Chapter 280: Song about My Ex. (Patreon)

[General POV]

Thanksgiving Friday, or most likely known as, Black Friday. Although the frenzy of mega sales around the country has been getting news attention all morning, Taylor’s sudden music video released halted the shopping process of the shoppers for several minutes.

The song ‘Love U Hate U’ that she had played for Edward in the party before, was made into a music video, and the reactions from the song was controversial. 

“{Feeling used, but I'm still missing you…And I can't see the end of this…Just wanna feel your kiss against my lips…}”

Lily, the leader of several Edward Newgate’s fanclub, and also the co-leader of the TayWard shippers, gasped in shock as she listened to the lyrics. 

“Did they break up?!” She muttered in concern. TMZ, the entertainment media focusing on celebrity gossip, quickly released an article about Edward and Taylor.

The TMZ article headline read as; [Not Really A FairyTale? The shocking news about the controversial figure Edward Newgate and PopStar Taylor Swift.]

The backlash from the headline was tremendous, but as a parasitical news outlet that survives only based on celebrity gossip, the people at TMZ considered the article as a success despite there being no comments from the parties involved.

“{And now all this time is passing by…But I still can't seem to tell you why…It hurts me every time I see you…Realize how much I need you}”

Taylor singing on the backdrop of the ocean, while looking melancholic, made her fans believe that she was the victim in the relationship. 

“{I hate you, I love you, I hate that I love you, Don't want to, but I can't put,Nobody else above you, I hate you, I love you, I hate that I want you, You want her, you need her, And I'll never be her}”

Cece Cooper, daughter of Georgie Cooper, immediately scoffed as she heard the lyric, “So she’s just delusional then.”

In the music video, Taylor sat on the passenger seat of a car with the camera facing her from the driver’s seat, not showing the figure of the driver as the car rode through a desert. 

“{What about all the times, You would pick me up and we'd just drive, Around until we found a place to stay and waste the day away, We'd do nothing but it was okay with me.}”

As Cam and Mitchell watched the music video,  Cam nodded in understanding and said, “They must’ve not been able to date properly given their status. It must’ve been stressful for them.”

Mitchell commented snarkily, “Especially for her. One wrong move and she’ll lose everything.” 

This time, Taylor laid down on her bed alone in a dark room, “{You say it's not good to spend all my time, Thinking about you so late at night, But I can't stop once I start it's like an avalanche, Thoughts coming and I just wanna hold your hand.}”

In Annie’s apartment, Troy, Annie and Abed watched the music video together.  Troy commented, “She must’ve really loved him. That poor girl.”

Abed was confused and said, “If they were having an off again, on again relationship, why did he date Annie?”

Annie was also confused, but then she said, “Abed, maybe he just wanted to ease up the pain of heartache? Also, maybe, this is just a maybe, he…saw something in me?”

Troy said dismissively, “Eh. That’s not it.”

“{All alone, I watch you watch her, Like she's the only girl you've ever seen, You don't care, you never did, You don't give a damn about me! Yeah, all alone, I watch you watch her, She is the only thing you've ever seen, How is it you never notice, That you were slowly killing me}”

As people listened to the ending of the song, most people had the same question in their mind.

“Who is that girl Taylor’s referring to?”

The music video received a lot of attention after it was released, and the song quickly climbed up the billboard top 100 songs.  The music video was released on MTV, and people has been clamoring to get a response from Edward, or from Taylor who’s been keeping her comments about this matter. 

In Taylor’s apartment, the blonde girl snickered as she thought about her ex’s reaction to the song being public. Holding her phone tightly in her hands, she waited for him to call or text her, but it was still silent.

Selena, her best friend, suddenly yelped as she read the article on her phone. Turning to Taylor angrily, she said, “I told you not to do this!”

“Why, what happened?” Taylor asked anxiously. Selena showed her phone screen to Taylor, and it showed a paparazzi photo of Selena and Edward at the festival they went to before.

