#deepdivearchives

**Disclaimer: I believe Taylor’s own words and music when she suggests there was a secret romantic involvement with Harry after their public breakup (we call it a situationship now). With that in mind, this section is about narrowing down that timeline with the help of their locations, public statements, and the songs they were writing. 2013 and onward will be a little more disorganized because there’s too much still up in the air. I am still researching, finding new info and updating to this day. Any potential meetups are only an educated guess and shouldn’t be taken as fact. It’s also worth noting that every time Taylor mentions being with Harry in her music, it’s in the middle of the night, which makes it even harder to figure them out- but I guess that was their intention.

January 1, 2013 — Harry and Taylor, along with her family, attend a party at a nearby hotel before returning to their own around 3:30 a.m. (Harry lended her his coat) They check out later that morning and leave with her mom.

January 3, 2013 — Taylor and Harry are spotted grabbing dinner in the British Virgin Islands.

January 4, 2013 — Haylor breakup after a huge blowup argument. Taylor takes the first flight back home alone and Harry visits billionaire Richard Branson’s private island for the day to “blow off some steam” x

Later in a 1989 secret session, Taylor says “I was on a boat once and I came up with the line ‘so its going to be forever, or its going to go down in flames’ and I didn’t use it for about a year until I was writing Blank Space and I was like ‘OH!”

January 5, 2013 — Harry arrives back to the Virgin Gorda island in the early morning just as the hot tub pictures are spreading onto the internet. Meanwhile Taylor is back home and tweets something sinister..this is the first time Taylor signals to us that IKYWT is about Harry.

The Sun and E! News report that Scott Swift warned Harry and Taylor to slow down. If this is even true, could this be a reference to Wonderland lyric “Didn’t they tell us don’t rush into things?”

January 7, 2013 — Haylor breakup is confirmed by People magazine and Page Six as Harry arrives back home in London.

January 9, 2013 — Taylor attends the People’s Choice Awards, first public outing since the breakup.

January 10, 2013 — Taylor trolls 1D fans with a simple tweet “Back in the studio..Uh oh.” She reveals via Tumblr years later that this is the day she wrote “All You Had To Do Was Stay”

The song tells us that although Harry was the one who wanted to break up, he is now calling her and trying to get back together.

January 12, 2013 — Taylor attends the Golden Globes but leaves midway through the show, after the hosts jokingly warned her to “stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son”. Taylor was in the bathroom at the time and had no idea the audience was laughing at her expense. She went on to call the hosts “mean girls” and famously added that “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” In hindsight it’s clear that this overreaction was her being heartbroken and lashing out. The online slut shaming from Harry stans — and now the general public —had gotten so loud that this poorly timed joke became her tipping point.

January 15, 2013 — Taylor is “Somewhere in LA..”, writes “How You Get The Girl” and later describes it as such: “a song that I wrote about how you get the girl back if you ruined the relationship somehow and she won’t talk to you anymore. Like, if you broke up with her and left her on her own for six months and then you realize you miss her. All the steps you have to do to edge your way back into her life, because she’s probably pretty mad at you. So it’s kind of a tutorial. If you follow the directions in the song, chances are things will work out. Or you may get a restraining order.” x

The song is loosely based on what happened with Harry the first time around, especially with the six month timeline from April to October when they got back together and she wrote in the aftermath “This love came back to me”

In the bridge of HYGTG, she directly addresses the muse and sings “Remind me how it used to be, pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks” (another lyric parallel to This Love’s “your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave”)

Is she telling him to do it again because it worked the first time? Or is this just a song idea from a couple months ago that she’s finally writing out?

January 19, 2013 — Rumors start circulating on twitter that Harry and Niall have bought homes in LA. Apparently this came from an article but it has since been deleted. On the 20th, it is officially reported that Niall did purchase a home next to the Kardashians. So while Harry most likely was house hunting, he did not end up buying a home this time, despite many Haylor timelines saying he did. (if anyone has proof that I didn’t find, pls send it to me and i’ll credit you!)

January 24, 2013 — Harry is seen driving around Beverly Hills driving a new Ferrari.

January 26, 2013 — Taylor and Harry see each other for the first time since the break up at the NRJ Music Awards in France.

January 30, 2013 — Taylor is back in Nashville preparing to start Red tour rehearsals.

February 1, 2013 — Harry spends his 19th birthday in London, Nick Grimshaw surprises him with a stripper

February 2013 — First week of the month, Taylor is interviewed by Vanity Fair. The timing gives a little more context to Taylor’s frustration in her interview.

February 10, 2013 — Taylor performs “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” at the Grammys and mocks Harry

“So he calls me up and he’s like, [british accent] ‘I still love youuu.’ and I’m like ‘I’m sorry, I’m busy opening up the Grammys!’”

Again, it cuts deeper knowing he really was calling her up for another chance

February 11, 2013 — Taylor may have dressed up like a hipster and made fun of her ex while filming the 22 music video

February 17, 2013 — Harry is asked how he is doing after the breakup and the Grammys incident during a radio interview. He keeps his composure but says “I’m okay. She's a great performer… She's done it for a long time. She knows what she's doing on stage. It was just another good Taylor Swift performance. It was good."

February 20, 2013 — Taylor angrily performs I Knew You Were Trouble at the BRITs infront of Harry and says in a post interview "Well, it's not hard to access that emotion when the person the song is directed at is standing by the side of the stage watching."

In return, Harry keeps it civil and claps for her when she walks onstage to present an award.

February 21, 2013 — Taylor spends the BRITs after-party on a pub date with singer Tom Odell, who goes on to write Country Star about this night and notes that she is heartbroken.

February 22, 2013 — Taylor says she changed her phone number last week during a radio interview.

February 23, 2013 — One Direction’s international tour kicks off in London and Harry remains in the UK for the next month as far as we know

February 24, 2013 — Taylor back in Nashville for Red tour rehearsals

March 4, 2013 — Taylor’s Vanity Fair issue drops; The writer talks more about the Harry Styles story here x

Harry’s mom and sister unfollow Taylor on twitter around this time.

Here are the best quotes I think offer insight into her mindset:

“I can laugh at myself [referring to dating life jokes] but what it ended up adding to was this whole kind of everyone jumping on the bandwagon of Taylor dates too much - which, you know, if you want some big revelation, since 2010 I have dated exactly two people."

"Everybody in these tabloidy gossipy blogs, they think they have you pegged, like ‘Taylor's boy-crazy' And it's why I have to avoid the tabloid part of our culture, because they turn you into a fictional character.”

"I'm dealing with a little bit of a chaotic media circus right now, but that'll die down in a few weeks when people realize there's nothing left to talk about.”

Harry Styles, who's only 19, has been seen around with plenty of girls. But nobody calls them the kinds of names that get thrown at Swift. "They're 'playboys,'" Swift says wryly. "They're "having fun.""

Then we get all the Haylor lore from a close friend of Taylor’s:

She won't go into personal details about any of her relationships (it's one of her rules) but she does authorize someone who knows her well to discuss them with me. Swift's friend said that the Styles situation is completely misrepresented in the media. This young woman claimed that Styles "chased" Swift for a year: "He wore her down." And then, last spring, she said, there was a weekend "where they got really close, and he was all, like, 'You're amazing I want to be with you. I want to do this.'" Soon after that, when Styles was on tour in Australia with One Direction, he allegedly texted Swift to alert her to a picture of himself on the Internet "kissing a friend goodbye," but said, "It's no big deal." When Swift searched online for the picture, however, she found that they were "making out like with their hands all up in each other's hair." [The wording of this part has caused some confusion. The writer makes a blanket statement about how the public has the story all wrong because despite the tabloids insisting Taylor was the obsessive, pushy one, her friend claims it’s the other way around and “he chased her for a year”. It is then followed up with a full quote to expand on that claim where the friend retells the entire affair from spring 2012 to now, including the “chasing” period in between. Harry did not chase Taylor in 2011, a whole year before the first fling.]

A rep for Styles, Benny Taranti at Columbia Records, called all of Swift's friend's claims "undeniably false." [The claim that Harry and Emma were ‘making out with hands in each other’s hair’ can be proven false by the pictures themselves.]

Swift ended the relationship, continued her friend, after which Styles allegedly pursued her for the better part of a year, professing his devotion and promising never to stray again. "So then they got back together, but the whole time she says she feels like he's looking at every girl and thinking about hooking up with every girl." And then, when they were in London sometime in the last few months, the boy-band balladeer allegedly "disappears one night and after that it was like he just didn't want to keep going." [I believe this is referring to December 14th. After a week in London together, Harry drops Taylor off at the airport and spends the night at a local frat party.] Now, said the friend, he is allegedly texting Swift "again nonstop, like 'Where are you? Call me. Are you back?'”

March 6, 2013 — Taylor is seen going to a studio in LA. (it would have to be Wonderland, Wildest Dreams or an unreleased song; my guess is Wonderland)

March 13, 2013 — Taylor’s opening night of the Red tour in Nebraska, The surprise song is “I Almost Do” which is about fighting the urge to reach out to an ex “I bet you think I either moved on or hate you cause each time you reach out there’s no reply” (Taylor soon wrote about this same sentiment again in I Wish You Would “you say ‘it’s in the past’, you drive straight ahead, thinking that I hate you now cause you still don’t know what I never said”)

March 14, 2013 — Red tour Nebraska night 2, The surprise song is “White Horse”

“There you are on your knees; begging for forgiveness, begging for me”

March 17, 2013 — Harry tweets that he’s listening to a song called Trouble but that Burn is the one we need to hear.. so let’s look at the lyrics

March 18, 2013 — Red tour, Missouri night 1 surpise song is “Should’ve Said No”

“You shouldn’t be begging for forgiveness at my feet”

March 19, 2013 — Red tour night 2 of St. Louis, Missouri.

Four shows into the tour, Taylor decides she wants to bring back a tradition from the last tour. She chooses her arm lyrics from Holy Ground, which is about deciding to look back on a past relationship fondly instead of holding a grudge. Interesting..

“Sometimes I wonder how you think about it now and I see your face in every crowd..”

March 22, 2013 — Red tour North Carolina, Taylor chooses Tim McGraw as the surprise song.. which is another reminiscent song about a past relationship.

“When you think happiness, I hope you think that little black dress.”

March 23, 2013 — Red Tour, South Carolina surprise song is “Forever and Always”

“I was there when you said, "Forever and always".. You didn't mean it baby”

March 24, 2013 — Harry lands in LA for his week-long break from tour

March 25, 2013 — Harry tweets James Taylor lyrics, the full chorus is “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend. But I always thought that I'd see you again..”

Now let me remind you-

Taylor had just recently released a song about owning several James Taylor records. He is literally her namesake. She is famously a big fan and has performed this song with James himself twice in the last two years. Harry knew exactly what he was doing here.

