[ FAMILY ] t i e s. - a tayvis story.

[ TWELVE ]

Taylor knocked on the guest room door and waited. She put her ear to the door, hearing the muffled sound of low whimpers coming from inside. She opened the door a small bit, peeking in. "Hey," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can I come in?" she asked Kylie.

Kylie sniffled and cleared her throat. "Yeah, it's your house."

"Doesn't mean I can just walk in on you any time I want to." She walked into the bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. "How are you doing? That was quite a scene out there."

"I should be asking you that," Kylie said, referring to the conversation shifting to eating disorders. Taylor had struggled with food since she was in late elementary school, and Kylie remembered that. Kylie remembered checking in on her multiple times a day, making sure she had eaten and kept her food down. 

"I'm fine," Taylor answered.  Her eating habits had improved drastically over the years, and she was proud of herself for it. There were times when she still had to force herself to eat something; there were times when she would just not want to eat at all. But overall, she was far better now than she was when she was between the ages of 11 and 15 years old. 

"I know the whole eating disorder; this was hard for you. Have you recovered from that?"

"I'm better. Travis keeps a careful eye on me when it comes to food." Travis was such a massive help. It only took her one time telling him the story of her eating habits growing up, and he had become the most attentive about it. He was always checking on her, always making sure she was eating enough and, of course, drinking enough water. His watchful eye became more intense when she was pregnant. 

"That used to be my job," Kylie said, causing them both to laugh. Kylie was the girl's protector back then. Taylor may have been a fighter, but when it came to protection, that was Kylie all the way. Even if she had to protect the girls from themselves. 

"What's going on with you and Jason?" Taylor changed the subject. Talking about herself wasn't the reason she came in here. She needed to know how Kylie was doing. 

"He's just so...."Kylie started, but she paused. She had no idea how to describe Jason, especially to someone who already had a preconceived notion about him. "So..."

"Inconsistent?" Taylor questioned, trying to channel Kylie's thoughts the way she used to be able to when they were growing up.

"That wasn't exactly what I was thinking of," Kylie replied. Taylor took a seat on the bed next to Kylie, who had sat up.

"Lackluster?" Taylor questioned again. She could go on forever with words she thought described Jason and the behavior she had witnessed over the last couple of days. 

"No..."

"Not affectionate?" Taylor asked again. Kylie shook her head. 

"Tay," Kylie let out a sigh following the nickname she was getting accustomed to calling Taylor outside of the one she had grown with. 

"I'm sorry. I could go on, though." Taylor half apologized.

"He's just no Travis." Taylor raised an eyebrow at Kylie's words. Of course, he wasn't Travis. They were two completely different people, that had lived two completely different lives. They had witnessed different things growing up. Unless Jason had the same nature as Travis, he would never be Travis, even if their nurturing was the same.

"What does that mean?" Taylor asked, pulling one of her legs under her. 

"You two are just perfect." Kylie let out after a couple of seconds of silence. 

"We are not perfect, Ky. We don't fight often, but we do fight." Taylor admitted to her. "We work through our differences before we go to bed. He pisses me off sometimes. Oh my God, he can be the most annoying person that has ever walked the face of this earth, but I love him to death, and I would do anything for him, and I know he would do anything for me."

***

"You and your stupid perfect marriage," Jason almost yelled. Jason was tired of hearing about Taylor and Travis and how amazing they were as a couple. He was tired of being compared to his younger brother and the other men that he was friends with. He wasn't like that; he didn't want to be like them. 

"We are far from perfect. We fight and argue like any other couple. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't fucking happen." Travis argued back. He had no idea where Jason got this idea from. This idea that he and Taylor were perfect. This idea that they could do no wrong and they were better than anyone around them. "You haven't even spent enough time with us to even come to that conclusion. What are you basing your opinion on? What you saw on an eight-hour plane ride?"

"Kylie! All she can talk about is how Travis and Taylor are like this. Travis and Taylor are like that. Oh, Travis does this for Taylor. Why don't you do that for me? Taylor has such a helpful husband." Jason said, mimicking Kylie's voice, recalling everything Kylie told him on the trip. Every detail of what Kylie said would replay in his head from time to time. It didn't help that every little thing he did, Travis and his group of friends had something to say about it, as if he was doing something wrong.

"Kylie has only seen us in public settings. Do you think me and my wife are going to argue in public? In front of our kids? We save that shit for the bedroom. No one ever sees us fight. It's not their business." Travis said back. That's how they handled their arguments. Most of them happened behind closed doors. They kept the drama between the two of them. They never wanted the girls to see them arguing. 

"The makeup sex sounds great, though," Isiah chimed in, placing a dish in the dishwasher. Travis couldn't help but let out a little laugh while shaking his head. 

"You weren't supposed to hear that," Travis told him, knowing exactly which time he was referring to.

"Koa and Kali are y'all's makeup babies. Life wouldn't be the same without them. Khi was made on the honeymoon and got the temper, make that shit make sense." Isiah laughed. 

"All I know is, I feel like I don't belong here." Jason told Travis and Isiah, "I need some fresh air." Jason put down the dishrag that he was holding and headed to the door. 

"Daddy?" Wyatt, said as Jason walked out of the door. "Where you going?" She asked. Jason didn't answer her, he just closed the door behind him.