endgame - taylor swift & travis kelce

the moment i knew

backstory: taylor and travis have broken up and this is their first time seeing eachother since that night.
they aren't famous and are in their early 20s, taylor does music as a hobby and travis plays college football
enjoy yourselves

xoxo, cass

TRAVIS' POV

"Next." I said mindlessly, as customer after customer appeared at my counter to pay for their items. I worked in a sports department store 10 minutes away from my college campus, and I needed a way to eventually pay for the enormous college fee. I worked for 6 hour shifts, and even though they made me exhausted it was worth it, not having the looming fear of debt.

Everytime a customer came up to me, I mumbled the same words: "Hi, would you like a bag?" or "That will be (x) dollars." I yawned in between as customer after customer approached, my eyes fixed on the clock that slowly ticked towards the golden number 6, when I would finally be free to leave.

Then I saw her. Taylor, my recent ex girlfriend was here. We had broken up on painful terms after we were just struggling to make it work, with me working long shifts here whilst also trying to balance school and her studying or similarly working, but in a coffee shop a block or two away.

My mouth was slightly ajar in shock as she approached, her head tilted slightly down as she clutched her basket. As her head lifted and she began to place her basket on the counter in front of us, our eyes locked and all the raw affliction from the night rushed back into me.

Her electric-blue eyes widened as she looked down again, slowly breathing as she regained some composure.

"Hi.." She whispered, so quietly that I could barely hear it. She twisted a lock of her perfect blonde hair through two of her fingers, just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.

"Hey." I started softly, "How.. have you been?" My feeble attempt at being polite caused a small smile to appear at her red lips, and she continued to unpack her things as she responded.

"Good. You?"

"Good."

As she continued taking out items, that's when I began to notice a theme on her purchases. Male sports clothes; shorts, t-shirts, and a small gift card with a space to write a short message. Surely she hadn't moved on so quickly? What, it had only been a week?

As she looked up and noticed me staring at her items with a hard jaw, she shook her head in slight amusement and reassured me, "It's Austin's birthday soon. I thought he might like some new clothes."

"Oh." I answered, my mouth unclenching and giving her a weak smile. I paused for a moment, considering telling her that it was fine if she had moved on, but the ticking clock reminded me I had a job to be doing, and I could reconcile with her another time.. I think.

"Cash or card?" I asked, reaching out a hand slowly.

"Card." She said, and as she handed it to me, our fingers delicately brushed. Even thought it was a tiny gesture, every single memory came flooding back from that night.

A week before, Taylor's dormitory

"You're late again Travis." I heard Taylor's voice come from around the corner. As I walked further, I saw her sat on her navy blue couch, knees up to her chest as she looked at me coldly.

"Taylor.. I'm sorry." I attempted weakly, my hands in my sweatpants pockets as I shrugged.
"Shift ran over."

She stood up, her face now visibly angry. "You say that every fucking time Travis! We never get to spend any time together anymore." Her voice got softer as she walked towards me, "I really wanted to try make this work Travis."

I sighed, putting my hands on my hips as I looked down at my feet. "I'm trying Taylor." This wasn't a lie. I had really been trying to make things work, but it was hard. So fucking hard. "You know you could do things too to help."

Her head shot up, her eyebrows furrowing as she choked out a response. "Seriously?" She scoffed. "You're blaming me for you being home late? That's fucking ridiculous."

I felt the anger begin to rise in me as I spoke, but I desperately tried to push it down. Unsuccessfully. "Yeah. You try act like I'm never fucking home but the times I am you're just out."

She responded calmly. Too calmly. "Travis. I work my ass off day and night to try swap shifts. I'm sorry if that's not fucking good enough for you."

"Yeah.. well." I almost spat, "I'm sorry too."

"You're sorry too?" She looked hurt, raising an eyebrow. She ran her tongue over her lips, seeming like she was also trying not to shout. "Sorry for what? For loving me?"

"I don't know." Her face crumpled at my words, and god now I would take them back in an instant if I could. But I couldn't. She let out a shaky sigh, clearly holding back tears that threatened to spill down her face.

"Well I don't know either." She trembled, biting down on her lip. "Maybe this isn't working then." I remembered feeling the anger and hurt at that moment in time, and how I now regretted it and my response.

"I don't think it is working. Goodbye Taylor." I turned and walked back out of the room, as quickly as I had arrived.

Present Day

"Um." I mumbled, dropping her items into a branded plastic bag. "Have a nice day." There was so much more I wanted to say, like how I was sorry and I did really love her. But I didn't.

Giving me a small smile, she turned on her heel, bags in hand. "Goodbye Travis."

That was the last I heard from her on the day until she walked out, her blonde hair bouncing down her back with each step.

And that was the moment I knew. I would get her back.

REQUESTS ——->