A/N: Okay guys so unfortunately I didn't have time to edit this (I'm literally about to leave to go watch Mockingjay hahaha) but I wanted to post this for you guys so that you can all read it! This chapter is hella long (6 pages on microsoft word) but I hope you enjoy it!! and I can't believe that this story has almost 10K reads! thank you so much!! I love you all! Thank you thank you thank you!!

Maddie!!! :) 

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

Karlie

            I walked through the door behind Taylor as she rushed through the front hallway. Her dad was sitting on the couch watching TV, and he stood up to welcome us.

“Hi honey!” I heard a high-pitched voice shout from around the corner. Then, Andrea Swift walked out from what I assumed was the kitchen.

“Hi mom, hi dad!” Taylor exclaimed, throwing her arms around them. I stood in the living room with an awkward smile, waiting for Taylor to introduce me. She pulled away from her parents embrace and held her hand out to me.

“And this is Karlie!” She said, looking at me softly.

“Hi! Its so nice to meet you Mrs. Swift!” I gushed as I reached out to shake her mom’s hand. Andrea gently pushed my hand to the side and pulled me in for a hug. I must have had a surprised look on my face, because Taylor was laughing at me when I looked over her mom’s shoulder.

“Please, call me Andrea!” She said, shaking her head. “It’s so nice to meet you too! I’ve heard so many wonderful things!”

“Likewise about the two of you!” I cooed, smiling at Andrea.

“Hey Karlie, I’m Scott,” Her father said coolly, shaking my hand. “Its so great to welcome you into the family, hopefully you’ll be here longer than the other ones!” He chortled. I let out an uneasy laugh, I wasn’t sure if he was joking.

“Scott! Cut that out!” Andrea scolded, slapping him on the shoulder. “I’m sorry honey, my husband thinks that he’s funny.” She said, giving me a reassuring look.

“Yeah, usually when he tries to make a joke it comes out wrong.” Taylor explained as she walked over to me.

“It’s not a big deal,” I assured. “If you’re not tough on me, are you really doing your job as a dad?” I asked Scott, letting out a small chuckle.

“Exactly! Someone finally gets it!” He exclaimed, raising his hand for a high five. I hit my hand against his and we all shared a laugh.

“What’s all the commotion out here?” I heard an unfamiliar voice call from the hallway. Suddenly, Taylor ran to the kitchen with her arms out, shouting,

“Austin! Hey bro, how are you?” She hugged him and he walked out into the living room where Scott, Andrea and I were standing.

“I’m great! And who’s this?” Austin questioned, nodding his head towards me.

“You know who she is!” Taylor gibed. “This is my girlfriend, Karlie.”

“Hey! It’s great to finally meet you!” I beamed, extending my hand out to him. His shook it firmly and smiled back at me.

“Yeah, right back at you! I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” He said.

“So, how’s the barbecue going?” Taylor chimed in.

“I just started grilling the steaks, but you can take over if you want Taylor,” Scott said. “The games about to start, and I don’t want to miss it!” He sat down the couch and started to flip through the channels.

“What game?” I asked, turning toward the TV.

“St. Louis vs. San Diego, are you a fan?” Scott asked me curiously.

“Uh, of course! I was born and raised in St. Louis!” I scoffed, taking a seat on the armchair next to the couch.

“Really? You’re a Rams fan? That’s too bad, I was starting to like you.” Scott groaned.

“So you’re a Chargers fan? Then right back at you!” I laughed.

“Hey Karls, did you want to help me in the backyard?” Taylor asked, poking her head through the back door.

“Um, yeah, sure!” I managed.

“Taylor! Let them watch the game! I’ll give you a hand.” Andrea said, smiling at me.

“Thank you!” I smiled gratefully. Taylor shrugged her shoulders and disappeared into the backyard, Andrea following behind her.

            “Please, I can run the ball better than Oliver!” I said, rolling my eyes. Scott and I were in the middle of a debate about which team had better runners. Obviously St. Louis did, but he and I weren’t seeing eye-to-eye.

