Fic #2 for The Mixtape Challenge!
Feb. 2nd, 2011 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
writefictionTitle/Chapter: Drifting Through the Sea of Life (01/01)
Author: Amanda W. /![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
writefiction
Pairing: Taylor / Natalie
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Written for the Mix Tape Challenge for the song “Save Me”
Warning: strong language, discussions of suicide.
Word Count: 2,760
Summary: Natalie breaks up with Taylor and in the end they both need saving.
DRIFTING THROUGH THE SEA OF LIFE
“I can’t do this anymore,” Natalie told me as she sat on the front steps of her home in Georgia.
“Can’t do what?” I asked, confused.
“This. You and me. Your rock star lifestyle. You living in Oklahoma. Being apart all the time,” she explained. “I just can’t do it anymore.”
I looked at her in shock. What the fuck?! “So, what? You invited me here just so you could break up with me?” I asked as I felt my face flush with anger.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “But I couldn’t do this over the phone. My parents said they’d compensate you for the travel expenses.”
“I don’t fucking care about the travel expenses, Natalie!” I exclaimed and threw my hands in the air. “Do you even care that I’ve been going above and beyond to make this work? To keep you happy? Do you care about me? At all? Ever?” The anger began to leave me and an overwhelming sadness started to take over.
“I do care about you, Taylor. I always have and I probably always will. But it just hurts too much.”
I moved over to Natalie and kneeled at her feet. “Please,” I whispered, “just hang on for a little while longer. Just two more years and you’ll be eighteen and we can get married. Just… please hold on till then. It’ll be worth it. I promise.”
Natalie shook her head. “No, Taylor. I just can’t.” With that, she got up off the steps and went inside her house.
My chin dropped to my chest, my long hair falling over my eyes. What was I going to do? She was the only one I wanted to be with… ever. I wanted to marry her and have kids with her. I wanted to make a life with her. But really, if she couldn’t stand being apart now, how would she handle it if we got married and I went out on the road with my brothers? Maybe this really was for the best.
~First Show of the This Time Around Tour~
I didn’t know why we picked Georgia for the kick-off of this tour. Maybe it was because Zac wanted to see Kate so badly, I’m not sure, but I hate this stupid state. The last time I was here was when Natalie broke up with me. I despised this place. But there wasn’t just anger inside me. Hiding just below the surface was that overwhelming sadness that I hadn’t been able to shake for months upon months.
The show started out great but when it came time for my solo, my heart started to break all over again. While I had thought it would be fitting to sing the song I’d written the day we’d broken up, the pleading almost begging song I’d written, I wasn’t so sure now as I spotted Natalie standing at the other side of the stage. She was just hanging out in the wings, a place where I thought she’d always belonged. It was heart wrenching to see her there. But I took a deep breath and sat down at my piano, ready and willing to play it.
“This one’s called Save Me,” I spoke quietly into my mic. “It’s dedicated to a girl that will always mean the world to me.”
“Loving you like I never have before. I’m needing you just to open up the door. If begging you, might somehow turn the tides, then tell me to. I've gotta get this off my mind. I never thought I'd be speaking these words. I never thought I'd need to say, another day alone is more than I can take.
“Won't you save me? Cuz saving’s what I need. Well, I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life.
“Won’t you… Listen please. Baby, don't walk out that door, I'm on my knees. You're all I'm living for. I never thought I'd be speaking these words. Heaven thought I'd find a way. Another day alone is more than I can take.”
As I sang, I kept my eyes on my former girlfriend. It was hard to tell from here, but it looked as though there were tears on her cheeks. I knew there were some clinging to my eyelashes.
“Won't you save me? Cuz saving’s what I need. Well, I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life. Suddenly the sky is falling. Could it be it's too late for me? Well, if I never said I'm sorry. Then I'm wrong, yes, I'm wrong. Then I hear your spirit calling. Wondering if she's longing for me? And then I know that I can't live without her…
“Won't you save me? Cuz saving's what I need. I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Won’t you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life. Won't you save me? Cuz saving's what I need. I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life.
“Won't you save me? Won't you save me? Won't you save me?”
