thing that happened to her.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Just don’t embarrass me.” Taylor smiled as she thought back to her first day at Hendersonville and how her mother was. She wasn’t going to be the same as she was. “I promise I won’t,” she told Charlie. “But don’t count on that happening on Wednesday. Karlie and I will be the loudest ones there.” Charlie cringed a bit as she heard that and while she didn’t mind; it was not something that she was looking forward to.

The truck turned into Campbell Hall and got in line for drop off. Charlie looked out the window and smiled at bit. Vicky Williams was right where she always was. She thought that she was the best. She was a cheerleader, freshman class president and liked to brag about who she hung out with on the weekend. She and her group of friends, the fame as then called themselves, liked to brag about everything that they did. They were a real life version of the rich kids of Instagram and now it was time to take them down a notch or two. As they neared the front of the line, Jenn knock on the window, causing Charlie to put her plan in motion.

“I’m just gonna get out here,” she said. She had left her field hockey gear in Jenn’s trunk, so all she had to carry was her lunch bag, which she was going to leave so that here mom had to get out and give it to her. “Alright,” Taylor said understanding. She then leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Have a good day.”

Charlie flung the door opened and then closed it quickly. She hugged Jenn and started to walk toward the school. “So how was the rest of your weekend,” Jenn said. She was forced to leave Saturday afternoon so that she didn’t know what happened, mainly because of the fact that Charlie had told her that she probably was going to be on her phone that much since she and Taylor were trying to make up for lost time.

“It was pretty awesome,” she said. “My mom and Joe took me to Salt and Straw and of course, the photographers were everywhere trying to find out who I was But the best thing was that we didn’t have to wait on line. When the manager saw my mom, he shut down the store until we left.” As they passed Vicky and her friends, she looked up and then started to laugh.

“You mean dad,” she said as she hopped off the round table. “You don’t have a mom, remember? She ditched you and you’re dad raised you.” Charlie rolled her eyes and then shook her head. “As it turns out, I do have a mom,” she said. “I was just kept away from her for the past fifteen years. Jenn and I went to find her over the weekend and we did. She even threw me the most awesome party that would put anyone you had to shame.” Before Vicky had a chance to answer back, Jenn pulled her away.

“You do realize what you about to do, right,” Jenn asked. “Your mom is going to flip.” Before she had a chance to answer, her phone dinged. She smiled as she saw it and then showed Jenn.

‘Oh and don’t think I don’t realize what you plan is,’ Taylor said via text. ‘I did the same thing when I brought my first car and it was the best thing in the world. As long as no one gets hurt, you can do it.’ Jenn giggled a bit and then changed her mind. “Do it,” she whispered. “She’s been such a bitch to you.” Charlie nodded and then turned back to Vicky.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “As I was saying, my father kept her way from me so that he could use me as a marketing ploy to make him look better. She even brought me this new purse for my birthday.” Charlie showed her the purse and Vicky laughed. “Please Charlie,” she said. “If you had a mom, I doubt that she would be able to afford that purse for you. I’m sure that it’s fake.”

Before she had a chance to say something else, a car pulled up along the curb and stopped causing everyone to look. The driver got out and opened the door. Everyone gasped as Taylor got out. “Charlie,” she said. “You forgot your lunch. We don’t want you to stave now.” Charlie walked over and took her bag. She hugged Taylor and smiled. “I’ll see you later mom,” she said as Taylor got back in the truck and then drove off. Everyone did not know what to make of it and no one was going to believe them because no one could get their phones out quick enough.

In the confusion, Charlie and Jenn started to walk toward their lockers. As they neared the building, Vicky grabbed Charlie by the shoulder. “I wanna apologize for how I treated you,” she said. “Do you wanna hang out sometime?” Charlie and Jenn looked at each other. “I don’t think so,” she said leaving Vicky speechless.

Charlie smiled as she walked into building that housed the high school. Her new life was just getting started.

Chapter Text

Rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Most of the kids who saw her mother didn’t believe it, but within hours of starting school, people started to talk. Some rumors flew around, like Charlie’s father had died and Taylor was going to adopt her because she felt sorry for her, but they were quickly squashed out by Charlie or Jenn, who were the only two that could confirm that whatever was said happened.

It was actually kind of funny to her some of them, like Taylor was actually paid by her father to pretend to be her mother or Charlie was recording an album and Taylor was producing it, but after a bit the school made it clear that spreading rumors was part of their anti-bullying policy and anyone found spreading them would be given a detention, things died down and people actually would ask her about it. But Charlie said nothing. Finally, after getting tired of hearing it, she got an idea. When the Miller Twins, Allie and Annie, asked her about it, she smiled politely

“There will be a youtube video explaining it all this weekend,” she told them. “And I want you two to spread the word.” Hearing that, Allie and Annie ran off and started to tell everyone that they could think of. “You’re crazy,” Jenn said as she came up behind Charlie, causing her to jump. “You know that you’re mother is going to kill you for that.” Charlie laughed. “She wants to do it,” she told her. “And I think she’ll be thrilled when we do after the court date so that we can get it over with.” Jenn shut her locker and then smiled.

“I better be involved in this too,” she said. “Or else… well I don’t know, but I better be invited to be in it.” Charlie smiled. Of course she as going to have her best friend in it, if she didn’t then there was something wrong with her. “Of course,” she told her. “I don’t think that I could have done it without you.” They both closed their lockers and headed to their next class.

*

“Are you sure you don’t need a ride home,” Jenn asked as she saw that Charlie was sitting in the curb like she was last week. “She’s coming,” Charlie told her. “She’s just about here.” Before Jenn had a chance to answer, the same SUV that dropped her off in the morning, pulled up. Taylor got out of the back and smiled at Charlie and Jenn. “Told you,” Charlie said. She got up and hugged her mom. This was a welcome change from having Jenn drive her home all the time, which she was going miss, but still, it was nice to have someone to have someone who actually cared about her come and get her. Taylor broke the hug and looked at Charlie. “I have something to tell you,” she said. “But it has to wait till dinner. Jenn can come too if you want.” Charlie looked over and Jenn who shook her head.

“Not tonight,” she said. “It’s a weeknight and my parents would kill me.” As she turned to get in her car, Jenn felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw that Charlie was standing behind her. “Please,” she whispered. “What if its bad news and I have to go back with my father right away? I want someone there to support me if it’s something bad.” Jenn sighed as she looked at Charlie’s pleading eyes. She didn’t want to, but she knew that she had to be there for her best friend. “After dinner,” she asked. “I’ll come over after dinner.” Charlie smiled and hugged Jenn quickly. “Thank you,” she said. “You know that I want you to be there if anything bad happens.” Jenn sighed. Charlie was right without her, she would probably be a mess and wind up at her house anyway. “I’ll see you later,” Jenn said and got in her and drove off.

Taylor walked over to Charlie and tapped her on the shoulder. “She was going to come either way,” Taylor said. “Even if she said no, she was going to come over because of guilt. Abigail and I were the same way. She’s not going to ditch her best friend.” Taylor helped Charlie into the SUV and they started to head home.

Charlie was distant the whole ride home. She tried to have a conversation with her mother, but could barely hold it. She was clearly worried about what the news that her mother had was. It was all she could think about.

*

As soon as they pulled into the driveway and the gate closed, Charlie got out and headed inside. She showered, got dressed and started to pack. She had a feeling that this was going to be her last night here. She knew that this was too good to be true and that her father would figure out a way to get her back. As she zipped her bag closed, she started to cry loudly, causing Taylor to come in.

“What’s wrong,” Taylor asked concerned. She then noticed that Charlie had packed her bags. “Oh bug,” she said calling her the name het years ago when she was first born. She wanted to save the surprise for later, but now it seemed that it was more appropriate. She sat Charlie up and made her look at her. “You’re not going anywhere,” she said. “You father caved when he saw the video and surrendered custody to me. All we have to do on Wednesday is go into court for fifteen minutes and sign some paper work. After that, we’ll go get your stuff out and bring it here.” Charlie started to cry again as she heard that. She couldn’t believe it. She was staying. All the years of abuse were over and now her life was going to get better. “Thank you,” she sobbed. “Thank you.” That’s all she could muster between tears. The two of them just sat there as silence fell between them. This was what Charlie wanted. A moment like this that and it felt right. She finally calmed down and looked at her mother.

“I’m gonna call Jenn and tell her not to come,” Charlie said. But before she had a chance to get up, Taylor stopped her. “Let her come and tell her the good news,” Taylor said. “Let her be the first one to find out.” Charlie smiled. The thought of telling Jenn first was going to be the best thing that she could do.

Charlie then walked over to the bed and started to unpack again. Things were really looking for her in more ways than one.

Chapter Text

Jenn drove the long way to Taylor’s house, passing Campbell hall and then coming in via Cold Water Canyon. While it was a longer route, it was worth it to get in her mind set. Granted, she wasn’t jealous of Charlie, she was just tired of everything that was happening and was worried that things were going to go back to square one for the both of them. She had a feeling that this might be one of the last times that would see her and she might be moving some time soon, which meant that she was going to lose her best friend and things would never be the same. As she pulled up in front of Taylor’s house, she took a deep breath and hit the buzzer. The gate opened and she drove in, wondering what was in store for her.

As Jenn walked toward the front door, she saw that Charlie was running around the living room as if she was hanging something up. Jenn was confused and was starting to wonder what was going on. As she neared the door, she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Charlie opened the door and pulled her inside. As soon as the door closed and Charlie saw her she started to cry.

‘Oh no,’ Jenn thought to herself. ‘Her father has custody of her.’ She hugged Charlie and started to cry. “You saw the banners,” she asked causing Jenn stop crying and look at her. “What banners,” she asked as she wiped tears from her face. Charlie grabbed her by the hand and led her into the living room. As they entered the room, Jenn gasped. The banners read ‘Congrats and Welcome Home Charlie,” which was something that she did not expect. As she saw the banners, Jenn started to cry. “He caved,” she sobbed. “He really gave up and gave you to Taylor.” Charlie started to cry again as the hugged each other. The slumped against the back of the couch and cried. The both of them dreamed of this for years and now it was actually happening. Charlie calmed down and then looked at Jenn.

“You’re makeup is running,” she said. “You should really go to the bathroom at wash it off.” Jenn started to laugh and grabbed a tissue. She wiped her face and smiled. “How,” she asked. “Did Taylor send someone to shake him down or something?” Charlie shook he head. “I… I don’t know to tell you the truth,” she said. “My mom said that when he saw the video that I had to make, he gave up and said that she can have me.” Jenn hugged her and helped her up.

“Aren’t you glad that I convinced you to go look for her,” Jenn said as Charlie started to smile. “Without you, I would have probably been dead,” Charlie admitted. “And don’t think that this is going to change our friendship. You’re going to be with us when my mom and I are on the cover of Vogue.” Jenn stopped as she heard that. She was going to be on the cover of Vogue with her best friend and her mother. This was the best thing that could have happened to her and Charlie. “We’re gonna be just like your mom and-“ Jenn stopped. She wanted to say one of Taylor’s famous friends, but it didn’t seem right. She started to think of the girl that Taylor wrote about in the song Fifteen, but couldn’t think of her name.

“Abigail,” Taylor said as she walked into carrying a tray of ice cream. “You are the Abigail to her Taylor. While Charlie’s up front in the spotlight, you’re in the background doing your own thing and you’ll have fans because there’s gonna be people who want to be you because you close to someone famous. But besides that, you’ll want to be there for all the ups and downs.” Jenn smiled knowing that Taylor was right. Abigail was there through all the ups and downs that Taylor and there was no way in hell that she was going to ditch Charlie now. She looked at Taylor and got up, giving her a hug.

“I’m not going to ditch the girl who was stuck at the top of the slide and I had to rescue the first day of school when we were in kindergarten,” Jenn said. “And besides that, I’m not going to pass the chance to be in Vogue with my best friend and her mother.” Taylor smiled as she heard that. At first she thought that Jenn was a bad influence on Charlie, but then realized that she was the one who help Charlie come out of her shell and was the one who got her to come and find her. Without her, she might be dead.

“You both know what usually happens with the cover that we’re on,” Taylor asked as she sat down with the girls. Charlie and Jenn figured that it was just going to be them tonight, because everyone was back to doing what they did normally. “No,” Jenn said. Taylor smiled. This was what she wanted. They were smart girls, but not really in tune with what happened with the world of popular culture. “Well,” Taylor started. “The past three years, whoever was featured on the cover or the magazine of the June issue, usually is the co-chairs of next year’s Gala. So, since we’re on the cover…” Charlie screamed and hugged Jenn. She didn’t believe that this was happening. While they were going to the Gala this year was going to be special enough, being chairs at next year’s was going to be amazing as it sounded. “Really,” Jenn asked. “I mean… I don’t think that I belong up there with you, Charlie and whoever else is going to be up there.” Charlie laughed as she heard that. “I think you do,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here without you and I’m positive that I would still be at a boarding school in the Midwest, away from everyone.”

Jenn started to realize that she was more important than she thought. Without her friendship with Charlie, she wouldn’t be the same, she’d probably the weird quiet girl that never did anything but study and never really did anything else. But instead, she was going to be on the cover of Vogue with her best friend and her mother. “I’m so in,” she said. “I wanna do this and I want to be part of it.” Taylor smiled and Charlie hugged her.

“I’ll call your parents tomorrow and tell them what’s going on,” Taylor said. “We’re gonna have to fly on Friday to New York for the shoot. I know that its short notice of the both of you, but it has to be done for the cover by the beginning of next week.” As they heard this, Charlie looked at Jenn and they screamed. This was their ultimate dream that was about to come true. They were finally going to get to see New York and everything it had to offer.

“I’ll call her right now,” Jenn said. “She’ll be fine with it and will be behind it 100%.” Jenn then got up and walked out of the room as Taylor sat next to Charlie, who was still in a state of shock from what her mother told her.

“Welcome to New York,” Taylor whispered in her ear. “It’s been waiting for you.” Charlie started to smile as she heard this. All she had to do was make it through the rest of the week and everything would be fine, which she knew would happen without any issues.

Chapter Text

“Nervous,” Taylor asked as they drove downtown later in the afternoon, as the traffic was starting to get heavy. Judge Campos had managed to arrange the hearing to be held after school so that Charlie didn’t have to miss any school since she was going to miss school tomorrow and Friday because she was heading to New York to shoot for the Vogue issue that she was going to be featured in along with her mother and Jenn. Charlie nodded a bit, but didn’t say anything. All she thought about was how happy she was yesterday and how happy she’ll be after this.

Yesterday, Charlie was at the top of her game and she had never been that happy before. She and Jenn got called up to varsity after two junior girls were injured after knocking into each other, concussing each other from the force of impact. At first, she was going to tell her mom not to come because she was just going to sit on the bench in her warm up and watch her do nothing. But, when she heard the news, she called her at lunch and told her to come because there was a chance that she could play.

As Charlie went through warm ups, she looked at the stands and didn’t see her mother and sighed. She had a feeling that she wasn’t coming, but as she got in line for stretching, she heard a commotion coming from the crowd. She looked up and saw that Taylor and Karlie had shown up and as usual, everyone was wondering what they were doing here. As they sat down, a few of her teammates saw her.

“Is that Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss,” Alyx, one of the seniors asked causing all the other girls to look up. “I think it is,” Nikki, the other captain said. “But what are they doing here.” At first, Charlie wanted to say something, but she didn’t. But as she pulled her left leg over her right, Karlie pointed at her and Taylor waved causing Charlie to wave back. As they saw this, the entire team looked back at her, wondering what was going on. While some of the school had heard the news from the Watson Twins, it seemed that a majority of the kids haven’t gotten wind of what happened yesterday. Charlie was going to say something, but the coach called them over to the bench. As she got up, Alyx put her arm around her.

“Spill it,” she said. “Tell your sister what’s going on.” Alyx was Charlie’s big sister for the team and was one of the few people that she trusted. “That’s my mom,” Charlie said. “And if you don’t believe it, I fully understand.” Alyx stopped mid walk and looked back at Taylor and then at Charlie. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. She didn’t say anything and walked over to her coach.

That day, Charlie played for almost the entire game. She had three assists and one goal, which caused Taylor and Karlie to go nuts when it happened and no one else question why they were there after the initial questioning. Charlie thought that Alyx had something to do with it, but shrugged it off. She was so glad that her mother came out, which was really a welcomed change to what she was used to.

*

But now, it was different. Charlie looked up at Taylor and saw the concerned look on her face. “I’m fine mom,” she said. “I’m just a little nervous. Are you sure that this is the last time that I’m going to see my dad.” Taylor sighed as the pull up in front of the court house. “Do you remember how I didn’t get there until the start of your game yesterday,” she asked and Charlie nodded. “You father didn’t want to see you, so he moved his part of the custody hearing up to yesterday to get everything over with. This is just a hearing to finalize everything.”

At first, Charlie didn’t believe it. This was the second best news that she had gotten all week and after a few seconds, she pulled Taylor in for a hug and started to cry. “So… So this is it,” she said with tears running down her face. “I walk in a Davis and out a Swift?” Taylor nodded. “We just have to do sign some paperwork and we’ll be done. We’ll get your stuff out when we come back; he agreed to hold it until after the weekend.” Charlie wiped her eyes and got out of the truck. She straightened the dress that she was wearing and look at her mother. The two of them then walked into the court house, the both of them smiling the entire walk inside.

*

As the two of them sat in Judge Campos’ chambers, Charlie couldn’t contain herself. She could barely sit in the seat and she wanted to get up and dance around the room. She couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. The one birthday wish that the made every year was she could meet her mother and now it finally happened. Charlie fidgeted, causing Taylor to look over. “Are you OK,” she asked. “You’ve been fidgeting ever since we sat down.” Charlie looked over at her mother and smiled.

“I can’t contain myself,” she said. “I’ve… wanted this for so long and now it’s happening. I’ve had to sit out of so many mother/daughter and father/daughter things because they didn’t want to go or they were too busy working to make time to show up. But now, I have someone who will do things with me.” Charlie hugged her mother and Taylor realize that while it was not going to be easy being a mother, Charlie was going to make it somewhat easy. As soon as she broke the hug, Judge Campos walked in and smiled.

“And I see that the two of you have already started,” she said. She sat down behind the desk and placed the file in front of Taylor. “After yesterday’s nightmare, I assume that this is going to be easier.” Charlie looked over at Taylor and wondered what the judge meant. “Don’t ask,” Taylor said as she thought back the arguments that were had yesterday. “Let’s just move on to happier times.” Judge Campos handed Taylor a pen and she signed on the line. “And well are all set,” she said. “The name change will take a few weeks, but she can start going by it right away. You’ll just have to inform her school about everything because I couldn’t do that myself, but other than that, everything is finalized.” Judge Campos then stamped everything and handed to Taylor.

Charlie hugged her mother as she put the stack of folders in the bag that she brought in. It was over and she was now with her mother. As they went to get up, Charlie cleared he throat. “Can we just do one thing,” she asked as she pulled her phone out. “Can we take a picture? I’m going to post it on Instagram if that’s OK.” Taylor looked over at Judge Campos and shrugged. “Why not,” they both said. They took the picture and headed out to the waiting car.

