dyad | ᵇᵒᵒᵏ ᵒⁿᵉ

ᴄ ʜ ᴀ ᴘ ᴛ ᴇ ʀ ɝƽ ☛ ɴᴇᴇᴅѕ, ѕᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.

                         ᴄ ʜ ᴀ ᴘ ᴛ ᴇ ʀ ɝƽ ☛ ɴᴇᴇᴅѕ, ѕᴇᴘᴀʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. 

Josiah let them in, and I bit my lip. I could feel the tension between us, and it was intense. They gave me small smiles as their vision focused upon me, and I noticed that they had a small briefcase with them. They must be here for the deal Mary was talking about.. I started to hear someone come down the stairs, and looking up, it was Mary. She was holding some papers in her hand, and on the way down, she kissed my forehead. "I think you should come and see this, sweetie." 

I nodded, and I went upstairs to take King to Calvin. He liked being around him, as Calvin let him play with all his toys in his room. Knocking on his door, Calvin opened it up, smiling at us. "Hey little buddy!" he poked King's cheek as he took him out of my arms. King giggled, tugging on Calvin's dreads. "Don't keep him up for too long, alright?" Calvin waved his hand at me, "Yeah, yeah.." 

He closed the door, and I felt arms slip around my waist, pulling me back. "I'm going to be packing up to go home. Meet me at the studio later, if you want." Josiah kissed my neck softly, and I sighed. "I enjoyed our time together, baby." I turned around, wrapping my arms around his neck, pecking his soft lips. "Okay." 

He let me go, and I took a deep breath, heading down the stairs and into the kitchen, where they were all waiting for me. I pulled up a chair, sitting next to Mary. Everyone was silent, and I couldn't take my eyes off the papers in the middle of the table. It was just like we were in a meeting, and I felt like I was the subject of this very meeting. My father cleared his throat, pulling out a pen. Mary took my hand, looking me in the eyes. 

"Your parents are giving me full guardianship of you." 

Her words literally sucked the life out of me. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I found myself unable to say anything. I was taken aback, completely surprised that my parents would do something like this. I didn't even know that they didn't give up their parental rights..I thought that they had simply filed the paperwork and had me written off. It sure did feel like they didn't want me..but if they didn't, why keep the rights?

"We've decided that it's the best for you. We haven't been such..excellent parents, and Mary's been taking care of you for the longest. We had no right to try to swoop in and take you from your real home." Dad said, giving me a saddened smile. I had to admit..I felt..bad. I had spent years hating them, wishing that they weren't my parents, feeling like I was left behind, thinking that they didn't love me. They had kept some type of ties to me when I had left, and I felt terrible for treating them wrong. They were only trying to make amends.

"We've compromised on a few things, though," Mom said, pulling something out of their briefcase. It was a sheet of paper, and they slid it to me, allowing me to read it. They just a few basic requests, like being able to come to my high school graduation, visiting me once in a while..but the last request caught my eye. 

"You..you want to pay for me to go to college?"

They nodded, smiling. "Mary told us that you wanted to help people, and that you were trying to get a scholarship. It was the least we could do." I felt like crying..I really did. I could feel the tears in my eyes, but I sucked them up. My parents..they were really giving me up. For good. I felt horrible. I still felt something for them, and seeing their faces made it worse. Looking at my forms in the middle, it had everything about me, down to the exact measurements of how tall I was. There was a blank section on my form, where my parents had to sign. First my father signed it, then my mother, and they passed it towards Mary, who signed the last line. 

"Okay, we're all done here."

We all stood up, and my parents smiled at me, and out of impulse, I hugged them, taking them surprise. They hugged me back, and Dad kissed the top of my head. "We'll see you later, okay?" I nodded, and walked them to the door, waving at them as they pulled out of the driveway. I closed the door, sighing deeply. Looking down at the floor, I leaned against the door. Smokey made his way up to me, rubbing up against my legs. When he noticed that he wasn't getting a reaction from me, he sat at my feet, meowing at me. For a while, he meowed at me, trying to get my attention. He even licked my leg a couple of times. 

