Always Have and Always Will.

Chapter 7 - Under her skin

Holding on to the paper in my left hand, I lifted up my right hands that held the lighter within its grasp and with a quick flick, a flame appeared. With a final deep breath, I brought the flame closer to the paper and watched as it slowly caught on fire, the words fading away into nothingness. I did feel a weight lift off my shoulders and sighed in contentment as the wet mouth on my jaw was replaced with a gentler one. As the last shred of the paper turned back to carbon, I let it go and the ashes gently floated away. The mouth trailed kisses along my jaw and I closed my eyes, smiling to myself. I couldn't remember when I'd last felt this content with where I was, with who I was. The mouth moved away and let out a light chuckle, the beautiful sound of which soothed my soul and at the same time made my mind feel like a rubber band that had snapped. My eyes jolted open as I spun myself to look at the possessor of the beautifully torturous laugh.

"No..." I whispered to myself in shock as my breath hitched.

"Hi, Peyt." She smiled back at me, standing there in the most gorgeous blue sundress while her brown curls framed her face.

I shook my head and frantically looked around to find myself now standing in the backyard of a house, her house. I took a step back, not believing my eyes at what I was seeing.

"What's wrong, my sweet?" She took a step toward me, concern filling her eyes.

"No, you can't be here. Y-you shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here." I said, shaking my head, she wasn't supposed to be here, she couldn't be.

"And why's that?" She said, taking another step toward me.

"You left me... and th-that's okay, you did what you did and- and then I did what I had to. I got better and then I let you go... I let you go!" I said, rambling like a madwoman.

"And how exactly did you let me go?" She said, walking towards me once more, invading my personal space. Her intoxicating smell flooded my senses but instead of putting me in a haze, it made my mind clearer.

"I erased and destroyed everything of mine that you've ever laid claim over, everything you've ever touched... I burned the letter, it turned to ashes in front of me! And now, nothing remains that you've ever touched. I'm free." I rushed out while she just smiled at me in a way that said she knew something that I didn't.

"If you're as free as you say you are, why am I still here?" She asked nonchalantly like the answer was right there in plain sight.

"I-I don't know," I said, as my back hit a wooden wall and I looked at the ground, defeated. Looking back up a few seconds later, I found myself staring at her, my breath caught in my throat. The realisation of what I'd done hit me. I'd burned the letter.... The one thing of hers that had meant so much to me, my connection to her, had been destroyed. I found myself unable to figure out why I'd made that dreadful mistake. She cleared her throat, bringing me out of my thoughts and her smile seemed to warm up my soul. Taking another step towards me, she brought her hand up to rest it on my cheek. Leaning into her touch, all my anxiety faded away as I allowed myself to bask in the warmth that emanated from her.

"I'm here because it doesn't matter however many things you try to erase or destroy. You'll never be able to destroy the one thing I've touched the most." She said, gently placing her hand on my chest where my heart would be and kissed me.

I immediately jolted awake and blinked my eyes to clear my vision. I was breathing hard and my neck was drenched in sweat. I shook off the feeling of heaviness and took a moment to regain composure. Turning my head towards the window, I saw very faint light passing through the blinds and concluded that it was really early in the morning. Stretching my arms out, I contemplated going out for a run to do a perimeter check. But turning my gaze beside me, all thoughts of getting out of bed turned to mush. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I leaned back in bed and turned over to my side to softly run my fingers along the partly exposed creamy smooth skin of her back. Reaching over a little, I left a trail of kisses from one shoulder to the other and got sleepy hums back in response. Chuckling to myself at the sleepy sounds, I leaned back in bed with my arms crossed under my head as I tried to go back to sleep. Feeling the bed shift a little, I felt a comfortable weight settle over my chest and an arm that reached over to my other side.