A/N:
Bad news: This is the last chapter.
Good news: It actually isn't because I'm posting an epilogue after this. Yey!
I don't know if you'd be happy with the way I decided to end things, but please let me know. Positive and negative. So... read away! =) (Warning: This chapter is waaay too long)
Chapter 36 – How Long Will I Love You
"Stay away from her," he said, with venom in his voice.
That's when Laura realized that she really didn't like him. At all. "That's not your choice to make." She started walking away from him but he grabbed her arm so tightly it hurt. "Let go of me," she said with the same hatred in her voice.
He let go of her arm but not before he could pull her to face him. "You don't deserve her."
Laura smirked, "And you do?"
"I know I deserve her more than you do. I have never hurt her the whole time we were together. I cared for her, gave her everything she wanted, needed. I showed her how she should be loved. I became the man she deserved, someone not even close to the partner you were when you were with her."
"She loves me more than she had ever loved you."
"Yes. But she loved you more than she should have. And I love her more than you ever did."
"You seem pretty confident about that, big guy." This time she walked away before she could reach her the second time. She decided she wouldn't let him ruin her day. But she stopped in her tracks when he spoke again.
"Then tell me why you left her. If you really loved her as much as you're trying to imply, why would you leave her? Oh I know. Because you were such a selfish bitch who would rather hurt her than have yourself be hurt. You chose your own safety over her happiness. You decided to leave when things got tough because you didn't love her enough to stay for her. Now tell me how much you really deserve her more than any other person in this world?"
She didn't let him say anything else after those words. Because at that time, everything he had said was enough and she had already accepted that he was right. It was actually funny how someone she should've hated made her crumble just through his little speech. She shouldn't have believed him. He probably hated her so much to have said those things and she shouldn't have let him affect her in any way. But his words had stung because she knew that they were all true. She knew she loved Taylor before but she still hurt her. Who could say she wouldn't do it again this time?
So even if it killed her, she went to work that day and tried to forget everything she had planned to do. She ignored every loss of breath she felt whenever she was around Taylor and had to act like nothing happened. She let every pain in her chest eat the life away from her whenever she would remember what she had talked about with Pete, about how she was gonna spend each day for the rest of her life without the woman she loved more than anyone else in the world.
And then each of those days led to this moment, to the now where she had to make a decision, something she would and should never change again, something she should never run away from again. It made her feel exhausted just thinking about it.
And she just didn't know what to do anymore.
-o-o-o-
Taylor did not wake up until almost 12 hours later. When she did, she cursed herself for her little stunt last night of trying to drown all her sorrows away. She knew it was pure bullshit and it wouldn't take anything away and she still did it anyway. Now she was paying for it.
She could not count the number of times she had woken up with a raging hangover but this one was probably going to take the trophy for worst hangover ever because she couldn't even breathe without feeling like her brains was gonna explode out of her head. She cursed herself again when she attempted to get out of bed to get some aspirin to help her with her headache.
But angels were probably with her today as her door opened and in came her brother with a glass of water on one hand and what seemed like aspirin on his other hand. "Sam?"
"Oh, right on time! Do you need anything?" he mockingly asked, knowing full well what his sister needed at that moment.
"Yes, please. I need someone to get my head off of me, right fucking now." She took one pillow and put it all over her head which made the wobbling feeling even worse. "Fuck!" She threw the pillow away. "Nope! Shouldn't have done that." Her brother just laughed at her as he handed her the water and aspirin. She immediately drank them as soon as she could. "Thank you. How did you know where I was last night?" She assumed he was the one who took her home, because who else would? When she saw the hesitance in her brother's eyes, she asked him, "You brought me home, right?"
Sam considered telling Taylor the truth about Laura bringing her home but then he thought maybe they had issues they needed to settle and Taylor knowing the truth may hinder that so he lied instead. "Yes, of course I did. Bryan called me and told me how wasted you were so even though I was sleepy as fuck I chose to become your knight in shining armor and saved your damn ass."
Taylor tried to smile even though doing that simple thing took too much of her energy. "Thanks bro. I knew I can count on you."
"What happened anyway? Why did you decide to try to kill yourself with this hangover?" he asked, hoping he could know what was going on. He wasn't usually nosy. If there was anything going on with his sister, he would always let her be because he knew it wasn't any of his damn business and she could take care of herself. But seeing Taylor last night, he knew that this was something else. Taylor needed him now.
