2 weeks later
"You know you don't actually have to carry me, there's nothing wrong with my legs"
"Yeah I know but I like to take every opportunity I can to prove just how much of a man I am, I mean look how strong I am Tay, i'm carrying you like you weigh nothing, in fact i could prbably carry you with just my pinky finger"
He looks at me like a kid that just got an A on their spelling test so I rub his head "So strong Trav" I confirm and we both laugh
"Bed?" He asks and then wiggles his eyebrows and I press my face to his chest as embarrassment floods my face "I'm joking. Obviously" he laughs again whilst gently placing me down on his sofa and I smile up at him wondering not for the first time what it would actually be like to share a bed with this beautiful man "don't go anywhere I'll be right back"
Welcome to the 'new Travis', the attentive Travis, the affectionate Travis, the 'I called you my girlfriend now I have to act like it' Travis.
I sigh and then lie back against his cushions and try not to think about the weeks that have just passed.
2 weeks in a hospital is the worst but two weeks in a hospital after you have been the victim of a crime, with police and doctors and nurses and fake boyfriends all trying to get information out of you, information you aren't willing or able to give makes it an absolute nightmare
"Here" Travis places a blanket over me "Are you warm enough?"
"Yes"
"Hungry?" he looks hopeful, I have recently learnt that Travis is always hungry
"No"
"You haven't eaten since this morning though"
"It's 11am Trav, it's still morning"
"But it's almost lunch, let me grab my phone and we can order in"
"Or we could go out. Some fresh air, sounds amazing to me right now"
His 'excited to eat' face quickly turns into a frown, I know what's coming, In fact I could probably tell you it word for word
"You were just stabbed, the guy that did it has not been found. Until you are able to remember who it was..." he pauses and frowns deeper.
He knows I know, I know he does but neither of us will admit it, each one just waiting for the right time to speak, only for me I know there will never be a right time.
This is a secret I will take to my grave..
I have to...
his threats still ring loud in my ears, the reason for our confrontation too great for me to risk
"But I need sunlight Travis, I need some vitamin D..." he takes out his phone and begins typing "What are you writing now?"
"Just a reminder to buy multivits, you're right, you need all the good stuff you can get to help you recover. Lunch?"
"Please take me out" I press my palms together as if I were praying but he just shakes his head "Call Jake, Get him to come with us if you're worried you aren't man enough to stop someone attacking a tiny little female such as myself" I purse my lips together and watch as his own words come back to bite him firmly on his very taut ass
"I know what you are doing" he narrows his eyes to slits
"Is it working?"
"Questioning my masculinity to get your own way?" I nod enthusiastically "Yup, it's working. There's a deli on the corner, I'll take you there on 2 conditions"
"Anything" I say bouncing up and down on his sofa like an excited child
"Settle petal" he says placing his hands on my shoulders "you'll pop some staples or stitches or something"
He's right so I sit still but inside I'm still bouncing with excitement
"Condition 1..."
"Jake comes, I know that one already"
"Correct so let me call him first"
"And condition 2 is???"
"You eat vegetables!"
"I hate vegetables I want flan, i looooove flan!"
"Vegetables and then maybe... maybe you can have cake"
I throw my arms around his neck and hold him close, loving his attention and affection and losing myself in his musky scent
"You're the best fake boyfriend ever" I giggle into his ear and don't miss the way his body tenses and he lightly shakes his head.
What's going on Travis???
***************
I don't think I have ever felt this nervous before in my life.
Even though Jake is with us I can't help but feel hyper aware of every face that comes towards us, scared of who is walking behind us.
I know who was responsible for hurting Taylor, I'm not an idiot, I know she knows too but she won't say.
The police need her to say.
They have no weapon, it has vanished.
There was no evidence found in the house
It's a cover up. I know it and the cops know it that's why they have the Swift house under 24 hour watch
"Travis..."I look down at Taylor who I have dressed in a hoody of mine and a baseball cap of mine and sunglasses of mine so as few people recognise her as possible, it isn't a long walk to the deli but the streets are pretty busy with people heading out to grab their lunch.
It's Hollywood, which means no one cooks
"What?"
"You're holding my hand so tight you're about to break it"
"Sorry!" I relax my grip a little, surprised once again that I'm walking around my neighbourhood holding a girls hand and it isn't just to get her into my bed more quickly
"I'm safe" she tells me but I'm not convinced
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm with you and you're such a tough man" she smiles and squeezes my hand her joke about being a fake boyfriend still stinging a little.
Sure, we haven't discussed changing the title of our arrangement but I at least hoped she realised that after my little breakdown and then the vigil i kept at the hospital that nothing about this is fake
I like her...
more than I have liked any girl in a long, long time and maybe I'm not ready to make it official, I don't think she is either but I know we need to talk, to put it out there what we are and what we want to be to each other
"I want flan!" Taylor reiterates whilst poking me gently in the chest
"Eat your veggies like a good little girl and I'll buy you flan, okay?"
"Yes daddy" she says it so innocently and I know she means it innocently but the pictures that word just drew in my mind were anything but innocent.
Taylor is a good girl.
She hasn't done anything other than kiss a guy before but I need to get her home and remind her that our relationship is anything and everything that she wants it to be except from platonic.
After coming so close to losing her, no matter what she wants from me I want my mouth and my hands all over her and the sooner, the better