My theory is, Harry may have been driving past or near her neighborhood (it gets reported in April that Harry has been looking for a home in LA + he ended up buying a home in Beverly Hills near Taylor’s street in 2014) and maybe it put him in his feelings, hence the “Fire and Rain” tweet at 1 am.. you see where i’m going with this

March 26, 2013 — Harry is spotted driving in LA

March 27, 2013 — Red Tour Newark, NJ

After skipping arm lyrics the past couple shows, she brings it back for the last time. Her mood ring for this night is Holy Ground, yet again!

“A first glance feeling on New York time, back when you fit in my poems like a perfect rhyme..”

So, Taylor spontaneously brought back arm lyrics for only a couple shows to get the same message across from the same song.. and if you recall where Taylor spent that first night with Harry, it matches the first secret message on the 1989 album “Our story begins in New York”.

March 28, 2013 — Red Tour Newark n2 surprise song is “The Story of Us”

“This is looking like a contest of who can act like they care less but I liked it better when you were on my side. The battle's in your hands now but I would lay my armor down if you'd say you'd rather love than fight..”

Enough said.

March 29, 2013 — Harry leaves LA and goes back to London that night to resume tour.

Red Tour Newark n3 surprise song “You’re Not Sorry” Taylor makes an intro speech:

“I truly believe that when dealing with anybody you meet, you should start by trusting them, you know? Like any new friends you meet, any new person you meet, I think you should truly believe the best in them. And um, the first time that they tell you they’re sorry, I think you should believe them. And then, if they keep doing the same exact thing that they say they’re sorry for, that means one thing guys….is that they’re not sorry.”

March 30, 2013 — Taylor tweets MORE Holy Ground lyrics. This is where her brief obsession with this song ends but you gotta wonder what this was all about.

“Tonight I’m gonna dance for all that we’ve been through, but I don’t wanna dance if I’m not dancing with you..”

March 30-April 2, 2013 — Taylor disappears, and Harry is unseen outside of One Direction’s nightly concerts—unusual for him. (I am only noting this as a potential meetup that inspired I Wish You Would. Harry had a show in London every night but Taylor, by chance, had several days off. Harry was usually seen out every day but suddenly MIA here. The timing adds up, but you would have to buy that Taylor was so love struck and reckless that she would fly to London at Harry’s request after they started talking again. Idk if I buy it myself)

April 3, 2013 — Taylor is spotted grocery shopping in LA; Harry reappears in London at an art gallery opening then a private club party until 3am.

April 5-7, 2013 — Taylor is in Vegas for the ACMs

April 7, 2013 — Harry’s old school friend gives an interview about him and briefly mentions that he has wanted Taylor since 2009 after seeing one of her music videos. x

April 8, 2013 — Louis blurts out “Taylor Swift” into the mic after Harry sings the line “I’m in love with you..” during Little Things x

Kinda weird for Louis to tease Harry about loving Taylor on a random day 3 months into the breakup especially after how shady Taylor had been. Unless they were back in contact by now..

April 10, 2013 — After a 2 week break from tour, Taylor comes back with “Today was a Fairytale” for the surprise song

The surprise songs go from primarily sad songs to 99% happy love songs from here until the summer

(most of these were fan requests so don’t put too much importance on them for answers. I think the point is she’s consistently picking the happy song requests)

April 12, 2013 — Red tour Orlando N2 surprise song is “Our Song”

“Our song is the slamming screen door, sneaking out late, tapping on your window..”

April 13, 2013 — Harry tweets about the song Dumb by Tich.. the lyrics are a little on the nose

April 13-19, 2013 — Harry touring in England

April 20, 2013 — Red tour Tampa surprise song is “I almost do” and Taylor says “everybody’s got like one, maybe two, I don't know how many you have, but at least one person in your life that doesn’t belong in your life anymore because maybe they hurt you or maybe it’s just over but you kind of want to call them sometimes. And you think better of it. But, you almost do it.”

April 23, 2013 — Taylor is seen in Nashville and then unseen until her next show on the 25th; Harry arrives in LA from London. (Taylor could potentially take her jet to LA for a day)

April 24, 2013 — Harry is unseen until the evening, at a celebrity instagram party in LA. Also that night, Taylor posts a text conversation with her brother about knowing nothing about life. (Based on the timezone in her screenshot, she would have been at her next tour stop in Ohio by 10pm. This would give them only a 24hr window to spend together, if it happened)

April 25, 2013 — Taylor has a show in Ohio; Harry goes to a Rod Stewart concert in LA, then dinner with the Stewart family, including daughter Kimberly. (Stalker Sarah was there and claims she saw Kimberly kissing Harry’s cheek/neck)

April 26, 2013 — Red tour Indiana surprise song “Mine; Taylor officially buys her Rhode Island home. Harry and Kimberly grab coffee the morning after their sleepover.. then are never seen together again.

April 27, 2013 — Red tour Kentucky surprise song is “Our Song”; Harry leaves LA for Paris

April 28, 2013 — Taylor is spotted at the gym in LA

April 29, 2013 — It is reported Taylor has bought a mansion in Rhode Island

April 29-May 26, 2013 — Harry touring Europe

May 1, 2013 — Taylor visits Selena in the studio sometime while in LA (Selena says she was present when Taylor wrote Wildest Dreams so I will be noting anytime they’re together)

May 4, 2013 — Red tour Detroit, MI surprise song is “Ours” and Taylor’s intro: “This is a song about how, when you fall in love everybody starts to give you their opinion. I imagine it could be really hard to make a relationship last, I wouldn’t know, but given that everyone is giving you their own opinion about it, I think that the only opinion you should really listen to is yours. and If you love that person, that should be all that matters.”

May 7, 2013 — Harry kisses a girl on a party bus in Norway and allegedly invited her back to his hotel (Full story from two different witnesses x x)

May 9, 2013 — Harry writes Happily in Sweden (I always believed this song was about that period of time in 2012 when he and Taylor became friends again, before she allegedly left Conor to be with him. It still could be, because they had already finished the last album when that was happening and they have just now started writing sessions for the next one.)

May 17, 2013 — Rod Stewart is asked in an interview about the dinner with Harry and Kimberly from the previous month and accidentally reveals that Harry stayed the night: “His car was here [at their family home] in the morning. Let’s put it that way..” Realising he might have said too much, he added, "But he may have just come around to pick something up.” x

May 18, 2013 — Taylor posts a picture of roses with a caption from F. Scott Fitzgerald about new beginnings. I have a working theory that roses in some way held a connection to Harry because of all the rose references on 1989. This seems to be hinting that she is moving on..

May 19, 2013 — Taylor attends the Billboard Music Awards but seems to be in a bad mood. “To the fans, who come to the shows, who buy the albums, I just want you to know this one thing, you are the longest and best relationship I’ve have ever had.” and says she only writes about exes she doesn’t want to see again.

May 22, 2013 — Red tour Glendale, AZ N1 “Teardrops on my Guitar”

May 24, 2013 — Taylor spotted in Rhode Island; Harry goes to a club in Barcelona, Spain.

May 26, 2013 — Taylor is spotted having dinner in Rhode Island with her parents, Ed Sheeran and Jack Antonoff

May 27, 2013 — Taylor goes to the beach in Rhode Island with Austin, Ed, Hailee Steinfeld and others.

May 28, 2013 — Red tour Glendale, AZ N1 “Haunted” and says “This is a song I hadn’t played on this tour so far. It came from one of my friends who tweeted the lyrics today and it reminded me that I hadn’t played this song in about two years. It has to do with the fact that people talk about ghosts all the time. I just kind of imagine it being this supernatural thing, but there’s another kind of ghost and it’s just a person who is out there walking around in the world, just doesn’t love you anymore, that’s a whole different kind of thing altogether.”

Taylor writes “I Wish You Would” - we know this because it was written on tour after a day off with Jack in Rhode Island. It’s also the first song they ever wrote together. My breakdown of the song is a tad long but there’s so much to mine here

The following quote comes from a secret sessioner recalling a story by memory so we have to leave a little room for misinformation -

“Taylor said that she wrote ‘I Wish You Would’ a couple of months after her and Harry broke up, and they decided to become friends again and she said this was the first time she had become friends with an ex, to the point where they were comfortable enough to talk about why the relationship didn’t work out. She said he told her about how, after they broke up, he bought a house literally one road adjacent to hers. Every day he would drive home, and accidentally turn into her street, and he told her how he just wanted to stop at her house and see her, but he never did. She said this song is about while he was in the car making the decision not to get out the car and see her, she was sitting in her bedroom, wishing he would make the move and go back to her and just pitch up at her house. She compared it to a classic John Hughes movie where both parties want the same thing but neither has the guts to say anything. Honestly, she spoke so fondly of that relationship.”

She says she wrote the song a couple months after they broke up and decided to be friends again. We know this song was written May 28th which is almost exactly 2 months after when I theorized they reconnected (March 29-April 2)

He told her he kept turning onto her street by mistake and wanted to stop and see her (I always thought I would see you again -Fire and Rain) but talked himself out of it. This lines up with that week he spent in LA, the report of him house hunting, and the 1 am James Taylor tweet.

..Alongside Taylor communicating via arm lyrics and surprise songs. “both parties want the same thing but neither has the guts to say anything.”

Until the bridge where Taylor hints at a physical, even sexual late night reconnection

“2 a.m., here we are

See your face, hear my voice in the dark

We're a crooked love in a straight line down

Makes you wanna run and hide

But it made us turn right back around”

Additional quotes:

“There’s “I Wish You Would,” about an ex who bought a house two blocks from hers (whom she implies was Styles)” - Rolling Stones interview, 2014.

"Okay so this is an idea called "| Wish You Would". It's kind of about this guy who's like, he's driving down the street at the middle of the night and he passes his ex-girlfriend's house and it's like, he thinks she hates him, but she's still in love with him, very dramatic. This track is sick, hope you like this." - Taylor's voice memo to Jack in the 1989 Deluxe album

The one detail that doesn’t add up is when he bought the house. At the time of the secret session, Harry really had bought a home 2 blocks over from hers earlier that year. But IWYW was written a whole year before that. It is most likely Harry was just house hunting, renting, or visiting a friend in the neighborhood in early 2013. So, either the fan misheard that part of the story or Taylor purposely altered the details/combined two different stories of the sake of time.

May 29, 2013 — Harry lands in London from Spain

June 4-6, 2013 — Taylor in Nashville; Harry in London

June 8, 2013 — Taylor and Ed perform “Everything Has Changed” on Britain’s Got Talent; Harry is now touring Mexico

June 9, 2013 — Taylor performs at the Capital FM Summertime Ball in London. In an interview she says she is currently trying to start choosing good guys.

June 10, 2013 — Taylor and Austin are seen walking around Rhode Island

June 11, 2013 — Fans spot Taylor in Rhode Island; Harry lands in Florida and gets on a yacht

June 12, 2013 — Taylor flies to NYC for Fragrance Foundation Awards

June 13-14, 2013 — Harry is on tour in Florida

June 14-15, 2013 — Red tour Toronto, Canada n1&2

June 16, 2013 — Taylor tweets “I'm beginning to think that you don't find happiness from living your life looking ahead or back..that you find it when you look around.”