“They’re saying I’m the homewrecker! I’m the other girl!” Selena groaned disdainfully.

Taylor was a bit taken aback, but then Selena yelped again. Taylor asked disgruntledly, “What now?”

“Now it’s Hudgens. She’s getting flamed online too!” Selena said before she turned to Taylor, “You need to rectify this.”

Taylor’s eyes shook and she replied timidly, “I know. I will. Just as soon as he texts me.”

Her phone finally rang, and Taylor’s eyes lit up. As she saw Edward’s name on the text, her heart fluttered. Selena was also interested and stood by Taylor to peek at her screen.

Taylor took a deep breath before opening the text. Her face fell in disbelief as she read Edward’s lines.

Edward: Good Job on the music video! It’s a great song! (Winking face with tongue out emoji. Good Job emoji)

“That’s…it?” Her hand shook angrily. Taylor threw the phone on the bed and screamed out loud in frustration while ruffling her own hair.

“ARGHH! THAT BITCH!”

Selena also fell in disbelief when she picked up Taylor’s phone and read the text. Suddenly, she flinched as another text came in, startling her.

Taylor immediately stopped screaming and ran to the phone. Selena read the text for  Taylor, “ He said…Expect a return song, in a week?”

Selena turned to Taylor, and saw she was smirking. Taylor huffed in satisfaction and flipped her hair back with her hand, “A week? He really fell off. Or, is it because he needs the song to be perfect–”

Before she could finish her sentence, Edward sent another text, “And don’t think it’s because I fell off or anything. I just have the SATs and the movie is filming next week. I’m just too busy.”

“That bastard!” Taylor grumbled in dissatisfaction and said to Selena, “Let’s go to the company. It’s going to be a song duel! I need to meet Leo and work on the next song! I definitely can’t let him win!”

“Clarify it first! I don’t want to be his mistress!” Selena exclaimed in exasperation as Taylor walked away. Taylor suddenly stopped and said seriously, “No. It’s better not to comment on anything until I hear his song.”

Selena stomped her feet in dissatisfaction and said, “But I’m also implicated in this! Taylor!!”

Taylor stopped walking, but not from Selena’s call. She thought of something and mumbled, “Wait. SATs? He’s taking the exam?...Did I release this at a bad time for him?”

As she realized Edward’s busy schedule with his upcoming world tour, his very limited time to shoot the movie, and now, his SATs, a pang of guilt shot into her heart. 

She bit her lip and said, “Damn it. I should’ve checked with him first.”

Selena retorted as she caught up with Taylor, “It’s too late to regret it now! Now, unmake me as a mistress! ”

…

[Edward POV]

“Hmm, she’s not answering,” I grumbled as I ended the call on my phone. Standing in front of a tree stump, I held an ax and affixed wood to the stump before cutting it into firewood.

The wood cleanly split in two, and I cut it again so that it would split into two more pieces. The firewood needed to be restocked for the winter preparation on the ranch. Usually, my grandfather did this himself, but this year, I volunteered to do it for him.

Sitting at the side were Maggie and Amy, gossiping about the song as they watched me cut the firewood.

“Who are you calling?” Amy asked curiously, thinking that I was trying to reach Taylor.

“My aunt Camila,” I replied casually as I split another piece of wood. “I wanted to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving, but I haven’t been able to reach her since yesterday. I’m getting a bit worried.”

The work made me sweat for a bit. A huge wood pile had gathered next to the tree stump, and I kept splitting more wood. Cutting the wood became therapeutic, and I didn't want to stop anytime soon. It has been an hour and a half since I started this.

Sweat streamed down my face. Despite the snowy Wisconsin air, I took off my jacket and my shirt, leaving me only in my tank top. The muscles on my arms glistened with sweat, and for a moment, Amy and Maggie seemed mesmerized.

Maggie shook her head, a hint of amusement in her eyes, and said, "Do you really need to take your shirt off?"

