Ghost Bird Fanfiction: Sang's Lyric, The Story of Sang Sorenson's Mother

Therapy with Taylor

There was a soft knock on Grace's door. She had been leaning toward me, waiting for me answer. She sat back and grabbed her phone next to her when the knock came. She looked at the screen and smiled up at me.

"Taylor," she said.

I felt a huge smile break out on my face and I jumped up, running to the door and whipping it open. I registered Taylor's surprised look before I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him, burying my face in his neck.

"Hey Crash," he whispered against my hair.

I pulled back to look in his face. He smiled at me, his arms coming up between us so he could use his thumbs against my face. I didn't know what he was doing, until he swiped them under my eyes.

"Sorry," I said, embarrassed.

"Happy or sad?" he asked.

"Happy," I reassured him.

"I'm so glad to see you," Grace said.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the understanding in Grace's face. Taylor nodded and walked us to the chair where I had been. He sat down, pulling my legs over his and wrapping an arm around me. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes at the rightness of it.

"We were talking about intimacy," Grace interrupted.

Gulp.

I'd forgotten that was what we were talking about.

"Okay," Taylor answered, looking down at me as I lifted my finger to my lips and blushed.

Grace looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

"Um," I started, my fingers covering my mouth. Taylor reached down and took my hand away. I met his eyes and the love I saw there gave me the strength to keep talking.

"So," I began again. "I was talking about how we, how I..." Crap. Be an adult, Lyric. If you can't talk about kissing, you shouldn't be doing it.

"How since I was..." Damn, there it was again. "Raped," Did it. "I've been sleeping alone and no one has kissed me."

I felt a shudder go through Taylor's body before his chest rose and fell with a breath. "I kiss you all the time," he countered.

I shook my head. "No, you don't," I argued, "not really. You kiss my head, or my forehead, or my hand. You hug me a lot, you all do. But no one has kissed me on the lips." 


I heard Taylor exhale. He was silent, and I chewed on my lip, waiting. I flicked a nervous glance at Grace who nodded at me seriously. I continued to wait, my anxiety growing with each passing moment.

Finally, Taylor sucked in a breath and began to speak. "You're right," he said, his voice quiet and surprised. "I didn't even realize it, but you're right."

He lifted my chin with his hand and stared at me. "I'm sorry, Lyric. I didn't even... I'm so fucking sorry." 
He shut his eyes tight and I felt his entire body tense.

Oh no oh no oh no.  I was making it worse!
 

"Taylor," Grace interrupted. "Talk about why you're sorry."


Taylor opened his eyes. "I guess," he looked around the room as he thought about his answer, "I just keep messing up."


"How do you mess up?" Grace asked.

I could feel the tension in his body. He had put on a lot of muscle in the last month, and resting in his lap like this, I could feel how hard he was. Add tension on top of that, and it was like sitting on a block of stone.

"I didn't stop him from taking her," Taylor whispered. "I let him leave. Disappear. Then I made Lyric think I was mad at her. And I don't even kiss her." 


"No!" I cried. "No Taylor..." 


Grace held a hand up to me, and I closed my mouth.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Grace asked, and I shot her a glare.

Taylor had no control over Garret. He'd gotten injured, severely injured, trying to get to me. What was she doing? 


"I should have gotten to the classroom," he answered.

"How would you have done that?"


"Run faster," Taylor answered quickly.

"And when the teachers tackled you?"

"Fought harder." 

 
"And when there were five grown men holding you down? Not to mention three football players? What then?"


"Fought harder," he answered again.

"And when they knocked your head against the tile floor, hard enough for you to be concussed and lose consciousness for two hours? What then?"


Taylor opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.

"What are you sorry for?" Grace asked again.

"Letting Lyric go to class with Garret."


"What are you sorry for Lyric?" Grace asked, turning her attention toward me.

"Drinking the hot chocolate," I answered immediately. We'd been over this before. It'd been covered in some of our early day-long sessions.

"No," Taylor answered immediately. "Lyric, no. You couldn't have known. None of us could have known."


I stared at him, willing him to hear, to really hear, what he'd just said. I waited. And when his eyes closed, and opened again, blazing at me. I knew. He got it.

He sighed then, rubbing a hand down his face. "I hate it when James is right," he muttered.

I laughed and Taylor gave me one of his deep dimpled smiles. It had been a long time since I'd seen that. He cupped my face in his hands and tilted my head back, his lips lightly grazing mine. My hands moved up to grab his elbows, following the line of his arms until I could hold his hands with mine. His tongue darted out, lightly tracing my lower lip before he tilted his head and I opened my mouth. His tongue immediately darted inside, tasting me. I had missed this. Missed the feel of him against me. I had worried he'd never kiss me again. Never see me as anything but a victim, someone to keep behind glass and touch with gloves.

His tongue was demanding, he commanded my response and I moaned softly and gave in, tangling with him, stroking his tongue, lightly biting his lower lip.

Grace cleared her throat. "I'm just gonna step out for a second."

Taylor pulled back, before he leaned forward again and placed another soft kiss on my lips. "You were almost done anyway, right?" he asked Grace.

"Yes," she answered. "I assume you're taking Lyric home?"


Taylor looked down at me, and I held his gaze. "Yes," he said. "We have a lot more kissing to do."


My cheeks flamed and I heard Grace burst out laughing.

"I want you to come back, Taylor," she said, "for an individual session."

Taylor looked resigned. "Yeah," he said. "Okay. That makes sense."


I felt him shift and I stood up. He stood up after me, and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Tomorrow," Grace said. "Bring Lyric. We'll meet first and then Lyric can join us."


Taylor nodded, heading for the door and holding it open. "That's fine." 


Grace gave me a reassuring look and a happy smile. I smiled back before following Taylor.