THE STORM
MEL
Taylor and Mel walked into their third session with Pastor Derek Bradley hand-in-hand. The week since their last session had been great. They didn't fight, they communicated, they both felt better about where things were going. They were strong, they were confident, and they were ready to take on the world.
So why did Pastor Bradley seem to be so odd when they walked in?
Derek cleared his throat. "Hello, Mel. Taylor. How did your week go?"
Tay and Mel smiled at each other. "It's been a really good week," Mel answered. "I think we're learning a lot about ourselves and each other--our communicating is improving a lot. You know, if you'd have asked me before I would have told you that you were out of your mind suggesting counseling for us, but the truth is, you never stop learning about each other."
Derek sat back in his chair and nodded. "Good. That's really good to hear. So, uh, no conflict over the best friend and that whole situation, then? Surely that came up, something like that just doesn't go away."
Mel and Tay stared hard at Derek. He had gone straight for the jugular. Didn't waste any time. "We dealt with it," Tay answered curtly. "On our own. Together."
"Mel, how have you felt this week, since you ended your friendship with Jason?"
Tay straightened up in his seat. "I SAID we dealt with it. We ARE dealing with it, it's fine."
"Please, let her answer," Derek said calmly.
Mel swallowed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Um, Tay's right...I guess..."
"You guess..." Derek prodded.
"Yeah. I guess. I mean, of course it's difficult. I miss him. But it was for the best and Tay and I had a really good week. I have faith that this will have turned out to be really good for us."
"Faith, huh? Interesting choice of words..."
Tay and Mel glanced at each other. Were they imagining it or did Derek seem a little off today?
"Which brings me to today's subject," he continued. "Faith. Putting Christ first. After all, He is the foundation of love. He embodies love, He IS love. Putting Christ first is the most important and most crucial element in a successful marriage. Mel, are you ready to put Christ first in your marriage? Are you willing to give your heart to Christ and let Him take precedence over Taylor and your marriage? Are you willing to allow Him to take direction over your relationship and lead you down the right paths to love and devotion? Are you ready to give yourself to Him in order to marry Taylor?"
The blood drained from Mel's face. She was still working on it. She had so many questions. She knew that in order to have the wedding she wanted, she would have to convert eventually, but she had no idea it would be sprung on her so quickly. She was hoping that merely exploring and learning would be enough to get her in the door. But this? Right now? Her heart pounded and her palms grew sweaty. Put someone else over Tay? A religion? A being? A spirit? She couldn't fathom putting anybody or anything before Tay. In her mind, it didn't sound fair because she didn't feel that way. In her mind, NOTHING should come before her marriage. Nothing. Maybe this was why she wasn't religious...
Her throat was dry. "Um...I'm working on it..."
"Well you managed to cast Satan out of your relationship, so that's a step in the right direction."
Mel's mouth dropped open. She was completely speechless. She had absolutely no response. Fortunately, Tay wasn't speechless. "Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"
"After meeting with the two of you in your last two sessions, it was clear to me that Jason was the Satan in your relationship. You see, Satan will do anything and everything in his power to prevent your relationship, and your marriage, from thriving. As long as Jason remained a threat--which he did--your relationship remained in imminent danger. Now that he's out of the picture, your relationship is now beginning to thrive again, and Christ is making his way back in."
Mel was crying, her feelings crushed. She knew that these counseling sessions were meant to bring out issues that may or may not have needed to be addressed, but she couldn't help but think that maybe this had gone a little too far. Through her tears, Mel stated, "Jason changed my life."
"Perhaps you only think he did," Derek said calmly. "But all his presence really only did was attempt to bring you down. It's the power of Christ that prevailed and got you through."
"What do YOU know?!" she said loudly all of a sudden. "You weren't there! If it weren't for Jason, I wouldn't be sitting here right now! I wouldn't be marrying Tay if it weren't for him. When I met Jason I was in a very, very dark place and he showed me the light. HE did--Jason! There was no Satan or Christ or whoever else you wanna throw into the mix. It was Jason. And I am NOT going to sit here and allow you to slander his good name like you're doing. I thought you were here to help us!"
Derek turned calmly to Tay. "Taylor, how do you feel about her reaction?"
