"Thank you" Taylor says as she helps me attempt to put my bedroom back together again
"For?" I stop picking up shards of glass and lift my gaze to meet hers
"Stopping me from cheating on my boyfriend"
"Yeah well, if it was up to me I would have you 100 different ways by now but I know you, you would have felt guilty and regretted it and beaten yourself up about it for the rest of your life" I push myself up and sit on my bed and then take her hand and pull her onto my lap "When we have each other again, like that, I want it to be perfect, I don't want any regret or shame, okay?" I kiss the tip of her nose and I feel my heart swell to completely fill the cavity of my chest
"You're so sweet" she repays my kiss with one of her own to my forehead
"Yeah well, don't let anyone else know that, I need my reputation as a tough guy"
"Why?"
"Because it's who I am. A reputation and a past" I drop my gaze to her knees and begin stroking her thighs, ashamed of what I have become
"No you aren't" she replies, lifting my chin and looking deep into my eyes "you're Travis, and I might not understand him but I know he's more than just a reputation and he's definitely more than his past"
"You've always seen the good in me, even when I wasn't sure there was any"
She looks at me and shrugs, it's the only answer she can give as I see her eyes fill with tears
"We have so much to talk about"
"I know that, I know this isn't going to be easy but please tell me we're at least going to try" she takes a second to answer and I feel my heart begin to panic
"I need to speak to Harry"
I nod and continue to wait for what I hope will be confirmation that I'm a taken man once more, and not taken by just anyone, taken by the one "My heart can't be with anyone but you" she whispers and then wraps her arms tightly around my neck "It's always been you"
How things can change in just a few short hours
*******************
"You aren't hungry?" Asks Harry as I pick at the pineapple sitting on top of my pizza, I feel so heavy with shame that I don't even lift my head I just pop a piece of pineapple into my mouth and shrug
"You're quiet"
I know I am but it's because I'm so afraid of what I'm going to have to say
"Harry I..."
"Oh I forgot" he grabs his laptop from the coffee table and flips it open, a huge smile on his face and my heart clenches at how happy he seems "I found 3 amazing apartments, 2 of them are just outside of town so you don't have to worry about bumping into 'you know who' one is in town but on the other side to where we are here, come on, come closer I'll show them to you"
He puts an arm around my waist and heaves me to him, leaving me pressed into his side as he clicks through his tabs until he's found what he was looking for
"Look at this one!" He excitedly shows me the tour video of a beautiful, large apartment, nothing like the one we're in now. Mine and Travis'...
God how I wish it was him curled up with me on the sofa, us, planning our future, hunting for another home
"What do you think?" He asks, his eyes wide and his lips curled up in a grin
"I think we should talk" I pull away from him and I see the smile fade as he closes the lap top and returns it to the brown, wooden, table
"What's going on? Have you changed your mind?"
"No..." I don't know why I just said that because the truth is I have changed my mind about everything but the butterflies Travis creates in my stomach have migrated North to my chest and they have turned toxic, causing my chest and stomach to feel like they are filling with acid
"You changed your mind about us?"
"I just..." I nervously pull my hair into a high ponytail and secure it with the scrunchy I had on my wrist
"I know it's a big move, I know you have a lot of memories here, good and bad but once we get settled into our own place you're going to realise there's no shame in moving on"
Moving on? If only he knew the only thing I want is to go back, to that place in time where Travis and I were so happy, before we lost the baby and then lost each other but If I can't go back then I want to move forward but only with Travis and not him
Harry's hands take hold of mine as he desperately attempts to get me to make eye contact with him and when I finally lift my head he quickly presses a kiss to my lips
"You're doing the right thing Taylor, look at me, I promise you"
I lift my eyes to meet his and he almost looks desperate for me to believe him
"Travis is no good for you, he's a criminal, he's done nothing but hurt you. I would never do that" he let's go of one of my hands and moves it to my cheek where he smoothes his thumb over my cheekbone "You're so beautiful"
"Harry..." he moves his thumb to my lips
"Sssh" he presses another kiss to my lips "I love you Taylor" he smiles shyly as his cheeks turn pink but I know know is the time I have to speak
"But I love Travis" I whisper as he goes still and his breathing seems to stop "I'm so sorry but I've always loved Travis..."
YOU ARE READING
MINE!
FanfictionHe did the one thing he swore he'd never do He lost the one thing he swore he'd never lose
