guilty as sin? (tayvis)

crashing into him tonight, he's a paradox

(1/3)

Taylor held the phone against her ear, Joe's voice swirling in her head, dragging her back to a place she thought she'd escaped. She wasn't ready for this—not after everything that had just unfolded between her and Travis. Yet, here she was, standing in the middle of her living room, one hand still lightly resting on Travis's arm, the other clutching her phone like a lifeline, caught between two worlds.

Joe's words echoed: "We need to talk."

Her heart thudded in her chest as she glanced at Travis, his eyes burning with a mixture of concern and frustration. He didn't say anything, but the tension between them was palpable. She could feel the weight of his unspoken words pressing down on her, mixing with her own confusion and fear.

She turned away from Travis, trying to gather her thoughts, her voice low and shaky as she responded. "What's there to talk about, Joe? We've already said everything, haven't we?"

There was silence on the other end of the line, and for a moment, Taylor thought he had hung up. But then his voice came through again, softer this time, almost broken.

"I messed up, Taylor. I know I did. But I've been thinking about us, about everything, and I can't... I can't just let it end like this."

Her breath caught in her throat. Of course, Joe wanted to talk now. Of course, he wanted to figure things out now that she had started to move on, now that she was finally ready to let go of everything that had weighed her down for so long.

But as his words sunk in, a cold realization gripped her. She wasn't as ready as she thought. Joe still had a hold on her, still had the power to make her question everything.

She tightened her grip on the phone. "Joe, we've been over this. I don't know what else to say. I tried everything to us, but nothing helped. This time will not be different."

"Just... just hear me out. Please. Can we meet? One last time, Tay. We owe each other that much, don't we?"

Taylor's head spun. The idea of seeing Joe again, of facing him after everything they'd been through, felt like too much. But a part of her—a small, fractured part—felt drawn to him, like a magnet she couldn't resist. They had shared so much history, so many years. How could she just walk away without giving him this final moment?

She swallowed hard, her throat tightening. "I... I don't know."

Travis shifted beside her, his presence an unspoken reminder that things had changed. That she had changed. This wasn't just about Joe anymore. It was about what she wanted. And for the first time in a long time, she wasn't sure if Joe fit into that picture anymore.

Before she could respond, Joe's voice cracked through the phone, his desperation palpable. "I'm not asking for much, Taylor. I just need to see you. Just... give me a chance to say what I need to say."

Taylor's mind raced. What was she supposed to do? She glanced at Travis again, his eyes silently pleading with her not to go, not to let Joe pull her back into the tangled mess of their past.

But something inside her stirred—an urge to confront the ghosts that had been haunting her for months. She couldn't just keep running from the pain, from the memories. She needed closure. Maybe Joe did too.

"Fine," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "We'll meet."

The silence that followed was heavy, almost suffocating, as if the decision had cast a shadow over everything in the room. Joe's sigh of relief was audible through the phone, but it did nothing to ease the knot forming in Taylor's chest.