June 19, 2013 — Taylor is watching Titanic on her couch with her cat, presumably somewhere in Rhode Island since she was seen there the next day but Taylor is a jet setter so I’m not sure; Harry has a show in Nashville and follows John Mayer on twitter a day after Paper Doll release.

June 20, 2013 — Taylor spotted by fans in Rhode Island

June 21, 2013 — Taylor and Selena spend the day together in Rhode Island (wildest dreams possible writing date); Harry has a show in Atlanta, Georgia

June 22, 2013 — Red tour Winnipeg, Canada surprise song is “Teardrops on my Guitar”; Harry has a show in North Carolina

June 23, 2013 — Taylor is spotted in Rhode Island; Harry has show in Washington DC

June 24, 2013 — Harry is seen with friends having dinner, touring DC and attending a Rolling Stones concert

June 25, 2013 — Edmonton, Canada n1 surprise song is “White Horse”; Harry has a show in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

June 26, 2013 — Edmonton, Canada n2 surprise song is “Fearless”; Harry has a show in Massachusetts

June 27-30, 2013 — Harry in NYC

June 29, 2013 — Harry meets and hangs out with New York native model Paige Reifler for the first time and they have a casual fling until October — Paige’s friend takes an intimate photo of her and Harry in their apartment, but it doesn’t leak until September.

June 30, 2013 — Harry is spotted at the Apple store in NYC wearing Paige’s “P” ring. He has given her his in return

TL;DR-ish:

The first half of the year is… chaotic. Taylor starts off angry, shifts into very obvious yearning, then suddenly she’s hopeful and friendly with Harry, before it all turns sour again.

Meanwhile, Harry starts off the year wanting Taylor back but the second things start looking up, he falls right back into old habits and refuses to slow down with the partying and women.

Realistically with both of them touring, there aren’t many chances for them to even see each other. So here is a possible scenario for me: Harry is floating in and out of her life. He checks in sporadically but just enough to keep her holding on. He blames the exhaustion of tour combined with time zone differences for his ghosting and she can’t say anything because it’s fair and he doesn’t owe her anything more. But the real reason? He’s said it himself; the fun is in the chase. Once she softened and heard him out, the chase was over. Especially if they really did meet up late night as Taylor suggested in song.

Taylor clearly still has feelings for him, but doesn’t want to scare him off so she plays it cool. It stops working. The resentment is there, it just comes out in passive aggressive ways.

By May, it feels like things come crashing down again—possibly after it goes public that Harry spent the night with Rod Stewart’s daughter. Her shadiness at the Billboard Awards, her “new beginnings” post, the surprise song introduction of “Haunted”.. leads me to believe she is being more outspoken for a reason. She has cut it off again.

In June, she says she is currently trying to start choosing good guys. Meanwhile, Harry is spending his nights in NYC with a new model, despite geographically touring near Taylor.

And that’s just the first half of the year…

July 2, 2012 — Dianna, Taylor, Claire Winter and likely Ashley Avignone grab breakfast in Nashville. That night, Dianna accompanies Taylor to her performance with James Taylor in Tanglewood, Massachusetts and Taylor chooses to play “Ours” (Dianna’s favorite Taylor song but also the most recent single from Speak Now so this could mean nothing)

July 3-6, 2012 — Taylor celebrates 4th of July in Hyannis Port with Dianna, Ashley, Claire, Roxy and more. She also hangs out with Conor Kennedy who she goes on to date for the rest of the summer.

July 5, 2012 — Four days after finishing the Up All Night tour, Harry is seen leaving a London nightclub with actress Caggie Dunlop whom he first kissed back in October 2011. They have a bit of a history, just read the article if you care. (x)

July 9, 2012 — Taylor shares a cryptic post to Facebook, hinting that we are close to the next album.

July 22, 2012 — Dianna is asked what she’d do if acting didn’t work out and she jokes that she could “Just go on the road with Taylor and carry her bags” but unfortunately by this point Taylor has ditched whatever was happening with Dianna to cosplay as a Kennedy.

Taylor is asked who her favorite One Direction member is at the Teen Choice Awards and she answers “How could you possibly choose?” (x)

July 25, 2012 — Taylor is seen out with Conor Kennedy for the first time in Mount Kisco, New York.

July 28 – August 19, 2012 — Taylor and Conor are pictured in Hyannis Port three weekends in a row. They are flying back and forth between Nashville and Cape Cod.

August 1, 2012 — Harry and Cara Delevingne hang out at a London nightclub (x)

August 4, 2012 — Harry and Cara are pictured leaving a different London nightclub.

August 12, 2012 — One Direction perform at the Olympics in London. Taylor posted a week earlier about her cat watching the Olympics so she most likely saw this performance as well. To support Ed Sheeran if nothing else, because he also performs and gets drunk with Harry afterwards.

August 13, 2012 — Taylor holds a Google hangout to talk about her new upcoming album Red. She plays acoustic versions of three unheard tracks including the first single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, “22” obviously, but also chooses to play “Treacherous”… (x)

She also reveals that she is currently coming up with the secret messages for all the songs. As we know, the secret message for Treacherous is “Won’t stop til it’s over” and “When you saw me dancing” for I Knew You Were Trouble (x)

Ed Sheeran gives Harry a tattoo.

August 16, 2012 — Harry says the fun is in the chase: "I think it's attractive when someone turns you down. You don't want someone to say yes straight away, do you?”

Ed teases his collab with Taylor on twitter.

August 19, 2012 — Taylor is pictured with Conor Kennedy for the last time.

August 20, 2012 — One Direction host a VMA special on MTV called “My First Time” where the boys watch and discuss debut VMA performances in preparation for their own upcoming debut. One of those artists is Taylor Swift. Taylor also films a segment for this special talking about her first VMA performance in 2009.

August 30, 2012 — Taylor posts a picture to instagram of her music video playing in Times Square, coincidentally next to a picture of One Direction.

August 31, 2012 — The VMA special “My First Time” airs on MTV. Harry introduces Taylor at 16:55 and all of the boys are grinning, clearly there’s been teasing and jokes made between takes. The joke being that Harry and Taylor have a history that the public doesn’t know about and may even be in contact again here. At one point Liam is leaning towards Harry and says “How many people can say they’ve run up the stairs with Taylor Swift?” And the camera doesn’t cut to the boys’ reactions but I would have loved to see it. (x)

——————————————————————————-

Something changes around August. There’s a noticeable shift in Taylor’s attitude towards Harry — from angry to forgiving. By early September, she’s willing to go to dinner with Harry and Ed Sheeran. I fully believe there wouldn’t have been a “Haylor 2.0” without Ed. Which is why I kept adding his friendship moments with both of them to the timeline. Think about it: Ed was growing closer to Taylor while already being best friends with Harry. And now that we know Harry had been trying to get back in touch with Taylor all summer, it’s hard to imagine Ed didn’t help bridge the gap. He’s spoken highly of Harry in interviews before, so if the subject ever came up, Ed likely vouched for him and Taylor would have taken that seriously.

As for the specific moment that brought them back into contact, I would guess it was Taylor’s first single being released. Now that he had a legit reason, it’s easy to imagine him reaching out to congratulate her. And just the day before that, One Direction performed at the Olympics, a huge moment for them. These career milestones would give them both a natural excuse to start up a conversation. Then there was the MTV VMA special. Taylor would have known her segment was for this special that One Direction were hosting, another ice breaker. Plus, with the VMAs coming up, they knew they’d finally be in the same room again. That alone must’ve felt exhilarating and maybe just enough for Taylor to consider reopening that door.

Sometime this summer, Taylor writes “The Very First Night” and describes this song as “..a common theme on the RED album, which is reminiscing. Reminiscing about something that's over now, and reminiscing about the good times, and how powerful memories can be.” (x) I think she wrote this song after deciding to be friends with Harry again. Let’s just look at these lyrics.

I wish I could fly, I’d pick you up and we’d go back in time I’d write this in the sky, “I miss you like it was the very first night”

and so it goes, every weekend, this same party -> In this verse, Taylor is talking about what is currently going on in her life. From late July to late August, Taylor flew to Cape Cod/Hyannis Port every weekend to be with Conor Kennedy. One of the earlier articles about them together literally mentions they went to a house party.

I never go alone and I don’t seem brokenhearted -> Taylor has seemingly moved on from Harry and looks happy but as we later learn from This Love, she actually “struggled through the night with someone new” while thinking of Harry the whole time.

my friends all say they know everything I’m going through / I drive down different roads but they all lead back to you -> It seems there was a tension between Harry and Taylor’s friends where they had tried to warn her about him. Thinking of the RadarOnline article quote “Taylor had her love goggles on and wouldn’t hear what anyone had to say about Harry” then there’s the lyrics from Run “my so-called friends, they don’t know I’d drive away before I let you go” and One Direction’s 2015 song Olivia “Remember all of your friends were saying I’d be leaving you?” But Taylor could not escape Harry’s presence even when she tried. From the mutual friendship with Ed Sheeran, then being asked about One Direction at the teen choice awards, the VMAs special, the giant billboard of Harry’s face next to hers in Times Square. It was impossible to forget him.

but they don’t know about the night in the hotel / they weren’t riding in the car when we both fell / didn’t read the note on the Polaroid picture / they don’t know how much I miss you -> this one verse holds a few 1989 references. cars, polaroids, hotel rooms..

I believe this verse is referencing the night in New York City before Harry left for Australia. And that damn polaroid picture is referenced SO many times in Taylor’s music it has to be real.

Remind me how it used to be, pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks – How You Get The Girl

Your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave – This Love

You took a polaroid of us – Out of the Woods

There’s a picture in a frame, take it with you – Run

Taking down the pictures and the plans we made-Babe

and so it was, we never saw it coming / not trying to fall in love but we did like children running / back then we didn’t know we were built to fall apart / we broke the status quo then we broke each others hearts -> In the second verse, Taylor flashes back to the past to discuss what happened. She claims they were built to fall apart which she later echoes on Out of the Woods. They “broke the status quo” — definition: to challenge or change the current way things are done — which would have been accurate for Taylor. While dating Harry, Taylor gave the quote: "I think the one thing about love is that you don’t know anything. it always comes back and surprises you so I don’t have any general theories on love at the moment because they always get proven wrong.” then they broke each others’ hearts when Harry kissed another girl and Taylor cut contact and ran off with Conor.

but don’t forget about the night out in LA / dance in the kitchen, chase me down through the hallway / no one knows about the words that we whisper / no one knows how much I miss you -> This could be the pool party at Justin Bieber’s house. OR this song was written right after their September VMAs dinner and afterparty… She then says in present tense “no one knows about the words that we whisper” which is a poetic way of saying “we are currently and secretly in contact.” There’s also the Wonderland original lyric “we danced down hallways..”

