May 8th 2024
Paris, France
Paris !
The city of love !
The pair had arrived in the Paris the evening before after an early morning take off from New York City. Taylor had been invited to the MET Gala that year and chose to take Travis as her plus one to the event. It hadn't been without its awkward moments, mostly to do with a certain family named Kardashian, but Travis had made a point to make sure at no point in the night did Taylor loose sight of her power and her worth. They spent most of the night hanging out with Blake and Ryan who had also been invited and making plans together for the summer when Blake and Ryan would be bringing their kids to London for the June shows at Wembley stadium.
Travis also had another surprise for Taylor. But he was waiting until dinner to give it to her. Instead of a hotel this time they had decided on an apartment, just for the two of them. It was a penthouse apartment that they had found online and booked. her security would be staying in the same building along with Tree. Her backup dancer had decided to stay in a house all together a little further out of the city. Taylor loved how her dancers all got along with each other, despite being from completely different lives, careers and backgrounds. A true little family. The apartment was situated in the 16th arrondissement of Paris containing 4 bedrooms and beautiful view on their balcony over Paris and of the Eiffel Tower. They had very little time to explore: during show days Taylor liked to get as much rest as possible and rarely used that time for sight seeing. She knew that her and Travis would come to Paris again at some point soon when the tour was over at the end of the year.
"Come on Trav, we don't have long to explore." Taylor shouted as she came running down eh stairs on their penthouse apartment from their bedroom into the kitchen, skidding slightly into Travis' arms. She had clearly forgotten what happens to socks on tiled and wooden flooring.
"Wow careful there babe. We won't be going anywhere accept a hospital if you keep up those dance moves." Travis laughed, grabbing onto her as she steadied herself once more. "So where do you want to go?"
"Well there is this new bakery that opened up that does amazing breakfasts according to Abigail so we could try there. Maybe just take a walk along the river and do some shopping and sight seeing?"
"Sounds good. Shall I go and get Steve to start the car up?" Travis asked, turning on his heel to go grab his phone to call security. When he heard no response fromTaylor he whipped back around to see her eyes widen. She stood still, and lifeless; a deer in headlights. Something was wrong...
Something was really really wrong!!!
"Tay honey what is it?" He rushed over to her but she didn't move. She didn't register thatTravis had come over to her. It was as if she was dead to the world. And to him. "Taylor homey talk to me. Stay with me!"
"Can't... br-, breathe." Taylor gasped between breaths. He could tell immediately what was going on. She was having another one of her panic attacks. She had had them before, early on in their relationship but she hadn't had one in months. Not since the incident with the AI photos back in late January time. Apart from some mild anxiety and nerves about seeing Kim and the rest of her family at the MET gala, Taylor had never been mentally better. Everything with Travis felt different.
What had changed?
Travis guided her over to the couch where he hugged her into him "Tay I need to breathe for me honey."
"I, I , I can't!" She whispered in hysteria, her heart still pumping fast against her chest. Travis could feel it. He loosened his grip on her but continued to rub circles on the small of her back in an effort to calm her down slightly.
"Yes you can. Do it with me. In and Out, In and Out." Taylor mimicked Travis' breathing as she slowly calmed herself down, back to her semi regular self. " Well done. Now, tell me. What happened? You were so excited to go out just now. What changed all of a sudden?"
"The car." Taylor replied, leaving Travis slightly puzzled.
"The car? What about the car?" Travis asked as he felt Taylor pull away from him.
"You'll think it's stupid." She said, getting up off of the sofa to face one of the large floor to ceiling windows in their living room.
"I won't!" Travis replied, jumping up from his spot on the couch to stand beside her.
"Yes you will. He did." Taylor sighed.
"Well I am not him Taylor. And one day you will begin to realise that I am not Joe and I am not what he did to you. I love you and I want you to tell me what's made you so upset."
"Ok." She sighed turning to look up at him. "I don't like driving in Paris. I never have. It makes me so anxious after watching what happened to Princess Diana. I was only 6 and a half at the time but I still knew what happened. And as I have gotten older and more in the public eye, of course comes hate. And I am scared Trav!" He could hear her voice shaking with every syllable but he dared not interrupt her. She was doing so well. "I know I am not a princess, or anyone special. But people out there do hate me. They've told me to my face, some don't have the cuts and so just hide behind a laptop or phone screen. But some have even broken into my apartments and house, with knives and guns. it was the whole and only reason why I loved living in London. It was never like that. And I am just scared that here is where they will pull the final straw. The breaks will go and that will be it for us. And I can't bear the thought of your last moments being that. With me. I deserve to go Trav, I asked for this but you didn't. And I don't want to put you in the position. So I don't want to go in the car. I'm sorry Trav."
