"Five years and that's all you have to say to me?" he asked. Standing so close she could taste his breath.

She wanted to move away from him. But she didn't want him to know just how much he affected her. So she stood right there. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her.


"Well... Is there anything else you want me to say?" she asked 

The side of his mouth moved upwards.

He was smiling? Why the hell was he smiling like that? She thought. She didn't remember saying anything funny.

"You left... Kitty" he said. "I asked you to stay... Begged you to stay... And you left anyways.. With him. And now you come back... Acting like everything is okay between us...?"

There was something about him... She thought. Something about the way he called her 'Kitty' that made her heart flip. He was the only one who called her that. She hadn't even realized how much she missed him calling her that. 

"You shouldn't have gone with him". He said. 

"Oh really? Why not? Because you didn't want me to?" she asked. She was starting to get angry. 

"Yeah that's right" he replied. "And because of what you felt for me -what we felt for each other. When I came near you, you felt an excitement so intense that you ceased to breathe --like you are feeling right now. You wanted me just as much as I wanted you. And that should have been enough to make you stay"

ALWAYS BEEN YOU 

She touched her damp forehead to his and deepened the kiss. He wanted to hold her like this forever. When he finally ended the kiss, he rolled her on top of him and she laughed. 


"I don't want this to end" Monica said, as if she had read his mind. 


"I don't want this to end either" Tom replied, as he tucked the hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. 


Monica smiled. "So I was thinking, let's do something.....something that says we are moving forward... Like a big commitment to each other" 


He didn't say anything. Just stared at her. Monica's face went hot. It hadn't come out quite as nonchalant as she had planned. God, what an idiot she was. She wanted to pick up her clothes and leave. 


True. She had meant what she said. She wanted something solid with him... Wanted to take a big step. It wasn't like she was asking him for marriage... If that was what he was scared of. 


Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty One