In Between

Tell Me About the First Time You Saw Me

There had been a moment today on the podcast, listening to his brother describe the way he had felt when he had first seen his wife that it all clicked for Travis. 

He'd been getting to know Taylor for over a month now. Everytime they talked he had felt the ball of hope within him grow that someday they could be as solid as Kylie and Jason. Maybe it was a pipe dream, but then again maybe he had finally gotten it right for once. 

As he listened to Jason describe fireworks and instant knowledge that Kylie had been the one he found himself reflecting on every interaction he had had with Taylor so far. There was no denying their instant chemistry. He'd always been attracted to her public persona, but getting to know the Taylor she was when they were alone was an experience he wasn't taking lightly. The more he learned about her the more he liked her. The more he realized this could truly be the person he was meant to spend the rest of his life with. 

It had only been such a short amount of time, and that fact made him feel a bit foolish for the thoughts that seemed to be constantly cycling through his head these days, but here his brother was proclaiming he had known the moment Kylie walked through a bar door. So maybe it wasn't so crazy after all.

*

The first time Taylor came to a game it wasn't lost on Travis the looks and stunned reactions of his teammates, friends and the general public. Truthfully, he too often wondered how he had found himself here. It was later that night, around a fire in the backyard of his Kansas City suburban home when Pat stared across the flickering orange flames at Taylor laying casually against his shoulder and asked them outright, "So how'd this really happen?"

Travis let out a nervous chuckle as he sat up a little and Taylor turned her eyes on him, eagerly waiting to see what he would say. 

"I mean, you know most of it." He shrugged, "We went to the concert. I tried to give her a bracelet. She shot me do—"

"Hey now!" Taylor interuppted him. "I didn't even know about it until after the fact. I was in a bad place. My dad was trying to protect me."

"Whatever you say." He smirked, squeezing her shoulder before continuing on. "She shot me down." Taylor rolled her eyes and batted at his chest. "But then I called her out on that shit on the podcast not expecting it to ever land but I guess we've got enough invisible strings—" She scoffed at his lyric reference muttering "You're such a suck up." "— that she heard about it." He finished. 

"I mean yeah, I've heard you say that much but like...how did you guys connect?"

Travis blushed, feeling the red heat creep into his cheeks as Taylor smirked up at him. "I've actually never heard this part of the story, so I'm intrigued."

"She texts me." He starts, still blushing. "But I mean, okay I was a little bit of an ass at first."

"A little?" She asked incredulously. 

"Do you want to hear this or not?" He teased her, feigning exasperation as she mimiced zipping her lips. 

"Think about it," He said, directing his attention back to Pat and his wife Brittany who were both seated and giving their full attention from across the fire. "You get a random text out of the blue from someone claiming to be Taylor Swift when you've just shared publicly how you struck out with her. I think I was well within my rights to be a bit hesitant."

"I mean, yeah, I can understand that." Pat chimed. 

"So, I was a bit abrasive."

"Your exact text said 'oh, fuck off'." Taylor laughed.

"I thought you were keeping quiet." He shot back. 

"Grief, it's a wonder she gave you any chance after that." Brittany exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, thankfully she was pretty understanding. She facetimed me right after to prove it was her and the rest is history."

"Was it weird the first time you met in person?"

Again, Taylor looked up at Travis, a smile playing on her lips, desperate to hear his version of this story. 

"At least from my perspective things shifted pretty seamlessly from over the phone to in person." He chanced a glance down to Taylor who nodded that she agreed. "But our first date was kind of a disaster." 

Birttany and Pat turned to each other with confused looks before redirecting their attention back to him. "I consider myself a pretty confident guy. I mean, on the field, in front of the camera, whatever, you know? But God, I was so fucking nervous and I wanted to make a good impression and we had decided not to go anywhere we'd risk being seen so I was dead set on making her dinner." He rambled out, the story spewing out of him in stream of conscious fashion.

"Bro, you don't cook."

Travis silenced Pat with a glare. "So anyways, she gets there and my hands are sweating and her security are casing my house and I'm trying not to shit myself because I obvioulsy really like her and she breezes in like she owns the place looking like some figment of my imagination. I'm practically having to pinch myself that it's even happening and then it just tranisitions to being so comfortable. We get through the small talk and its like I've known her forever and I'm begging myself not to say anything that makes me sound like too much of a dumbass when she asks me if I think it's smokey inside."

"Nooooooo!" 

"Yeah, bro. I'd completley forgotten about the dinner in the oven. I run to the kitchen and smoke it pouring out the oven, I open it like a dip shit and that sets the fire alarm off which has her security freaking out and I burn my hand taking the pan out the oven and it's just a whole hot mess until finally we get the damn alarm to shut up and she's just laughing her ass off at me."

"Trav, it was hysterical."

"I was trying to make a good impression."

"The takeout was delicious and clearly enough to keep me around." She promised leaning into him.

"I thought for sure I'd fucked everything up and she'd run screaming but she stuck around."

"Had to make sure you weren't a danger to yourself." She joked and kissed her nose. 

"That's about enough out of you." 

He loved this about her, about them. He hadn't said the words at that point yet but they lingered there, just behind his lips daring to spill out. Sure it was soon but Jason's words about Kylie rang in his ears everytime he looked at Taylor. 

She was everything and more he had ever hoped to find. Maybe one day he would have the words to more eloqently describe the things he felt for her, but as for the fireworks he had always wanted to feel? They were present, and real, and promising. 

He angled his head to press against her forehead, she hummed in contentment the red lip smile on her face perfect like everything else about her. 

Yeah, he had a feeling this is what he had always been waiting for. 

AN: Hope you enjoyed! Requests are always open!