You drew stars around my scars

Travis

Travis was due to come over to spend the day with Taylor. Emmeline was with the nanny and Jessica was supposed to be at school so it was a rare opportunity for them to have some time alone.
Jessica had woken up at 4am with awful period cramps. She had found her periods in recovery had been erratic and painful.
Since her overdose, Taylor kept all medications locked away so she couldn't take anything. She laid in bed, trying to ignore the pain but the cramps got stronger and she couldn't ignore it anymore.
She padded down the hallway – pushing Taylor's door open gently "Tay..."
The blonde didn't stir, so Jessica stepped forward – touching Taylor's gently. The blonde's eyes popped open, confusion mixed in with her sleepiness "what's wrong?"
Jessica clutched her stomach "I have really bad period pains, can I have some painkillers?"
Taylor nodded, stretching slightly before sitting up in bed "you lay down here, I will go and get some..."
Jessica nodded, climbing into Taylor's bed while she waited.
A couple of minutes later, Taylor reappeared with a mix of painkillers and anti-inflammatories in her hand. She passed them over then handed the teen a glass of cold water. Jessica swallowed them down gratefully before leaning back in Taylor's bed "mmm, I'm so comfy..."
Taylor laughed gently, shaking her head "Of course you are. You can stay if you want..."
Jessica shimmied down – a mischievous grin on her face as she snuggled up to Taylor. The blonde tickled her shoulder gently until she fell asleep.
Around 6.30am, Jessica woke up again – she rushed to the bathroom and gagged into the toilet. Taylor felt her leave then heard the retching so she got up "you ok baby?"
Jessica nodded, covering her face with her hands "just feel sick..."
Taylor reached over, touching her forehead "you're quite hot...let me get you a drink"
She reappeared a few seconds later with some water "try drinking this..."
Jessica stood up – making her way back to the bed. She took a couple of small sips of water then handed the drink back "I don't think I am going to be sick, I just feel nauseous"
Taylor nodded, smoothing the teen's hair down "how are the cramps now?"
Jessica shrugged "still the same. I hate hormones"
Taylor laughed lightly "I know buddy – it sucks. You can't take anymore painkillers right now so why don't you get back into bed – try to relax?"
Jessica shook her head, rubbing her eyes tiredly "no point – I have to get up soon for school". As she spoke, another cramp washed over her and she hunched up – the pain obvious.
Taylor smiled softly, guiding the girl back into bed "I don't think you're going in today buddy. You can just rest."
Jessica looked up – fear on her face "NO! I'll get more behind..."
Taylor shook her head, a cool hand on the teen's forehead "you're not well, you're really hot – you're feeling sick, you have cramps. You need to be kind to yourself and just rest."
Jessica nodded, her body relaxing back into bed. As her eyes fluttered shut again, she mumbled "what about Trav?"
Taylor's heart clenched "he will be fine..."
As soon as Jessica's eyes were properly closed, she pulled out her phone – opening up her messages with Travis, she typed out a quick text 'Jessica not well, I can't send her in today. We can cancel – Emmeline will be with the Nanny again next Wednesday? X'
Immediately, a response came through 'is she contagious? X'
Taylor smiled to herself as she typed it out 'nope – girl problems! X'
Travis responded straight away again 'Ok well can I still come then? I will chill with you both – get you and her whatever you want or need. You can educate me on those chick flits you love? X'
Taylor grinned 'Really? X'
He replied instantly 'Really, If she's not well – she will probably sleep anyway and if can keep you company but if not then I get to know her better. X'
She replied 'you're the best! X'
He shot a quick reply 'See you both at 10 X'
She 'liked' the message then put her phone down again – closing her eyes to get a little bit more rest before she needed to be up.


Bang on 10am, Travis arrived. Taylor opened the door and he passed her some flowers. She looked at them – a big smile on her face "Aww thank you!"
He smiled widely – leaning in and giving her a kiss "Anything to make you happy! So where is our patient?"
Taylor pointed behind her "she's in the living room – she seems pretty perky at the moment." She glanced down at Travis' hands "what's in the bag?"
He grinned sheepishly "erm, I got her some magazines and a kindle voucher – I remember you said she liked to read and I thought if she was off school she might get bored so...anyway, if you don't think she'll like them we can just bin them...."
Taylor grinned "She will love them – Thank you. That is super thoughtful!"
They walked into the living room, Travis giving Jessica her gift quickly. She thanked him profusely and began to read the magazines. As Travis sat down he looked between Jessica and Taylor "So Jessica, I spoke to Tay – we took a vote and since you're sick you get to pick what we watch all day!"
Taylor began to protest but Travis playfully shushed her and Jessica played along – grinning widely "well that is GREAT!"
Taylor groaned loudly while Jessica grinned, triumph on her face. She picked up the remote – flicking through. Taylor glared at Travis then turned back to Jessica "NOT mean girls..."
Jessica glared playfully and poked her tongue out before settling on pitch perfect.