I remember the night at the hotel / I was riding in the car when we both fell / I’m the one on the phone as you whisper “Do you know how much I miss you?” -> Again, the whispering implies secrecy to this conversation as the muse finally asks what Taylor has been thinking.

Also, sometime this summer, Harry co-writes the deluxe album track “Still The One”, which is about showing up at a girl’s door and asking for forgiveness/another chance. He says “You might have moved on but girl you should know, that I know you’re still the one.” and I love that they give Harry the bridge in this song.

and the craziest part is this song and How You Get The Girl are the same story from different povs. Seriously, listen to these songs back to back. And this song was written first so Taylor would have to hear this and be like “I should write this song from the other point of view” or it’s a complete crazy coincidence.

September 2012: Sometime at the beginning of the month, Harry is interviewed by Seventeen Magazine. He says he is not currently dating anyone but he lists Taylor as one of his celebrity crushes. The interview drops October 9.

"Taylor’s a really lovely girl. Honestly, she couldn’t be a sweeter person. She’s a great girl and she’s extremely talented. She’s one of those people you meet [who’s] genuinely a nice person. Some people you meet and they are not as nice as you make them out to be, but she’s one of those people who’s really just amazing. She deserves everything she has.”

September 1, 2012 — Taylor tweets that she will be in LA doing VMA rehearsals all week starting now until the live show.

September 3, 2012 — One Direction land in LA.

September 4, 2012 — Harry hangs out with a girl he met back in the summer and they get separate tattoos. It seems to be completely platonic or she’s keeping that part a secret. Her story time is here. (x) One Direction have their first day of VMA rehearsals.

September 5, 2012 — One Direction have their second VMA rehearsal and suddenly there’s an uptick of teasing Harry from the other boys. I theorize that he either ran into Taylor or she watched their rehearsal. When One Direction are asked about their celebrity crushes, Zayn whispers “Taylor Swift” in Harry’s ear. (x) In a separate interview when asked who they are excited to see at the VMAs, Louis points to Harry and says “Taylor Swift?” causing Niall to chuckle. Harry silently nods in agreement. (x)

September 6, 2012 — At 6:50 am, Harry tweets about being unable to sleep due to having a lot on his mind.

A couple hours before the VMAs, Taylor has her final rehearsal right after One Direction. Popstar Magazine tweets that One Direction stayed and watched Taylor’s rehearsal.

Here’s Taylor singing along to “What Makes You Beautiful”

Taylor, Harry and Ed Sheeran have dinner after the VMA’s.

September 7, 2012 — Taylor spends the day with a writer/interviewer for her Rolling Stone issue, performs at a charity event that night and leaves for Nashville directly after. Meanwhile, Harry attends a McFly concert.

September 11, 2012 — Taylor is spotted back in Nashville after spending the last couple days in Canada, meanwhile Harry finally leaves LA for the UK and stays there for the remainder of the month.

September 15-16, 2012 — Taylor gets back from Brazil and sees Conor Kennedy for the last time in New England, Massachusetts. This is presumably when they broke up. (x)

September 17, 2012 — Taylor tweets “Raining today. Missing Brazil.” It rained all day in Nashville that day, most likely where she was.

Harry attends the Burberry Fashion Show in London.

September 20, 2012 — Liz Huett tweets about spending the day with Taylor, confirming she is still in Nashville.

September 21, 2012 — Taylor performs at the iHeart Radio music festival in Las Vegas then remains in Nashville doing album promo for the rest of the month.

September 22, 2012 — The Crystabel Riley incident. A phone call is leaked of Zayn and Harry telling some fans how to get into their hotel with the intention of arranging a hook up. (x) “Crystabel” has since come out with her story and confirmed this night took place on March 17, 2012 before Harry ever met Taylor. She even mentions sneaking into their hotel despite One Direction’s tour manager forbidding 1D from bringing in girls. (x) Not only does this align with Harry’s promiscuous behavior in NYC that month but it makes the April 2012 article in my timeline about them being on a “sex ban” more believable.

September 26, 2012 — Harry’s sister, Gemma tweets about voting for Taylor for the EMAs.

September 28, 2012 — It is reported that Harry bought his first home in London, however he moves in with 1D photographer/producer/friend Ben Winston in Hampstead Heath until March 2014 while it is being renovated. (x, x) Ben Winston talks about this a couple times and even produced a sitcom about it, “Happy Together”. In a 2018 interview with GQ Australia, he mentions there is a story about his wife bumping into “a very naked, very blonde, very famous pop star in the kitchen” that he won’t go into. This could have been anytime 2012-2013 when Haylor were hiding out in London together.

Also on this day, Harry gets a new tattoo in London but notice he does not have the Love banner tattoo on his chest yet. (x) Also, take note that his “won’t stop till we surrender..” tattoo has significantly faded in three months despite being professionally done. It is possible he got laser removal after learning the lyrics are wrong from a certain someone lol

September 2012: During the last week of this month, Harry is interviewed by Cosmopolitan (released November 7) but this time when he is asked if he is dating anyone, his answer has changed:

“There's someone I like. If you're shown in the papers with other girls when you really like someone else, that's difficult. But still, I think it's important if you’re thinking about starting a relationship to do it away from the spotlight."

Not only does he loosely reference what went down with Taylor back in April, but he also expresses his desire to keep his relationship out of the spotlight. Keep that in mind.

The interviewer proceeds to ask if he has a type and Harry answers:

“I thought I did, but this girl I like isn't my “type”. It's more about the person. How they act, their body language, if they can laugh at themselves. I find ambition really attractive too - if someone’s good at something they love doing. I want someone who is driven."

October 1, 2012 — Taylor has landed in Paris to begin filming the “Begin Again” music video meanwhile Harry is in LA with Ed Sheeran.

October 3, 2012 — Harry lands in London around 4pm meanwhile Taylor spends her last night in Paris attending a fashion show.

October 4, 2012 — Harry and Taylor are spotted separately in London. Taylor goes thrift shopping with her mom. Harry tweets about Paper Aeroplanes that morning then attends a business meeting. This tweet could be completely unrelated to Taylor but we do know they are both in London secretly spending time together and he gives her his paper aeroplane necklace the next month.

That night, Taylor films her interview with Jonathan Ross. She doesn’t want to talk about her love life but when he asks if the guy she’s seeing is weird looking, she can’t help but set the record straight that he is definitely a handsome guy. Knowing that she and Harry were sneaking around during this time after she and Conor have secretly broken up, in hindsight it’s clear Haylor was back on. (x)

October 5, 2012 — Taylor goes on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw, one of Harry’s best friends, but they don’t mention him. Later that evening, she tweets about sleep walking, insinuating that she is exhausted from lack of sleep. Harry spends all day doing interviews in London as well.

October 6, 2012 — Harry goes on the Breakfast show with Nick Grimshaw and they spend about five minutes talking about how Taylor was on the show the day before, referring to her as “Ol Swifty”. Harry says he did not get to hear the show because he was doing another interview. He does confirm he’s met her. (x)

Taylor tweets an Aerosmith song that is about not wanting to fall sleep because you’re afraid you’ll miss a moment with the person you love. This seems to be tied to her previous sleepwalking tweet which makes sense. They spend all day working, the only time they can get alone is during the night. You’ll start to notice that almost all her songs about him take place in the middle of the night.

October 7, 2012 — Harry and Taylor are spotted backstage at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards but the picture doesn’t leak until December. Taylor was reportedly supposed to have a quiet dinner with a One Direction member but cancelled the reservation abruptly when the information leaked. This article shows that even at this time, no one had put together that Harry and Taylor were having secret rendezvous. (x)

October 8, 2012 — Taylor leaves London for Australia for a couple days. Then spends the next week in Nashville doing constant Red album promotion.

October 12, 2012 — One Direction go on The Late Late Show in Ireland. The interviewer brings up the dinner with Taylor rumor and asks “Is it true one of you got invited to dinner with Taylor Swift?” (x)

The rest of the boys act coy while Louis quickly responds, throwing him under the bus “You take this one, Harry.”

Harry carefully chooses his words, “I didn’t get asked.” which feels like a loophole now, and most likely he meant he was the one to ask her, not the other way around.

October 16, 2012 — During an ExtraTv interview, Taylor does the most Haylor interview yet while answering these rapid fire questions..

Favorite love song: “Sweet Disposition.” (well yes!)

Movie that you always watch after a breakup: “There’s this movie called About Last Night.. I don’t know, they break up and they spend all this time apart and in the end, they get back together.. ‘cause they were really good together. [She blushes] Sooo I don’t know, I like that idea.” (saying this right after coming out with we are NEVER ever getting back together is hilarious and prob a little confusing for the interviewer)

Song that you sing when you’re in love: “I don’t know.. I think I just write my own.” (foreshadowing)

October 17, 2012 — Taylor writes This Love while in LA for work.

Harry, still in London for his own work obligations, posts a picture of a couple holding hands with matching “Love” tattoos to Instragram.

October 19, 2012 — RadarOnline leaks the story on what happened between Harry and Taylor back in April with no mention of them dating again. Taylor goes on to confirm this story 5 months later in Vanity Fair. (I checked twitter and no one was really talking about it when it dropped! and those who were, didn’t believe it. Haylor remains a secret for another month)

October 25, 2012 — Us Weekly reports that Taylor and Conor “quietly parted ways a while ago”, adding “It's been over a month since they've even seen each other.” which basically confirms for us that their meeting on September 16th, just over a month ago, would’ve been when the break up happened. If it was in person.

Taylor’s Rolling Stone cover drops and some Treacherous lyrics are mentioned in the interview (x)

She's uncomfortable discussing a line from her new album - "I'll do anything you say if you say it with your hands” - that seems to break new ground. She says, "I don't know if I'm interested in writing about, um, blatantly sexual things out of the context of how it affects a relationship.”

Which means, she wouldn’t write about sex unless it added important context to the story of a relationship. It is more apparent when the 1989 album comes out that the nature of Taylor and Harry’s relationship was especially sexual. Given Harry’s behavior so far in this timeline, that’s not surprising.

October 30, 2012 — Harry’s LOVE banner tattoo is seen for the first time. (Full tattoo pic from the Kiss You music video, filmed sometime in October)

November 1, 2012 — Taylor attends the CMAs in Nashville then remains unseen until the 6th.

November 3, 2012 — Harry is in Paris for work, still wearing his airplane necklace on Dancing with the Stars, then disappears for nearly three days.

November 6, 2012 — They show back up in London separately after hiding out for a few days, likely in Ben Winston’s attic. Harry is seen at the airport, leaving for LA. Meanwhile, Taylor performs at a tree lighting ceremony.

November 7, 2012 — Taylor steps out in London wearing Harry’s airplane necklace for the first time. That night, she goes on the Chatty Man show and speaks on having relationships in the spotlight:

Interviewer: “How hard is it to keep your private life private? Because there are paps everywhere.”

