The fan, Naya, who is a patient at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, had praised Swift’s plaid green dress during their meeting on December 12 and described it as “tea”.

I would not be alive. That’s just a fact,” one fan said at the vigil. “After seeing them on TV, I was like, it is OK to be different,” said another fan.

Indeed, just weeks after Naya’s death, various media outlets and fans on social media speculated as to why Ryan and Nickayla were spending so much time together. For Nickayla’s part ...