“I’m hot. Literally.” I replied with a teasing smirk. Amy rolled her eyes before she took out her phone, “Want me to record this for your Instagram page?”

I thought about it for a bit and said, “I could post it in my story. Here, use my phone. Your camera sucks.”

“HEY! I was nice to you!” Amy retorted before she walked briskly to grab my phone from me. “Be quiet and don’t say anything. Ask Robin to use the 4k feature and use ASMR mode.”

“What?” Amy looked at me weirdly. I smirked and said, “Just follow Robin’s instructions.”

Even though she was confused, Amy held the camera obediently. Her eyes widened as she saw the quality of the camera and the filter Robin placed on it.

“What the hell is this!?” She shouted in astonishment. Robin chimed in, “Please keep your voices down during the recording.”

I looked at her as I laughed at her reaction before getting back to chop off the wood. Half an hour later, my grandpa came back to my location and froze for a few seconds when he saw the sheer number of woods I had split.

“Hmm…I think we’ll need 3 trips to bring this all back.” He said as he looked at his hand wagon. I smiled apologetically at him as I loaded the chopped wood into the wagon.

During lunch, my uncle Jim asked my dad, “You guys are going back tonight right?”

Amy was startled and her spoon stopped before she could eat her food. “Tonight?”

I nodded to her and said, “Yeah. I had to.”

“But you just came! And you were sick for an entire day!” She complained. Since her sister had left Wisconsin and gone to California, Amy was left behind all alone. She had greatly missed the both of us and wanted to spend more time together.

I smiled apologetically and said, “I’m sorry. But, why don’t you come to California with me? I’m not able to hang out much over there, but we can still hang out when I get back from work. Also, I’m going to a birthday party tomorrow. You should come with me too.”

Her eyes lit up and she looked at her parents quickly, “Can I?”

Uncle Jim shook his head, “No– Wait.” Aunt May looked at him in confusion and asked, “Why are you hesitating?”

“I mean, she’s going to visit her relatives. And the relative owns a private plane.” Uncle Jim said to Aunt May.

“You’re not going Amy.” Aunt May sighed in exasperation to Uncle Jim before she said that.

“But mom!” Amy whined. I laughed and said, “Of course, I’m not only inviting Amy. Why don’t you all come by? All of you have the days off for another 5 days. Consider this a short vacation.”

Despite Grandma looking excited, Grandpa Sam replied first, “I cannot go Ed. I need to take care of the ranch.”

“You can hire some helping hands. And besides, I don’t think Uncle Aaron would want to go and leave his girlfriend’s backdoor–”

Maggie cupped her hand on my mouth, stopping me from continuing. My dad looked at me with disbelief before he smiled and said, “How about it? It’s just a short break dad. I’m sure the animals will survive.”

“Hmm…” Grandpa Sam fell into contemplation, but Grandma stood up immediately. “You think Sam! I’m going to pack up! Then, it won’t matter if you take too long to decide!”

“You should go if you want to Jules.” Grandpa Sam said with a smile. Grandma Jules slapped his shoulder and said, “Not without you.”

Propping up my head with my hand, elbow on the table, I looked at my grandparents with a longing look. “Ahh, I want a relationship like this too.”

Everyone burst into laughter from my remarks. After Amy used her cute attacks on my grandpa for a while, he finally decided to follow us along to California.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m just curious to see how you’ve been living and your new home.” Grandpa Sam said with a fake cough. 

‘Tsundere?’ The thought flashed my head for a bit but I quickly brushed it off. 

“What about Ace?” Grandpa Sam asked.

I replied, “I already have a permit to keep her at my house.”

Grandpa Sam was startled. His voice shook in an almost imperceptible manner, “You know what? It’ll be too suffocating for Ace to live in the mansion. Here, she can hunt coyotes, adventure in the mountains, and help take care of the ranch.”

