Peyton
I stepped in, dropped my bags and closed the door behind me. Looking into her beautiful, tear stained face, I was, both, happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I was where I wanted to be, inches away from my J. Sad because she was hurting and I couldn't take that pain away from her.
"Hey? You can't just say that so casually. Wh- what are you doing here?" She asked me as tears streamed down her face.
"You had a really bad day today. I didn't want to wait another day to see you, to kiss you, or to hold you and try to make it better." I responded, stepping closer to her. I wiped the trails of tears from both of her cheeks. I pulled her into me and gave her a sweet, lingering kiss before hugging her tightly. I could feel her body release the tension that she was holding. I could also feel my own tears welling up.
Her voice was barely a whisper in my ear. "You really shouldn't have, but I'm so glad you're here."
"There's no place I'd rather be." She lifted her head to look at me and kissed me again.
"Thank you" she barely got out before the tears began to pour again.
"Any time." I replied as we embraced again. I slowly rocked her and rubbed up and down her back. "Heeeey, it's okay. Let it out. I got you. I'm here."
We stood together for some time, clasping on to one another. "Hey," I pulled back from her, grabbed either side of her face and pulled her to me to kiss her forehead. "Let's go to your room. Get you some rest, yeah?" I asked her.
"Okay," she barely whispered.
We walked upstairs to her bedroom. She sat on her bed and I went into her bathroom to get a warm washcloth. As I came back, she was sitting against her headboard with her legs crossed, looking down and playing with her fingers. I knew that her mind was going a mile a minute. I sat next to her, tilted her face up by her chin, and locked eyes with her. She melted any resolve that I possessed. This woman was my whole heart and soul, and I was completely hers, yet she didn't even know it. I gently started to wipe her face with the cloth, careful not to be too rough with her.
"I've had the absolute honor and pleasure of following you throughout the years. You are resilient. You are fierce. You are one of the strongest people that I know. But you don't have to be strong right now. If you let me, I'll be that for you."
She held my other hand, interlocking our fingers as I continued. "I know you're hurting right now. And I can't say that I know how you feel because I don't. But I do know that you're going to get through this. I promise. It's going to take some time, but I will be right here. Okay?"
She didn't speak but nodded her head slowly. I tossed the washcloth on her nightstand and moved to the chair beside the bed.
"Have you eaten? Are you hungry?"
She shook her head and muttered "I'm not hungry."
I didn't want to push it, so I let it go. "You need anything?" She shook her head again.
"Okay, I need to take a shower and get this flight off of me. You gonna be up for a little bit?"
"You just spent the night flying across the country for me. The very least I could do is wait for you to take a shower," she managed a small smile.
"I promise not to take too long. I'll be back in a few." I got up, pecked her lips, and walked out of her room. I ran back downstairs to retrieve my bag and came back up to the guest room. I took out everything that I needed to shower and get comfortable for the night. I showered quickly, brushed my teeth, lotioned my body and threw on my t-shirt and pajama pants.
