The Girl Next Door Ch. 02

I kissed down her breasts and licked along the inside and outside curves of them. I licked around her right nipple, then flicked it with my tongue and sucked on it. I did the same to her left nipple, and then kissed my way down her stomach. I moved down to lick the area behind both of her knees, and then licked back up the insides of her thighs. I licked along the folds and then licked around the outside of her pussy. I stuck my tongue inside of her and began moving it in and out. She put her hands on the back of my head and pushed down as if she was trying to push my entire face inside of her. I moved up to work on her clit. While I was licking her clit she began making the cutest little moans, they turned me on even more. I sucked on her clit until she came, screaming out my name. I licked, ate, and sucked her until it became too much for her. I held her while she calmed down and kissed her cheek and neck. She kind of dozed off after that, so I turned on my side and began to fall asleep too. A little later I felt her snuggling up to my back. She put her arm around my waist and I could feel her breath on the back of my neck. I felt safe and happy lying there in her embrace, two things I hadn't felt in a long time. Feeling content and secure, I started falling asleep, but then I heard Ashley's voice faintly.

"Lauren," she said very low, "I love you."

My eyes shot open and I wasn't able to say anything back. She snuggled closer and I pretended to be asleep. She fell asleep soon after but I wasn't able to fall asleep for hours. I wanted to tell her that I loved her back, but I wasn't sure how I felt yet. I could tell how much she meant it too, and that she really felt that for me. I knew I liked her and I cared about her a lot, but I didn't want to tell her anything that wasn't true. I knew how bad it hurt me when I found out Katie hadn't meant it. And I didn't want to hurt Ashley.

The next morning I woke up and Ashley was still asleep. I put on some sweatpants and a tank top and went into the kitchen to make some breakfast. I made some eggs, bacon and coffee for Ashley. I put it on a tray and went into the bedroom. I sat the tray down beside the bed and then sat down beside Ashley.

"Ashley. Hey Ash," I said trying to wake her up.

She turned a little bit and brushed me off. I shook her and said her name a few more times. She finally opened her eyes slowly and looked up at me.

She smiled and said, "Hey."

"Good morning," I smiled back. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I slept great with you here."

I smiled and then pulled the tray up. "I made you some breakfast, I hope it's ok. Oh, and here's the sugar and cream, I wasn't sure how you liked your coffee made, so I just brought them both in here."

"Oh my gosh, you are so sweet. Thank you Lauren," she said, kissing me on the cheek. "Are you not eating?"

"No, I might eat some cereal or something later."

"Aww, are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Mmm, you're so cute," she said, then kissed me on the forehead.

I laughed and leaned my head on her shoulder, falling asleep shortly after.

Our relationship progressed and it only got better and better. I was finally happy again and was starting to forget about Katie. But something kept holding me back from giving myself to Ashley completely. I don't know if it was fear of being hurt again or if I hadn't been able to let go of Katie completely yet.

One night Ashley and I were watching a movie on my sofa. She was sitting up, and I was leaning my back against her side and her arm was wrapped around me. There was a knock on the door. Ashley and I looked at each other because we weren't expecting anyone. I got up and went to the door. Opened it...

"Katie," I said under my breath, in shock.

"Hey," Katie said smiling. After a brief moment she walked up to me, hugged me and said, "It's good to see you."

I slowly hugged her back and tried to wrap my mind around seeing her again. She slowly backed away from me and stared up at me. I didn't realize what the expression on her face was at first, but then I figured it out.

"She's-" Katie started.

I turned around and looked at Ashley, then back at Katie. "She's, um, she's my girlfriend."

Katie shook her head and just said, "Oh."

"Katie, I didn't know if you were coming back or anything."

"Yeah, I know, I know. I just-" she paused, "I should go. I'm sorry I bothered you."

She turned to leave and I walked out after her, "Wait, don't go."

She smiled awkwardly and said, "I can't stay here. You're obviously in a much different place now. I'm sure a better one."

"But I want to talk to you. I want to know where you went, what you did, how you are Katie. I mean – how are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm - definitely fine."

"Well where have you been? And, why didn't you ever call?"

Katie sighed and said, "I went to see my mother, and stay with her for a while."

"Oh, how is she?"

Katie just looked at me and shook her head, then just looked down at the ground.

"Oh man, Katie, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, but I was fine. It's just that – I don't know what to do now," she sarcastically chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"I only had two people in the world. One's gone and now, so is the other."

"I'm not gone Katie, I'm still here for you. I'll always be your friend."

She smiled quickly and said, "Sure." She turned to walk away again and I called after her.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know."

Talk about déjà vu, "If you need anything, please, don't hesitate to call me or come by."

She said, "Okay," and continued walking.

I think it hurt more seeing her walk away the second time. At least the first time I thought I would talk to her again. This time I wasn't so sure.

I walked back into my apartment to see Ashley staring at me. I shut the door and walked towards her, head down, hands in my pockets.

"Katie?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She put her hand underneath my chin and lifted my face up, "Why are you looking down? You didn't do anything wrong."

"That was just an awkward moment that I – never expected to happen."

"But you didn't plan it." She rubbed my face for a moment and then said, "Lauren, I'm going to have to break up with you."

"What!?" How bad could my luck be in one day?

"It's not because I want to, I just know it'd be for the best."

