Twisted Games

thirty one - travis

"Uh...Travis?" Jason caught my attention, and I glanced over at him. "Isn't that....Taylor's ex out there?" He asked, motioning towards the window.

My head snapped up. Outside the cafe, through the window I could see Taylor standing with one hand on her stomach, cowering against the wall with Joe leaning over her. He was yelling and she looked like she was crying, trying not to look at him.

"Take Izzy." I rose to my feet, passing my daughter to Jason without a word as I moved past the table, walking quickly towards the door.

Pushing my way outside, I stalked towards the man I'd sworn to keep Taylor safe from. But he'd found her, come after her, and he was yelling at her in the middle of the street. Everyone was staring as I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, throwing him down roughly in the middle of the path. He was so puny it wasn't hard, and I glared down at him as he scrambled back to his feet.

"Tay are you okay?" I asked without looking away from her piece of shit ex-boyfriend.

"I'm fine." She sobbed. 

"Go inside." I said coldly, and I heard her footsteps fading away, the ding of the cafe door. "What the hell do you think you're doing to my fiancé?" I asked, and Joe laughed in disbelief.

"No way would she ever go for someone like you." He folded his arms. "I know this whole thing is staged for publicity. Bitch couldn't get any attention without me so she had to make people think she was fucking her bodyguard just to get a camera on her."

"Look you piece of shit." I grabbed him by the shirt again, slamming him up against the wall. "Come near her again, and I will fucking kill you. You're nothing without her, and you're just trying to crawl out of the shit hole you dug yourself by trying to force yourself back into her life. So if you ever come near Taylor or our children again, you'll wish you were never fucking born."

Shoving him aside, I rushed back into the cafe. Taylor was at the table, arms wrapped around herself, staring down at her lap. The table was quiet; even the girls were silent. My family stared at me as I walked to Taylor, crouched down next to her, and pulled her into my arms. She shook with silent tears, burying her face in my neck.

"Mmma, Mama?" Izzy asked quietly.

"Not now Iz." Jason murmured. "Your Mama needs a minute."

"Travis I'm sorry." Taylor whispered in my ear.

"What for baby girl, why are you sorry?" I murmured, rubbing her back.

"For ruining the day you made so nice." She sobbed, and I shook my head. 

"No Tay, no." I whispered to her. "This is not your fault. He shouldn't think he has any claim over you, any right to come back into your life."

"Travis why don't you take her home?" Kylie suggested quietly. "We'll take Izzy, just so you can give her all of your attention and help her."

I nodded, forever grateful for the help of my family. Kylie gave me a sympathetic smile as I urged Taylor to her feet, wrapping her jacket around her shoulders and tugging the hood up since I knew she'd want to hide. She ducked her head as I put my arm around her shoulders, holding her close. I walked her out of the cafe, down to the car.

Taylor buried her face in my shoulder as I drove home, clutching one of my hands with both of hers. I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand as the minutes ticked by in silence, my heart breaking for the way she cried quietly. I knew she had a lot of history, years of habits she'd since realized was actually abuse. It had to be so hard for her to see him again, and I just wanted to hold her and make sure I could make it go away. I'd known that she would probably need some help to get through this kind of thing, but I never expected that asshole to show up and do what he did.