"I don't want to drop you."
There's a few minutes before Kam and Jan are coming down to join them in her dressing room to practice. They'll run it tomorrow on the stage before the show, but she's not worried. Travis is a natural. She's got no doubt in her mind he'll be perfectly fine. Taylor told him to go for it and she knows she doesn't have to tell him twice.
She folds her arms across her chest, shakes her head. "I'm not worried about that in the least."
"I am, babe," he sighs. "I'm fucking pumped to do this, but that's my biggest fear. What if I trip over my own big feet and I drop you and you get hurt? Maybe we should've gone with me on the bike like we were joking around about. At least that way, I wouldn't have the risk of something happening to you."
His worry is actually extremely sweet and she urges him to sit down on the sofa, patting the cushion next to her.
"Hey." Her hand goes to his back, her thumb landing to skid comforting circles around both shoulder blades. "You're not going to drop me, Trav."
He still doesn't look entirely convinced, so she leans in, rests her head against his. "You've carried me a hundred times and have you ever dropped me? Even once?"
His expression shifts and she knows she has him there.
"Talk to me. What else are you worried about? I know it's not getting stage fright."
That gets a smile out of him and he brushes his lips across her head; a reflex.
"Just fucking it all up. Wanna do you proud out there, baby. You're putting a lot of faith in me."
As incredibly confident of a man he is, he's also unafraid to be vulnerable, unconcerned about being judged and whenever he displays it as such, she thinks she falls just a little bit more deeply in love.
'Babe." She smoothed a hand over his beard. "You even wanting to do this...do you know how much it means?"
Her body is sore, she's exhausted, but it's all external. She's always buzzing after a show, the adrenaline charging through her veins, an electrical current that cuts through the tired and tonight, planning all this out is giving her that extra edge. Her baby is here, he wants to support her and she's on cloud nine. Nothing could be better.
He turns to kiss her lips, a sweet peck and she sighs into it, his jaw between two of her fingers.
"You sure you're not too tired?"
Taylor shakes her head. "I'm ready."
The rehearsal turns out to be fun. As much as she takes her job seriously, there's room to be playful because this is fun as much as it is work. Kam and Jan are there for backup; they'll guide him in the right direction should he need it, but she has all the confidence in the world in him.
"How do you want me to pick you up, Tay?"
She stares at him. "What do you mean?"
"Like how the guys do?" He indicates her friends, "or...I don't know, differently?"
"Sweetie," she plants a hand on a hip, "you might be overthinking this a little. Just...pick me up how you pick me up."
He reddens ever so slightly. "I don't know if that'll ---"
Kam coughs while Jan's barely concealing his smile with the back of his hand and Taylor rolls her eyes. This man was incorrigible and he knew it.
"One hand under my knees, the other one on my back. Do you want us to demonstrate?"
"Huh? Uh, no. Nope. I got it."
Travis was great; attentive, detail oriented, asking if something would work before he went with it. Not that she'd expected any different.