With that the song was over and the fans were cheering as loud as ever. I turned and grabbed up my towel to wipe away the tears. Hopefully to the crowd it just looked like I was wiping away sweat. But I wasn’t sure I cared at that moment. When I looked into the wings again, Natalie was gone and my heart sank to my toes. It felt like there was a boulder in my stomach. I couldn’t dwell though, I had a show to do. So I faked a smile and completed the show. Only my brothers could tell the happiness wasn’t real.
After two encores, my brothers and I took our bows and ran off stage. As soon as I got to the dressing room, I ran into the adjoining bathroom and locked the door. I slid down the cold metal and landed on my ass, my kneels pulled up to my chest, and began to cry. I couldn’t control it so I stopped fighting and let the waves of sadness wash over me and spill out onto my cheeks.
Only moments later there was a light tap on the door. “Tay, are you okay?” my little brother Zac asked.
“Fi-ine,” I answered, my voice breaking because, lets face it, I was not okay.
“Tay, please let me in,” Zac murmured softly. “We don’t have to talk. I just want to make sure you didn’t, like, slit your wrists or something.”
I sighed because, yeah, I’d tried it at one point when the pain was unbearable. But Zac had found me and the horror on his face was more than I could take. I had promised myself that I’d never do that to him again. We had always been closer to each other than the rest of our siblings. We were the best of friends. So I unlocked the door and slid out of the way.
Zac slowly opened the door and I knew he was doing so out of fear about what he could find on the other side. When he saw me huddled on the floor, he dropped to his knees and tugged on my hands until I held them out to show him there were no new cuts. His face filled with relief for just a moment before he frowned and wrapped his arms around me.
I fell into the embrace and buried my face in his shoulder as the sobs began to take over my body again, shaking with the force of them. “Shh, Tay, it’s okay,” Zac murmured, hugging me tightly. “It’s all going to be alright.”
“How can you say that?” I hiccupped. “She broke my heart and then had the fucking audacity to show up tonight?”
“Wait, she’s here?” Zac asked and I could feel his body tense up as I nodded. “That little bitch,” he muttered. “I’m just… I can’t… She is fucking out of her mind! What I wouldn‘t do…” Anger was rising quickly in my little brother.
I drew back just enough to look into his wild brown eyes. “Please, Zac, don’t,” I told him. “I still love her.”
Zac gently wiped at the tears on my face with his large calloused hand. “She doesn’t deserve your tears,” he murmured. “She doesn’t deserve your love. She hurt you so badly, Tay.” He took my hands in his and flipped them over to show me the white lines that were the scars of my suicide attempt. “You don’t need her,” he whispered. “You’ve got me and Isaac. We’ll never let you down. Not like that, not ever.”
I leaned back into my brother’s shoulder and he circled his arms around my slimmer-than-normal waist. “I know and I love you for that.”
“I love you too, Taylor.”
We sat that way in silence for what seemed like hours. But then Isaac came to the door and knocked quietly. “I’m sorry, guys,” he said quietly. “But we’ve gotta deal with the fans.” When neither of us moved, he sighed. “It’s okay, I’ll just say that you’re not up to meeting with them tonight.”
“I think that’d be best,” Zac replied.
From the corner of my eye I could see Isaac turn to leave, but then he stopped and looked down at me. “It’s going to be alright, Taylor. You’ll get over her and it won’t hurt anymore.” Then he left the room.
I pressed my face into Zac’s sweaty t-shirt and began to cry all over again. Isaac was wrong, dead wrong. I didn’t think it would ever get better. Especially not after tonight.
When I’d finally calmed down enough that I thought I could make it out to the bus without breaking down in front of the fans, the worst thing that could possibly happen, did. Zac walked me out to the dressing room and there was Natalie, just standing there, waiting. I felt Zac puff up beside me. “Get out,” he hissed.
“Zac, I just want to talk to him,” Natalie told him quietly.
“He doesn’t want to talk to you.” My brother’s voice was ice cold and steely. I had never heard him sound like that before.
Natalie turned to me. “Is that true?” she asked. “Do you not want to talk? Do you want me to leave?”
“I… don’t know,” I murmured.
