Present Day

 

Thunder. Lightning. Rain. 

 

They all scared me. I've hated them for as long as I could possibly remember. I buried my face in the pillow and the blanket covered my body as I shivered from fright.  

 

"Are you alright?"

 

I shook my head. 

 

"You want me to sleep with you tonight?"

 

I nodded. 

 

"Scoot over."

 

I felt a tiny body lay next to me and skinny arms hug me. I looked down and saw Taeyeon making herself comfortable. She looked up and smiled her dorky grin at me. I couldn't help but smile at my little dork. She rested her head on my chest and soon closed her eyes. I closed my eyes too as well and eventually went into my dreamland. 

 

The next day, I woke up and realized that Taeyeon had drooled all over me. I sighed and slowly got myself out of her tiny arms and changed my shirt. Making my way to the kitchen, I saw a figure making breakfast. 

 

"What are you doing here?"

 

"I still have the keys to the apartment. You never bothered to change the lock." She grinned. "Good morning, Sicachu."

 

"You lost your right to call me anything, but Jessica." I crossed my arms. 

 

She sighed, "Look, I know I messed up. Leaving was a huge mistake, I get it. I know that I'll never fix what I broke by leaving and divorcing you, but at least let me keep my relationship with Taeyeon. I don't like having the idea of this Tiffany person being her Appa. Speaking of her, what's your relation with her? Are you two dating or what?"

 

"That is none of your concern."

 

"Ahh. So you aren't official yet."

 

"Why would we be official? I met her once and meeting her at the park was coincidental. Why am I even talking to you about this?"

 

"Because you know that deep inside you still love me."

 

"Let's say I do still love you? Do you honestly believe that I'm gonna give you another chance? And that the scars you left will magically go away and we'll be a happy family again?"

 

"We can try."

 

"No. We can't try. I can accept you staying for Taeyeon so she can have both her parents. But while you were gone, I slowly started to realize why you left."

 

"Why do you think I left?"

 

"Because we had so much problems. We fought in front of Taeyeon all the time. We never met a middle ground. Even back when we were dating we had trust issues. We just had too many problems and we couldn't handle them all. And instead of being an adult about it, you took the child's way out. Not only did you hurt me, but you also hurt your own daughter."

 

"I know and I'm sorry about that."

 

"Sometimes sorry just doesn't cut it, Yuri. Sometimes it's best that you should've it up and grow up. I understand why you left so suddenly, but that doesn't mean I forgive for leaving."

 

"I was 22. Please understand. I was young and stupid. It felt like there was something missing in my life and I left to figure out what that was. But I thought I was just going to be gone for a couple of days, those days turned into weeks, eventually months and then before I knew it, three whole years passed me by. I loved the feeling of freedom. I got addicted to it. All my life, I just had you. We were together since middle school and by the time high school came along, you and I both knew we drifted apart. Yet we stayed together and eventually got married. Haven't you ever wanted to feel like what it's like to be 21 and single?"

 

"Well, I wouldn't know what it feels like to be 21 and single because I had a baby to take care of! So what if we were together since middle school? If you felt like we were both starting to drift apart in high school, why didn't you break it off while you had a chance?! Obviously I didn't realize that we were starting to drift off because I seriously thought we were going to be together forever like you used to tell me all the time. We were those all lies?! was it because you felt sorry for me? We could've avoided all these chain of events and lived our lives separately. Who knows! I probably would've ended up dating Tiffany and having Taeyeon with her!"

 

"Don't you dare say that! Taeyeon is mine and mine only!" Yuri gripped my shoulders and shook me. 

 

"You lost your right to call Taeyeon yours when you left!" I pushed her away from me. 

 

"I'm trying to fix our marriage Jessica!" She slammed her fists on the wall. 

 

"And I'm trying to tell you that what if our marriage doesn't want to be fixed?"

 

"You don't want to fix our marriage?"

 

I heaved a deep breath, "No. I don't want to fix our marriage. I want us to stay divorced. Like you said earlier, we've been together for so long that you wanted to know what it feels like to be stupid and single. I didn't have that luxury. I had to stay here and take care of Taeyeon while you were out living the single life. Now that I'm actually experiencing life again, I want to know more about living my life without you. Who knows, maybe Tiffany is the one. Ever since the park incident, I've been thinking about her quiet often. But that's beside the point, do you realize that ever since we were younger, you changed your mind a lot? What if you change your mind about us again? I don't think I can handle you leaving a second time. I'm still recovering from the first time."

 

"What about Taeyeon? What are you going to tell her?"

 

"Her Appa is still around, but we won't be married anymore."

 

"That's what you really want?"

 

"Yes... I'm tired Yul. All we do is fight and we never fixed anything. We just swept it under the rug and hope that it all goes away. But just because we don't see it doesn't mean that it's actually gone. Eventually the dust that we threw under the rug will get bigger. I think that's what happened to our marriage. We never tried to fix anything and the mess we forgot to clean up grew."

 

"C-can I kiss you..."

 

"Yuri..."

 

"Ju-just one kiss. A goodbye kiss. Please?" A lone tear left her eye. 

 

I sighed. "Do you really think that kissing me is gonna help?"

 

"I don't know... Maybe..." She took a step closer to me. "Just one more kiss. That's all I'm asking."

 

"Alright. One last kiss. A goodbye kiss."

 

She caressed my cheek with one hand and rested a hand on my waist. She gave me a sad look as more tears ran down her eyes. I felt my vision blur as well. I wrapped my arms loosely around her neck. She closed her eyes and closed the distance between us. I leaned forward and closed my eyes when I felt her lips against mine. I tilted my head and moved my lips with hers. 

 

A door opened. 

 

I pulled away and turned my head to the sound. I still had my arms around Yuri's neck and her hands were still hugging my waist. 

 

"What are you doing here?"