Taylor: “I think it all depends on who you’re with, if they have a serious issue with it then I guess you like.. hide or whatever. But I don’t really like that cause it makes me feel like I’m running from the law or something. I don’t wanna feel like I’m a fugitive, like, ‘Oh my goddd we’re having a relationship! Better put on a mask and stuff!’” …. “But with the privacy thing, I’d just rather live my life and I feel like if you can be in a relationship and have it seem normal, that would be good.”

So, already we see they have completely opposite views. Harry wants to keep his relationship out of the spotlight while Taylor wants to go out like a normal couple. Who do you think gets what they want?

November 8, 2012 — Taylor wears the necklace for the second day in a row then stops wearing it for a while.

During an interview, a fan asks Niall what his go-to car/shower song is, he answers “We are never getting back together”

The interviewer then asks Louis a music question and adds “Just don’t say Taylor Swift cause that’s Niall’s”

Louis mumbles “And Harry’s–“ before answering the question x

November 9, 2012 — Harry shows off his new bird tattoos on the Ellen show. He has covered up the Love banner tattoo and his airplane necklace is gone.

While in Paris, an interviewer asks Taylor what song off her new album fits her mood today and she says her favorite song today is Treacherous because “Love can be really dangerous but it’s worth it.” x

November 14, 2012 — One Direction leave NYC for London while Harry meets up with Taylor in LA instead. They visit her collaborators, producer Jacknife Lee and Gary Lightbody, and the three of them write “Something Great” for One Direction’s next album.

The song is about someone who is longing for a past love, saying they could be something great when the narrator one day tells the muse how he feels and finally gets it right. This may have been a song idea Harry came up with before getting back together with Taylor.

November 15, 2012 — Gary Lightbody tweets about writing a song with Harry the day before and they follow each other on twitter. x

Harry accompanies Taylor to rehearsals for her X Factor performance and an E! News article reports this right as it happened. Convenient. (x) This is when everyone finally catches on and One Direction fans can no longer ignore it. But the general consensus on stan twitter is as you’d expect. “Our poor baby Harry is going to get hurt and written about by the crazy serial dater, Taylor Swift!!!!”

Although I truly believe their relationship was real, this soft launch is obviously planned and contrived with the help of Harry’s management. First, the official X Factor USA twitter account is the first to “out” Haylor with this weird tweet about them in the lunch line together (cheeseburgers)

Then, 30 minutes later, an “X Factor All Access”account tweets that they saw Harry throw Taylor over his shoulder and carry her off, as mentioned in the E! News article. This account is ran by a girl who is clearly paid to follow the contestants around during rehearsals, get interviews and backstage content, hype up the live shows etc.

I just found it odd that these X Factor employees have taken it upon themselves to reveal this secret relationship to the world. It’s no coincidence that they all worked for Simon Cowell, who owns the X Factor franchise and One Direction’s label.

November 16, 2012 — Harry flies back to London last minute and joins One Direction for a scheduled work event.

During a radio interview, Mario Lopez (X Factor presenter) gives us more Haylor tea

"Taylor Swift was the special guest performer, and a little inside scoop for you: During rehearsals, Harry from One Direction came and slapped me on the back and said, 'Hey, Mario, how ya doing?' And I said, 'What are you doing here?' And he sort of [pointed] toward Taylor." He also revealed they walked away holding hands.

not the unsolicited inside scoop

November 18, 2012 — The Sun also reports on the X Factor story with more information from inside sources, now deleted. A pal said: “She thought Harry was hot and got Justin to introduce them. She fell for him straight away. They secretly had a bit of a thing.

They were texting and talking a lot and met up a few times. But it ended when Harry was spotted with another girl in New Zealand.

Taylor was really embarrassed by what happened and was nervous about giving him another go. But this time they have spent more time getting to know each other.

Taylor is very full-on in relationships and falls for people quickly. Harry is being careful because he doesn’t want to hurt her again. But he’s made it clear he likes her a lot. They have been quietly seeing each other again for a little while now.”

Taylor spends the next 3 days filming the “I Knew You Were Trouble” music video in LA.

l see this music video as a fictional or at least dramatic portrayal of a broader concept, a life lesson learned from several different experiences. The song and video represent all the times Taylor recognized red flags yet chose to pursue the relationship anyway. In that sense, the narrative draws from multiple muses rather than a single person.

“I don’t think I would’ve written this type of narrative a couple years ago because I hadn’t realized yet that getting my heart broken isn’t only one person’s fault. I guess that’s where I am now in my life. If I realized early on that this is a huge risk factor and I went for it anyway, it’s my fault too.” - Taylor, IKYWT behind the scenes

So when people ask, “Do you honestly believe this song is about Harry?” my answer is yes, partly. I also think elements of it point to John Mayer, and perhaps even Martin Johnson, among others from her past. I stand by the theory that while she may have been thinking of John when she came up with the chorus in January, the inspiration when finishing it in June was clearly now Harry. Obviously by the time the song is released, they are back together. So she keeps it vague and doesn’t start leaving bread crumbs to this discovery until after their break up. Behind the scenes, Taylor shared that the concept for this video had been in development for months, probably before she reconciled with Harry.

She explained further in the interview:

“The character Reeve is playing isn’t stereotypical because he’s not all bad. He’s sweet and kind and sensitive and everything this girl wants… sometimes.”

So here are some possible references to Harry that I noticed:

1. We first get a montage of the couple in the beginning stages and I noticed some parallels to to The Very First Night.

2. Taylor’s love interest wears a gold pendent with a charm of some kind, similar to the gold pendent and cross charm Harry was wearing during their time together in the spring. Here, the airplane necklace (it’s a key in the music video) is missing because he’s given it to her. He actually gave her his necklace 10 days before shooting the music video.

3. Taylor catches her love interest kissing another woman and then watches him continue to go through women. I believe this is a metaphor for Harry’s womanizing behavior. When he got caught kissing another girl in New Zealand then continued to be seen going out to clubs with several different woman over the summer. Taylor had to see it all.

4. I previously kept mentioning this Love banner tattoo for a reason. While we don’t know the exact day, he had to have gotten it sometime in October. The placement on his chest is almost identical to the music video, this is a clear reference to Harry — and Taylor seems to be saying she was with him when he got it. That is completely plausible considering they secretly spent a total of four days together in London that month.

At the end of the Trouble music video, Taylor says in a voice over “Maybe you don’t know who you are, ‘til you lose who you are.”

Three years later, she ends the “Out of the Woods” music video with the quote, “She lost him but found herself and somehow that was everything.”

November 26, 2012 — Taylor says in an Australian interview "I think the one thing about love is that you don't know anything. It always comes back and surprises you so I don't have any general theories on love at the moment because they always get proven wrong."

Taylor’s morals and boundaries were clearly evolving during this era of her life. Up until this point, anything resembling infidelity was a firm line that couldn’t be crossed. But during this relationship, things became less black-and-white. She got back together with Harry after he was unfaithful, though not technically cheating. She was no saint either when she broke up with Conor two weeks after being seen with Harry. Songs like “The Very First Night” and “This Love” suggest some kind of emotional overlap.

November 29, 2012 — Taylor attends the ARIA awards in Australia. The Temper Trap later revealed in 2015 that this was the event where Taylor came up to them with a piece of paper and a request: “It’s my boyfriend's birthday soon. I wanna give him a present - here's a piece of paper, can you please write down the lyrics to Sweet Disposition and sign it? I wanna give it to him."

This shows that Taylor had every intention of Harry still being her boyfriend on his birthday in February. I think this relationship was pretty serious for her. I’m not sure how seriously Harry took it though.

December 2, 2012 — Haylor make their debut as a couple, taking a stroll through Central Park (along with Harry’s hairstylist and her family).

They are spotted by fans having dinner with Harry’s parents that night.

December 3, 2012 — Taylor’s SUV is seen leaving Harry’s hotel the next day. She arrives at her own, minutes later. x x

One Direction perform a sold out show at Madison Square Garden, Taylor was said to have entered through the back of the venue with the boys while the other 1D girlfriends used the main entrance.

Taylor is Harry’s plus one to the after party at the Hudson Hotel. They spend the night dancing and singing karaoke with friends. Harry is clearly hammered. The footage and pictures from this night have always made me cringe because it just kinda seems like Taylor is trying her best to fit in with him and his friends at his party and he’s just ignoring her. We see her touching him, trying to talk to him, dancing against him and he keeps his back to her most of the time. Here’s some videos: X X X X

Even in the photo of them singing together, it looks like he is awkwardly leaning away.

Harry’s mom, Anne tweets about their duet.

Now I know we can’t judge a few seconds from a party that lasted for hours but when I see these pictures I get flashes of lyrics from 1989.. “you give me everything and nothing” and “the more I gave, you’d want me less” to name a couple.

December 4, 2012 — They leave the party together and arrive back to Taylor’s hotel at 4am.

Later in the day, Harry leaves Taylor’s hotel minutes before she does and comes back that night with a full duffel bag.

December 5, 2012 — Harry leaves Taylor’s hotel in the morning after another night together. He spends the day filming a music video for One Direction.

December 6, 2012 — Taylor is spotted leaving Harry’s hotel in the early morning. x

Taylor (wearing the airplane necklace again) attends the interactive theater show Sleep No More then dinner at the Crosby Street Hotel for Emma Stone’s birthday. Harry shows up late to the hotel after taping his David Letterman talk show appearance. He calls out a pap that followed him to the hotel for being a dangerous driver. This lends to Taylor’s story that they really were being “hunted” by paparazzi during this time. Not everything was staged and set up beforehand.

At 10:30pm, a woman tweets about being in the same bar as Taylor and Harry. x

She is contacted by someone from People magazine and gives a quote about what she saw. (article now deleted) x

"Taylor and Harry were being very smoochie," a source at the party told PEOPLE. "They definitely looked like a couple."

According to the source, Swift and Styles held hands and he seemed "really protective of her" and kept his arm around her during the party. They shared plenty of kisses, too, and didn't seem to mind if anyone saw. Says the source: "They're not trying to hide it. The bar was packed."

So I decided to reach out for more information and she responded. She confirmed this bar was in the Crosby Street Hotel. Her long table was right next to theirs and they stayed for hours. She says Harry and Taylor seemed very into each other and their PDA wasn’t over the top, but appropriate for the setting and their age. I even asked about Dianna and Taylor’s vibe for the Swiftgrons. She says there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Dianna, Taylor and Harry play Rock, Paper, Scissors in the lobby while waiting for a car. Which seems random but if you watch the full video, everyone was playing little games like this while waiting on their car. The Gaylor explanation of this video is Dianna shoved Harry for getting too close to her girl. But allow me to offer another perspective because to me, this whole video seems to be lighthearted, playful and an obvious bit.

1. Harry and Dianna play first. His hand is in a fist to resemble rock. He wins and turns to Taylor for the next round.

2. We see Harry smirking as he loses to Taylor. His hand is flat like paper, she pretends to cut his hand with her scissor fingers.

3. Then his hands go up to her face or neck area. You can see her hair and the back of her head as she leans away from him to get away from whatever he’s doing.

4. He pretends to take something of Taylor’s and stuffs it in his jacket pocket as he walks away. But he immediately stops and walks back to the group because it’s all a bit. I can only assume he was pretending to be a sore loser and taking his necklace from her neck as retaliation for getting beat - maybe?

5. Dianna steps in front of Taylor to block out Harry. You can see a split second where Taylor is actually the first to make the “shooing” motion with her hand and Dianna immediately copies her and shoos Harry away.

They all walk out together and Dianna (and another blonde friend from the party that never gets mentioned) leave in the same car with Haylor. x

December 7, 2012 — Harry is seen leaving Taylor’s hotel on their last morning in NYC. They both attend and perform at the Z100 Jingle Ball where we get a bunch of Haylor content. First, they separately walk the red carpet where Taylor is asked about Harry but she won’t budge. (Neither does Ed Sheeran) Meanwhile, Harry is asked what he should get Taylor for her birthday and Liam jokingly answers for him, “Harry.” He coyly avoids answering the dating question by saying “I just bumped into her at the zoo and I don’t know.. things got crazy.” while Liam whistles in the background. x

One Direction are the first to perform at the festival and Taylor can be seen watching from the side of the stage. Halfway through their set, Taylor leaves to get ready for her own and Harry keeps looking over after he notices she’s gone.

Harry returns the favor by watching Taylor’s set. When she finishes, he walks up to her backstage and greets her with a hug.

Taylor can be seen dancing by the side of the stage with Harry while waiting to perform with B.O.B x

Taylor kisses Harry on the cheek before going onstage and Harry can be seen happily jumping/dancing around during her performance. x

A concert goer posts on tumblr about what they saw between Harry and Taylor: x

Harry follows Taylor as she leaves her dressing room and stops for fans. They take a red eye flight to London via Taylor’s private jet.

December 8, 2012 — Taylor is spotted backstage, leaving with Harry after his Capital FM Jingle Ball performance in London. x x x x

Later that night, Harry’s mom posts a picture of herself, Gemma and Taylor’s socks.

December 9, 2012 — Taylor accompanies Harry to his X Factor UK performance. x

December 11, 2012 — Anne posts an instagram photo of her Christmas baking which most likely involved Taylor. Later in the evening, Taylor and Harry have dinner with his sister Gemma and her boyfriend. The pub manager gives a statement about her conversation with Taylor.

A separate restaurant goer describes the PDA she saw between Harry and Taylor. Also, both sources go into detail about the meals the couple ordered and they match up which gives their stories more credibility to me.

“Harry and Taylor were putting spoons on their noses and fooling around with each other and taking photos of each other. After that, they were stood talking and Harry kept putting his hand on Taylor’s bum. Taylor had her arms around him a lot and they were really close all night. They seemed like they got along really well and they got on with Harry’s sister and did seem like a normal couple. They were sat together opposite Harry’s sister and you could see Harry’s hand on Taylor’s lap the whole evening."

They make a Tesco stop in Cheshire on the way back to his mother’s home. x

Nick Grimshaw is asked about Haylor while at an event and gives his stamp of approval x

“Harry really likes Taylor, he’s fallen for her in a big way. At first I wasn’t sure if the relationship was a real one but I talk to him a lot and it seems to be that she’s the one – for now, anyway. American artists are usually really, really boring and reserved but Taylor is fun. She’s always up for a laugh and is really good company. Harry likes people who make him laugh. I talk to Harry a lot on the phone while he’s away touring and he talks about her a lot. He is very happy with her. I like her a lot too, she came on my show recently and we had a really fun time.”

December 12, 2012 — They spend the day Christmas shopping and feeding the birds in The Lake District. Taylor is carrying a new Chanel bag that is allegedly an early birthday gift from Harry. A local jeweler describes her encounter with the couple.

Another store owner shares his own experience:

Owner Andy Poole described Taylor as “nice and charming” and revealed, “They were dancing around to the seasonal music being played. Harry was being the most boisterous.”

I find it interesting how Harry is so stiff and awkward when he knows they’re being filmed but in private he is being described as the more playful and rowdy one.

They end their day back in Cheshire, grabbing takeout from a Chinese restaurant next door to Harry’s childhood home — his favorite growing up.

December 13, 2012 — On the morning of Taylor’s 23rd birthday, Harry picks up a custom order of 23 cupcakes from a local bakery. Later in the afternoon, Harry allegedly took Taylor to a golf club he frequents (not pictured). Afterwards, they stop for gas where they notice they are being followed by a pap on a motorbike. They grab dinner at a nearby pub before going home. x

December 14, 2012 — Harry drops Taylor off at the airport and goes to a local UNI party that night.

December 15-17, 2012 — While in Germany for Red promo, Taylor says she had the “best birthday since I was about six years old.”

December 18, 2012 — Haylor reunite in LA and Taylor accompanies Harry to the Shamrock Parlor while he gets a new ship tattoo on his arm.. which matches the fake tattoo Reeve Carney wore on his arm one month earlier, for the IKYWT music video. Yeah, I have no explanation for this one. Either Taylor knew Harry wanted this tattoo and used the inspiration for her music video or Harry liked the tattoo after seeing the music video and wanted one for himself.

December 19, 2012 — Taylor is spotted leaving her LA home around noon with Harry and her mom, Andrea. Taylor and Andrea stop by Ralph’s grocery store. x

Harry goes to music rehearsals then attends a Haim concert at the Troubadour with a friend. He meets the band and tweets about it, then leaves just before midnight. Taylor is notably absent. We know she is not in attendance because not only is she never seen again that day, but when she and Haim begin interacting in 2014, it’s clear they had not met prior.

December 20, 2012 — One Direction perform at the X Factor US finale. Taylor is not seen in attendance this time but Harry gets asked about her on the red carpet twice, followed by teasing from the other boys. x x

December 21, 2012 — Haylor go on a ski trip in Utah with Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, rumored to be a surprise Christmas gift for Harry from Taylor. They take pictures with fans while having dinner that night. An onlooker claims they look “happy and in love.”

December 22, 2012 — Around 7pm local time, a girl tweets about seeing Harry around the resort several times that day, including holding hands with Taylor.

December 23, 2012 — Around noon local time, Harry tweets a hint at his chin injury after getting into a snowmobile accident with Taylor. x

December 24, 2012 — Harry arrives back in London hiding his injury, then goes to a Christmas party with a bandage on.

December 25-27, 2012 — Taylor and Harry are spotted in their own hometowns spending Christmas with their respective families.

December 28, 2012 — Harry is seen at a London airport trying to get to the states, but he forgets his passport and has to take a later flight. He was allegedly suppose to be flying to Boston. There could be a couple reasons for this, if true. He could have been trying to avoid a NYC airport this close to New Years or he and Taylor were hiding out in her Cape Cod home for a few days. Neither of them are seen until NYE so it’s possible.

December 31, 2012 — Harry attends a Coldplay concert but shows up in time for Taylor’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve performance and midnight kiss in Times Square. (multiple angles of the kiss x x x x)

December 2012: Sometime this month, Harry co-writes and records a demo of “Don’t Let Me Go” with Sam McCarthy but it is never officially released. However Sam posts the demo onto the internet in June 2013 x

It seems to describe his current feelings on his relationship with Taylor with lyrics like:

“Now you were standing there right in front of me

I hold on it's getting harder to breathe

All of a sudden these lights are blinding me

I never noticed how bright they would be”

We are at the beginning of the end of Haylor but before we get to that, I want to do a quick overview of this month. I know it seemed like they were throwing themselves in our faces, especially to the people who think they were PR. But actually, they made an effort to stay private most of the time. I hope my timeline shows that the majority of their spotted outings were normal fans seeing them in public and asking for photos.

Here’s a list to put it into perspective

Days total in December: 31

Days spent together: 25 (6 days apart for work and christmas)

Days photographed by fans: 17 (7 days together unseen)

Days paparazzi’d: 6 (Central Park, Emma Stone’s birthday, Taylor’s birthday, Airport drop off, Tattoo parlor, Taylor’s house in LA)

March 31, 2012 — Taylor Swift and Harry Styles meet for the first time at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles. During One Direction’s performance of “What Makes You Beautiful,” cameras capture Taylor, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, and Katy Perry dancing in the front row.

Taylor introduces herself backstage later that night according to the The Daily Mirror. (posted April 11, now deleted)

After the awards, Harry follows Taylor on twitter then tweets at 9:20pm (LA time) about meeting some “amazing people”..

Taylor was also at Dianna Agron’s house at some point this day, most likely after the KCA’s. Either way I don’t believe Taylor and Harry hung out this night anyway.

April 1, 2012 — Apparently, when asked by a fan if they could see Taylor and Selena dancing from the stage, Liam says,

"It's hard to see from up on stage but we got a chance to meet and talk with Taylor Swift. Of course we are big fans. I thought Harry might have went to the bathroom just a little bit when we met her."

I’ve seen this quote circulating for years, particularly in Haylor timelines, but I’ve never come across a source. There are a bunch of tweets quoting it on this day and it sounds like something Liam might say, but it’s interesting that no one ever mentioned where the quote came from. However, he may also be referring to meeting her in this tweet: x

Also, One Direction perform a private gig in LA while Taylor is in Las Vegas at the ACMs. This is where Taylor meets Pat Monahan from Train, co-writer of Babe, for the first time (confirmed by Train’s instagram) and she tells him that “Drive By” is her favorite song right now.

April 2, 2012 — Harry is seen by the hotel pool in LA; Taylor’s location is unknown. That night, Justin hangs out in the studio with “good people,” and tweets about it the next day. Scooter Braun tweets then deletes about the studio being “Popstar Hangout Central,” referring to them as the “next generation”. This alludes to a group of young pop stars rather than the older artists/rappers Justin was collaborating with at that time for the Believe album. While we know at least three members of One Direction were there the following night, Scooter’s tweet makes me wonder if Taylor was actually there this night. A room with Justin Bieber, One Direction, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Swift would certainly be “Popstar Hangout Central.”

April 3, 2012 — One Direction (3/5 members confirmed) spent time at Justin Bieber’s mansion in LA, as shown by their posts the following day. Later in June 2012, Justin talks with BBC Radio 2 while in London about the time the boys came over to his house, swam, and hung out. From April-June, One Direction and Justin Bieber were never in the same city at the same time which would mean this pool party had to have taken place on April 3rd at the latest. Every Haylor timeline will mention that Taylor and Selena were “rumored” to be at this pool party, but the truth is they are never mentioned in any article about this party. The rumor comes from fans. Now if you ask me if I think Taylor and Selena were there, I would say it’s more likely than not.

April 4, 2012 — One Direction are seen several times throughout the day leaving their hotel, then at LAX before landing in New York City close to midnight (NY time). Given the tight travel schedule, there was no opportunity for Taylor and Harry to spend time together that day. Side note: Justin tweets about doing radio interviews over the phone all morning which is when I believe he gives the quote about Taylor liking Harry.

