addicted. (a tayvis short story)

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

Travis was in the room he had put together for Ian, sitting on the floor and playing with him. He heard knocks on the door and looked at Ian. "We have a visitor, Ian. Let me see who it is. You stay here, okay?" He told Ian as he got up. He made his way to the door and opened it. Before him stood Taylor. She had a bruise on her face, her eyes were puffy, there were hand prints on here arms, her hand was bandaged up horribly, revealing the gashes. "I'm going to kill him," he stated instantly, then began walking away from her towards his room.

"Travis, wait," Taylor called, walking into the apartment and closing the door. She made her way into his room shortly after him. She watched him as he got a box off of the shelf in his closet. "What is that?" Taylor asked. Travis unlocked the box, pulling out his gun and started to load it with bullets. "Travis, no!" Taylor exclaimed. She wanted to take it from his hands, but she also didn't want it to accidently go off. 

"HE HIT YOU!" Travis yelled louder than he realized. Seeing her bruised face, the marks on her arms, the cuts in her hands, he was in rage. Looking at Joe, Travis knew he was going to turn out to be the violent type. He could sense it in his demeanor. He could tell by the way he spoke to Taylor on occasion. Travis saw the signs immediately, while clearly Taylor hadn't. 

"I want to talk." Taylor tried to say. Usually she could calm Travis down, but she also knew Travis and how he felt about her. Travis always said he would do two things for her. He would kill for her. He would die for her. Without a question, without a thought, she believed him wholeheartedly. 

"I really don't have words right now." He told her, ready to push past her and head to the house that was once hers. Because regardless of what she tried to tell him, she wasn't going back there if he had anything to do with it. 

"Travis, please," she begged.

"When did this happened?" Taylor didn't say anything. She didn't want to say anything. "WHEN?!" He demanded, his voice a bit louder than he wanted it to be. Travis wasn't the type to yell and scream, so she knew he was mad. She knew, however, he wasn't yelling at her. His hatred for Joe was making him louder than he usually would be.

"Last night," she admitted lowering her head, her voice shaking as she spoke. It made him lower his tone. Made him want to hold her instead of going after him. 

"And you didn't call the police or me?" He asked. There was some fear there. He brought his hand to her face, caressing her cheek. 

"It's complicated." She tried to say. She had love for Joe. She did. But it wasn't like the love she had for Travis. She was in love with Travis. Even still, she would never want Joe to end up in jail because of her. 

"He hit you, Tay. He raised his hand to you," Travis stated. He was still ready to go to that house and blast Joe for touching her. For hurting her in such way he would have never imaged. She was physically injured because of this man, and she didn't appreciate it.  "He deserves this bullet."

"Mommy!" Ian exclaimed from the doorway. Taylor turned to Ian. She went over to him and scooped him up, positioning him so she couldn't see what Travis was holding in his hand. 

"Get rid of that and come into the living room when you're ready to talk, calmly," Taylor told him, before walking out. 

Taylor was on the sofa with Ian, when Travis walked into the living room. He stopped and watched them for a moment. Ian placed his hand on Taylor's bruised face and she winced. Travis made his way over to the couch and sat next to them. "You need me to listen, so I'm here," Travis said quietly. He had calmed down a bit while he put his gun back into the safety box he now had to keep it in because of Ian.