As Charile wrote a caption, she couldn’t help but smile. She was going to write a long winded post, but decided to keep it simple. “I’ll explain everything soon,” she said. “But for now I’ll just call this The Best Day.” Charlie sat back and smiled. Taylor was on the phone, but she knew what was going to happen next. They were going to get Jenn and heading to New York. Charlie sat back and finally started to relax. She was finally starting to feel like she belonged.

Chapter Text

The sound of a siren blaring woke Charlie up and made her look around. Something was different; it was a lot noisier outside and also a bit cooler. She sat up in her bed and discovered that Jenn was next to her fast asleep. As her eyes adjust to the light, she realized that the walls were exposed brick and not the smooth panels that she was used to seeing over the past few days.

As she went to explore her new surroundings, she stopped dead in her tracks. As she looked through the large glass doors that were in the bedroom that she saw something that she’d didn’t expect. She quickly ran over to Jenn and shook her awake. “What is it Da- er I mean Swift,” she said stumbling a bit because she was so used to calling her ‘Davis.’

“You’re not going to believe it,” she said to her as she stretched. “But we’re here.” Jenn sat up and ran to the door. “We must have gotten here so late that we fell asleep in the back of the car,” Jenn said. She pushed opened the door and stepped out, coming back in and grabbing a blanket to drape across her shoulders. Charlie grabbed the hoodie that was nearby and followed her out. The two of them stood there in awe. Off in the distance was the Empire State Building, which they could just make out off in the distance, and behind them was One World Trade, which they could see with no problem because it was that close. They couldn’t believe that they were actually here or it was really happening for that matter.

“Saks or Nordstrom,” Jenn asked as she came out of the state of awe that she was in, bringing Charlie back with her. “Bloomingdale’s followed by Harry Winston and then into Victoria’s Secret,” Charlie said. “And then over to Nordstrom.” The two of them spent many hours on Rodeo Drive, they could never really get into any of the stores on the famous street, until last week, but it was going to be different. New York was more opened to people looking around and not buying anything, unlike the sales people in LA who were all about sales and getting a commission. As they stood there, trying to figure out where and what they were going to do, Taylor cleared her throat causing the two of them to turn around.

“Well first,” she started. “Breakfast and then we can go to the top of the Empire if you want an after that, it’s up to you. The shoot is tomorrow and also, we get to do a 73 questions video, so be ready to have a camera follow you around for a bit.”

Charlie and Jenn looked at each other and then jumped for joy. They had seen everyone one of those videos and now they were going to be featured in one. “So when’s the shoot,” Charlie asked as she came back inside. “Taylor smiled. “Saturday,” she said. “A reporter is coming today to be with us so that they can get the story done so be ready to have questions thrown at you.” Charlie rolled her eyes. While she wanted to not be interview by someone who was going to ask her questions about where she was for the past 14 years, but it was going to happen now that she was officially Taylor Swift’s daughter now, but at least she had Jenn with her.

“Good, because I’m starving,” Jenn said. “I heard good things about the bagels here.” She walked out leaving Charlie and her mother alone. “Typical,” Charlie said. “She always has food on her mind.” As Charlie went to follow her, Taylor stopped her. She looked at Charlie with concern.

“You’re alright with this reporter coming with us, right,” Taylor asked her. “If not I can have her just join us here for dinner and do the interview then.” As Charlie heard that, she smiled. “I would like that a lot better,” she said to her. “I just want it to be the three of us.” Taylor looked away and bit her lip causing Charlie to throw her hands up. “Who did you invite mom,” Charlie asked. But before Taylor had the chance to answer, they heard a door open and then Jenn screamed. “Let me guess,” Charlie said. But before she had the chance to get an answer out of her mother, Taylor ran downstairs to check the source of screaming and Charlie followed.

As the came to the bottom of the steps, they saw that Joe was stand in the kitchen cradling a sobbing Jenn. “Let me guess,” Taylor said. “Yep,” Charlie said. “Joe Alwyn is one of her favorite actor of all time. She’s been a fan since she saw him in Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk.” Joe looked up and smiled. “I’d say she’s a fan,” he said. “She’s been sobbing since she turned around and dropped her plate.” Charlie walked over and pulled Jenn for Joe’s lap. “Go wash your face and come back,” she told her. “Once you’ve calmed down, I’ll introduce you.” Jenn looked at her and nodded. She walked over to the bathroom and shut the door. Charlie sighed.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” she said. “She’s been a fan of yours since we stole the screener that her father got.” Joe smiled. “It was fine,” he said. “I didn’t mind it at all. I just was more concerned about the plate that she broke.” Taylor looked over and saw the shattered plate all over the floor. “Its fine,” she said as cringed. “It’s just a plate after all.” Charlie rolled her eyes as she helped clean. Jenn did this constantly and while Charlie was used to it, her mother wasn’t. Jenn over reacted a lot, but this was a new level. A few seconds later, Jenn reemerged from the bathroom in better shape.

“Now,” Charlie said. “Let’s try this again. Jenn this is my mom’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn.” At first, Jenn wanted to fan girl again, but she didn’t. She kept her cool and smile at him. “It’s nice to meet you,“ Jenn said with a bit of a shudder. “I’m a fan of your work.” Joe smiled as he heard that. It was nice to hear that the younger generation wasn’t always about streaming. “Well it’s good to meet you,” he said. “Charlie has already told me so much about you.” Jenn blushed as she heard that. “Well I hope it was all good things,” she said as she picked her bagel back up off the floor causing Joe to laugh. “Nothing but good things,” Joe said causing Jenn to breathe a sigh of relief.

She walked over to Charlie and sat next to her. “So your mother said that we’re going to go to the Empire State Building, right,” she asked causing Charlie to nod. “Well, we can at least cross one thing off the list,” she said. Charlie looked over and saw that Jenn had brought the list of New York things that they made last year. She had totally forgotten about it. She looked back at her mother.

“Mom, how would you like to help us cross almost everything off this list today,” Charlie asked. Taylor walked over to where the both of them were sitting and looked over the list. “Almost everything,” she asked. “We’re going to The Met for the Gala, so we’ll figure out a way to sneak out and explore the museum ourselves.” Taylor smiled as she heard that. She started to formulate a plan in her head, but didn’t want to tell Charlie and Jenn anything because she wanted it to be a surprise. She focused her attention back to the list and looked it over. It was a short list, but they could do it before dinner and the interview.

“I think we can do this,” she said. “It’s gonna be hard, but if we don’t get to most of it, we can finish it tomorrow either before or after the photoshoot.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. Maybe this wasn’t going to such a bad trip after all.

Chapter Text

“What time is he coming over,” Charlie asked as she heaved her bags into the living room. There were a lot more than she thought. While most of them were from stores that she had heard of, there were a lot more from smaller stores that she had never heard of that had a lot of cute things that she had to have. “And what are we doing for dinner?” Taylor rolled her eyes as she poked her head out from the kitchen. “Is that all the two of you think about is food,” she said as she held a Diet Coke in her hand, causing Charlie and Jenn to laugh. “No,” the said in unison. “We do think about shopping and other things,” Jenn said. “But mostly food all the time,” Charlie said causing her mother to roll her eyes.

“Oh to be young,” she said. “Go through your stuff and then we’ll talk.” Taylor walked out on the room and as soon as she was out of sight, Charlie and Jenn lied on the cool wood floor. They had never shopped like this before, this was an experience that neither of them would never forget.

The morning and afternoon was spent running around the city trying to do at least half the list, and Taylor thought that the two of them would be done and wanted to rest, but being the teenagers that they were, they still had energy that would keep them going until the break of dawn if they wanted to.

They started their day at the Empire State building, where they had the entire 102nd floor all to themselves because Taylor had called ahead and let them know that they were coming, giving them a chance to see the city without having people gawk at them and wonder who Charlie was, but that was short lived when they went to Central Park and hand people following them, trying to take pictures with Taylor. But luckily, Taylor’s security team kept everyone a bay and things got better when they got out of there. After that, things went smoothly and they shopped until it was time to come back.
Taylor must have spent $50,000 on both of those girls and Joe must have spent another $10,000 because even he felt the need to spoil them too and was still trying to figure out Charlie, even though he had already knew the entire story and was fine with everything. Between, Saks, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom and Macy’s and all of the other small stores that they hit in between, Taylor felt like she had been to every store that she wanted to go to when she was Charlie’s age and then some, but now she felt different.

Even when they were in Abercrombie on Fifth and Charlie came out in a pair of jeans that were ripped too far up for her liking, she felt like a mother and while she angered Charlie because she refused to buy her something that scandalous, it felt right.

She had planned to go get her hair cut when they got back to LA and was thinking that it was time to get rid of this layered thing that she had since she released of Reputation and was starting to get tired of it. Even when she went shoot Cats, she wanted to cut it all off and go to something shoulder length and not layered, so that it was easier to manage and could put it in a ponytail and just go out if she was going to watch Charlie at her field hockey games. But that was later, but right now, she had to focus on the fact that she had to start dinner.

“Something simple,” she said as she picked up her bags and headed upstairs, leaving the two teenagers on the floor to recover. “We had Shake Shack for lunch, so something light would be good.” Taylor thought about what they could make without having to go out again and dealing with the crowd of photographers that were waiting for them to come out. “We can always order in,” Jenn suggested. As she came back down Taylor looked at the both of them and got an idea. “Pizza,” she said. “That will go over well with everyone and will make everyone more comfortable.” Jenn and Charlie looked at each other. “Let’s do it,” Charlie said. “It will be easier for us anyway.” Charlie got up and sat at the counter, watching her mother search for the takeout menus that she stashed somewhere.

“So who’s coming for the interview,” Charlie asked. “Anna Wintour herself.” Taylor looked back at her daughter and rolled her eyes. “Thank god no,” Taylor said. “That would be a nightmare. It’s Jason Gay thankfully and he’s the best for the job. He’s interviewed me before and I trust him to make everything right and give us a fair interview.

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that. While she wasn’t worried about being featured, she was worried about what was going to be written. The trail was accessible by the public and she was sure that whoever Jason was, he had been following what was going on. “Why don’t go take a shower and get ready for the interview,” Taylor said to her. “I think Jenn fell asleep on the couch, so when you come back, I’ll wake her up.”

Charlie got up and walked toward the stairway, picking up Olivia as she went past. “You’re coming with me,” she told the cat. “I want someone to keep me company since someone is napping.”

Chapter Text

The interview went off without any problems last night, which made everyone happy, but Charlie was the most happy because she finally got to tell her story. She had a feeling that everyone was going to want to be her friend after the article came out, but she wasn’t going to let that happen. It was going to be her and Jenn, unless they met someone who was a good fit with them, then it was going to be a different story. But then she realized that there was already someone and she felt like an idiot for not thinking to invite her. As Jason was getting ready to leave, Charlie snuck away and pulled her phone out.

‘Sorry I didn’t think to invite you,’ she texted Alyx, her and Jenn’s teammate on the field hockey team. Alyx was one of the first people, besides Jenn, that she told about Taylor and as she sat in the interview, she realized that she should have invited her too. After a few seconds, Alyx replied. ‘It’s fine,’ she replied. ‘But don’t forget about me the next time you go or else you’re gonna pay. LOL.’ Charlie smiled. Jenn knew that Alyx was going to be involved from the day that they met her on the first day of school years ago and she was right. The three of them had become friends fast and while Alyx’s parents were a bit stricter than Jenn’s parents were, the three of them always had fun somehow.

After the interview, the tree of them went out and walked the Highline, which was completely empty with exception of the few people who snuck onto it to experience it at night. “We’ll do more tomorrow,” Taylor said. “But I think we should head home.” Charlie nodded in agreement as she watched Jenn lean over the railing to get a picture of a billboard. They had had a long day and it was time to relax.

*

The next morning as Charlie lied in bed, looking to see what time The Whitney opened, she heard her mother downstairs, talking to someone. Charlie sat up and listened to the voices. She recognized her own mothers, but the other one, she had no idea who it was. It sounded familiar, but she didn’t know where or who it was. She got out of bed, pulled on some sweats and headed down to see what the commotion was.

As Charlie came down the stars, she saw that someone one was in the kitchen with her mother. She couldn’t see who it was because she had her back to her. All she could see was a massive amount of red hair. ‘It can’t be,’ Charlie thought to herself. As she stood on the edge of the kitchen, Taylor looked over and saw her standing there. “Oh,” Taylor said. “You’re up.” Charlie looked over at her mother and turned her attention the person that was sitting across for her mother. As she stood there, it started to dawn on her.

“Abigail,” Charlie asked slightly confused. The girl looked over at her and smiled. Abigail got up and looked at Charlie in awe. “She is you, but with brown hair” she said. “I remember you when you were this age and made me blast Panic! At The Disco as I dropped you off from school.”

Charlie stared to laugh as she heard this. There was no way that was true or it actually happened. “That’s not true,” Charlie said as she tried to picture her mother being driven to her house while Panic at the Disco! was blasted out the windows. She just didn’t believe it.

“I wish we had cell phones that shot better video,” Abigail said. “I think the internet would have loved to see that.” Abigail then turned her attention back to Charlie, who was trying to figure out what she just heard was true or not. Abigail looked at Charlie and started to smile. “I haven’t seen you were three days old,” Abigail said. “And even then you looked like your mother, but now, holy shit you are you mother with darker hair and better balance skills I’m sure.” Charlie laughed as she heard that, causing Taylor to roll her eyes. Clearly Abigail was joking, but also at the same time, pushing all the right buttons like Jenn did with her.

“Thanks,” Charlie said as she when in and hug Abigail. “I’ve been told that I have my father’s athletic abilities, but I still don’t believe that.” Taylor rolled her eyes. If Charlie knew what a klutz she was, it would be a totally different story. Taylor pulled a waffle off the maker and plated it.

“Go wake up Jenn and we’ll have breakfast before we go to The Whitney,” she said. “Then we’ll go to the Chelsea Market for lunch and go to The Strand to cap everything off.” Charlie rolled her eyes as she heard this. She knew that her mother and Abigail where going to talk about her but, she didn’t care. Everyone was going to know about her in a few weeks, so why couldn’t Abigail know before anyone else. “Easier said than done,” Charlie said as she stepped away from the counter. “See you in a couple of hours.” Charlie then walked away and headed upstairs to wake Jenn up, which she knew was going to be impossible.

As soon as she was upstairs, Abigail turned to Taylor and smiled. “Spill it,” Abigail said. “Is it really her?” Taylor rolled her eyes. She thought back to the incident a few years ago where some mother said that she had adopted a girl who she claimed to be her daughter and at first it seemed to be real, but Taylor wasn’t sold on it because something wasn’t right. After a DNA test, which Andrea demanded, it turned out to be nothing but a money grab when someone one heard a rumor that Taylor had a daughter.

“It’s her,” Taylor said. “I found her birth certificate and everything, although it’s been heavily altered to hide me from Charlie if she ever found it, but she came and found me herself.” Abigail looked at her confused. “I thought you were going to hire someone,” she asked Taylor causing her to shake her head. “She came and found me before her birthday,” Taylor said. “She got my letter and then the next day came and found my at the LA house. She was right under my nose the entire time.” Abigail smiled. “So what does Marc think of that,” she asked. Taylor looked at her as she pulled another waffle off the machine.

“He gave up custody last week,” she told her. “Do you remember the document that my father made him sign before he took Charlie away?” Abigail nodded. “I was there and tried to stop him by letting air out of his mom’s tires.” Taylor totally forgot about that and laughed. “Well it said that if Charlie wanted come live with me after she turned fifteen, she could make the choice herself. Marc saw this and just gave up. He knew that there was going to be no contest in court. When we go back, we’re getting her stuff back.”

Abigail wanted to smile, but she looked at Taylor and shook her head. “Are you sure she can handle it,” she asked. Taylor looked at her. So far, Charlie had done a good job with everything, but then again, she never really asked her or told her what her life was going to be like. Granted everything seemed OK at the field hockey game, but maybe it was time to have a talk with about her new life.

“I’ll do it after we get her stuff,” she told Abigail. “I guess that I really should prepare her for what’s going to happen. We didn’t even know what was going to happen with we were fifteen and now look at us. We’re still the best of friends.” Taylor then realized that she was going to have to include Jenn and the other girl. Alyx, as well. After all, Jenn was Charlie’s Abigail and Alyx was another Claire, so the both of them needed to understand what they were going to get into as well.

Taylor sighed. This was a lot harder than she thought. “Anything else I should address with them before the magazine comes out,” she asked. Abigail though about it for a moment and then shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she told her. “Just let them know what they’re getting into Tay and they’ll be fine. Remember, we didn’t think that you were going to go anywhere at first, but then… boom… your album took off and the rest was history.”

The two of them laughed as the heard a crash come from upstairs. “That’s it,” Charlie yelled from upstairs. “I’m dragging you into the shower whether you like it or not.” Taylor and Abigail ran upstairs.

Chapter Text

Charlie glanced out the window of the SUV that was carrying over to 7th Ave. While the day had started off rough, it was about to get better. They tried to go to The Whitney, but everyone had caught wind of it and that put an end to it. Now, she was in the back of a car headed to somewhere her mother wanted to go and it was just the two of them.

Jenn had decided to stay back at the apartment and have dinner with Abigail before she headed back to Hendersonville, allowing Charlie and her mother do bond a bit, which was something that she wanted to do since they got to New York, but between the crowds of people and the shopping that turned into an event more than a fun day out. She didn’t know where going for or what her mother had in store for her that matter. For all she knew, her mother was taking her to some super-secret restaurant that only celebrities had access to. As she started out the window, Taylor tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to look over at her.

“Overwhelmed,” she asked Charlie causing her to nod. Taylor sighed as she looked at her daughter and took her hands and held them tightly like she did a few days earlier, letting her know that everything was going to be OK.

“I just want you to know that things are going to change when that issue of Vogue comes out,” she told her. “Not between you and Jenn, I have a feeling that your bond is going to be a lot stronger, but your life in general. You’re going to have a lot of people who are going to want to be your friend just because you’re famous now and most of them are going to be girls who never want to deal with you in the first place, but now because you’re Taylor Swift’s daughter, they’re going to want to get close to you. Just remember who you’re real friends are.” Charlie nodded. She noticed that ever since her mother showed up at that field hockey game, everyone wanted to be her friend, but she wasn’t going to let that happen. She was going to stand strong and not let anyone sway her, even if it meant having people mad at her.

As they turned off Seventh Ave, Charlie noticed that the neighborhood changed again and started to wonder if this was common in New York, which it seemed to be and it was a bit confusing, but also a lot easier than it was in LA. After a short drive past a lot of high end restaurants and a few night clubs that had lines that stretched down the block, they eventually came to a stop behind another car. “Where are going anyway,” Charlie asked. Taylor didn’t say anything is just looked out the passenger side window and smiled. Charlie then looked out and saw that they were parked on front of the Whitney, the museum that she wanted to go to more than anything but couldn’t because of the fact that it wasn’t a good idea to go when it was opened because they would have not been able to see anything.

“This is a joke, right,” Charlie asked as Taylor shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “I pulled a few strings and got a private viewing of everything.” Charlie wanted to scream, but instead she hugged her mother and teared up a little. Nothing like this ever happened when she was with her father, even when he got invited to the opening of the Broad, he didn’t take her, but now it was different.