Tay sat there, slouched in the chair, his ankle resting on his knee. He looked stone-faced at Derek, his finger tapping against his lips. "She's right. This time, she's right. And I WAS there. I respect that man for that very reason right there and I said from the beginning that I didn't agree with her ending her friendship with him. But I'm going to support her in any decision she makes. I have to back her up, here. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish right now, but you sure as hell better be going somewhere with it."
"To be frank, if there are still elements of Satan in your relationship, I don't see how your marriage will prevail. Unless you're willing to accept Christ into your heart. Right now."
Mel looked over at Tay in horror. He knew where she stood. He knew she was trying. He knew it wouldn't happen overnight but it seemed like Pastor Bradley wanted a commitment NOW? They still had three more sessions!
"Mel is on her own journey, looking for her own answers when it comes to religion and her acceptance of it," Tay said. "And I'm giving her all the time she needs to make it happen."
Derek sighed and sat back in his seat once more, an unusual frown on his face. "Over these past couple of weeks that I've seen the two of you, I've paid attention. I've taken notes. I've seen good things happen here. Normally this is something that doesn't come up until after the last session, but in this case, I just can't hold back. Right now, it appears to me that your relationship isn't strong enough to withstand a successful marriage. I think the two of you have quite a few issues that need to be dealt with before either one of you are ready to marry the other. Regretfully, I must let you know now that I cannot be the one who can marry the two of you. My apologies."
Mel wanted to be sick. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She had no idea what to do or say or where to go. What had happened? What had changed?
Suddenly, Tay stood from his seat and leaned against the desk. "You said just last week that it would be an honor to marry us. What the hell happened?"
"I'm sorry," Derek said. "I've reached my decision."
"We haven't even finished our sessions!"
Finally, Mel was livid. She jumped up from her chair and grabbed up her purse. "I knew it. I knew this whole thing was a crock of shit. Come on, Tay. We'll find someone who WILL marry us and they sure as hell won't be a goddamn religious authority."
As Mel stormed out of the office and into the parking lot, Tay wasn't far behind. As he approached, she turned around, devastated. "What the fuck do we do now, Tay? What the fuck are we supposed to do? A goddamn preacher won't even marry us! GOOD, Christian people won't even marry us! What are we even doing here?"
"It's okay," he said in an attempt to calm her down. "It's okay. We'll just get someone else to do it. We'll get a civil officiant, it's okay. We can still get married."
"That's not the point! I tried, Tay! I WANTED to do this! I WANTED a traditional wedding, I WANTED it to be right! I wanted to do this for you! I love you, Tay! And you love me! Why isn't that enough?"
"It IS enough--"
"So, then, why? Why have us come in there, tear us to shreds, make these last few weeks hell and then knock us down just as we were getting up? Does he do it for sport? Is this FUN for him? Who is he to decide whether we're ready to get married? We ARE ready to be married, otherwise we wouldn't be doing it!" Now beyond her own control, her rage taking over her body, she found herself shoving Tay backward. "Why didn't we get married at nineteen? Why didn't you propose? I would have said yes! We would be married with a family right now and we wouldn't be going through ANY of this shit! Jason wouldn't exist and Natalie wouldn't exist and we wouldn't have asshole pastors getting off on tearing us down! Why wouldn't you marry me all those years ago?" And then she collapsed into his chest in tears.
And there they were, back to square one.
---------------------------------------------------------------
TAYLOR
"I'm taking her out of here," Taylor said to Isaac and Zac as they watched him quickly click through his office computer.
"What do you mean, 'taking her out of here?' No, you're not," Isaac responded. "You're not taking her anywhere, we leave in three weeks."
"Only for a few days," Tay muttered. "We're taking July 4th off anyway, I'll tie it in there."
"Tay, we don't have time to be taking any trips right now," Ike continued.
"I am TAKING her!" Tay said, forcefully. "She is broken and she is defeated and I'm getting her out of this place for a couple of days. My relationship comes first. Mel comes first. Period."
"You can't just run away out of town every time things get rough," Zac chimed in.
"It's our relationship and we can do whatever we want."
"Yeah, but I'm not so sure you're thinking clearly this time--"
"It's not me that's not thinking clearly," Tay said. "It's Derek who's got his head up his ass."
"I just don't understand it," Ike said. "Nikki and I got through it just fine, with no problems at all..."
