She felt better immediately when Mackenzie moved closer to her and touched her knee, and she found herself straightening up a bit once her hood was pulled away, looking back seriously at the blonde girl. She thought for a moment that she had heard wrong when Mack admitted that she was scared too, it wasn't really something she had considered with all of the bravado and courage that her girlfriend always seemed to show. They knew a lot of things about each other, but their beginning had been a bit rushed and they were still learning to completely understand each other.

When Mack spoke and began to tell her story, Tatum listened closely, a sad smile beginning slowly to cross her face as the blonde went on. It was quickly making her tear up a little, and the redhead lifted one hand, wiping her eyes quickly as she turned her head slightly away from Mack. "T-That's cute," she murmured, "You two.. I-I mean, I know you c-care a lot about each other but-- it's n-not perfect, no one is p-perfect, not even y-you.. but I guess that this is j-just the beginning, right?"

She exhaled shakily, looking back at the blonde with slightly watery eyes. "T-This is your job.. your d-dream, I guess. I c-can't help it that I'm.. s-scared of my own shadow, but y-you're not and you s-shouldn't be.. b-because of me. You're the t-type of person who can be u-useful to people, and you.. w-well, I know you're not a-an idiot so I guess y-you'll come home," she relented quietly, her mind still running over everything that the older girl had just told her. She was pretty honored with the way Mack had opened up with such ease, something she hadn't really done a lot of so far. It made her feel special, that the blonde trusted her, that she wanted her and wanted her to be a part of her life and the little family that she had established.

"I w-won't tell her, and Michi and me are gonna have to like.. c-cut you guys if you f-fuck up," she warned, leaning forward over her knees a bit, going half way for a kiss.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

At Tatum's words, Mackenzie just smiled like an idiot and tried to hide the fact that her own eyes were starting to fill with tears. She didn't know where she had gotten so lucky to find someone who cared about her the way Tatum did. It all seemed like an impossible dream that she would be waking up from any minute.

"I promise we won't," she said hoarsely. She cupped the girl's cheek and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. She had never been good at expressing herself in words. She tried to convey every feeling of love that she could to the younger girl, her thumb rubbing softly at Tatum's skin. She pulled away from the kiss once air became an issue, but didn't pull away from the girl just yet.

"I'd never leave you Tatum," she whispered softly. Her head rested against the girl's forehead and she kept her eyes closed. She couldn't handle saying any of these things while looking into the girl's eyes. Not yet anyway. "I would death itself to get to you. No matter what it took, I wouldn't let anything tear me away from you."

She brought their lips closer again, letting them almost touch. "I'm yours, forever if that's what you want. At least for as long as you'll have me." She wanted to tell the other girl that she loved her, because by this point she was almost positive that she did. She couldn't get herself to say it however, as hard as she tried. It just wouldn't come out.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)