“I wish that Jenn would have come with us,” Charlie told her as they got out of the truck, no photographers around, at least for now. Charlie knew that as soon as they got inside, someone would call and they would have to go out the loading docks. “Well, I am,” Jenn said. As Charlie looked toward the entrance, she saw Jenn standing there. She then realized that Jenn wasn’t invited to dinner, but the museum was a different story. “Taylor called me after you finished dinner and now I’m here,” she said. “I’m not going to miss seeing the thing we spent last summer rastabating on my wall in person.” Charlie laughed. She and Jenn spent all summer blowing up and printing out some painting that the Whitney had on display. She then walked over and hugged Jenn.

“I’m so glad you came,” she said. “All we have to do is go to that book store and we’ll have almost crossed everything off the list.” Jenn looked at Charlie and nodded. “We’ll get to The Strand next time,” she said. “We’ll go there before the Gala and have a blast.” Charlie nodded in agreement. That was a comprise that she could deal with and it would be worth it to come in when they didn't have to worry about rushing back to school on Sunday.

As they walked into the museum, Charlie’s phone dinged. As she checked the message, which was from Alyx, she smiled. “I guess you weren’t lying about her being you mom,” she texted. Attached was a picture of Charlie and her mother on the cover of Vogue. “I’ll see you on Monday and you’re gonna need some help. You know that Jenn and I will be there for you no matter what.” Charlie smiled as she read this. She was glad that she had friends that were willing to watch out for her.

Chapter Text

As Charlie started to zip her bag, she looked out the window and walked on to the terrace, getting some air. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotion and now, it seemed that she was going to have some stability in her life, but what her mother said was bothering her to the point where she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The future wasn’t going to be pretty, but she knew that she was going to have the right people with her and they would have her back no matter what happened. As she stood out on the terrace and looked at the Freedom Tower, Jenn came out and joined here.

“Everyone knows,” she said as she stood next to her. “The photo leaked onto social media and most everyone is in shock and wants to know if it’s true or not.” Charlie smiled a bit a held back a laugh. “Alyx texted me earlier,” she said. “She believes it, but from what she told me, no one else does. She’s basically doing damage control for us and thank god, because Vicky is being her usual bitchy self about it.” Jenn laughed. If she knew Alyx as well as Charlie did, she was really taking care of things and trying to do damage control so that no one would go nuts when they returned to school. Charlie sighed and then walked inside.

“I know that we’ll be back in a few weeks,” she said. “But I really don’t want to go back and deal with everyone.” Charlie wanted to open the massive closet and hide there until Taylor and Jenn left, this way she didn’t have to deal with everyone trying to be her friend. Jenn sighed as she put her arm around Charlie.

“Everything’s gonna be alright,” Jenn told her. “Alyx is running damage control and trying to calm everything down. It seemed that someone started a rumor that your mom was going to play a concert.” Charlie rolled her eyes. “One of Vicky’s friends,” she said with a huff. It was already starting and it already felt old. It was going to be a long rest of the year if this was going to be the norm now. As she headed back inside, her phone dinged. As she looked down at it, she rolled her eyes.

“Between my new found fame and my father asking me when I’m coming to get my stuff,” she said. “I don’t know what’s worse.” Marc had been texting her for the past four days to come get her stuff, mainly because he wanted to turn her bedroom into his girlfriend’s daughter’s performance studio since she was using another room for sleeping. Jenn laughed when she heard this. “If that’s all the stress you have right now,” she said. “Then consider yourself lucky. It could be worse.” At first, Charlie wanted to roll he eyes at Jenn, but she knew that she was right. It could be worse.

“Oh it’s gonna be worse,” Charlie said. “Wait till Monday when we go back to school and we have to have body guards with us and we’re gonna have everyone trying to be our friends. It’s gonna be like the tennis team winning the state championships.” Jenn knew that Charlie was right. They weren’t even going to be able to walk down the hallway without being asked for an autograph from Taylor. Jenn laughed and started to say something else, Taylor knocked on the door and stood in the door way.

“Jenn, can you give me and Charlie a moment,” she asked. “After that, I have one more surprise before we go back.” Jenn and Charlie looked at each other. They had pretty much done everything on the list and wondered what else Taylor had in store for them. “I’ll be down the hall,” Jenn said as she walked out of the room. Taylor then led Charlie over to the bed and sat down.

“I’m sure by now you’ve heard all the commotion that you’ve created at school,” she said. “But there’s something else we need to talk about that I think is it’s time that we addressed the elephant in the room.” Charlie looked at her and wondered what she meant. Taylor sighed.

“You’re probably wondering why I never came to find you,” Taylor said. “Well… it’s somewhat complicated.” Charlie looked at her mother and knew where she was going. When she first found her, Charlie finally put the puzzle together and now she was going to finally hear what she wanted to.

“Mom,” Charlie said. “Before you continue, whatever you’re going to say isn’t going to change anything between us. I have you now and that’s all that matters. I kind of have a feeling where this is going to go, but instead of being lied to, I’m going to hear the truth and that’s what I need to know.” Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t realize that it was going to this easier than she thought, but when she saw the look at Charlie’s face, she realized that it wasn’t.

“This is going to be hard for me to explain, but I’ll do the best I can,” Taylor said. “After I gave you to your father, he was supposed to come to court and hammer out all the custody details with me. But he never showed up and when the sheriffs went to check to see what was going on, he and his family were gone. They packed up and moved just like I thought that they would.” Charlie nodded. She never really understood why they moved around so much and why Marc settled in Los Angeles after so many years of moving around. “I’m sure that you figured out why you moved around a lot when you were a kid, but if you haven’t, I was the reason why.” Charlie was confused. Why would her mother be the reason why she moved around so much? She sat up a bit and looked at her mother.

“We didn’t move around that much,” Charlie said as she realized that she moved more often than she realized. “Well… Maybe we did more that I remembered.” Taylor sighed. “What did your father tell you,” she asked as she rubbed her head. Charlie thought about this for a moment. “When I was younger, it was because Pop had gotten a new job, but when I was older it was because Marc was only renting the house and the lease always ran out.” Taylor shook her head and sighed. “The truth is you moved so much because I had gotten close and your father didn’t want me to see you,” she told her. “Someone would tell me where you were and I would try to see you, but by the time that I would get there, you were already going and there was nothing but a moving company packing everything up.” Charlie looked at her mother and felt tears well up in her eyes.

“So… You were looking for me,” Charlie said as she wiped her eyes as Taylor nodded. Charlie got up and stormed off. “Charlie,” Taylor called out. “Wait.” But it was too late. Charlie headed for the door and tried to open it, but Taylor stopped her. “Come with me,” she said, making Charlie even angrier than she was. But she knew better, she sighed and let her mother lead her over to the windows. As she looked out the window, her eyes went wide. The street was crowded with people and photographers.

“You can’t just walk out and go anywhere now,” she told her. “You’re gonna be followed and photographed. Do you remember that talk we had after the photo shoot?” Charlie nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I… I was just upset about what you told me and wanted to get away. But I guess that I can’t.” Taylor smiled. “It’s going to take some time to get used to,” Taylor told her. “I fully understand why you’re up set, but the truth is… I did try to find you and I never gave up in the hope that would find you and instead you found me.”

As Charlie heard this, she started to cry. It was different than the last. She wasn’t sad, nor was she upset; she just felt the need to cry. She hugged her mother tightly and looked up at her mother.
“I almost found you last year when I was on the rep tour, but you moved again by the time I got to the house in Arlington that you were living in, you were gone. You aunt told me that you were moving to California and I knew that he wasn’t going to be able to run anymore. But you made things easier.” Charlie looked up mother and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I’m glad that you didn’t come into my life until this year,” Charlie said. “I don’t think that I could have handled life on the road then, but when you go out next time, I’ll be there.” Taylor smiled. She knew that she would want to join her and with Lover, her next album, coming out in a few months, she knew that it would be sooner than later.

“Well…” Taylor said. “I think that we have time for one last surprise. Although, I’m sure that all those people are going to follow us.” Charlie looked up at her mother. “Where are we going now,” Charlie asked. They had done almost everything on the list that she and Jenn had made and couldn’t figure what the last thing was that they were going to do.

“Go get Jenn and we’ll head out,” Taylor said. Charlie did as she was told and went to get Jenn.

As she knocked on the door, she saw that Jenn was sitting on the bed crossing off the list. “That’s just everything,” Jenn said as she looked up. “With the exception of The Met and The Strand, our list is pretty much done.” Charlie stopped and looked at Jenn. She then pulled out her phone and pulled up The Strand’s twitter feed. “Tell me what this says,” Charlie said. Jenn took her phone and looked at it. As she read the tweet, Jenn looked at it and became confused.

“The Strand will be closing for a private event for next two hours,” Jenn read. “Please visit our Club Monaco location or shop online in the meantime.” Jenn looked up at Charlie and start to smile. “She didn’t,” Jenn said, causing Charlie to nod. “She did,” Charlie said. “And this confirms it. She must have looked at the list and start to work her magic.” Jenn looked at her confused, but before she had a chance to ask what was on her mind, Charlie pulled off the bed, dragging her out of the out of the room.

“Mom,” Charlie called out as she dragged Jenn down the stairs.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is a good idea,” Taylor asked as she straightened up the up the couch. “I mean, I think the Vogue article explains everything that the general public will need to know.” Charlie sighed and looked at her mother. The Vogue interview was for her fans, who had probably seen all the pictures that were floating around all the fan pages on Tumblr and Instagram, but this was different and this was for her classmates. This was the easiest way to explain what was going on.

The kids at Campbell Hall were starting to get restless ever since the Miller Twins, Ash and Ann, spread the word that she was going to do a YouTube video that would explain everything since they saw Taylor hand Charlie her lunch, but the weekend in New York had delayed everything that she was planning. Now it was coming down to the wire and Charlie came up with an idea.

“I promised everyone at school that I would explain everything and by the time that Issue of Vogue comes out, everyone will have formed their own ideas,” Charlie explained. “And I don’t need to go back and do damage control for a rumor about me that has everyone thinking that you adopted me.” Taylor nodded as she watched Jenn set up Charlie’s phone on a tripod. “I just hope that you have enough people following you to do this,” Taylor said. Charlie and Jenn rolled their eyes. While Taylor was young, she didn’t really understand what “going live” on Instagram meant or even how to do it for that matter. Everyone who wanted to know everything was already following Charlie since everyone followed each other and even if they didn’t they would find a way to watch it.

Taylor sighed as and nodded again. “Give me five minutes,” she said. “I wanna make sure that I look OK for this.” She headed upstairs, leaving Charlie and Jenn alone. “Are you sure that this is better than the video,” Jenn asked, causing Charlie to nod. “Trust me,” Charlie said. “It’s gonna be better this way and besides that, it’s gonna get everyone off my back asking when the video is coming.” All weekend, Charlie had been getting messages, both texts and DMs in Instagram and over messenger, asking her when the video was coming and how much longer it was going to be before she released it. Finally after getting fed up with all the messages, she caved and decided to go live. This would make everyone happy.

“Yes,” Charlie said as she sat down on the couch, causing Olivia to crawl into her lap. “It’s going to be the best thing for everyone. This was the by the time that the issue of Vogue that has us on the cover, they’ll know everything. This is just a basically a coming out party.” Charlie stroked the cat as she cuddle up in her lap. As she looked up, she saw that Taylor was standing behind Jenn.

“Is that what you’re up to,” Taylor said. “And this is why you’ve been on your phone constantly answering things texts and the like. Well if all you’re doing is clearing up things, then I guess that going live is the best way to do it and you can tell that you’ll be on the cover of Vogue next month too. It’s just kids from school, correct. No entertainment or gossip websites are gonna be involved?” Charlie shook her head. “Just us,” she said. “My Instagram has been set to private since I started it and could. So no one, including TMZ is going to see this.”

Taylor smiled as she heard that. It seemed that Charlie was already trying to protect herself from the public eye and that was a good thing. “You might have to make a public account,” Taylor said. “Because once the word gets out that you’re my daughter, all hell is going to break loose.” Charlie nodded as she looked at her the clock. It was almost time for thing to get going. Everyone said that they were going to look for the live logo around 5 PM California time. Charlie swallowed a bit and then looked at Jenn.

“I’m ready when you are,” Charlie said. Jenn pushed the butt that started the live button and watch the screen. After a couple of seconds, Jenn pointed to her, letting her know that they were now live. At first, Charlie didn’t know what to do, but after a couple of seconds, she composed herself and smiled.

“Well,” she said with a bit of confidence in her voice. “I guess you all saw that I went Live and wanted to see if I was going to actually live up to my end of the deal. Well, I am.” Charlie smirked a bit as Olivia started to purr a bit in her lap. “And yes, this cat does belong to who you think it does.” She then picked up Olivia and held her up to the camera, letting everyone see her. Jenn held up her phone to let Charlie see that everyone in the stream was going nuts as hearts flew up the side. She waved her on.

“Now to address the elephant in the room,” Charlie said. “I know some of you saw my mother bring me my lunch earlier this week when I forgot it and as of right now, you’re probably wondering what’s going on and if you really saw who you think you saw. Well, now we’re going to clear some things up. First the rumors, which I did enjoy hearing by the way because some of them were actually really funny, but this is the truth, but none of them were true or funny in the end. First, my father isn’t dead, second, my mother isn’t producing my first album, but that would be cool if it was true, and finally, no she isn’t adopting me.” Charlie stopped for a second and tried to think of how to explain it, but couldn’t find the right words to describe what was happening.

“Charlie is coming to live with me because her father was doing a bad job,” Taylor said as she sat down next to Charlie. “And as of last week, this was the first time in 14 years that I have seen her since she was three days old. So you could say that I’m adopting her, but in reality, I’, gaining custody of her.” Charlie smiled as Taylor said this. She found the right words that Charlie couldn’t.

“Right,” Charlie said. “So you’ll be seeing a lot more of her at school functions, such as sporting events, fundraisers, and dare I say it, the homecoming dance and even the proms.” Taylor laughed as she heard this and the smiled. “I’m really looking forward to the last thing,” she admitted. “Maybe I’ll even perform at one of them.” Charlie rolled her eyes. She knew that she was going to say this and now she was going to have to fight off rumors that her own mother was starting.

“We’ll cross that path we it gets closer to the time,” Charlie said. “But now, I think that we have to clear some things up so that everyone knows and understands what is going on.” Charlie looked over and her mother and smiled.

“I’ll think I’ll let you start,” Charlie said. Taylor then started to tell the story that she already knew. As she sat there, Jenn turned her phone around again. Everyone was talking about what they were seeing and most of them were blow away by this. Charlie and Jenn looked at each other. Things were finally turning around for Charlie.

Chapter Text

Charlie checked her uniform in the mirror as she headed down the stairs. It was a whirlwind of a long weekend, but now it was time to come back to reality and face the music. Campbell Hall was buzzing with different rumors that could easily be debunked if she could get a word in, but she knew that was going to be impossible until she got to school.

As she entered the kitchen, she saw that Joe was here. She still wasn’t used to this and having two famous people in the same house was a bit overwhelming. “Off to school,” he asked with a bit of British charm as he poured her a glass of orange juice. Charlie nodded as she sat on one of the stools. She wasn’t looking forward to going back, but had to since the last game of the season was only a week away and her mother made her promise that she was going to go to school before the went back to New York for the Gala.

“Much to my dismay,” she said as she looked at the glass of juice and took at drink from it. “It’s gonna be so bad. Everyone is going to be bothering Jenn, Alyx and I and it’s going to be terrible. There are so many rumors going around that it isn’t funny. Now I have to work damage control just to get things back to normal.” Joe shook his head. He knew that she was going to have a problem with this and was there to offer her advice.

“I’m going to tell you the best advice ever,” he said to her as he leaned over the counter. “Just ignore the whispers and keep your head up. No matter how bad it gets, the people closest to you will always be there no matter what.” Charlie looked at Joe and knew that he was right. Jenn and Alyx were going to be there no matter what and Taylor had managed to score an extra invite to the Met Gala for Alyx after she heard all the stories of her coming to Charlie’s rescue when Jenn couldn’t, even threating to call the cops one weekend when Charlie called in a panic because she was worried that she wasn’t going to see Monday. Now Charlie had finally figured out how she was going to deal with everyone at school. It was the best advice that she had ever gotten.

As she went to thank Joe, Taylor popped her head into the room. “You’re going to be late,” she said. “Oh and after school, we’re going to your father’s house to get the last of your stuff, but don’t worry, he won’t be there. He says he as some kind of meeting, but he also said that he might show up to try to talk to you.” Charlie teared up a bit as she heard this. She really didn’t want to go back there, but she had to get the last of her things before he moved again.

“OK,” Charlie said a bit unsure. “If he’s not going to be there, then I guess we can go.” Taylor mustered a smile. She knew that she had to lie to Charlie and get her to go there because the truth was her father wanted to talk to her and say goodbye. After they returned from New York, Marc called Taylor and told her that he was moving back to Nashville mainly because it was now the it city to live in and the company that he owned was opening their headquarters there.

At first, Taylor was going to not let him see her, but she wasn’t going to be that mean. “Ten minutes,” she said. “And I’ll have my security out there in case you try anything.” Marc insisted that he wasn’t going to do anything but talk and Taylor understood that. After all, he did raise Charlie up until recently, so she was sure that he wasn’t going to do anything. She sighed as she grabbed her bag and followed Charlie out.
“You remember everything I told you, right,” she asked as they walked out of the house, heading toward the waiting truck that was going to take Charlie to school and her to a meeting. Charlie rolled her eyes. “For the 1,000th time mom,” she said. “Yes, I do. Don’t tell anyone anything about your personal life, don’t talk to people that don’t look like they belong and most importantly, don’t believe anything that anyone says when they what to be your friend.” Taylor nodded. Charlie had been paying attention to everything that she had been telling her since the left New York and not just ignoring her.

“Well, I’m glad that you hadn’t been ignoring me,” she told her. “Because you’re going to need it, but you’ll be fine. Jenn and Alyx, right, will be there to keep you sane.” Charlie looked at her as the car neared Campbell Hall. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Everything…Charlie then lost it. The thing was she knew that everything wasn’t going to be fine and her mother was right. Everything wasn’t going to be fine, it was going to be chaos and she knew it. Taylor looked at the driver and he nodded. He drove into the school and park near the exit, in case things got crazy and they had to leave.

As soon as the car was parked, Taylor saw why Charlie was so upset. Everyone was waiting for her and by everyone, she meant everyone. As Taylor was going to say something, she noticed that one of the girls in the lower grades was holding a sign. “Charlie,” she said to her as wiped the tears from her face. “I think you might wanna sit up and see what everyone is doing.” Charlie composed herself and didn’t believe what she was seeing. While there was a constant stream of famous alumni showing up on any given day, there really hadn’t been the child of someone famous attending Campbell Hall before this.

The entire student body of the upper and lower schools was there waiting with signs and other things. Charlie didn’t believe it and tried to make sense of it, but couldn’t. As she sat there, watching everyone gather, her phone went off. She pulled her phone out of her purse and looked at it.

