Safe and Sound

seven - taylor

I woke up the next morning in bed. But not my bed. I shuffled around a bit, blinking a few times to adjust to the light before I realised where I must have been. The room I was in was sleek, dark, modern and fancy. I was still at Travis's house.

I groaned a little and rubbed my head, then sat up and looked around for my phone, but I couldn't see it. I didn't even remember getting into bed. I didn't remember anything. I looked down, and I was still in my clothes from last night.

I sat there for a moment, confused, before I scrambled out of bed and pattered quietly through the hallways of this house, out towards the kitchen.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead," Travis called out, a teasing grin on his face as he stirred what looked like stir-fry. The smell hit me hard, and I nearly gagged. Who cooks chicken and vegetables for breakfast? "Did you sleep well?"

"I..." My words trailed off as my eyes landed on the oven clock. It was twelve-thirty, in the middle of the day. "Shit—oh my god," I muttered, scrambling around in a panic. I snatched my phone from the couch and my keys from the kitchen counter.

"Hey, slow down. What's going on?" Travis asked, but I didn't have time to explain.

"I have a store to run, Travis—have you seen my coat?" I was frantic, searching under pillows as if it would magically appear.

"It's by the front door, but hold on a second." He put the spatula down and gently grabbed my arm, stopping me. "It's fine if you don't open today. You've been through a lot lately. Maybe you should take some time off?"

I blinked at him, confused. "What? No—Travis, I can't just take days off. You don't get it. You're obviously loaded, but I'm barely scraping by. I can't afford to miss work. I need to go." I was stressed, trying to gather everything as quickly as possible.

I was practically out the front door when I paused, replaying in my mind something Travis had said. I turned around, and looked him in the eye, "What do you mean when you say 'I've been through a lot lately'..." I murmured, "I'm fine."

Travis scratched the back of his neck, a little awkwardly, "You, uh... told me a lot last night."

My heart sank. "What?"

"Yeah, um, you told me about your life. How you're... a little lonely, sometimes." He hesitated, watching my expression, "You told me about your ex... what he did to you."

I felt my heart pounding in my chest, and the blood drain from my face, "Oh my god," I whispered, horrified. "No. I didn't..."

Travis's expression softened, and he stepped closer, "Taylor, it's okay. You were upset, and a little drunk, but you told me about how he... hurt you. And... about the baby."

I swallowed hard, feeling a lump form in my throat. "I-I don't remember..." I stammered, blinking back the sting of tears. This was so fucking embarrassing. "God... I can't believe I told you that."

Travis didn't say anything, but instead just looked at me, as if he was waiting for me to say something else.

I shook my head, stepping back, trying to distance myself. I needed to get out of here before I completely lost it. "No, I... I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry. I-I need to go."

"Taylor..." Travis said, his voice soft but firm as he moved to block the door. "It's okay. You're going through some stuff and–

I shook my head again, cutting him off. "Travis– I... I don't even know why I said all that. It's too much. I shouldn't have dumped all that on you."

"Look, I get it," he said. "It was a lot, but... you know you don't have to do everything by yourself. I can help. I can pay your bills for the month if that'll take the pressure off or—"

"No," I cut him off, horrified at the offer. "No. I can't let you do that. I don't need charity, Travis." My voice cracked, and I felt the tears welling up again, but I blinked them away, refusing to fall apart in front of him. Apparently I'd done enough of that last night.

"It's not charity, Taylor," he insisted, his eyes softening. "It's just me helping a friend. Please, just take a breath."

I couldn't. I needed to escape the humiliation, the vulnerability, the overwhelming sense of failure. I was a disaster. I grabbed my coat off the hook by the door and pulled it on in a rush. "I have to go," I said, my voice tight as I avoided his gaze.

"Taylor, wait—"

But I was already out the door, my heart pounding as I hurried down the front steps. I could hear him calling after me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. I hurried straight down the long pathway to my car, and climbed in, dropping my phone and keys into the passenger seat.

Before I knew it, I was breaking down crying, so much I was barely able to breathe. My vision was completely blurry, so I didn't even bother trying to start my car yet. I just sat there and cried my eyes out.

I lost track of time, but it was probably almost 20 minutes before I managed to semi-calm down. The pain of everything had really caught up to me, and that combined with the embarrassment of last night had sent me into a spiral.

I wiped my face with the sleeve of my coat, trying to steady my shaky breaths as I gripped the steering wheel. Another deep inhale, and I was about to turn on the engine when movement caught my eye—a black SUV slowly rolling into Travis's driveway. My stomach tightened. Not wanting to get involved, I quickly shoved my keys into the ignition, turning them with a flick of my wrist. 

But before I could pull out, the SUV stopped—blocking the driveway entirely, just meters from my car. My heart skipped a beat. Whoever was inside didn't seem interested in letting me leave.

Frowning, I put the car in reverse and tried to manoeuvre around, but the SUV stayed firmly in place. 

Confused, I returned to my parking spot and killed the engine. My first instinct was to get out and tell whoever was in the SUV to get out of the way, but before I could, the front door of Travis's house flew open. I watched him look towards the black car, then toward me, and the colour drained from his face. 

Without hesitation, he stormed over to my car, yanking open the door.

"Get out."

"What?" I blinked in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were gone already—just get out. Now."

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked, my confusion growing.

Travis's eyes flicked to the SUV, still idling in the middle of the driveway, then back to me. "Taylor just-..." Travis closed his eyes and sighed, frustrated. "Can you just listen to me? Get out of the car."