I haven't written anything in forever, but I'm totally in love with the possibility of Bay and Travis that I couldn't stop myself. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1

Bay took a deep breath before peeking her head through the door. She didn't want to have this conversation but knew it was the right thing to do. Butterflies swirled in her stomach but she tried to ignore them.

She was nervous but not afraid. Ever since the incident with Tank, her world had become very small. Her group of friends was small. Besides Toby's apartment, she was in no way ready to go into a guy's room. Except for Travis. She knew she could trust Travis completely.

He saw her waving at him from the door frame, looked up and smiled. "Hi," he signed.

"Hey," she signed and said more cheerily than she felt. It was her nature to be chipper when nervous. "How's it goin'?"

"I probably should have stayed back from Spring Break. I still haven't caught up from going to LA." They both blushed at the reference to Emmett and looked down. He furrowed his brow and asked, "What are you doing here? I thought we were going to catch a movie tomorrow? Did I get the day wrong?"

He watched as she slowly came into his room in her patented nice-weather outfit: shorts, tights, a t-shirt, and her favorite combat boots."No," she said, shaking her head. She tucked a loose strand of her ponytail behind her ear. He could tell she was nervous and it worried him. "I just wanted to come by and apologize."

He contemplated playing dumb and acting like he didn't know what she was talking about. But they had gotten to know each other pretty well over the last few months and there was no point in being dishonest now. The last time he did, it blew up. Big. And badly. Licking his lips, he shrugged. "You don't have to. It was no big deal."

Looking down at her feet, her shoulders were slumped over and she looked very small. "Yeah, I do. You've been nothing but a good friend to me this winter and I shouldn't have put you in the middle of me and Emmett. It wasn't fair."

"You've been through a lot," he signed. He was sitting at the edge of his bed and he had the piercing impulse to reach out and grab her hand. He didn't. "You were bottling up so much stuff. You were going to blow up eventually." He smiled at her now. "I just happened to get a free body shot when it did."

She laughed softly and then looked at him sideways. "And a punch."

He shook his head again. "Look, I know what it's like to be a time bomb. No one was there to help me get through it for a really long time. I just kept exploding. I want to help you get through it."

Blinking back tears, she put her hand on his shoulder. "You're a good friend, Travis." He looked up at her with those bright blue eyes that looked so honest and earnest. Cocking her head, she said, "You know, I think you're my best friend."

Now it was Travis with the butterflies. He had to resist the urge surging through him to grab her hand on his shoulder and pull her to him. It would be nothing to wrap his large legs around her small body and run his hands through her wild hair. He wondered what it was like to be entrapped in the wall of her eyes and lips and cute nose and all of that black hair surrounding them.

But that's not what Bay Kennish needed right now. More than he even wanted her, he wanted her to feel safe. To be happy. And fulfilling his own needs right now wasn't going to help her. Instead, he reached up and took her hand in both of his and said out loud," You're my best friend too."

She couldn't hold back the tears anymore and one solitary wet drop fell from her eye. She felt, for the first time in a really long time, blessed-blessed to have a friend, have support, like Travis. Bending down, she hugged him tight. She took in the smell of his musky cologne. Closing her eyes, she absorbed all of him, letting him engulf her in his arms.

She didn't realize what it meant to him to have her hold him like that. He could smell her flowery perfume and the shampoo in her hair. It made his heart ache. She would never know what it meant to him that he told her his secret and she accepted him just as he was. She would never know how much he loved the fact that she felt safe and happy in his arms.

She would never know how much he loved her.

After what felt like forever, she finally pulled away and signed, "I better let you study. Movies tomorrow?"

He tried to smile, but was trying too hard to hold back emotions. "Sure thing. Something bloody and revenge-filled, right?"

Her eyebrows shot up and she smiled brightly. "No way, man," she said playfully. "It's all French and artistic for you, my friend!"

He pretended to put his head down and shake it in shame. "I'll stream a Van Damme flick on my phone."

Walking towards the door, she pointed at him and then signed, "You better not!" She then smiled warmly at him and left.

He told this girl secrets he told no one. He'd take a punch for her. He would go see an art film with her. He smiled as he picked up the pencil next to his textbook to take notes. He was so screwed.

TBC