‘Where are you,’ Jenn said via text. ‘Everyone and I do mean everyone is waiting for you. I’m sure you’re worried that everyone is gonna try to befriend you, but no one wants to mess you’re new life.’ Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. For years, the student body of the school knew that she had a rough life and had left her alone, but now it seemed that they wanted to celebrate her new found happiness with her.
“Drive out and then come back in,” Charlie told the driver, who did as he was told to do. Taylor looked at Charlie and wondered what she had planned. As the truck carrying them turned around a little ways down the road, Charlie finally broke the silence that had fallen between them.

“Did you know about this at all,” she asked her mother. Taylor then shook her head. “I think Jenn texted me and asked what time I was bringing you to school,” she said. “But I had no idea that this was going to happen.” Charlie looked out at Jenn, who was motioning for her to come out. She looked back at her mom for support.

“Just go,” Taylor told her as she pushed her toward the door. “No one is going to try to be your friend unless you want them to be. You were honest with everyone and that’s all they care about.” Charlie looked her mother and took a deep breath. She opened the door and stepped out as everyone cheered.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day was uneventful. In fact nothing really special happened after everyone congratulated and then moved on. That was Campbell Hall for you. Most of the time when a famous alumni shows up, everyone freaks for like five minutes and things go back to normal because that’s how they were around here and while there were a few who still didn’t believe it, most of the kids respected her privacy and didn’t want to bother her for autographs from her mother or even invited her to their party because of there was a hope of seeing her mother drop her up or pick her up.
As Charlie walked between classes, Maya, one of the plastics tapped her on the shoulder, causing Charlie to turn around. Maya wasn’t one of those plastics who cared about her popularity, but because of her father’s status, she fit in well with them well, but mostly kept her distance and was also the one who was who would leak out any bad things that Vicky had planned. “What’s up,” Charlie asked as she pulled some books from her locker.

“So…” Maya started. “Can I ask you something?” Charlie nodded. She was very unsure about this, but Maya was one of the few popular girls who cared about her and always managed to Vicky to stop picking on her when things got bad. “Sure,” Charlie said. “What’s up?” Maya followed her into the classroom and sat down next to Charlie. She was going to be the first one to ask anything and this made her nervous. She watched as Maya got up and shut the door, giving them the privacy that she wanted.

“It’s not a question, but a heads up,” she said as she sat down across from her. “We walls have ears out in the hall way and Vicky would kill me if she saw me talking to you. She’s planning on calling you out about what happened over the past couple of week. She still doesn’t believe anything about this and is going to call you out at the end of the day.” Charlie rolled her eyes. This was insane. She knew that Vicky was an attention whore, but this was a new level.

“She joking, right,” Charlie asked. “She saw the livestream and everything. I know she was watching because I saw her instagram profile pop up.” Maya shook her head. “She still thinks your faking it,” she told her. “And she wants to beat it out of you, but not really. You know her. She’s all talk and will just break you down with her so called evidence.” Charlie looked at her and though back to the last time that this happened and how embarrassed she was. The bell rang short after that and the door to the classroom opened. As the door opened, Maya got up. “She’ll be waiting for you,” she said and walk out of the classroom, heading to her next class.

Panic started to overcome Charlie as she processed what she had just heard. She knew that Vicky was a bitch, but this was a whole other level of bitchiness that no one had experienced. As she was just about to text Jenn, she walked into the classroom. “Bathroom now,” was all Charlie said as she dragged Jenn out of the classroom, barely giving her time to put her books down, leading her to the bathroom.
“Alright,” Jenn said as the bathroom door closed. “What’s wrong?” Charlie looked at her and realized that word hadn’t gotten out yet. In fact, it seemed that Vicky was just going to jump her and call it a day. She looked and Jenn and took a deep breath.

“Vicky,” she said as she collected herself. “She’s calling me out after school. She still doesn’t believe it. She thinks it’s all an act that I’m putting on.” Jenn shook her head. Of course there was going to be one person who didn’t believe that Taylor was Charlie’s mom and that one person had to be Vicky. “Of course it’s her,” Jenn said with a sigh. “It’s always her. She can’t stand not being the center of attention.” Charlie nodded as she remember what happened the last time that someone stole the spotlight from Vicky and didn’t want it to happen to happen to her. Charlie sighed as she looked up at Jenn.
“I should call her, right,” Charlie asked. “She’ll know what to do.” Jenn looked at her and nodded. “I’ll tell what she’s going to do,” Jenn stated. “She’s going to come here at the end of the day and take care of everything.” Charlie pulled her phone out of her bag slowly. The last thing she wanted was to get her mother involved and seem like a child, but then she stopped.

“My mother stood up for herself during her sexual harassment trail and I’m going to do the same,” she said. “If Vicky wants to fight me, then we’ll have a fight.” Jenn shook her head. “You’re crazy,” she told her. “She’s going to kill you.” Charlie looked at her.

“Then let her,” she said.

Chapter Text

Charlie spent the rest of the day on edge, trying not to make it look like she was worried about what she heard. She was jumpy, to the point where she was called on she would jump, thinking that Vicki had something to do with it, and felt like she was constantly be watched which she later confirmed when she looked back and saw that one of Vicky’s inner circle had been following her all day as she moved around Campbell Hall.

As the school day came to an end, it seems that nothing had ever come of Vicky’s plans and she had moved on from trying to bust Charlie and what she did with her mom on Instagram. However, that feeling was short lived. As Charlie gathered her books at the end of the day to head home and start planning out how she was going to get her stuff out of her father’s house, someone dropped something at her feet. As she looked up to see who it was, she saw that they were already gone. She had a feeling that this was Vicky’s way of letting her know that the event was still on and she’d better show up or else someone was going to drag here there.

Charlie slowly picked up the folded piece of paper and opened it, making sure she wasn’t going to get jumped and dragged against her will. ‘Lower School Playground, 3 sharp,’ it read. ‘And don’t chicken out either or else…’ Charlie knew that Vicky was serious and that she tried to run, she’d be stopped by whoever Vicky sent to drop the note. She knew that there was only one thing to do. She grabbed her books and followed everyone else out.

*

As the Campbell Hall emptied out of the day, Charlie walked over to Jenn’s car and put her stuff on the trunk. She started to watch most of her classmates walk down toward the lower school, most of them probably wonder if she and Vicky were going to show up, Jenn looked at Charlie and shook her head.

“You’re going aren’t you,” Jenn asked as she grabbed the books from the trunk of her car. Charlie looked back at Jenn as she watched everyone head toward the lower school. She nodded as she watched Vicky magically appear and disappear in the crowd, eyes fixated on her the entire time.

Charlie was determined to clear her name and prove to everyone that Taylor was her mother and this wasn’t some event created by her father, whom she hadn’t spoken to in weeks. She watched from afar as almost all of the upper school gathered around the playground, trying to find the best viewpoints.

“You don’t have to do this,” Jenn said as she put her hand on her shoulder. “All because one girl doesn’t believe you’re going to go through with this? Charlie everyone believes you. You don’t have to do this.” Charlie nodded. It wasn’t just about her anymore; it was about her mother now too. Before she came into the picture, Taylor stood up for victims of abuse and now Charlie was going to do the same thing with bullying.

“It’s not that I don’t have to,” she said as she took off her jewelry, placing it in her bag for safe keeping. “If I don’t do this then I’ll be harassed by her for the rest of my life.” Charlie her hair and made her way toward the crowd.

As Jenn saw this, she pulled out her phone and start to text someone.

*
The lower playground was packed with most of upper school. Most of the kids hadn’t been here since they moved up to the upper school. They sat wherever they could, trying to get the best vantage point, while Vicky Williams, the next head cheerleader, paced around the four square court.

“Has anyone found her yet,” Vicky asked Maya, who shook her head. “No,” Maya said. “They even check with Jenn and she says that even she doesn’t know where she is.” Vicky made it very clear that she was going to send people to find Charlie if she wasn’t on time. As she was about to tap Maya on the arm and tell her to send the football team to find her when the crowd started to murmur and Vicky looked up and saw that Charlie had finally arrived.

“About time,” Vicky said as she walked to the center of the four square court.

*

Charlie made her way through the crowd as everyone started to whisper. She was a woman of her word and she was doing this because she knew that it was right to stand up for herself. While Campbell Hall had a strict anti-bullying policy, everyone always found ways around it. Now Charlie was going to stand up for what she thought was right. She wasn’t going to let Vicky get what she wanted, even if meant that she had to take some abuse from it. Charlie walked to the middle four square courts and stood across from Vicky, looking her directly in the eye. Vicky smirk as she watched Charlie walked in.

“So you decided to come after all,” Vicky said. “What? You wanted to embarrass yourself more? Face it Charlie, we all know that you father hired her.” The crowd that had gathered murmured as they watch Vicky start to walk around the court, trying to get Charlie to move around as if she wanted to fight her. Everyone knew that this wasn’t going to happen, but in reality all Vicky wanted her to do was admit everything and tell the truth.

As she stood there and watch Vicky walk around, Charlie clenched her fist. She wasn’t planning on hitting her; she just felt the need to. It seemed that the entire class was on her side, mainly because they had all seem the live stream she did on Instagram, but yet Vicky and her cheerleader friends, didn’t believe it. Vicky then walked over and stood in front of Charlie. “All you have to do tell everyone the truth and this all ends,” Vicky said. “Everyone knows you’re lying.” Charlie turned away for a minute and saw that Jenn was standing behind her. She looked at Charlie and mouthed something. She couldn’t make it out, but she knew that it was words of encouragement. Charlie turned back to Vicky and started to work toward her.

“I know you saw the live stream that I did,” Charlie said as she pushed Vicky toward the crowd of people. “And what I don’t understand is why you don’t believe it. It’s real and all true. You can read about all in Vogue in May.” Vicky laughed as she heard this.

“For years you talked about how you never knew your mother and now all of a sudden she comes back into your life and it’s Taylor Swift,” Vicky said as she shoved Charlie to the ground and then stood over top of her. “You’re father clearly hired her to do this and play your mother.” Vicky walked back to one of her friends and too an envelope that she was holding. “And I have the proof.” Charlie looked at her and rolled her eyes. This was the same thing that she tried to pull earlier this year when she tried to prove that Jenny Clearwater, a classmate of theirs, wasn’t really as rich as she said she was. However, as it turned out, she was richer than anyone thought, in fact she didn’t want anyone to like her because she had money, which is why never wasn’t like some of the girls here.

As Charlie stood up, she saw that Jenn had disappeared. She was alone now and knew that she could do it by herself. “And what proof is that,” Charlie asked as she smoothed out her skirt. “We all know what happened last time.” Nikki almost ripped the envelope in half as she heard that. She knew that she wasn’t wrong this time because she did have the right information. She quickly opened the tabs on the top and pulled out a sheet of paper. However, as she did this, she felt someone touch her shoulder. Nikki turned around and saw that Taylor Swift was standing right behind her. She was shocked to see that she was here and didn’t know what to do.

As Charlie saw this, she looked over and saw Jenn had retuned and was blushing. “Sorry,” she mouthed. Charlie had a feeling that everything was going to be fine. After all, everything that Nikki had looked into was the most recent stuff and when she saw what was on Charlie’s birth certificate, she was going to realize that she was wrong again.

“So…” Charlie said as she watched her mom step back into the crowd next to Jenn. “You were about to open the envelope and see what was inside.” Nikki blush as she sheepishly open the tabs and pulled the sheet of paper out of it. As she stared at it, she didn’t believe what she was seeing.

“It’s not possible,” she said as she looked at the paper. “You faked this.” Charlie walked over and took the paper from Nikki’s hands. It seemed that the courts had updated all their information before Nikki started looking into everything. They even updated her birth certificate to show that Taylor was her mother and not just some unknown woman who her father was trying to hide.

Taylor went to say something, but Charlie shook her head and Taylor stepped back. “I told you she was my mom and this proves it,” Charlie said. “If you have any other proof, I suggest that you show it now or else we’re gonna have another Jenny Clearwater incident here?” Nikki didn’t say another word. She just turned and ran off, pushing her way through the crowd. At first it seemed like nothing, but then the crowd started to cheer and nobody knew why at first, but they slowly they all realized that Nikki, the queen bee of the school, was finally taken down.

Charlie blushed as she walked back toward Jenn’s car. Things where actually starting to look up.

Chapter Text

“No,” Charlie said as they drove over to her father’s house. “That did not happen. They’re lying.” While she was a bit nervous, she was promised that Marc wasn’t going to be there while she gathered the last of the things that she had left there and if he did and if he was and had something to say, Taylor was going to stay there and hear it too. “She did not,” Charlie continued. “There’s no way in hell that Harvard Westlake is going to take here with two months left in the year.” Jenn shook her heard. “Read it for yourself.” Charlie reached out and took Jenn’s phone. As she read what was posted on the Campbell Hall Students group on Facebook, she didn’t believe it. It seemed that Nikki was so embarrassed by that she demanded that her father transfer her to a new school so that she wouldn’t have to suffer being called a liar be everyone else and also deal with the fact that she was not going to be the most popular girl in school anymore, since everyone knew the truth now.

As she handed Jenn back her phone, Charlie fell silent. She was nervous about going back to her father’s house to get her stuff and while she really didn’t want to do it, she knew that doing it would bring closure to that chapter of her life. She swallowed as she looked out the window and saw that they were getting close.

“You mom is already there making sure that he’s not going to mess this up and I’m sure that all your stuff is already boxed up and waiting for you on the lawn,” Jenn said as Charlie rolled her eyes. For all she knew Marc did do that, but then again, for all she knew, Marc wanted to talk to her, which was his specialty and she hated it.

“I know,” Charlie said. “But knowing him, he’s waiting for me and wants to talk about everything.” As the pulled up in front of her father’s house, they saw that Taylor was waiting for them. She seemed calm, but as Charlie locked eyes with her, clearly there was something wrong. While she had only been with her mother for a few weeks, she was starting to read her body language well and connect with her on a whole other level. As she got out of the truck that was carrying her, Taylor mustered a smile.

“What does he want,” Charlie asked. Taylor sighed and walked over to Charlie. “Five minutes,” she told her. “He wanted 10, but I told him no. I’m going to be in the room with you, but Jenn has to wait out here after she gets some boxes.” Charlie sighed and shook her head. This was the last thing that she wanted to do, but she might as get it over with so that he doesn’t come back into her life later.
“I’ll do it,” she said causing Jenn to look at her. “I just wanna get it over with at this point and I know after this, I’ll never have to see him again.” Taylor nodded and took Charlie’s hand, leading her toward the house.

Taylor opened the door and saw that Marc had moved some boxes into the foyer. It had appeared that he wanted just her and Charlie there and not Jenn. He knew Jenn wanted to knock him out, but he was always smart and this showed it. As Jenn saw this, she rolled her eyes. “I guess I’ll see you guys in a bit,” she said as she hugged Charlie. “Good luck.” She grabbed three boxes and headed back to the car. Charlie wasn’t nervous mainly because she had Taylor with her, but there was something at the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but think that something bad was going to happen.
As the neared her old bedroom, Charlie stopped and looked back at Taylor. “If he tries to close the door,” she started. “I’m pulling you in with me.” Taylor looked at her and shook her head. “He’s promised me that he’s not going to close the door or do anything like that,” she said. “He just wants to talk and that’s it.” She then nodded toward the back door and Charlie saw that there was security everywhere just in case he tried something funny. This made Charlie feel better.

She opened the door to her old room and saw that everything, with the exception of some of her clothes and personal items, had been boxed up. He bed had already been shipped to Taylor’s house and the room was mostly empty. With the exception of the desk and chair, which Marc had asked to keep for his girlfriend’s daughter, the room was empty. Charlie sat in the chair and pushed herself across the room. She never really liked the desk or understood why he brought it for her, but loved the fact that you could customize the top of it because of the glass that was between the desk and desk itself. As she opened the roll top, she was surprised by what she saw.

It was a time capsule from the last tune she used it. Pictures of Jenn and Alex were in there and also cut out photos of her mother and other celebrities that she admired at the time where there too. Charlie got an empty box and started to clean the desk out, just in case there was anything of importance in there and then started to pull the glass off. As she struggled with it, another set of hands came from behind her and started to help her. She turned back and saw that Marc was standing next to her. Charlie then let go of the glass and sat in the chair, pushing the chair to the other side of the room, causing Marc to sigh. There was something different about the sigh, but Charlie didn’t trust him.
“Nice to see you too,” Marc said as he pulled the glass off. “I guess you were cleaning this out.” Charlie said nothing; she just got up and started to do what she was doing when he walked in. Taylor walked over and nudged Charlie, who rolled her eyes.

“I was,” Charlie said. “That glass is stuck as always.” Marc laughed and pulled the glass out with no problem, causing Charlie to roll her eyes. She could have done it if she knew how to pull it out. She went back to gathering the things that were underneath it as Marc sat in another chair that was in the room.

“Now you’re probably wondering why I wanted to see you one last time,” Marc said as he looked at Charlie, who barely made eye contact. She nodded at him and let him speak. “Well the truth is, I just wanted to apologize.” As she heard this, Charlie stopped and looked at him. She balled up her fist in rage stood up. At first, she just wanted to knock him out, but she decided to let him say what he wanted to say.
“For what,” Charlie said calmly, even though she wanted to knock him out. Marc sighed as he tried to find his words. He had everything planned out, but now it seemed that he had to fly by the seat of his pants. He looked over at Taylor, who encouraged him to go on and say what he had to say.

“For everything that I did to you,” he said. “The past few weeks, I’ve realized that I, well wasn’t the best father and what I did to you wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But now I realize that maybe we can start things over and maybe try to make things work.” Charlie looked back at her mother who shook her head. Clearly, he was lying and even Taylor knew it. Charlie shook her head. She wasn’t buying this at all.
“You never loved me and you even said it,” she told him. “You said to me multiple times that you wished I was never born too. You never wanted me and even my mom knows it.” Charlie finished cleaning out her desk and grabbed the last of her belongings and walked out of the room, but before she did, she stopped. “I never want to see you again and I don’t want you to contact me. I think you’ll be happy with your step daughter.” She walked out and headed for the car.

As she walked out to the car, she looked back and saw Taylor hug Marc. While she wanted to give him another chance, since starting over really sounded good, but now was not the time. She put the box in back of the car and got back in.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure it’s supposed to fit like this,” Charlie asked as she saw that Alyx’s and Jenn’s dresses fit the same way. “It seems just a little too long to be a little black dress.” They were in the home stretch for the Met Gala and it was the last fitting for their dress. But something about it didn’t feel right, as if it was just a little too long to be considered ‘little.’

“I’m positive,” Virginie Viard, the head of director of Chanel, said as she pulled the back of the dress down a bit, making it a more modern little black dress, one that as somewhat longer in the back but shorter in the back. “I can do something to modify it if you like, but your mother doesn’t want it to be too short. She wants to keep it age appropriate.” Charlie rolled her eyes. Taylor was going to be wearing one of the original little black dresses that Coco designed herself and Charlie, Jenn and Alyx were going to wear were going to ones that were more age appropriate that were based off Coco’s original design. Charlie sighed as she looked in the mirror. It just wasn’t her. It really did look like a little girl’s dress instead of something teenage girl would wear.