“Yeah right, with Davis as a QB you wouldn’t even get the ball, he’s too busy forcing the long bomb.” He replied. It had been nearly an hour since the game started, and we were watching intently.

“Let’s just agree to disagree.” I offered, holding my breezer out to him.

“Alright, sounds good!” Scott answered, clinking his beer bottle to against mine. We rested our eyes back on the screen, ready for the next play.

Taylor

            “I know you haven’t really gotten the chance to talk to her yet mom, but what do you think of Karlie?” I asked nervously. We were both sitting on the patio, watching the food on the barbecue.

“Taylor, you already know what I think,” She said, lifting up her sunglasses. We had closed the glass door a while ago, so we weren’t worried about her overhearing.

“I think that she’s perfect for you. You’ve brought people back home before, but this time is entirely different. You look like you’re in love—true love.” She said softly, placing her hand on top of mine. I blushed at the compliment.

“I am mom,” I agreed, looking up at her. “We just get each other. I’ve never felt this way about anybody else.” I admitted.

“I know,” My mom replied. “I can see it in the way that you look at each other. Honestly Taylor, I think Karlie could be the one for you.” Her statement took me aback, and I let out a small gasp. I loved Karlie, of course, but marriage hadn’t crossed my mind yet. I knew that we were serious about each other, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, which I had done so frequently in the past.

“Mom!” I gawked. “It’s a little bit too early for that, don’t you think?” I said, standing up from the patio chair and walking over to the barbecue.

“Maybe,” She pondered, walking towards the back door. “But I know you better than you know yourself, and Karlie’s a keeper. Anyway, I’m going to get started on the salad, are you alright out here by yourself?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine mom!” I smiled. “And thanks for saying that. I was thinking it too.” I said shyly.

“I know you were, Taylor.” My mom chuckled softly, walking inside the house.

            I stood in front of the barbecue, my brow furrowed in deep thought. I loved Karlie more than I’d ever loved anyone else in my life, and marriage was never really an idea until now. It’s not like I would ask her to marry me right this second, but I enjoyed the images of waking up with Karlie every morning that floated through my head. Maybe in a couple of years time, I thought. Of course, that’s if she even wanted to marry me, which was highly doubtful at this point.

Karlie

            We were all sitting around the dining table, just finishing up our meals. Dinner was great, and the conversation flowed heartily throughout the table. Andrea had asked me a lot of questions about my modeling career, and she seemed genuinely intrigued about my job.

“Thanks for taking over on the grill Taylor,” Austin said, looking over at her. “Those steaks were great!”

“Well, they don’t call me a grill master for no reason…” Taylor said, shrugging her shoulders and scrunching her face up at him.

“I’m pretty sure no one has ever called you that Tay!” I laughed.

“Alright, but you should all be calling me that now, considering you all loved that dinner!” Taylor said matter-of-factly.

“You guys are ridiculous,” Andrea chuckled, standing up from the table. “Is everyone done? I’ll bring the dishes to the kitchen.” She said. I stood up too, picking up my plate.

“Here, I’ll give you a hand with that.” I offered, smiling at her.

“Thanks, Karlie. If you want to leave them in the sink, that would be perfect.” Andrea said.

            I walked in the kitchen with a handful of plates. Placing them in the sink, I turned the tap on and started cleaning them off.

“You don’t have to do that Karlie,” I heard Andrea say behind me. “You can go sit with Taylor if you want.” She proposed.

“No, that’s alright Andrea,” I said over my shoulder. “I didn’t help with dinner, so I thought it would only be fair if I helped clean up.” She strolled over to me and grabbed a rag.

“Then I’ll help you, that way we’ll be done faster.” She grinned and shrugged her shoulders at me. The silence set after a few moments, but it wasn’t awkward. I was trying to think of something to talk to her about in my head when she spoke.

“So, how did you and Taylor get together?” She asked almost out of the blue. I shifted uncomfortably and opened my mouth to speak until she cut me off. “I mean, if you don’t mind my asking, of course.” She laughed nervously and her cheeks flushed red.

