Lover

Chapter 10. Vigilante Shit

TAYLOR'S POV

My head snaps up the second I hear the elevator doors open, my eyes impatiently waiting to land on my lover's as I stay on the couch in the living room. Admittedly, my lack of sleep was done on the same couch instead of our bedroom. Given, she wasn't here to kick me out to sleep on the sofa, I not only felt like I fucked up, but it also felt wrong to sleep in our room without her there.

Her footsteps are quiet and gentle, almost like her confidence was swapped with uncertainty as if she's worried about making the wrong move.

Or both figuratively walking on eggshells around you...

I hear her set her keys on the counter and I find myself no longer letting the anticipation kill me, my legs and body taking me to her before my mind can psych me out of it. When my eyes land on her, I notice she's in a different outfit than yesterday. Not someone else's clothing, but her own. Although I don't believe she would ever cheat on me, I guess a part of me refuses to rule out the possibility that she could because of my own trauma from past relationships.

She's been burned badly just like you have, Taylor...  She could never do that to you... She knows how much that shit hurts... Stop doubting her.

"Thank you for coming back home" I find myself speaking up, interrupting my toxic train of thought.

She rests her palms on the counter, taking a moment, before turning to me with a soft, gentle, apologetic smile.

Her eyes are red and puffy and her face is slightly swollen.

She was definitely crying all night...

"Thank you for letting me..." She says quietly before looking down at the counter, avoiding my eyes.

I take a step closer to her, careful to not set her off again by getting too close but wanting to stay close to her.

"Of course, I want you back. Baby, you're my home... If you're up for it, I really want to talk about last night" I suggest softly, watching her reactions carefully.

She takes a deep breath before nodding her head. I extend my hand out to her, hoping she'll take it, and to my liking, she does almost instantly. I guide us to the couch, quickly moving her favorite blanket I took from her loft a while back, and slept with last night, to the other side of the sofa, hoping she wouldn't notice. To my dismay, when she sits next to me, I can see the gears turning in her head that I brought the blanket here when she first moved in, she just never noticed.

"Firstly, I want to apologize for last night-" I begin but she quickly shakes her head 'no'.

"Stop, Taylor. None of this is your fault" She sighs, unlike yesterday, sounding more disappointed than annoyed.

"No, Y/n. You were right, I do get really possessive over you, and I can be overbearing. That's a lot to deal with... Probably a lot more than you bargained for, so I'm sorry. You were right to be upset with me yesterday" I apologize, reaching out to her lap, and holding her hand.

She shakes her head again, "Taylor-"

"And you were right to be upset with me for drinking. It wasn't helping anyone that I got a little buzzed and-"

"Stop, Taylor. You didn't do anything wrong" She says again, this time I can see the tears building up in her eyes, making me feel guiltier by the second.

"No, Y/n. Let me finish... You were right that drinking last night affected the way I spoke to you. You were right about that, Y/n... I never spoke to you the way that I did yesterday, and I'm so fucking sorry for that. That's not your fault, so please stop telling yourself that it was. It was mine, Y/n. I'm so sorry I talked to you that way and said the things I did... You didn't deserve that, baby" I apologize profusely as I start to feel myself get emotional thinking about how much I hurt her. Even if we were both pissed off last night, there are better ways of communicating with each other than by yelling.