Touchdown Hearts: The Swift-Kelce Love Story!

Chapter Seven

"the lingering question kept me up
2 AM, who do you love? i wonder 'til i'm wide awake and now I'm pacing back and forth wishing you were at my door."

tay sat on the edge of the couch, her hands twisting nervously in her lap. the air between her and taylor felt thick, suffocating, and she had to remind herself to breathe. she had rehearsed this conversation in her head for days, but now that it was happening, the words stuck in her throat, heavy and impossible to say.

taylor stood across from her, arms crossed, his eyes filled with confusion and hurt. he had felt this coming, he wasn't blind, but that didn't make it any easier. he didn't want to hear what she had to say, but he knew it was inevitable.

tay finally forced herself to speak. "taylor, we need to talk."

he said nothing, just nodded, his jaw tightening. the silence stretched on, and tay's heart raced in her chest, knowing that once she said the words, there would be no going back.

"i've been thinking a lot," she began, her voice soft but unsteady. "about everything... about us. and i've realized something that i need to tell you." she glanced at him, "after the miscarriage, i... something changed in me. i'm not the same person anymore. and i've been trying to figure out why i didn't want you around, why i couldn't let you in, and i think it's because... the feelings were already gone. even before everything happened."

taylor's expression didn't change, but she saw the flicker of pain in his eyes. "what do you mean?"

tay swallowed hard. "before the miscarriage, i started to feel distant from you. i didn't want to admit it to myself because i didn't understand it. we were planning our future, talking about the baby, everything felt like it was going the way it should. but deep down, i think i knew something wasn't right."

his hands clenched into fists. "you knew? you knew months ago? and you're telling me this now?"

tay winced, guilt tightening in her chest. "i didn't realize it until recently, taylor. i swear. but after the miscarriage, when you weren't there, and i was with travis, it hit me. i didn't want you there because... because i didn't need you anymore. i didn't feel the way i used to."
taylor's face twisted in anger. "so, what? you just stopped loving me? just like that? after everything we've been through?"

she shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. "it wasn't just like that. it happened slowly, and i tried to fight it, but i can't ignore it anymore. i don't want to hurt you, taylor, but i can't keep pretending like we're the same. i'm not the same."

taylor stepped forward, his voice low and raw. "you've already hurt me, tay. do you even realize what you've done to me? i gave everything to you. everything. i was going to marry you. i had a ring, i had plans... i was going to spend the rest of my life with you."

tay looked away, her heart breaking at the sight of his pain. she hadn't wanted this, hadn't wanted to destroy him, but she couldn't stay with him out of guilt. that wouldn't be fair to either of them.

"i didn't want to hurt you," she whispered.

"but you did!" taylor's voice rose, and he ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth. "you took everything from me, tay. do you understand that? i built my whole life around you. i gave up things for you. i gave you my heart, my time, my future and now you're telling me it was all for nothing? that you were checked out months ago, and i didn't even know it?"

tay wiped at her eyes, trying to hold herself together. "it wasn't for nothing, taylor. what we had was real. it was everything to me, too. but things changed."

he stopped pacing, staring at her with a mixture of anger and devastation. "and you didn't think to talk to me about it? you didn't think i deserved to know that you were pulling away? you just let me keep going, let me believe we were fine, that we still had a future?"