"Yeah, well, Nikki's not Mel."
"Do you think that if Mel were a Christian, this would have turned out differently?"
"No."
"So, what, you think Pastor Bradley has it out for her?" Zac asked.
Tay side-glanced at Zac. "He seemed extremely fixated on Jason."
"Maybe he's a fan."
"We never told him WHICH Jason."
"Look, I'm sorry, Tay," Ike said. "If it's any consolation, I think if anyone deserves to be married, it's you and Mel."
Tay straightened up from his computer and looked at Ike. "So why don't you get ordained and marry us?"
Ike looked slightly taken aback. "Uh, I'm your best man."
Tay then turned to Zac. "Zac?"
Zac looked back at him, wide-eyed. "Are you serious?"
"Why not? I could think of worse people to marry us."
"I think you're desperate right now," Zac said. "I am the last person who needs to marry anybody. Remember? Not so long ago..."
Tay rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah. I know. You're right. I just--I just don't understand why it has to be so hard, you know? He said we're not ready to get married. But dammit, we've been ready since before I could remember. Haven't we?"
"Is that all he said?" Ike asked.
"Well--basically--I guess. He said we have issues we need to work on and that our relationship isn't strong enough. How much stronger can it get? You've seen what we've been through--what we've overcome..."
"What you're still going through..." Zac finished.
Tay looked at him hard.
"Maybe you can find another pastor," Ike suggested.
"No," Tay answered. "Not even an option. Mel's already given it all up. Every single bit of it. If she didn't believe in God before, she sure as hell doesn't believe now. That bastard ruined it for her and if I didn't know any better, he'd have ruined it for me, too." He sighed and then he continued. "Look. We've gotten some good rehearsal time in, with some time left beforehand. We have our opener and all our instruments are here and working. I'm just going to take a few days and then I'll be back. This is important. She needs me."
Zac nodded. "Okay. Okay. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? We can't fault you for that."
Tay smiled at his brothers. "Thanks."
-------------
Mel and Taylor walked into their New York City condo together and they both smiled. Mel was happy to be there. Tay stopped in the living room and looked around. "You know, I can't remember the last time we were in this apartment together. You've lived here more than me."
"I love it here. Thank you for bringing me here. I can't believe you decided to do this so close to tour."
Tay grinned at her. "So what's on the agenda for tonight? You wanna go see a show? Grab a steak? Music in the park?"
Mel looked at him and shook her head. "I think I wanna stay in tonight."
He nodded. He was surprised, but he nodded. "Okay. No problem. We can stay in."
Mel was hurting. He knew it. He knew it and he hated it. It was one thing right after the other, from letting Jason go, to being rejected by the pastor, and everything else in between. He knew bringing her to New York would be the only solace she could take and he hoped the plan worked. He wanted more than anything for her to be happy again and he was determined to do everything he could to make it happen.
She surprised him when she approached him and kissed him. Normally when she was under stress, sex didn't happen. But the way her hands trailed over his body told him that she was definitely in the mood and he certainly wasn't in a position to object. She turned and walked toward their bedroom and he followed. She wasted no time removing her own clothing, never uttering a word. Without skipping a beat, she began to remove his clothes, as well, and he allowed it. Running her hands gently up his chest, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his as she kissed him once again. He instantly felt weak at the knees as her tongue entered his mouth and her soft skin was hot against his own. He groaned softly into her mouth as he was more and more turned on by the second.
Reaching his hand up to touch her face, he backed her up to the bed as he kissed her, gently laying her down as best he could without breaking their kiss. Kissing her was the only thing that made sense at the moment. It was almost as if, if he stopped kissing her, she might disappear from underneath him into thin air. It was desperation--desperation to love her. To keep her. His heart pounded. Why did this feel the way it did? Why was his heart so heavy as it beat against his chest?
Before he settled her onto her back, he turned her over onto her stomach. He swept her hair off her back and to the side before he gently kissed the back of her neck. Underneath him, he felt her body give way and she gripped the rungs at the head of the bed for support as she sighed her pleasure softly.
He gently kissed her neck, her back, and along her shoulders before running his hand softly and slowly down her body. When he reached her thigh, he tucked his hand underneath to signify what he wanted her to do. She parted her legs slightly and lifted her hips off the bed just high enough for him to enter her, which he did without hesitation. Once inside her, she closed her legs again and he let out a sigh of his own with the first easy thrust inside her, letting his forehead collapse onto the back of her shoulder to relish in the way she felt.