When Taylor remembered why she was going through this hangover in the first place, she felt her head hurt even more. She really wanted to tell her brother about this. Maybe if she did, she would feel a lot better. But she didn't know how to start and she wasn't sure if he would understand anyway. So instead, she just shrugged and acted like it wasn't a big deal. "I was just too tired at work I decided to chill for a while. I didn't realize I was drinking more than I could handle."
He knew of course that she was lying. But knowing Taylor, she wouldn't tell the truth even if he tried to ask her directly. "Okay. But next time, if you decide to chill on your own again, don't hesitate to ask me to join you, okay?" Taylor just nodded. "You know I'm always here for you, right?"
"Of course. Thank you," she smiled. And this time, it was a genuine one.
-o-o-o-
Taylor was ready to call it a night but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going on that she didn't know about. The crew and some of the cast were giving her funny looks, some would even whisper to each other if they thought she wasn't looking or something. It was making her crazy because she knew something was up but no one cared enough to let her join in on the fun.
She gave up wanting to know what everything was about and started walking towards her car when she realized something that might just completely ruin her night for good. "Fuck." She had suddenly remembered that her brother, Sam, had actually borrowed her car today, saying he would just pick her up when she was about to go home. So she took out her phone and started calling him, but three missed calls later and he still hadn't picked up.
Taylor was starting to get really pissed when a familiar car stopped right in front of her. "Laura?" she asked herself. She looked at her watch and saw that it was almost twelve midnight. There was no way Laura was there for work.
Laura went out of her car, with a grin, almost shy. "Hey."
Taylor could not stop the loud thumping inside her chest. It was two days ago since she had decided to drink all her pain away and she had convinced herself that she wasn't gonna be affected by Laura's presence anymore but maybe she wasn't ready for that just yet. "H-hi. What are you doing here? Were you called for work?" She had suddenly forgotten that she was supposed to be pissed at her brother right now. Even though she was silently scolding herself for the anxiety she was feeling just by being around her ex-girlfriend, she still couldn't help but feel glad that she'd seen her again.
"No," answered Laura, still behind her car door.
Laura was smiling but Taylor could see that she seemed a bit tensed. She waited for her to say why she was there but she realized she wasn't gonna say anything else. "So... why are you here then? It's late."
"Nothing, just passing by," Laura answered, without elaborating any further. "Are you about to go home?"
That's when Taylor remembered why she was still there, and her mood had immediately gone back to how it was just moments ago. "That's if I can reach my ass of a brother. He borrowed my car today and he was supposed to pick me up but he's not answering any of my calls."
"Oh," said Laura as she nodded her head in understanding. She looked at Taylor, as if calculating what she was supposed to say next. "Come on, I'll bring you home." She could see the hesitance in Taylor's eyes so she silently prayed that she'd say yes. Not like she was gonna take no as an answer anyway. "Tay, it's almost midnight. I'm not gonna let you take a cab at this hour."
Every bit of Taylor wanted her to decline Laura's offer but she didn't know why she just couldn't bring herself to do so. "Fuck it," she thought. She didn't want to take a cab anyway. It was then that Taylor smiled. "All right. Take me home."
Laura almost sighed out of relief as she waited for Taylor to get inside her car. She followed suit and soon enough, she was driving away from their set.
During the car ride, both were quiet, not knowing what to say. Taylor was waiting for Laura to say something first but she stayed mum the whole time so she just decided to do the same thing. She looked at her watch and wished for time to go faster so she could be home and away from this awkward situation. She tried to just focus on the outside and look at the view, even if there really was nothing new to see. Few more minutes had passed when she noticed that Laura was taking a different route.
"L-laura?"
"Yeah?" answered Laura without looking at her.
"Why are we taking this route?" She was sure her usual way was the fastest way she could reach home so she couldn't think of any reason why Laura was taking this one instead.
"Uh, there's just something I need to pick up first, if it's okay?" Laura looked at her briefly before looking back at the road.
"Well that explains it," Taylor again thought to herself. But instead of voicing her thoughts out, she just said, "Okay."
Few more minutes of driving and Taylor was pretty sure she had been this way before. She could never go wrong. She looked at Laura, wanting to ask why they were driving this way but was too afraid to confirm her thoughts so she kept quiet. "Maybe, she knows someone in this area," she tried to convince herself, knowing full well that Laura didn't know anyone here.
Deep in thought, she hadn't realized the car had already stopped until Laura spoke. "Taylor?"
She had no time to look outside as she saw Laura got out of her car. She did, too. When she was outside, the loud thumping inside her chest had started again. She looked at the abandoned-looking building in front of her, the only place that saw her in her most vulnerable times, and in her happiest ones. This was the place where she took Laura on their first date... this was where they would go to whenever they were having a bad day... this was the place she never thought she'd ever share with anyone until Laura came into her life.
