When Megan Rasmussen arrived in Los Angeles from Nashville nearly two decades ago, she was surprised to find that no one seemed to care about a rising country singer she had become obsessed with.

But one day in seventh grade, Rasmussen spotted a girl in the school library that she thought would have the right answer to a question that has initiated numerous friendships since: “Do you like Taylor Swift?”

Rasmussen and Parker Dean, the girl from the library, are both 30 now and have been inseparable for 18 years. This past year, the two each even got engaged within months of Swift — whom they consider the third member of their bestie trio.

As she went from a teenage country music singer to a world-conquering pop star, a shared love for Swift has brought people like Rasmussen and Dean together. Many of Swift’s fans have also developed a strong parasocial relationship with the singer, making her a celebrity whose impact goes beyond album sales and concert revenue.

In interviews, more than 30 self-declared Swifties talked to The New York Times about the personal connection they have forged with Swift through her music. Seeing themselves in her songs, many said they felt understood as though by a close confidante. As the years passed, Swift’s increasingly confessional music has only confirmed the feeling that they were growing up together.

For them, and the millions worldwide who share a fealty to the pop mogul, Swift’s upcoming wedding is much more than a ceremony. It’s the culmination of a story that they feel like a part of. “The prophecy’s been rewritten,” Juliette Kimmins, 26, wrote online upon Swift’s engagement, referring to Swift’s song about her bad luck in love. “War is over.”

After much speculation about the nuptials between Swift and her football-playing beau, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, The Times confirmed this week that roads would be shut down in Midtown Manhattan for a private, two-day event at Madison Square Garden with up to 1,000 guests.

The Times surveyed hundreds of Swift’s fans in the lead-up to her reported wedding date. Many are absorbed in every detail after clinging to her songs during the most formative moments of their lives.

Several fans said they always believed that Swift wanted to get married but wondered — after her slew of very public relationships and breakups — whether that was in the cards. Watching her fall in love for what feels like the last time, they said, gave them the same delight they would have for a dear friend.

“It really does feel like the best friend that’s talked to you about her boy troubles for 20 years, and every time you’re just like, ‘You deserve better,’” Rasmussen said. This time it feels like she has finally gotten what she deserves, she said. Dean added that Swift looked more “radiant” than ever.

As Rasmussen and Dean embarked on their own wedding planning, they delightedly imagined Swift, too, poring over makeup looks and floral arrangements.

“It’s super special to also be sharing it with each other and with her,” Rasmussen said.

Melissa Barón, 36, another longtime Swiftie, echoed the feeling that she and Swift have lived “parallel paths.” Barón moved to New York shortly before Swift released “1989” and found comfort just knowing they were in the same city. She got married last fall, two months after Swift announced her engagement.

“I don’t want to say it was a happy ending, because I’m excited for the chapters that will come after this,” Barón said, including Swift and Kelce’s marriage itself.

Even those whose fondness for Swift’s music came later in life can’t help but feel emotional about the singer getting married.

Slayton knew of Swift’s music all her life, but her connection to the singer grew personal as she began infertility treatment in 2023. As she sat in doctor’s offices, readying herself for the next batch of bad news, she soothed herself with footage from the Eras Tour.

Swift played a mash-up of “The Best Day” and “Never Grow Up,” two songs touching on parent-child relationships, during an unscripted segment of a Vancouver show that Slayton attended the next year. At the time, Slayton — who had a miscarriage weeks before the show — felt the artist was singing directly to her.

Slayton imagined that Swift, like her, felt incomplete without the one thing she wanted most — for Slayton, it was a child and for Swift, a partner.

“I’m so glad that we were both able to find people who can bring wild joy into our lives,” she wrote in her letter to Swift, as her 4-month-old son, who shares the singer’s initials, slept on her chest.

The self-aware Swifties are quick to acknowledge the absurdity of fixating so intently on a stranger’s wedding. Randall Muckenthaler, 32, knows his father would have lovingly teased him about it. His father died when he and his twin sister were young, and “Fearless” scored their last memories together.

“Part of the grief was feeling like I didn’t even get to know him as a person outside of his role as a father,” Muckenthaler said. He added, “We were grasping for almost anything.”

The siblings wound up clinging to the moments their father blasted “Love Story” in the car or hummed along to another early Swift track, “Hey Stephen.” Muckenthaler said his father, who was loving but stoic, might never have revealed that playful side of himself if it weren’t for Swift’s music.

“I’m happy to see her so content and happy,” he said, “because I think that’s something that her music has provided a lot of people.”

Madeleine Manges, 27, said she leaned on Swift’s music growing up, especially during her parents’ divorce. Now, her husband is a source of support.

“It’s super healing to find somebody that just worships the ground you walk on,” she said.

That is exactly how Manges and many other fans believe Kelce sees Swift.

Kelce has devotedly attended Swift’s shows and cheered her on at high-profile industry events. At the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony last month, he dabbed his eyes as she delivered an acceptance speech.

Many said they were heartened by Kelce’s seeming comfort with Swift’s highly public life. It’s impossible to know what Swift’s relationship is like behind the scenes. But close watchers say the evidence suggests the pop star is happy.

“Her smile, her glow and the fact that she’s out more in public and not hiding,” said Kendra Sherrill, 33, citing the evidence.

When Sherrill saw the news of Swift’s engagement, she reacted so fanatically that she frightened a co-worker.

“It felt like my own engagement,” Sherrill said, admitting that she knew how “silly” that sounded. But it was just pure fun, she added, to know she was sharing this collective experience with other Swifties.

Sherrill said her mother explained it best: “Taylor’s wedding to me is what Princess Diana’s wedding was to her.” Swift is “our royalty, basically,” said Susan Pekoe, 76, who traveled from Austin, Texas, to attend the Eras Tour in Warsaw, Poland, for her 75th birthday.

Already, fans are making plans to ring in the nuptials. Amelia Schwartzman, 36, will host a celebratory party. She even bought a new pair of earrings — bouquets, like those mentioned in Swift’s song “The Life of a Showgirl” — for the occasion.

Renée Kackley, 34, will be making friendship bracelets with her young children, both budding Swifties. Cora, her oldest, learned to walk while attempting to dance to Swift’s music. She can hardly sit still at the mention of her name, though the same is true for many Swifties above the age of 4.

Swift is the one getting married. But as her fans spoke about her wedding, they unknowingly told another love story — that between Swift and themselves.

Matt Stevens contributed reporting.