Authors Note: Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted a fic. I’ve been crazy busy with school, but I plan to get back into writing more because I miss it. This is a fic about Taylor taking care of Joe and Patrick when they are sick. I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you think!
Taylor had a weeklong break from tour and was so happy to be able to spend some time in London with Joe. Even though they both had been frequently working, and she had reemerged into the public eye long ago, she still found a lot of comfort in hiding out in London with her boyfriend and getting to just be Taylor and Joe, despite their very busy and public careers.
Taylor woke up cuddled up next to Joe and looked over at the clock realizing that it was already 10:30 am, knowing that they both had needed to sleep in a little bit. She watched Joe peacefully sleep for a couple of minutes before giving into the urge to wake him up so that she could spend some much needed quality time with him. She cuddled up into him even more and kissed his lips while playing with his hair, hoping to gently wake him up. He began to stir before mumbling a groggy “mornin’ baby” and opening his eyes to his gorgeous girlfriend.
“Sorry to wake you up, but I’m got bored, and I miss you,” Taylor commented while running her fingers in a relaxing pattern over his chest.
“It’s okay I’ve missed you too babe,” Joe replied before breaking out into a fit of coughs.
“Uh oh that doesn’t sound good,” Taylor noted before bringing her hand up to his forehead and asking, “are you feeling okay? I think you have a fever,” her voice laced with concern.
Joe tried to tell her he was fine before he started coughing again and noticed his sore throat, stuffed nose, and pounding headache.
“I guess I might be getting sick” he relented.
“Yeah it seems like it. Don’t worry baby, I will take great care of you” Taylor promised.
Joe knew better than to try and object to Taylor’s efforts at nursing him back to health. He knew there was no stopping his wonderful girlfriend from going above and beyond to take care of him and the people she cared about. Plus, if he was being honest, he liked to be babied when he was sick and wasn’t going to fight the extra love and attention from her.
Taylor kissed his forehead one last time before heading to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth and somewhat get ready for the day. When she walked back into the master bedroom, she handed Joe some ibuprofen to help with his headache and fever and gave him a glass of water, which she insisted that he drink. After he had taken the medicine she informed him that she was going to go downstairs and make him some soup because he still needed to eat even if he was sick. Meanwhile, Joe decided to go back to sleep for a little while until she returned with lunch.
About 45 minutes later, Taylor came back upstairs and woke Joe up with a bowl of homemade soup and more water so that he could stay hydrated. The two sat in bed while he ate and watched some TV, just relaxing together. After he finished eating, Joe laid his head on Taylor’s chest and allowed her to absent-mindedly run her fingers through his hair, something she knew he loved.
“I don’t want you to get sick babe, you know you don’t have to stay up here if you don’t want to” Joe offered, knowing she probably wouldn’t except and deep down hoping she wouldn’t.
“Shut up, you know I’m not going anywhere. You’re sick and I’m going to stay right here and take care of you because I love you,” Taylor responded.
“I love you too baby, and thank you for taking care of me,” Joe replied with a sleepy smile on his face. He knew how lucky he was to have her.
Meanwhile at school, Patrick was beginning to feel pretty sick as well, not unlike his older brother. During his study hall period he called his mom, asking her if she would come pick him up since he wasn’t feeling very well.
Elizabeth had to remind him that both her and his father would be out of town for the day on a work thing and wouldn’t be back until really late that night.
“Why don’t you call Joe and ask him to come pick you up honey” Elizabeth suggested.
“Okay fine I guess I’ll call him instead,” Patrick relented knowing that Joe wouldn’t take care of him like his mom or make him food. He would probably just leave him on the couch to sleep it off.
“I’m sorry honey, we will be home later tonight and hopefully you will start feeling better soon. I love you,” Elizabeth conveyed before ending the call.
The couple remained in bed cuddling and made it half way through another episode of Law and Order SVU before Joe’s Phone rang. Taylor grabbed the phone from the bedside table to answer it for him so he didn’t have to move. She saw Patrick’s name on the screen and quickly picked up, hoping everything was okay with him.
“Hey Pat, what’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be at school right now?” Taylor asked.