It had been a crazy week and it was going to get even crazier as the Gala neared. Days after she her father for the last time, Charlie felt numb. She was glad to be done with him, but something didn’t feel right. But as the week progressed, she started to return to normal. She cried the minute that she got back to her mom’s house, but after that, things felt right. While she later came to her senses and talked things out with her dad, agreeing that she would see him once and a while and that he could see her play field hockey games, they both agreed that distancing themselves from each other best things for a while. Deep down inside, she wanted her father in her life and maybe one day, he would be in it more, but for now, it was best in small helpings.

Marc eventually got to apologize fully and Charlie forgave him, but not before yelling at him to the point where Taylor had to restrain her to keep her from trying to punch him. But after that, things got better between them. She even mentioned to Taylor that she might even want to spend weekends with him when the time was right, but that would be up for discussion at a later date, right now she was focusing on getting ready for the Gala.

Charlie glanced over and Jenn and Alyx, who were both satisfied with their dresses, and smiled. “Its fine,” she said to Virginie. “In fact, it works well.” She then leaned down a bit. “If we can go just a bit shorter, like maybe an inch, it’d be just right.” The creative director nodded. The dress itself wasn’t that little, but taking off an extra inch would make it work better and still please her mother.

As Virginie marked where she was going to cut, Taylor walked in and her eyes went wide. Charlie was the splitting image of herself but with brown hair instead of blonde. It was kind of eerie seeing this, but she was glad that she had her features and not Marc’s. “Well,” Taylor said. “I guess they don’t make fun of your height like they did with me,” Taylor said. Charlie was a bit taller than she was at this age, things were a little different. As Charlie heard this question, she laughed a bit.

“They did for a while there,” she said. “But after I shoved Billy Anderson down the hill, they stopped.” Taylor laughed as she helped Charlie off the fitting platform and looked at her. “I need to talk to you about something,” she said. “And I need to do it alone.” Charlie looked at her mother and nodded. She knew that this talk was coming. When she looked back to see if Jenn and Alyx were still there, she discovered that they were gone.

“Go,” she said. She had a feeling that Taylor asked her two friends to give them some alone time, but she didn’t expect it to be this soon. Taylor took a deep breath.

“One the red carpet, the problem isn’t going to be the photographers, but the other celebrities,” she said. “No one but my friends and Joe know who you are. So there’s going to be a lot of questions and a lot of looks, specifically from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and their family. They’re always looking for ways to ruin my life and they’ll probably try to get you away from me or your friends. Just ignore them and you’ll be fine. If Kim does get you alone, don’t say anything, someone will come and get out away from her. Just don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be fine.” Charlie nodded. She wasn’t worried about this at first, but now it was something that would be on her mind. She started to panic a bit and wanted to ask her mother a few questions, but before she had the chance, Alyx and Jenn reappeared.

“We got you shoes and other things to go with that dress,” Jenn said as she held up a pair of shoes. “And I think we found the right necklace that will go good with it,” Alyx said. The both of them looked at her and clearly knew that something was up and when the saw the look on Taylor’s face, they knew that they didn’t need to know. Jenn stepped towards Charlie.

“Later,” she said. “Tell us everything. We’re here for you and we want to help.” Charlie nodded. She knew that her friends had her back, but she didn’t realize that they were going to have her back this much. Charlie composed herself and walked over to Alyx.

“What else did they have,” she asked.

*

“So this is a joke, right,” Alyx asked later on as the say on the terrace and listened to the sounds of the city. “There’s no way in hell that Kim is going to be that vain and come after you all because of the fact that you’re Taylor Swift’s daughter.” Charlie shook her head. “We don’t know that,” she said. “For all we know she knows I exist and is going to attack me at the Gala.” Charlie wanted to add something else to this, but before she could, Jenn stormed out of the penthouse and slammed down a stack of papers.

“Here,” she said. “This is the guest list. I don’t see any sign of a Kardashian or a West for that matter. It seems that the rumor that I kept reading on line after you told me this was true. Kim pissed of Anna Wintour recently and she rescinded her invite.” Charlie rolled her eyes. She knew that Kim was going to find a way to get into the Gala. Before she could say something, Alyx got up and took her phone with her and Jenn got a phone call. Charlie was left alone with her thoughts and looked at the list again.

As she panned over the list, sure enough, Kim, Kanye and the rest of the Kardashian and Jenners were on the list. Jenn clearly didn’t check hard enough and like always Kim had found a way to get invited again. She shook her head and started to think of something to do in case something happened.

*

Charlie stirred and headed downstairs. Everyone else was fast asleep but her. It wasn’t super late, but it was that time where she should be in bed. The fact that she was still on west coast time didn’t help either, but she couldn’t help but think of what she was going to do if and when she encounter Kim. Kim was her mom’s Vicky, someone she couldn’t shake and would always be there in the background, ready to come after her if she did that was right.

“Well I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who can’t sleep,” she said to Benji who had followed her downstairs. Unlike the other two cats, Benji like to sleep in her room or at least close to her room most of the time. She picked up the cat and headed into the kitchen. As she opened the door, she was surprised to see Joe was up as well, but he was dressed.

“Can’t sleep,” he said as he pulled a bottle of Gatorade out of the fridge and offered it to her, which she accepted. “I guess you could say that,” Charlie said as she sat down at the counter, still holding the fluffy cat. “Just getting in?” Joe looked at her and nodded. “Nick and Garrett decided that we should go to more than just one beer. They’ll feel it tomorrow, but I’ll be fine.” Charlie giggled as she heard this. She knew that he was talk about Nicholas Hoult and Garrett Hedlund, two of his best friends, and when the three of them got together the results were less than spectacular. Joe looked over at her.

“What’s on your mind,” he asked. “You’re usually the one who can sleep through anything.” Charlie shifted in her seat. She tried to talk about it to her mom and her friends, but they kept telling her not to worry about it and that nothing was going to happen. She knew that Joe would understand where she was coming from and give her some good advice.

“My mom told me that Kim Kardashian might be there and might try to confront me,” she started. “I’m worried that something is gonna happen and if something happens, I’m gonna be a target like she is.” Joe nodded and understood where she was coming from. Kim and Kanye had been the bain of her existence for the past few years and while nothing had happened, this could be something new.

“We won’t let anything happen to you,” he said. “If she does confront you and basically starts to harass you, just do what you think is right. Don’t let her get under your skin and most importantly, do not give her something that he can use against you. The best thing to do is to be straight forward with her and just tell the bloody truth. She won’t know what do to. But besides that, when we’re at The Mark tomorrow afternoon, people are gonna see you and ask you are. Once word gets out who you are, no one, even Kim, is going to give a damn, granted, she might have a couple of questions, but that’s it. She’s not going to go after you that’s for sure.”

Hearing this caused Charlie to realize something. She got up and hugged Joe. “Thank you,” she said as she picked up Benji and walked out of the kitchen. She headed up to her room and sat up for a bit. She looked over the Gala guest list again and started to figure out who might be on the same floor as they were going to be on, which was going to be impossible until tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Charlie got up and got dressed. Taylor told the girls late last night that the best thing to do was get ready at The Mark Hotel. While normally, Taylor would get ready here at home, but since this was Charlie’s and her friend’s first Met Gala, she wanted her to have the full experience. The Mark usually let celebrities rent rooms for a few hours to get ready, mostly till 3 o’clock and while some of them stayed overnight, most just used them for the day, which from what she heard her mother’s security team talking about, it was going to be crazy. Charlie came down and kissed her mother, running her fingers across Benji’s back.

“Well someone is in a better mood than she way yesterday,” she said. Charlie looked at her. Jenn and Alyx went out to get bagels and Joe was still asleep, so this was the perfect time to perfect time to tell her what her plan was. “Well,” she started. “I couldn’t sleep last night and I came down to get a drink and ran into Joe and he gave me some good advice about what I should do about the issue that might arise and since we’re gonna be running into other celebrities at The Mark, I figured that we should tell anyone we run into there who I am.”

At first, Taylor looked at and wanted to tell her that this was a bad idea, but she slowly realized that this was the only thing that they could do. Most of the world of celebrities knew that Charlie was real, but there was still a lot of doubt. Taylor had read on one of the most private Facebook groups that there was still a lot of push back from people who didn’t believe that Taylor Swift was a teenage mother.
“That really is the best thing that we can do,” she said to her daughter. “We’re gonna run into so many other people that they’re gonna want to know who you are, so why not before anything happens.” Charlie smiled. She was so glad that her mother agreed to this. As she leaned over and hugged her, her friends walked back inside.

“Did you mom tell you the good news,” Jenn asked. Charlie looked at her and wondered what Jenn was talking about. Before she could ask what, Alyx chimed in. “She got permission for us to wander the Met after we get settled.” Charlie looked over at her mother and then hugged her again. This was the last thing on her New York bucket list that had to be done. “How’d…” Taylor shook her head.

“Don’t ask,” she told her. “Consider it a favor called in. All you have to do is just wait until Anna Wintour is done speaking and then all of you can sneak off and enjoy and entire empty museum.” The three of them couldn’t believe it. They’ve wanted to go to the best for so long and now they were going to have the entire place to themselves.

“Thank you,” they all said in unison. Taylor smiled. “Thank me later,” she said. “Now eat. We have to get a move on so we can start getting ready.”

*

The Mark Hotel was buzzing with activity as everyone was getting ready for the Met Gala. The outside was just as busy as the inside, which was much more insane that Charlie thought it was going to be.
People from all the different fashion houses were running around trying to find where all the people who were wearing them were getting dressed. Taylor had gotten a two bedroom suite so that everyone could get dressed in the same place and they could all leave at the same time.

Charlie sat in awe as she waited with a hood up to conceal her identity as she watched people move about. She saw some celebrities who walked in with only one or two bodyguards, which was pretty weird to her or with massive entourages that had to take three elevators just to get to the rooms that they were using. It was insane. As she sat there, she finally felt comfortable to take off her hood and get some air. As she sat there, she heard someone call her mom’s name.

“Taylor,” the voice said. It sounded familiar because she had heard it in many in YouTube videos. “I thought that you were coming and when did you dye your hair? I do like it though. It’s different and did you perm your hair so that it’s curly again?” Charlie glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to see that Cindy Crawford, possibly one of the biggest super models in the world, was standing behind her. At first, she thought that it was going to be wrong to confuse her, but as she looked up, she saw her mother was encouraging her to turn around. Charlie nodded and turned toward Cindy, surprising her. “You’re not Taylor,” she said a bit surprised.

“I get that all the time,” Charlie said as she stood up and pushed her hair out of her face. “She is my mom after all.” As Cindy heard this, she looked at Charlie confused. “Daughter,” she said. “What are you talking about?” Before she had a chance to explain, Taylor walked over and tapped Cindy on the shoulder, causing her to jump as she looked back and saw the actual Taylor standing behind her.
“I think I have some explaining to do,” Taylor said as she walked away with Cindy. She then handed Charlie a keycard. “Head upstairs and start to get ready,” she said. “I’ll be up after a drink.” Charlie nodded as she went to gather Jenn and Alyx. However, before she had the chance to get near them, someone else grabbed her by the arm.

“I knew it,” the voice said. Charlie knew right away that it was Emma Roberts. “See Garrett, I told you that she died her hair and permed it.” Charlie glanced back and saw that Joe’s friend Garrett Hedlund was standing there in total disbelief. Joe must have told him and Nicholas Hoult about her, but they didn’t tell the girlfriends about her. Garrett started to laugh as he saw Charlie for the first time. “I think you should take another look at whose arm you’re holding,” Garrett said. Emma looked back and realized that the arm did not belong to Taylor.

“Who…” Emma said as Charlie started to laugh. “It’s a long story,” she told Emma. “I think your boyfriend knows the story.” She leaned in and whispered something in Emma’s ear that caused her to gasp loudly. “No,” Emma said. “This is a joke, right?” Garrett came up behind her and brought back down.

“I saw Taylor in the bar with Cindy Crawford,” he said. “I think we’ll go find her and straighten everything out.” Emma nodded and let Garrett lead her away. Before the got too far into the crowd, Emma looked back and smiled at her. She actually believed what Charlie told her.

*

“Who else,” Alyx said as she zipped Charlie up. It took Charlie 25 minutes to find Jenn and Alyx, who went up to the room without her, and in the process of looking for them, she ran into everyone that you could think of.

“Halsey,” she said which caused Jenn to almost fall over. “No way,” Jenn said causing Charlie to laugh. “I mentioned to her that you’re a huge fan and she can’t want to meet you.” Jenn didn’t believe it; in fact she was still in a state of disbelief that Charlie was Taylor Swift’s daughter still hadn’t set in for that matter. For her and Alyx this was strange, uncharted territory for the both of them. Granted, they had seen celebrities all the time because they lived in LA, but this was new and they could see that it was new for Charlie too.

The three of them looked at themselves in the mirror and the started to laugh. “We can’t take ourselves seriously,” Charlie said. “It’s impossible.” As she went over and start putting on the last bits of jewelry, Taylor came in.

“I see that you’re all finally dressed,” Taylor said jokingly. “Oh and it seems that word about you is getting out and getting out fast. Kaia already said the wants pictures with you.” Hearing that made Charlie almost pass out. She was the one famous person she was dying to meet. “R… Really,” Charlie said as Taylor nodded. “She looking forward to sitting with us tonight,” Taylor said. Charlie was over the moon when she heard that. Her favorite young supermodel wanted to hang out with her and that was a thrill in itself. Taylor then checked her phone.

“We we’ve got to get a move on,” she said as Joe stepped into the room, dressed in his tux. “Did you tell her that Elle and Dakota Fanning are dying to meet her,” he said. Charlie screamed and acted like she passed out when she heard that. They were her favorite actresses and she could not wait to meet them.

“This is a joke, right,” Charlie asked. “I’m on some hidden camera show and it’s gonna end when I walk down the hall.” Taylor shook her head. At least the other two were handling it better. “No,” Taylor said. “And after tonight, you’ll be used to it. This is the first time you’ve been in an environment like this and it’s going to be slightly overwhelming, it was to me to the first time, but now its cake walk.” Taylor picked up her clutch and looked at the three girls, dressed in all black.

“Now let’s get going or else we’re gonna be forced to walk at the back with all the donors,” she said. The three girls grabbed their bags as Taylor grabbed Joe and they headed out.

*

As they made their way down to the elevator, the hallway was empty meaning either that everyone had already made their way downstairs or someone had paid to keep the elevator from being stopped. Charlie ran ahead and pushed the call button. A few seconds after she hit the button, the elevator stopped and opened. As the door opened, Taylor saw that Cardi B and Offset were in the elevator.

At first, Cardi looked at Charlie confused, but then she saw her mother was standing in behind her. “Oh so you the one who everyone is going crazy,” Cardi said in her usual personality. Charlie was taken a back at first, but then Taylor nudged her. “Yes,” Charlie said. “And what do you mean by everyone.” Cardi stepped out of the elevator. “Girl, word got out about you and you stealing the show,” Cardi said. “Some people ran into and texted that Swiftie’s daughter is fine and just like her mom. Everyone wants to meet you and take some pictures with you. Trust me when I tell you this. Everyone is dying to meet you.” Cardi then held up her phone and pulled Charlie in, taking a picture with her.

“I’m the first,” she proclaimed. “You don’t mind if I post this, right.” Charlie shook her head. “No,” she said. “You can. Just make sure you tag me.” Cardi didn’t even ask for her instagram account and two seconds later, she got a notification that said that she had been tagged in a photo. “How,” Charlie asked causing Cardi and Offset, who jumped in the picture at the last second. “I seen you on one of Gigi’s pics,” Cardi said. “It looked like some kind of party or something. But I wanna know why you have accepted my follow request yet. I send it weeks ago and you still haven’t accepted it. You follow me, so get on that.” Before Charlie had a chance to answer, Cardi and Offset got back in the elevator, mostly because their handler told them to, and disappeared. She knew that she would see them later, but what bother her most is that she didn’t understand what Cardi meant by she hadn’t accepted her follow request yet. As the elevator returned with the handler that was going to lead them to the car that was going to take them to the gala, Charlie started to realize something.

She pulled her and opened her instagram. As soon as it opened, she screamed. It had been a few weeks since actually opened the app because of all the things that had been going on in her life and to her surprise, she had over 50 follow requests from all celebrities. She had set her profile to private so that she didn’t have random people or companies following her. But this was different; this was actual celebrities wanting to follow her all because she was somebody now. Jenn and Alyx looked at her confused.

“Are you OK,” Jenn asked. Charlie was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t find the words and just handed her phone over to Jenn. When she saw what made Charlie scream, her jaw hit the floor. “This has to be a joke,” Jenn said. “There’s…” Jenn then fell silent and started to scroll through the massive list as Alyx looked over her shoulder.

“I don’t believe it,” Alyx said as she saw all the Jonas Brother, Cardi B, all the girls from Riverdale, and various others wanted to follow her. “All these people want to follow you because…” Charlie glared at Alyx. “I thought that we agreed that we weren’t going to say the ‘F’ word,” Charlie said. Alyx nodded. She had forgotten about the one thing that Charlie had wanted; she didn’t want her fame to chance anything between the three of them.

“Sorry,” Alyx said as she handed over her phone, but not before confirming a follow request from Cardi B. As Charlie saw this, she smiled and handed her phone back to Alyx. “The both of you go through this list and approve everyone,” she said to them. “If you don’t know who they are, then look at their profile and if you know them after that, then don’t approve them. I’m going to make a public profile eventually, but for now, this is the only one I have and I wanna make sure that people aren’t following me because I’m now famous.”

Alyx and Jenn squealed. “But how did all these people find out who you are,” Jenn asked. They then all looked at Taylor, who promptly shrugged, because even she didn’t understand it either. “Don’t look at me,” she said as she winked at Charlie. “That’s all Gigi.” The elevator stopped at the ground floor and the doors opened. “She’s the one who post the picture that ignited the whole thing.” A handler then ushered them out into the lobby.

As they walked out of the elevator, Charlie went to say something to her mother, but before she had a chance to, she could herself alone as everyone scattered.

Chapter Text

The wait to get out of the lobby was worse than auditions for the school musical and every famous person you could think of was there. In fact, it was worse than that. It was the Met Gala and all Charlie could do was people watch. She felt like a small fish in a big pond and was loving every minute of it. She just wished that she knew where everyone went. As everyone got off of the elevator, they all went their separate ways, Taylor and Joe disappeared to do some small media and Alyx and Jenn blindly wandered off with her phone, so she had no way to even call someone and find out where everyone went. So Charlie sat in a chair that was in the lobby and just look around the room, watching all the action play out.

Every few minutes, someone, most of the time, Charlie couldn’t see who was, would get up and walk out the door and cause the crowd to erupt as they walked out and got into the cars that were going to carry them to The Met for the Gala. It was surreal to her that all these people showed up to this little unknown hotel just to catch a glimpse of someone famous and see what they were wearing before they got to the actual event.

Charlie played with her hair as people walked passed her, not paying her any mind because none of them cared who she was or even knew who she was for that matter. Most of them seemed to be assistants or handlers, who were only interested in making sure that they clients got to where were going or if it was there turn to walk out or not. It was that or they were donors who paid to come to the Gala and paid to get a room here to get dressed and spend the night. Charlie liked this. No one was bothering her or asking her for a photo, since she had a feeling that she was going to be doing that all night and since she didn’t have her phone, she had to just sit there and wait to be called, which seemed that it was going to be a while since there was a lot of other people milling around the lobby waiting to do the same thing.

