Infections of a Different Kind of Human

14. Apple Tree

"Amelia, have you seen my hair gel?" Link called as he stamped out the bathroom, startling her awake, "I can't find it anywhere!" She lifted her head from the pillow beneath her and sleepily looked around the room, barely able to keep her eyes open. She was having one of those days where she was finally able to sleep without the nightmares, and Link was ruining it by existing loudly.

"It's behind the TV," she mumbled, falling back onto the pillow as he came and found the object resting behind the electronic.

"I think I'm gonna be late for my flight," Link commented as he strapped his watch on his wrist and gathered a few more items, "No thanks to you."

"I did not coerce you to come here this morning," she reminded him, trying to block out the noise by putting a pillow over her head. She'd come off a double shift, only to meet up with him for what he titled 'last breakfast'.

'Last breakfast' had been going on for about four days now, and she didn't have the heart to tell him no each time he waited for her shift to end, especially when he looked so adorable outside of the hospital, waiting for her with a cup of coffee. Link plopped onto the bed, still only dressed in boxers, and pulled the pillow away from her. "Hey!"

"I would say that you were being very coercive a few hours ago," he said to her, pulling the cover over him as he scooted closer behind her. She smiled as he pressed kisses along her back, tickling her nerve endings with each contact. She flipped over to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him. "I need to shower," he interrupted her, pulling away, "And don't you have something to go to?"

"That's not for another two hours," Amelia assured him as she reached over him for his phone to checked the pizza app. Jeffrey jumped up on the bed in between them, and Link scratched his head for him, making her smile. Jeffrey seemed to like Link, but sometimes he'd claw at him when he was overstimulated, which was what he was doing now as he pet the tiny cat. He chuckled as she scrolled though the app, and went to the bathroom to take his shower. Just then, she heard a knock at the door, and two taps of the bell ring.

"That must be the pizza," Link called from inside the shower. Amelia abandoned the search on his phone and went for her wallet, throwing on one of Link's dress shirts and buttoning it up over her as she approached the front door.

"How much is it?" she asked when she opened the door, still looking down in her purse. She was mortified when she looked up and realized it was Owen, and not the pizza guy. "Owen?"

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" he asked, looking her up and down as he took in her attire. Her frame was covered by a dress shirt, and he had a pretty good idea of who the shirt belonged to. Suddenly, she felt more exposed, so she crossed her arms over her chest, and Owen felt equally uncomfortable, seeing her in such intimate attire that didn't belong to him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not liking that he'd caught her off guard.

"The movie?" he reminded her, quirking an eyebrow at her. How could she have forgotten?

"But it's 5," she said, remembering the time from on her phone, "the movie isn't until 7pm,"

"We've always been early, Amelia," Owen said in this matter-of-fact way. And he was right, as he said it, she remembered that they would always be super early to things like that because of all the kids and orders and he hated rushing and missing the first part of the movie. It was a militant part of him that she couldn't stand but knew would likely never change.

"How was I supposed to remember that?" she accused him now, feeling like he was looking for any reason to get mad at her.

"We've been doing it for years!" he exclaimed, confused and hurt by how she could forget something like that. He quickly calmed down, adding, "Whatever, it doesn't matter." She felt guilty as he said the words. "Can you be ready in 30 minutes?"