"Bye," I mumbled, waving him bye from the door.

He leaned forward and kissed me against the door.

I smiled against his lips but I didn't actually feel like smiling. After I asked him the question so bluntly in the laundry room, I shrugged it off. I told him, "Never mind. Forget I said that." Then we continued pretending like nothing happened. Then we came back to the apartment and now he's leaving.

He had Whiskey's leash in his hand and Whiskey was sitting there, patiently waiting. "Bye," he said after pulling away. He turned around and started walking to the elevator and I spun around to get back inside the apartment but I winced loudly and grabbed onto the door frame.

Can period cramps please just be erased from existence? My period is always unnecessarily painful but it's been a while since I had such painful cramps. The last few times, it wasn't so painful.

"Are you okay?"

I blinked in surprise and looked over. He was right next to me, holding me up like I was going to collapse. And I wasn't. "Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded. I winced louder and grabbed onto his arm. They hurt so bad it makes me want to throw a hammer at someone.

"Indie," he sighed, pushing the apartment door open and scooping me up effortlessly.

"Oi," I whispered to myself, all the air leaving my body as I grabbed onto him, putting my arms around his neck.

He walked inside and then looked out. "Whiskey." He dropped the leash and Whiskey didn't run, he was sitting patiently. "You know how to whistle?" he asked me.

I nodded. "You don't?"

"Who said?" He whistled and Whiskey ran back inside.

Chloe was still working on her project as she looked over. "What happened to her?"

"I don't really know," he mumbled, kicking the door shut.

"Nothing. I just have cramps. I don't know why you picked me up, I'm not that fragile," I said, looking from Chloe to Reece.

"You were wincing and holding onto the door."

"Dramatics," I mumbled, staring at him.

He looked at me, not moving towards my room.

"Um, okay. Are y'all just going to stand there looking like you're out of a Nicholas Sparks book? Get moving," Chloe scoffed.

He blinked rapidly and then turned to look at her. I kept my eyes on him though, only glancing at Chloe when he started walking to my room, still not setting me down.

"Reece." He stopped, spinning around to face Chloe when she called his name. "She can walk, you know. You can put her down."

He stared at me.

She stared at me.

"What?" I asked, looking between the two. "I'm not the one who—" I groaned, kicking my legs and closing my eyes tightly as pain shot through my entire lower body, my thighs, my calves, up to my stomach.

"You were saying something," he scoffed at Chloe before pushing my door open with his back and then kicking it shut before he walked to my bed and lay me down. He kneeled beside the bed and started shuffling through my nightstand in a rush. It looked like he was panicking but I deal with this every damn month.

"Reece."

He kept looking around.

"Reece."

He had his bottom lip between his teeth while he shuffled through everything I kept in there. Lip balm, hair ties, essential oils, hand cream.

"What are you looking for?" I asked softly, leaning my head back and watching him.

"Painkillers," he mumbled, closing the drawer and opening the second one. That had an extra hairbrush, more hair ties, and a first aid kit. He opened the first aid kit, digging through it.

"Reece, they're in the first drawer."

"Where?" He shut the drawer, opening the first one again.

"My darling," I laughed, grabbing his arm and pulling it back.

He stared at me.

"Why are you panicking?"

"You're hurting," he frowned.

"I hurt like this every month. The pink pack of pills right there. Ultracet." I pointed to it. It's at the back of the drawer so I get why he didn't see it.

He reached for it and popped out one pill and then grabbed my water bottle. I held my hand out but he just placed the pill in my mouth. He brought the bottle to my lips and I swallowed down the pill all while keeping my eyes on him. He grabbed the heating pad too and put it on my stomach. "Better?"

"It takes a little while to kick in, Reece." His entire body relaxed and he let out a shaky breath.

I stared at him a little longer, trying to figure out what got him so worried. Unless he's never seen a girl experiencing period cramps. "Why did you get so worried?" I asked.

"One time, my mom had stomach pains like this. She didn't think it was anything but it was a miscarriage. I was like ten, I don't know. I knew you were having a miscarriage but it just freaked me out a little. Felt like I was back there and ten years old again," he rambled, blurting out everything. He sighed and sat on the floor, crossing his legs, and grabbed my hand, putting his head on the bed.