She had not been back in this place ever since she and Laura broke up. It just held too many memories of theirs that she knew coming back also meant relieving all those memories and feeling the pain of not being able to make new ones again.
Her thoughts were snapped when she felt Laura come closer to her. "H-hey," she said with a slight shake in her voice.
"What are we doing here?" Taylor said, almost wanting to run away.
"I know that you're tired and you probably just want to lie down and get your sleep. But I just really need to show you something. Please?" Laura was almost pleading, and if she had to kneel in front of Taylor to convince her to stay, she knew there was a fat chance she would. She didn't know if she had planned this enough, even convincing Sam to take away his sister's car so she could drive her tonight. She just knew it had to work.
Taylor was still hesitating, but looking at Laura's eyes, and listen to her almost whisper, afraid of what she would say, she knew she could never resist her. "Okay."
So they slowly walked towards the building, with safe distance between them. Laura felt herself shake, not because it was cold but because she knew that this was it. This was gonna be a turning point in her life and if she fucked this one up, she was fucked for good.
They got into the elevator and Taylor waited for Laura to press the button that would take them to wherever they were going. She knew that Laura was looking at her but she didn't dare look back, as she was scared of what her face would give away if she did. So she decided to just stare at her feet, like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
She could not slow down the beating of her heart. She didn't know what she was gonna see and she was scared to know what it was. But at the same time, she also wanted to just be done with this and she was hoping that staring down was gonna make the time go faster. It felt like a million seconds later when she finally heard the "Ding!" from the elevator as the doors opened and suddenly, she was faced with a view that almost took her breath away.
It almost looked the same at it did during their first date, only this time, there were petals of red and white roses scattered all over the floor. There was also a table at the middle but instead of just wine, there was food that she was sure Laura prepared herself. The whole place was illuminated with lights and she couldn't remember seeing the place more beautiful than it was tonight.
She moved out of the elevator and tried to take in the sight. She almost teared up right there and then but fought it because it seemed pathetic to do so at the time. She looked at Laura and she looked nervous, as if waiting for her to say something. "Laura..." she said, almost in a whisper, loud enough for Laura to hear, "did you do all this?"
Laura smiled shyly, feeling her courage ebb away every second that she stood there. "Y-yeah. I know that none of this can ever make up for everything that has happened ever since... ever since we broke up-"
Taylor cut her off, shaking her head. "It's beautiful," she said, breaking out into a huge grin for the first time ever since they got here.
Laura came towards her slowly, afraid that if she walked any faster, Taylor would decide to run away from her. When she was close enough, she breathed deeply, hoping that it would help her gather some more confidence to do what she was about to do. She then cocked her head towards the table. "Wanna eat? I know it's too late for dinner and too early for breakfast but..." She let her word hang as she waited for Taylor to answer her.
"Sure," Taylor shrugged. She saw Laura broke into a smile and when the raven-haired started walking towards the table, Taylor had allowed herself to smile, too.
They both sat in silence as they started eating. As usual, Taylor couldn't help but praise Laura's cooking. All throughout their meal, they engaged themselves in small talks as if nothing heavy was hanging on their shoulders. They steered away from anything serious and for a while, everything seemed perfect. When they were almost finished, there was suddenly music on the background and Taylor had to look around to find out where it was coming from. Norah Jones' Come Away With Me was then playing. She looked at Laura but she just shrugged and smiled.
Taylor raised one of her eyebrows as she smiled back at Laura. She then stood up to Laura's surprise. She came to her and then held out her hand for Laura to grab.
"What are you doing?" asked Laura, confused.
"Asking you for a dance."
Laura's smile got even wider as she held Taylor's hand. They walked towards the side of the table. When they were facing each other, Taylor clung her hands around Laura's neck as the latter put hers on Taylor's hips. Together, they slowly swayed to the music, as they stared in each other's eyes. Suddenly, there was no one in this world but them. They were instantly in a place without any worries, without any problems, and with just the fact that they were two people who truly cared for each other no matter what the world would throw against them. It was like the time had stopped and nothing could ever destroy the little bubble they had created around them. Without realizing it, they had closed the gap between them, breathing the same air, with their foreheads pressed together.
Taylor knew that this was gonna stop eventually, that they had to face reality and talk about them but right now, all she wanted was to feel Laura's body closer to hers. She always felt safer around her, like not even the worst problem would matter whenever she was around. She pulled away but only to stare back at Laura. She looked into her lush green eyes and she felt her heart race faster because she was amazingly beautiful, excruciatingly so.