April 5, 2012 — The Daily Mirror — a popular British tabloid —posts a statement from Justin Bieber in which he commented on One Direction’s rapid rise in the U.S.

Bieber reveals: “I already know one of the biggest artists in the world thinks Harry is so hot, but I have been sworn to secrecy.”

The writer of the article has no idea who it could be and is not even close to guessing Taylor. A follow-up article from a “source close to Justin” was published to The Mirror a week later, confirming the artist was Taylor, likely because no one was catching on quickly enough. It’s worth noting that the only two articles during this time even hinting at a connection between Harry and Taylor came from Justin himself or a “source” in his circle, and both given to The Mirror. To me, this reads like a business strategy between Justin and 1D’s management. The article is essentially a scripted puff piece on One Direction from.. Justin Bieber? Well, Scooter Braun and Justin had previously tweeted in support of 1D and were reportedly in business talks with them as early as January. Tweets and interviews from this time period suggested Justin was exploring a potential collaboration with the band. I don’t know exactly what Scooter stood to gain from promoting the direct competition of his own clients—Justin and The Wanted—but there was clearly something in it for them. My current theory is that Scooter Braun was either trying to buy the band or make Justin their “mentor”. Whatever the plan was, One Direction (or Simon Cowell) ultimately chose a different path. And sure enough, by the end of April and onward, all five of the boys are denying any plans for collaboration and the vibe between Justin and 1D shifts slightly from Justin’s side, into something more competitve.

Allll that to say, no one would have known about Taylor crushing on Harry if it weren’t for Justin. While Scooter Braun may have planted these articles as PR for One Direction, this had nothing to do with Taylor’s PR team.

Meanwhile, One Direction attend Saturday Night Live rehearsals all afternoon and get interviewed by MTV, during which they were asked about the female celebrities seen dancing to their performance at the Kids’ Choice Awards. The other members playfully teased Harry, prompting a mention of Taylor. x

“Oh yeah! That’s the one. Jackpot!” – Louis

At 8:01 p.m. local time, Harry tweeted lyrics from “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap—a song that will continue to show up throughout their relationship. Consider it the Haylor soundtrack. The very next line is literally the secret message of Treacherous. A potential hangout on this night cannot be ruled out.

April 6, 2012 — The day before Saturday Night Live, Harry is stopped by fans walking Broadway and then entering the back of his hotel around 2 p.m. where he takes pictures with a few lucky fans. He is later pictured outside of SIR Studios with the rest of the boys that evening for music rehearsal. All pics here. Since Harry had most of the day off, and it’s later revealed that there was a “weekend where they got really close,” it’s possible this was the start of that time. Even though there are never any confirmed sightings of Harry and Taylor together, I have been noting any longer stretches where they were both off the radar.

April 7, 2012 — One Direction leave their hotel at 3:30 p.m. for SNL final rehearsals, with the live show airing at 11:30 p.m. and ending around 1 a.m.

After five days out of the public eye, Taylor is spotted in the streets of NYC..

..then at Otto, having dinner with Emma Stone and Dianna Agron at 11:22 p.m.—just 2.4 miles from the SNL studio. Dianna is spotted back at her hotel a little after 1 a.m. without Taylor.

Following the taping, Harry’s whereabouts are unknown, and he does not return to his hotel that night — confirmed by the dozens of fans camping at the front and back doors. If there’s one night they spent together, it would be this one. (i’m especially proud of finding this piece of the puzzle)

Photos began circulating on Twitter claiming Harry was at a club called Le Bain following his Saturday Night Live appearance. I was able to prove it was not from that night but likely from the previous month when he spent the majority of March in the city.

First, the red-haired woman pictured is Aimee Phillips, a DJ and mutual friend of Harry and Nick Grimshaw. The man beside Harry is Jonny Pierce, a friend of Aimee’s who frequently appears on her Instagram.

On the morning of April 7, Jonny tweeted about flying from Rome to meet Nick Grimshaw, who was in London. Meanwhile, Aimee tweeted that she would be attending the taping of SNL that night, and that she missed both Jonny and Nick, confirming that Jonny was not in New York with her that evening. The following morning, both Jonny and Nick were documented spending Easter together in London.

So there you have it. Harry’s whereabouts that night remain unknown but I believe he was with Taylor.

April 8, 2012 — Taylor is allegedly spotted at the “Russian Military Museum” with her “boyfriend”. However, the original tweet that made this claim is now deleted. Without a confirmed time zone from the person who took this screenshot, the timestamp here is unreliable. Personally, I believe this was a troll post. Not only is there no known “Russian Military Museum” in the area, it is also a random obscure place for a new couple to be seen publicly.

Around 4 p.m., Harry pops back up at JFK Airport with One Direction. From there, they fly to Los Angeles for a layover before heading to Australia. (because of the drastic time zone difference, they land in Australia on April 10th, effectively skipping April 9th altogether.)

That evening, around 7 p.m., Taylor is spotted at the Bowery Hotel with Dianna Agron. According to the source, Taylor was not a guest there and reportedly stays only for a couple of hours. (So we can safely assume Taylor is not in NYC for Dianna because why wouldn’t Taylor just stay at the Bowery Hotel with her? We know Dianna was staying there the entire trip based on photos and multiple sightings from someone who was admittedly “celebrity stalking” the lobby that weekend. But Taylor only shows up once, after Harry had already left New York, and leaves shortly after.)

April 9, 2012 — Page Six breaks a story linking Harry to singer Lily Halpern, alleging she was seen leaving his hotel room in New York City. Following the leak, Lily begins offering quotes to several outlets. She gives an official interview on April 12, and claims they first met nearly two months earlier, when One Direction opened for Big Time Rush in NY—a group she had also previously worked with. According to Lily, they have spent time together everytime Harry was in New York since then, including this recent visit where they watched Flubber in his hotel room. This detail aligns with a tweet Harry posted about the film on April 5th, just hours after arriving in NYC. Lily retweeted this and posted about watching Flubber herself, effectively connecting the dots for fans and gaining brief media attention. Despite Harry’s rep stating that they’ve never heard of her, they never said Harry didn’t know her. I believe her story although I’m sure her eagerness to spill private details cut whatever they had short. The timeline still suggests this took place prior to Harry and Taylor’s weekend together.

April 11, 2012 —(busiest day ever) The Daily Mirror leaks the story about Taylor and Harry’s first meeting at the KCAs, the same article I referenced twice earlier. Honestly, I think this story is real. The quote about her “dramatically fanning herself” is what sold it for me. She’s done that so much that I can present several examples lol.

That said, someone in that circle clearly betrayed Taylor by giving this information and I suspect the source was Scooter Braun. He was not only present that night, but also spoke to the 1D boys.

Interestingly, the original article has since been deleted. I suspect Taylor’s publicist stepped in to scrub it from circulation. This was a brand new connection she was actively pursuing and it was too early to let the public get ahold of it just yet. It also painted her as desperate and intense, not the image she’d want Harry or general public to see while trying to come off as the nonchalant cool girl. And what other reason would The Mirror have for pulling such a buzzworthy story?

On the same day, The Daily Mail reports another alleged romantic connection for Harry, this time with New York based photographer, Sarah-Louise Colivet. Her story shares striking similarities to Lily Halpern’s. According to the report, Sarah and Harry also met in NYC back in March where they reportedly shared a kiss. When a friend of hers mentioned Harry on Facebook, Sarah responded that they would be “reunited this Wednesday” which happened to be the exact day Harry arrived in NYC, and the same morning he was allegedly with Lily. Her accurate knowledge of his travel schedule lends her some credibility; however, we don’t know if they ever met up.

So basically it seems Harry spent the month of March in New York City, frequenting clubs and building a roster. From here, we will continue to highlight Harry’s flirty nature and his love for the nightlife to show why Taylor would’ve had a hard time trusting him.

On One Direction’s first night in Australia, Harry and Zayn go clubbing together for 3 hours until about 2am their time. They were extremely drunk and rambunctious, and Harry allegedly rejected a girl that came onto him.

oh, the juxtaposition

Meanwhile, Taylor is back in L.A. to write and record the first demo of “Treacherous” with Dan Wilson. I was able to confirm it was his California studio based on his Instagram posts. Taylor shares a photo on her own Instagram with the caption, “Recording the next album. So happy.” yeah I bet you are

According to Wilson, Taylor came in with the first four lines already written—an idea she’d come up with in the car on the way over. They finished the song together and recorded the demo.

“I wrote ‘Treacherous’ with Dan Wilson, and we came up with a way to say, you know, ‘This is dangerous and I realize that I might get hurt if I go through with this, if I move forward with you. But… but I want to.’ You know? It’s like that kind of conflicted feeling of it being a risk every time you fall in love — especially with certain types of people [laughs].” — Taylor

Now I want to offer my own rebuttal to arguments I’ve seen for other potential muses. If you’re on board that it’s about Harry, just skip!

1. Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t make sense as the subject. The timeline doesn’t align. Why would Taylor write a song about falling in love with Jake over a year after their breakup? Especially while she’s seemingly experiencing those emotions with someone new?

Additionally, Taylor says “Treacherous” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” were written about the same person. (the interview is no longer online but it was with Brian Mansfield. here is his tweet about it with the link and here is the quote.) This debunks either song being about Jake since we know most of the Red album is. She separates these two songs to be about someone completely different.

2. Harry Styles: The secret message in the liner notes is “Won’t stop ’til it’s over,” a lyric from The Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition. That same song was tweeted about by Harry earlier that month, and he later got a tattoo of a misheard lyric. Over time, this song becomes part of the lore between them and they even have a disagreement about the correct lyrics later. Taylor choosing the correct lyric as the hidden message feels deliberate, like a subtle nod or inside joke.

As for the argument that “they had just met” and she wouldn’t write something this emotional for Harry after only a couple of weeks.. have we all forgotten who we’re talking about? This is Taylor Swift. (Enchanted? Matty Healy?) Whatever they had in April clearly made an impact, so much so that by the time they reconnected in October, she’s writing lines like “this love came back to me.”

3. Dianna Agron is the only other potential muse that makes any sense, in my opinion. But given the secret message and the connection to IKYWT, this one is clearly about Harry.

April 12, 2012 — Taylor and Dan Wilson also write “Come Back.. Be Here” during their 2 day session.

Here are a few quotes from Taylor explaining the meaning of this song.

“Come Back Be Here is a song that I wrote with Dan Wilson about somebody I just met and it's about the feeling of just meeting someone and having all these sparks and all this and then they leave and they have to go somewhere else, you know, and the anxiety and wondering, "Is this ... How am I gonna see you again? Like, I want to. How's that gonna happen?" So, there's a lot of fear that's involved with falling in love, especially when you're dealing with distance.“ (x)

"I wrote about falling for someone and they have to go away for work. They're traveling, you're traveling, and you think about them, but you're wondering how it's going to work when there's so much distance between you." (x)

“It's a song that I wrote about a guy that I met. You know, you meet someone, and they just kinda happen to go away and it's like.. Long distance all the sudden and you're like… But.. But.. But but.. Come back! Be Here!” (x)

Why I think it’s about Harry:

1. The timing, first of all. That fact that it’s written just days after meeting Harry, having a special weekend together, then him leaving for tour..and one day after Treacherous is written.