Zac looked at me eyes wide. “Tay?” Our gazes locked and I’m not sure what he saw in my eyes, but he nodded slowly. “I’m going to be right out in the hall, okay? If you need me, need anything at all, just yell, okay?” I nodded and Zac gave me a tight squeeze before leaving the room. As he left, he kept the door open a crack and sat down right there in front of it. I imagined he wanted to keep an ear out to make sure that things wouldn’t get out of hand.
I heard the creak of leather and looked over to see Natalie sitting down on the couch that was provided for us. “You wanna sit?” she asked and gestured to the seat beside her. I looked down at the worn chucks on my feet. I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t even know how I felt at that moment. Everything was so scrambled in my mind.
“What are you doing here?” I asked softly once I found my voice.
“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Natalie answered and there was something in her tone that told me that wasn’t the complete truth. I looked up at her and saw I was right. She was twirling her birthstone ring around on her finger the way she always did when she was nervous.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.
“N-nothing,” she stammered.
“Cut the crap, Nat,” I spit. “Why are you really here?”
Natalie’s eyes widened at the venom in my voice. “Kate,” she said quietly. “Kate told me about the suicide attempt.” I ground my teeth together. I couldn’t believe Kate had ratted me out to my ex. Zac was going to get an earful later.
“Why would you care enough to come and check on me?” I asked, anger finally taking over. It hurt less to be angry with her.
“Tay,” she murmured as she got to her feet and moved towards me. “I told you I’d always care about you.”
I stepped back when she reached out for my hand. “Don’t,” I stated. “Just don’t.” Her hand dropped and her face grew sad.
“I’m sorry, Tay. I never meant to hurt you like that. If I had known…”
“What? If you had known breaking up with me was going to give me a mental breakdown you wouldn’t have done it?!” I exclaimed.
“No, that’s not it,” Natalie replied.
“Then what, Nat, what? What is it that you’re trying to say because I’ve just about had it,” I told her and my shoulders slumped as the fight quickly left me.
The brunette took a step forward and I tensed, but didn’t move back. “I’m trying to tell you that I haven’t stopped thinking about you,” she said. “I haven’t stopped loving you. I don’t…” She chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t want to do this without you.”
“Do what?” I asked dully.
“Live life,” Natalie answered softly.
I raised my eyes to hers and saw the tears in them. “Natalie…” I whispered not knowing what else to say. But words weren’t needed as she stepped up to me and gently brushed her fingers over my cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured as the tears slipped down her cheeks. “I’m so, so sorry I hurt you. I never wanted that. But I know how you’ve been feeling.”
“You do?” I asked in disbelief. There was no way she could know.
Natalie nodded. “That song… it, it described perfectly how I’ve been feeling. It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth, Taylor. So you see, I do understand. I mean, I didn’t… go as far as you went, but I felt it. I felt hopeless and lost without you. I didn’t want to live without you.” More tears welled up in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks, ruddy with emotion.
I reached up and wiped away a tear, catching it on my thumb. “Don’t cry,” I whispered. She moved closer to me, so close. I could smell her perfume and the unmistakable scent that was just… Natalie. It was light and flowery and perfect. My eyes filled with tears as I looked down at her. “Promise not to break my heart again?” I asked her.
“Of course,” she answered quietly. “I… I need you to save me, Tay. I just want to be by your side.” I buried my face in her curls and pulled her into a tight embrace as the tears began to rain down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe she had quoted the song. “I love you, Taylor,” Natalie whispered. “I love you so much and I promise this will never happen again. Just… promise me something.”
“What? What is it? I’ll promise you anything if you just stay with me,” I told her.
“Promise you won’t ever hurt yourself again,” she said, drawing back to look at me. “No matter how bad life gets, you won’t do it again. Please, just promise me that one thing.” Tears were filling her eyes and I could tell how much the thought of me trying to take my life had affected her.
I pulled her back in close and rested my cheek on top of her head. “I promise you,” I murmured. “I promise.” I hugged her fiercely so she’d know I meant it with all my heart and she squeezed me back just as tightly. Then I gently tilted her face up towards mine and smiled softly. “I’ve missed you, Nat.”
“I’ve missed you too, Tay.” I sighed quietly and lowered my mouth to hers.
When she pressed against me as tightly as she could, her lips trembling beneath mine, I knew we were both being saved. I knew we’d never drift through this sea of life alone. We’d always have each other and that’s all I needed to feel complete.