Slowly and carefully, he made love to her. After several minutes, her sighs turned into whimpers and then her whimpers turned into moans. He could feel her body heave as she breathed heavily underneath him and he got to the point where he needed to grip one of the rungs of the bed above her head himself to keep himself steady.
Then it was like a switch flipped in him. He had no idea how or why, no rhyme or reason, but he suddenly got angry. He would have been concerned for himself if he hadn't been in the moment, but this sudden mood swing got the better of him. Reaching a hand down and lifting her hips higher off the bed, he started to thrust into her harder, deliberate, with more force and more purpose.
It was when he felt himself bottoming out in her when her tone of voice began to change and she began to say his name. She whipped her head around to look behind her and she winced as she said his name. "Tay. Tay! Tay, slow down."
But he couldn't. The more she begged, the harder he went. He couldn't stop himself and flashes from a night in her bedroom when they were seventeen started to race through his mind, as if it happened yesterday. As if it was happening right now. She had begged just like this when they were teenagers and he couldn't stop. Just like he couldn't now.
Her voice grew more strained as he fucked her. "Tay, STOP!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, he came. His heart raced and his face and chest poured with sweat. His body collapsed against her as he closed his eyes and caught his breath. But he didn't stay there long.
Bucking him off of her from underneath him, Mel quickly wriggled out from under him and jerked the comforter over her body to cover herself up--to hide herself from him. She looked at him like a deer in headlights and he helplessly looked back at her as he continued to catch his breath. He could feel the savage look in his eyes and he didn't know how to shake the way he felt right then. He didn't feel like himself. Something was off. Why did it feel this way?
Suddenly, she darted off the bed, dressed herself in record time and left the bedroom. Within seconds he heard the slamming of the guest room door from the other end of the apartment.
"Shit!" He cursed himself as he slammed his fist into a pillow underneath him.
He didn't see her for the rest of the night, but not for a lack of trying. She had locked the guest room door.
MEL
Taylor and Mel walked into their third session with Pastor Derek Bradley hand-in-hand. The week since their last session had been great. They didn't fight, they communicated, they both felt better about where things were going. They were strong, they were confident, and they were ready to take on the world.
So why did Pastor Bradley seem to be so odd when they walked in?
Derek cleared his throat. "Hello, Mel. Taylor. How did your week go?"
Tay and Mel smiled at each other. "It's been a really good week," Mel answered. "I think we're learning a lot about ourselves and each other--our communicating is improving a lot. You know, if you'd have asked me before I would have told you that you were out of your mind suggesting counseling for us, but the truth is, you never stop learning about each other."
Derek sat back in his chair and nodded. "Good. That's really good to hear. So, uh, no conflict over the best friend and that whole situation, then? Surely that came up, something like that just doesn't go away."
Mel and Tay stared hard at Derek. He had gone straight for the jugular. Didn't waste any time. "We dealt with it," Tay answered curtly. "On our own. Together."
"Mel, how have you felt this week, since you ended your friendship with Jason?"
Tay straightened up in his seat. "I SAID we dealt with it. We ARE dealing with it, it's fine."
"Please, let her answer," Derek said calmly.
Mel swallowed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Um, Tay's right...I guess..."
"You guess..." Derek prodded.
"Yeah. I guess. I mean, of course it's difficult. I miss him. But it was for the best and Tay and I had a really good week. I have faith that this will have turned out to be really good for us."
"Faith, huh? Interesting choice of words..."
Tay and Mel glanced at each other. Were they imagining it or did Derek seem a little off today?
"Which brings me to today's subject," he continued. "Faith. Putting Christ first. After all, He is the foundation of love. He embodies love, He IS love. Putting Christ first is the most important and most crucial element in a successful marriage. Mel, are you ready to put Christ first in your marriage? Are you willing to give your heart to Christ and let Him take precedence over Taylor and your marriage? Are you willing to allow Him to take direction over your relationship and lead you down the right paths to love and devotion? Are you ready to give yourself to Him in order to marry Taylor?"
