index


Message-ID: <55072asstr$1167426602@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Shalon Wood <dstar@pele.cx>
Subject: {ASSM} Prudence, TX Population 1276 57 (Mff ff Mm rom)
Lines: 335
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:10:02 -0500
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

************************************************************************
************************************************************************

SPECIAL NOTE FOR READERS OF _Jason and Kylie, Naked In School_:

You may or may not be aware, but Shalon broke his arm in two places three weeks ago; Jason and Kylie is temporarily on hold (he had a nice cushion built up on Pandora's Box, which is why he switched to that). Please see http://playground.pele.cx for details, including news on when Jason and Kylie will return.

If you have any questions, please email us, or visit our forums at http://playground.pele.cx/forums and ask.
************************************************************************
************************************************************************

Standard disclaimers apply; this story may or may not contain, in any
given part, graphic depictions of lesbianism, homosexuality, group sex,
bdsm, underage (teen) sex, magic, occultism, violence, and biting 
sarcasm.  If you're underage, or if for any other reason it's illegal 
for you to read this, or you're disturbed by the content, please don't 
read it.

Archived at http://prudence.pele.cx, and we've got a web-forum at
http://playground.pele.cx/forums as well, for discussion of both
Prudence and our other stories. Send an email to velvet@pele.cx and
I'll add you to the mailing list to be notified when Prudence
updates. 

Comments *greatly* appreciated.

Enjoy,

Velvet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Behind the curtain, Angie lay still and silent, her face turned towards the
wall. Mark couldn't tell whether she was asleep, so he quietly asked, "You
awake?" She didn't respond, but her breathing faltered.

He stepped inside the alcove, closing the curtain behind him, and moved
closer to the bed. "Angie?"

She flinched, closing her eyes tightly, and sunk lower into the bed.

He sat in the chair beside her bed. "Want to tell me why you did it?" he
asked, and she trembled, her hand clenching around the blanket.

"No," she whispered. "Want to tell me why you stopped me?"

"One, because you don't need to die," he said. "Two, because it would have
killed Kristen."

"I _want_ to die. And it would _free_ Kristen."

"Think so?" He stood up and pulled the curtain back just enough for her to
peek out. "Look over there and say that!"

Confused, she peered through the curtain, and her eyes widened in horror.
"Oh god, what happened?"

"You tried to kill yourself," he said flatly. "I told you that you were
bonded."

"I thought it would free her," Angie whispered. "I thought if I were dead,
there'd be nothing left, that it would stop hurting her. I swear I didn't
mean to... God, oh God... is she all right?"

He let the curtain fall closed. "She will be. Probably. A fair amount
depends on you."

Tears ran down her cheeks. "I thought it would stop hurting her. I didn't
want to hurt anyone anymore."

He reached out and touched her hand. "Angie, there's an easy way to do
that. Stop fighting yourself."

She turned her face away again. "I can't. I just can't. It's wrong."

"Why?"

"It's a sin," she said miserably. "Several of them, really. Pedophilia.
Homosexuality. Adultery."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Pedophilia? I don't recall that being listed in
the Bible. Many girls were married off by the age Kristen is, in fact.
Homosexuality... I don't believe that one would still apply. There are a
lot of things that don't hold for everyone in every situation; you eat
bacon, don't you? And adultery... you're leaving your husband, you said.
Once that happens--"

"He left _me_!" she interrupted, her voice choked with emotion. "He said he
knew there was someone else, and he left me. And... and if you truly
believe something is wrong, that it's a sin to do it, no matter the logic
behind doing so."

He just shook his head. "Then adultery is no longer an issue, is it?"

"My vows didn't say 'until he divorces me', Mark."

"So even now that he's left you, you still consider yourself bound to those
vows? Meaning you could never remarry?"

"I... I don't know. I'm an oath breaker," she said. "It would be wrong to
accept someone else's oath when I can't honor my own."

"Angie, God doesn't require you to be perfect. He requires you to try-- and
he'll forgive you if you fail. You couldn't know this would happen, and you
_still_ tried when it did. You failed. Fine. Ask his forgiveness, pick
yourself up, and get back on the horse."

"Maybe he could forgive me, but that doesn't mean it's okay to keep doing
the things I need forgiveness _for_."

"You wouldn't be committing adultery anymore," he said. "Divorce is as old
as Moses. Pedophilia isn't in the bible. It's something our culture has
come up with-- and it isn't even the right word when speaking of a
post-pubescent girl-- and I don't thing the reasons for the proscription
against it would apply to Kristen. That just leaves homosexuality."

