addicted. (a tayvis short story)

c h a p t e r . t h r e e

I'm here! Taylor read on the text from Travis. A smile came across her face as she replied to him. She shouldn't have been so excited to see him, but she was. 

"What are you smiling about?" Liz asked her friend.

"My awesome gift!"

"Speaking of which, where is it?" Liz pried.

"You'll find out real soon," Taylor teased before walking out of the door. Taylor stood on the sidewalk looking for Travis. She then realized she didn't know if he still drove the same car.

"Taylor," He called as he walked toward her.

"Hey Trav," she said as she walked toward him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. He held her tight, the way he used to. The way he still should have been holding her. She wanted to push him away, because she was engaged, she was with someone new, but she couldn't. She fell into him perfectly. A flood of old memories came rushing back just from being in his arms around. This was once her security. Once what she called home. But, then, she was flooded with memories of her arms wrapped around him. How he would be too drunk to walk. How he would be too high to function. The reason why things between them ended. She would take those bad memories over what she had now with Joe. She removed herself from the hug, letting out a small breath as she did so.

"Sorry," Travis said, letting her go. He didn't want to admit that he didn't want to let her go either. He could have stood there all night holding her like the old times. Being that security blanket, he knew he once was for her before everything went to shit. Before, he ruined the best thing that had ever been his.

"Don't apologize. It was nice," she admitted, then immediately tried to stop herself from blushing.

"So, where's Ian?" Travis asked.

"With the babysitter." She replied, shrugging slightly. There weren't too many opportunities for her to be baby-free and Joe-free, so she hopped at any chance she got. Joe really only gave her the chance to get the sitter so she could go out when he was a part of the outing. But when he was away, she had the tendency to play and do as she pleased. That was one of the pros of him leaving for long periods of time. Sure, she missed him when he was gone, but she didn't miss his controlling ways.  

"How well do you know this babysitter?" Travis began interrogating Taylor. She almost laughed. It was almost evident to her now that he was well aware of the situation. She was surprised he wasn't asking to be a part of Ian's life by now.

"She lives in my neighborhood, very responsible."

"Really? How old is she? Where does she go to school? What's her G.P.A.? Does she have plans for the future? Does she have a boyfriend? And is he at your house right now?" Travis asked in one breath, automatically going into "overprotective father" mode. Taylor laughed this time. 

"Seventeen, Washington High, 3.8, she wants to be a pre-k teacher, yes and no. Any more questions?" Travis raised his eyebrow before laughing. He was surprised she was able to answer each question so quickly. But this was Taylor, after all. His Taylor. The girl that asked questions about any and everything and got almost the entire background of a person before she even handed out her phone number. He knew her son was in good hands if Taylor was allowing him to be alone with any one else.

"Where's the birthday girl?" Travis asked, changing the subject after noticing his switch to psychoparent.

"She's inside," Taylor answered, taking notice of the attempt to change the subject.