the stars in your eyes | t.s. one shots

inexperienced (3)

The knocking on Taylor's door brings a smile to her face. She knows exactly who it is and she answers the door, running right into Travis's arms.

"Hey girlie," he tells her, shuffling into her apartment while she's latched onto his torso. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you too," she murmurs, the sound muffled as she speaks into his chest. She's been a girlfriend for two and a half months and every moment has been so great as she's gotten to know Travis and they've forged a new life together.

They've fallen into a routine. Date night out on Friday or Saturday, depending on if he has a home or away game, and Taylor goes to his games on Sundays when they're at home. If it's an afternoon game, she goes home with him and snuggles up with him on the sofa afterwards, win or lose, just enjoying each other's company and celebrating the fact that he went out there and played. That he did his best- that's what's important.

Every Wednesday, they take turns cooking for each other. Today, it's Taylor's turn. "Chicken pot pies are in the oven," she tells Travis, leading him to the sofa. "How was your day?"

He sighs, running a hand atop his head and through his hair, which he's started to grow out but isn't quite long yet. "To be honest, babe... it was bad. I was off all day at practice."

She frowns at him. "I'm sorry." It's been a rough season for Travis. He's been exhausted, in a way that goes deeper than sleep. She had never realized what goes on behind the scenes for football players- how much pain they endure on a daily basis, that they just live with.

"My shoulder's acting up again," Travis sighs. "I injured it when I was a teenager and they told me I could heal it with physical therapy, but there was a good chance I'd need surgery later on down the line. Tay... I think it's time. I think I can make it through the season but I think I'm gonna get it fixed up in February when it's all over."

"Oh, Trav..." Taylor says softly. "I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Are you doing anything next Tuesday afternoon? I've got a doctor's appointment and I'd really like to have you come with me."

She reaches up and kisses his cheek. "Yeah, I can do that. I'll find someone to cover my shift."

"You're the best, Tay," Travis says, squeezing her hip. "But... hey, today's gonna turn around 'cause I'm here now. I don't need to think about it. Tell me about your day."

She groans. "It was stupid. It always is." She's been working at the front desk at a record label, which really just means that the biggest part of her job is sitting there and politely telling the tourists who wander in that it isn't actually a public space and to please leave. Travis knows that the job is frustrating her more than anything, that she wants nothing more than to be on the other side of it all. The one in the studio creating things. "I wrote a new song last night," she tells him, looking up with a glistening in her eye. "Can I play it for you after dinner?"

Travis has come to find that his favorite state to see Taylor in is when she's playing a new song that she's really proud of. He gives her a soft smile. "Of course you can, my girl. I'm excited to hear it."

She draws in a breath. "Trav?"

"Yeah?"

"It's... about you."

His heart skips a beat when she says that. Every song she's written that she's played for him has been accompanied by an explanation that it's about a book character, or a friend, or a movie. This is the first time that she's told him that it's actually real. That it's about something that really happened, that she really experienced and felt. He looks at her with a crooked grin. "I hope it's nice."