Cared For
Laurel's POV
"Laurel?" Steph says, staring down at me sprawl across the floor like an idiot.
"Hi." I say, waving my hand awkwardly.
"What are you doing on the floor?" She ask, humorously.
"I um..." glancing around nervously,
"Laurel, honey, is here something you want to say to me?" Steph inquires, smiling at me.
I can think of a lot of things I want to say to her. Many of them inappropriate for this conversation, and the rest inappropriate in general. There's nothing like feeling something for someone and not knowing how to explain how you feel.
" I uh, heard you and Dad on the phone." I say, settling on the most suitable response for this discussion.
Steph's amused smile quickly turns into a disappointed frown.
"How much did you hear?" Steph sighs.
"Not a lot. Just the ending." I assure her.
Her frown seems to deepen, and she reaches her hand out towards me. She has no idea how much I want to take it, to just be in contact with her would be breathtaking. But why is she being so nonchalant when she just caught me eavesdropping.
"You're not upset with me?" I ask.
Steph hesitates, and my heartbeat speeds up tremendously.
"Of course not." She finally says, reaching her hand farther out.
I take it, and she helps pull me up off the ground.
"I am rather upset with myself though." Steph admit, inhaling deeply with her nose.
"Why would you be upset with yourself?" I inquire curiously.
I follow Steph into my parents' room, and we sit on the edge of the bed, moving to the top.
"I just really wish you hadn't heard what you did. You just got home, and that's certainly not what I want on your mind while you're here. You shouldn't have to worry about what goes on between me and your father." Steph responds, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Steph, you can't help what I hear or what I think about. You worry way too much about things you can't control." I say softly, placing my hand on her leg.
"I know." Steph mumbles, looking down at her hands dejectedly.
"I didn't mean it in the way you might be thinking--"
"No, baby, I know." Steph says, patting the hand I still have placed on her leg. "My head is just in a really bad space right now."
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, tilting my head to see her face.
"No," She refuses, "I'm fine, really."
She tries to turn away from me so I can't her wipe away a tear that managed to escape her watchful eye.
"You don't have to pretend with me, you know. I do understand. I'm here for you, I am now and I always have been." I sympathize, moving my hand up to her thigh.
"It's not your job to be there for me. It's me that should be there for you. Not the other way around." Steph sniffs.
"It may no be my job, but that doesn't mean I can't care." I whisper to Steph, laying my head on her shoulder.
I can feel her body shaking under my hand, and soon she starts to cry. This time she allows her tears to fall freely, silent sobs ripping through her body. She brings her hands to her face, trying to wipe under her eyes away the tears that have fallen. I stop her, grabbing her hands in mine.
"You don't have to hide from me, or try and hide you pain. I want to be there for you. If you'll let me." I whisper to her.
Not answering me, she lifts her eyes up to mine, almost as if she's doubting truly opening up to me.
"If you don't want to talk, we don't have to talk. Just...just let me hold you." I say, drawing in a deep breath nervously.
Steph's expression as she looks up at me makes a nervous cold shiver break out across my entire body.
"You've done it for me before." I reason, "Let me return the favor."
"Oh, I don't know." She whispers, trying to move herself from under my hand.
"Wait." I say firmly, scooting to sit in front of her, lifting her chin so I could look into her eyes. "You're always worried about everybody else. Always putting their needs and feelings before your own. Allow yourself to be cared for for once."
She opens her mouth, to find another excuse I presume.
"Please," I beg empathetically.
She sighs and lets her head back as she stares up at the ceiling and I can tell the worst of the fight is over. Scooting back up to the pillows, I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me as I lay back on the bed. Immediately her body tenses up.
"Relax," I whisper, soothingly rubbing my hands up and down her back.
A few minutes pass and she doesn't pull away, so I guess that's a good sign. A few after, she actually starts to relax. The tension is her back all but disappears. And her breathing starts to slow until hits a steady rhythm. Assuming, she's sleep I go to move from under her and she stirs, moving her head from my chest to the crook in my neck, her hand resting lightly on my stomach just below my breasts. She sighs contently, and unconsciously presses her nose to the base of my throat.
Wrapping my arms around her tighter, I wish things were how they seemed right now. If someone were to walk in on us, what would they think? From the looks of it, with the ways our bodies were pieced together it would seem as if we were intimate. A thought I wasn't too opposed to at this very moment. I wanted that with Steph. Not just sex, but intimatcy. The whole thing. The cuddling. The slow, tender kisses. All of which I know is unfamiliar to her...with a woman at least. But right now, at this moment, if this was all I could get I was going to take it. Endulge in every moment of it.
With that thought, I twist my body so that we are almost face-to-face, with her still resting peacefully on my neck, and imagine what could be.
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Almost had a brain explosion trying to write this chapter, so tell me what you think. About Laurel's love confession at the end. Feedback, feedback, feedback.
Remember to VOTE & COMMENT my darlings!
Yours truly,
~Musix Prodigy
