Ellie's POV
The lock clicks and my heart thumps. I'm so nervous that I can literally hear my heart beating in my ears. This is Taylor. It's insane that I'm this nervous right now.
Before I lose my nerve, or he rushes over and blocks me from entering, I walk in. He's lying on the bed, glaring at me.
I shut the door and go over to the bed, grabbing the remote off of the bed and shutting the TV off.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He asks, on the verge of raising his voice.
"Are you calmer yet?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"Get out. I'm giving that kid hell for letting you weasel yourself into getting a key" he says, grabbing me by the arm and pushing me towards the door.
I do some footwork Jake taught me, and get out of his grasp.
He just glares at me. "Get out before I throw you out" he snaps.
"Try it" I say, giving him a taunting smile.
He narrows his eyes; I can see it. He's really trying to justify picking me up and throwing me out.
"I don't want you here" he says. I can hear his voice though. Just listening to his voice, I hear anger. But I know him better than I know myself. I hear devastation too.
"So you want me to leave?" I ask him.
He gives me an incredulous look. "What have I said that's been confusing for you?" He asks, raising his voice a little.
"So you're willing to throw this all away? Call lawyers tomorrow, divide up the house, divide up our lives?" I ask, keeping my face neutral.
He just looks at me hard. He's keeping his face angry. But I see his eyes. He's heartbroken. He didn't mean what he said earlier, but he's too hurt to take it back.
"Yes" he says finally. His voice cracks.
"Well that hurts, Taylor" I say, starting to lose my poker face. I turn around and look out the window for a second.
"I never thought you would threaten me with divorce" I say, still looking out the window.
He says nothing.
"You just got done lecturing me about crossing the line" I say, looking back at him. He's starting to crack. His facade is starting to crumble.
"So what's the plan?" I ask.
He just looks at me, confused.
"Are you expecting to divorce me, and then watch as I get with Lance? Are you wanting to give me a big-fat 'I told ya so'?"
He still says nothing.
"Where's the tough guy at? You're not going to say ANYTHING?"
"I've got nothing else to say" he says sadly.
I nod. "Well, I do. I love you, you stupid man. I find Lance attractive. I do. Probably in a different lifetime, he and I would have ended up together. But I'm living this life. This is the life I want. Even if you and I split up, I would never get with Lance. You're my soulmate. If you don't want me anymore, then I'll
have to figure out a way to live with that. But I would live with it alone."
His face is starting to soften. Reason is starting to come back to him.
"Remember that nightmare I had months ago?" He asks after a minute.
I just nod.
"I dreamt that you never got back with me. I was all
alone and my life was shit. You and Lance were getting married." He says, biting his lip to keep from crying.
"Taylor, you said it yourself. It was a nightmare."
He says nothing.
I go up to him and stand on my tippy toes. I grab his face hard and make him look at me. "Your words are powerful. Today your words have completely shredded me. If you mean them, then fine. But I'm telling you that if you don't, you better tell me now. And then you better come up with a damn good apology for them." I say darkly. My hands are hurting I'm squeezing his cheeks so hard.
He still says nothing as he grabs my hands and pulls them off of his face. I must have been hurting him. His cheeks are totally red.
"Last chance. DID YOU MEAN THEM?!?" I yell, pushing him hard.
He puts his hands on his knees and bends down.
"Damn it!" He hisses.
"I'm leaving in five seconds. These are the final seconds we will have together. In the last 24 hours you have walked out on me twice. You have accused me of lusting after another man, you have essentially broken up with me, and you have tried to kick me out. This isn't the man I married. I'm not begging for you. I just got done telling your son, who is completely heartbroken, that his parents built a damn good foundation, and this storm wouldn't crumble it. Was I wrong?" I ask.
He still says NOTHING
I nod. I've gotten my answer.
"Guess I was wrong. I'll call a lawyer tomorrow. You can have all of your dad's money. I don't want it" I say as I grab the door handle and open the door.
I start to walk out when he grabs me by my wrist, pulling me back, and shuts the door with his other hand.
He spins me around and pins me roughly against the wall.
"Damn it. I didn't mean it, Ellie" he says, letting me go and putting his back against the wall, sliding down it. He puts his head in his hands and starts to cry.
I just stand there. I was fully expecting to apologize to him, but now I deserve an apology. A damn good apology. I go to the window again and look out it. I'm so disgusted with him. There was no reason this should have been this dramatic.