“Umm yeah I am at school, but I’m feeling really sick and mum and dad are out of town all day so they told me to call Joe and ask if he would come and get me” he replied.
“Awe I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. It just so happens that Joe is also feeling pretty sick, so I don’t know if he is up to coming to get you, but I will send my security to pick you up, and you can come hangout over here. What’s one more Alwyn boy to take care of,” Taylor offered.
“Thanks Tay, see you soon then,” Patrick replied before ending the call to wait to be picked up. He was honestly pretty happy that Taylor was there too. She was a lot nicer and more caring than Joe so she would actually take care of him way more than his older brother.
After the phone call ended with Patrick, Taylor quickly sent a text to Elizabeth explaining that Joe was also sick, but assuring her that she was sending someone to pick Patrick up from school and that she would make sure he was okay.
The couple decided to relocate to the couch in the downstairs living room so they would be there when Patrick got back from school. About 40 minutes later, Taylor heard the front door opening and looked up from the TV to see Patrick walking through the door. Even though she was used to it by now, she couldn’t help but notice how similar Patrick and Joe looked, they both even had the same sad looking expression when sick.
“Hey Pat! I’m sorry you’re sick buddy. Have you eaten Lunch?” Taylor asked, while giving him a hug.
“No, but I’m not really very hungry” Patrick commented as he plopped down on the couch next to Taylor.
“You have to eat something even tough you don’t feel well. Do you want me to get you some soup? I already made Joe eat some a little while ago. I can heat some up for you,” Taylor offered.
“Don’t fight her on this. She is determined to take care of us,” Joe noted lazily as he lifted his head up from Taylor’s lap to glance over at his brother.
“Sure, I guess soup sounds good,” Patrick relented.
Joe sat up so Taylor could get up to go get his little brother some soup before leaning back onto the couch. The brothers sat in silence lazily watching the TV, neither feeling up to talking much. After about 10 minutes Taylor returned to the living room with soup, as well as extra pillows and blankets for the sick boys. She handed Patrick a tray with his soup along with a glass of water. She reached down to feel his forehead before determining that he also had a fever and handing him some ibuprofen like she had given Joe earlier. Patrick sat up and took the medicine before thanking Taylor for the soup.
“Do you guys need anything else?” she asked while putting a blanket over Patrick and handing him one of the pillows she brought.
“I’m good. Thanks, Tay,” Patrick commented before taking his first bite of soup.
“I just want my pillow back, so if you could come sit back down that would be much appreciated” Joe replied, signaling for her to return to her spot between the boys on the couch.
Taylor laughed a little before setting back down onto the couch and allowing Joe to lay his head back in her lap so she could continue running her fingers through his hair in a relaxing manner. She was glad they ended up getting the large sectional couch because it was the perfect size for all of them to comfortably lie out on. Her and Joe had actually just slept on the couch a few times after falling asleep downstairs because it was so comfortable. Now that everyone was situated, they all focused back on the TV.
“Do you guys want to watch a movie? We’ve been watching random episodes of this show for hours and I’m kind of feeling a change,” Taylor asked the boys.
Both of them lazily mumbled a “sure, sounds good,” prompting Taylor to find a movie for them to watch. She scrolled Nextflix for a while before Patrick suggested that they watch Harry Potter because it was the standard sick day movie of both the brother’s childhoods.
“Oh yes, I like that idea!” Taylor responded excitedly.
“I wish I could share in your enthusiasm baby, but unfortunately I have no energy. He is right though, Harry Potter is a must watch sick day movie” Joe commented.
“So which one do you want to watch? Do you wanna just start with the first one?” Taylor asked.
The boys nodded in approval and Taylor hit play as they lounged on the couch. Patrick had fallen asleep about three fourths of the way through the first movie and Joe was drifting in and out of sleep, never moving his head from Taylor’s lap.
Just as the second movie ended and Taylor hit play on the third one, she glanced down at her phone to check the time and realized it was already 10:30 pm. She also noticed a text from Elizabeth informing her that they had just gotten back in town and would be by to pick up Patrick in about 20 minutes. Realizing that she had sent the text 17 minutes ago, Taylor figured she would be there any minute. She decided to just let Patrick sleep until his mom got there because she didn’t want to wake him up before she had to. He looked so peaceful sleeping on the other side of her, not unlike her boyfriend who was also sleeping contently.
