The Two of Us

by Taylor Torres

I’m a landing pad for men who do the bare minimum.

Lmao so damn relatable 😭

What is it about showers that force us into downward spirals? Why is it that my brain decides that right now—the moment I’m sopping wet and naked and vulnerable—is the best time to drum up the past?

The man might not know everything there is to know about raising a young girl on his own—he ties my hair up with rubber bands from the post office and feeds me pancakes for dinner—but he’s trying. He’s here. And I love him all the more for it.

I love this father daughter duo sm

Cat clears her throat. “Actually, you should just use mine. You know, that way yours don’t get lost at my house. My mom would kill me if someone lost something at our house.”

Cat is just so understanding 🥺

“Who says I’m sad?” His brow quirks. My forehead wrinkles. “Well, I’m not.” “You are.” “Am not.” “You’re frowning.” “You are making me frown.” When he gives me a disbelieving look, I double down. “I’m serious.” He snorts. “Liar.”

“What do you like?” “Books. Movies. Books turned into movies.”

So me 😭

“Mouse?” The air whooshes out of me as the hairs on my arms shoot straight up. No. Please, no. I don’t recognize that voice, but there’s only one person who calls me that.

He calls her MOUSE 🤭

My Ambrose. My golden boy. Not yours, Mara. Not anymore.

Pain 😭

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen or heard from you in seven years.” The way he’s looking at me, the hurt in his eyes—I can’t take it.

“That’s it?” he bites out with a jaw so tight he could crack a molar or two. “You’re just going to leave again?” He’s not angry. He’s furious.

Oh how i love angst

I’m sorry, forgive me, love me again.

They are going to make me sob in the end

“Hey, talk to me.” His soft voice drapes over me like silk. “I have so many questions; things I need to know. Where have you been, how long are you here for—are you okay?”

Being touched by someone can feel meaningless until you’re touched by the right person.

I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but something has broken inside my brain. When people walk away from me, I have a hard time believing it’s temporary. I watch their backs and pray with everything in me that the world won’t snatch them up and deposit them elsewhere.

He grips the back of his neck. “It’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you.” I stop moving. “I just didn’t want to do it like that.” My heart trips up. “Like… that?” “No, no,” he blurts out. “What I mean is, um…” Fingers rake through his tousled hair as he struggles to express himself. “I guess I just, I don’t expect you to—” He smacks his hand against his forehead.

His words brush against my neck as he moves my hair aside and clasps the chain. “I don’t know. It just reminded me of you.” He exhales a sharp breath. “Sorry if I’m not making any sense.”

“Wait,” he says, reaching for my hand. When he lingers, my face begins to warm. Then he leans in and brushes his soft lips against my cheek, just long enough for me to inhale a breath. “That’s how I wanted to do it.”

HE KISSED HER ON THE CHEEK FOR THE FIRST TIME 🥺💘💘 IM CRYING

Cat and I load our plates and settle into an empty corner, watching everyone laugh and chat with ease. It’s fun for the first fifteen minutes, but then it hits me. The desire to go home.

Me and my bestie every damn time

Socializing is fun in theory, but most of the time it just feels exhausting. Sometimes it even gives me a headache.

SO DAMN TRUE

“Am I hard to figure out?” “No.” He shakes his head forcefully. “I know you like I know myself.”

I think some of the best friendships are ones like this, where you can sit in complete silence and never once feel lonely.

The best ones!!

He smirks. “That’s four words. You do know how this game works, right?” I pinch his arm and he cackles, swatting me away. “Mara,” I say. “Pretty.” We both go still. He looks at me in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look at me before.

Giggling smiling kicking my feet in the air

Something blooms inside of me and I want to water it every day and let it grow because it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever felt.

When he kicks off his shoes and sprawls out on the floor beside the bed, my eyes widen. “What are you doing?” “I’m just gonna hang here until you fall asleep. Don’t worry, I’ll remember to leave.”

I don’t want to let him go. And I promise myself in that very moment that even after I fall asleep when he climbs out that window and breaks our physical connection, I never will. I’ll never let Ambrose King go.