“No, I don’t mind at all,” I said, passing her a dish. “Well, we were in my hotel room after we had come back from shopping, and we were watching Grey’s Anatomy. We were just talking about random things in the news and that, and then Taylor had this worried look on her face. So, I asked her was what wrong, and she told me that she needed to tell me something, and that was when I started getting worried.” I explained, talking with my hands.

“Anyways, after prodding her to tell me what was wrong, she told me that she had feelings for me, but these feelings were more than what I friend should feel. I was shocked when she admitted it to me, but I felt the same way too. I never even thought about telling her first though, because I didn’t think she would reciprocate it.” I said. She nodded her head in understanding, and smiled at me.

“That’s really sweet,” Andrea said softly. “I can see Taylor doing that, she’s never been one to bottle up her emotions.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s for sure!” I said with a laugh.

“I’ve noticed the way that she looks at you.” Andrea said.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“She really loves you. I mean she really loves you.” She said.

“Oh,” I raised my eyebrows, surprised at her statement. “I love her too—quite a lot, actually.” I replied. Andrea placed her hand on mine; stopping me from cleaning the plate I had in my hand. I looked over at her, and noticed the serious expression on her face.

“Karlie, you know what I’m talking about,” She mumbled. “I know that you both love each other, and I don’t really want to say this, but I don’t want Taylor to get hurt again. Her past relationships ended terribly for her, and it took her a long time to come back from that.”

“Andrea,” I spoke softly. “You don’t have to worry about that. Taylor and I are in a serious, committed relationship, and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.” I assured her. Her eyes relaxed after I said that, and she gave me a closed mouth smile.

“I knew you were going to say that,” She admitted. “But I just had to make sure. She is my daughter, after all.” She said with a small laugh.

“Of course,” I agreed. “I understand, and it’s not a big deal.”

            We ended up changing the subject and talked about the football game that Scott and I had watched earlier. Once we finished up the dishes, we all sat in the living room around the TV. I was on the couch, sitting beside Taylor, and she had her arm around me. Scott and Andrea told us stories about when they were younger for hours, and not one of us had stopped laughing since we sat down.

“Well, that’s it for me,” Scott said with a yawn. “Did you want to head to bed, Andrea?” He stood up from the opposite couch and held his hand out to her.

“For sure I do!” She said, standing up. “Taylor, would you mind showing Karlie her room?” She asked, nodding her head towards the stairs.

“I thought she was sleeping with me…” Taylor’s voice trailed off.

“Oh no young lady,” Andrea scolded. “Do you think I was born yesterday? You guys are sleeping in different bedrooms!” She laughed and walked upstairs.

“So much for that.” Taylor groaned, lacing her fingers through mine.

“It’s not a big deal Tay!” I assured her. “I figured those would be the sleeping arrangements anyway.” We got off the couch and slowly made our way upstairs.

“I guess so, I just thought that they would make an exception because they liked you so much!” She explained, scrunching her nose up at me.

“Wait—they actually like me? You’re not just saying that, right Tay?” I asked incredulously. Even though today had been fun, and I thought that I did all right with her parents, there was still a small shadow of doubt that they didn’t think I was good enough for her.

“Obviously Karlie! My dad wants you to come over every weekend and watch football, and my mom almost cried when you offered to help with the dishes.” She exclaimed.

“Wow, that’s insane!” I laughed.

“No Karlie, it isn’t!” Taylor said, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I told you that they would love you as much as I did, and I was right!” She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips. I smiled against her, and placed my hands on her waist.

“I love you so much.” Taylor said, pulling away slowly.

“I love you too.” I replied.

“Well, this is your bedroom,” She pointed to the open door beside us, “There’s already blankets in there, so it should be just right. Sorry that I’m not sleeping with you…” She mumbled lowly.

“I don’t mind babe,” I said softly. “We’ll sleep together tomorrow night, back at your place.” I twisted a piece of her blonde hair between my fingers.

“Alright,” She sighed. “Goodnight! Let me know if you need anything too, okay?” She added.

“I will, and goodnight!” I said, walking into the room and closing the door behind me.

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

let me know what y'all think :)