As she sat there, trying to figure out who was famous and who wasn’t, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Charlie unwrapped her finger from her hair, looked up to see who it was and was a bit awestruck when she saw who it was and of course she didn’t believe it either. Kaia Gerber was standing right next to her and she couldn’t’ find the right words and it seemed that Kaia couldn’t find the right words either since she seemed to not believe what she was seeing, like everyone else that she had crossed paths with throughout the day. After a bit, Kaia composed herself and realized that she should say something.

“Sorry about what happened earlier with my mom,” she said as Charlie nodded. “I told her about you but she must have forgotten that I told her. She probably didn’t believe me either. But I’m sure that you get that a lot since everyone is still trying to understand what’s going on.” Charlie couldn’t find the words that she wanted to use at first, but after realizing that she should say something, instead of gawking at one of her favorite supermodels.

“It’s OK,” Charlie said with a squeak and blushed bright red. While she was used to seeing famous people at her mother’s house all the time, she still wasn’t used to seeing them out in public, especially when they just randomly walked up to her like this.

Charlie composed herself and looked up at Kaia, forcing a smile. “Sorry,” she said as started to relax a bit as she slid over so that Kaia could sit next to her. “I’m a mix of emotions right now and I don’t know where everyone went. I gave my phone to my friends to approve all the follow requests on Instagram and god knows where they went because they don’t pay attention and of course my mom is my mom. She’s off probably doing press.” Kaia smiled as she sat down next to Charlie. “You’re gonna be fine,” she told her. She then pulled her phone out of her clutch, handing it to Charlie. “Shoot them a text and tell them where you are and to bring your phone back.” At first, Charlie wasn’t sure she should, but then realized that she really should really get her phone back. She took Kaia’s phone and sent a text to phone and within seconds, Jenn and Alyx magically appeared.

“Sorry,” they both said in unison. Before they could say something else, they realized who she was sitting next to. “Is that,” Jenn started to say before Charlie cut her off with a nod, causing Jenn hug Alyx, who was also in a start of awe at what they were seeing. Kaia look at Charlie and shook her head.

“Still not used to this,” Kaia asked as she took her phone back. “They’ll never be used to it,” Charlie said. “In fact, I don’t think that I’ll ever get used to it.” Kaia laughed as she heard that. “You will in time,” she told her. “I remember when I first found out my mom was famous, it changed my world entirely. But now, it’s just the norm and she’s still my mom.” Charlie smiled she was glad to hear that there was some normal between famous moms and their kids. Before Charlie had the chance to say something else, a handler came over and led her way. “See you inside,” Kaia said. The three friends looked at each other and tried to understand what Kaia was talking about. Charlie shook her head and realized it shortly after Kaia disappeared.

“Come on,” she said to her friends. “Let’s go find my mom.

Chapter Text

The car door closed and the crowd noise finally died down and it quickly pulled away from curb, heading for The Met. As they sat in back of the car that was carrying them to The Met, everyone could think and finally react to what happened. “That was nuts,” Jenn said. “Who knew that this was going to be the going to be the crazy part and the entrance to the gala was going to be the calm part.” Everyone laughed and all Charlie could down was nod in agreement. Charlie was on edge and didn’t understand why. She didn’t expect it to be that bad outside of the hotel, but to her surprise it was. However, as she thought about the chance encounter that she had, things started to get better. Maybe this new famous life of her’s wasn’t going to be as bad as they though it would be.

As they exited the hotel, there were screams and squeals of fans and gawkers who had come to see everyone dressed up. This was going to be the only place where you could see the see everyone up close because of the fact that the put everyone across the street for safety reasons and it was a lot crazier that she though it was going to be. Even Jenn and Alyx didn’t expect it to be this bad. Everyone was yelling and taking pictures with everything and anything you could think of and people were constantly yelling for them to stop. As the moved through the crowd, people were shouting things.

“Who are those girls with Taylor,” one girl asked. “They look like nobodies.” Charlie tried to ignore everything that was being said like her mother told her told her, but that eventually was thrown out. She desperately wanted to tell the crowd off, but she knew better. She wasn’t going to give them what they wanted or stop for that matter since no one seemed interested.

As she neared then car and went to get in, someone reached out and tapped her on the arm. Charlie jumped a bit and wanted to ignore it, but Taylor looked back at her. She had seen everything and smiled at her. “Go,” she mouthed to her. Her mother knew that this was her chance to get into the spotlight and talking to a fan would help her get ready for tonight.

Charlie turned around and looked over and saw that it was a young girl, probably about 11, looking at her and she was shying away. She tried to hide behind her blonde hair, but her mother wasn’t having it. She pushed her toward the rail so that she could talk to her. Normally, Charlie would just ignore something like this, like her mother told her to do, but she felt the need to go over to talk to her. Charlie had her first fan it seemed and she wanted to meet her. Whole this was all new to her, she knew she had to do it to break the ice and besides that, she knew that it would make her look good and not like some snob who ignored this poor little girl.

“Hi,” Charlie said a bit nervous, but confident, not wanting to disappoint the girl who was right on the rail. “Did you tap me on the arm?” The girl nodded as she looked up at Charlie with bright eyes, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the right words, but couldn’t. Eventually, she managed to muster up the courage to say something.

“I… I didn’t mean to startle you, but I’ve been following you since you told the world that you mom is Taylor and I just love that you found her the way that you did,” the girl said softly, almost in a whisper, that caused Charlie to lean over. Charlie looked at the girl and realized that she was one of the first girls who followed her before she stopped checking her account because of everything that was going on. At first, Charlie didn’t know what to do, but then she started to smile. She was surprised that she had a fan this early, in fact, she was surprised that anyone was a fan of her. Charlie snapped out of her trance and looked at the girl.

“It’s fine,” she said. “And you are.” The girl blushed as one of the handlers tried to force Charlie into the car, but she was having none of it. She pushed the guy away and grabbed the rail. She was going to go when she was ready and not when people wanted her to go. “I’ll leave when I want to leave,” Charlie said as she turned back to the girl. “What did you say that your name was,” Charlie asked again. The girl swallowed as she mustered the courage up from her stomach.

“Maddie,” she mustered as she reached down and pulled something out of her large bag. “Can you sign this?” Charlie looked in awe as she saw the issue of Vogue that her, her mother and Jenn on the cover. She couldn’t believe it, she had only found out her mother was less than a month ago and she had already had a fan base. It was strange even if it was one person, but it felt right. There were people out there who were already following her.

At first, Charlie didn’t know what to say. But then, she realized that she should get going or else she was going to be dragged into the van by her mother herself. She quickly signed the magazine and reached over the rail and hugged the girl.

Charlie composed herself and got in the car. “It was nice meeting you,” she said as the door closed. There was a second of silence as everyone looked at her. “That was perfect,” Taylor said. “You handled that the way you should. Maybe you’re more cut out for this that I thought.” Charlie smiled as she heard that. This was going to be better than she thought.

Chapter Text

The truck carrying Taylor, Charlie and company waited in line to drop them off at the entrance to the Gala. Taylor rolled down the window and leaned out of it, sighing as she came back in. “There’s something going on,” she said. “The traffic is never this bad.” An ambulance passed them as the line of traffic started to move again as it flew down Fifth Ave. “Well that was a quick fix,” Jenn said as she let out a little giggle at her own joke. Charlie nodded as she fidgeted with her bracelets. She felt like she was going to puke, but knew better than to do that in public and embarrass everyone. As the SUV pulled up to let them out, Taylor stopped her. “We’ll be out in a minute,” she said. “I need to talk to Charlie before we head out.” Charlie swallowed as everyone else got out and headed to the staging area. She was worried that she was going to hear something that she didn’t want to hear.

“Is everything alright,” Charlie asked as the door closed, leaving the two of them alone. Taylor nodded. “Of course it is,” she said, taking her hands in hers. “I just wanted to let you know that no matter what happens tonight, no matter what, I’m glad you came to find me and now that you’re in my life, I wouldn’t want it any other way. After Lover Fest is done and I’ve gotten those rerecordings done, I’m going to disappear again and spend time with you and Joe. Just us and your friends of course, but no public appearances, and well… we have to do this, but we have to. Just us and I promise that it will happen.” Charlie looked at her mother and wanted to cry, but she didn’t want to risk ruining her makeup.

“Really,” she asked as Taylor nodded. Charlie leaned in and hugged her mother. With everything that was going on, this was the one thing that she wanted more than anything. “Oh mom, that’s all I want. Is it going to interrupt your life? I know you’re used to a certain cycle, is this going to ruin it?” Taylor shook her head. She had been waiting to take more time off ever since she took that year and half between 1989 and Reputation and this was the perfect reason too. She wanted to be a mom for a bit before going back to being a celebrity first.

“Not at all,” Taylor told her. “In fact, I want to and I feel that I need to now that I have you in my life. I want to show up to your field hockey games and other things that you do at school.” Charlie blushed a bit and knew that her mother was right. It wasn’t a need, it was a want and she should that some time to get to get to know her better, even if it took a couple of months to get it right. “We should get going,” Charlie said. “I think the people running this are about to pull us out of the car.” Taylor looked up at saw that some of the handlers were trying to figure out what to do or how to get them out of them out of the truck and Charlie just laughed along with her mother. “Let’s do this,” Taylor said as she pushed the door opened and started to get out.

*

Waiting to walk the red carpet was an event itself. As Taylor ran to catch up with Joe and the girls, Charlie took her time, taking it all in. This was something that she’d never thought that she’d never do as Marc never liked to bring her to fancy events like this, but it seemed that her mother would be doing this often with he as often as she could. As she looked to see where her mother went and tried to catch up with her friends, Charlie was spun around and saw that Kacey Musgraves had stopped her. At first, she didn’t know what so say, but then the words came to her. “Holy shit,” Charlie said blushing a bit and covered her mouth out of embarrassment. “This isn’t happening right now.” Kacey laughed as she heard that and smiled. “I thought I saw a younger, darker haired Taylor walking around the hotel earlier,” Kacey said. “At first I thought the edible that I ate, but now I can confirm that it’s not.” Charlie rolled her eyes. Kacey was just like she thought she would be and was living up to they to her stoner personality. “That would be me,” she said with confidence. “And I have a feeling that I’m going to be hearing that all night.” She and Kacey laughed as Kacey got closer to her to get a better look at her.

“I heard a rumor and didn’t believe it,” Kacey said as she stood in front of Charlie wearing some dress that was inspired by something Coco Channel did years ago. “But now, holy cow you are your mother’s daughter and it’s a good thing. How’d she find you?” Charlie was about to start her life story, but before she had the chance to, Jenn came over and grabbed her by the arm. As she was about to say something, she realized who was standing in front of Charlie.

“This isn’t happening,” Jenn said. “Kacey Musgraves is standing right in front of us.” Charlie rolled her eyes again. “Sorry,” she said. “She’s still new and not used to this at all.” She then turned to Jenn. “I know,” Charlie said. “I still don’t believe it.” Kacey laughed. “I’m sure,” she said. “I guess that you have to go since it seems that you’re next. I want to hear the story that you were about to tell me once we’re inside.” Charlie nodded as she grabbed Jenn by the arm. “You got it,” she said. “Now I think we have something to do.” Charlie dragged Jenn away as she start to come back to life. While she wanted to tell Kacey so much, she knew that she would do it after then made their way up the carpeted steps.

*

“You can go Ms. Swift,” the woman who was escorting them said. Taylor nodded as she hooked her arm in Joe’s. “See you inside,” Taylor said as her and Joe stepped out onto the carpet causing photographers behind the barriers to go start taking pictures. This was the second public appearance of the two of them at a major event and the pressed loved it. Charlie watched as the two of them made their way up the stairs, she knew that she and her two friends were next. Her stomach churned as she stood there waiting. This was either going her big coming out or her down fall. She watched as her mother and Joe, zigged and zagged across the carpet, going to from reporter to reporter. As she watched, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She glanced back and didn’t believe who she saw. “Carly Rae Jepsen,” she asked not believing who she was seeing for the second that night. Carly nodded and smiled at her. “The last time I checked that was me,” she said with a laugh. “Nervous?” Charlie nodded. She didn’t know how to answer since one of her favorite singers was standing in front her of wearing what she thought was Christian Dior. Carly came up to her and hugged her. “You’re gonna be fine,” she said. “Trust me. It’s my first time too and I’m feeling like I’m going to pass out.” She smiled she heard that. At least people were being reassuring that she was going to be alright and everything was fine. Before she had a chance to say something, someone tapped her on her shoulder, letting her know that it was time to go.

“Inside,” Charlie said. “We’ll talk inside.” Carly nodded and motioned for her to go. Charlie looked over at Jenn and Alyx, who were adjusting their hem lines one last time. “Ready,” Charlie asked as they nodded. The handler then motioned for them to come forward and the reporters and photographers erupted when the saw them. Charlie finally relaxed and accepted the fact that she was going to be famous.

The three girls posed as the turned in various directions and looked at the cameras. After a few seconds, the Vogue escort motioned for them to follow her and the real part started. It wasn’t like everyone didn’t know who she was, but there were a few who didn’t know who she was. She heard things like “Who’s this girl” and “How much did her daddy pay to send her here,” but those didn’t bother her. She had earned her spot after years of suffering and was going to make herself known.

As the escort lead her along the red carpet, it seemed that no one wanted to talk to her, until she got half way up the steps. “Charlie Swift,” an older man yelled out. Charlie looked over and saw that Tom and Lorenzo, her favorite, straight forward fashion blogger, had shown up and where in the same spot that they were in every year. She smiled as she walked over and almost leaned over the rail to hug them.

“You’re my favorite fashion bloggers,” she said a bit over eager, but the two men knew that this was coming and were all set to help her make her big debut. Tom held up a recorder as Lorenzo got a pad ready to capture her response. “That’s just fantastic,” Tom said. “That’s the best thing that I’ve heard all night. Most celebrities that we’ve encountered have no clue who we are for that matter.” Charlie blushed as she heard that but quickly composed herself as she realized that this wasn’t the time for flattery.

“So I’m sure that you’re going to get this question a lot,” Tom said. Charlie fully knew what was coming and was ready for it. She had rehearsed this a thousand times and it was now time to answer it. “But are you really Taylor Swift’s daughter.”

Charlie took a deep breath and smiled. “Yes,” she said. “I am really Taylor Swift’s Daughter.” As soon as she said that, the rest of the reporters erupted and wanted to talk to her. Charlie smiled as Alyx and Jenn look in awe. This was her big coming out after all, so why not go bigger than anyone expected.

Chapter Text

Charlie heard the laughter come from where the Temple of Dendur as someone made a joke about Anna Wintour that felt forced and she rolled her eyes. The Met Gala was fun, but it felt a bit fake to her, like it wasn’t really a fundraiser like it was supposed to be and just an excuse for some, if not all, of the famous people to get dressed up in something that they would not normally wear to an awards show or an interview to promote something. It almost felt like everyone, including the men, were trying to outdo each other, but no one was going to win due to the fact that no one could dress better than anyone.

While everyone she met was nice to her and welcomed her with opened arms, it felt a little unreal, as if they had to do it. She met everyone she wanted to meet and then some. However the highlight of the night was the red carpet walk, mainly because it was a lot more fun that she thought it was going to be. However, after that, it just went downhill and anyone who sought her out, felt like they were doing it for a photo op or because their agent told them to seek her out because they were told to. Even when she was pulled into the bathroom to take the annual group shot, by someone she didn’t know, it felt forced and even the comments on the photo that she saw later didn’t feel right. All she had to do was make it through dinner and she was going to do what she wanted to do.

While she did catch up with Kacey Musgraves and Carly Rae Jepsen, most of the other famous people that she encountered wanted little to do with her and the fact that had to just see the Gala exhibit, which she though wasn’t set up well, was pretty boring too. But at least she would be able to sneak away and explore the completely empty museum, which was something that she was really looking forward to.

It took forever to get through dinner, which wasn’t what she thought it was going to be and she Alyx and Jenn were 100% going to make her mother stop at Shake Shack on the way home because there was no way in hell that her and her friends were going to eat whatever was on those plates, even the salad was bad, and when Anna Wintour started to speak, she, Alyx and Jenn got up and found the security guard that they was told to look for and were off. The museum was all hers. Jenn and Alyx had disappeared and weren’t responding to her texts, so she decided to go about it on her own.

Having entire parts of the museum to herself was surreal. She had seen pictures of the famous Rodin Hallway, crowded with everyone looking at the many statues that were in the hall, but being able to walk around and not have anyone walking in front of her was the best thing ever. As she walked down the hallway, she was amazed to have the place to herself. She turned into to one of the galleries and gasped as she saw all the Vincent Van Gogh paintings on the wall and one of his most famous self-portraits, sitting at the center of the room. She sat on the bench and sighed. She wished that someone came with her so that she wasn’t alone. The plan was for she and her two friends were to explore the museum together, but it seemed that Jenn and Alyx had other plans altogether with the finally got the chance to skip out on her and do their own thing, it seemed that there was other plans. But she was fine with it, it was good to get some alone time, especially because of the fact that the past couple of days had been a whirlwind, so she was glad to sit in silence, even if it was for a little bit. As she sat there, staring at the painting, her escort came over to her.

“I was told by Ms. Swift that I’m to take you a new exhibit that opens to the public this weekend and the members for previews tomorrow,” he said. “She thinks that you’ll really like it.” Charlie rolled her eyes. She wanted to see more of the museum, but since her mother suggested it, she figured that she would humor her and go see the exhibit that she wanted her to see. As she stood up, she pulled out her phone.

“I wanna see this before we go,” she said as she showed her escort a picture of Little Dancer Aged 14, one of the most famous sculptures by Degas, on her phone. “I know we’re close to it.” The guard nodded and led her through the maze of galleries before coming to a room that housed the sculpture and a few other paintings by Degas. As she walked over to the statue, someone tapped her on the shoulder. At first she thought that it was the guard reminding her that she was too close, but as the person spoke, she realized that it wasn’t going to be just her.

“I had a feeling that you’d want to see this in person,” Taylor said as Charlie turned around and saw that her mother had managed to sneak away and came to join her. “I saw the photos of you room when you were younger and it seems that you had a bit of a ballerina obsession.” Charlie blushed a bit. She remembered that. She thought that she was going to be a prima ballerina with some big company, so her father decorated her room in Degas prints because what little girl didn’t want to be surrounded by that. But after a few years, she lost interest in dance and the posters disappeared. She thought her father had thrown them out, but Marc wasn’t that cold hearted. Instead of throwing them out, he put them in another room and kept them after all these years. When she found them, Marc told her that he spent too much money of the framing just to get rid of them, so he kept them, hoping that she would hang them up again someday.