"The best for who?" I asked, placing my hands on her waist.

"You." She looked down, "Me."

"I don't understand, I thought we were doing good."

"No, we were babe, but," she paused, "I can't compete."

"Compete with what?"

"Her."

"Katie?

"Yeah. I know how much you love her Lauren. I can see it."

"That was a long time ago, I'm with you now."

"Look at me and tell me that you love me more than Katie."

"I love you more-"

Ashley interrupted me by grabbing the collar of my shirt lightly. She looked at me with tears starting to form in her eyes and said, "Please don't lie to me."

"I love-" I began, then looked down. I looked back up at her and said, "I'm sorry."

She just shook her head up and down as if she saw it coming all along. She went to get her jacket and purse and starting walking toward the door.

"I never meant for this to happen Ashley."

She smiled at me through her tears and said, "I know."

"You said that you wouldn't break my heart. I'm just sorry that I didn't promise you the same thing. I never wanted to hurt you."

She shook her head no and said, "It's better this way. I would have gotten hurt more if we kept dating and you always had her in the back of your mind." I looked down and she rubbed my face again, "I'll be okay Lauren. And so will you."

I chuckled and said "I hope so."

She kissed my cheek slowly and then said "You will."

She turned and walked out of the door. I was alone. Again.

For the few weeks I felt like half of myself. I wanted to see Katie again, but then I felt like I shouldn't have let Ashley go. When I would see Ashley at work, it was just like before we knew each other, before she asked me out. We greeted each other and would say bye at the end of the day, but that was the extent of our relationship. Not even sure I could call that a relationship. But I guess she was right to break up with me. I was still in love with Katie and seeing her just brought it all back.

One night I had just gotten in from work and was putting my things away. I had walked into the kitchen looking for something to eat and had just decided to order a pizza. Right as I picked up the phone there was a knock at the door. I put the phone down and went to the door. It was Katie again.

"Hey," I said opening the door.

"Hey," she said, looking at the ground.

"Um, please, come in." Katie walked in and we just stood in silence in front of each other for a while. "I wasn't sure if I was going to see you again."

"Yeah, I wasn't quite sure if I was going to come back."

"Oh."

"I was just so surprised you were dating someone else already."

"Already? It's been almost a year Katie. I waited as long as I could."

"Well it just seems like you didn't care that much if you got involved with someone else so quickly."

"I didn't care that much!?" I said, starting to get angry. "I never stopped thinking about you Katie! I forced myself to start dating so that I could stop thinking about you. And I think that it was you who didn't care that much – you never called or anything to let me know how you were doing!"

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to have a chat with you while I was taking care of my sick mother! Thanks for taking that into consideration Lauren."

"You didn't even call to let me know how she was doing! I would have been there for you. I would have come to be with you."

"I didn't need anyone with me, that was the whole point of me leaving, remember? To be able to do stuff alone."

"Well you're back here now, so it kind of seems like you did need me. Or at least you need me now."

"I don't need you. I found out that I can do fine all by myself. I came back because I wanted – I thought, I wanted to be with you. But now I know that you've found someone else, so none of that really matters anymore."

"What – Katie, what was I supposed to do!? Just keep waiting for you?"

"Yes! You were supposed to wait-" she paused, and lowered her voice. "I wanted you to wait for me. And I know it's probably stupid, but, I really thought that you would have. I'm sorry."

Katie turned and walked toward the door. I walked up behind her and hugged her from behind.

"I'm still in love with you. I never stopped loving you," I whispered in her ear.

She turned around to face me. "What about your girlfriend?"

"It's over."

"Oh, wow."

"I don't know how you feel about me or if you need me or not, but I need you."

She kissed me, then said "I lied. I need you too." We looked into each others' eyes for a moment, then she said "I love you."

I smiled and kissed her again. We continued making out for I don't know how long. We got to the sofa and clothes started to come off. As she was on top of me I rubbed my hands along her naked back. It felt so incredible to feel her again. All of these memories rushed back to me. I hadn't realized just how much I had missed the softness of her skin, the smell of her hair, the curve of her shoulder, the tenderness of her touch. It all felt so good, but I had never felt so vulnerable before either. She could leave me again, I could be devastated again. But the love I felt for her was so consuming and overwhelming, I couldn't think of anything past this perfect moment. Having an unknown future was almost exciting. I think it was the most incredible love I had ever made. We came at the same time, looking into each others' eyes the whole time the orgasms went through our bodies. We held onto each other so tightly, I felt like I was never going to let go of her. As we layed together catching our breath, we continued staring at each other. Maybe to try and make ourselves realize that this wasn't a dream or fantasy or anything like that. It was real. We were really here together, just like it was before.

I opened my mouth and began to tell Katie that I loved her.

She put her finger over my mouth and said, "No, not this time. I want to say it first. I love you Lauren, with every part of me. And I never want to be without you again. I'm sorry that I hurt you before, but-"

I put my finger over her lips and said, "Please don't apologize. Let's just stay in this moment. Nothing from the past, nothing that may come up in the future, just here on this sofa tonight. I've always loved you Katie and I always will."

We kissed and fell asleep together on that sofa. We were together again, but it wasn't like before. It was better. Katie had been right when had left so many months ago. We were stronger and so was our love.