But she felt so confused. She wanted to let go but she also wanted stay. She wanted to push her away but at the same time pull her even closer. She should probably be mad because it felt like Laura was leading her on again. She was also supposed to be scared that Laura would again change her mind and start acting as if this was, again, nothing. But she wasn't mad nor scared. So she let the latter choices reign in. Because this felt so right, like she belonged here, in Laura's arms, and right now, she wasn't going to do anything to stop that.
Laura could feel Taylor thinking. And no matter how good this felt, she knew she had to start talking. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her heart pounding on her chest. She felt Taylor freeze but didn't say anything so she went on. "I'm sorry for breaking up with you. I'm sorry for not having been brave enough to stay and see if this was gonna work out."
This time, Taylor was now looking at her, listening to every word she was saying.
"I'm sorry for fucking up the best thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life," she continued. "I know that I've said it a lot of times but I just want you to remember that no matter what I had done in all those months afterwards, I never stopped feeling sorry for hurting you." She felt her voice crack, but gathered herself. She wasn't gonna cry if she wanted to be able to say everything she wanted to say.
They'd stopped moving but their arms stayed in place. "Two weeks ago, I had the chance to try to take it all back. I realized everything that I had done wrong and I wanted to do the right thing for the first time in a really long time. But I fucked up, again." Laura sighed, disappointed with herself.
She suddenly looked down as embarrassment washed through her thinking of the number of times she had screwed up. She then felt Taylor remove her other arm from around the back of her neck as she lifted her chin up to look back at her. "Go on," she said softly.
So Laura did. "You're probably tired of me going back and forth with my decisions all the time. Honestly, I'm getting really pissed at myself, too. So, I thought about it, everything that I would have to lose if I finally gave up on us and that's when I realized that if I lost you," she paused, thinking this was it. There was no going back. "...that if I lost you, I would lose everything. And that's something I would never allow to happen."
Tears were now starting to form on Taylor's eyes. When she woke up today, or yesterday, knowing that it was already almost two in the morning, she had prepared herself for a normal day. She vowed to do her work the right way and then go home and sleep everything off afterwards. Not once had what was happening right now ever crossed her mind and she didn't know how to feel. But her eyes had already betrayed her when the tears had started falling.
"Hey," Laura wiped the tears away, worried about what Taylor was feeling. "I'm sorry. Please don't cry. Do you want me to stop?" There were a lot of things going through her mind right now and they all led to her confessing to Taylor that she loved her still, that she wanted her back. But seeing Taylor this way erased all that. It was now filled with worry that she had said something wrong, that she had hurt her, again.
But Taylor shook her head. No matter how overwhelmed she was, she didn't want Laura to stop. She wanted to hear everything she had to say. "I'm sorry," Taylor laughed softly as she harshly wiped her tears. "Don't mind me. Please continue."
Laura smiled, despite her worries. "You know I can't just not mind you when you're crying in front of me." 'I can't see you get hurt again,' she added, but only in her mind.
Taylor nodded in agreement, her face still just a few inches away from Laura's. "Okay, I'm not crying anymore. See?" She smiled, a little too exaggeratedly, making Laura chuckle.
"I can see that." Then suddenly, realization hit her. This was supposed to be easy. Taylor made loving her so easy, why should telling her about that be any different? She then shook her head to rid of the nerves that were washing through her whole being and then slowly lifted her one arm to cup Taylor's face. She made little circles on her jaw with her thumb as she looked into her eyes. "You're beautiful," she said softly, almost in a whisper, but she knew Taylor heard her, because she was now smiling, genuinely this time. "Especially when you smile like that," she, too, was smiling.
"Yeah?" Taylor asked and Laura nodded, while rubbing her back, and she felt the hair on her nape rise. "Laura?" she could no longer wait, she needed to know now. "Why did you do all this?"
"Because I realized how much I had screwed up. And I want to stop doing all that now. I just want to do what's right. I want to do all the things I should've done a long time ago..." She paused, hoping for any signs from Taylor that she finally understood, just like how she understood that first time she tried to tell her she was in-love with her. But her face was blank, or that's how it seemed to Laura. "You know how much I care for you, Tay... how much you mean to me. And I wanna show you-" She sighed, frustrated that Taylor seemed to be not picking any of this up, still. "Do you really not see where this is going?"
