The Story of Us: Taylor Swift x Travis Kelce

eight

"Your coat..." Travis started, eyeing both my parents before he looked back at me. "You left it in my car."

He held it out towards me, and I felt tears brim my eyes. "Oh."

Slipping past my Father, I took the coat from Travis's hands, and stared at him, giving him a chance to say something– anything.

"I had to come." Travis said after a minute, his voice firm. "We need to be honest with your parents. That's the only way of fixing this."

My father looked between us both, his eyebrows furrowing, "Taylor? Who is this man?"

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face my parents. "Travis... he's my–..." I suddenly hesitated, thinking back to last nights fight. He had left me- I think. "-my... boyfriend." I glanced at Travis, and he gave me a reassuring nod. "We've been together for a while now, and I love him."

My Mother's eyes widened, and my Father's expression hardened. "Taylor– you said Travis was from a wealthy family, a family like ours." He looked Travis up and down, gesturing to his un-ironed shirt and obviously second-hand pants.

Travis stepped forward, his voice steady, "Mr. and Mrs. Swift, I understand this is a shock, but I love your daughter. We only kept our relationship a secret because we were afraid of your reaction."

"Afraid of our reaction?" My Father repeated, his voice rising. "Taylor, why would you hide something like this from us?".

I felt a lump form in my throat, "Because I was scared you wouldn't accept him. I know what you're like... you'd just tell me he's not good enough!"

My mother reached an arm out, placing it gently onto my arm, "Darling, we just want what's best for you."

"Travis," my father said, matter-of-factly. "What do you do? What's your family background?"

Travis took a deep breath, meeting my father's gaze. "I'm a football player. I work hard and I love your daughter deeply. As for my family... they're all gone. I lost them in a car accident years ago. I've been on my own ever since."

The room fell silent, the weight of Travis's revelation hanging in the air. My mother's eyes softened with sympathy, but my father's expression remained firm.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Scott, his voice cold. "But that doesn't change the fact that you and Taylor have been lying to us."

"We didn't mean to hurt you," I whispered, my voice trembling. "We were just scared of how you'd react."

"Well, now we know," my father said coldly. "And I can't say I'm pleased with how you've handled this, Taylor. Keeping secrets, sneaking around... it's unacceptable."

My mother nodded, her face stern. "You know we have high expectations for you, Taylor. And this... relationship... isn't what we envisioned for you."

My heart sank. "Mom, Dad, I love Travis. Can't you just- try to get to know him?"

My father shook his head. "This isn't about getting to know him. It's about the fact that you lied to us. And that's not something we can overlook."

I watched as Travis's jaw tightened, his own frustration simmering beneath the surface. "I understand that you're upset, but Taylor and I love each other. We just want a chance to prove that to you."

"Prove it?" My father scoffed. "You are both young, you don't even know what love is."

"And you do?" I shot back, my voice rising in anger. "I love Travis! And maybe if you weren't so controlling, we wouldn't have had to hide anything in the first place!" I yelled, my anger bubbling over.

"Controlling?" my mother repeated, her voice rising. "We have high standards because we want the best for you, Taylor. We don't want you throwing your life away on a whim."

"You think our relationship is a whim?" Travis snapped, "I've never felt anything even close to how I feel about your daughter. Can't you give me a chance to-

"You don't belong in our world," my father cut him off. "And clearly, Taylor knows it, too. Otherwise, she wouldn't have kept you a secret."

"That's not fair," I protested, my voice shaking with hurt. "I love him, father!"

"Love isn't enough, Taylor," my mother said sharply. "There are other things to consider. Your future, your stability, your reputation."

"All you care about is what other people think. You don't care about how I feel." I yelled, tears now brimming my eyes.

"That's not true," my father said, his voice stern. "We care about your future. And right now, it's clear you haven't thought this through."

My anger felt like a raging fire, and I turned to Travis, my eyes blazing. "And you! You just had to show up this morning and start all of this! We could have handled this differently!"

Travis's eyes narrowed. "You think this is my fault? You were never going to tell them. You were just going to keep hiding me forever."

"I wasn't, Travis," I snapped. "I was trying to figure out the best way to tell them. You just made everything worse!"

"Made it worse?" Travis repeated, his voice rising. "The only thing worse is continuing to lie. At least now they know the truth."

"And look how that's turned out," I shot back. "They're never going to accept us now."

"Maybe they don't need to," Travis said, his voice hardening. "Maybe it's you who needs to decide what's more important: them or us."

My father stepped forward, his eyes blazing. "Enough. Travis, I want you out of this house. Now."

"Fine," Travis said, his voice cold.

I watched him turn and walk out the door, my heart breaking all over again. I turned to my parents, my voice filled with desperation. "Why are you like this? You can't just make him leave! I love him!"

"Taylor, we're doing this for your own good," my mother said softly.

I scoffed, "You don't even know him. How can you say what's best for me when you won't even give him a chance?"

My father sighed. "Taylor, we love you. We just want to make sure you're making the right choices."

I shook my head, my tears blurring my vision. "You don't understand! I love him!"

With that, I ran upstairs to my room, and slammed the door shut. I threw myself onto my bed, the sobs wracking my body once more. I had never felt so alone, so misunderstood. Somehow Travis had made me feel the two most extreme, opposite emotions in such a short period of time. The way I loved him was like a rollercoaster. Like a rush that continued up and down. I never knew I could feel this much. This much love, this much hate, this much anything. It was an even mix of exhilarating and exhausting, but somehow, hating Travis only made me fall more in love with him.