Ambrose continues toward the car, flexing the hand that touched me.

I'm a whore for hands flexing bye

“Be kind. Be funny. Be interesting. That is where you will find your power.”

We’re just as happy, but we aren’t smiling at the camera. We’re smiling at each other.

No matter how much you love someone, you can’t save them from drowning. They have to love themselves enough to learn how to swim.”

Ambrose slips out of the booth and holds out his hand. “Dance with me.” “I…” He moves forward and weaves his fingers through mine. “Dance with me, Mara,” he says gruffly.

“Here, have them all.” He snorts. “I know they’re your favorite.” I look at him sideways. “You remembered that?” “I remember everything about you.”

Shut up thats so cute

“Promise me, Mar. Promise we’ll always be sisters like Sally and Gilly.” “I promise.” “Where I go, you go, right?” “Where you go, I go, Cat.”

I love their friendship 💕

“You know, you can’t tell me what—” Ambrose lifts me over his shoulder like I weigh no more than a sack of flour and I shriek. He swings the door to the back seat open, chucking me inside. Reaching for the seat belt, he attempts to buckle me in, but I swat at his hand and he makes a sound of frustration. “Brat.” “Caveman!” I snarl.

“Why let me go on and on every day about her life? Why sit there through it all? You probably know more than I do—why listen to me?” He tips his glass back, chugging the rest of his water. Shrugs off his jacket and throws it on the coat rack in the entryway and when he returns, his eyes are solid. “Because you have things to say. And people should listen.”

“You stood there and carefully extracted the only nachos that had adequate toppings? You don’t even like nachos.” “No. But you do.”

“What are you thinking?” I whisper. “I’m thinking I want to kiss you.”

“I don’t want you to thank me for showing up for you. I want you to expect it from me. Because I’m confident enough to know that I’ll follow through every single time. In whatever way you need me, I’ll follow through.” Then he says, “Rest. I’ve got you.”

“Hey, Ambrose?” “Hmm?” “I’m sorry I left you when you needed me.”

“Sleep, baby,” he whispers, kissing the corner of my mouth. I know at that moment he sees the past fall like a veil over my eyes because he starts running his fingers through my hair again. “Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise.”

“If I lost you? If I fucking lost you, Mara?” His voice cracks. “I wouldn’t survive it. I just got you back.”

“I want you, Mara. God, you have no idea how much I want you. How much I’ve wanted you. But I won’t touch you again until you ask me to. When you’re ready to admit what it is that you want, you come find me.”

“You keep… flirting with me and while it’s fun and feels good at the moment, it’s confusing. We didn’t reestablish a friendship just for me to become one of your little playthings.” “Okay let me stop you right there.” His voice hardens. “You are not and never will be a plaything to me.” “Then what am I?” “Everything. You’re everything to me.”

“What do you want me to say?” he grits. “That the moment I found out you broke up with Brandon, I couldn’t pretend for one more second that it wasn’t you I wanted the entire time?” A breath shudders out of me. “That I hated myself for wanting you the way that I want you after treating you less than you deserved?”

“You kept it all this time?” A vein ticks in his jaw. “It was all I had left of you.”

“What do you want?” he breathes. Every part of him is tensed—a bowstring pulled tautly. I drag his bottom lip between my teeth and tug. “You.”

“Did you miss me?” His nose grazes the dip in my throat and a needy whimper escapes me. “Because I missed you. I missed you every fucking day. I miss you right now and you’re right in front of me.”

“My gorgeous girl,” he whispers, dropping a soft kiss on the inside of my wrist. “This is the last gentle touch you’ll be getting from me.”

My fingers inch along the side of his bicep and a tattoo I’ve never noticed peeks through. I angle his arm to get a better look and my heart stops. Con amor para siempre. With love forever.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” “How could I not?”

“I waited for you,” he rasps. “I’m still waiting for you. But you gotta meet me halfway.” He searches my face with a look of desperation as his thumb brushes the side of my jaw. “Can you meet me halfway, baby?”