The Black Tangled Heart

The Early Hours Of The Morning

Travis narrowed his eyes and tried to see in the darkness of his room.

There should be a body next to him, the air should be filled with her steady breaths but instead there was nothing but silence

"Taylor?" His voice sounded weird and uncertain in the darkness of his room but the reply was silent as he reached out a hand and found it made contact with nothing more than the cold, empty sheet of his bed. "Fuck!" He whisper yelled as he pushed the covers back and then jumped up, tripping over his sneakers and then stubbing his toes on his closet as he fell into the wall and then slapped the light switch so the room was suddenly too bright for his eyes to accept

Looking around, everything was as he remembered it. Clothes on the floor, laptop on the nightstand where he had placed it when Taylor had fallen asleep after watching just ten minutes of the first Harry Potter movie.

Everything was the same as when he had fallen asleep, everything that is except the presence of a certain little blond and that made his pulse race as he sighed heavily realising that he was probably going to have to head back to the Swift House Of Horrors and drag her out of there and by the hair if he had to.

Travis closed his eyes and prepared himself for what was to come before moving to his closet and taking out a sweater, pulling it over his grey tank top and then pulling his bedroom door open and trudging down the hallway with heavy steps, confrontation the last thing he wanted in the early hours of the morning

Just as he reached for Taylors car keys he heard what sounded like a muffled giggle coming from the living room. Common sense told him it was Jason but it was a very girly giggle, even for his brother

Changing direction, Travis moved towards the living room, pausing and then shaking his head and chuckling at what he found, because sitting in the middle of the room was one blond girl, her legs crossed, surrounded by an array of snacks and gazing at her phone with Air Pods pushed into her delicate ears and a half eaten banana in her hand, her shoulders shaking as she laughed gently at whatever she was watching

Travis shook his head and sighed at how dramatic his mind could be, especially in the early hours of the morning and especially when it came to a certain female 'friend'

Taking in a breath, he tip toed across to where she sat and then tried not to laugh as he formulated a plan in his mind to surprise the girl with his presence and then laugh loudly at her dramatic reaction

"BOO!" He yelled suddenly as his hands came down onto her shoulders but instead of the jump into the air, and the funny face that Travis had expected, Taylors hands came up to instinctively cover her head as her knees shot up to meet her chin and she cowered there, never moving to look behind her, her body just freezing and then slowly beginning to shake with what Travis soon recognised to be tears

"Taylor..." he dropped to his knees and pulled her into him and for a second or two she struggled, as though she didn't recognise him but finally her eyes opened and then flicked to his, taking a second to focus and then throwing her arms around his neck as he heaved her onto his lap "Hey, it's okay, it's just me, I'm an asshole, I'm sorry"

Taylors body continued to shake in Travis' arms as he held her as close to him as possible, apologising over and over again, begging her to believe how sorry he was and then finally, just as he was beginning to panic that she would never calm down, her body stilled and her hands came up to remove the tiny white buds that filled her ears

"I'm sorry" She whispered but Travis' head was already shaking his disagreement

"I shouldn't have been so dumb, It was all me. Are you okay?"

She nodded, her body resting against his chest as they both sat in silence

"Midnight feast eh?"

"I was hungry and you were snoring"

"I don't snore!" He said faking offence

"You do so, you actually sound like a hippo grunting" she tried to hide the smile that was pulling at her lips "I'm a light sleeper, I can't sleep through that shit"

"Well no one has ever complained that I snore before" he frowned, not really caring if he snored or not, just happy with the lightness that was now on Taylors voice

"Maybe you don't let other girls hang around long enough to complain"

Travis huffed a laugh and then shook his head as he realised how right she was, he could probably count on one hand the number of girls that had slept in his bed where as the number of girls he'd fucked in his bed was through the roof.

"I really am sorry"

"I know, It's not your fault though I'm just super jumpy" for a moment a comfortable silence fell over the two as Taylor remained on his lap, her body resting against his chest as he encircled her with his arms

"What do you think your mom and your sister will be planning now since I ruined their little plan with the Italian brothers?" He asked the question whilst twirling one of Taylors curls around his finger

"Ways to get me back home, to manipulate and threaten me until I do what they want"

"Well they'll have to go through me first"

"Why do you do this?"

Travis' finger stopped moving at the question

"Do what?"

"Go out of your way for me, to protect me, even when sex is off the table you still care. Why?"

"I dunno" he ducked his head hoping that would be enough of an answer as he returned to twirling a curl

"Jason  told me you weren't interested in dating me so what is it?"

Travis' head shot up at the mention of what his brother had told Taylor but he didn't know how to question it without it sounding as though he was interested because in truth if he was a different guy with a different past maybe he would be interested in a relationship that had an official title with Taylor.

She was the only girl he had ever met with the ability to sneak under the armour he had spent years building around himself and although he knew it was too late to go back to the days when he didn't know her he also knew that for their own good this couldn't go any further

"Is it because you're a tough guy with a thing for damsels in distress?"

"That must be it" Travis said quietly, gently encouraging Taylor up from his lap as he pushed himself to his feet "Bed? I promise not to snore" he held out his hand to her and she smirked before taking it and allowing him to pull her to her feet.

The sudden loud thumps at the front door caught them both by surprise as Travis instinctively pulled Taylor behind him

"Go into the bedroom"

"But if it's my mom or my dad I'll speak to them I'll tell them I'm not going home..."

"Look how that worked out for you last time. Bedroom. Now!" He barked and Taylor just nodded, rushing down the hallway and slamming Travis' door shut behind her as Travis straightened his spine and then stalked to the front door, heaving it open and then grimacing at who he found on the other side

"Kelce" said the gruff English accent

"Shit!" Exclaimed Travis as his arm was grabbed and forced up his back, his face slammed into the hallway wall

"Shit indeed my boy"

Yeah