Taylor chuckled and decided to finally speak. "I do." Her chuckle then turned into a soft smile, realizing that what she'd always wished to happen ever since she and Laura broke up was now happening. "I just want to hear you say it." It's been a long time, she thought. She wanted to hear those words from Laura again, those words that could make her do anything for the woman in front of her, those words that made her hers.
But as much as Laura wanted to do that now, she needed something else first. And she knew she had to get it from Taylor before she could say anything else. "Okay," she whispered. "But before that, I just want to know if I'm forgiven."
Taylor smiled, wanting to convey her answer through that but she knew that Laura needed something more. "Laura, I've forgiven you long, long time ago. I don't really know why you're still apologizing." She paused, seeing Laura sigh out of what seemed like relief. "At first I really didn't understand why you did it," she said as she recalled everything that had happened. "I was hurt... and at some point, I was even mad. But then, I thought of everything that had happened ever since and I don't think it still really matters now... because you're still here. I still got you... right?"
Laura nodded, not being able to stop her grin. "Yes, you do."
"Good!" Taylor didn't know if she had ever had a smile bigger than her smile at this moment. "So?" she asked, waiting for what she needed this time.
Feeling satisfied and contented knowing that Taylor had already forgiven her, Laura breathed deeply as happiness consumed her. And so with every bit of feeling she had for Taylor, with everything that she was ready to give her and do for her, she finally said it. "I love you, Taylor. I am so utterly and completely and deeply in love with you I know I'm gonna go insane if I let you go again." She breathed deeply, her love for Taylor oozing within her she felt like she was floating. "So I'm asking for another chance to prove that to you every day for as long as you want me to. Please?"
Taylor did not say anything for as long as she could. And she knew that every second that passed was torture to Laura because she was waiting for her to answer, to say something, anything. But she kept quiet not because she didn't know what to say. She did. She just wanted to take her time to take this all in, a little scared that this was all just happening in her mind. She wanted it to be true. Because she had been waiting for this moment to happen for a really long time now.
And now it was happening.
So finally, she said something, happiness filling her heart."You do know though that if we do this, I'm never letting you go again, right?" She was smiling, feeling amazing like she had never felt her entire life. "This is a one-way ticket, Prepon. When you come back now, there's no turning back. It's you and me," Oh, how good to say that again, "...for good." Yes, this was it. And it was sticking this time. "Do you think you'd be fine with that?"
Without batting an eyelash, Laura answered with the only logical thing to say: what she exactly felt. "Yes. I'd be more than fine with that. I'd go crazy before I let you go again, babe."
And at the same time, they crashed their lips against each other's, arms wrapping around each other, pulling their bodies closer together, and oh how it felt good to be here again, to be where they belonged... Taylor asked Laura just a while ago to bring her home. And now she was here.
And yes, it felt so fucking good to be back home.
-o-o-o-
Nine months later...
Laura woke up to the stream of sunlight from her window. She scrunched her face in annoyance as she pulled a pillow and put it over her face. Then she heard a chuckle.
"What are you laughing at?" she said, not changing her position, her voice muffled by the pillow.
"Nothing. I'm just crazy is all," answered Taylor, still looking at Laura, even though she couldn't really see her as she still hadn't removed the pillow from her face. She had been up for about half an hour now and she hadn't removed her stare from her girlfriend for that same amount of time. She loved watching her sleep. She loved seeing the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She loved how peaceful she looked. She loved everything about her that she could just stare at her all day.
This time, Laura threw down the pillow and looked back at Taylor. She immediately smiled at the sight in front of her. Taylor looked beautiful and if this was what she was gonna wake up to everyday, then she had no doubt life would always be good. "Hi, crazy," she said as she pressed her lips softly on Taylor's.
"Hi," answered Taylor, feeling like a teenager with the butterflies on her stomach she still felt every damn day every time Laura looked at her like she was looking at her now. "Got a good sleep?"
"The best," answered Laura, recalling the night before, and how they spent it making love. She still felt Taylor's lips all over her. "You?"
"Yeah, it was amazing," Taylor kissed Laura again, and this time it lingered a bit longer.
It had been nine months since they had gotten back together. Nine months of making up for the long time they weren't together. Nine months of showing each other how much they loved each other and how contented they were with the way things were going. Nine months of pure fucking bliss.
After that night, Laura brought Taylor home and they spent the rest of the night making love, reminding themselves of how each other felt, unsure of how they had managed to not be together for so long. It was the best night they've had and they both knew it was the start they needed to make this work, finally. From then on, none of them seemed to have the knack to screw this up. Everything was far from perfect but for them, it felt like it was. They were happy. They were in love. They were together. And there was nothing they needed more than that.
