the stars in your eyes | t.s. one shots

shining like fireworks

"Hey Trav," Taylor says, placing her hand on the chest of the man that she's been falling so in love with over the last few weeks. It hasn't been that long. Their relationship isn't even close to being public yet- it's for the most part, still their secret. Only their close family and friends know. Still, Taylor can't remember the last time that she was as happy as she has been as of late, her free days spent in Kansas City living a life that's closer to normal than anything she's seen in fifteen years. He told her he loved her only two weeks after they started dating and she instantly reciprocated the sentiment. She knows they're both in agreement- they're too old to be batting around the bush on things they feel so passionately about. Perhaps they're moving fast compared to many's standards, but they're in love with each other and neither is afraid to admit it.

"What's up, babe?" Travis asks, placing a soft kiss on her forehead, his lips just barely grazing her skin, teasing her and leaving her crave more. She reaches up and places her fingers on the spot where his lips had touched, tapping it with her pointer finger as a silent request for him to kiss it again. He happily obliges, lingering longer this time.

"I just saw a clip from the podcast that just dropped. The one with Kylie."

"Oh?" Travis asks, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't she great? I can't wait for you to meet her, Tay. You're going to get along so well; I just know it."

"Yeah," Taylor replies, "she seems cool. I like her sense of humor." The singer pauses. "That's not exactly what I was going to talk to you about, though." She reaches up and runs her fingers across his buzz cut and down his chest before her hand finds its way to a resting place on his stomach.

"What was it that you wanted to hear about?" Travis asks. He can pick up on the cheeky tone in her voice and knows that while she's not actually mad, he's about to get busted for something. He thinks about the episode and what he said. Surely he didn't slip up and accidentally reveal their relationship. No, he'd have been more cognizant of that. Jason would've said something. Someone would have picked up on it and filmed the segment again or cut it out entirely.

"It was when Jason was telling the story of the first time he met Kylie," Taylor recalls, "and he was talking about just feeling these instant fireworks. You know what you said?"

Travis blushes. He knows what he said. He was very purposeful about saying that, as the matter of fact. His face red, he tries to speak. "Tay, I-"

He's cut off by a low hum from Taylor's diaphragm and a finger being pressed to his lips. "Nope. My turn." She gives him a small smirk and he nods, grabbing her hand and moving it away from his face. "You said you 'wanted' to feel those fireworks and know what that's like. So... I didn't do it for ya, huh?"

Travis throws his head back, shutting his eyes and taking a moment to carefully formulate his words. "Honey, sweetie, baby girl, you should know damn well that you taught me what those fireworks feel like. They're absolutely electric. But it's also the kind of feeling that you only get when you know you've met the love of your life. The person who you know you're going to marry someday. I knew that about you the first time that I met you, just like Jason knew it about Kylie."

Taylor feels her eyes welling up with tears. Her and Travis have professed their love for each other multiple times a day. That's nothing new. They know they both entered into a relationship with a goal of marriage and a family. But hearing him talk so openly about it, having him confirm everything she's been thinking, about how she's absolutely found her soulmate, the person who she's meant to spend the rest of her life with... it makes her emotional. She gives Travis a sweet little smile but says nothing as he keeps going.

"Hon, nobody else knows that about us. Those are sacred promises that we've made to each other that haven't left the confines of this house. Nobody even knows we are dating yet. If I were to say that I knew what those fireworks felt like, it could've been interpreted in all sorts of weird ways." He runs his thumbs over the backs of her hands as he holds them in his. "I think you can see why I thought that I probably should wait."