Jessica woke up from being assaulted on the neck by Taeyeon's lips. The girl was hovering on top of her; giving her feather-like kisses and without any exposed part left untouched.

"Good morning to you, too." Jessica giggled before moving her head to one side for her girlfriend to cover more area. The artist dutifully followed the 's wordless instruction. In between kisses, Taeyeon kept mumbling words so soft and muffled, they were almost incoherent. The brunette smiled at what she could work out such as "hot", "y", and "beautiful".

"I'm really all that to you?"

"And more."

"Hmm, do elaborate."

Taeyeon worked her way up to Jessica's jaw before staring at her intensely. "I'm not sure you're ready to hear what I have to say."

Jessica swallowed thickly at the burning gaze and the feel of Taeyeon's finger gently rubbing the pad on her . "And how do you expect me to answer that when your hand is distracting me?"

"Because in case you don't want to talk serious stuff, I have a back-up plan." the younger girl smirked.

"How serious is serious?"

"I wanna know why you insist on this set-up."

"I can't tell you that right now."

"Right now…" Taeyeon repeated wistfully. "That means you'll tell me some other time?"

"When I think you're ready."

"Sica," she whispered softly. "Please don't take this the wrong way."

"I won't."

"Stop making decisions for me."

"I'm trying to protect you, Taeyeon."

"From what?"

"From being devastated."

"By what?"

Jessica smiled lovingly at the artist. "I will tell you, okay? Just, like I said, trust me on this for now?"

The blonde surveyed the older girl's expression then nodded. "Okay. I do trust you."

"So… what was it you wanted to say earlier?"

"You really wanna know?"

The lifted her head and gave Taeyeon a quick kiss on the lips. "Yes, I do."

"You make me feel like I'm…significant."

"Taeyeon… I don't think—I've not treated you fairly, I know that."

"No, you don't get it. No one's ever made an effort to…push me away."

"That's," Jessica paused and frowned. "That's kind of a weird logic."

Taeyeon laughed before burrowing her face on the crook of the 's neck. "It's not. People never cared enough to know me. Those girls… they're there because they're attracted to me for whatever reasons. Not because they like me. It's always 'wanna hook up?' or just, you know to experiment."

"How's that…"

"You made me realize last night, for whatever reason, you're doing this for me. You care enough to push me away even though it probably hurts you."

"It most definitely hurts me," Jessica admitted quietly.

And just like that, the sparkle in Taeyeon's eyes came back. "That's really good to know."

The brunette playfully slapped the younger girl's shoulder then held her tightly. "I'm glad I actually understood the context behind that statement, otherwise I would think you like to see me suffer."

Taeyeon sat up, tucked her legs under her and gazed at Jessica fondly. "I don't ever wanna see you suffer. I want to… do you really mean it? You want to have a family with me? It scares me, you know? I don't want to be like my parents."

"You won't be," Jessica reached out and took the blonde's hand. "You're sweet and loving…affectionate and sensitive."

Taeyeon's smile met her eyes. "I think you're going to be a great parent, too."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves," Jessica warned playfully.

"But you said I should think about the more… realistic aspects of our relationship."

"Yes, and I meant we need to discuss them together, step by step. It doesn't have to be today and all at the same time. That's not possible. I'm just asking you to be prepared that it won't be easy."

"Nothing's easy."

"But some situations are harder than others. That's all I'm saying. And ours may be one of them."

Taeyeon nodded solemnly before swooping in for a kiss that was meant to be comforting and an assurance. "I just want to really understand why we still have to go through this whole set-up."

"I thought you'd trust me. We're going in circles."

"I do trust you. But I would appreciate it if at a certain point; you could also actually trust my judgment and let me in. I want to live with you."

"Will you fight for me, Taeyeon?"

"Of course."

"Even if it means cutting ties that are important to you?"

The artist frowned and contemplated on what could be the meaning behind Jessica's words. She didn't have a specific idea, but understood the general context.

She was ready. She would give up her life to be with Jessica.

She said yes.

With conviction and determination.

And with that, the 's defences weakened once more.

"So… what are our plans for today?"

"I thought we would just stay in bed?"

"And break me for good, Kim Taeyeon?"

"Well… yeah, that's the plan."

"Babe," Jessica laughed before holding Taeyeon's face with her hands. "No, okay? We're not gunning for any record. You've given me more s last night than what I've had in my whole 27 years—counting self-help, too."

"I fail to see the connection bet—woah."

"What?" Jessica scowled.

"I know how to e, Taeyeon. Just because you think it's funny that you have more exper—"

"No," Taeyeon shushed with her finger touching the 's lips. "That's not it. But now that you've mentioned that, you touching yourself, is an extremely thought and I must  witness that one of these days. But it's something else." she grinned. "You called me babe."

Jessica's mouth formed an "o" and nodded slowly in realization. "I did, huh?"

"Yes, you did," Taeyeon said with her face beaming with joy. "And not in a patronizing way."

"I—really?"

"Sometimes. You only use terms of endearment when you're trying to placate me."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Taeyeon chuckled. "This makes up for everything."

"No, it doesn't."

"Geez, you're being too hard on yourself, Sica. I swear. I feel so much better already."

"Yuri told me you've stopped painting since we… you know."

Taeyeon rolled onto her back, stared at the ceiling and huffed loudly. "I really need to reevaluate my friendship with her."

"You do. She's such a great friend to you, she deserves better."

"I really—Hey! I resent that. I have been trying to treat her better since you made me realize, before."

Jessica sniggered. "Stop deflecting."

"Am not. I'm also just wondering how many times she talks to you behind my back."

Jessica scooted closer and cuddled Taeyeon, murmuring against the artist's shoulder. "A lot. She was very worried at what she perceived to be self-destruction on your part. You promised me you'd never do drugs again."

"I wasn't—okay," the blonde sighed. "I know… I know… I'm sorry. I did stop without anyone telling me. I realized I was being stupid, and doing all those crazy things won't get you back."

"So, you stopped sleeping with your schoolmates, too?" Jessica inquired, not bothering to hide the venom in her question.

"Yeah…" Taeyeon swallowed nervously. "Are you mad at me?"

"For sleeping with them? I was deeply hurt. But… no. I couldn't get mad at you. You didn't cheat on me. But the drugs? I am really disappointed because you broke your promise."

"I won't do it again."

"Do you need help?"

"No—I swear, I'm not addicted."

"You once had yourself checked for STD, right?"

"Uhm… yeah. Why?"

"Would you mind if I ask you to go to counselling?"

Taeyeon sat up and glared at Jessica. "I'm not addicted."

"I'm not saying you are, Taeyeon. I said counselling, not rehab. But you do turn to it when you feel so much pain. You're a step away from being dependent on it to alleviate your suffering. You self-destruct. You didn't address my first concern. Why did you stop painting?"

The blonde girl deflated visibly and hung her head low. "Because it was becoming too… dark and repetitive. It was just all anger and confusion. It's not my style to have rows of similarly themed work lying around my workshop."

"Hearing all of this, Taeyeon. I can't help but feel I'm not really good for you," the sighed heavily. "You were doing fine before me."

"Hey, no," the artist protested before rolling on top of Jessica. "You can ask Mr. Schue. My best outputs are those I made from the time we met. I'm just… I need to learn how to be less… intense."