~fin~
Author: Amanda W. /
writefiction Pairing: Taylor / Natalie
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Written for the Mix Tape Challenge for the song “Save Me”
Warning: strong language, discussions of suicide.
Word Count: 2,760
Summary: Natalie breaks up with Taylor and in the end they both need saving.
DRIFTING THROUGH THE SEA OF LIFE
“I can’t do this anymore,” Natalie told me as she sat on the front steps of her home in Georgia.
“Can’t do what?” I asked, confused.
“This. You and me. Your rock star lifestyle. You living in Oklahoma. Being apart all the time,” she explained. “I just can’t do it anymore.”
I looked at her in shock. What the fuck?! “So, what? You invited me here just so you could break up with me?” I asked as I felt my face flush with anger.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “But I couldn’t do this over the phone. My parents said they’d compensate you for the travel expenses.”
“I don’t fucking care about the travel expenses, Natalie!” I exclaimed and threw my hands in the air. “Do you even care that I’ve been going above and beyond to make this work? To keep you happy? Do you care about me? At all? Ever?” The anger began to leave me and an overwhelming sadness started to take over.
“I do care about you, Taylor. I always have and I probably always will. But it just hurts too much.”
I moved over to Natalie and kneeled at her feet. “Please,” I whispered, “just hang on for a little while longer. Just two more years and you’ll be eighteen and we can get married. Just… please hold on till then. It’ll be worth it. I promise.”
Natalie shook her head. “No, Taylor. I just can’t.” With that, she got up off the steps and went inside her house.
My chin dropped to my chest, my long hair falling over my eyes. What was I going to do? She was the only one I wanted to be with… ever. I wanted to marry her and have kids with her. I wanted to make a life with her. But really, if she couldn’t stand being apart now, how would she handle it if we got married and I went out on the road with my brothers? Maybe this really was for the best.
~First Show of the This Time Around Tour~
I didn’t know why we picked Georgia for the kick-off of this tour. Maybe it was because Zac wanted to see Kate so badly, I’m not sure, but I hate this stupid state. The last time I was here was when Natalie broke up with me. I despised this place. But there wasn’t just anger inside me. Hiding just below the surface was that overwhelming sadness that I hadn’t been able to shake for months upon months.
The show started out great but when it came time for my solo, my heart started to break all over again. While I had thought it would be fitting to sing the song I’d written the day we’d broken up, the pleading almost begging song I’d written, I wasn’t so sure now as I spotted Natalie standing at the other side of the stage. She was just hanging out in the wings, a place where I thought she’d always belonged. It was heart wrenching to see her there. But I took a deep breath and sat down at my piano, ready and willing to play it.
“This one’s called Save Me,” I spoke quietly into my mic. “It’s dedicated to a girl that will always mean the world to me.”
“Loving you like I never have before. I’m needing you just to open up the door. If begging you, might somehow turn the tides, then tell me to. I've gotta get this off my mind. I never thought I'd be speaking these words. I never thought I'd need to say, another day alone is more than I can take.
“Won't you save me? Cuz saving’s what I need. Well, I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life.
“Won’t you… Listen please. Baby, don't walk out that door, I'm on my knees. You're all I'm living for. I never thought I'd be speaking these words. Heaven thought I'd find a way. Another day alone is more than I can take.”
As I sang, I kept my eyes on my former girlfriend. It was hard to tell from here, but it looked as though there were tears on her cheeks. I knew there were some clinging to my eyelashes.
“Won't you save me? Cuz saving’s what I need. Well, I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life. Suddenly the sky is falling. Could it be it's too late for me? Well, if I never said I'm sorry. Then I'm wrong, yes, I'm wrong. Then I hear your spirit calling. Wondering if she's longing for me? And then I know that I can't live without her…
“Won't you save me? Cuz saving's what I need. I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Won’t you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life. Won't you save me? Cuz saving's what I need. I just want to be by your side. Won't you save me? Well, I don't wanna be, just drifting through the sea of life.
“Won't you save me? Won't you save me? Won't you save me?”
