"Of course!" Travis smiled and put his arm around a man who asked to take a picture with him.
After partaking in small talk with the man, Travis spotted Taylor in the middle of the room. She had her drink in hand, and was talking to a small group of women. He slowly weaved his way through the many people in the room, making his way over to her, and stepped closer when the conversation ended.
Taylor gasped, her eyes lighting up when she saw him. "Hey," she said softly with a smile.
"Hey babe," Travis put his arm around her waist and pulled her in. She complied easily, leaning against his body. Travis smiled to himself, rubbing circles on her back
"Are you drunk?" He whispered, bending his head down to her height.
Taylor grinned, inhaled and smacked her lips. "Nope. I am not... um," she cut herself off with a scoff and closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"Right," Travis nodded. "Should we go home?"
Taylor straightened up, pulling away. "No! Not yet, I mean, unless you want to?" she questioned.
"No, we can stay. It's up to you." If he was honest, he wanted to go home. These after parties were always fun, and he enjoyed celebrating wins, but he was tired today and part of him just wanted to relax on the couch with Taylor. Not only that, but Taylor had clearly been keen on the drinks and Travis thought it might be best for her to slow it down now. It was midnight after all. But he watched with a smile as Taylor pulled herself onto her tippy toes to give him a soft kiss, and happily skipped away to converse with more people. It was like the party scene was built just for her, he was in awe of how sociable she was and how she could hold a conversation with anyone. He didn't mind staying slightly longer if it meant that Taylor got to enjoy herself.
After half an hour had passed, Travis decided it was probably time to go. The party had already begun dwindling. Luckily, he didn't even get a chance to wonder where Taylor was because she walked right up to him. However, immediately Travis could tell something was off about her. The look on her face was subtly different compared to 30 minutes ago. The carefree and happy aura she usually carried was replaced by a subdued quietness. She forced a smile when she looked up at him.
"Hey. Ready to go?" Taylor asked, her voice too high.
"Yeah," Travis frowned. Taylor swallowed and looked to the ground, twisting the rings on her fingers. Travis was concerned, and unsure of what to do, but thought it'd be best to just get out of there. He picked up her hand and laced their fingers together, murmuring a small "come on," in an attempt to be comforting.
Taylor turned on the radio as soon as she got in Travis' car, so he took the hint and spent the first 10 minutes of the drive quietly glancing over to her in the passenger seat, hoping to catch her eye. Taylor was turned away, staring at the window. He had asked if she was okay as he put his seatbelt on, but all he got was a nod.
At a red light, Travis inhaled. "Tay."
She looked at him. "What?"
"What happened?"
Taylor paused for a moment, biting her lip, considering. She looked out the windshield, blinking quickly and her eyebrows furrowing. She gave a predictable answer. "Nothing."
Travis sighed and turned his head, "Taylor-"
"Light's green."
Travis looked forward quickly and pressed on the accelerator, tapping on the steering wheel with his thumbs. He was worried about her, and it worried him even more that she wasn't telling him what happened. He has noticed this pattern with her. She tends to keep things to herself, so as to not worry him. He hated it. And it especially didn't make any sense now, when it was obvious he could tell something was wrong and yet she still didn't want to say.
After an unbearably silent drive, they finally arrived home. Taylor managed to be out of the car before he even turned it off. Travis felt himself losing his patience as he jogged to catch up with Taylor after getting out and locking the car. She was standing at the door, eyes on the ground, and Travis bit his tongue as he unlocked the door for her.
He sighed as she walked into the entryway. "Taylor, I just need to know you're okay."
She stopped in her tracks, took a deep breath and turned around slowly. A warm smile grew on her face, "Well thank you for the concern, but I am fine."
"I know you're not."
Taylor's smile disappeared. "Why'd you ask then." She turned back around and pulled her heels off, holding the wall for support.
"I don't know, I thought giving you a choice would be easier," Travis shrugged dramatically.
"God, you're like, gentle parenting me."
"What? That's a ridiculous thing to say."
"Travis, seriously. Stop pushing this," Taylor pulled off her coat and walked further to the living room, with Travis trailing after her.
"Stop avoiding!"
"There was just a guy, okay?" Taylor yelled, chucking her coat on the couch.
"A guy?" Finally.
"Yes!" She swivelled around on her feet to face Travis. "But it wasn't- he- it was literally fine. I don't know why you're making this such a big deal."
"Because it is a big deal! I'm worried about whatever happened to you tonight and it's worrying me even more that you're not telling me!"
"Oh my GOD!" Taylor cried, rolling her eyes. "Nothing happened TO me!"
"Why can't you just tell me! What did the guy do?"
"Because! It's not a big deal! Are you listening to a word I'm saying?"
