So here is part five of eight, more than halfway now. Read the other parts before this one. Thank you for rating and commenting. All characters in explicit scenes are over eighteen.
*********
- Taylor -
How could I be so stupid? She said it was going to be different. I stifled a bitter laugh. Sure, a rich, power couple like that was going to let some low-income, college dropout dyke like me date their daughter. No chance in hell.
And she knew it! She hadn't been serious about anything. She'd been telling them I was a guy, for Christ's sake! Well I hope she enjoyed her time slumming. She was going to have me over for dinner with her family. What a pile of crap.
It's better for her, probably. She could go marry some doctor or lawyer or other rich asshole, live in some fancy house and keep labradoodles or whatever the fuck rich people did. She could be with someone who could give her more than a crappy studio apartment over someone's garage. She was right to go. She deserved so much more than I could give her.
I looked down the walkway where she'd gone, and my heart leapt in my chest as I saw a young woman with light brown hair coming this way. But the people in front of her moved, and it wasn't my Aly. I sat back in my chair, ignoring the people walking past.
I'd done a lot better interacting this year. It might have something to do with winning the ribbon, but mostly it was because of Aly. She smoothed away my rough edges and was just a natural when it came to talking to people. I missed her. Already.
I took a deep breath, glancing over at the two food containers still sitting on the rear table. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and no sense in letting them go to waste. They weren't cheap, after all. I picked up the top one and opened it, letting the spicy aroma waft over me. Aly loved spicy, within reason. I'd been really excited about that, as it opened up so many possibilities.
My mind's eye brought up her eager face when I'd have her try a new dish, or I'd order something off the menu for her. Back to take-out loneliness now, I guess. In my head I heard her laugh at some silly joke I'd made. I loved her laugh. It made everything sparkle. And holding her. God it felt so good to hold her, the way she'd snuggle against me, like we could never be close enough.
The first tear rolled off my cheek. No! Damn it! I wasn't the one who did this. I didn't run away. I never did. Everyone always left me.
I'm not sure how I got through the last hours of the fair that day. Booths had to stay open and manned until eight PM. It was one of the rules in the god awful paperwork I'd had to read. But the second it ticked to the required hour, I dropped the front of the booth and took off. I needed to think, to decide what to do.
I motored out of the parking area, weaving through traffic a bit until I could find some open road. I headed north, giving my thoughts free reign as they chased themselves around inside my head. How could she do that to me? No. The real question was why wouldn't she? She'd never been serious. No one would ever be serious about me. I wasn't worth taking seriously.
I made it all the way to the other side of Santa Barbara, and it was close to ten by the time I turned around. I couldn't ride forever, much as I might want to. I was tired, too, the emotional day was catching up to me, and riding while sleepy is a recipe for disaster.
I stopped for a coffee, adding a double shot and inhaling it, hoping the caffeine boost would get me back home. I ended up having to repeat that one more time before I managed to make it back. The simple concentration needed to stay awake and alert helped a lot, I think, and I was in an okay place when I pulled into my neighborhood. I hurt, a lot, but I was still breathing. At least until I saw Aly's Mini Cooper in the driveway, exactly where she'd left it.
I put my bike away before heading up the stairs, my heart pounding in my chest. She might not be here. She could've Ubered back to her dorm or her parents' house. It didn't mean anything.
I tried the door handle, and it wasn't locked. I pushed it open, stepping inside as quietly as I could. I glanced up at the bed, which was still made. I let out a sigh. She wasn't there. I took off my boots and headed into the living area, where I saw the white note on the table.
Something was glittering on top. It was the key I'd given her. My breath caught in my chest for a moment before something moved on the couch. Oh, god, it was Aly. She was still here. I took the note and moved to the window, reading it by the light of the street. There were tear stains on the paper, and the handwriting was shaky. It broke my heart, and the signs of my own emotions slipped free from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks as I read it.
And finally, I asked myself the question I should have been asking from the beginning. I'd known I was gay for over a decade. Aly'd known about herself for only two months. What would I have done if my parents had walked in on an early date with Gillian and me in college, or caught me with that magazine I'd found when I was in high school? I'm not sure, but I could virtually guarantee the answer wasn't to proudly stand up and announce my sexuality to them.
Aly rolled over on the couch, her face illuminated by the soft light from the window. Her beautiful features were marred by tear stains. My baby had been crying, and I hadn't been there to hold her. I should have seen what was really happening immediately. She was just scared, and she made a mistake. We all make mistakes. She hadn't left me. Well, I mean, she did, but she'd run right back here, to us.
I knelt down next to her and ever so gently ran my fingers through her hair.
"Aly?"
Her soft brown eyes fluttered open, taking me in for a moment. Her lip immediately began to quiver as water filled her eyes. "Taylor?"
"I'm here, baby." As I spoke I started to mist over, too.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I'd never seen anyone's face twisted into that much misery before, and the fact that it was happening to Aly, well, it just destroyed me. I put my arms around her, and she threw herself into them, sobbing bitterly onto my shoulder.
What was I doing? I should be so angry, but I found myself just stroking the back of her head as she cried. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay". As I held her I realized how scared I'd been, the raw terror at the thought of losing her breaking free from deep inside. My own tears began to fall. Maybe they'll come take away my butch card, but I don't care. I was shaking. "Shh, sh, It's okay, baby, I'm here."
I continued to whisper in her ear until she started to calm down. Eventually she pulled away, but she wouldn't look me in the eye, instead staring down at the floor, eyes squeezed shut.
"How much do you hate me?"
I let out a soft, reassuring chuckle. "I don't hate you."
"Yes, you do. You have to. What I did, that was ... I'm so sorry."
She started to break down again, so I put my forehead against hers. "Hey, hey. Look at me. Aly?"
She opened her eyes, which were shining with tears.
"Hey. It's going to be okay. I promise."
"But I ..."
"Aly, I lied to my parents about who I was for years. I understand."
She cocked her head to the side. She didn't believe me.
"Baby, I'm not going to say it didn't hurt. But I'm not going to throw this, throw you away over it."
"Really?"
"Of course not." Which is funny, because in any of my extremely brief relationships since college I would have done exactly that, and for a lot less.
Strength and resolve flowed back into Aly's face. "I'm going to make this right. I promise."
"I know, baby." I really believed her. My Aly could run through a brick wall if she set her mind to it. So if she decided to come out to her parents that's exactly what she would do. "But not tonight. It's late, come to bed."
She threw her arms around my neck as I stood up and scooped her off the couch. I carried her back and laid her on the mattress before pulling off her socks.
"Alright, baby, get undressed." She did, crawling under the covers once nude. I wondered if she'd even brought pajamas. We didn't generally sleep in anything unless one of us had to, and then it was just a pair of panties.
I disrobed, sliding in next to her. Her arms went around me as I held her close, our legs intertwining under the sheet. Aly gave a happy little sigh and began slipping away. I had no thoughts of sex; I just wanted to feel her against me. I had her, and she was safe in my arms.