The blood drained from Mel's face. She was still working on it. She had so many questions. She knew that in order to have the wedding she wanted, she would have to convert eventually, but she had no idea it would be sprung on her so quickly. She was hoping that merely exploring and learning would be enough to get her in the door. But this? Right now? Her heart pounded and her palms grew sweaty. Put someone else over Tay? A religion? A being? A spirit? She couldn't fathom putting anybody or anything before Tay. In her mind, it didn't sound fair because she didn't feel that way. In her mind, NOTHING should come before her marriage. Nothing. Maybe this was why she wasn't religious...
Her throat was dry. "Um...I'm working on it..."
"Well you managed to cast Satan out of your relationship, so that's a step in the right direction."
Mel's mouth dropped open. She was completely speechless. She had absolutely no response. Fortunately, Tay wasn't speechless. "Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"
"After meeting with the two of you in your last two sessions, it was clear to me that Jason was the Satan in your relationship. You see, Satan will do anything and everything in his power to prevent your relationship, and your marriage, from thriving. As long as Jason remained a threat--which he did--your relationship remained in imminent danger. Now that he's out of the picture, your relationship is now beginning to thrive again, and Christ is making his way back in."
Mel was crying, her feelings crushed. She knew that these counseling sessions were meant to bring out issues that may or may not have needed to be addressed, but she couldn't help but think that maybe this had gone a little too far. Through her tears, Mel stated, "Jason changed my life."
"Perhaps you only think he did," Derek said calmly. "But all his presence really only did was attempt to bring you down. It's the power of Christ that prevailed and got you through."
"What do YOU know?!" she said loudly all of a sudden. "You weren't there! If it weren't for Jason, I wouldn't be sitting here right now! I wouldn't be marrying Tay if it weren't for him. When I met Jason I was in a very, very dark place and he showed me the light. HE did--Jason! There was no Satan or Christ or whoever else you wanna throw into the mix. It was Jason. And I am NOT going to sit here and allow you to slander his good name like you're doing. I thought you were here to help us!"
Derek turned calmly to Tay. "Taylor, how do you feel about her reaction?"
Tay sat there, slouched in the chair, his ankle resting on his knee. He looked stone-faced at Derek, his finger tapping against his lips. "She's right. This time, she's right. And I WAS there. I respect that man for that very reason right there and I said from the beginning that I didn't agree with her ending her friendship with him. But I'm going to support her in any decision she makes. I have to back her up, here. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish right now, but you sure as hell better be going somewhere with it."
"To be frank, if there are still elements of Satan in your relationship, I don't see how your marriage will prevail. Unless you're willing to accept Christ into your heart. Right now."
Mel looked over at Tay in horror. He knew where she stood. He knew she was trying. He knew it wouldn't happen overnight but it seemed like Pastor Bradley wanted a commitment NOW? They still had three more sessions!
"Mel is on her own journey, looking for her own answers when it comes to religion and her acceptance of it," Tay said. "And I'm giving her all the time she needs to make it happen."
Derek sighed and sat back in his seat once more, an unusual frown on his face. "Over these past couple of weeks that I've seen the two of you, I've paid attention. I've taken notes. I've seen good things happen here. Normally this is something that doesn't come up until after the last session, but in this case, I just can't hold back. Right now, it appears to me that your relationship isn't strong enough to withstand a successful marriage. I think the two of you have quite a few issues that need to be dealt with before either one of you are ready to marry the other. Regretfully, I must let you know now that I cannot be the one who can marry the two of you. My apologies."
Mel wanted to be sick. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She had no idea what to do or say or where to go. What had happened? What had changed?
Suddenly, Tay stood from his seat and leaned against the desk. "You said just last week that it would be an honor to marry us. What the hell happened?"
"I'm sorry," Derek said. "I've reached my decision."
"We haven't even finished our sessions!"
Finally, Mel was livid. She jumped up from her chair and grabbed up her purse. "I knew it. I knew this whole thing was a crock of shit. Come on, Tay. We'll find someone who WILL marry us and they sure as hell won't be a goddamn religious authority."
As Mel stormed out of the office and into the parking lot, Tay wasn't far behind. As he approached, she turned around, devastated. "What the fuck do we do now, Tay? What the fuck are we supposed to do? A goddamn preacher won't even marry us! GOOD, Christian people won't even marry us! What are we even doing here?"
