I stand in the company of Mandy's kitchen with her crying mother and I honestly don't know what to do.

I know this is hard for Mandy. I know she's not as close with her mom. I know about her dad.

But what I don't know is why these two women are to similar and yet so different at the same time.

After Mandy went upstairs about an hour ago, I stayed in here and helped clean up. Katherine is still crying.

She dabs her brown eyes, a shade slightly lighter than Mandy's, and sniffles.

"I just want her to have the best for herself," she admits. I nod.

Katherine cares a lot about her daughter. I can see that. But there is still a part of me that makes me look at her slightly different. She put Mandy through years of loneliness and mental struggle.

My Mandy.

Katherine seems sorry about it now. But Mandy was still hurt in the process to make her life "better" than her own.

Mandy was hurt for a long time. And even though I didn't know her then, my heart pinches at the thought of her ever being in mental or physical pain.

I love her beyond words. Beyond actions. There is possibly nothing I could ever do that would compare to my love for her. She's it for me.

And I'm it for her. I know I am.

"Katherine," I say softly. Her brown eyes meet mine, puffy from crying.

"Mandy is an amazing young woman. She's headstrong, she's confident. You have raised her to hold her head proudly on her high shoulders."

Katherine smiles at my compliment but I continue, "I'm not in your place. I'm certainly not a parent, either. But as someone who has issues with their parents, I know that they affect you through your entire life."

Her face drops to a frown, her eyes overfilling with sadness, emotion, and compassion. She nods and looks down at her fidgeting fingers, "I know," she whispers.

"I'm gonna go check on her," I get up and give her a comforting smile, "I'll see you in the morning."

I begin to walk out of the kitchen, I hear my name, "Carter?" I spin around.

"Don't let go of Mandy," she says, "please?"

I nod curtly and walk upstairs.

——————————-

When I enter my room, Mandy is asleep, fully clothed, on our bed.

I shut the door behind me and pull of my sweater, the coldness from outside making my bare chest cover with goosebumps.

I leave my sweats on and sit down on the bed. Mandy is asleep on the left side, her cheek on her hand.

"Baby," I whisper as I tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

She's so goddamn beautiful.

I meant it when I said what I said earlier. I saw Amanda for the first time four months ago across campus and I tried to fucking hard to figure out who she was.

I recognized she was in my English class, but I never had the balls to talk to her. So when I recognized her in front of me at that café, I took my chance.

She groans as she stirs and her eyes creak open slowly, "hmm?"

"Shhh, it's me."

Mandy curls closer to me and I feel the warmth of her body against mine.

This feeling is so perfect. Just me and her.

"I feel bad," she whispers into my chest. I kiss her forehead, "don't, love."

"Why?" she whispers back. I smile, "because you said what you needed to say. It's up to her what she does going forward."

I feel her small head nod and her delicate hands reach up to touch my face. I'm met with her dark eyes, so deep and majestic, when I look down at her.

"Carter?" she whispers. She traces her small fingers over my lips. I attempt to hold back a smirk.

Anytime she touches me, I feel like I'm sixteen and going through puberty all over again. My body is hit with a jolt of electricity and my erection is extremely difficult to hide.

"Yes, darling?" I whisper. I kiss her finger tips gently, savoring her soft skin. God, I love her skin.

She doesn't respond. Instead she leans her self up on her elbows and kisses me. I mix my lips with hers, flicking my tongue against her wet lips.

I could kiss her for a millennia and I would never get sick of it.

Her hand reaches around my neck to my hair and she laces her fingers through my scalp and a groan slips from my mouth when she wraps her thighs around my hips and sits on my lap.

"Talk to me, gorgeous," I say when I break the kiss.

"About what?" Her head leans to the side in confusion. I level my eyes with her.

"If you want me to pleasure you, you could just say so," I tease.

She leans her head down and licks my neck. My cock is somehow tight against my pants and the friction of her on top of me is enough to make me explode.

I need her now.

When she begins to grind on me, I lose it. I moan when she swirls her tongue just under my ear and kisses my cheek.

