Childhood friends were a treasure you cherished with care, and the Swift family was exactly that to you. Your parents had known theirs since their school days, and later you, Taylor, and Austin attended the same school.

So, after you graduated, your parents agreed to let you follow Taylor’s tour bus during the summer vacation—on the condition that you enroll in university as soon as it ended. After all, Taylor and you were best friends… right?

Well, for Taylor it had never quite felt that simple, though she was never able to say it out loud. She had always dreamed of something more. But with the country music world watching her every move—and now being caught in a PR relationship with the werewolf from Twilight—she never found the courage to confess what she truly felt.

And yet there you all were: the five of you—Andrea, Scott, Austin, Taylor, and you—inside a bus alongside a few members of Taylor’s band. Scott was at the front of the bus on a phone call, handling some business for Tay. Andrea, Austin, Taylor, and you were gathered toward the back. Taylor was trying to write in her notebook while Andrea sat beside her, and you and Austin were sprawled across the sofa bed, laughing and shoving each other around like siblings.

Andrea smiled; she had always tried to push Austin and you toward becoming a couple. After all, you were practically family already, and the thought of you officially becoming part of it had always filled her with quiet hope.

Meanwhile, Taylor watched with a murderous look in her eyes. That was supposed to be her place, not his. He hadn’t known you since diapers, hadn’t shared sleepless study nights through high school, hadn’t— He didn’t love you the way she did.