Sweet Nothing - Tayvis Oneshots

Struggles

Content Warning: Mental Health Struggles (Grief, anxiety, disordered eating, depression, etc.)

Four times Travis helps Taylor and one time Taylor helps Travis.

I.

For the third day in a row, Travis arrived home from practice to a dark and quiet house. The familiar heavy feeling formed in his chest as he quietly made his way toward the bedroom, knowing he would likely find Taylor in the exact spot he had left her that morning. As usual, she was curled up on his side of the bed, clinging tightly to his pillow.

Travis silently slipped into the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms in a wordless reassurance that he was home and everything was going to be okay. She felt smaller than usual when she got like this, almost as if she was so fragile she might fall apart if he held her too tightly.

It wasn't until he felt the wetness of his shirt against his chest that Travis even realized that Taylor was crying again. He gently rubbed her back, placing gentle kisses to her head as she let the sadness wash over her once again.

"I've got you, baby," he reassured her quietly.

"I... I miss her, Trav," she hiccupped.

"I know, my love. I know," he cooed.

It had been four days now, but the weight of the difficult decision to say goodbye to her oldest cat remained heavy on her heart. Even though Meredith was 13 years old, her rapid decline in health had taken Taylor by surprise. After an emergency trip to the vet revealed that not only was her arthritis getting significantly worse, but she was also in the early stages of kidney failure, Taylor decided to take her home to give her one more special day filled with all of her favorite things before saying a final goodbye.

In the days that followed, Taylor had been an emotional mess. The more logical part of her brain tried to tell her that she needed to get back to living her life, but she couldn't shake the feelings of grief and devastation.

Thankfully, Travis was being incredibly supportive as she tried to process her grief. Not once had he judged her or made a comment about it being "just a pet". While he couldn't quite relate, he was doing his best to understand that Meredith had been more than just a pet for her. They had been together for over a decade, through some incredibly difficult times in Taylor's life. It made sense to him that she was grieving, and he would do everything in his power to help her get through this. And if tonight, that looked like spending another night holding her close while she cried and eating her favorite takeout in bed, there was nowhere he would rather be.

II.

As the sounds of the crowd grew closer, Taylor's pace slowed slightly. The difference was small enough that most of the people around her wouldn't have even noticed, but Travis was completely locked in on her and picked up on it right away. Now that he had attended a few red carpet events at her side, he was more familiar with how stressful the press line was for her, and he did his best to support her in any way he could.

He was even more focused tonight than usual, as Taylor had a panic attack earlier that afternoon while she was getting ready. Tree had arrived with the unfortunate news that they would be sharing a table with one of her ex's during the show, and the thought of being forced to face him so publicly after all these years sent her into an immediate spiral. She was almosted tempted to just back out of attending entirely just to avoid having to see him, but Tree had reminded her that she had already agreed to present an award and that backing out at the last minute wouldn't look good.

Travis gently squeezed her hand, silently checking in with her before they reached the carpet. She looked up at him and tried her best to fake a smile, but he couldn't miss the fear in her eyes. He quickly muttered something to Tree and she guided them off to the side, stepping out of the line of other guests waiting to enter the red carpet.