"Maybe I can pleasure you?" she propositions.

"Oh?"

A beautiful smirk splays across her face. This woman.

"You make me feel good when you feel good, honey," I whisper against her mouth.

I trace my fingertips just under her breasts and if she weren't wearing a shirt, I would feel her goosebumps on her skin.

"Make me feel good," she whispers. Her eyes are closed and her mouth is contorted into a beautiful shape that I want to capture permanently into my mind.

I lift her shirt as she lifts her arms and toss it away. Her perky breasts sitting in her bra are enough to make my mouth water.

I kiss the delicate skin just above the cup, licking and swirling. When a moan is released from her mouth, I trace my fingers further, teasing her stomach.

I had been with plenty of girls, lots of them liking different things when it came to sex. But with Mandy, it was the mix of gentle intimacy and pure, raw pleasure that kept me going.

It was like a drug I physically couldn't stop taking.

Night after night I had imagined how her body might look like. What her skin tasted like. What her moans sounded like.

It was absolutely nothing compared to what all of that actually was. I get hard at just the thought of her naked.

I pull her bra and lick at her soft nipples. She squeals and I chuckle, "be quiet."

She moans again when I bite down on the sensitive bud of nerves and I grip her hips to keep her from grinding against my hardness.

"Tell me why you want," I whisper against the shell of her ear.

She moans when I switch from tugging at her pajama shorts to tracing my hands around her thighs.

I tease her by sliding my finger along the fabric of her panties and I look just in time to see her bite her leap to conceal her sounds.

As much as I want to make her scream, we are in her mothers house. And that's awkward as hell.

But I don't want to stop. She wants this. She needs this distraction right now and I will gladly grant that to her.

She lifts herself into her knees just enough for me to pull down her shorts and finally her underwear, revealing herself to me.

When she sits back down and I glide my fingers over her, the wetness is enough to make me come on the spot.

"Fuck," I mutter. She moans as I trace my fingers front and back.

I glide them against her, the wetness immediately soaking my fingers.

"You like that?" I whisper to her. Her head dips back with a small moan as I tease the muscles of her entrance.

I plunge one finger inside of her and she immediately squeals so loud, I have to cover her mouth with my hand.

"I know, baby. I know."

I slide in and out and each thrust of my finger elicits a moan from Mandy's mouth. I kiss her jawline as I thrust in and out, licking as I move along the curve.

Fuck, she's so sexy.

When I curl my fingers towards me inside of her, a deep, guttural sound is released from her.

"Carter," she moans. I open my hand just enough to hear her.

"Good, baby," I whisper. I grab the back of her head and pull her forehead to mine. I curl my fingers consistently, hitting her sweet spot.

"Fuck my fingers just like that."

I kiss her and she moans as I bite her lip to stifle the sounds I want so badly to hear. She doesn't need to speak any longer because once I stretch another finger into her, those gorgeous dark eyes roll to the back of her head and she tightens around me.

I'm so fucking hard in my pants I physically cannot contain myself when I rub her thigh against my shaft.

We're both a moaning mess when I feel my muscles contracting, signaling I'm so close. When she moves her head to shoulder, I flick my thumb against her clit, pushing her over the edge.

"Yes," she moans, "I'm close." I lean my head back and moan, "come, Mandy."

I come hard and Mandy grinds on my fingers, soothing herself through her orgasm until she's finished.

We're both limp, sweaty, and out of breath by the time we collapse on the bed.

She chuckles beside me and I move my head just enough to look at her damp face, "what?"

"That was so hot," she whispers with a smile. I can't help but smile myself.

"Uh... babe?" I whisper.

She leans her head up to me and nudges her nose on my cheek, "mhm?"

"I have an issue."

She sits up and looks down to my damp sweatpants and the darker spot stained there.

Mandy's mouth gapes open and then closes again. I try not to laugh from her face.

When she finally giggles and hides her face in my chest, I kiss her head and find myself falling even more in love with her.