Teaching Mia

Chapter 23 - Revelations

"I want to take you back to bed. We have a lot of catching up to do for lost time," he whispered huskily in her ear.

"Leo..." It was the only thing she managed to say. The images he was conjuring up for her were too much to handle, and the anticipation of it left her on fire. Would that really happen between them again?

In the back of her mind, she heard someone clear their throat. "Here's the Tylenol and some water," the voice said. Oh right, she had already forgotten about that.

She didn't dare to look up, but apparently Leo took it from her and unlocked the tray in front of him to settle the contents down. "Thanks, appreciate it," he said.

"Let me know if you need anything else," the stewardess said before leaving.

She locked eyes with Leo. "Now she must know I really don't have a headache."

He simply grinned back at her. He opened up the small packet of Tylenol and poured the tablet in her hand. "Here you go, sweetness," he said as he handed her the water.

"Thank you." She popped the pill in her mouth and downed almost half the cup of water in one gulp. She really needed that right now.

"That reminds me," she said, thinking out loud. She reached for her purse under the seat, looking for her birth control pills. She found the tin packet, and punched out the next pill in line for Saturday and placed it in her mouth. She finished the rest of the water with that.

Leo was observing her curiously as she put her purse back in place. "When did you start taking those?" he asked quietly.

"After I broke up with the ex."

She saw the wheels in his head turning to process that information. "After?"

He didn't miss a thing. "Yeah."

"Oh," he simply replied. She could tell he had a lot of questions brewing in his mind, so she decided to help him out.

"I did it mostly out of precaution."

He nodded silently, but she knew none of it was making sense to him. Still, he didn't ask her anything else. She owed him an explanation though. She finally needed to bring him out of the dark. It was time.

"Leo? I uh...want to tell you now. About my past."

"You don't have to, baby. I don't need to know. We're together now. That's all that matters to me."

"No, I want to tell you," she said determined. "I need to tell you. Even if..." she let her thoughts trail off.

Leo looked at her surprised. "Mia, you know you can tell me anything."

"I know. It's just...I haven't spoken about this in a year so it's difficult for me to say."

"It doesn't matter what it is. I love you...I'm here for you," Leo reassured her.

Mia hesitated. She was about to tell him something only a handful of people knew. But she felt like she had to tell him at that moment to finally let out what had been eating her up inside for so long. It was almost as if it had been embedded inside her all this time, but it was now hurting to keep it in. It was the only way she could truly be with Leo, even if what they had didn't last.

"I guess there's no easy way to say this," she said sighing painfully. "I had an...abortion. It was a little over a year ago. It's been really hard on me ever since. Not a day goes by that I don't think about it. It still haunts me. The memory of it, the physical pain, the emotional state I was in, the sick feeling of the time. It's like it never left me, it's just constantly looming within, and no matter how many months come to pass, it never seems to heal," she said stopping to meet his eyes.