Was it just our wildest dreams, or did we go through a few weeks filled with a lot of Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift?
It all started on the afternoon of June 15 when crystal clear photos surfaced of the "Shake It Off" singer and The Avengers star kissing on a rocky beach in Rhode Island. Days later, the duo danced the night away at Selena Gomez's Nashville concert.
Dinner dates, meetings with the parents and matching outfits soon followed leaving some Swifties thinking this was the greatest "Love Story" ever told. Others, however, became a bit more skeptical.
"I know. It's only been three weeks. And she's 26. That's old enough to understand—like, you don't show your feelings on your sleeve in three weeks, you know?" Wendy Williams shared on her talk show. "And he's a 30-something."
Even with a couple's trip to Rome, the tipping point for some loyal Swifties was during the Fourth of July holiday. Yes, we loved finding out who was invited to her Rhode Island beachside house for America's holiday. Yes, we liked way too many of the Instagrams posted by members of Taylor's squad.
But after soaking up the weekend, some couldn't help but think to themselves: This is a lot for one Hollywood couple. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter felt it was necessary to ask Tom if he was "involved in some sort of publicity stunt" with Taylor.
"Well, um," he answered, apparently with a laugh. "How best to put this? How best to put this? That notion is—look, the truth is that Taylor Swift and I are together, and we're very happy. Thanks for asking. That's the truth. It's not a publicity stunt."
In the same month, Taylor faced headlines for Calvin Harris' Twitter rant against his ex-girlfriend. And yes, there was the leaked audio footage Kim Kardashian shared that reignited the debate about how much the Grammy winner knew about Kanye West's infamous lyrics to "Famous."
Safe to say it was the perfect time to take a break from the public eye.
When Tom hit Comic-Con in San Diego to share a new Kong: Skull Island movie trailer, Taylor decided to stay home. When Tom finally joined Instagram, his first post wasn't about his girlfriend. And when Taylor scored an invite to a birthday celebration in the Hamptons, she still had a great time even if Tom wasn't a plus one.
Today, Tom is hard at work filming Thor: Ragnarok in Australia while Taylor is lying low and escaping photographers much more frequently. And instead of thinking the lack of public appearances and PDA is a sign of trouble in paradise, perhaps it's just two people getting to know each other in private.
Dinner dates may now be at home instead of in locations where diners can tweet away every detail of what they are seeing. Perhaps Facetime conversations are a regular habit where nobody needs to know if you're wearing an "I love T.S." t-shirt.
And while some may still think they know everything about this couple, shall we remind you that Taylor is the one who went through an entire tour surprising fans night after night with unexpected celebrities. The Taylor that completely shocked a deserving couple this summer by attending their wedding. The Taylor that flew 1,200 miles to dance at Coachella and attend a Texas ceremony in one day.
Let's not call this relationship over and done just yet. Instead, it could be growing into something stronger than ever.