The mentality and reasoning behind it didn't sadly shock him. But it saddened him. Most of the things that brought her joy, also brought her terror. And it made him so angry and upset that the one thing she loved more than life itself was music, and that was the one thing making her unhappy at that moment in time.
"Tay I am so so sorry. I didn't know it affected you like that. We won't take the car today ok? Why don't we just walk, or talk the metro if we need to go far."
Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok. But what about bikes?"
"Taylor, I will fall in the Seine if you get me on a bike. Trust me, or ask Jason: me and bikes don't get on."
Taylor laughed at this, grabbing her bag and walking behind Travis out of their apartment. She grabbed out her phone on the way out of the building, writing a quick text message to a certain someone, asking for the juicy details of a certain story that she could already tell was going to be hilarious.
Taylor: I hear that Travis isn't the best of friends with good old trusty Mr Bike. Care to explain the story behind this fall out at all?
Jason: I would be happy to!
Taylor read over the quick cliff notes summary of the story that Jason had sent her and she couldn't stop cackling the whole way done the street. She almost choked on the croissant that she had just purchased from the bakery Abigail recommended. To cut a long story short, Travis got chased by their neighbours dog who apparently got spooked by bikes and ended up in a hedge that happened to be a holly bush. Travis needed up having to take a trip with his mom Donna to the ER to get a cast on his broken wrist and stitches on his head where the bush had cut into his eyebrow. Now Taylor knew where that small little scar he had tight on his eyebrow came from.
"What are you laughing at?" Travis asked, eyeing up his girlfriend's suspicious look and twinkle in her eye.
"Oh nothing. Just Jason giving me a lovely debrief of the incident between you, a bike, Mrs Dawson's holly bush and a slightly off the rails Jack Russell by the name of Spitz!"
"Oh so he told you the story then." Travis laughed and Taylor nodded and listened as Travis launched into a story of his own about Jason when he was around 5 years old. Taylor loved hearing Travis talk about his brother and his family growing up. it reminded her so much of her experiences with her own brother and family growing up. They both came from such humble, normal backgrounds and worked hard for their careers and money that they had. But deep down they were both very much family orientated down to earth people.
The pair spent the rest of the day exploring as much of Paris and what it had to offer as they could, knowing that they didn't have much time any of the other days. It was an eventful day including lots of sight seeing, endless amounts of clothes shopping (something Taylor was glad about Travis being a fashionista; he wouldn't get annoyed by her desire to shop in all of the latest in boutiques in Paris) and watching as Taylor saw Travis get into a heated verbal altercation with an angry French man after he touched some flowers he wasn't supposed to and accidentally said the wrong word in French which in actual fact turned out to be a very great and disrespectful insult. Taylor interrupted and attempted to mediate the argument with the minor French that she had learnt in school and had picked up along the way from touring and aggressive duolingo notifications. That owl is no joke!
"Je suis vraiment désolé monsieur. Il ne voulait pas dire ça. Il voulait s'excuser et dire qu'il voulait m'acheter ces fleurs" Taylor spoke eloquently in the best French accent she could muster. She was aware from the internet and from personal experience that the French, especially Parisians, weren't the most welcoming to foreigners. Especially rowdy Americans.
"Les rouges? Les roses?" The older man replied, calming down slightly at the thought of a civilised conversation in his won native language.
"Oui, ces rouges s'il vous plaît." Taylor replied as she gestured for Travis to give the man the money. After all, he had been the one who had wanted to buy her the flowers, plus she did deserve them after ensuring Travis didn't spend their only day to explore Paris and spend time together romantically in a French emergency room. She really didn't want to have to explain that one to Donna or Ed. Jason and Kylie would probably just find it funny and Wyatt would tell him that is what he deserved for being in her words "Naughty and Sneaky". "Mercy Beaucoup!"