With that the song was over and the fans were cheering as loud as ever. I turned and grabbed up my towel to wipe away the tears. Hopefully to the crowd it just looked like I was wiping away sweat. But I wasn’t sure I cared at that moment. When I looked into the wings again, Natalie was gone and my heart sank to my toes. It felt like there was a boulder in my stomach. I couldn’t dwell though, I had a show to do. So I faked a smile and completed the show. Only my brothers could tell the happiness wasn’t real.
After two encores, my brothers and I took our bows and ran off stage. As soon as I got to the dressing room, I ran into the adjoining bathroom and locked the door. I slid down the cold metal and landed on my ass, my kneels pulled up to my chest, and began to cry. I couldn’t control it so I stopped fighting and let the waves of sadness wash over me and spill out onto my cheeks.
Only moments later there was a light tap on the door. “Tay, are you okay?” my little brother Zac asked.
“Fi-ine,” I answered, my voice breaking because, lets face it, I was not okay.
“Tay, please let me in,” Zac murmured softly. “We don’t have to talk. I just want to make sure you didn’t, like, slit your wrists or something.”
I sighed because, yeah, I’d tried it at one point when the pain was unbearable. But Zac had found me and the horror on his face was more than I could take. I had promised myself that I’d never do that to him again. We had always been closer to each other than the rest of our siblings. We were the best of friends. So I unlocked the door and slid out of the way.
Zac slowly opened the door and I knew he was doing so out of fear about what he could find on the other side. When he saw me huddled on the floor, he dropped to his knees and tugged on my hands until I held them out to show him there were no new cuts. His face filled with relief for just a moment before he frowned and wrapped his arms around me.
I fell into the embrace and buried my face in his shoulder as the sobs began to take over my body again, shaking with the force of them. “Shh, Tay, it’s okay,” Zac murmured, hugging me tightly. “It’s all going to be alright.”
“How can you say that?” I hiccupped. “She broke my heart and then had the fucking audacity to show up tonight?”
“Wait, she’s here?” Zac asked and I could feel his body tense up as I nodded. “That little bitch,” he muttered. “I’m just… I can’t… She is fucking out of her mind! What I wouldn‘t do…” Anger was rising quickly in my little brother.
I drew back just enough to look into his wild brown eyes. “Please, Zac, don’t,” I told him. “I still love her.”
Zac gently wiped at the tears on my face with his large calloused hand. “She doesn’t deserve your tears,” he murmured. “She doesn’t deserve your love. She hurt you so badly, Tay.” He took my hands in his and flipped them over to show me the white lines that were the scars of my suicide attempt. “You don’t need her,” he whispered. “You’ve got me and Isaac. We’ll never let you down. Not like that, not ever.”
I leaned back into my brother’s shoulder and he circled his arms around my slimmer-than-normal waist. “I know and I love you for that.”
“I love you too, Taylor.”
We sat that way in silence for what seemed like hours. But then Isaac came to the door and knocked quietly. “I’m sorry, guys,” he said quietly. “But we’ve gotta deal with the fans.” When neither of us moved, he sighed. “It’s okay, I’ll just say that you’re not up to meeting with them tonight.”
“I think that’d be best,” Zac replied.
From the corner of my eye I could see Isaac turn to leave, but then he stopped and looked down at me. “It’s going to be alright, Taylor. You’ll get over her and it won’t hurt anymore.” Then he left the room.
I pressed my face into Zac’s sweaty t-shirt and began to cry all over again. Isaac was wrong, dead wrong. I didn’t think it would ever get better. Especially not after tonight.
When I’d finally calmed down enough that I thought I could make it out to the bus without breaking down in front of the fans, the worst thing that could possibly happen, did. Zac walked me out to the dressing room and there was Natalie, just standing there, waiting. I felt Zac puff up beside me. “Get out,” he hissed.
“Zac, I just want to talk to him,” Natalie told him quietly.
“He doesn’t want to talk to you.” My brother’s voice was ice cold and steely. I had never heard him sound like that before.
Natalie turned to me. “Is that true?” she asked. “Do you not want to talk? Do you want me to leave?”
“I… don’t know,” I murmured.
Zac looked at me eyes wide. “Tay?” Our gazes locked and I’m not sure what he saw in my eyes, but he nodded slowly. “I’m going to be right out in the hall, okay? If you need me, need anything at all, just yell, okay?” I nodded and Zac gave me a tight squeeze before leaving the room. As he left, he kept the door open a crack and sat down right there in front of it. I imagined he wanted to keep an ear out to make sure that things wouldn’t get out of hand.
