I wake up before Jennifer does and sigh. She's laying on my chest, naked and hugging my body tightly. I push her hair away from her face and run my hand over her back softly. When she starts waking up, she lets go of me and faces the giant window, sitting up. I just watch her, looking over her perfect back and noticing the way her hair is falling over her skin.
She turns to me and smiles, "good morning."
I grin back at her and grab her hand, playing with her fingers, "don't go." I say to her.
She frowns and lays on her stomach, hugging a pillow. "Leah you know last night was a mistake." She says.
I shake my head and get up, straddling her body and massaging her back. "I don't think it was." I say to her. "Jennifer I get that you're with Aaron now. What I don't get is why you're here... in my bed... if you really love him so much?" She sighs deeply and pushes me off of her.
She grabs my shirt off of the floor and puts it on before throwing her hair into a bun. "Can we please not talk about this? Where are my panties?" She gripes.
I point to the floor and she goes and gets them and then puts them on. "You hungry?" I ask.
"Aaron will be waiting for me." She says and I shake my head.
Okay, we aren't doing this.
"You're scared of me." I say.
"Me?! Scared of you?!" She gasps.
"You're scared of me because when you're around me you don't know what to do, so you do what we've always done. You still love me, Jennifer. Stop running away from it, please. I have a few more hours with you and I don't want you to run back to your boyfriend right now." I say and she nods her head and comes back to bed.
"Let's try this again... are you hungry?" I ask her and she shakes her head no and bites her lip.
"No... I just wanna kiss you." She says.
I laugh and she kisses me slowly. She rolls away from me and I smile and put my hand on her thigh. I look down to my hand and that's when I see a little mark.
My eyes widen and I bite my lip, "shit."
"What?!" She panics and looks down too. "I am going to kill you, Leah." She gripes and pulls her finger over the very small hickey and teeth marks I left on her inner thigh. It was an honest accident...
"It wasn't intentional! I don't want to get you in trouble..." I laugh and she pushes me back by my shoulders.
"I guess I'll be putting concealer on my thigh until this shit goes away..."
"Or just don't have sex with him?" I tease her and she shakes her head.
Another three hours pass and Jennifer finally starts getting ready to leave. I gave her a pair of sweatpants and a shirt to wear so she wouldn't have to put her dress back on.
"I don't want to leave you." She whispers and grabs her phone to text Aaron.
"You don't have to leave. Just run away from everything and come live with me." I joke.
"Don't tempt me."
"Fine, fine. Get home and do good things. Keep being happy and stuff. It looks good on you." I tell her and pull my hoodie on.
"Come here." She says and I walk over to her and she hugs me tightly. We stand there for several minutes just holding each other in silence.
I hear her sniffle so I pat her back, "alright." I say and she looks at me and tries to smile over her frown and through her tears.
"This is harder than it was the first time." She says.
I smile and shake my head, "it won't be the last, Jennifer. I'll come visit next year, I promise!"
"That's... a long time."
"You'll be alright. I'll be alright." I say to her.
"I love you." She whispers.
I nod my head, "I love you too. Go, before your boyfriend gets mad. Keep in touch, alright?" I say.
She nods and slowly walks out. Watching her leave hurts a whole lot, but it makes it a little bit easier knowing we're on good terms and that I'll see her again. It'll probably be a while before I can see her again, but if that's what it takes...
Jennifer will always have a very special place in my heart.
* * *
Jennifer's POV
One single day has gone by since I've been home... and I already miss Leah. I know I'll have to just figure out how to push her out of my head, but it's not an easy thing to do when someone gives you so much to think about... even when they're not around.
I know we aren't together and don't have plans to be, but still... it kinda sucks. Leaving her in London wasn't just me leaving an ex I still had feelings for. It was me leaving behind my best friend that I hadn't seen in forever.
I spoke to her for a few minutes once I landed, just to let her know I made it okay, but Aaron didn't seem too pleased with the fact I went out of my way to contact her. He's a paranoid guy. I'm not saying he doesn't have a reason to be paranoid, but damn.
I step out of the shower and dry myself off and wrap the towel around my body. Aaron and I just got home from work and he's cooking dinner while I get cleaned up. I go into the bedroom and I hear my name being yelled.
I step out of the room and into the hall, "what?!"
"Come here, help me." He yells.
"Can it wait? I'm not dressed..." I say back to him.
"Now please!" He insists.
I go into the kitchen with my soaking wet hair and my towel and he just looks at me, clearly frustrated. "I can't find the damn seasoning." He gripes.
I sigh and roll my eyes and go to the cabinet and find what he was searching for within seconds.
"There." I say. He smiles and grabs my waist and kisses me. He tries to make it deeper but I'm not into it. Not tonight... it's been a long day and the last thing I want to do is go at it in the kitchen right now.
He clearly wants this to happen, because he grabs my ass and starts to move my towel up my leg. "I don't- stop." I say and put my hand on his chest.
He laughs and bites his lip, "yeah? That's how we're gonna do this?" He asks and kisses my neck aggressively.
I push him away again, "Aaron. Stop, I don't want to have sex." I say and he gets angry for some reason. I've told him no before and he's always been cool about it, but I literally watch a wave of anger come over his entire face.
"I don't do it for you now? Is that it?" He hisses. I'm very confused and he keeps rambling about it.
"Stop!! What are you even talking about?! I just- I'm not in the mood!" I yell and he grabs my towel and snatches it away from my body.
"AARON!" I yell and try to grab it back. He keeps it out of my reach and shakes his head.
"I know you fucked her. You're such a slut." He says through clenched teeth.
"Excuse me? Give me the fucking towel and stop being an asshole." I say and he points to my thigh and I see what he's talking about.
"Who gave you that hickey?" He asks and I shake my head and grab my towel.
He looks at me and puts his hand around my neck and grips me tightly, "who?!" He yells.
I swallow hard and my heart starts pounding.
"I ran into something. You're such a douche sometimes, Aaron." I say, pushing his hand off of my neck and wrapping myself back up.
I start to walk away but I can't even do that because I'm shoved into the dining table. I hit the table pretty hard and fall to the floor. After it registers with me what just happened I sit there and look up at him slowly. I shake my head and get up, running to the bedroom to get dressed. I waste no time in packing a few extra things and grabbing my keys.
Of course, when I come out of the bedroom he's there telling me to stay here.
"Screw you. I'm leaving." I yell and run out.
I leave the house and go to a friend's house for the night. He's never done that before and it isn't okay.