TNT Short Fics

Okay but do they like me? Part 1/2

Travis came home from practice to a cloud of flour in the air, an exasperated "Fuck!," and the best smell to ever come out of a kitchen belonging to him.

"Tay?" he questioned from the front hall.

"Hey! Shit!" she shouted "In here!"

He rounded the corner into the kitchen to find every surface of what he thought until now had been very ample counter space in his new kitchen covered in bowls, baking sheets, and other baking paraphernalia.

"What...um? What's happening right now?" he asked, trying to keep a straight face.

Taylor looked sheepishly at him from behind the stand mixer. The mixer usually meant cinnamon rolls but this...this was more intense than cinnamon rolls.

"I may have gotten out of hand."

"Oh, you think?" he joked. "I mean, I thought you were going to write?"

She had been itching to get her hands on the new piano in the family room that he'd had delivered for her while she'd been in New York and had all but hurried him out the door this morning.

"I was! I did! But then I got stuck, and I know we're going to that team thing later this week. So I just thought I'd make cookies or something."

"Baby, I love you, but it's catered, you don't have to cook." Again, he was confused. She definitely knew that it was not a casual event.

"Oh no," she corrected. "I mean for you to take to work before that. And then cookies seemed boring so I ordered a bunch of groceries and decided on Pop-Tarts."

"Pop-Tarts?"

"Homemade Pop-Tarts," she clarified, pointing at rows of perfectly iced pastries that did indeed look like a fancy version of the breakfast treat. "I made them once in 2020 and they were so good. But I may have misremembered how long they take. You know, time seemed to go a lot differently back then. And then I forgot how many dishes Claire Saffitz has you use when baking her recipes. And here we are."

He clocked her rambling which, for all her normal enthusiasm, was not something Taylor did—especially at home.

"Are you okay?" he questioned, realizing that behind her peppy tone, she sounded stressed. "I mean I love that you are making things for the guys but you know you don't have to do that."

"I know, I just..."

"Just what?"

She seemed to cave then, realizing there was no getting out of the truth. "I want them to like me."

"Taylor!" he said somewhat appalled that she'd even think something like that about the guys on the team.

"Shut up! I know!"

"They will like you. They DO like you!" he emphasized. "Hasn't everyone you met liked you so far?"

"Ugh, I don't know." She dramatically laid her head on the counter but realized too late that there was flour there. She sat up and tried to shake the flour out of her bangs.

He moved so he was beside her and turned her to face him. She still had something on her cheek. Jam, maybe?

"Tay, they like you," he reassured, bending down to look her in the eyes. "They absolutely see how happy you make me and so that is all they need to know to like you."

"Okay. But like, Creed seems like he doesn't," she challenged.

"That is just Creed's face, I promise. He still talks about how ballsy it was for you to show up at that first game. He likes you, Chris likes you, Dru..."

"Oh I know Chris likes me. We text. It's the O-line I'm worried about."

He pulled her close, not caring about the mess. "The O-line likes you."

She sighed, "It's just important to me. I know I come with a circus and so I want them to think about the good things I bring to this, not all that."

"Sweetie, first of all, if anyone likes a circus, it's the O-line," he countered. "But second, they don't see it like that. No one in that building sees it like that. They see you coming to support us. They hear me talk about you watching like four seasons of 'Hard Knocks' in a month to learn about football. They see you hanging out with their wives and girlfriends and not being anything but your normal self. They know."

"If you are sure." She still seemed skeptical.

"Cross my heart. And hey, I'm sure these will just go above and beyond."

"Okay, but I am not sure they are right." The worried look was back on her face.

"I mean they smell amazing," he said, peering over her shoulder at the little squares of dough again.

"Yeah, but they are supposed to be laminated pastry and somehow I pounded out the butter too much and went too far into straight-up puffed pastry." She looked at him like it was the most obvious thing for him to know what that meant.

"I have no idea what any of that means, and I'm sure they do not either. Do they taste good?"

'I didn't make homemade jam. Or sprinkles."

"Not store-bought sprinkles!" He gasped before giving up the joke. "Tay, do they taste good?"

"Yes. Very good."

"Then we will not give a single fuck that they are actually puffed pastry. Or that you did something to the butter that sounds vaguely inappropriate for my workplace."

"I hate you," she grumbled, pushing her face into his chest.

"Nah, you don't." He kissed the top of her head and pulled her back to look at him again.

"Now can I help clean this up or maybe you'd like to come back to this later and I can help clean you up..." He shook her shoulders playfully back and forth to emphasize his point.

She kissed him and patted his cheek. "I still have cookies in the mixer."

"TAYLOR!"

"What!? Okay! Tommy looks like he likes cookies and I want him to be my friend."

He sighed and turned towards the bedroom. "I'm going to take a shower. And hopefully, you'll be done with buying people's friendships with baked goods by then."

"I love you!" She called after him.

"I know!"

He walked towards the back of the house to hit the shower but stopped halfway down the hall as he remembered something she'd said. He turned and went back to the kitchen.

"Wait, you and Chris text?"

She got a mischievous look on her face at his question. "Yes, who do you think told him to have the DJ play Anti-Hero at every single practice to annoy the hell out of you?"

He pretended to glare at her as he grabbed a Pop-Tart and walked away.

___________

Notes: She 100% bought the stand mixer and baking stuff and sent it to his house. Or he told her to make him a list.

I am like 87% certain the Pop-Tarts Taylor makes are a Claire Saffitz recipe because as a baker myself, I noticed her TikTok about baking had a bunch of baked goods that corresponded to ones Claire made on Dessert Person/Bon Appétit during 2020. But she didn't make the homemade sprinkles (that was a bit much, Claire). And yes, I am well experienced in being the one who somehow ended up with puffed pastry instead of Pop-Tarts when making the recipe. If you have many days, don't value your sanity, and want a challenge, I highly recommend making Pop-Tarts.

And the final note is that Chris Jones does indeed like Anti-Hero (per his twitter) and I have a theory since Travis said during the Super Bowl presser that he heard Anti-Hero every day that Chris has the team DJ play it every day during practice.