Months passed and everyday still felt like that first day that they got back together. Everyone around them was happy that they finally got back together, especially Natasha and their families. Laura had also finally met Taylor's parents and that went surprisingly well. She met them both at the same time making Taylor so happy that her parents were finally able to be under one roof and not rip each other's throats out.
The public, on the other hand, had the same reaction just like the first time they got together but none of it bothered them. They were thankful for the support but they ignored the hatred as they had already anticipated it. As long as they were happy, none of the negative things around them really mattered.
Their careers also kept soaring and it was more than they had ever really hoped for. Orange Is The New Black was still received very warmly and everything just felt right.
And now, here they were, and they couldn't ask for anything else. Life was good. It was more than good, actually. It was great and amazing and wonderful and every positive adjective there probably was in the dictionary.
After what felt like hours of making out, Taylor finally decided to get up. She started gathering her clothes that were shamelessly scattered all over the room as Laura looked at her questioningly.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
Taylor stopped and raised her eyebrows at Laura. "Uh, gathering my clothes?"
Laura rolled her eyes. "I can fucking see that. Why?"
Taylor chuckled. "Have I told you how turned on I get whenever you swear?"
"Yeah, you fucking have," said Laura, now chuckling, too. "But seriously, why?"
"Because I need to have my clothes on when I get out of your house to go to mine. Unless you want everyone to see me in my whole nakedness?" she teased, knowing full well that Laura hated it every time anyone else could see her in the nude, even though it's for their series.
She was expecting Laura to say something at her little joke but she didn't speak. She looked at her girlfriend and she was just staring at her, a bit serious for her liking. "I was just kidding, babe," she immediately said thinking Laura got pissed at what she said. She walked over to her after putting her last piece of clothing then sat beside her. Laura still didn't say anything. "Hey, please don't be mad," she added, now worried at the silence of Laura.
Laura sighed. "I'm not mad. It's just..." she suddenly started to struggle with her words. She cupped Taylor's face and pulled her towards her before giving her a soft, gentle kiss.
Taylor smiled. "What was that for?"
"Don't go," said Laura, still holding Taylor's face, caressing it.
"I have to go get changed, baby. I've been wearing these clothes for more than 24 hours I think, it's gross." She held Laura's hand that was cupping her face and slowly rubbed circles against it with her thumb.
Laura shook her head, realizing Taylor didn't get what she really meant. "I know. It's not that. I mean..."
"What is it?" asked Taylor, sensing Laura's uneasiness. "Come on, babe, you can tell me." This time, it was her who gave Laura a kiss.
"I want you to move in with me," Laura said as fast as she could, not knowing how else to say it. She and Taylor were practically living together. They were always sleeping over, sometimes at her own place, sometimes at Taylor's. But it was never enough for her. She wanted to wake up every day like the way she had today. She wanted Taylor's face to be the first thing she'd see whenever she woke up and the last one before she closed her eyes. And she wanted that to happen every day of her life. She hated it every time she and Taylor had to part ways and she knew she might have been more clingy than she should be, but she just wanted to spend every second with her girlfriend, if that was even possible.
She had been toying with this idea for so long now but she didn't know if Taylor would want to rush into that only a few months after they had gotten back together. But right now, she hated that Taylor had to go again, even just for a few hours, and so she had to try and ask. If Taylor didn't wanna do it yet, then at least she tried. Though thinking her refuse her offer would truly break her heart.
"What?" asked Taylor, unsure if she heard Laura right.
Laura sat up and faced Taylor. She held both her hands and looked into her eyes, wanting to let her see how much she wanted this. "I know you might think it's too soon, but I just hate it every time I have to see you leave. I... I want to be with you every minute that I can, Tay. I love being with you... so much, it hurts. Do you wanna move in with me?"
"Are you serious?" Taylor asked, almost in a whisper.
Laura knew then how ridiculous this idea might have seemed to Taylor and she wanted to shrink out of embarrassment. "You know what, it's ridiculous. Just... forget I said anything," she said waving her hand as if throwing away the idea out of her mind. She felt her heart crush but chose to ignore it. The idea was ridiculous and stupid. She looked everywhere but at Taylor. She didn't want her to see the pain in her eyes.
"Yes," Taylor finally said, almost smiling at the look on Laura's face.
"What?" she couldn't help but look at Taylor now.