“Grandpa, are you by any chance, attached to Ace?” I asked with a smirk. My grandpa coughed in embarrassment. I continued, “But then, I really only met her for a short time before we decided to adopt her. You were the one taking care of her all this time. It’ll be quite cruel of me to pry her away from you.”

“Not– Hmm, I guess you saw through me Ed.” Grandpa Sam decided to give up and called for Ace. 

Ace and Vader came to the living room. The black furred Jaguar and the black cat were playing together nonstop since we got here. Ace went to grandpa and rested her head on his knee. Vader climbed up my pants and shirt before standing on my shoulder.

“I thought that I only needed to take care of her for you at first. But, I’ve come to love this giant…cat.” Grandpa Sam said while scratching Ace’s head.

I smiled in understanding and said, “No need to feel guilty grandpa. Ace is your girl. She belongs with you.” I could sense Ace’s feeling too as she looked at me. In my long absence, she had become attached to my grandpa too and was reluctant to go with me.

Uncle Jim, Aunt May, Amy, Grandma and Grandpa, all followed me back to California. It was the first time for them to be in a private plane. Grandma was excited to see everything, but Grandpa just sat on the seat and drank some whiskey.

Maggie looked at Amy smugly, acting as if she was looking at a countryside girl, forgetting the fact that she too reacted the same way when she first got into the plane.

After a 5 hour flight, we all finally reached California. 

…

[General POV]

Saturday morning, Dunphy’s house. An infallible castle was set up in the front lawn, together with a rock climbing wall, and a zip line. 

[Phil and Claire’s commentary]

Phil said, “Every year, Luke's birthday falls, right around Thanksgiving, and so it gets lost in the holiday shuffle.”

Claire added, “One year we forgot completely, and we had to improvise a cake made of stuffing.”

Phil waved his hand dismissively, “Which, by the way, he was fine with. He's one of those kids,you get him a gift and all he wants to dois play with the box.”

Claire glanced at Phil for a second, “Yeah, one year we actually just got him a box, a really,.. nice box.”

Phil commented sadly, “And we made the mistake of putting it in a gift bag.”

Claire was also feeling depressed, “So he played with the gift bag.”

Phil said, “We can't get it right.”

“No.” Claire agreed with him.

Phil became elated after a while and said, “But this year, we’re pulling all of the stops!”

Claire also grinned and said, “This year, I have a very good job, and Phil has been having a really great year with his real estate sales–”

“We’re going to throw the best birthday party a 10 years old boy ever hoped to be!”

[Commentary ends]

Luke ran to the front yard and stopped in front of Phil and Claire. “What time is it?” He asked.

Claire smiled and bent over slightly to meet Luke’s eyeline, “Honey, the party won’t be starting for another 2 hours. Your friends will come by at that time.”

“I don’t care about that. I just hope Ed can make it.” Luke said innocently before he ran to play. Phil and Claire looked at each other worriedly.

Phil whispered, “Will he come?”

Claire replied with a whisper too, “I don’t know. He has a line reading with the cast of the movie today. I don’t know if he can make it.”

While the spouse was talking, a man walked towards them. “Hello! It looks like a carnival here!”

Phil immediately turned as he recognized the voice. “Dad!”

“I’m here!” Luke’s grandfather, Frank Dunphy (Fred Willard) greeted the duo with open arms. Claire hugged Frank for a moment before asking, “I thought you cannot make it.”

“There’s no way I’m going to miss my grandson’s 10th birthday party. Even your mother is here.” Frank said as he pointed to his back. 

In Entertain, the line reading for the movie was held inside a big meeting room, and the entirety of the session was being recorded. Edward glanced at Emily Blunt, Ryan Gosling, and also Vanessa Hudgens before he read his line.

The purpose of the line reading was to build chemistry with the other actors, and also for the actors to explore their characters more deeply. Edward checked his watch a few times as he continued the line reading.

He thought secretly, ‘I hope that I can make it.’