Mutual Benefits Ch. 08

Which was good, frankly. I wanted to address her about the Taylor thing -- if today was the day she decided to stop with the emotionless routine and tug on my arm and grin like a schoolgirl, I doubt I'd have gone through with it. That said, it was Morgan, so the hesitation likely would have been chiefly because I was too weirded out to continue.

Where else but the elevator hallway? It was starting to become something of a tradition. When Morgan followed me there, she looked at me questioningly, pointing out, "This isn't exactly the comfiest-looking hallway. There are benches and stuff in other hallways."

"I know, but..." I stumbled. "I... I'd prefer this one."

"Oh. Why?"

"It's... more private."

At that, Morgan gave me something of a sarcastic smirk. I laughed nervously and put my hands up. "Not like that. I just... wanted to talk about something."

"We should have gone outside then. We've talked there before," she reasoned.

"Yeah, but... people were there."

She paused. "How secret does this need to be?" she asked, half-jokingly, half serious.

I exhaled, and she stepped into the hallway, accepting her fate. "I just wanted to make sure something is clear," I clarified.

She only looked more confused. "Is this about our date?"

"No, it's just... a..." I closed my eyes and started to talk slowly. "In the case... in the situation where we... where we, hypothetically, might keep dating and become a couple... I'd rather be communicative with you about... all of the factors involved."

She was still confused, but gave me a little smile. "You're weird, Quinn." She eventually said. "Okay, though. Tell me what you want to say."

"Thanks. So, uh... you... y-you got introduced to me through Taylor, when I was her tutor," I began, with the both of us sitting down in the hallway.

She nodded along with me. "And you still are, right?"

I was about to say, 'no, our final session was last night,' but my stupid self forgot that was a dream. "Yes," I replied. "And there's been... something weird there, right? I mean, she asked you to n-not talk to me."

Her expression got slightly more clouded. Whether in worry or just thought, I couldn't say. "Okay..." she replied slowly.

"So I..." I started, but lost my steam. I closed my eyes and tried my strategy of talking slowly and choosing my words deliberately, but it didn't work. My eyes shot open. I knew what I wanted to say; I just didn't have the guts to say them.

"I..." I tried again. Morgan patiently watched over me, listening intently.

I tried a few more times before growling in frustration, when I suddenly felt a new presence. I looked down at my hand on the floor. Morgan had gently placed her hand on top of mine, in a show of support.

You know, it was funny. I had Taylor's mouth on my genitalia before. Hell, her hips were on my abdomen as she gave me what felt like the world's most stimulating handjob. And yet, Morgan placing her hand on top of me, with me being able to feel her warmth enter me through her hand... it felt like the most intimate thing in the world. I trailed up from her hand to her face with my eyes, and she met mine with a sweet smile, a kind I hadn't seen from her. She liked to smile in solidarity, when she liked something, but this was a smile that told me, without words, 'it's okay.'

I smiled back, then cleared my throat. This is what Morgan was doing for me. So help me God, I was going to get out this sentence, no matter what. She deserved to know. She cared. She needed to see that I cared enough to tell her the damn truth.

"So, I was-"

"The fuck is this?"

That didn't come from Morgan. My eyes followed the source of the intrusion, as did hers, to find Taylor standing at the entrance to the hallway, her hands on her hips.

Her eyes weren't on me. They were on Morgan. "The fuck have you been?" she asked Morgan, her eyes only moving from Morgan's face to her hand, on top of mine. Upon seeing where she was looking, Mogan quickly removed her hand from mine.

"Taylor-"

"Are you fucking serious?!" Taylor all but blew up, shaking her head in angry disbelief and storming off, leaving us to look on from our positions, sitting on the ground.

"What...?" I barely wheezed, feeling a little bit like this was just that dream again, and that I'd wake up any second. I had no clue what Taylor was so mad about, but she looked furious, and it felt somehow like I fucked up, even if I don't know what I did.

Morgan sighed exasperatedly. "This is..." she trailed off, standing up. She never finished her sentence.

"She looked like she was going to blow up like a volcano," I remarked, uneasily. "What's happening? Did we betray her or something?"

Morgan pouted in thought. "I dunno," she eventually said, then saw my sullen expression. "Hey," she commanded, making me look up at her. "It's clear she's not happy, but if Taylor is Taylor, she'll be okay in a bit. Definitely, like, tomorrow."

"You think?" I asked uneasily. "I still don't know what this even... is."

"Yeah, neither do I, to be honest," Morgan commented. "Actually, I should probably go after her. I'm really sorry, but can we get back to what you wanted to say another time? I don't think I should leave her alone like this."

Care reflected in her words. It was almost disarming. "Uh, yeah, of course," I mumbled awkwardly, my face hot. "No worries."

"Thanks," Morgan replied, already halfway out of the hallway. Before long, she left me there, standing alone like an idiot. What was that? What the hell was Taylor so upset about? Did Morgan know something? Did I do something?

And why did I feel so goddamn guilty?