How Long Will I Love You?

Chapter 37 - How Long Will I Love You? (Part 2)

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?"