"I'm sorry you had to see your mom go through that," I frowned while he stared up at me, his face void of any emotions. "Are you close to her?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm closer to my dad. But I'm not really close with either of them. But in comparison, I've spent more time with my dad. He had custody."

"Your parents are divorced?"

He nodded. "What about yours?"

"They work together so they barely have a romantic connection anymore. I think that faded after I was born. They understand each other well though, so they're still together. I'm not close with either of them. But in comparison, I'm closer to my dad too. He shows that he cares about me and my mom really doesn't."

He nodded in understanding. "Did he visit you at the hospital?"

"No," I sighed. "But he would Facetime me or call my grandma and ask to speak with me. What about your dad?"

"Little things," he shrugged. "We would always get our haircut together every time. He was there at all my games with or without my mom."

"Basketball?" I asked knowingly.

He nodded again. "And he stayed the same after their divorce. I was fifteen when they split up. He caught himself but my mom couldn't. She became a user."

"A user?" I inquired.

"Of alcohol, sometimes drugs, but mostly men. That's why I didn't like seeing her. But I would have to spend a weekend with her at least twice a month. Those were the custody rules."

"So, where did you grow up?"

"Eugene, Oregon."

That's the other side of the country, practically. "Then how did you end up in Boston?"

"It was either Boston or staying there. The college I wanted to get into there was very close to my mom's house. She was a user until I graduated so I didn't want to stay near here even after she was clean and sober. So I packed up and moved. I applied all over the country, kind of. But Boston seemed good. Away from my mom but close to my dad."

"Really?"

He nodded. "He lives in New York now. Runs his business from there."

"My parents live in New York too. They travel a lot for work though."

"What do they do?" he asked.

"Exports. Textiles. That kind of stuff. Yours?"

"My dad runs a law firm now. And my mom works with fashion brands for their campaigns. She selects models."

"Does that mean I'm automatically in if I go for a casting?"

He chuckled, lifting his head and looking at me. "Maybe. If I tell her about you. I don't talk to her much but when I do it's good now. She acts like my mom which she never used to do. She's a better parent now. She would like you, you know."

"Really?"

He nodded. "She would think you're pretty. She hires a lot of models like you. I should take you with me to one of the castings. She would hire you right there, I'm telling you."

"Reece."

"Hmm?"

"Do you take all your fuck-friends to meet your mom?" I didn't mean for that to come out as a jab, but when I heard the bitterness in my voice, I knew that it came out a lot harsher than I had intended it to.

He shook his head slowly, "No. You're special."

"Okay," I nodded. "I can work with that."

"Can you?"

I nodded again, chuckling softly. "Yeah. At least for a while."

His face told me that he knew. He knows, he has to. He knows I meant it when I told him I liked him. He knows I wasn't just kidding. But I think he's believing what I'm telling him to keep the peace. That's why I'm lying. To keep the peace. Actually, to keep him.

"You can go if you want, you know," I said, my eyelids feeling heavy. I'm getting sleepy.

"And if I want to stay?" he whispered.

I opened my eyes back up and looked at him. "Then stay."

He seemed like he was contemplating it, weighing the pros and cons in his head.

"Stay, Reece. I'll act like it never happened, I promise," I said, wincing as I rolled onto my side.

"Why would you do that?" he questioned.

"What?" I mumbled, staring at him.

"Act like it never happened."

"Isn't that what you want? This is boyfriend behavior but you don't do relationships. I understand that. So, I'll pretend like it never happened."

"Isn't it better if it just never happens?"

"Maybe," I sighed, holding my stomach. "But I could use some boyfriend behavior right now. It's okay. You can leave if you're uncomfortable. I'll erase this memory."

"You talk too much."

I smiled, closing my eyes. "Bye, Reece."

"What bye? I'm not leaving, you idiot."

I opened one eye and watched as he climbed on the bed and lay down beside me, throwing an arm over my waist and spooning me. I rolled over and faced him, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"Indigo."

"Hmm?"

"This never happened, okay?"

"As you wish," I said.

As he wishes, always.

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