"Taylor, please!"
"No. I'm done with this shit. You're being so fucking irritating right now, Trav."
Taylor stormed off to the kitchen. Travis stood in the living room, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. He immediately regretted letting that conversation escalate to the point that it did. Taylor was clearly heavily affected by what happened and all he wanted was to be able to help her. They wouldn't get anywhere by shouting at each other. There were too many possibilities of what happened running through his head. He was almost sure the truth wasn't nearly as bad as what he was thinking, but he had to find out.
Travis approached the doorway to the kitchen slowly. Taylor was standing beside the dishwasher, with a kitchen towel in one hand, pulling out each dish and drying them. He watched her pull out a glass and dry it excessively, although he was sure it was already dry. He flinched as she almost dropped the glass. She was clearly still intoxicated. Her body movements were stiff, as if she was one second from falling apart. Frowning, he slowly walked across the kitchen towards her. Warning her of his presence, he lightly grazed her back with his fingertips. She didn't respond, just picked up another glass. Before she could dry it, Travis reached around her and grabbed it from her. From the side of her face he saw her frown as she tugged at it. But Travis tugged harder, and pulled it from her grasp. He put it on the bench behind her, and turned her towards him by her shoulder.
"Baby," he whispered, pulling her into him. Taylor melted into his body, softly gasping for air as she started sobbing. He stroked her hair and rubbed circles on her back, soothing her.
"I'm here, angel. I'm not going anywhere."
Taylor just nodded against him.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
After a few more minutes of no response, Taylor pulled away. She brushed her hair out of her face with her hand.
"Everything was fine. I was having a good time. But, uh, this guy came up to me," Taylor sniffed and looked up at Travis. "I said hi and he started talking." Travis nodded along, silently encouraging her. "He was just kinda weird, I don't- I don't know. Thinking back now, it's really unsettling, the way he was talking and the things he was saying to me. I think it was all innuendos, I was too drunk and- I didn't realise at first but then he kinda-" she put her head in her hands. "This is so stupid."
"Babe," he implored, reaching out to stroke her head.
Taylor swallowed. "He grabbed my ass, okay. That's when I realised the conversation definitely wasn't normal," Taylor laughed. Travis didn't find it funny. He couldn't move. He didn't want to overreact, but the anger steadily flowed through him.
"Baby, I'm so sorry," Travis said with such a soft tone that it surprised him and Taylor.
Taylor's laughs went as quickly as they came, her chest hitched and Travis pulled her into his body.
"And he kept going and then I was scared and..." Taylor spoke through her tears. "I knew it would be fine because people were all around us, but, I don't know. And I couldn't see you and I didn't know how best to leave. But then he left to get me another drink and I just looked for you."
"I love you, I'm so sorry that happened," he whispered into her hair as she cried into his chest.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Taylor pulled away and sniffled. "I'm being so dramatic, I don't know why this has affected me so much," she tugged at the sleeves on her shirt and wiped her eyes with them. "I think I'm still drunk."
Travis shook his head, "You're not dramatic." He took his hand from her back to under her eye, gliding his thumb along her cheek to help wipe the tears.
"I'm really sorry for yelling at you," Taylor looked up at him.
"It's fine. I'm sorry too." Travis hesitated before speaking again, but he couldn't go any longer without asking for more information. "Who was the guy?"
"I dunno," she murmured. "It doesn't matter."
Travis would argue that it does indeed matter a lot, but this was a fragile situation. "You didn't deserve that, baby. I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"Don't apologise, come on, it's not your fault."
"I still feel guilty," Travis whispered. "I should've protected you."
Taylor smirked. "Don't go all alpha male on me now."
Travis chuckled, and the relief from seeing the small genuine smile on her face lifted some of the anxiety from his chest. "Will you be okay, angel? Is there anything I can do?"
"I'll be fine," Taylor sighed. "It was just kind of uncomfortable in the moment."
"Yeah I bet. Thank you for telling me, Taylor."
Taylor breathed another heavy sigh, looked into Travis' eyes, and leaned in to kiss him. He smiled when she pulled away, "I love you."
"I love you too," she whispered.
They stared at each other for a short while longer, until Travis reached out to squeeze her shoulder and walk to the fridge. "Alright, you go sit down, I'm gonna get you a glass of water and something to eat. How's that sound?" Travis asked.
"Perfect." He glanced over his shoulder after her answer, and felt an overwhelming amount of love just from the look on her face. Taylor smiled and spun around to go sit on the couch.
Travis turned back to the fridge, shaking his head. She seemed fine now, but there was no way to tell if she was still hiding some of how she felt. All he knew was that he would do everything he could to ensure nothing like this would happen again.
-
Is the title of this chapter too on the nose? Perhaps...