She waved goodbye to the older man, who after he calmed down seemed harmless and very sweet. The walked back along the bank of the Seine, presently aware of the many cameras and phones taking pictures and videos of them. She was sure these would circulate Instagram and TikTok before long but neither of them cared. Taylor had spent far too long hiding away and it got her virtually nowhere. She had spent 34 long years on this earth and had no plans on hiding away for any more it.
Travis flicked through his phone looking at the photos he and Taylor had taken of each other that day
She looked so happy in all of the photos, everywhere they went it didn't matter whether there were no people or hundreds of people, Taylor wanted photos. She wanted more than anything for her time with Travis to be spent like any other normal couple would do. That is how her and Joe decided to be and for the most part it worked for a while. But Joe was never happy to exist in a bubble in the world around them. All he ever wanted was his own bubble. And his own world. All to himself.
Taylor in the end got kicked out. She be came aa martian. A black sheep. Or a black dog should she say.
Travis had made midnight dinner reservations at a rooftop bar in central Paris. The buzz of Paris had died down significantly, leaving behind the glittering sparkle of the Eiffel Tower and the quaintness that was quintisentionally Parisian.
"Today has been beautiful Tay. Just magical."
"I know Trav. It's been amazing. This has to be one of my favourite places we have been to together. I am sorry we couldn't get to Disneyland." Taylor said, rubbing his hand. Sometimes he felt like her child: this was one of those times as she saw him pout at the mention of their failed trip to Disneyland Paris. "I promise we will go another day."
"I'm only joking." Travis laughed before turning back to his serious tone. "But there was one more surprise I had in store for you this evening. And don't worry, it isn't some dramatic proposal before you get all flustered." Wow he knew her more than she knew herself. "I have got us a house!" He sighed, waiting for her reply. But Taylor didn't give one.
"What do you mean you got us a house?" Taylor eventually replied, still wearing a mask of shock. "We already have a house together. Back in Kansas City."
"No I mean here in Europe. I bought a house for the summer. In London. We can use it as a base for when you are touring. I just get sick of living out of a hotel all of the time. I want us to feel like we are still at home, living together. And that way, we can have some of our stuff here with us all of the time. What do you think?"
Taylor sat still, not saying anything for a while before a huge grin fell across her face. She lent over the table to place a kiss on his soft lips, feeling the prickle of his beard cut into her chin slightly.
"I think that it is an excellent idea. I love it!"
"Really? I was afraid you would be upset or angry!"
"Why would I be upset or angry Trav?" Taylor asked quizzically, taking a final sip of her drink to empty the glass, signalling to the waiter that she was finally finished.
"Well I know how hard it was for you to leave London. All of the memories of Joe and the life you used to live there. It all died when you left and I didn't want to bring up any unnecessary grief or demons!" Taylor's heart melted. This was another one of Travis' beautiful traits. He always put other people first and cared so much about pleasing others and making everyone smile and be happy.
"Trav, grief is just love with nowhere else to go. I want our love to flourish and to do so, we have to let it grown wherever it wants to go. And if that is London. That is London." He smiled a goofy smile back at her, signalling to the waiter to get the bill.
They took a peaceful midnight stroll along the river Seine back to their apartment, discussing the details of the new house they would be renting over the summer. It was only a rental but they had the option to buy the property or a similar one and the same area if it all worked out ok. He hoped it would. The house was a detached property in Hampstead, a small village like area in North London. It had a beautiful garden, lots of rooms to host people, 6 big bedrooms and a large garden. There was room for their whole family to stay with them in London for the plan had been for Jason and Kylie ton bring the three girls to one of Taylor's shows in London whilst Travis and Jason spent time in London promoting New Heights before training camp started up seriously again and a new season of New Heights would begin and be up and running again. It was perfect for them.
Taylor noticed that Travis had easily fallen asleep after they had returned back to their apartment. But excitement and anticipation kept her from falling asleep that night. So she untangled herself from Travis' embrace, grabbing her guitar and made her way out onto the balcony, singing and humming the tune to a song from one of her labourite bands and movies...
I can still recall
Our Last Summer
I still see it all
Walks along the Seine
Laughing in the rain
Our last summer
Memories that remain
AUTHORS NOTE: This is your last chapter of happiness, sorry to dissapoint. The misery begins tomorrow !!!!