After a couple minutes went by, she heard the front door open to see her security unlocking the door and allowing Elizabeth and Richard to walk in. They immediately spotted Taylor and the boys and began walking over. Taylor paused the TV before saying hi to Joe’s parents. Elizabeth came over to give Taylor a hug before leaning down to Kiss Joe’s forehead and rub his back, stirring him awake. As Joe woke up, he saw his mom and raised his head up from Taylor’s lap, sitting up so he could give her a hug.
“Thank you for taking care of them today Taylor, I appreciate it so much. I know these two can be pretty needy when they are sick. Although I’ve found that most guys seem to think the world is ending whenever they get sick,” Elizabeth Joked.
“It was no problem, Joe is pretty needy all the time” Taylor joked back, earning a protest from her boyfriend.
“I’m just kidding baby,” she responded before assuring Elizabeth and Richard that it was no problem at all and that she was more than happy to take care of both Joe and Patrick. Patrick began to wake up as a result of all the talking as his mom sat down next to him, feeling his forehead.
“Both of them had fevers earlier, but I made them eat some soup and drink water and gave them some ibuprofen to hopefully help with the fevers” Taylor informed their parents.
“Well it sounds like they were both in great hands. Thank you again honey. I better get Patrick home so he can go back to bed” Elizabeth responded, ushering for Patrick to get up and go to the car with his dad.
“Thanks again, Taylor” Richard noted as he came over to hug Joe and Taylor goodbye.
Once they all said their goodbyes and left with Patrick, Taylor came back over to the couch where Joe was still sitting.
“Do you want to go upstairs and go to bed too? Are you feeling any better baby?”
“Yeah, I’m starting to feel a bit better, but upstairs sounds good,” Joe responded.
The couple made their way up to the master bedroom and quickly got ready for bed before getting under the covers, Joe immediately cuddling up next to Taylor once again.
“I hate that you’re feeling so sick baby. Hopefully you just need a good nights rest and you will feel a little better tomorrow.”
Joe hummed in agreement before whispering, “thanks for taking care of me today baby. I love you so much, you know that, right?”
“I had a feeling, but thanks for confirming,” Taylor joked back before continuing, “and I love you too. Now go to sleep because I want you to be awake enough to hangout with me tomorrow. As cute as you are sleeping all day, I would like to get to talk to you as some point since I’ve miss you and all.”
“I’ll do my best. Good night babe,” Joe responded before drifting off to sleep. Taylor fell asleep soon after him, realizing she was actually really tired, despite the fact that they had just laid around all day.
The screams had settled. The blinding lights had dimmed. And all that was left was this one audience member who was set apart from all the others because of one simple thing: he knew me.
He didn't just know my birthday or my lucky number or how I got some scar on my leg. He knew all these little things about me that couldn't be captured in a 500-word article. He knew who I was when I wasn't "on."
It had been terrifying, yet somehow so natural, how quickly Joe was able to tear down my walls, but I knew from the start that this kind of love was different. This kind of love wasn't fragile.
I felt appreciated in a relationship for the first time. There was a show to put on for the fans, but never for Joe. He had seen me growling in anger and felt my tears dry on his shirt.
I could dry my own tears and scream into a pillow, but I loved the way his hands would stroke through my hair whenever I was upset. His hand in mine could make a thousand flashing cameras feel comfortable and his lips could make movie nights and sweatpants feel sexy.
I saw him grinning at me from down the hallway backstage, looking at me like I ruled the world. There was such a passionate mix of pride and hunger and amazement in his eyes. I knew that feeling well, but there was something extremely appealing about being on the receiving end of it.
“You were absolutely incredible,” he told me, wrapping me into his arms.
“Really?”
“Are you kidding?” He pulled away to look me in the eyes. “That was the greatest performance I’ve ever seen.”
I wanted to kiss him but I couldn’t force my lips to stop smiling. We’d been dating for over a year and somehow he could still make me melt with one glance.
“You weren’t too overwhelmed or anything?” I started worrying, wondering if he was just putting up with the crowds and commotion to please me, and my smile fell a bit.