I finally gave him my full attention, getting on my knees to pet him. He purred at me, and I took him into my arms, heading up the stairs to my room. I closed my door, letting him onto the floor. He walked in between my legs, his soft coat tickling my legs. I began to get ready for bed, and picked out my outfit for tomorrow, a simple, white shirt, with a black skirt. I turned off the light, and climbed into bed, hugging my pillow close. The moonlight crept into my room, illuminating my room with a soft glow. Smokey curled up at the foot of the bed, and I sighed. 

For a while, I just laid there, hoping that sleep would overpower me.

But it didn't. 

I had too much on my mind. I kept thinking about my parents what had happened earlier. Looking at the clock, I realized that I hadn't slept a wink almost the whole night. It was two am, and I concluded that I wasn't ever going to get to sleep. Sitting up in bed, I pushed the covers aside, careful not to disturb Smokey. I went over to my closet, pulling a pair of sweatpants over my shorts, pulling a jacket on. I could feel myself starting to cry, and I knew that I had to talk to someone, but no one would be awake at this time.

Josiah probably was, though, as he didn't go to bed until three something, every night. I often wondered why he had so much energy, following a sleep schedule like that. 

Exiting out of my room quietly, I stuck to the side of the stairs, careful to not wake anyone. I pulled the front door closed behind me, beginning to walk in the direction of the studio. I felt my tears stream down my cheeks, and I wrapped my arms around myself, keeping my head down. I decided against taking the bus. I didn't want anyone questioning me on why I looked like I was mourning a loved one, and I didn't want to have people staring at me. It was kind of chilly out, but not too cold. I got to the studio after a while of walking, and I rang the doorbell, standing on the doorstep. 

I didn't recieve an answer, and I rang again, hoping that he was here. 

I really needed to talk. I just needed to get things off my chest, and I knew Josiah would understand.

The door began to open, Josiah standing there in nothing but sweats. His hair looked damp, and he raised his eyebrows at me. 

"Monroe..what are you doing here?" he asked me, letting me enter. I had forgotten my key in the rush to get over here. He closed the door, locking it. I bit my lip, my attention landing on the floor. He sighed, pulling me close to him. He hugged me tightly, and I inhaled his sweet scent, it calming me down a little. "Were you crying?" I nodded in response to his question, and he picked me up, taking me over to the couch.

There was a few candles on the coffee table, filling the room with a vanilla scent. They gave off a gentle ambiance, the candles only giving off a little bit of light in the dark studio. He sat me in his lap, wrapping his arm around my waist. He caressed my face, "Talk to me. I want to know what made you so upset." I found myself unable to look him in the eye, and I simply relaxed my head in his shoulder. He sighed, "I can't help you if you don't talk to me.." 

"Just..just hold me..please." 

He kissed my temple, "If that's what you want." He hugged me tightly, and I listened to his even breaths as he held me, making me feel a whole lot better. He made me feel relaxed, at ease. Like I didn't have to worry about anything around him. I looked at him, taking his hand. "I love you.." I whispered. A soft smile graced his features, and he kissed my hand. "I love you more," he told me. He caressed my face, his lips brushing up against mine. I pressed myself up against him, feeling his hand snake up my waist. He caputured my lips, beginning to kiss me hungrily. 

He tugged on my bottom, asking for permission to enter my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his hand beginning to unzip my jacket, our tongues dancing together. He pulled my jacket off of my shoulders, letting it fall onto the floor. My hands fell to his chest, Josiah's hands beginning to lift my tank top over my head. He pulled away, looking at me. 

"I won't continue if you don't want me to," he bit his lip. 

I shook my head, "I want you to.." 

He nodded, kissing my lips gently. 

"You ready?" 

"I'm ready."