UNCHANGEABLE - TIAOM

16

the sound of lips meeting and heavy breathing fills the room.

kim and pie were exchanging kisses, their lips playing an old symphony only the two of them knew. they were kissing like nothing has changed between them, kissing like they never broke up.

kim thinks she should pull back, or that pie should pull back, but the latter is kissing her over and over, ravishing and sucking her lips like those are the only thing she wanted all this time.

and kim loves the feeling of pie's lips against hers. she knows this isn't right but she can't stop herself from kissing the other woman back.

rationality is long gone by the time pie moves above to straddle kim. they kissed and kissed more as kim wraps an arm around pie's waist, hugging the woman closer.

this prompts pie to place her arms around kim's shoulder, pushing the latter to lean further against the couch.

that's when kim groans due to her injury.

"gosh. i'm sorry!" pie pulls back quickly in shock. "i'm sorry. i forgot!"

"i'm fine," says kim, wincing, massaging her shoulder. "don't worry. it doesn't hurt that much now like before."

"i'm sorry. i got carried awa--"

"one more sorry and i'll kiss you again."

pie stops and blushes. she presses her lips together and opts for tenderly stroking kim's shoulder with her hand instead.

kim silently takes in their position: how pie is still sitting on her lap, legs folded on either side of her legs. she touches pie's waist, making the latter look at her.

"do you have to go home tonight?"

pie's hand on kim's shoulder stops. she looks at kim and shakes her head.

"i'm supposed to be at work now."

"oh..." kim nods. "then, will you sleep with me tonight?"

pie blinks twice, her expression softening. she smiles and nods.

---

there are a lot of questions sitting at the back of her head now, waiting to be voiced out.

'what happened to you and peter last night? did you had sex? or were you not in the mood cos you're worrying about me?'

'does your husband know you didn't go to work tonight? will you tell him what happened to us?'

'what will happen to us after this? did we just cheat on him? are we back together now?'

but kim knows asking those questions would either make or break them. she's not ready for any of it yet, not sure of what to do about it yet. whichever path they take someone will surely get hurt--and kim knows she'll always be on the losing side.

so, she kept her mouth shut all throughout the night. pie's silence tells her the other woman is thinking of the same thing--trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

they hugged each other that night, basking into each other's warmth. there were no kisses, no sensual touches, not even flirty talks. they were just simply hugging each other--their mouths kept shut.

the night went deep and pie eventually fell asleep. kim is stroking pie's hair, listening to her breathing. she noticed the black eye bags under the other woman's eyes. pie must be tired.

kim protectively holds pie in her arms. the absence of the voices in her head puts her to sleep in minutes.

tomorrow it'll be different. tomorrow they will go back to their normal lives--they will go back to how they treat each other.