I wasn't actually planning on a second chapter, but one of my reviewers (Melody) asked for a second chapter, so I thought I's have a go. Here it is:
"Tala?" I turn, suddenly angry at the sound of your voice.
"What do you want!" I snap. It's been a month since I told you to get out, but you seem to have forgotten! Does it hurt to go senile at such a young age? You look at me, eyes pathetically full of tears. "Tala...I..."
"You're still here, when I told you to get out of my life! Why can't you just go away?"
"No! Tala...I...I need you!"
"You DESERTED me, Kai! And who let you in here anyway?" I look around the hotel room and glared. "It was Bryan, wasn't it?"
"Tala..."
I don't want to listen to this! You'll just lie to me again, like you have all the other times. "Stop it! Just get out! I don't want to talk to you! You only lie!" You take hold of my arms and drag me closer. Your touch burns my skin and I writhe away. With a low growl you grab me again.
"I didn't lie!"
"YOU'RE LYING NOW!"
"I'm not!" I'm so angry I could burst. Before I know it my fist is arcing through the air, connecting with your cheek. "Tala!" But I'm too angry. I push you to the floor, furious.
"Every time you left, Kai, every single time you did you broke my heart! How can you expect to be forgiven for something like that!"
"Tala..."
"WHAT?"
You look so desperate, so needy...it makes me feel a pang of guilt, but I'm not the one who should be feeling guilty! I kneel down beside you and grab your chin, twisting your face round. You aren't protesting, aren't fighting back... You're just looking at me as if I've just signed your death warrant. But I can't forgive you...can I? You'll never change...will you? "Can you change, Kai? Can you promise me you'll never leave...can you promise and mean it?"
"Tala...I didn't...I didn't mean to hurt you..."
"But you did. You hurt me so much it makes me seethe, Kai. Because I allowed it to happen, and because -you- hurt me. And I loved you Kai. I really loved you. But you never cared, and you never noticed, so why should I care now?"
Your fingers stretch up, grasping mine. I try to tug them away but you won't let go. I look into your eyes and find myself giving up my anger. But I won't! You hurt me! "It still hurts!"
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...Tala..." You sit up and hold me close, pulling me onto your lap. I sit there, torn between the comfort of your embrace and the fierce bitterness in my mind. "Get off me."
"No!"
You stroke my back and tighten your arms around me. My last bastion of resistance fades and dies, and I relax against you. "Do you promise?"
"Promise what?"
"Promise me you won't leave me again! Promise me!"
"I promise. Tala...I love-"
"Don't say it. I'm not ready to forgive you properly yet. Just hold me and stop expecting me to immediately want you back! Because that's not going to happen!"
"Could you ever love me again?"
I nuzzle into your neck, breathing in the scent I'd been denied for so long. "I..."
"Tala...I'm not going to leave you again. Grandfather...can't control me any more. He can't pull me back or drive me away...I'll stay..."
"Then I can try. I can try to love you again. But if you ever leave me..."
"I won't."
"If you ever leave me..." Continued Tala, ignoring him. "I'll kill you." You look so happy, even though I've just threatened you with death. "I'm not asking for the world, Kai...I just want you to stay..." I feel slightly disgusted with myself for letting you back inside my heart so easily, but...I still love you. It's a shaky, fledgling love...but it's there.
I can try to forgive you...but I don't think I'll ever trust you in the same way again... I struggle out of your arms. "Can you go, Kai?"
"But..."
"Go. I want to think."
Okay."
The door shuts behind you, and I walk to the bed, collapsing on my bed with a heavy sigh. I've taken you back, when I swore I wouldn't. Maybe you've changed...I'll just have to see...
fin
R+R?
