How Long Will I Love You?

Chapter 17 - Internal Conflict

                Laura had been inside her car in front of Taylor’s house, for quite a long time now, but she still wasn’t sure how to do what she was supposed to do. She had been an idiot for not listening to Taylor’s explanation. She knew Taylor wouldn’t lie to her just for the sake of it, but her judgment was clouded because she was too emotional at that time. Now that she’d realized it, it was time to fix things

                She made her way to Taylor’s house, thinking about what she should say. She was about to insert her key to the doorknob’s keyhole, but she decided against it and knocking felt more like the right thing to do. But before she could even lift her hand to knock, the door had opened.

                “Laura??” Taylor was surprised to see Laura at her doorstep.

                “Hi, can we talk?”

                Without speaking, Taylor almost ran towards her and pulled her for an embrace. She hugged her so tightly she felt like she was crushing her bones. “I’m so sorry. I promise I won’t do it again. I’m really sorry.” Before she even realized it, Laura was hugging her back.

                “Hey... it’s okay now.” She pulled away to look at Taylor for a while, smiling. Then she slowly pressed her lips on her. She missed her so much she didn’t know how she had managed to ignore her for days. “I’m sorry, too. I should’ve listened to you first.”

                They went inside and sat on Taylor’s couch. “I’m ready to tell you everything. I’m sorry I thought it was better to talk to him first. I was stupid.”

                Then she narrated her and Pete’s whole story, from the moment they met up until they had broken up, until the very last time she’d seen Pete, which was just yesterday. She did not know if it was necessary to tell Laura everything but she’d learned her lesson. She would be a fool to make the same mistake again.

                After Taylor’s story, Laura felt the urge to smack the guy in the face. He had no right to do that to Taylor. He was stupid to do so. Even if it worked in her favor, she still hated the fact that that guy had the nerve to cause her girlfriend that much pain.

                “But, everything’s okay now. I mean, I’ve told him everything I needed to tell him. Now that it’s out of my chest, I feel so much better. I don’t really care about him anymore.”

                “Wait a minute, you told me before that you’ve never met a boyfriend’s parent. You were gonna marry this guy and you haven’t met his parents yet?”

                “Naaah. His parents had passed away even before I met him.” She paused. “Which reminds me how he must be handling being a parent right now when he grew up without anyone. I kind of feel bad for his kid. I know what it feels like to grow up with a broken family and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

                Laura almost smiled just thinking how lucky she was that she had a girlfriend who had so much compassion for other people. “She’ll be fine, babe. Look at you. Even if you did grow up with a broken family, you still grew up to be one of the most amazing people in the world. Maybe she could be the same, you know.”

-o-o-o-

                Even if she and Taylor had talked and worked it out, it had still taken Laura days to fully get over the Pete incident, as she liked to call it, only to herself. Every once in a while, it would pop in her mind and create chaos in there, making her think of things she shouldn’t be thinking about, negative ones, and always about her relationship with Taylor.