In Between

Chosen Family

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

She and Travis were on facetime, she sprawled across her bed in her New York City apartment and he laid over his brown sectional in the living room of his new home in Kansas City. He looked tired, she knew the last few weeks of practice for him had been grueling. The effort seemed to be paying off though, his team was seemingly back on track after a few rough weeks.

He let out a deep sigh. "Like shit today. Practice was rough but it's nothing a little PT and rest won't fix. Just my age starting to show."

"I don't know how you do it." She admitted.

"Same way I don't know how you sing for damn near four hours a night. When it's what you love to do... you'll make it happen no matter how you feel."

Now that she could understand. she'd played through illness, storms, heartbreak and more over the years, hating to remember any of times she had had to postpone or cancel a show.

They settled into conversation but Taylor remained on edge. She was avoiding talking to him about a few things but she knew she couldn't run from it forever. Travis in all his perceptive wisdom seemed to know she was holding back and after a few minutes of idol chit chat he finally asked.

"Tay, what's up? Something is off with you."

She huffed out a deep sigh and blew out an upwards breath that ruffled her blonde hair. "You're not going to like it."

His eyebrows raised. "I just love when you start off like that..." Travis was trying to make light of the situation but she could see the apprehesion and concern within his eyes. She'd been around long enough at this point that she could read him like a book and he was clearly worried. It was best if she just spit it out.

"You know we've had some security concerns lately," she trailed off as he scoffed beacuse yes, she was downplaying it. The AI thing had been incredibly embarrassing and Travis had been more than upset on her behalf because of it but that had been fairly simple to organize her legal team to get it taken down and they were working on making sure things like that the people responsible were punished. She wanted to set a precedent so that anyone else who ever faced that humiliation would have the proper legal avenues to follow. Some pictures on the internet didn't phase her nearly as much as what she was dealing with now though.

"How bad is it Tay?" He asked after she had let the silence hand a little too long.

"There's some guy that keeps showing up outside my house." The panicked look on his face had her hurrying to give him more information to hopefully keep him sane. "My team has been able to handle the situation so far and we're starting the pocess to file a restraining order. Hopefully it will all be an overreaction that turns out to be nothing but..."

"But you wouldn't be telling me all this if you weren't at least a little worried." He says, finishing her unfinished thought. He pauses for a moment before he says, "I'm sorry this is something you have to deal with."

"I try not to take foregranted the gifts I've been given in this life. But that doens't mean that it comes without its challenges. And-" "Don't" he says cutting her off.

"Please dont try to give me an out right here." He says, sincerity pouring from him. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again a millon times if that's what it takes for you to believe me when I say that I love you. I love you and I'm willing to jump through whatever hurdles I have to if the end result is a life with you."

God, this man. No matter how many times he managed to do or say exactly what she needed she doubted it would ever stop surprising her. How lucky she was to have found a love like this, a love she had started to believe only existed in her fantasies until Trav had come along.