Halfway through the movie, Jessica fell asleep. Taylor and Travis kept it on in the background but weren't paying any attention. They were cuddled up and chatting, enjoying each others company. Taylor glanced at her phone and frowned when she noticed the time "I need to make lunch, I didn't realise it was so late..."
Travis smiled kindly "do you want me to go and buy us something?"
Taylor shook her head "that's kind of you – but she will freak if its not to her plan"
Travis nodded "Oh, Ok – sure! How can I help?"
Taylor smiled softly at him "just come and chat to me while I make lunch!"
Once lunch was ready, Taylor woke Jessica up and pulled her to the table. The teen was reluctant to eat – moaning she still felt nauseous but Taylor was insistent that she needed to try.
She sat down at the table, still groggy from her nap. Aa Taylor put the plate of food in front of her, she groaned "Ergh, I don't want that!"
Travis smiled at her "it's really tasty – give it a try!"
She shook her head, her voice grumpy "I feel sick..."
Travis grimaced "do you want some water? I can get some for you..."
Just as the teen nodded, Taylor shook her head "No – she needs to drink that juice first..."
Jessica's eyes welled up with tears and Travis looked between the two of them – unsure what to say or do. After a few seconds, Taylor shrugged "Fine, a small glass of water is ok..."
As Travis stood to get her a drink, Jessica clutched her stomach – looking at Taylor, ready to argue about lunch again.
Taylor's voice was firm though "You can't have painkillers until you eat..."
Jessica threw her head back in protest but picked up her fork, eating slowly.
Halfway through, she glanced at Travis, then at Taylor. Her face screwed up in a grimace. Taylor smiled kindly at her "keep going buddy..."
Around 10 minutes later, Jessica finally finished. Taylor gave her some more painkillers and the teen swallowed them quickly, the blonde smiled "good job!"
Travis could tell the teen felt uncomfortable so he grinned "what are we watching this afternoon?"
Jessica shrugged, feeling awkward and embarrassed. Travis wanted to help her so he held up his hands – blocking Taylor out and fake whispered "mean girls?"
Taylor groaned "NOOOO!" She looked at the teen "He's just trying to get on your good side!"
Jessica grinned widely, anxiety forgotten "well it's working!"
The two of them stood up together and Taylor shook her head, laughing playfully "you two are TROUBLE"


An hour into the film, Taylor's phone rang – she looked at it, pausing the film quickly "it's tree..."
She answered the phone quickly "Hey, is everything OK?"
Tree spoke clearly but urgently "We have a situation. A story leaked and we need to bury it. You need to do an Instagram live – distract from it..."
Taylor glanced between Jessica and Travis "I can't Tree...Jessica is here". The two of them argued about it for a minute before Taylor said they would have to use old photos and videos instead.
When she hung up, she explained to Travis what Tree wanted. He shrugged gently "I can watch her"
Taylor smiled "Thanks, but no. It can wait"
Travis shrugged "we will be fine...I have the original mean girls to watch after this"
Jessica grinned "honestly Tay...we will be fine – it'll be what 45 minutes max?"
Taylor nodded then hesitated "but it'll be over your snack time..."
Jessica swallowed, panic clouding her face. She thought for a few minutes "That will be fine"
Taylor's face lit up "really?"
Jessica nodded, her voice shaking slightly "yeah – as long as you make it so he doesn't have to, I'll eat it with him..."
Taylor grinned, kissing her head "I'm proud of you baby!"


As Taylor was on her Instagram live. Travis' timer went off – signalling it was time for Jessica's snack. Both of them stood up – unsure of who was more nervous. He instructed her to sit at the table while he grabbed it from the fridge.
He passed her the bowl with yoghurt, honey and berries in, he scratched his neck awkwardly "well, enjoy!"
He sat down opposite her, keeping his eyes on her but trying not to make her feel uncomfortable.
She was eating is slowly, smearing yoghurt up the sides of the bowl. He grimaced slightly "you know you have to eat that..."
Jessica rolled her eyes "I am..."
He nodded, not wanting to pick a fight.
As she ate, she tried to distract him but asking him questions but he just laughed gently "we'll chat when you're done."
She nodded, cheeks red as she knew he had caught onto her.
A few minutes later, she finished – but she had left lots on the side of the bowl.
He frowned slightly "You're not done..."
Jessica raised her chin – challenging him "I AM"
He shrugged gently "Either you scrape that and eat it all or I'll tell Tay you didn't finish..."
She stared at him for a few seconds before nodding "fine..."
She ate it all and showed him the bowl – this time he nodded and took the bowl from her.
They quickly settled in the living room and he put the film back on, hoping to distract her. For the next 10 minutes, she sat jiggling her leg anxiously. Suddenly she stopped, turning to him "Sorry...I don't mean to be rude – it's just hard"
He nodded, smiling softly "you weren't rude – you did great. I just want to get it right – I want to help"
She smiled back at him "you did perfectly!"
He grinned "look at us – what a team!"
A couple of minutes later, Taylor came back in. She instantly asked Jessica about the snack and when the teen told her she ate it all, Taylor confirmed this with Travis too. He quickly pulled out his phone – showing her a picture of the empty bowl and she relaxed. She squeezed Jessica's hand "good job baby!"
She smiled back at Taylor "thanks, Trav helped...."
Taylor turned to him, smiling gently "Thank you!"

Taylor and Travis headed to the kitchen to make coffee. Taylor turned to him "was she ok?"
He nodded and Taylor narrowed her eyes "you can tell me..."
He shrugged "she tried to test me, I told her she had to finish it. She gave in. She ate it all, no hiding!"
She smiled "and you watched her after?"
He nodded "of course. She was OK – a bit anxious but that's to be expected"
Taylor smiled, kissing him gently "thank you, you are amazing"
He kissed her back "always – anything for you. I want to help, both of you. So it's a good thing right? Maybe she will get more comfortable, maybe I can help more..."
Taylor smiled at him "she's comfortable with you already, I can tell"
He smiled "good, that's what I want! I want her to say and do whatever she wants around me!"
Taylor laughed lightly "you just wait – you'll regret that!"

THE END