She shook her head. "If adultery isn't an issue, then sex out of wedlock
is."

He looked at her thoughtfully. "Only if you aren't married. I'm not saying
she'd marry you right now, of course. She's still really hurt. You'd have
to earn her trust again. But she told me she'd rather be with you than
without you."

She sighed, looking exasperated. "Mark, marriage between two women isn't
possible, even if she _weren't_ already married."

He smiled wryly. "Because the Bible sanctions monogamy _so_ strongly and
doesn't have _any_ examples of multiple marriages?"

"It's still not possible for a woman to marry a woman," she said, flushing
slightly.

"It's not legally possible, no, but you're not worried about legally. It
_is_ possible to have a religious ceremony."

She laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right. Find a priest-- a _Christian_ priest--
willing to do that, and I'll believe whatever you tell me."

He blinked at her, widening his eyes as if with innocent confusion. "But
Angie, I already know of one. A couple of them, actually. One of them has a
church in Dallas."

"Oh bullshit," she said, clenching her jaw angrily. "There's no way."

"One of them married a couple of my friends," he said. "Two women. And I
know he's done poly ceremonies before, too."

"Then he's not a _Christian_ priest," she said firmly.

"Yes he is. Unless you're defining 'Christian' as 'would not do that'."

"Christian: worships one God, believe in the Bible, behaves as God would
have him behave. As the Bible says to behave," she said.

Mark nodded. "Then, yes. Christian."

She turned away and was quiet for a long moment before saying, quietly,
"I'd like to meet him, then, maybe."

"Okay," Mark said agreeably. "I can arrange that. Hell, I'll call him and
see if he'll come see you here, if you want. Angie, doesn't it _hurt_ you
to deny Kristen like this?"

"_YES_, damn it, it hurts!" she snapped. "Of course it hurts! God...." She
squeezed her eyes shut, tears seeping from the corners.

"Do you think God wants to torture you?" he asked softly.

"Why the hell not? I deserve it."

He glared at her, resisting the urge to reach out and shake sense into her.
"Did you ever think that maybe your love for Kristen was a _gift_? A
_reward_ for all the kids you've helped, all the lives you've saved by
talking them out of suicide? That maybe you're throwing what was meant to
be something _special_ and wonderful _back in His face?"_

"No," she said tightly. "There's no way that it wouldn't have hurt Ed, and
he didn't deserve that."

Mark sighed. "Maybe that was going to happen anyway, though. Maybe He knew
it wouldn't work out, and was giving you something to hold on to. Maybe
Ed's got someone out there he's going to meet who _he'll_ feel the same
about."

"But ten years..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes were full of guilt
and regret before she looked away.

Mark nodded sympathetically. "Ten years. But which would hurt him worse--
leaving you because he thought there was someone else, or finding someone
who did for him what Kristen could for you, and having to leave you for
them?"

She sighed, then reached into the drawer by the bed and pulled out a
crumpled, folded piece of paper. Wordlessly, she handed it to Mark.

The tear-stained letter was short and to the point:

_Angelica, I've gone. I couldn't live this way anymore. I'm sorry. Just
like you, I've found someone new. Our marriage was a mistake, and I do not
blame you for anything. I do love you, and a part of me always will, but
not enough... and I know you feel the same._

_Darling, I truly hope you're as happy with your new love as I am with
mine. The papers will be in the mail soon, and you'll be free to be with
him openly at last. Don't let guilt keep you from the kind of love that you
deserve but I could not give you._

_Goodbye, dear one, and best wishes always,_

_Edward_

Mark read it again, then folded it carefully and handed it back to her. "I
ask you again,"he said quietly, "which would have hurt him more? This, or
meeting her when everything was fine, and having to either leave you or
give up being with her?"

"I don't know," she said, swiping at her wet cheeks with the back of her
hand. "Maybe everything never _was_ fine. Maybe I was deluding myself all
along. I don't know anything anymore."

"So maybe Kristen has _always_ been the one for you," he suggested, "and by
rejecting her, you're just throwing a gift back in God's face. Right?"

She sighed, covering her face with her arm, the I.V. line glinting in the
dim light. "Or maybe there is no God," she whispered hoarsely, "and I've
just been hurting everyone I touch for no reason at all."