"It's okay," he said in an attempt to calm her down. "It's okay. We'll just get someone else to do it. We'll get a civil officiant, it's okay. We can still get married."
"That's not the point! I tried, Tay! I WANTED to do this! I WANTED a traditional wedding, I WANTED it to be right! I wanted to do this for you! I love you, Tay! And you love me! Why isn't that enough?"
"It IS enough--"
"So, then, why? Why have us come in there, tear us to shreds, make these last few weeks hell and then knock us down just as we were getting up? Does he do it for sport? Is this FUN for him? Who is he to decide whether we're ready to get married? We ARE ready to be married, otherwise we wouldn't be doing it!" Now beyond her own control, her rage taking over her body, she found herself shoving Tay backward. "Why didn't we get married at nineteen? Why didn't you propose? I would have said yes! We would be married with a family right now and we wouldn't be going through ANY of this shit! Jason wouldn't exist and Natalie wouldn't exist and we wouldn't have asshole pastors getting off on tearing us down! Why wouldn't you marry me all those years ago?" And then she collapsed into his chest in tears.
And there they were, back to square one.
---------------------------------------------------------------
TAYLOR
"I'm taking her out of here," Taylor said to Isaac and Zac as they watched him quickly click through his office computer.
"What do you mean, 'taking her out of here?' No, you're not," Isaac responded. "You're not taking her anywhere, we leave in three weeks."
"Only for a few days," Tay muttered. "We're taking July 4th off anyway, I'll tie it in there."
"Tay, we don't have time to be taking any trips right now," Ike continued.
"I am TAKING her!" Tay said, forcefully. "She is broken and she is defeated and I'm getting her out of this place for a couple of days. My relationship comes first. Mel comes first. Period."
"You can't just run away out of town every time things get rough," Zac chimed in.
"It's our relationship and we can do whatever we want."
"Yeah, but I'm not so sure you're thinking clearly this time--"
"It's not me that's not thinking clearly," Tay said. "It's Derek who's got his head up his ass."
"I just don't understand it," Ike said. "Nikki and I got through it just fine, with no problems at all..."
"Yeah, well, Nikki's not Mel."
"Do you think that if Mel were a Christian, this would have turned out differently?"
"No."
"So, what, you think Pastor Bradley has it out for her?" Zac asked.
Tay side-glanced at Zac. "He seemed extremely fixated on Jason."
"Maybe he's a fan."
"We never told him WHICH Jason."
"Look, I'm sorry, Tay," Ike said. "If it's any consolation, I think if anyone deserves to be married, it's you and Mel."
Tay straightened up from his computer and looked at Ike. "So why don't you get ordained and marry us?"
Ike looked slightly taken aback. "Uh, I'm your best man."
Tay then turned to Zac. "Zac?"
Zac looked back at him, wide-eyed. "Are you serious?"
"Why not? I could think of worse people to marry us."
"I think you're desperate right now," Zac said. "I am the last person who needs to marry anybody. Remember? Not so long ago..."
Tay rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah. I know. You're right. I just--I just don't understand why it has to be so hard, you know? He said we're not ready to get married. But dammit, we've been ready since before I could remember. Haven't we?"
"Is that all he said?" Ike asked.
"Well--basically--I guess. He said we have issues we need to work on and that our relationship isn't strong enough. How much stronger can it get? You've seen what we've been through--what we've overcome..."
"What you're still going through..." Zac finished.
Tay looked at him hard.
"Maybe you can find another pastor," Ike suggested.
"No," Tay answered. "Not even an option. Mel's already given it all up. Every single bit of it. If she didn't believe in God before, she sure as hell doesn't believe now. That bastard ruined it for her and if I didn't know any better, he'd have ruined it for me, too." He sighed and then he continued. "Look. We've gotten some good rehearsal time in, with some time left beforehand. We have our opener and all our instruments are here and working. I'm just going to take a few days and then I'll be back. This is important. She needs me."
Zac nodded. "Okay. Okay. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? We can't fault you for that."
Tay smiled at his brothers. "Thanks."
-------------
Mel and Taylor walked into their New York City condo together and they both smiled. Mel was happy to be there. Tay stopped in the living room and looked around. "You know, I can't remember the last time we were in this apartment together. You've lived here more than me."
