Don't Say Anything

88. Threaten Me With Cats

I throw my heels into the closet by the door and walk right into the bathroom. I don’t look in the mirror because I know I’ll just compare myself to Annabelle. I don’t need more frustration and disappointment right now.

I start the shower and toss my dress on the ground. A second later, I pick the dress back up and hang it in the closet. Will paid a lot of money for that, and I’m not going make him think I don’t appreciate it just because I’m angry.

Annabelle can’t win Will back by being herself, so she’s going to try to get rid of me instead. Well, it’s not going to work. She’s not going to succeed. Her words might have knocked me down, but I’ll get right back up. By tomorrow, I’ll be able to force her out of my mind completely.

I need sleep, and I need Will. But I only get one right now, so I need to figure out how to deal without Will for a night while he’s out being successful. 

A shower helps, and eating some chocolate covered granola bars does also, but nothings the same as having Will here to say everything is okay. What did I ever do before him? Oh yeah, I didn’t have jealous girls from my boyfriend’s past coming to harass me because I didn’t have a boyfriend. In the end, the pros of having Will outweigh the cons at least 10-1, so I shouldn’t be complaining.

Will loves me, and that’s all that matters right now. I won’t worry about the future again until I need to. Annabelle did erase the lingering memories from my panic attack, so I should be thanking her.

I crawl into the far side of the bed and pull the covers up to my chin. I have a perfect view out the window from my position. We’re in a room low enough that I can see the cars on the street and the outline of people walking down the sidewalk. It’s a great way to distract me, but I still can’t fall asleep. After I create a little story about someone I see walk by, my mind goes to Annabelle, and I have to find a new person to create a story about. It’s back and forth for hours as I wait for sleep to take over.

Eventually, I hear the door open and close. I don’t say anything and I close my eyes to pretend I’m sleeping. Will had a long week leading up to this event and an even longer night, thanks to me. He needs sleep more than I need someone to talk to. The sun will be rising soon, and we planned on staying in bed on Sunday anyway. I can talk to him in the morning, when he’s not exhausted.

I hear the rustle of clothes, the bathroom door open, close, then open again, and finally the sound of footsteps coming over to the bed. The weight of him makes the bed dip next to me and I feel the familiar warmth and smell that comforts me immediately. An arm wraps around my stomach and pulls me backwards so my back is pressed up against his front.

“Stop,” Will whispers into my ear. Of course he knew I was awake.

“Stop what?” I say back in the same volume as if we don’t want to disturb someone sleeping in the same room.

“Whatever Annabelle said to you, stop thinking about it.” His voice is deep and raspy from talking all night. Just the sound of his voice eases me. To have it mixed with simple and reassuring words is all I need to finally drift off to sleep with a smile on my face.

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“Go back to sleep,” I say in my abnormally scratchy morning voice when I feel Will’s fingers tracing the outline of my face. I thought for sure this would be the first time I would wake up before him.

“I slept until one in the afternoon. That’s a new record for me. Now it’s two o’clock and your peaceful face was too tempting.” I open one of my eyes to look up at him. “Sorry. Couldn’t control myself,” he says with a smirk.