what came next

thirteen - taylor

"God it's just..." Travis sighed, putting his head in his hands. "So exhausting."

"I know honey." I rubbed his shoulder. We'd taken a break while the judge thought things over, and I'd gone to get the kids some lunch, which they were eating next to us. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you for being here angel." He looked over with such a broken down expression that I shuffled closed and put my arms around him. "God I'm so tired." Travis sighed, resting his head down on my shoulder. "I just want this to be over."

I nodded, feeling so bad. I knew that Travis felt so awful about all the things Elena had accused me of, and he was blaming himself for all of this. Keeping an eye on the kids, I held Travis close and rubbed his back. He might blame himself, but I knew I was truly the reason behind all of this and I hated myself for that. I was the reason Olly would be taken away from a parent today. But I also knew I could never leave Travis, and I knew he'd never let me leave even if I could.

"I love you so much." I whispered to Travis. "And I am with you forever."

"Oh my angel I love you too." He lifted his head to meet my gaze. "I love you so much. You know that."

"I know." I nodded. 

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby." I looked over at Bella. 

"Daddy looks sad." She told me. "He needs a hug and a kiss."

"I know baby." I smiled, and she nodded before turning back to her sandwich. 

"She's right you know." Travis tried to give me a playful smile. 

"Oh yeah?" I smirked, leaning in and placing a light kiss on his lips before pulling back. Travis pretended to pout at me. "You want more?" I whispered, and he nodded eagerly. I giggled. God it was so easy to forget the world with him.

I leaned in again and kissed Travis properly, our lips fitting together perfectly. He sighed, his lips parting slightly as he drew me closer on the little bench, his arms lifting, fingers sinking into my hair. I'd never get used to the way he held me with such strength, but yet so delicately like I was made of glass. Travis held me like someone might hold the most precious thing they'd ever had, and I wrapped my arms around his neck as the one kiss I'd intended to give him turned into a soft, slow make out session.

"Do you two just do that all the time?" A snippy voice intervened, and we pulled apart to see Elena staring at us. "In front of the kids?"

"It's nice when dad and Taylor kiss because it means they love each other." Olly said matter of factly, and Elena sighed. "You and dad never kissed." He mumbled, and I hid a small smile.

"Oh you think this is funny?" Elena spotted my expression. "You're just a little girl. You're trying to take my son away from me and you're going to take everything in the damn process." Her voice rose. "You can't just leave it alone can you! You just have to ruin this family!" 

"Okay, that's enough." I finally snapped, rising to my feet and levelling Elena with a glare. "I have tried to make this work from day once, but all you want is an excuse to hate me. Now I love Travis, and I love Olly, but I am not trying to replace you or take him away. I never wanted that. You use my age and what I was like when I was nineteen against me, which has nothing to do with now. You are the one trying to ruin this family and I am trying to keep it together for the kids! But you are making this too damn hard because no matter what I do, there's some problem that you created and I am too damn tired of this!"

I let out a breath, my chest heaving as I took a step back, realizing how much I had let out. That I'd raised my voice, which wasn't something I ever like to do in front of the kids. Elena just stared at me in shock, and I swallowed. Then I felt a hand on the small of my back. Travis.