Taylor x Travis: In Every Life

loml

Travis' POV
Coachella 2025

I took a sip of my drink as I glared at the stage, hating my friends for letting them drag me here. They'd insisted I had to get out of the house, to start to get my life back. They'd told me to come to Coachella with them, forget about Taylor, move on. I'd refused, but somehow they'd managed to get me here. And I hated it.

"Dude, come on." Patrick nudged me. "It's not that bad."

"Yeah." I muttered as the screen behind the stage lit up in a big SC symbol, announcing the start of Sabrina's set. 

"Travis, I know you don't want to be here." Brittany looped her arm through mine. "But you need to do something other than sitting at home. You used to be so happy, before..." She cut herself off and I sighed. We all knew what she meant.

I used to be so happy before I'd lost Taylor. 

It'd been six months without her already, and I wasn't doing even a little better than the day we'd called it quits. I didn't even know why we'd broken up. We'd just been fighting, fighting so much louder than usual, so much more than usual, and then it had all blown apart. We'd stormed off and never seen each other since. I couldn't even remember what we'd been fighting about, all I knew is that I'd lost the one fucking woman ever to love me for who I was. And I'd loved her, so much. I still did. I didn't want to do anything anymore. I'd retired, and I'd taken a step back from the world.

"Coachella!" Sabrina greeted the crowd as she danced onto the stage, and everyone around me roared in response, waving their hands at her. She laughed, launching right into a song. I sighed, leaning against the small high table we were crowding around on the side. Patrick danced with Brittany as I stood there, watching the blonde popstar I'd used to know dance and sing with the biggest smile on her face. We'd drifted apart since Taylor and I split because she'd always been Taylor's friend, but we talked occasionally. "Coachella make some noise!" Sabrina hollered, stretching her arm out wide. "For my incredible friend!"

My heart skipped a beat as the stage door behind Sabrina opened and Taylor stepped out, holding a microphone and dressed in a pale pink two-piece outfit that match Sabrina's. The crowd screamed themselves hoarse at the sight of her as she took Sabrina's hand, both of them falling into chorography as they started to sing. I couldn't take my eyes off her, watching the way she winked at the crowd, spinning around and laughing like she'd never been happier. I couldn't tell if it was fake or not; she was so damn good at hiding things.

"Fuck." Patrick muttered. "I didn't know she'd be here. Travis, I..." I held up a hand, stopping him.

It broke my heart to see her, but now that she was in front of me, I couldn't stand the thought of her disappearing again. Her hair was a little curlier than I remembered, but other than that, she looked exactly the same. I watched, speechless as she performed with Sabrina, her beautiful voice filling the space. I could see people pointing cameras at me. Of course; Taylor and I had gone through a pretty public breakup and had been splashed all over the internet for months. The fact that I was here would start rumors, speculation on if we were back together.

"I need to see her." I whispered.

"No, Travis, that's a really bad idea." Brittany told me. "You remember how bad it was the first time around? You couldn't even be in the same room as each other without something going wrong."

"I need to see her." I insisted, looking down at her. "Britt, I can't let her go. I tried." I fought tears, not wanting to cry when I knew I was being filmed. "I tried so hard."

"Travis." She murmured, squeezing my arm. "Do you think she'll want to see you?"

I didn't know. But I had to try. Why did I think I could live without her? I'd do anything to get her back, anything. Reaching for my phone, I scrolled through my contacts and texted Sabrina, hoping she'd see it when she got off stage.

Me: I need to talk to Taylor, can you help me?

I checked my phone every minute after Taylor and Sabrina left the stage, praying she'd see it, praying she'd reply. And by the grace of god, she did.

Sabrina: Thank god you've finally come to your senses, get your girl back

Then she set me an access code to a backstage dressing room. I mumbled something to Patrick and Brittany about catching up with them later, not bothering to wait for their response. I found my way to the backstage door and was let through by security who recognized me, tapped in the code Sabrina had given me, and opened the door. Sabrina appeared in a doorway, glancing behind her before motioning to the room she'd just come from.

"Thank you." I murmured.

"Fight for her." She nodded to the doorway, and I nodded as she moved off to leave me standing there.

Taking in a breath, I moved towards the doorway and paused in the middle. Taylor was still dressed in her on stage outfit, on the phone with someone, laughing. Her eyes flickered over and caught on me, her whole body going still in response. I swallowed, moving into the room and closing the door behind me.

"I gotta go Mom." She said without breaking my gaze. "No, I will. Okay. I love you too." Taylor hung up, placing her phone down. "What are you doing here Travis?" No emotion, nothing.

"I had to see you." I said quietly. "Taylor, I..." I paused as her lip trembled ever so slightly, realizing how hard she was trying not to cry. "Taylor." I whispered.

"Travis you have no right to be here."

"I know." I whispered. "But baby, I'm sorry."

"Don't call me that." Taylor brushed past me, out into the hallway.

"Taylor." I rushed to follow her as she stormed down to the door. "I know the things I said hurt you. I'm sorry. Please let me fix this."

"Travis you broke my damn heart." Taylor turned on me, her eyes sparkling with tears. "And I know I broke yours too but we can't keep doing this! We drove each other crazy!"

"I know but Taylor." I took her face in my hands, stroking her cheeks gently. "I know we can fix this. I love you, I know you love me." Taylor trembled.

"You can't just hold me and think it'll just get better." She whispered. "You remember how much we fought. I hurt you, you hurt me, we can't work together anymore."

"Baby..." The word slipped out accidentally and her eyes narrowed.

"I said you can't call me that!" She knocked my hands away, yanking the door open and walking away out into the festival. I moved to follow her. I knew she was angry, but I couldn't let her go. She was the love of my life, the loss of my life, at the same time. 

"You don't think we can work this out?" I caught up to her.

"It hurt enough the first time." Taylor's eyes refused to meet mine.

"What if there's never a second time?" I caught her wrist gently, stopping her. Her blue eyes rose to meet mine, red and watery. "Taylor I know we can work on this. I have never been so in love with anyone in my life. I know we drove each other insane, I know we fought a lot, but we can work on it. I'll do anything, anything to have you back in my arms baby girl. I miss you."

"Travis." She whispered.

"Anything." I squeezed her wrist. 

"God!" Taylor threw her arms around my neck, sobbing into my neck. "You know I can't ever say no to you." She mumbled into my shirt. "I love you."

"Oh I love you too my beautiful girl." I tugged her close, lifting her almost off the ground as I wrapped my arms around her neck. "I love you so damn much." I mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Taylor sobbed, pulling back to look at me. "We're so fucked up aren't we?"

"Yeah." I smiled, and she smiled too. "I love you." I lifted my hands to her cheeks, cupping gently and lifting her face towards mine. Taylor surged forwards, smashing her lips desperately against mine for the first time in far too long. 

I slid my hands into her hair as I kissed her softly, slowly, lovingly. I'd missed her, god, I'd missed her. Taylor whimpered into my mouth as I brushed my tongue against hers, pressing her body against mine as we fought to get closer. I knew we were in public view, but I didn't care. I had my girl back, we'd work on this. 

We'd never lose each other again.