"I love it here. Thank you for bringing me here. I can't believe you decided to do this so close to tour."
Tay grinned at her. "So what's on the agenda for tonight? You wanna go see a show? Grab a steak? Music in the park?"
Mel looked at him and shook her head. "I think I wanna stay in tonight."
He nodded. He was surprised, but he nodded. "Okay. No problem. We can stay in."
Mel was hurting. He knew it. He knew it and he hated it. It was one thing right after the other, from letting Jason go, to being rejected by the pastor, and everything else in between. He knew bringing her to New York would be the only solace she could take and he hoped the plan worked. He wanted more than anything for her to be happy again and he was determined to do everything he could to make it happen.
She surprised him when she approached him and kissed him. Normally when she was under stress, sex didn't happen. But the way her hands trailed over his body told him that she was definitely in the mood and he certainly wasn't in a position to object. She turned and walked toward their bedroom and he followed. She wasted no time removing her own clothing, never uttering a word. Without skipping a beat, she began to remove his clothes, as well, and he allowed it. Running her hands gently up his chest, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his as she kissed him once again. He instantly felt weak at the knees as her tongue entered his mouth and her soft skin was hot against his own. He groaned softly into her mouth as he was more and more turned on by the second.
Reaching his hand up to touch her face, he backed her up to the bed as he kissed her, gently laying her down as best he could without breaking their kiss. Kissing her was the only thing that made sense at the moment. It was almost as if, if he stopped kissing her, she might disappear from underneath him into thin air. It was desperation--desperation to love her. To keep her. His heart pounded. Why did this feel the way it did? Why was his heart so heavy as it beat against his chest?
Before he settled her onto her back, he turned her over onto her stomach. He swept her hair off her back and to the side before he gently kissed the back of her neck. Underneath him, he felt her body give way and she gripped the rungs at the head of the bed for support as she sighed her pleasure softly.
He gently kissed her neck, her back, and along her shoulders before running his hand softly and slowly down her body. When he reached her thigh, he tucked his hand underneath to signify what he wanted her to do. She parted her legs slightly and lifted her hips off the bed just high enough for him to enter her, which he did without hesitation. Once inside her, she closed her legs again and he let out a sigh of his own with the first easy thrust inside her, letting his forehead collapse onto the back of her shoulder to relish in the way she felt.
Slowly and carefully, he made love to her. After several minutes, her sighs turned into whimpers and then her whimpers turned into moans. He could feel her body heave as she breathed heavily underneath him and he got to the point where he needed to grip one of the rungs of the bed above her head himself to keep himself steady.
Then it was like a switch flipped in him. He had no idea how or why, no rhyme or reason, but he suddenly got angry. He would have been concerned for himself if he hadn't been in the moment, but this sudden mood swing got the better of him. Reaching a hand down and lifting her hips higher off the bed, he started to thrust into her harder, deliberate, with more force and more purpose.
It was when he felt himself bottoming out in her when her tone of voice began to change and she began to say his name. She whipped her head around to look behind her and she winced as she said his name. "Tay. Tay! Tay, slow down."
But he couldn't. The more she begged, the harder he went. He couldn't stop himself and flashes from a night in her bedroom when they were seventeen started to race through his mind, as if it happened yesterday. As if it was happening right now. She had begged just like this when they were teenagers and he couldn't stop. Just like he couldn't now.
Her voice grew more strained as he fucked her. "Tay, STOP!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, he came. His heart raced and his face and chest poured with sweat. His body collapsed against her as he closed his eyes and caught his breath. But he didn't stay there long.
Bucking him off of her from underneath him, Mel quickly wriggled out from under him and jerked the comforter over her body to cover herself up--to hide herself from him. She looked at him like a deer in headlights and he helplessly looked back at her as he continued to catch his breath. He could feel the savage look in his eyes and he didn't know how to shake the way he felt right then. He didn't feel like himself. Something was off. Why did it feel this way?
Suddenly, she darted off the bed, dressed herself in record time and left the bedroom. Within seconds he heard the slamming of the guest room door from the other end of the apartment.
"Shit!" He cursed himself as he slammed his fist into a pillow underneath him.
He didn't see her for the rest of the night, but not for a lack of trying. She had locked the guest room door.