Standing at the Swifts front door, Travis heaved in a breath and then hammered his hand hard against the dark stained wood.
The last thing he wanted was another fist to the face but he needed to speak to Scott man to man, he needed to let him know he couldn't continue to upset Taylor the way he was, he had to put her and her baby first.
As the door opened Travis was surprised by the face that met him.
Scotts normal designer goatee had been replaced by a full salt and pepper beard and his hair, usually sleaked back with the utmost care hung limp and greasy
"Mr.Swift..."
"You have 2 seconds to get your ass off of my property or not only will you feel my fist again I will call the police and report you for trespassing. How does an unmarried father and a criminal sound to you?"
"Taylor is in the hospital...again, we can't go on like this"
"Why not? Hopefully one of these times we will be flushing that bastard child of yours down the toilet"
Travis didn't even have time to register the comment properly before his hands were on the collar of the older man's shirt and he was forcing him back into the house, kicking the door shut behind him and then throwing the man hard on to the ground
"What the fuck did you just say to me?!" Towering over him Travis stared down, his face pink with fury, his eyes narrowed and his breath heaving hard in his chest. "You might be Taylors father but you are sorely mistaken if you think you're going to say shit like that to me and then I'm not gonna beat the living daylights out you, you disgusting human being. That's a baby you're talking about, your daughter's baby, your grandchild"
"That thing is nothing to do with me" Scott finally pushed himself to his feet and brushed his clothes down
"We didn't do this to hurt you, in fact that was the last thing either of us wanted"
"No you did this because your just like every other punk kid, all you care about is getting into my daughters pants" he spat the words at Travis, his eyes ablaze with fury.
This was the man that had welcomed Travis into his home, had made him feel wanted when his own family didn't want him at all and now here he was looking like Travis was the most disgusting human being he had ever seen in his life and Travis couldn't help the hurt that seeped into his chest
"I love Taylor Mr. Swift, I love your daughter"
Scott laughed loudly and shook his head
"You don't know what love is. Love is getting up at 4am every fuckin morning to go out to earn a living to put food on the table, love is going without what you need so your family have what they want, love is not fucking a girl, leaving her pregnant and taking away every opportunity her father fought and struggled to provide her with"
Travis saw the anguish on the man's face, saw how hurt he was and how he was struggling and that served to cool his temper as it was slowly replaced with empathy for the man in front of him
"I gave up my family, my home, to move here to start a better life and in one move you destroy it all" he shook his head, his voice small, his shoulders hunched
"It's not destroyed" Travis said, his voice deep with emotions "It's just different"
"I don't want different. I don't want a pregnant teenage daughter, I don't want the looks in the street, the whispers at the bowling club, I don't want the shame you have brought on me and my family"
"Well Taylor wants you, you're her dad and she needs you"
"Well she gets to have you instead, isn't she a lucky girl? A loser with no career, no future" Travis couldn't believe what he was hearing, he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, seeing now why Taylor had been struggling so much
"My dad didn't get the chance to see me grow up and fall in love and start a family, yes it's earlier than we would have wanted but it happened, our baby is a gift"
"It's a fuckin curse on my family!!!" Scott screamed whilst barreling forward and pushing Travis hard in to the wall "I will never forgive either of you for this"
"Dad ?" A taller, more masculine version of Taylor walked in to the hallway, his face a mask of concern
"Austin..." Scott released Travis and ran a shaky hand through his dirty hair "Travis is just leaving"
"Yes, I am and I'm... I'm actually taking Taylor with me"
Both Scott and Austin looked a question at Travis as he smoothed out his t-shirt and headed towards the front door
"Taylor can't live here, she doesn't deserve this. I was taking her home with me for a break but fuck that she's moving in with me permanently"
"She has school!" Austin said loudly, his voice panicked "Travis wait til my mom gets home we will sort this out, we can talk about this"
Shaking his head sadly Travis looked to the guy "I'm not subjecting her to this, we will work school out, she needs to be taken care of right now, not bullied and punished and treated like a criminal because she made a mistake that she's doing everything in her power to turn into something positive and beautiful. Apologise to your mom, I will get Taylor to call her when we are settled in"
"Dad? Dad, do something do something" Austin grabbed his father's arm "Please, he's going to take Taylor"
"Let him" he said whilst pulling his hand from his eldest daughters grip "He's welcome to her" his voice was tired, defeated as he walked slowly from the room, never looking back to Austin or Travis
"Take care of her , take care of both of them"
Travis simply nodded before reaching for the door handle and heading out of the Swift house for what felt like the very last time