“I found them a couple of years ago,” Charlie said as she walked around the room, looking at the paintings. “And I hung them up again. I think that I’ll put them up again once I’m settled in.” Taylor smiled when she heard day. “Whatever you want,” she said. “It’s your room after all. Now, I want to show you something.” As Taylor went to pull Charlie away, she stopped here and handed her mother her phone. “Just one picture,” Charlie said as she posed in the same pose as the statue was in. Taylor laughed and shook her head. “And how long have you been waiting to do this,” she asked. Charlie took her phone back and smiled. “Since I first saw a picture of it when I was little,” she said. She then looked at the picture and smiled. “Perfect,” Charlie said. Taylor then grabbed her hand and led her out of the room that they were in, heading back to the main hallway.

Chapter Text

After few detours and stops along the way, including one in the great hall so that Charlie could take a picture of herself sitting on the railing on the upper lever overlooking the lobby and the full recreation of Robert Lehman’s sitting room, because it was so gaudy that Charlie didn’t believe that it was real and that The Met would go that far to get a collection of old masters that he had, they finally came to the one place where Taylor wanted to take her daughter. As Charlie looked around the hall that they were in, she was a bit disappointed in what she saw. It was a small set of galleries where The Met displayed their prints and photos.

“You’re taking me to see photographs,” she asked a bit disappointed. She thought that her mother was going to take her to see something that she loved and not a bunch of old photographs. “Come one, let’s go find those jeweled Russian Eggs that I showed you. They might not be here the next time that we come.”

Taylor sighed and shook her head. She had a feeling that this might happen. She then took her hand and led her down the hallway stopping at an entryway to a series of room. “I didn’t bring you here just to see any photographs,” Taylor said. “I brought you here to see some of the most important photographs in the history of country music.” As they rounded a corner, Charlie saw the names of the exhibit. “Music City: A photographic history of country music,” she read. “Made possible by Taylor Swift and Ken Burns.” Charlie turned around and looked at her. “This is a joke, right?” Taylor shook her head.

“Now do I look like the kind of person who jokes,” Taylor said as Charlie shook her head. “But in all seriousness, I didn’t expect either. Ken Burns called me a while ago and told me about what The Met wanted to do with the Country Music Hall of Fame. When he asked me to help pick out some pictures, I knew that had to give some money to get the exhibit going because it just felt right.” Charlie nodded and was curious to see what she had picked out to display in the exhibit.

As Charlie walked into the small three roomed gallery space, she was in awe of what she saw. While she had been to galleries in the past, most of which were boring, dull and too uniform, this was entirely different. The pictures were everywhere and they were not at eye level so that everyone can see them. Anyone you could think of was featured, from The Carter Family, who’s photos were supposed to be featured in Life Magazine before the US enter WWII and Pearl Harbor was put on the cover instead, to Alan Jackson, who she didn’t know too much about, but had heard from a few people who her mother knew that he was one of the last real country stars before everything switched to the current pop sound, whatever that meant. There were even modern country stars like Blake Shelton and various others mixed in with the legends of country music.

As Charlie wandered around the gallery, she was in awe of everything that she saw, but she was confused when she came to one photo of someone who didn’t fit the gallery. “Minnie Pearl,” Taylor said as she walked up behind her. “She was the comic relief for the Opry. She was always the one to run on stage and keep the crowd from rioting when something went wrong. She came from money, but played a hillbilly character that was featured for 40 years at the Opry.” Charlie was confused. “I’ll show you some videos later sweetie,” Taylor said as she ushered her away from the picture.

As the made their way through the gallery, passing pictures of people who Charlie knew, like Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert and even Loretta Lynn, and some she didn’t, like Charley Pride, Buck Owens and many others, she turned back toward her mother. “How did you find all the time to do this,” she said as she looked at a picture of the cast of Hee Haw, which as it turned out was actually a TV show and not something that someone made up like she initially thought. Taylor laughed as she heard that. Even she didn’t have a clear answer to that question or understood how she had time to even go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and look through the archives.

“I didn’t do all of this,” she said as she led her over to a picture of Dolly Parton taken by David Gahr. “Ken Burns did most of the historic photos and I did most of the portraits.” As Charlie looked up, she was in awe of what she saw. “Like this one,” Taylor said as she leaned in. “And she wants to meet you, in fact she’s dying to meet you. At least that’s what I’ve been hearing since she heard that you’re my daughter.“ Charlie blushed as she heard that. If there was one famous person she wanted to meet, besides all of her mom’s friends that is, it was Dolly. Charlie then walked over and sat on a nearby bench and looked at her mother.

“A few years before we came out to Los Angeles,” Charlie started. “We lived in Nashville for…” Charlie looked away for a moment and felt her mother touch her shoulder, letting her know that it was OK to keep going. Charlie took a deep breath and mustered the courage to keep going. “A few months near Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban and it was actually nice.” Taylor rolled her eyes. She had a feeling that Marc would do something like that, putting her in driving distance.

“I was home from school one day and I heard my father arguing with someone. I looked out the window and he was arguing with someone. I couldn’t see who it was because she was hidden behind my father; until she started to push him around and I saw it was Dolly Parton. I ran out when I saw her and gave her the biggest hug. All I remember her saying was “If you don’t take this girl to see her mother, I’m gonna do it myself” and the next day, we moved again. I guess you could say that he was scared of little ol’ Dolly Parton and was worried that she would reunite us.” At first, Taylor wanted to clench her fist in rage, because of how close she was to Charlie at that point, but there she couldn’t help but laugh. The thought of Marc being scared of all 5’ of Dolly Parton made her laugh.

“You’ll have to ask her about that,” Taylor said as the got up and walked toward the doorway that led back to the hallway. “But what I wanna know is how she knew.” Charlie stopped and looked at her mother. “It was a dead giveaway of course,” she said. “I think I heard her say that she looks like Taylor Swift so much that it isn’t funny and my father’s jaw hit the ground. Needless to say, she harassed him over and over until she finally came over and told him that she was going to bring Taylor over tomorrow and then we moved to LA.” Taylor shook her head. She had a feeling that Marc’s PI had eventually lost track of her, hence why he moved to LA, thinking that she would never find them there.

“You were so close at that point,” Taylor said as the stopped and looked at a picture of Reba, picked by Ken Burns. “That I could have driven down and picked you up if Dolly picked you up.” Charlie rolled her eyes. It was better than she waited because now she could be with her mom forever.

As they neared the end of the exhibit, Charlie was starting to think her mother wasn’t going to include herself. However, as they neared the doorway, there she was with a few other famous female country singers.

“From the look on your face you’re surprised to see me,” Taylor said. “I didn’t want to put myself front and center, so I figured that I put myself at the end of everything.” Charlie walked over to the picture and looked at it. “This is the point where I knew I made it,” Taylor continued. ”Playing an arena opening for someone was something, but playing one on your own tour it’s scary.” As she heard that, Charlie turned away and started to sob a bit.

As Taylor heard this, she led Charlie back into the gallery and sat on the bench that they were sitting on a few minutes ago. “What’s wrong,” Taylor asked as they sat back down on the bench. She was glad that she this happened now instead of in front of everyone at the gala. It seemed that Charlie had finally reached realization that this was a lot bigger than she thought it was going to be. Charlie looked up at her mother and managed to compose herself a bit, but was still crying and was thankful for waterproof mascara.

“I’m scared,” she said as she sniffed a little. “I haven’t had the chance to tell anyone because everyone else is so thrilled that I’m finally happy. But I’m not. I’m worried that I’m just going to be used by everyone so that they can get close to you or that I’m gonna have another incident like I had with Vicky again.” She started to cry again. Taylor pulled her in and comforted her. In the silence of the museum, she finally got the alone time that she wanted. Jenn was always around and a lot of her famous friends were too, so the barely got any time to themselves.

“I know things are gonna be rough for the next couple of months,” Taylor started as she wiped the tears away from Charlie’s eyes. “But I promise you that things will get better, but it’s gonna take some time. There’s gonna be tabloid covers, gossip columns write ups and other things that are gonna make it seem like you should go back to your father, but there will be other things that will make them seem small. Remember that young girl outside the hotel? Think of her and all of the other girls who are looking up to you. Think of all the magazine covers you’re gonna be on, think of all the places that you, Jenn and Alyx are going to go and most importantly, all the time that you’re going to have with me.”

Charlie looked at her mother. For most of the time, it wasn’t just them. It was either her friends, her mother’s friends and even Joe for that matter where always over, barely giving them time alone. As she heard her words, she realized something. She really was going to spend time with her and not put her career first, unlike her father did.

Charlie shifted a bit as she started to get nervous. “You’re going to disappear again aren’t you,” she asked causing her mother to nod her head. “Why?” Taylor shrugged as she wiped Charlie’s face again. “Why not,” Taylor replied. “I’m going to do two North American shows and them that’s it. I’d like to get to know my daughter a little better and disappearing is the best thing to do. While Joe and everyone else might be around and your friends of course, but most of the time it’s just going to be us and only us. I think that’s the best thing to do since I very much wanted to get to know you and for you to know me.”

At first, Charlie wanted to cry again, but she was too happy to even say anything. All she could do was hug her mother and just sit there in the silence of the museum. “That’s… That’s all I want,” Charlie finally said after want seemed to be hours. “I just want it to be the two of us and once and a while maybe some other people, but just us.” Taylor smiled and stood up with her.

“That’s all I want too,” she told her as they walked out of the exhibit.

Chapter Text

One year later.

Charlie sighed as she looked out of her bedroom window. She had planned on lying out by the pool and getting some sun, but it seemed that the weather had other plans. It rarely rained in Los Angeles, but of course the one day that she wanted to actually get out of the house and be outside, she couldn’t. She was actually starting to get bored with her life.

Covid was starting to annoy her and her mother to the point where Charlie was left alone often, but least she had security in the house at all times was a good thing and the fact that she couldn’t see Alyx or Jenn was starting to take its toll. Granted, they facetimed every chance they got, but it sucked that they couldn’t see each other in person until it was deemed safe.

But at least this was giving her the time that she wanted with her mother. When everything t get out of hand, Taylor at first had decided to postpone Lover Fest, which wasn’t going to happen right now and was debating on if she should cancel it all together. Charlie encouraged her to wait a year and figure out what to do, which was what she decided to do. It was the best advice that she had to offer and her mother took it. She hoped that in 2021 that things would get better and the fest would actually happen.

Charlie fell back on her bed and sighed. At first it seemed like things were going to be fine, but over a few weeks things went for normal to full blown chaos in less than a day. It was impossible to get things like toilet paper (Thankfully, her mother had always brought extra when she order from Amazon Fresh) and then school closed, which while some viewed it as the worst thing ever, she and Alyx and Jenn all viewed it as the best thing ever. They spent their days here and sometimes nights as well, when their parents allowed it of course, but there were no sleepovers allowed, but that wasn’t what she was happy about, it was that she had her mom all to herself. OK, maybe not all to herself because Joe was around, but still, she finally got what she wanted.

When Joe wasn’t around, which was often now because of the fact that he had gone home to be with his family, it was just the two of them and the cats.

The two of them became inseparable from each other and couldn’t stand not being in ear shot of each other. They went everywhere together, mostly Target or the grocery store to get more things for the week and the fact that wearing a mask out in public helped hide their faces made everything easier and no one would approach them in fear of getting them sick.

They constantly did curbside pickup from local bookstores in order to help and support them, but mostly they just stayed home and did nothing. There were times that they just would lie in bed all day and just talk about things, trying to get to know each other or get up lie out by the pool, which was great because it was just to two of them and it was fun to see her mother acting like a teenager, something that she wanted to do for a long time since she really didn’t have teenage years that she didn’t get to have. On other days, they would just stay inside and watch old Hollywood movies. If this was going to be her life, then Charlie was happy with this, but she knew eventually that the famous Taylor was going to come back and things would be different, but she didn’t mind. At least for a little while, it was good to have her. At least up until recently.

While there was nothing wrong after the first few weeks that they were home, she knew that her mother was up to something. Her mother wasn’t they type of person to just sit around and do nothing, she was the kind of person who when inspiration hit, it hit hard and didn’t stop until she was ready to let it. She was up to something but didn’t know what it was.

In recent weeks, she noticed that her mother had started writing again and was trying to be somewhat secretive about it, but was doing a terrible job. Granted, she was always writing, but this was something different. She was being secretive about it and trying to hide it from her. Normally, Taylor would ask her for feedback on something that she wrote, but recently, she was hiding the fact that she was writing. While this wasn’t suspicious, the fact that she wasn’t allowed in her mother’s bedroom made things worse. Something was going on, but she didn’t know what and after a few weeks she started to disappear at random.

She knew that she wasn’t going to meetings because no one was in the office and she had started to check to see where she was via Find My Phone and it never really showed where she was. “Figures,” Charlie said the first time she tried it. She knew that her mother would have turned off that feature in case someone found her number, but this was her own daughter. She wasn’t nervous because of the fact that she always had her security guards with her, but this was getting nuts. She hadn’t been home in a while, like a few weeks and now she was starting to get nervous.

As she flicked through Disney+ trying to find something to watch, her phone rang. As she picked it up to see who it was, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“And where have we been,” she teased as she answered the phone causing her mother to laugh. “Sorry,” Taylor said. “I kinda decided to go to London for a few weeks and should have told you.” Charlie rolled her eyes. She should have known that’s where she went. It was weird being almost by herself. She had bodyguards to watch over her but having this massive house all to herself was weird. “I figured as much,” Charlie said. “I’m trying to find something to watch on Disney+. Are you going to join me or no?”

“I need to talk to you about something,” she said. “Get dressed I’ll be home in 20 minutes. We’ll go out.” Charlie scowled. Everything was still closed and there was nothing to do, but then she realized that this was a celebrity’s dream come true. No one was around to stop them, no one was around to take pictures and more importantly, it was just going to be them. It was just want she wanted for the longest time, just her and her mother alone (and her security team of course).

“Where are we going to go,” she asked as she turned off her light ring and closed her laptop. “Somewhere,” Taylor said. “I don’t know where yet, but we’ll figure it out.” Charlie rolled her eyes as she made her way to the bathroom. “I’ll be outside,” she told her. “I’ll be ready and on time.” Taylor ended the call leaving Charlie confused. She hadn’t seen her mother in two weeks and now she was showing up again without a word. She was confused but it was her mother after all and she know to plan stuff out, even when she didn’t know what to do.

Chapter Text

Charlie walked out of the house, shutting the door behind her so that the cats didn’t get out, which was the last thing that she wanted to happen and her mother had to make handmade signs, like Paris Hilton had to do years ago after she lost her dog, to find one of them. The rain had finally stopped, so they could go where they wanted as long as it wasn’t one of the parks with dirt trails, which she wasn’t dressed for. Maybe they could go to Will Rogers Park and sit since no was going to be around to bother them, but then again, it could be closed off to the public still because everyone was still worried about the Corona Virus. Before she had a chance to think of anything else that they could do, she watched as the gate opened and a Toyota Camry drove in. At first, Charlie was confused. She didn’t know anyone who drove a car like that and let alone one that was from Tennessee. But as the car pulled up in front of he and the window rolled down, she saw that her mother was driving, something that was a rare occurrence, but would happen once and a while and with Corona keeping most of the people off the road, she was driving a lot.

“Get in loser,” Taylor said trying not to laugh. “We’re going somewhere, but where I haven’t figure out.” Charlie laughed as she opened the door and got in. She still wasn’t too sure about this, but she trusted her enough for her to keep them both safe. But, her mother looked exhausted and really seemed like she wanted to do anything and was just doing to so that she could get the two of them out of the house just because she could. As Taylor pulled away, Charlie looked back and saw that they were being followed by Taylor’s security team. She then looked over at her mother and sighed.

As they neared the gate, Charlie put her hand on her mother’s shoulder. “No,” Charlie said. “We’re not going anywhere until you get some rest.” Taylor looked at her daughter and knew that she was right. She had been traveling a lot and knew that she need some rest, but she really wanted to share what she had been working on for the past few weeks while she slept. Taylor put the car in park and looked at Charlie. She sighed. “Fine,” Taylor said. “I’ll get some rest and then we’ll go and watch the sunset in Santa Monica or something.” She then pulled the car back in and parked it. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way that she was going to let her drive like this. She was tired and even she knew it. Her mother never showed any weakness, even for when she was fighting to get her masters back, but this was a different story.

Taylor parked the car near one of the garages and headed in the house. “Maybe we can order pizza from Pizzana and then sneak onto the beach at Santa Monica,” Taylor looked back at Charlie and smiled. “Anything you want,” she said. “I just want to ask you about something.” Charlie looked at her mother. She knew that this mean that she was working on something and it was going to be big. Taylor promised that they would spend some time together, but between her being in school and her mother jetting over to London to be with Joe, they hand barely see each other.

“Do you wanna watch a movie,” Taylor asked. I think I can get through it. Charlie rolled her eyes. She wanted to tell her no, but she knew that her mother wanted to spend time with her. “Sure,” Charlie said. “You pick.”

*
A half hour later, Charlie turned off Tangled when she saw that her mother was asleep. She had started to drift off five minutes into the film and was out long before the first song started. Charlie grabbed a blanket and covered Taylor. Taylor stirred as she pulled up the blanket and drifted back to sleep. As Charlie walked out of the room, she heard her mother’s phone ding. Knowing fully that it would wake her up, she walked over and went to silence it. When she picked it up, she tilted her head when she saw who the text was from and was surprised.

“Aaron Dessner,” Charlie said to herself. “No way, this isn’t possible. He would never do anything with her. Her style of music is way off from what he does.” She unlocked her mom’s phone and started to read through the text thread, which for some odd reason included Jack Antonoff, which made things even weirder. As she read through the thread, she didn’t believe what she was reading or wanted to believe for that matter.

She quietly walked out of the living room and headed up to her mother’s room. As she slowly pushed the door opened, she saw what she her mother was talking about via iMessage. In Taylor’s room was something that she’d never seen in the past couple of weeks. There was a massive black sound deadening blanket over something. As she pulled the blanket aside, she discovered that it was a makeshift recording studio setup in her bedroom. Charlie took a step back and wondered what was going on.

As she looked at the setup, she heard someone walk behind her and then clear her throat. Charlie turned around and saw that her mother was standing. Taylor saw the look on her face and then sighed.

“I can explain,” Taylor said, but before she had the chance to say anything more, Charlie stormed out of the room and slammed a down shut twice. “Benji,” she said. Taylor then looked at her phone and sighed.

The vocals are fine, she replied. I think we’re as good as we’re gonna get and we don’t need to do another take. Send it Randy and we’ll talk about releasing it later. Her phone went silent and she knew that meant her instructions were clear. Taylor sat on her bed and thought about what just happened. She knew that it was a bad idea to keep it a secret, let alone not let her own daughter know what she had been up to for the past few weeks, but she had to. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Charlie to know what she was doing, but if she found out, she knew that she would be pissed. She promised her at the start of lockdown that it would just be them and nothing musical related, but that quickly changed.

Taylor got up and walked out of the room. She knew that she had to explain herself, but it was going to be tough.

*
Taylor slowly pushed the door open of what was once the Old Hollywood room, which had turned into Charlie’s room. As she reached to turn the lights on, she saw an outline of something move. “As dim as possible,” Charlie said. Taylor rolled her eyes and turned them half way up. She wasn’t going to deal with this. This wasn’t Charlie hiding from everyone on her birthday because she as overwhelmed, this was Charlie upset with her because she was lying to her.

