Molly laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, wiping tears from her eyes. Erik had only been gone 2 weeks, but it felt like a lifetime. Where he was exactly, she didn't know. She only knew that she wanted him home. She wanted to feel his kisses on her lips and his hands on her body. She wanted to feel his skin as she pressed her breasts to his chest. She wanted to feel the excitement when he playfully bit her neck, and the near orgasm it brought her to. She wanted him to take her in the ways they had talked about before he left. Going through a divorce was hard enough, then having the one man that has kept a candle lit for her for over 15 years leave suddenly and with no word as to his whereabouts or his condition just added icing to the cake that was rotting in her heart. A soft knock on her bedroom door shattered her thoughts.
"Mommy?" came the voice from the other side. It was one of her children. She stood up and walked to the door to unlock it.
"Yes, sweetie?" she sniffed.
"Can I go outside?" the little boy asked. She nodded, and the little boy ran down the hallway to the back door and outside. She closed the door and locked it again. She knew she couldn't stay in her room any longer. She had kids to take care of and packing to do. She was finally leaving the father of her children and moving on with her life. After years of abuse, she had had enough. It would've been nice if she had help. She picked up her journal and pulled out the picture of her and Erik that a friend had taken a few months before. It wasn't anything special or intimate, just the two of them sitting next to each other at a party. She loved that picture. She wanted to post it on her online network page, but he was reluctant. He was going through a divorce, too, and he hadn't taken his ex-wife off his page yet. She agreed not to post it yet. Nothing between them was official yet, anyway. A few mutual friends and his mother and sister figured out that there was something between them long before the party. His friends knew nothing about their relationship. Too many people knew his ex-wife. No one knew of the wild and adventurous sex they had been having. That was one thing they agreed to keep to themselves...for now.
It had been 15 years since they last saw each other at their high school graduation, and 18 years since they broke up. When a friend had suggested them to each other on the social network site, Molly thought her friend needed a head scan. After the shit he had put her through after they broke up, why would her friend even think of it? But, one thing that Molly learned over the years is that it's good to leave the past in the past...things can change and people do tend to mature, even if it's only a little bit. She swallowed her pride and accepted. Within moments, he was contacting her through chat, and the two of them began catching up on their lives since school. This continued over the next couple of months with online chats and phone calls. He sounded so different. She loved how deep his voiced sounded when he called and said, "What's up?" The stutter he once had was gone, and he sounded happier than he was back then. She remembered he was quite depressed in school, especially after they broke up. When he found out later on that she had started dating his best friend, he spent the next 2 years taking his jealousy out on her, even after she and his best friend broke up. She didn't think she'd ever like him, let alone sleep with him. But here they were, a decade and a half later, and Molly was hooked. All the things she wished he had been in school, he was now. He was more affectionate, intimate and caring. He made her feel things she had never felt before, even in her marriage. Could he be my one true love? she thought to herself. They agreed to not base their relationship solely on sex, although sex with him was a definite plus. She remembered the first night she saw him again. She stood on her patio, waiting for him to get out of his car. In the blink of an eye, he was on her patio and wrapped her in the greatest hug she had ever received. Barely a hello was said. They just stood there in an embrace that was damn near 20 years in the making. He felt nice. He was no longer the kid from high school who never wore shorts and didn't look like he could hurt a gnat. He wore a shirt that accentuated his chest nicely, and when he held her, Molly lost her breath. Thoughts filled her head, but she quickly dismissed them. She just wanted to enjoy this moment as long as she could. Finally, she asked him inside. He just tightened his embrace and said, "In a minute". The hug lasted another eternity.
Later that night, she and Erik sat on her couch, reminiscing. After a couple of hours, they decided to turn out the lights and watch a movie that Molly had planned on watching before she knew that Erik was coming over. They stretched out on the couch and took turns holding each other. When it was her turn to hold him, she sat up and he moved to lay down between her legs. She folded her arms over his chest and rested her head on top of his. A few minutes later, she heard, "Hey." She lifted her head. "You need something?" He shook his head and looked back at her. Their eyes met and he gently pulled her towards him for a kiss. It was much different than she had remembered. The kiss lasted several seconds. She looked into his eyes as he smiled at her and said, "You still close your eyes when you kiss someone." She smiled and chuckled. She had forgotten about him keeping his eyes open during a kiss. She never understood why.
"Why, is that bad?" she asked.
"No, I just like to look into your eyes when I kiss you. It makes it more real for me."
"Okay, I can see that. I had forgotten that you like that," she said. He sat up and turned to her, kissing her more passionately this time. This never happened in high school, she thought. But I like it! After the kiss ended, Molly looked into his eyes.
"So," she said. "Why did you come all this way to see me tonight?"
Erik smiled.
"Well, I said I would come to see you, and I thought maybe I could kiss you just once if you'd let me." Molly smiled and pulled him closer for another kiss.
That first night there was no sex, but she learned that Erik loved to cuddle. As they were laying in her bed, he kept his arms around her. They whispered things to each other. "I've missed you." "This seems like a dream." After a few seconds of silence, she heard, "Molly?"
"Yeah?" she whispered.
"I love you." Molly was taken aback. She definitely wasn't expecting that. She rolled over to face him.
"Was that too soon?" he asked, nervous. Molly wasn't sure what to say.
"No, I just wasn't expecting it. Could you say it again?" she asked. He wrapped her in his arms, pulling her closer so he could whisper in her ear. "I love you." Molly melted. The last time she had heard those words from him, he was saying them after he had found out she was dating his best friend.
"Are you and he dating now?" he had asked with a look on his face that a child gets when they lose their blanket.
"Yes, we are." She turned and started walking away.
"But...I love you." Molly stopped dead in her tracks. She looked back at him, then turned and continued walking, unsure of how to respond.
Now, she was hearing them from him in a much different situation. This time, there was a possibility of starting over again. And doing it right.
"Why did we break up?" he had asked her the next night. Molly stopped and thought. Why did they break up?
"I'm guessing it had something to do with the fact that ours was my first relationship and I had no clue how to go about things. Also, I think my mother had something else to do with it. But I could be wrong. It was so long ago."
"True," he had said. "I wish things had been different back then. Maybe we wouldn't have broken up. We might still be together today."
"You may be right. But I would have had to learn to deal with a boyfriend in the military. I've done long distance relationships, and I always got accused of cheating."
"Did you?" he asked.
"Not in those relationships. I did in one, because the asshole went to Illinois to see an ex-girlfriend instead of helping me move out of an apartment."
"Did he cheat with her?"
"Well, I don't think it's a coincidence that he hadn't seen this chick in 4 years and she has a kid who just happens to be almost 4 years old," she said.