"I said yes. I wanna move in with you," Taylor's heart was now racing. All this time, she was contented with what she and Laura had, but having faced with this idea, she didn't know how much she had actually wanted this, too, until now. She wanted to live with Laura. She wanted to start each of her days with her. Seeing Laura whenever she woke up in the morning always gave her a sense of calm, an assurance that the day was going to be great. And she wanted, needed, to feel that every day from now on. And the thought of going home to Laura every day excited her in ways she never thought possible.
"Come again?" asked Laura, wanting to make sure that she was hearing her girlfriend correctly.
"I said..." she kissed Laura hard, "I want to..." kissed her again, "move in..." another kiss, "with you..." This time, the kiss was urgent. She wanted Laura to feel how happy she felt right this moment. She never thought she'd ever felt happier than she already was but she was wrong. Right now, she was on cloud nine and everything felt more perfect than it already was.
"Oh my gosh, we're really doing this?" asked Laura as she kissed Taylor back. She was again taking Taylor's clothes off of her, wanting to feel her skin against her. "We're finally moving in together?"
"Yes, baby," answered Taylor who was now straddling Laura's lap. "Yes, we are." She was leaving a trail of kisses from Laura's face down to her neck, making the raven-haired moan out of pleasure.
Laura was too happy she didn't expect to say the next thing that came out of her mouth. "Then maybe it's time to finally give you this."
This stopped what Taylor was doing then looked at Laura confused. "What do you mean?"
Laura almost carried Taylor off of her as she went to pull something out of one of her drawers. She wrapped her hand around it, trying to conceal it from Taylor before she wanted her to see it properly. She went back to bed and sat with her legs crossed under her. She could see Taylor's eyes on her hands, wanting to see what was in it.
"What is that?" Taylor asked as she made an attempt to get it from Laura's hands.
"Nope!" Laura put her hands behind her back. "Not yet!" she was smiling like an idiot now, seeing Taylor pout like a child. She knew she could never resist her whenever she would pull that gesture so she finally gave in. "Okay, okay," she said, almost chuckling, but also feeling nervous. "I wasn't planning to give this to you today, especially with how I look at the moment."
She was naked and her hair was a mess. She hadn't even brushed her teeth yet. This scenario was far from what she had planned days ago when she thought of how she would give this to Taylor. She imagined giving this to Taylor at a nice place, with beautiful music in the background, wearing something decent. But this moment just felt so right. She knew it was the right time to finally give it to Taylor.
Taylor, on the other hand, felt so nervous not knowing what Laura was planning to give her. She couldn't wait to finally see it but Laura was taking her time too much she wanted to snatch the thing out of her hand. But she waited, excruciatingly.
"But... with the sudden turn of events, I know it's the right time." She again kissed Taylor passionately before pulling away to look back at her. "I love you, Taylor. I love you with all my heart and I know this may sound cheesy, and I hate it," she chuckled. "But I do love you very much and I want you to be reminded of that every day." She then slowly lifted her hand towards Taylor, handing her a small black box wrapped in a silver ribbon.
This left Taylor's mouth hang open slightly. She looked at Laura as she took the box.
"Come on, open it," she said excitedly.
Taylor slowly pulled the ribbon out of the box. When she opened it, she felt tears sting her eyes as she saw a white gold ring with a small diamond at the top and little beads of diamonds beside the large one. Then she looked underneath the ring, and engraved on it was 'Laura and Taylor'. She looked back up at Laura and she was smiling at her. "Laura, what is this?" she felt stupid asking it, but she was filled with too much emotion right now she couldn't think clearly.
Laura took the ring from her. "It's a promise ring." She then took Taylor's left hand as she slowly inserted the ring on her ring finger. "I know it's not much, but..." she looked at the ring now wrapped around Taylor's ring finger and she felt extremely happy at how perfect it looked on Taylor's hand. "I love you, so, so much I can never say it enough. And I want you to have this as a reminder of my promise to love you every day for the rest of my life. I know that there will be days when I'd screw up but I promise you that I won't let anything to ruin what we have. I love you, babe. And I want you to remember that every day."
This time, Taylor was already crying. She looked at her hand and the ring looked beautiful, just like the woman in front of her right now. Before she met Laura, she never thought she'd ever find someone who would make her feel this way. But now that she was with her, she was feeling things she never thought would ever be possible. She was extremely happy and she wouldn't trade this for anything else. She just loved this woman so much she couldn't stop the tears flowing from her eyes.
"Oh my god Laura, it's beautiful." She looked back at Laura and kissed her deeply. "I love you. I love you so much. Thank you," she almost rambled as she wrapped her arms around her. Laura hugged her back and it felt so wonderful being in her arms. "I love you," she once again whispered.