I heard the creak of leather and looked over to see Natalie sitting down on the couch that was provided for us. “You wanna sit?” she asked and gestured to the seat beside her. I looked down at the worn chucks on my feet. I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t even know how I felt at that moment. Everything was so scrambled in my mind.
“What are you doing here?” I asked softly once I found my voice.
“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Natalie answered and there was something in her tone that told me that wasn’t the complete truth. I looked up at her and saw I was right. She was twirling her birthstone ring around on her finger the way she always did when she was nervous.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.
“N-nothing,” she stammered.
“Cut the crap, Nat,” I spit. “Why are you really here?”
Natalie’s eyes widened at the venom in my voice. “Kate,” she said quietly. “Kate told me about the suicide attempt.” I ground my teeth together. I couldn’t believe Kate had ratted me out to my ex. Zac was going to get an earful later.
“Why would you care enough to come and check on me?” I asked, anger finally taking over. It hurt less to be angry with her.
“Tay,” she murmured as she got to her feet and moved towards me. “I told you I’d always care about you.”
I stepped back when she reached out for my hand. “Don’t,” I stated. “Just don’t.” Her hand dropped and her face grew sad.
“I’m sorry, Tay. I never meant to hurt you like that. If I had known…”
“What? If you had known breaking up with me was going to give me a mental breakdown you wouldn’t have done it?!” I exclaimed.
“No, that’s not it,” Natalie replied.
“Then what, Nat, what? What is it that you’re trying to say because I’ve just about had it,” I told her and my shoulders slumped as the fight quickly left me.
The brunette took a step forward and I tensed, but didn’t move back. “I’m trying to tell you that I haven’t stopped thinking about you,” she said. “I haven’t stopped loving you. I don’t…” She chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t want to do this without you.”
“Do what?” I asked dully.
“Live life,” Natalie answered softly.
I raised my eyes to hers and saw the tears in them. “Natalie…” I whispered not knowing what else to say. But words weren’t needed as she stepped up to me and gently brushed her fingers over my cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured as the tears slipped down her cheeks. “I’m so, so sorry I hurt you. I never wanted that. But I know how you’ve been feeling.”
“You do?” I asked in disbelief. There was no way she could know.
Natalie nodded. “That song… it, it described perfectly how I’ve been feeling. It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth, Taylor. So you see, I do understand. I mean, I didn’t… go as far as you went, but I felt it. I felt hopeless and lost without you. I didn’t want to live without you.” More tears welled up in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks, ruddy with emotion.
I reached up and wiped away a tear, catching it on my thumb. “Don’t cry,” I whispered. She moved closer to me, so close. I could smell her perfume and the unmistakable scent that was just… Natalie. It was light and flowery and perfect. My eyes filled with tears as I looked down at her. “Promise not to break my heart again?” I asked her.
“Of course,” she answered quietly. “I… I need you to save me, Tay. I just want to be by your side.” I buried my face in her curls and pulled her into a tight embrace as the tears began to rain down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe she had quoted the song. “I love you, Taylor,” Natalie whispered. “I love you so much and I promise this will never happen again. Just… promise me something.”
“What? What is it? I’ll promise you anything if you just stay with me,” I told her.
“Promise you won’t ever hurt yourself again,” she said, drawing back to look at me. “No matter how bad life gets, you won’t do it again. Please, just promise me that one thing.” Tears were filling her eyes and I could tell how much the thought of me trying to take my life had affected her.
I pulled her back in close and rested my cheek on top of her head. “I promise you,” I murmured. “I promise.” I hugged her fiercely so she’d know I meant it with all my heart and she squeezed me back just as tightly. Then I gently tilted her face up towards mine and smiled softly. “I’ve missed you, Nat.”
“I’ve missed you too, Tay.” I sighed quietly and lowered my mouth to hers.
When she pressed against me as tightly as she could, her lips trembling beneath mine, I knew we were both being saved. I knew we’d never drift through this sea of life alone. We’d always have each other and that’s all I needed to feel complete.
~fin~