I finally feel his arm lightly grip my bicep and turn me around. I look at him and his eyes are swimming.
He's tortured right now.
"I didn't mean it" he says again, whispering.
"Quit whispering" I yell.
"I DIDN'T MEAN IT" he screams. It makes me jump. I have been asking him to scream at me since we got home. Now that he does, I jump. I'm a chump.
"I didn't mean to put you down. It was innocent. I said it flippantly. I'm so sorry" I say.
He sniffs and nods. "It all bothers me. It bothers me that he's in love with you. It bothers me that you find him attractive. It bothers me that I can't fix the damn garbage disposal without Wes' help. It bothers me, Ellie" he says, embarrassed.
I nod. "It bothers me that Katie flirts with you all the time. That you saw her naked. That you went off to help her when her pipe burst, when it took you all day to do a stupid hinge for me: Hell, I never admitted this to you, but when I hurt my knee during the run, it bothered me that you continued to run with her. You should have came home with me. I know I told you not to, but you should have. If I would have done that with Lance, it would have been a huge deal."
He sighs and shakes his head. "Damn it. Yeah, you're right. This is all just shit" he says, slamming down on the bed.
I nod. This is all just shit. Over a damn garbage disposal.
"Do you find Katie even a little attractive?" I ask after a minute of silence.
Taylor shrugs, looking at the ground.
"Yeah, a little" he admits.
"Don't look at the ground, look at me" I say, repeating what he says to all of us when he's mad and we answer him without looking at him.
The corners of his mouth turn up a little. He understood the joke.
He looks at me and nods. "I find her a little attractive" he says, staring into my eyes.
"So Katie is your Lance" I say simply.
He sighs and nods. "I get it. I officially get it. I'm such an ass" he says, standing up and coming over to me.
I'm expecting him to hug me, but he doesn't. Instead he grabs my hands and gets down on his knees.
"Eleanor Jane Preston, I am literally BEGGING you to forgive me. For all of it. For my jealousy, for losing my temper, for storming out, for threatening divorce...Damn...I threatened divorce. What the hell is wrong with me? Please, my love, please forgive me" he begs.
I wipe a tear and nod "If you can forgive me"
He stands up and wraps me up in his arms and kisses my cheek.
"I love you, baby girl" he says as he picks me up. I wrap my legs around him and kiss him hard.
Passionately.
He holds me tight as he sets me on the bed. He gets on top of me and straddles over me. He bends down and continues his kisses all over. All over my face, on my neck, down my collar bone, back to my neck, my jaw....Over and over.
"Can we reconnect now?" He asks, whispering softly into my ear.
I just nod as I rip his shirt off of him and throw it on the ground.
He gently takes my shirt off and throws it on the ground next to his. He starts his kisses again. He gently starts kissing my breasts. Lightly. He continues kissing over my bra. Over and over, knowing exactly what I need to get warmed up.
He slowly uses his mouth to move my bra, exposing me. He gently does his work, sending warmth to my tummy.
That's all I'm needing to be ready for him; Completely ready for him. He knows. He knows me well.
He unclasps my bra and continues massaging my breasts. Taking his time. It's been a week since we've been together. We're alone in a hotel room; Neither of us want to rush.
He rips off my pants and I rip off his. He puts himself inside me and we begin our reconnection. It's as if we hadn't even been fighting. We work together, our bodies becoming one, as we heal what we damaged this last week.
After a while, he starts talking, getting breathless. "I have a confession" he says, taking a deep breath as we continue.
"What?" I ask, feeling nervous. I stop my movements and stare at him. He stops too, and kisses my cheek.
"I was secretly hoping you would show up. That's why I told Alex where I was going. I knew he would tell you" he chuckles.
I chuckle too as we begin again.
Taylor is an amazing lover. He is able to take his time and bring me to the places I need. We continue our dance for a long while. Neither of us tiring, neither of us ready for it to be over.
"Please forgive me, darling" he moans. I can tell he's getting close.
"I'm not going to be able to told on much longer" he whispers.
That's ok. I'm ready too.
After the aftershocks stop, he gets off of me and pulls me into him.
"Forgive me" he says again.
"Always" I say, kissing him hard.
Our foundation is strong. We've worked our asses off to weather all kinds of storms. Our work has paid off. What could have been a tsunami, dissipated into a tropical storm.
I get on top of him, ready for round two.
He's not quite ready, but that's ok. I'll just have some fun with him until he is.