Lost Without Each Other

[Taylor’s POV]

“Oh, no, no, no, Natalie,” I said to her as she pushed past me and into the house, “you made your bed, and now you have to lay in it.”

“I made my bed?” she yelled at me, turning to face me, “I made my bed?” she shouted it again as if I didn’t hear her the first time.

“You’re the one sleeping with that whore! How is that my fault?!”

I took a step back and took a deep breath to settle myself before I spoke to her, “You watch your mouth when talking about her.” I looked over at LorrieBeth, giving her an apologetic expression.

I can’t believe what Natalie just called her. “She is not a whore, Natalie. She was there for me and the kids while you were out getting high.” I shot at her in hushed tones, hoping the children wouldn’t wake up. They didn’t know about their mother’s drug addiction.

She sauntered over to me, swaying her hips in my direction and wrapped her arms around my neck, “But, Tay, baby, I’m sober now,” she leaned in close to me, her lips inches from my own before she looked past me to LorrieBeth, “and I want my husband back.” She said with a condescending tone in her voice. She turned her face back to me, and pulled me down to her, violently kissing me. She tried to shove her tongue into my mouth.

I pushed her off of me, and stepped away. I shook my head and wiped my mouth, trying to get her taste off of my lips. I reached for LorrieBeth, and she came to me. I put my arm around her waist, resting my hand on her hip. She mimicked my position, resting her own hand on my hip. She gently rubbed her hand in a circle, trying to comfort me with the gesture.

“No, Natalie.”

A confused expression played on her features that looked slightly aged from her aggressive drug abuse, “What do you mean no?”

I concentrated on LorrieBeth’s hand on my hip, drawing strength from her touch, “I mean no. I don’t want to be with you. I want to be with LorrieBeth.” I patted LorrieBeth’s hip, trying to let her know that I really did mean that. I stopped loving Natalie a long time ago. My heart belonged to the woman my arm was wrapped around now.

Natalie’s expression went from confused to angry in a split second, and it actually made her look ugly, “You haven’t seen the last of me, bitch.” She said to LorrieBeth as she walked over to the door, “and you, “she looked at me, “will want some of this sooner or later.” She said in a husky tone, making a point to show off her ass. At one point in my life, the sight of her rear end would have turned me on, but now it slightly disgusted me. I cursed under my breath and looked at my bare feet.

Without another word, Natalie slammed the door on her way out.

I turned to LorrieBeth and buried my face in her neck, nuzzling into her, and breathing her in. She wrapped both of her arms around my waist and held me gently.

“I am so sorry,” I whispered to her, “I don’t know why she’s doing this.”

She tightened her grip around my waist, “I wonder if it has anything to do with our Ellen appearance.”

“I don’t know. I just… I don’t know.”

“I love you, Tay.” She clung to me tightly.

“Oh, sweetie, I love you too. Always remember that, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, her voice cracking. I tilted her face up to look at me, “Why are you crying, my love?” I asked tenderly, wiping the tears from her face.

“I know you love me, but I’m still afraid that you’ll want her again. She’s the mother of your children, Taylor. Even though you don’t want to admit it, there is still a bond there. It’s a special kind of a bond that can never be broken. I’m worried that deep down, you still love her a little.” She slumped in my arms and began to sob quietly.

I didn’t know what to say or do, so I just held on to her and let her cry. I smoothed her hair with my hand as I clutched her small body to my chest. We stood like that for a long while. When her tears finally slowed and came to a stop, she pulled away from me.

I pressed my forehead to her own and stared at her, pouring my soul into her through our gazes, “LorrieBeth, I can’t promise that we will be together forever, but I can promise that right now… in this moment… I love you more than anyone else on this earth. I promise you that in this moment, I want to be with you forever. I am willing to do anything in my power to make that happen. I don’t like seeing you cry, and I’ll be damned if I let Natalie hurt you.”

She smiled tenderly up at me. It was the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. She closed her eyes, and I closed mine as we leaned into each other and our lips touched softly.