And with that, they put everything they were feeling into their kiss. They held on to each other as if holding on for dear life, wanting to show each other the intensity of their love. The world was far from perfect, they knew that.
But in their own little world, everything was.
And as long as they had each other, everything would be.
- THE END -
-o-o-o-
A/N:
So, I was a little overwhelmed with your reaction on the last chapter. I actually expected all of you to hate me because of that chapter but so far, I think there's only one who voiced out his/her dislike of it. Lol. So, thank you! Hugs and kisses everyone!
Shepherdinha, I'm glad you liked the angst! I love angst, as well. More than I should, I think. Lol.
Guest (who mentioned about the cliff hanger thingy), Sorry it took me this long to post this chapter. Hope you're satisfied with the end. Please let me know =)
moanzs, Yeah dude, fuck Finn! Yeah one last chapter for this one before I put my focus on Shattered. Thank you so much!
luuuandrade, Lol, really? I didn't think anyone could get any worse (when it comes to drama) than Alex and Piper, but hey, to each his own, right? Haha. Sorry, though. But happy ending, yey! =)
Guest (round and round lol), I'm not sure what chapter you are in now but when you reach this one, thanks for the review! =)
jo michael, Yeah, we got a different start of school year with the rest of the world. Lol. This is actually the start of our 'summer' classes even though summer should be officially over by now. But hey, I wish I had vacations til October, too =( But this class will only last for a month so I get to have a vacation on July again. I'm from the Philippines. You? =) And fortunately, this ain't the last chapter yet (technically) haha. Lol, hope you'd learn to love Shattered as much as you love HLWILY. You're awesome, thanks dude!
Lily, Sorry, man! Natasha will reappear next chapter, haha. But hey, happy ending! Thanks for the review! =)
Guest (who thought this has finally reached the point of ridiculousness(?)), Haha. Sorry, man. I like my angst! Sorry to disappoint you =( But thanks, anyway! *wink wink*
Ellen0000, Awww, I'm glad you think so! That's a really nice thing to say *blushes* And have I made you wait a lot longer than 48 hours? I think so, sorry! Lol. And again, I love your vids on youtube. Idk if you've read my replies to your PM but yeah, I have replied and I told you there and I'm saying this again, that slow mo vid made me a mess! Good job!
VauseMan Laylor, Please don't hate Laura! Hate me instead! Hahaha. Here's your Laylor, man! Hope you like it =)
Guest (who can't believe I let her/him hanging again), Sorry dude! Lol. Here's Laylor's happy ending. Hope it makes up for every cliff hanger I've left you with. Haha.
I3VauseMan, Aww, I'm sorry for breaking your heart, girl! And hopefull this happy ever after I gave them is enough for you, lol. And omygod you made my laughed out loud at that Finn comment, haha dude you rock! And I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to the title you've given me hahaha but thank you!
vausegasm, Lol thanks! I like you, too! Haha. It's just that I've finished this story ages ago that's why it doesn't take me long to update. Shattered may be another story though (coz I've read your review on that one, thanks btw) And fuck finn! Laylor forever haha. Thanks again!
sara lance, Exactly! I was thinking of Larry the whole time I was writing him. Haha. And they're together now, yey! And omg thank you! I'm glad you love Shattered. It means a lot to me =)
Guest (OMG), Hope you like how I ended it =) Thank you!
ariaskj, Bastard indeed! Haha. I'm sorry about the cliffhanger! =( And thank you. I don't think I'm gonna be enjoying school haha. And good for you for that long vacation!
Guest (blackmail suggestion), Hm, not quite but near there. Haha. Thank you! I'm glad you love my story and I hope you still do after this chapter =)
Anas, OMG I'm really flattered *blushes* Thank you, and I'm sorry I had kept you waiting, lol. Thanks again. You're wonderful!
FFChik, Yeah, Finn is an asshole hahaha. Lol, you're exactly right!
Gabi, Awww, I'm sorry! Here's the final chapter! Hope you like it now =) Love you back, girl! Thank you =)
Batman05, Aww, I'm glad you love this story that you don't want this to end. And thank you for posting a review! I like meeting everyone reading this story so I can thank them personally (well, as personal as writing a reply to each of you gets haha)
TWang86, Lol, you and me both, man. I had given that a thought, whether they have hooked up irl or not but it seems like a really farfetched idea. I love their friendship though and I hope I get to see them together again. =) Thank you for that review and the compliment! You are so sweet =)