Taylor sat down next to Charlie who still had her back to her. “I’m sorry,” Taylor said to her. “I should have not lied to you about this. But it all happened so fast. Between you in school and me having nothing to do but sit around and watch old movies and read books about times and places that don’t exist anymore, sometimes you have just roll with what comes along.” Charlie turned over and looked at her, placing her head in her lap and sighed a bit.

“What is it going to be called,” Charlie asked. “And please tell me you’re not going to try to tour.” Taylor shook her head. “I’m not,” she told her. “Not until everything is almost normal enough to have a stadium full of people and the title, I’m not sure. Right now it’s working title is Woodvale. I don’t like it either, but at least it’s something.” Charlie rolled her eyes. She didn’t like it either. Her mother was had to think of a better title than this terrible title. Charlie finally sat up and looked at her mother, pulling Benji into her lap.

“I wanna hear it,” she told her. “But not in the car. We should go to Rhode Island. It’s the only place that I haven’t been yet and I’m done with school next week. So…” Taylor sighed and nodded. She had constantly kept telling her that she would take her to Holiday House for the past year, but it never happened. “Just us though,” Taylor said. “Jenn and Alex have to stay home because of the lockdown laws.” Charlie nodded. She just wanted it to be the two of them. No friends and no boyfriends. Just the two of us and no one else.

“Deal,” Charlie said.

Chapter Text

As Charlie packed her bag, she couldn’t help but think of the Rhode Island house. It was the only house that she hadn’t been to over the past year and she wondered why. It was like her mother was waiting for the right time to take, but there was never a right time. She like to call it her mother’s “party house,” mostly because of the fact that Taylor had some of her most legendary parties there and while those days where behind her, Charlie secretly hope that there would be one last party there before she decided that it was time to move on from them all together. She was also curious what the house was going to be like.

Granted, it wasn’t like Andrea’s Nashville home, which was outside of Nashville and far enough back off the road that no one could see anything behind the high wall or the Goldwyn estate, which you would get lost trying to find it. It was different. It was out in the opened and everyone could see it, granted there was a long driveway that protected it, but you could see it from the road and from the water. Her mother constantly told her that if they went there, there would be crowds of people who wanted to catch a glimpse of them. At first, this made Charlie not want to go there at all, but the more she heard about it, the more it seemed like a fairytale or folklore.

Charlie heard her mother talking about it once to either Gigi or Blake and what she heard made it sound like a paradise that was left over from the gilded age, like something out of The Great Gatsby, a place where the rich and famous once came to play. She was excited to finally go there; in fact she was actually thrilled that she was really getting to go there and experience it for the first time. At least now they would be able to actually go there, unlike earlier this year when they couldn’t go anywhere.

As she packed, she looked over at Benji, who as always lying on her flip flops. She picked him up and held him like a baby. “You’re coming too,” she said as she sat down at her computer and googled the name of the woman that her mother was talking about months ago who was one of the previous owners of the house and owned it for years before the other owners brought it.

As she started to read about the woman Rebekah Harkness, the woman in question, she covered her mouth and giggled. She didn’t believe what she was reading or couldn’t believe it either. Harkness was her just like her mother, a woman who didn’t listen to anyone and surrounded herself with famous people. Charlie was starting to think that her mother was intentionally buying properties with some kind of history behind them, but the fact that she had that modern penthouse, made it false.

She put Benji down and closed her bag as she looked over at the picture of Rebekah one last time. “We’ll see just how crazy you,” Charlie said as she closed the browser and then shut her laptop. She put Benji down and then opened the door for him. She then turned the light off and went to bed. She knew that she had an early day tomorrow, so why not go to be earlier than normal.

*

Taylor watched from her doorway as she saw Benji walk from down the hall. She saw the light go out in Charlie’s room and breathed a sigh of relief. They had an early day tomorrow, but she needed to take care of some things before they went. As Benji came into the room and hopped on the bed that was his, she went over and scratched his head. All the cats were coming and while she had already sent Meredith and Olivia a head so that they can settle in before Benji got there and tried to run the show as usual. As Taylor packed her bag, her phone dinged. She looked at it and smiled.

‘The mastering will be done shortly,’ the text read. ‘Do you want me to send the finish product to you in LA.?’ Taylor though about this for a moment and then replied. ‘Send it to the Rhode Island house,’ she replied to Randy. ‘Someone special gets to hear it before everyone else does.’ She smiled to herself as she sat down on her bed.

Earlier, she was going to explain to Charlie what was going on, but it wasn’t the time. When they got to Rhode Island, she would explain everything and tell her all about what was going on and what inspired the album. The Holiday House was the perfect place, but the title wasn’t. While she liked the Woodvale, it just didn’t fit properly or seemed like an album that she would put out. She sighed. As she tried to think of a different title, her phone rang. She picked it up and smiled.

“Hi,” she said softly not wanting to wake Charlie. “I miss you.” At first it sounded like no one was going to be on the other end of the phone, but the Taylor heard the sound of a door closing and slamming against the frame. “Sorry,” Joe said. “Just had to get away from everyone. Miss you too. How’s Charlie.” It was weird hearing him ask about her. In fact, even though she had been living with her for a year, it was all just so weird and new to her.

“She’s good,” Taylor said as she shut the door so that could speak louder. “She was a little upset when she found out accidently that I had been secretly recording after she went to sleep, but very understanding that I had to do it to keep myself from going crazy.” Joe laughed as he heard that. He knew that Charlie was going to be pissed, but also knew that her mother wasn’t going to back down and not be creative when she was bogged down at home.

“I figured that was going to happen,” Joe said. “Has she heard it yet?” Taylor sighed a bit. “Not yet,” Taylor said. “We’re heading out to Rhode Island and I had them ship the first mastered album there. I think that she going to like it, but I just wish I could come up with a better title than what I came up with.” Joe chuckled as he heard that. “Let’s just call that title the project title. It’s like a working title that you can use just in case you can’t come up with a title.” Taylor rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to use the title, if she had to, then she had to.

“So what’s new with you,” she asked him. She lied back on the bed and listened to Joe tell her about The Lakes District and how she should and Charlie should come out, she tried to think of a title. She wasn’t going to call it Woodvale that’s for sure.

Chapter Text

Charlie looked out the window as the swung over the Block Island Sound. It wasn’t much different than flying over Catalina and the Channel Islands on the west coast, but there was something different about it that she couldn’t explain. Something felt old about it, as if it had a classic feel to it. Granted the East Coast of the US was much older and establish than the things that she saw on the West Coast, it just had an old money feel to it.

Charlie and her mother had made plans to go and visit all of the old mansions that all the old billionaires had once called home over the summer before she went and did the now canceled Lover Fest, but it seemed that Covid had other plans. But now, it seemed that thing were going to change and they were actually going to spend time in one that her mother actually owned and Charlie forgot about all the time.

“There,” Taylor said as Charlie leaned over and looked out the window as her mother pointed out a small town that sat on the edge of a cliff that was beside the ocean, with two large houses that loomed over all the other large estates that were in the area. Charlie was in awe of what she saw. She had seen large homes before from living in California before, but this was something different.

“There’s where we’re going.” The house looked so small from up here and the fact that it had that seawall behind it, made it look like something out of a fairytale. Well almost. Charlie was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a big gaudy house and something that looked like an almost the house that Andrea lived in, but there was something about it that she couldn’t put her finger on about it. It had somewhat of a magical feel to it, but she wasn’t sure if it was real or not. She forced a smile as she turned around and started to prep for landing.

“So…” Charlie started. “No one is really out here right now?” Taylor nodded. While she was used to the hustle and bustle of the major cities of New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, it was strange to hear that a place wasn’t active all year round and was only really busy on the weekend. Taylor nodded. “Well not really,” Taylor said. “It’s not the weekend. Watch Hill is busier on the weekends because that’s when everyone comes and spends a few days here. It used to be only people who owned houses would come here, but now, everyone wants to come here all because I decided to buy a house here. That and Covid has forced everyone to rethink their travel plans. So unless you own a house in the area or know someone who does, then no one is going to be here.” The plane started it’s descent as Charlie jumped a bit, strapping herself in.

“How long is the ride from the airport,” she asked as she watched everything get bigger and bigger. “About 10 minutes,” Taylor said as the plane landed. “Watch Hill has its own airport, so it’s a quick ride and also a really good thing for those who don’t want to be seen by anyone.” Charlie looked at her mother confused, but as they got off the plane and drove away from the airport, she fully understood.

*

Charlie watched as the landscape changed quickly. It went from a small inland town to an even smaller seaside town that seemed cozy and her mother was right, the town was super small and barely had anything in it. There weren’t too many store in Watch Hill, maybe a small general store and a few clothing stores and other things, it was just houses that seemed to be in people’s families for years. There wasn’t even a supermarket in the town, it was farther way than Charlie was used to, so there was no way that she could sneak out and go grab a some things that she need to bake a cake or get things that she needed for dinner. But the one thing that she really liked about the town was that it was cute as her mother said it was. It had an quaint seaside feel to it, but that quaintness was about to change as they entered the town.

As they passed through the main part of town, people gawked as they caravan of SUVs rolled pasted.

“I guess that you get this a lot when you come here,” Charlie asked as people took pictures of the entourage of SUVs that slowly through the main drag of town. Before Taylor could answer, Charlie gasped, causing her mother to wonder what was wrong. “Stop,” she yelled as they passed an ice cream store, the one thing that Charlie had a weakness for and would go out of her way to stop at even if it meant she had to make her father turn around in the middle of the street and now it seemed that it was her mother’s turn to experience it.

“Do you think it’s safe to go in?” Taylor looked around. It was early in the week and no one was really around with the exception of day trippers, so there was really no need to really worry about being seen out and about in Watch Hill. “Sure,” Taylor said. “It’s not like we’re going to spend an hour in there.” Taylor tapper the head of her security team on the shoulder and he let everyone know what was happening. After a couple of seconds he and the other team members got out and looked around. This was still so new to Charlie, mostly because it was hard to always have someone looking over you every move, but she understood why she couldn’t even go out with friends anymore.

As she and Taylor got out of the truck, a few people gathered around to gawk and take photos. They all knew who she was because of the Vogue issue, but it was strange to have people take pictures of her. As the neared the shop, Charlie saw that the security team was trying to rush a family out who had just walked in before they stopped.

“No,” Charlie said as they walked in. “They can stay.” The security guard looked back at Taylor, who nodded in agreement and he back off and let the family be. As, they stood in line, the little girl peered back at Charlie and waved, thanking them. Charlie smiled at waved back. At least she still could make someone’s day.

*

“You don’t really have a sign that says that,” Charlie said as the passed the sign that read “I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked” that was 200 ft. away from the main gate, causing Taylor to laugh. “It was either that or “Beware of friendly cats,” she answered back. They arrived a bit later to the house than Taylor would have liked because the family in front of them wanted to take pictures, which was fine because it served as an apology for what the security team tried to do, but at least they were safe behind the gates now.

As the main gate opened, Charlie was in awe of what she saw. The house, while modernized a bit, still had the old charm that a New England house would have and there was still a pool. As the car came to a stop, Charlie got out and ran into the house. “Charlie,” Taylor called out. “It’s probably locked.” As Charlie neared the door, she discovered that it was unlocked. “The help must have just left as we were coming,” Charlie said as she pushed the door opened and went inside.

As she entered the house, carrying Benji in a backpack, she looked around and was a little disappointed. It was decorated just like all her mother’s houses were, a bit on the modern side of things, but some of the furniture that would have been period correct blended in here and there. It wasn’t what she was expecting, but it worked. As she stood there, she heard something different. She let Benji out of the carrier, who promptly darted up stairs to his safe place, and followed the noise that she wasn’t familiar with.

Charlie pushed opened a door and discovered a patio out back. She walked out and the hopped over a wall, something that she did everywhere and walked across an expansive lawn. “She must have had some crazy games on this lawn,” Charlie said as she walked across the lawn toward a fence. As she neared it, she saw something that she’d never thought she’d see. “The Atlantic,” she said to herself. “Well,” Taylor said as she walked behind her. “It’s the Block Island Sound but you’re right in saying that.” Charlie turned back to her mother. “This place is a bit magical than I thought,” she said. “It was a little bummed it didn’t have the same old timey feel that the Goldwyn Estate has.” Taylor laughed as she heard that.

“It has a different kind of magical feel to it,” she told Charlie. “In fact, it kind of inspired me a bit.” Charlie looked at her and sighed a bit. She knew that this was coming but she didn’t expect it to be this soon. She knew that her mother was up to something, but she wasn’t sure what. As she looked back at her mother, she saw the familiar warm smile that she first saw when she found her. The trust that she had wanted finally came back as she started to smile. Charlie then walked over and hugged her.

“What is it,” she asked as she looked up at her mom, who was somehow still taller than her, but only by a little. Hearing that caused Taylor to smile.

“After dinner,” she told her. “Everything will be heard after dinner.”

Chapter Text

The rest of day was uneventful, but not that uneventful when your mother is a celebrity. After word got out that Taylor and her daughter were in Watch Hill, spending a few days at the Holiday House, everyone wanted to try to see them. Cars started to fill up the streets and any parking space that was empty. It seemed that everyone and their friends wanted to try and get a look at the both of them. While no one tried to climb the walls, run past security or climb the rocks, they all stood on the beach with hopes of seeing one of them. But both Taylor and Charlie where smart and stayed out of sight, not letting anyone see either of them. Eventually, as the sun started to set, everyone gave up and left the small town and while there were some stragglers, who hoped that now since everyone had left, the both of them would show up outside, letting everyone see them, but eventually, they gave up too and left.

*

Charlie spent most of the day finishing up school work, peeking out the window of what was her bedroom in the Holiday House, watching everyone gather on the beach. While they were only looking toward the lower windows of the house, hoping that her mother would look out and wave at them, they never noticed that Charlie was looking down at them in the upper windows, which made her smile. She lied back on her bed and stretched. This weekend getaway was just she and her mom needed. It was a chance for them to reconnect a little and finally have some alone time. She was also glad that the school year was over because that meant that she was going to spend the summer with her mother and while the world had other plans for them, she was kind of glad that it wasn’t going to be on tour for Lover.

While she was excited to see the world, this relationship was still new and she didn’t want the idea of touring to affect the relationship that she was trying to develop. The fact that the world shut down was the best thing that could happen to the two of them. Charlie closed her laptop and looked out the wind of the bedroom that overlooked the beach that was below the house. Seeing all those people down there was surreal and they were there to see her and her mother. But the both of them had the same idea and decided to stay indoors for most of this trip, unless it was to run up to the local Stop and Shop or into town for something else. It was strange and Charlie actually liked it. Months after the Gala, every day she had to deal with photographers and fans that would want a picture or autograph. It was something that she was still not used to. She knew that she would never be able to go back to her old life, but this life was a lot better, even though she had to deal stuff like this. While she did hate that covid had messed up a lot of things, she was glad that she was actually getting a chance to finally to know her mother, even though she was still a little mad at her.

Charlie sat in the window and watch as people stood there with cameras and binoculars, trying to see if they could see her or her mother walk by, but she knew that it wasn’t going to happen. With the sun starting to set, it seemed that some of the people were starting to give up and accepted the fact that they were not going to see either of them and had finally started to leave. While some of them lingered, hoping to see either of them, it also meant the cops would soon come and clear the beach and then things would be normal as normal could be. She climbed down and shut the curtains. Her life had changed and whole it was taking time to get used to, it was better than it was a year ago. Charlie watched as the lights from a cop car danced across the ceiling.

“Thank god,” she said to Benji who had found her and forced his way into her room. “Looks like we finally get some alone time and can actually go outside and enjoy everything.” The cat purred a bit as she rubbed his head. Charlie picked up the cat and walked downstairs.

*

As Charlie walked down the hall way, she rolled her eyes a bit. She was glad that Taylor was including her in her life, but the side by side pictures in every house were a little much. Granted, most of them turned into school pictures, but there were some dance pictures here and they that were a bit creepy for her liking. As Charlie neared the stairs, she stopped and shook her head. There was a picture of her and Taylor as newborns, both of them in their mother’s arms. After a few seconds, she started to realize that it was real. For the first time in her life, she had a normal life. Granted, it was with a mother who was famous, but it was a stable life.

Charlie reached back and rubbed one of the scars that was still noticeable. While you would never see it unless she was wearing a bathing suit, she knew that it was going to be there forever, but at least it would heal and become less noticeable over time and while it would serve as a reminder of her past life, but proved that she could move on. As stood there, her phone went and brought her back to real life.

Come down when you’re ready, Taylor texted. I have something that I want to share with you. Charlie sighed a bit. She wasn’t ready for this, but it seemed that her mother wanted to get off her chest. As she started to walk down the stairs, she really started to wonder what the album was going to sound like. In all honesty, she wasn’t crazy about Lover, but did like one or two tracks off of the album, but she did enjoy everything that came with it, from living spending time with Cara in the rental that had a pool in it to appearing in the You Need to Calm Down music video, it was somewhat magical and like nothing that she had ever experienced. But after that, Covid came a few months later and the magic was somewhat gone, but at least some kind of magic was here.

Charlie was still mad at her mother for hiding the fact that she was recording without her knowing, but she slowly started to realize that this was the best thing that could happen to her. It allowed her to sneak off to a studio, if she needed to of course, but from the looks she was doing most of her work at home. Charlie tried not to think of what she was doing or what the project was because she wanted to be surprised by the project, but that was going to happen.

After he mother ended her conversation with Joe, she quietly snuck into her room and took her phone. She and Tree were the only two besides her mother to know her password and Charlie was going to use it to her full advantage. Charlie sat in the large chair in her mother’s room, turning down brightness on the screen so that it wouldn’t wake her and started to scroll through the text thread that she discovered earlier.

As she read through it, Charlie was amazed that she had this much planned out, even as far back as the beginning of the pandemic. It seemed that spending time with her had made her more creative and watching all those old moves and reading books about old Hollywood must have really inspired her. Even the house that they were both currently in was part of the album from what she could tell. As she got into the middle of the text thread, she found out that there and been some planning involved since late May, back when they would go on drives and sneak into cemeteries, looking for the graves of old Hollywood actors, actresses, and socialites, most importantly, the mausoleum of some woman named Rebekah Harkness for some odd reason, but that wasn’t really that important, what was important was that she was spending time with her mom and that’s all that mattered. Charlie never understood why she was going here or why she dragged her along, but after reading these texts, she understood fully what was going on.

'I want this to feel like a story,' Taylor replied to Jack and Aaron in the thread. 'Something that I would have told Charlie at bedtime when she was younger and had never left, making them up as I went along each night, but yet having something that intertwined them. I want them to be stories that would want her to hear more, but at the last second before the next one starts, it just ends. I want it to be about love, travel and even the woman who owned my Rhode Island house long before I did. We finally got a chance to go to her grave when I found out that her final resting place was up in the Bronx and with then world being closed off, it was going to be easier to go and visit her and ask permission to write a song about her and the house. But that’s not important. I want this to be an album of folklore like stories that all have some connecting theme. I want this to feel like stories that I heard for years and now I’m passing them on to someone else.'

Charlie read this and knew that her mother was right for keeping it from her. If Charlie had found out about is sooner, she might have ruined everything she had planned out. She then grabbed the photos as the two of them as preschoolers and headed downstairs.