2. The London/NYC debate is often the main reason people dismiss the idea that this song is about Harry, because he left for Australia instead of London. However, I believe the choice of “London” was intentional on Taylor’s part. Mentioning Australia would’ve been too specific to Harry, making it easy to fact-check. also, London is a common city associated with celebrity events which makes the reference feel more universal and keeps the muse harder to pin down. (And clearly it worked. I’ve seen at least four different people theorized to be the subject of this song.) That said, if you just look at the timeline and consider who she was involved with at the time, the connection becomes more straightforward. Focus on the sentiment of the song. Harry’s grueling work schedule is what made Taylor wonder when she would see him again. Australia to London to Sweden in the span of a month before embarking on another US tour at the end of May.

3. Harry and Taylor could have only spent a couple days together before he left and realistically, they barely knew each other. They meet in LA. He goes to New York for work (“I guess you’re in New York today”), so Taylor goes to see him. They have the weekend together then he leaves the country to resume touring, leaving Taylor in NYC (“New York, be here.. but you’re in London”). If Harry really did meet up with Taylor after SNL, which ended around 1am, the lyric “4am, the second day. how strange that I don’t know you at all..” makes even more sense. That and “one last kiss then you catch your flight right when I was just about to fall” perfectly capture how brief and fleeting but impactful their time together was before he left.

4.Harry later references Come Back.. Be Here in a song he wrote in 2014 “I didn’t come back and I wasn’t there” basically claiming himself as the inspiration for it. I think he knows better than us who it’s about.

5. Some have pointed out that Jake was in NYC then London for work during his relationship with Taylor. While that’s true, the majority of their time together was spent in New York, and it wasn’t a long-distance relationship. By the time he went to London (which was only for a few days), they were already about three months into dating and had just spent Thanksgiving together with his family. At that point, Taylor wasn’t “just about to fall.” This song is clearly about someone she has just met. The relationship is not even official yet.

6. For those who believe this song was about Zac Efron because he happened to be in New York then London when it was written, I’d argue that theory doesn’t hold much weight. Taylor and Zac were likely nothing more than co-stars. They were never once seen together before or after their contractually obligated promo appearances for The Lorax in February 2012. Also, they met back in 2009.

7. And finally, Swiftgron. While I do consider that something may have happened between Taylor and Dianna, this song doesn’t fit that timeline. By the time Taylor wrote it, she and Dianna had been in each other’s orbit for a while and had spent most of the last month together. They continue hanging out regularly after this song was written. There was never a period where Dianna was constantly leaving for long periods of time, as the song suggests. Taylor emphasizes in both the lyrics and her comments that the song is about meeting someone, immediately forming a connection, and then quickly being separated with no clear answer to when they’d be together again. She describes being “worlds away” with “SO much distance” between them. That simply doesn’t reflect her dynamic with Dianna during this time.

April 16, 2012 — While being interviewed in Australia, Harry is asked if he and Taylor have been texting. After taking a suspiciously long pause, he seems to confirm with a smirk, saying “Ummm.. we met in America. And she’s very nice, yeah.” (x)

April 17, 2012 — During an Australian interview, Harry is pretty giggly and cheeky the entire time with the pretty blonde interviewer. However I will say, she is also showing unprofessionalism here with her legs resting against his and even touching his thigh at times throughout the interview. At one point, she runs braless and Harry says this is the best interview he’s ever done. (x)

November 4, 2021 — Ariana is officially casted in Wicked.

July 2022 — Ariana and Dalton have a second wedding to celebrate 3 years of dating.

September 18, 2022 — According to The Sun, Ariana and Dalton are renting a home in Hampstead Heath to prepare for Wicked filming.

November 2022 — Ariana gets her wedding date tattooed on her finger, matching the one on Dalton’s wrist.

November 11, 2022 — Ethan Slater wishes his wife, Lilly Jay a happy anniversary on Instagram. Ariana later likes all of Ethan’s pictures including this one after she follows him.

December 1, 2022 — Ariana follows Ethan Slater on instagram and posts a throwback of them on the 7th when he is officially announced as Boq.

December 8, 2022 — Wicked officially begins filming and Ethan posts a photo of his and Ariana’s shoes to instagram.

January 2023 — Ethan and Lilly Jay move into a London rental home with their son so they can stay together during Wicked filming.

January 23, 2023 — Ariana and Dalton are spotted holding hands in London. This was said to be a last ditch effort from Dalton to visit her and work things out, but it ended instead as she was falling for someone new. Ariana talks about the whole ordeal in the Eternal Sunshine deluxe track “intro (end of the world) - extended”

February 14, 2023 — Dalton calls Ariana his forever valentine on instagram stories and she reposts it with an “I love you.”

February 20, 2023 — According to the petition for divorce, Ariana’s legal team listed this day as date of separation.

March 4, 2023 — Ariana goes to the Soho House with Ethan and Lilly Jay.

March 5, 2023 — Ethan and Ariana are spotted taking a stroll in London. Allegedly they were alone with Ethan’s son.

March 26, 2023 — Ariana and Ethan are sitting real close at Michelle Yeoh's Oscar party.

Ariana isn’t wearing her ring on this night and stops wearing it on her social media posts.

March 29, 2023 — Frankie visits Ariana in London.

April 2023 — Sometime at the beginning of the month, Ariana and Ethan both unfollowed each other on Instagram, and later fans noticed all of Ariana's likes on his posts were gone, but Ethan's likes remained on her posts. Meaning Ethan blocked her. And it seemed Frankie had been blocked as well.

April 7, 2023 — Ariana briefly wears her wedding ring while out in London.

April/May 2023 — Dalton supposedly gets Ariana’s name tattooed on his chest around this time.

May 14, 2023 — Ethan wishes Lilly Jay a happy mother’s day on instagram. Ariana likes it.

May 15, 2023 — Ariana posts an instagram story for her and Dalton’s 2 year wedding anniversary.

Call me crazy but I now believe this post was the bat signal. If they started dating in July 2019, that would make 3 years, 10 months together. Two months shy of 4 years so why is she specifically emphasizing (3.5 together!!!)? Well, if they broke up in January that would make exactly three and a half years together. So while they were legally married for 2 years now, they weren’t officially together anymore.

May 28, 2023 — Ariana deletes all her instagram posts prior to June 2021 and liked a photo that highlighted the relationship problems she was having.

Also during this time, Ariana was pictured wearing Ethan’s Shiz sweater (or a matching one) on the Wicked set.

June 1, 2023 — Lilly Jay wishes Ethan a happy birthday on Facebook.

June 27, 2023 — Ariana is pictured celebrating her birthday with arms around Ethan and Jonathan Bailey. Dalton’s sister posts about this on Facebook when everything comes out in July. It’s becoming more clear that even though they officially separated in February, they were not broken up for good. Ariana describes it as a ‘situationship’ in the Eternal Sunshine track, “don’t wanna break up again” and adds “..you didn’t even try. When you finally did, it was at the wrong time.” Judging from the song and her liked Instagram post the previous month, there were attempts from Dalton to change that felt inauthentic. I now think she stayed a little longer for his sake but her mind had been made up for a while.

July 16, 2023 — Ariana is pictured without her wedding ring at Wimbledon 2023 and it makes headlines. I think this was staged because she hasn’t worn it in months.

July 17, 2023 — TMZ reports that Ariana and Dalton have been separated since January after he flew out to see her.

July 20, 2023 — TMZ also breaks the news that Ariana is now dating Wicked costar, Ethan Slater although he is supposedly still married. In the midst of the drama, Ariana likes some concerning instagram posts.

July 21, 2023 — Sources tell Page Six that Ethan told his wife Lilly Jay that he wanted a divorce just a few days before the news of him and Ariana breaks and she was "completely blinded sided"

July 26, 2023 — Ethan officially files for divorce from Lilly Jay.

July 27, 2023 — Lilly Jay breaks her silence and tells Page Six "Ariana's the story, really. Not a girl's girl. My family is just collateral damage." She says she is now focused on raising their 11 month old son who Ariana had previously met and held.

August 3, 2023 — Page Six reports that Grande and Slater were seen kissing before Ethan had broken things off with his wife, Lilly Jay. "They were sloppy on set," a source says, claiming they were together long before the world found out. "They were seen being all over each other while he was still supposedly happily married to Lilly." The source continues, "They were seen making out at a pub in Hampstead, and they were all over each other at Michelle Yeoh's Oscar party [in March]. The source also claims Grande and Gomez went on "multiple" double dates with Slater and Jay.

This pub rumor is later confirmed nearly two years later by Ariana herself in the Eternal Sunshine deluxe track, “Hampstead”.

September 18, 2023 — Ariana officially files for divorce from Dalton.

September-December 2023 — Ariana and Ethan are staying quiet but not a secret. They are spotted having dinners and going to Disneyworld. Ariana attends several of Ethan’s broadway shows for Spamalot.

January 7, 2024 — Ariana releases new single “Yes, and?” from her upcoming album and features the lyric “Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?”

February 2024 — Ariana lightly addresses the media circus in a Zach Sang interview: “We know this about the tabloids and about the media. We selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people, especially women, based on whether or not we like the person. We selectively remember that. We selectively leave space for humanness, for nuance.. We don’t need to go into any specifics, but of course there’s, like, an insatiable frustration..with watching people misunderstand the people you love and you.”

March 8, 2024 — Eternal Sunshine album is released. She begins the album with doubts about her marriage and admits that her eyes are wandering. She covers the toxicity of her and Dalton’s relationship over several tracks. “The Boy is Mine” officially addresses the scandal. Most of the last section of the album is about falling in love with Ethan and how this time it’s forever because she’s never felt this way before.

March 19, 2024 — Daltiana divorce finalized.

March 28, 2025 — Eternal Sunshine deluxe drops with a little more information about both Dalton and Ethan. There’s a song called “Dandelion” that some people felt was a diss to Lilly with the flower reference. The closing track “Hampstead” addresses the last two years of her life, and claims the general public doesn’t know the full story. And you know what, she’s right. I’m well aware that we don’t have all the answers or full context to anything I’ve covered here so don’t take it too seriously. I obviously have my own opinion, but I can say I give her grace in certain circumstances or the benefit of the doubt when I feel it it’s due.

April 28, 2026 — Ariana announces her 8th studio album Petal, dropping July 31st. She describes it as such: “It’s a little feral. It’s definitely from a place I’ve been maybe too shy or polite to tap into before. This kind of just feels like, ‘Fuck it.’”

June 8, 2026 — Ahead of her album release, it is reported that Ariana and Ethan split “several months ago” after nearly three years of dating. We will see if this album gives some details she previously withheld to protect Ethan at the time.