Our Invisible String (Complete Version)

16 (Travis Version)

"They have tea." I suggested, and Taylor relaxed into a smile as she nodded. We turned back, walking over to the dining hall. To my dismay, the other two teachers were there as well and waved us over with a smile. Taylor smiled back and walked over, leaving me no choice but to follow.

"How's your group?" Paul asked as we sat down.

"Good." Taylor nodded. "They're a little rowdy but that'll pass when they get tired."

"So's ours." Harriet chuckled. "But hey, means we've got a lot of free time. What were you guys planning to do?"

Well, before you guys ruined it, I was planning on having a long conversation with the woman sitting across from me in an attempt to fuel my burning desire for her, but that's okay we can sit here and talk about boring shit with you instead.

"Not sure." I said instead of voicing my thoughts.

"Well we were thinking of going for a walk, if you wanted to come." Paul said, smiling at Taylor. I wanted to punch him. I was pretty sure that he was going through a divorce right now, and he was at least a decade older than us. Why the hell was he hitting on Taylor?

Taylor – luckily – politely declined, and steered the conversation elsewhere. I didn't really listen to anything, only paying attention when she talked and tuning out the others. They didn't seem to notice I wasn't all that interested, and I gave the occasional comment that was vaguely close to the topic of conversation to make it look like I wasn't just sitting there gazing at Taylor. Which I wasn't. Well, I was trying not to.

But it was hard not to. The light coming in through the windows seemed to make her hair glow, lighting up her heart shaped face, accentuating each little smile and nod and flicker of expression in her eyes. I'd never felt for anyone what I felt towards this woman, and God it felt physically sore that she wasn't mine. She'd made it perfectly clear that we were just friends, but I was so confused because I'd woken up with her in my arms like we were a couple, and Taylor hadn't seemed disgusted or embarrassed by that. She'd acted like it was totally normal.

Unfortunately for me, Taylor accepted Harriet's offer to do whatever she was doing, telling me she'd catch up at lunch. I watched them go, a little bummed that now I had to spend my time with a guy I barely knew anything about, and didn't really care to know better.

So the day passed slowly. I didn't get to talk to Taylor at lunch, and she disappeared somewhere for the afternoon. Trying not to have her on my mind too much, I spent my time making myself familiar with the resort, and then just read in our cabin for a while. Soon enough, dinner came around, and then we let the kids go with a warning to stay within the resort and to be back at their dorms on time.

"Five bucks someone gets hurt in a snowball fight." Taylor murmured to me as we walked back to the cabin.

"No way." I shook my head. "They're going to get hurt trying to slide down a hill on something stupid." Taylor laughed, the sweet sound ringing in my ears. I paused as we neared the cabin, realizing I didn't want whatever moment we were having to change. "Hey." I said, making her stop and glance over. "You want to go for a walk?"

"Now?" She blinked. "It's snowing."

"Only a little." I glanced around at the light flakes cascading down around us. "Unless you're scared that you'll get cold and have to cuddle me again."

"Don't flatter yourself." Taylor wrinkled her nose, but she nodded. "We should really see if someone could come and fix that heater." She commented as we slowly walked down one of the paths along the side of the resort, following the trees.

"Okay." I murmured. "I'll go and ask about that in the morning." Taylor nodded, tucking her hands into her pockets as we walked. We slipped into comfortable silence for a few minutes, feet crunching under the snow.

"Travis?"

"Yeah?" I paused, looking back and realizing Taylor had stopped. She was biting down on her lip, nervous, staring at me.

"I have a daughter." She blurted out, her cheeks going red. I blinked at her, not in surprise but wondering why she was choosing to tell me now. "So." Taylor gestured helplessly. "Whatever it is that you want from me, you should know that I have a daughter."

"Taylor." I said quietly, turning back and moving closer to her. Her eyes rose to meet mine. "I know." I admitted, and she blinked at me. "I've known for a while, but I figured you had a reason for not telling me so I wanted to let you bring it up on your own."

"But..." Taylor blushed. "But you're still here."

"Yeah." I nodded. God, I guess we were putting all of our cards on the table now. She obviously knew I had feelings for her, and even though she didn't return them, she wanted to know why I hadn't given up. "Taylor, it's not something I would turn my back on, not with the way I feel about you." I said quietly. "And I know that's not appropriate, but it's true and I know you already know how I feel." She'd have to be blind not to see it. "So no, it doesn't bother me that you're a Mom. I think it's incredible and one day I'd like to meet her, when it's okay with you."

Taylor let out a breath, staring up at me. It almost looked like tears were welling up in her eyes, but I didn't get enough time to see before suddenly she was stepping closer and her lips were on mine. Taylor lifted up on her toes and kissed me, the icy warmth of her lips taking over everything I could possibly think, see, feel.

I shifted forwards, slipping my hands over her jaw to cup her face, fingertips nudging into her hair, which was full of snowflakes. Taylor let out a sigh, and I felt her body sink against mine, relaxing like there was no place in the world she'd rather be. And I kissed her. I kissed her like I'd wanted to all this time, pouring every ounce of my feelings into the way I held her, moved my lips against hers. Nothing had ever felt so damn perfect in my life, and I knew that I was so in love with the woman in my arms. She wasn't ready to hear those words yet, so I'd keep them to myself until she was, but it was true.

"Travis." Taylor sighed a moment later when we parted for air, blinking up at me with wide eyes.

"Taylor." I murmured, moving to stroke my thumb over her bottom lip. She blushed even harder, but her eyes didn't move from mine.

"I..." She swallowed, slipping her arms up my chest to rest against my shoulders. Then she shook her head like she didn't know what else to say, so I just kissed her again. Now that I could, I kissed her like she was the only thing in the world I had ever truly wanted, which she was. I wanted everything that was her.