isn't it? [taylor swift]

chapter 33

Time had been flying by in the blink of an eye. 

One moment, Leia and Taylor had been celebrating New Year in Leia and Georgie's apartment, and the next they were knee deep in press planning and tour rehearsals. Leia's rehearsals were obviously a lot more relaxed and less gruelling than Taylor's, since she was only performing an opening set on around 35 of the shows but nethertheless, it was still busy.

Taylor and her team had finally decided on three support acts; Leia, Camila and British singer Charli XCX. Leia didn't know much about the girl as she seemed to keep to herself, but she at least knew one or two of her main hits. Georgie had been obsessed with 'Boom Clap', so Leia was sure that the song would forever be engraved into her head.

Charli would start with seven songs, Leia would go in the middle with six and Camila would perform nine. Leia knew that she could have easily done more and matched Camila's numbers, but she figured that she would rather just play the bigger ones from her album and take the extra time to get changed, wish Taylor good luck and head to wherever she was allowed to watch from. It wasn't like she'd be able to catch her backstage during the show - not when Taylor had eight costumes changes and not a moment to catch her breath.

Tree announced to the press Charli and Camila at the start of March, the publicist deciding to hold off on announcing Leia until a little bit closer to the start of tour to keep the publicity momentum going. Riven loved the idea, pleased that Leia was going to have her own opener announcement rather than sharing with the other two. 

The anticipation for the tour announcement was building, and Leia could feel the electricity in the air. She sat in her rehearsal dressing room in early April, nervously tapping her foot as she scrolled through her phone, waiting for the right moment to share her big news with her followers.

She slumped onto the plush sofa, her fingers absently tracing the intricate patterns on her guitar case. The weight of expectations seemed to settle on her shoulders like a heavy cloak. A soft knock at the door jolted her from her reverie.

"Come in," she called, her voice slightly hoarse from hours of singing.

Taylor slipped inside, her presence immediately filling the room with warmth. She took one look at Leia's furrowed brow and crossed the room in three quick strides.

"Hey gorgeous," Leia murmured, smiling gently as Taylor sat down next to her, sensing that Leia was overthinking again.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.

Leia managed a weak smile.

"Just... overwhelmed, I guess. It's all becoming so real," Leia admitted, shrugging a little as she leaned her head against Taylor's shoulder. "I guess I just wonder if we're pushing our luck. Everyone has believed Zaria and Joe so far but-"

"But you're worried the conspiracies are going to start back up now that we'll be together every night?"

"Yeah," Leia mused, realising now that the thought had clearly crossed Taylor's mind more than once. "You know I don't care about that, but I care about you and I don't want there to be any leaks or anything."

Taylor wrapped an arm around Leia, pulling her closer. "I know, love. I worry about that too. But we've been so careful, and Tree has everything under control."

It was true - Tree had been a powerhouse in the lead up to the tour so far. With just over a month to go before the first date in Glendale, Tree had been working overdrive to keep Taylor's name in the press - and in a good light. It had been public hike dates with Joe, getting Ed to talk about how good Joe and Taylor were for each other, making sure no photos of Leia and Taylor alone were released... she was all over it.