He glared at her again. "Hurting everyone you touch? Really?" he asked
angrily. "What about Kayla, then? She's still breathing, because of you.
What about the other kids you've helped? One mistake doesn't cancel out
every bit of good, you know."

She didn't have a chance to answer him, though, because right then Kayla
called out from the other side of the curtain, "Mark! She's waking up!" and
he shoved the curtain aside and rushed to his wife's side.

Kristen was stirring weakly, a slight frown upon her lovely lips, as he sat
carefully on the edge of her bed. She moaned, reaching out gropingly with
both hands, her eyes still closed.

He caught one small hand in his own as Kayla captured the other. "Hey,
love," he said tenderly, and she opened her eyes at last.

Still looking somewhat dazed, she tried to smile up at him. "H-hey," she
said, weakly. "What... what happened? Where are we?"

"You're in the hospital, love," he said.

Her brow wrinkled. "I remember... something awful. It hurt. I was so cold!"

Wondering how much they should tell Kristen, Mark glanced over at Kayla.
The normally acerbic brunette had tears running down her face as she
pressed Kristen's hand to her cheek, and her voice was choked with emotion.
"You have to promise to never, ever scare us like that again, angel."

"Ever," Mark agreed, as the remembered fear and anguish clutched at his
heart, and reflexively, he squeezed Kristen's hand tightly within his.

Kris looked at them, confused. "I'd love to, but I don't know what
_happened_. How can I avoid it if I don't know what it is?"

"Uh..." Mark still hesitated, afraid of bringing her more pain, and she
sighed.

"I _hate_ it when you don't want to tell me things," she said. "I don't
need protecting, you know."

He wasn't sure he agreed with that, but it was still her right to accept or
reject that protection, anyway. No matter how much he wished he could just
keep anything from ever hurting her. He took a deep breath, then met her
irritated green gaze. "Angie tried to commit suicide last night."

She stared up at him, horrified. "Oh," she said, very quietly, as tears
welled in her eyes. "I guess I really was a fate worse than death."

He hoped, unable to suppress a small amount of vindictiveness, that Angie
had been able to hear her statement, but he still rushed to reassure her.
"No! Love, you are _not_ a fate worse than death. She's just... she thought
if she killed herself, she'd _stop_ hurting you. She has some trouble with
the fact that she loves you, but she _does_ love you."

She trembled, biting her lip as she looked up at him miserably. "I don't
understand. Why is it so awful to love me? _You_ love me, and you're
wonderful."

He squeezed her hand, hating the pain in her voice. "I don't know," he
said, looking over towards the other bed. "Except that she seems to think
just being the same sex makes loving someone a terrible sin."

"But... but _Kayla_," she protested, then shook her head. "No. I've never
been so happy before. It couldn't possibly be wrong. And if it is, well, I
don't care! Any god who would condemn us for something so right is too
cruel to be worshiped anyway."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mark looked back through the gap in the
curtain to see if Angie had heard that. She had, obviously; she was
watching quietly, tears running down her face, with a surprised and
thoughtful expression. He swallowed against the surge of relief he felt,
and looked back at Kristen. "If you could say one thing to her, right now,
what would it be?" he asked softly.

Kristen's lips trembled, and she turned her face away, closing her eyes.
"That I'm sorry," she said tightly.

"You're sorry?" he asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.
"For what?"

"For... for being the cause of such pain that it made her want to die." She
didn't look up, didn't open her eyes, and Mark turned his head to stare
over at Angie, his face unreadable.

The woman bit her lip and shook her head rapidly, though her eyes
overflowed with tears, and he raised an eyebrow, his expression growing
challenging.

"I never wanted to hurt anyone," Kristen whispered brokenly, and that was
too much for Angie.

She sat up abruptly, making the I.V. pole rattle an the line tightened and
tugged against it. "You didn't!" she cried. "_I_ did. You didn't do
anything, not anything!" Angie collapsed against the bed, crying too hard
to talk.

Kristen stared at her, shocked, then looked back up at Mark with a trace of
betrayal in her eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like this, you might want to take a look at Strange Love, an
e-zine of sf/fantasy/paranormal erotica. The first issue is on sale
now for $2 at:

http://strangelove.pele.cx

Take a look!

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| alt.sex.stories.moderated ------ send stories to: <ckought69@hotmail.com>|
| FAQ: <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/faq.html> Moderators: <story-ckought69@hotmail.com> |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ASSM Archive at <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org>   Hosted by <http://www.asstr-mirror.org> |
|Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d; look for subject {ASSD}|
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+