“Not at all. Everyone was going absolutely crazy for you.” He leaned in toward my lips. “Too bad you’re all mine.”
His smirk pressed up against my anxious pout and I could feel his adoration, demanding to be felt, embraced, reciprocated.
I slowly pulled away, acutely aware that we were in the middle of a hallway and anyone could walk by. He still carried that same smirk on his lips, with a bit more flush in his cheeks.
“You looked unbelievably sexy up on that stage,” he breathed onto my lips. “I’m so in love with you, it’s ridiculous.”
His words, coated in lust, drove any thought of the consequences of making out in the middle of a hallway out of my mind and I quickly recaptured his lips in mine. Joe’s hand moved to the small of my back to pull me closer and I was so entranced by him that I barely even heard this footsteps rounding the corner.
“Taylor!”
I jumped and turned around, hearing Joe’s little brother call my name. The excitement on Patrick’s face quickly faded into noticeable discomfort as he realized what he had interrupted.
“Patrick!” I exclaimed, drawing out his name in excitement and dancing over to give him a hug.
I hadn’t seen him in a while and he had come to meet Joe and I at the show.
“Hi.” He was still blushing. “I’m sorry about —”
“Don’t even worry,” I told him.
“You’re too nice to him,” Joe mumbled behind me, and I turned back momentarily to roll my eyes at him.
“So how have you been?” I asked Patrick, grinning at him. “You’ve gotten taller!”
He shrugged. “Just a little. And I’ve been pretty good.”
“That’s good.” I fished for more details like a mom picking my kid up from school. “Anything exciting happening at school? Finals coming up? Girl drama?”
He laughed at how eager I was to hear anything about his life. I adored the normalcy and comfort of Joe’s family.
“Really nothing too interesting,” he said. “Your performance was amazing, by the way!”
“Thank you!”
“Were we gonna go back out there for the other performers?” he asked.
“We can if you want to,” I told him.
Joe casually intertwining his fingers in mine as the three of us found my security team, who led us back out into the crowd.
Ed was just beginning to strum the opening notes of Perfect and I automatically looked over at Joe, who already had his eyes on me.
He wrapped an arm around me, rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of my shoulder. I knew he was thinking of the exact same thing I was — the late mid-March night when we danced around our living room to this exact song.
The lyrics had gotten us talking that night about things we’d both been thinking about but weren’t sure how to bring up to each other. The future. How we would maintain any level of normalcy in our relationship. Kids.
That last one was tricky. I’d all but given up on my dreams of becoming a mother because I wouldn’t want to force such a hectic life onto my children. But Joe had reminded me that it was still possible to be a normal human and Taylor Swift, simultaneously.
He asked me that night if I thought we’d have children of our own someday. Even though we’d only been dating for five months at that point, the thought had most definitely crossed my mind. Joe had already proven to me that he was the one, and my mind couldn’t help but drift into fantasies of him gazing down at a blue eyed baby or carrying around a curly haired toddler on his shoulders. I admitted to him that I was terrified, but I wanted everything with him. He kissed me so deeply, yet so softly, before telling me that he wanted everything with me, too.
As Ed sang the words on stage, Joe hummed along, swaying me back and forth.
“Do you think everyone in this room knows how much I love you?” he murmured into my ear.
“Not everyone,” I assured him. “Just the hundreds of people who have their eyes fixated on us right now.”
I wasn’t looking directly at him, but I could picture his lips curving into a smile that had become so familiar to me, and his eyes whispering that we had our own secret world that no one else could sneak into.
It was in moments like this that I fell deeper in love with him. It was the mix of perfect moments and ugly fights and every repetitive kiss in between that made me so utterly sure that this was it — that he was the one.
“He loves me like I’m brand new” is such an important line in Call it What You Want. Taylor was probably in a very low place before meeting Joe. I’m sure she felt like damaged goods because that’s how everyone made her out to be. Joe didn’t care about that. Joe didn’t care about her Reputation™. He loved her for her, not for who she was to everyone else. Joe is such an amazing guy and I’m so glad Taylor found a man like him.
#project hail mary
#lana del rey
#photography
#azzi fudd
#heated rivalry
