Brand New, Full Throttle ☆ Tayvis

I've known it from the very start

26 July 2023

Taylor was stretched across the comfy but small couch in her hotel suite's living area, watching the end of Grey's Anatomy season 4 again, when she felt her phone buzz with a notification from her publicist.

She'd flown in from Seattle a few nights ago, for the Santa Clara shows this weekend, but she still had a few more days of rest before she had to perform again.

🌲: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdFcS35EjQg

🌲: Skip to 24:20

Taylor stared at the text chain, waiting for an explanation. But it never came. It was very unlike Tree to send her an article without any explanation, so she responded before clicking the link.

Tay: ????

The video was a filmed segment of a podcast, by two guys who looked like brothers. Taylor paused the video, and a minute of searching on Google told her that they were Jason and Travis Kelce, brothers who play in the NFL, and when Taylor skipped to the 24-minute mark, Travis was talking about attending Taylor's show in Kansas City.

"Speaking of Taylor Swift, I know you went to the Taylor Swift. How was it?"

"Well, I was disappointed,"

Oh, here we go...

Being big football players with a podcast, Taylor knew they would be absolute dicks who thought they were better than everyone else. And high-profile athletes hating on her was just the cherry on top of an exhausting past few months.

But to her surprise, Travis wasn't making fun of her, or her fans, and they seemed surprisingly respectful of her tour.

"She doesn't talk before or after the shows because has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings, so I was a little butthurt that I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her."

Taylor paused the video on her phone and sat up for a moment, genuinely shocked. He made her a bracelet? Wait no, bracelets, plural? There's no way this huge man was hunched over a table putting colorful little beads onto a tiny string for her. That's ridiculous. He had to be mocking it or making fun of it. Or he just bought one of the pre-made ones to give to her, to try to get into her pants. Right?

But he knew that she played 44 songs, and she highly doubted that he'd counted every song so had he... researched the tour?

"If you're up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it." He said with a cheeky grin.

His brother asked, "Your number, as in 87, or your phone number?" to which Travis proudly replied, "You know which one," sending Jason into a laughing fit. The way Travis admitted that he had been essentially rejected by her, without an ounce of embarrassment or shame, painted him in a very respectful and humble light. He seemed to really understand the hard work of Taylor's job, like protecting her voice as much as possible, without just labelling her a popstar who had everything handed to her on a shiny silver platter.

"But she doesn't meet anybody or at least she didn't want to meet me so I, I took it personal. But it was an unbelievable show, and honestly, Kansas City showed up, I've only seen Arrowhead filled like that for Chiefs games, with that much excitement. Everybody was dressed in pink and purple, going crazy for her, it was wild - it was a wild show."

Jason told him, "Well, she probably just hasn't gotten over the Super Bowl yet, she's a big eagles fan, so maybe she just made something up and she just didn't want to talk to you."

Travis muttered "Damn it" under his breath, but he didn't seem offended at all by his brother's teasing.

They continued with the podcast, soon talking about NFL training camp, and Taylor kept watching, kind of intrigued by the brothers dynamic, and the way Travis' laugh kept making her smile involuntarily. When the episode ended, she clicked onto another, and then a third after that.

She clicked back onto her texts with Tree. She wanted her to know that she'd watched the video (and found Travis kind of charming) without actually having to say it. After thinking for 5 minutes, she still had no idea what to say.

Tay: watched it

🌲: Thoughts?

"Oh, of course Tree's trying to make me admit I think Travis is cute," Taylor whispered to herself, as the huge hotel suite began to get darker. The sun was setting below the Cali hills.

Tay: it's good that he said the show's good. like from a PR standpoint

She tried to stick to a professional approach, even if she knew her publicist would immediately see through what she was doing.

🌲: Hot guy on the right is Travis Kelce, he plays football in Kansas City

🌲: Seems very respectful and sweet

🌲: He is also hot

Taylor rolled her eyes

Tay: treeeee...

She had been adamant that she wanted to go through this tour single. Everything with Joe went down less than a year ago, and Taylor didn't feel ready to put her heart out in the world again. Especially not after the mess Matty had caused. And as much as Taylor loved her, it really wasn't Tree's place to be setting her up with people.

But, God, Travis had a contagious laugh - one that really made her smile, and she thought she might owe herself a bit more smiling.

Tay: can u get me his number??