Life as I Know It

Chapter 30: An Update.

A/N: Ok so as you all probably know, it's been a crazy time with everything going on. With coronavirus pandemic and everything shutting down and slowly reopening, me losing my job to gaining it back, also gained an internship, on the positive side. 

On a more personal side, the Black Lives Matter movement has been transcending ever since the tragic murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, and countless other black souls whose lives have been ripped away by police brutality. It's been such a revealing, eye-opening, educational, spiritual, touching moment in time right now, that it sometimes has me analyzing how I see myself as a Black woman in America. While I can't force anyone to change their views on black/POC, I would hope that they do because this world is too big for simple, mean-spirited, evil people. That being said, if you do have these views, just unfollow or block me. I don't need your vitriol on my platform. 

Also, Happy Pride Month to the lovely LGBTQIA+ souls all around the world. Even though I'm straight and identify as a cisgender woman, just know that I'm here for you and you are welcome and loved. 

Anyway, back to writing this story. I'm going to fast-forward a bit to a year later in Life-As I-Know-It-land. One reason is that I don't have any more drafts written before this year, and another reason is that I think it'll be more fun for the story to move forward. 

TW: sex, body scars, body image (I don't know if that counts as a TW but I just wanted to make sure.)

A year later

A lot had changed within the year. I graduated from school with a BA in Communications, and now working on my MA in Marketing and Digital Strategies. I had a good job with a digital website and magazine. I still lived with my mother, but Edward and I were talking about moving in together. We were still apartment-shopping, even looking outside of Washington. Maybe someplace near my dad in Texas, or in Southern California with my sister (far away from her, though!). Who knew what would happen? But we were excited to find out.

We were also wondering when we'd take that step further into our physical relationship. Edward had seen my premature-baby-scars on my arms and stomach, but I was still nervous about what would happen if we went all the way with them on. Would he still love me the way I am? Or would everything change? Would he like what he saw?

One night after a concert, we'd rented a hotel room for the night, and for reasons I couldn't explain, I'd felt it was the right time for us. There I was, standing with only a T-shirt and wet hair from the shower, braided loosely. It didn't matter. It'd be taken off soon enough.

My body started to shake, but it was mostly excited and not nervous. I slowly turned off the light and opened the bathroom door, shaking off the rest of my nerves. Edward was shirtless, buried under the white covers on the bed. The TV was on low volume, but he wasn't really watching it. He looked over to me and smiled. "Hey, whatcha doing over there?"

I giggled, "Nothing. Just hanging."

"You could hang here too. I don't bite." He smirked and pushed the side of the covers for me to sit.

I slowly peeled myself off the bathroom wall and climbed into bed next to my boyfriend. I snuggled into his chest, and his arms came around me. After a few minutes, the air in the room felt a little warm, not in temperature but in feeling. My fingers had a mind of their own, crawling up his chest and around his neck. He looked down into my eyes, and I kissed him before he could say anything. He wrapped around me tighter, rolling me around deeper into the covers. The TV burned in the background as our breaths became heavier with each kiss.

Edward lifted up above me and looked into my eyes for a while. I nodded, and he smiled a bit before making sure. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, my fingers playing with the back of his head. He stretched over to the bedside table drawer and pulled out a condom. I sat up on his lap and took it out of his hands, my hands shaking a little as I tore open the wrapper. I felt him lift my chin up, and the wrapper fell from my hands. "sorry..."