A companion piece request.
"I think we might be insane."
"Tree thinks we are. That's for sure."
"Tree thinks I'm pregnant and this is our way of telling her without telling her. She doesn't see any other reason for it."
"We don't have to do it like this, Tay. Not if you'd rather have everyone here. We can wait."
She pauses, the phone in her hand dropping to the bed. "Is that what you want?"
He can detect the hurt, sees it in how her eyes narrow and quickly, he shakes his head.
"Slide over, baby."
Taylor shifts, making room and he crawls in next to her, wrapping one long arm around her waist.
"I want to marry you. Today, a year from now...doesn't matter. I just want you to be sure. I know how close you are to your family."
"So are you, though. Thing is," she picks up his hand, toying with his fingers, "we want this to be about us. Just us. And if no one knows, no one can find out where we are, no one can try to ruin it."
He knows, without her saying so, that the leak in the location of Jack's rehearsal dinner had done a number on her. She still felt awful, despite the fact no one blamed her. But it was just another reminder of the "chaos" she brought with her everywhere she went, one more instance where it had a negative impact on the people around her.
"That's what I want, too. Just us. We can have a huge party later. It'll be electric. For now..." He touches her cheek, "I don't need anything else, Tay."
"Yeah?"
He thumbs at a runaway tear, catching it on its course.
"We're getting married."
She trains her eyes on him, impossibly blue. "We're getting married."
If someone had told him in just about a year's time his life would turn out to be this, even with all the manifesting, reaching for the stars, he still wouldn't have fully believed it. It hadn't seemed possible. The work he'd done on himself to be worthy of her was extensive and necessary. The second she had texted, he knew he had to mature, to become the man she deserved. She never asked him to change, never wanted him any different from who he was, but he realized growth was in order. He'd begun his journey before he headed out to Arrowhead with a bracelet. Her reaching out, despite the odds, had succeeded in speeding up the path he was already on.
It had been a whirlwind few days before they mutually came to the decision they had. Telling their parents, letting Tree in on the details ("You're really making me work hard for the money, aren't you?" She'd sighed before hugging them both tightly), trusting her to keep everything as under wraps as humanly possible until they were ready to share anything.
Their families meant the world to them and it was agreed upon when both the tour and season were over, they'd have a ceremony at the house in Rhode Island with everyone they loved in attendance, but it was important that this was just them. There were so few things that remained completely private and he and Taylor were determined this would be.
The conversation with her parents, her mother in particular, had been emotional as she'd predicted it would be. It pained Andrea to be missing such a momentous event in her daughter's life and for a minute, sitting in on the FaceTime call because Taylor had asked him to be there, Travis could see it was weighing on her. Still, she held steadfastly onto the plan, asking for their understanding.
"We'd just like your blessing," she had said quietly. Her voice was pinched in a way where he knew the situation was putting a strain on her. Gently, he caressed her jaw with the base of his thumb, a silent signal to unclench it.
