Pitch Perfect Harmony

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The morning after the game, Travis woke up late. He had to regain some energy after games and Taylor let him sleep of course. She was up earlier and had prepared some breakfast. Travis could smell it already, so he got up too joining her in the kitchen. Taylor didn't notice him because she was looking at her phone but with her natural curls and his shirt, she looked so cute in his eyes. He could definitely get used to this. "Good morning pretty girl", he grinned at her from the doorway. Taylor looked up forcing a smile. "Good morning Trav", she answered. Something was off, he instantly knew that. But he decided to sit down first. "How are you?", he wanted to know. "Okay. A bit tired but I bet you're more tired after that game", she tried to bring the attention on him. "I had a good night's sleep. I'm good", he just said still analyzing her looks and movements. She didn't really look him in the eyes once.

Travis decided to eat first. Maybe she would bring up whatever was going on herself. Was it the nightmare and the comment they talked about in the middle of the night? He hated that some people just felt entitled to share their options about her dating life without being asked for it. Mainly the ones who thought she did something wrong of course. "Did you sleep well after the nightmare?", Travis wanted to know. She just nodded continuing to eat. The whole breakfast went on like that. Travis carefully asked something and Taylor gave short answers that didn't tell him anything. It got frustrating at some point. He thought she knew that she could talk to him by now.

"Did you look at your phone yet?", Taylor asked when they were done. "No, why? Did something happen?", he wanted to know. Taylor looked at him confused. "I was at your game. The whole country is talking about it. About you", she explained. That was where she was coming from. "So what? Let them talk. You were at the game and I had one of the best nights of my life", Travis just said taking her hand on the table. She finally looked at him a little insecure. "Tay, I don't care what they say. You're with me right now that's all that matters", he reassured her again. "Your phone is probably exploding", she pointed out. "I can care about that when I'm alone later. Now, it's our time", he smiled. But Taylor didn't seem satisfied with this answer.

"Should I look at some things now and we talk about it? Would that be better?", he suggested. Maybe she needed to see his honest reaction to some of the messages. Taylor agreed, so he went to get his phone. "I'm sorry. It's just... it's a lot and I want to be sure that you are okay with it", she explained when he was back. "It's okay. Maybe that's a good idea, hm?", he said sitting down next to her now. He did have an enormous amount of messages on every single platform but he decided to look at the ones from his publicist first. The messages seemed like she had been a bit overwhelmed when she had written them but it looked like everything was alright now. Or at least as okay as it could be. "I'm glad Tree helped her out a bit", Travis commented while they were scrolling through the messages together. Taylor nodded.

Travis answered a few people now and opened some of the social media posts too. He couldn't help but smile about all the excited messages he got from her fans. The nicknames of their accounts were song titles or lyrics and the comments were pretty funny for the most part. "Your kids seem to like me", he joked reading the hundreds of comments calling her "mom". Taylor blushed but smiled too. "Trust me that can change in minutes", she warned him in the same joking manner. "I'll do my best", he honestly said kissing her before she could answer. "Okay, and these people just try to make money. They can say whatever they want", he finally came across some tabloids. "Wow, see, we could be married already", he laughed. Taylor didn't laugh about that. She hated these stories. "Oh, c'mon. It's kinda funny. Sure, they shouldn't have the right to publish these lies but at least they're entertaining", Travis mentioned. "It's entertaining until they decide that you're evil and you can't do anything right", she mumbled.

He sighed putting his phone down to hug her. "Tay, I don't care what they say. I really don't. My friends and family know me and know what's right and wrong. Everyone else doesn't matter", he said. "Until your friends turn on you", she said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to... sorry", Taylor immediately apologized. But he just pulled her even closer for a few seconds. "If they do, then they have never been true friends", he shrugged. "I know that the next few days or maybe weeks will be chaos and that people will say things about me that aren't true. And maybe some of these people are ones I trusted and I will get hurt. I know all that. But I thought about it a lot since I first mentioned your name and now that I know you, I think it's worth it. You're worth it. I want to give us a real chance and this is part of it", he explained looking at her again afterward. Taylor didn't know what to say. He seemed genuine.

In the end, it really helped Taylor that they read some of the reactions online. And they didn't stick with the funny ones. Some mean digs were there too. But most of them targeted her rather than him. The slut shaming came up a few times and they were accused of it being a PR stunt. They took it all in and of course, it hurt to a degree but Travis seemed to deal with it quite well. Taylor didn't know what she was expecting but there had been a slight chance of him just wanting to run for the hills. "Oh, you know what? I'll be recording the new podcast episode soon. I'm sure there will be a lot of your people listening. Can I talk about what is public anyway?", he wanted to know. Taylor looked at him a bit hesitant. "I won't mention what exactly we are or anything like that. Only what is out there anyway. Maybe there will be some funny football questions in the "no dumb questions" section too", he explained: "I won't say a word if you don't feel comfortable with it."

Taylor thought about it for a moment. Maybe hiding as much as somehow possible wasn't the right way to go. They were both public figures and hiding was so hard. Maybe it was just unnecessary. "Would you send me and Tree the episode before the release?", she asked. "Sure! Yeah, you can tell me if we need to cut something", he assured her. "Okay, then... do that. Talk about what people know anyway. We'll see what happens", she agreed. "If it's backfiring on us, I won't do it again but I'm sure it can work out okay. It just feels weird to talk around it the whole episode", he said. Taylor nodded. They would have to try.

Soon it was time to leave for Taylor. She packed her stuff and informed her driver and security. "Thank you for coming. It was one of the best game days ever. I'll miss you", he said hugging her again. "I'll miss you too. Maybe you can visit me on tour soon", she answered. "I hope so. Don't worry too much about all the stuff people come up with, okay? I swear, I don't care. If you doubt it, call me", he told her. Taylor sighed. He was so good at noticing her insecurities and talking her out of them. "I will. Thank you", she agreed. "Text me when you arrive, okay? Be safe", was the last thing he said. "I will, you too", she answered before kissing him one last time.

Thanks for all the reads and votes. I'd love it read some feedback! 🤍