Desired by All and He Threw Away 99

Chapter 99 

Taylor’s POV 

The grass is still warm beneath my shoes holding the heat of the midday sun when he says it again.” im fine.” 

the words float out of him with that easy shrug he uses when he wants something to disappear.he pairs it with a half smile the kind that looks practiced almost casual like hes brushing lint from his shirt instead of brushing off the truth. 

for a moment i let the lie sit there.the air between us shifts and the breeze carries the faint smell of cut grass and powdered sugar drifting from the snack tent. 

he meets my eyes for a second longer than he should.no sharpness no irritation.just a tiredness that feels old older than the day older than the game older than the cracks i keep catching beneath his practiced surface. 

its the kind of tired that doesnt come from running or playing or sweating.its carved deeper than that.” i know what you think,” he says and his voice drops. Softer. Almost gentle. “But I promise. I’m okay.” 

the problem isnt what hes saying.its how he says it like hes trying to convince himself he still believes it. 

his gaze falters looks down at the grass nudging a stray pebble with the side of his shoe.something flickers behind his eyes something that wasnt there an hour ago when he was laughing with kids like the world hadnt taught him how to guard himself. 

Something like remembering. 

Something like wanting. 

Something like pain. 

he exhales slowly shoulders dipping a little. ” you notice things” he murmurs. “You’re the only person who’s ever… asked. Ever checked on me.” 

The way he says it sinks right under my skin. Not accusing. Not grateful. Just raw.as if the words slipped through a crack, he didn’t have time to patch. 

my 

throat tightens.the tents flap lightly behind us fabric snapping against the poles like a quiet heartbeat.the field has full volunteers packing out streamers kids running around playing laughter coming from the face paint table. 

But here, between us, the air stills. Like even the world knows it shouldn’t interrupt.He shifts his weight, jaw flexing once. Then- 

“I’ve always wanted kids.” 

I freeze. 

my heartbeat stutters like someone pressed a thumb to it for half a second too long.he doesnt look at me.his eyes are trained on the grass on the empty cones marking the field anywhere but here.his voice is low unsteady at the edges. 

“i dont know when i started wanting it,” he says. “Maybe when I was younger. Before all of… this, the fame, 

+25 Bonus 

wealth” 

He gestures around him. Not at the tents and snack tables and bright posters, but at the bigger, heavier things. The cameras that still linger somewhere behind us.the career that follows him like a shadow.the expectations that sit on his shoulders even when he pretends he doesnt feel them. 

The life. 

He swallows the movement sharp in his throat. “Ella never wanted them. Not then.not yet. She kept postponing it. Said it would make things complicated. Said we had time.” 

his thumb drags across his palm like hes trying to rub something away something sticky something that clings.a memory he doesnt want but cant let go of. 

the wind pulls a few strands of my hair loose brushing them across my cheeks.i dont move them.neither does he.” when it happened,” he says and his voice turns quieter than the breeze “when she got pregnant…she wasnt happy.” 

the words settle like dust soft but heavy. He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t look up.the world narrows to the space between us a fragile trembling line. 

“iwas,” he says. 

Two small words. But they break something in him. And in me.not because hes confessing joy but because hes confessing the wound underneath it. 

“i was happy,” he repeats barely above a whisper. “And then-“He stops. The pause isn’t empty. It’s full. Overall, I don’t move. I barely breathe. 

He draws in a thin uneven breath. ” she had a miscarriage,” he says finally.” and she blamed me.” 

The words tremble without shaking. They’re steady in the way ice is steady–dangerously close to cracking. “For the stress. For the travel. For the lifestyle. For being gone all the time.“he laughs once but its quiet and hollow. “For it happening at all.“a shadow crosses his face tightening the line of his mouth. 

his hands slip into his pockets shoulders curving just the slightest bit inward like hes trying to protect something inside himself that he knows he cant reach anymore. 

“i couldnt even-“His voice catches.a breath hitches in his chest unexpected and sharp.he looks down hard like the earth might steady him if he stares long enough. ” i couldnt even grieve for my own kid. 

Because the moment I did, it would’ve been public. And then it would’ve belonged to everyone else.” 

his lashes lower.the sunlight hits the side of his face catching the faint sheen of sweat that hasnt fully dried yet.but none of it distracts from the way his voice thins at the edges. 

“and i didnt want that,” he murmurs. ” i didnt want sympathy. I didn’t want headlines. I didn’t want applause for hurting.” 

He takes another breath. It shakes, so softly I almost miss it. 

“i just… wanted my kid back.” 

2/4 

+25 Bonus 

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w pudes formand de foraine Vorhis arm Brask my fingers against his elbow. Anything mything to remind him his not alone on rate parch of grass with a memory that still claws at him from the inside. 

But I don’t www. 

this is my gried to soothe it on my pain to absorb it isnt my story to fix. 

S01 stand there. Ostet. Present sold enough to hold space soft enough not to take any of it from him. 

He hasn’t looked at me not yet. Maybe he cave 

but something in the way he breathes changes just barely like the simple fact that someone stayed someone listened someone didn’t flinch or walk away is enough to let a single thread loosen inside him. 

He drags in another breath strider this time his shoulders drop a fraction almost imperceptible.he still doesnt cry 

i dont think he knows how to, 

but the look behind his eyes is closer to breaking than anything i have seen from him before. Closer than the anger he hides behind charm. Closer than the exhaustion he hides beneath performance.closer than the weight he hides under silence. 

he stands there with the truth of a child he will never meet and a life he wasnt allowed to mourn and all i can do is meet his pain with stillness. 

Not pity, 

Not sympathy, 

Just presence. 

Just seeing him. 

and maybe just maybe thats enough 

maybe thats all he needs someone who doesnt flinch.someone who doesnt fill the silence with words that cant heal him someone who doesnt try to pull him out of his grief but doesnt let him drown alone in it either. 

Solstay 

Silent. 

Still 

Here. 

And he lets me. He lets himself be seen. 

3/4 

Chapter 99 

And he doesn’t look away.