Do you remember the taste of my lips that night I stole a bit of my mother's perfume? Cause I remember when my father put his fist through the wall that separated the dining room.
"You smell amazing, like roses. You're just as beautiful as them, too," Tay whispered, her warm breath tickling Jenna's soft skin. The blonde's lips were still tingling from their heated kisses. Her girlfriend's delicate lips pressed against her own were the perfect distraction.
"Thanks," Jenna replied, feeling her cheeks grow warm. The lights were off in Tay's room. The darkness prevented the brunette from noticing her reddening face, and Jenna was thankful for that.
"New perfume?"
The blonde nodded hesitantly.
Technically, it wasn't a new perfume, and it wasn't even hers, it was her mother's. She found the fragrance while in her parents' room earlier that day, it was sitting on top of the nightstand beside the bed. She picked it up before removing the cap and spraying some in the air, immediately recognizing the smell. She smiled, breathing in the sweet, familiar scent that she had grown to love. After spraying it the air, she couldn't help but spray a bit on herself, hoping she'd smell as good as her mother did whenever she wore it.
Her mother used to wear that perfume every day. According to her parents, it was the perfume she wore they first met. Her father always said that if her mother hadn't worn it, he probably wouldn't have gone up to her, mentioned how beautiful she smelt and started a conversation with her. Their whole relationship - it all started with that perfume.
Crazy how something as simple as a fragrance could cause two people to fall in love. Crazy but beautiful.
But over the past couple of months, things had changed. There was something wrong. Now her parents fought almost every day, and her mother stopped wearing that perfume. Now she came home to frustrated sighs, yelling, and petty arguments. It was as if a switch had flipped and turned everything upside down. Nothing was okay anymore. Some nights, she stayed up late and wondered if their love would ever be repaired. She hoped so but she doubted it.
About a half an hour earlier, she woke up startled when she heard the front door slam. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she hesitantly got out of bed and crept down the stairs to see what was going on. Before she even reached the last step, she heard a loud smash, like something had hit a wall then shattered into pieces.
She was scared, to say the least.
She didn't spend any more time wondering what was going on. Instead, she rushed back up the stairs and back into her room, shutting and locking the door before slipping on a pair of shoes. The next thing she knew, she was climbing out the bedroom window and making her way across the street to her girlfriend's house. At that moment, the only desire she had was to be held in her girlfriend's arms - the only place she truly felt safe.
Tay was a bit alarmed when Jenna came knocking on her bedroom window at a quarter to midnight but she didn't question it. She could sense that she needed comfort, and she didn't care what time it was, she was going to provide it. The longer Jenna stayed, the more obvious it became that something was bothering her. Tay wasn't sure what it was until she finally decided to ask.
"Are you okay?" Tay asked Jenna, pulling her out of her thoughts when she raised a hand to push a few strands of her blonde hair out of her face. "What's wrong?"
"They keep fighting, Tay, and they won't stop," Jenna spoke, her voice cracking. "I don't even know why. I don't understand." The tears welled up and the blonde looked away as a couple fell down her cheek. She felt pathetic; she didn't want her girlfriend to see her cry. "I'm s-sorry..."
The brunette shook her head and dropped her hands down to her waist, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Shh, baby, it's okay. It's okay. You have nothing to apologize for."
Jenna buried her head into Tay's chest, allowing her girlfriend to comfort her as she let out quiet sobs.
She hated this. All the fighting was too much for her to handle. She was hurting just as much as they were, why couldn't her parents see that? They were so caught up in their own problems that they were oblivious to the pain they were causing their own daughter.
"I just want things to be okay. I want them to love each other like they used to," Jenna spoke softly, lifting her head and resting it on the brunette's shoulder.
"Things will get better, I promise. It'll just take some time."
"But what if they don't?"
"If they don't, I'll be here for you," Tay promised her, lifting her head up and looking into her eyes as she spoke. "I'll be right here, ready to hug you and hold you and kiss you until all the pain goes away. I will always be here for you because you are very important to me. Never forget that."
Jenna nodded, sniffing a bit. "I won't, I promise."
"Good," Tay replied, smiling softly.
"I love you so much, Taylor Jardine."
"I love you, too, beautiful."
